Tarnished Image or Increased Transparency?
Reading the opinion of Dr Sabrina Q Rashid (17.1.99) on the recent sexual harassment of a female student by a male teacher at Dhaka University I was seriously trying to dig deep into the problem and as a sociologist trying to link it up with the greater fabric of society. There was one obvious reason for doing so - I also teach in the same university. Not denying that one has to take note of such act (s) with requisite concern. There are at least two dimensions for serious concern - moral and professional. Moral dimension indicates the expectation of society from the teachers at different levels and the professional notion implies the quality of education catered in different educational institutions. Duly highlighted in the pointed opinion indeed.
When this particular incident was first reported in the newspaper I asked a senior and respected professor of the English Department about the occurrence of such incident in the past. He nodded his head positively. The inner message is such incident took place in the past but remained unearthed. This did not surprise me much at least for one reason - immoral practice is universal phenomenon what varies is its degree. Following this argument one might say the recent DU sex harassment incident has actually not tarnished the image in the sense that it never happened before rather indicated at the increased transparency of the reality. I did not find solace in what was said by the professor or am making a case to defend the behaviour of my colleague. Rather I would draw reader's attention to a wider issue of 'over all moral degradation' of our society.
Pleasing enough to note that Medical Colleges are immune from such a vice but disquieting enough to read the story of an Asma, the innocent victim of doctor's sheer negligence. Shocking all the more is to read a doctor hitting the head of a nagging patient on the wall. Earnest request is not to misread the above examples as casting vitriol by one profession at another. It is to remind two things: one, increasing crude materialism is disintegrating the founding fabric of society at different levels and two, minimum significance of ideological practices.
Two important domains of the practices of ideology are politics and religions. Unfortunately both are greatly deviated from it and turn, sadly though, as useful means to material gain. Again there is little scope to sound Platonic in this matter. Didn't we hear of selfish politicians of deceitful guru before? Of course we did. What is new in the present context is the practice of materialism in an ideological vacuum. Materialist societies of the West could not ignore it in the way of Christianity and social welfare axioms particularly in post World War era. Unique in our situation is the 'anarchy' of the ruling class and their lackeys. Indulgence and motivated silence are now widespread.
The question is how to change it. A complex matter indeed it is to change the society. There are several ways - both tested and untested. Some are rooted in politics and some in religion. At this juncture, in our country, it might start from civil society but of course not in a partisan manner. There is urgent need for dialogue on it right now.
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