Editorial
Demonstrate zero tolerance to vandalism
Committees should be formed to counsel students for responsible behaviour
THE frenzied car-bashing orgy carried out by the students of Titumir College at Mohakhali area on Saturday afternoon was an outrageous act of the most despicable nature. Hundreds of students went berserk and broke windshields and windows of nearly 150 vehicles on the false report of a student of the same institute having been crushed under the wheels of a car. The utterly disgraceful and irresponsible acts unleashed before bothering to find out the truth is totally unacceptable and we strongly condemn the occurrence. We fully echo public sentiment in demanding exemplary and demonstrative punishment to the perpetrators of such horrendous acts of vandalism. It is high time zero tolerance was demonstrated to such destructive behaviour by punishing it.
We note with concern that students of various educational institutes often resort to violence and street vandalism under any pretext and take it out on public and private property, especially passing vehicles. Such rowdy behaviour is fast turning into a chronic malaise and this has to be stopped right away.
We strongly suggest that authorities of each public and private educational institute have committees comprising teachers, former students, guardians, student leaders and local leaders to offer regular counseling to students on matters related to civic sense, respect for law and order and protection of public and private property so that they shun the path of rowdyism. The committees would impart knowledge of the downside of taking law in one's own hand, emphasising the dictum that 'today it is others - tomorrow it may be you.' In other words, they will have to learn to respect the rights of others, before expecting others to respect their rights.
We have also noted with some degree of apprehension that when students go out on the streets to vandalise property, members of the police force do not make any immediate move to neutralize them and defuse the tension. More often than not, they play the role of mute onlookers at a safe distance and move only when maximum damage has been done. But, we believe, if the police would take the strategy of rapid deployment at the very outset of a trouble, they would be able to save life and property and restore order within a short period of time. The police will have to be proactive in quelling troubles and should have specially trained units to do so. At the same time, regular patrolling in areas where educational institutes are located would help avoid many unfortunate incidents such as what happened on Saturday at Mohakhali.
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