Social distance approaches: The public protests rose at pick on one issue of ‘ear-holding’ punishments (12)
Social distance approaches: The public protests rose at pick on one issue of ‘ear-holding’ punishments
Original Facebook link of this article: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10216682046631393&set=a.10203716466900003
Author:
Dr. Md. Jafar Ullah
Professor
Department of Agronomy
Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Email: jafarullahsau@gmail.com
(12)
In the previous sections, I mentioned several times that some people did not follow the rules of the ‘social distance’, that is they did not cooperate with law enforcement agencies. Well, I do not say those people were unruly, but I have to say that they actually had to be on roads to earn their livelihoods. Such classes of people were the daily workers, rickshaw pullers, van drivers, auto-rickshaw pullers, and small businessmen especially the mobile shoppers who sell their products at the roadside or on tricycle vans.
While blocking these people, the assigned law-enforcing men had to assault them in different ways. However, on Facebook or in other mass media including television and newspapers, we have witnessed many incidents of this social distance issue.
But to me, the most of the approaches were applied in a polite way through convincing these so called unruly or poor people and those were in polite manners. However, there were some incidence of punishments which have undergone to face public criticisms.
I, should say ‘those critics pulled down the social distance programme at the lower gear’. Let me present my logic in support to my above statement. There were many incidence of giving mild punishments, mainly through ‘sit ups ear-holding’ that I defined in my previous post saying this ‘ka ne dho re uth bosh korano’ in bengali. Public people did not mind it, rather took as a matter of fun or humour, sending the picture of such incidences from one friend to other friends, mostly in facebook.
Among such funny incidences, one event pushed the critics at its pick. And the resultant effect was that the pictures relating to that punishment has been viral in the FB and also in other mass media. The incidence was that, one of the civil administrators (Magistrate, AC Land) gave such ‘ear holding punishment’ to two elderly persons. The magistrate captured the picture of that punishment in her own mobile and then uploaded it in her Facebook ID.
This created mass protests nationally from almost all the sections of the citizens. In consequence, that magistrate was withdrawn from her duty by her big boss (District Commissioner, the administrator of a district).
The protest against the above punishment was so massive that the district commissioner of that magistrate had to say ‘sorry’ to the nation and ordered his Upazilla Nirbahi Officer (UNO, the lower most unit of the Bangladesh civil service) of that Upazilla to go to those elderly victims and say ‘sorry’ to them. The UNO did that. The District Commissioner also begged pardon to the nation saying that the officer (Magistrate) was a refresher one in her discipline, and so could not control her emotions, but she was sincere in fulfilling her duty to execute the government order.
To me, the lady was so young and a fresher one on that discipline. And at this age, a person generally becomes emotional and as a result, some of their activity may result from the inherent emotional point of view, not considering the aftermath of the situation. This is very obvious and I hope every body will admit this reality. This lady could not control her emotions and posted that picture in the facebook too.
Facebook is such a social media which has attracted all classes of people irrespective of age and profession – even I am not excused from this. When I saw the post, I became very angry with the incidence. In our country, we always respect the elderly people whoever may be he or she. This is our tradition and one of the social norms. This is our one of the valuable etiquette we are holding even now. Even we kiss the feet of our elderly seniors on different occasions, although this etiquette is going to be extinct along the days.
In general, to me in other cases, the persons who have been given this ‘sit ups ear-holding’ punishment did not mind so much. Could be – they left the place presenting the viewers a ‘mild smile’. In our society, ‘sit ups ear-holding’ or ‘kane dhore uth bosh korano’ is a punishment which is normally given to a man or women committing a crime, especially a mild one.
Me, and I am sure, also many of the readers of this article, enjoyed such punishment in school life for several times given by our teachers, after we did a fault, or we remained absent in the previous day(s) or did not learn our study. This is considered as a shameful punishment, not torturing physically.
I did not dare posting those pictures of giving ear holding punishment on our roads in a fear that those could be shameful to them again if they find those. In stead, I put some pictures from elsewhere. This ear holding punishment is in practice in many other countries as well.
But such ‘sit ups ear-holding’ punishment was so numerous in the social distance programme that it created a ‘mass dissatisfaction’ among the common citizens. The critics, although individually, protested such ‘insulting punishment’ using the FB or other mass media. It hurted some of the University Professors and students as well who committed ‘sit ups ear-holding’ punishment at their homes themselves without doing any crime as a symbol of the ‘protests', took pictures and posted those in the Facebook.
Most of the FB people claimed punishment for those officers who punished the citizens cruelly and in a insulting manner. On the circumstances, the authority instructed the law enforcing people to handle the programme through convincing the citizens.
Well, I have to say that the critics of the magistrate’s post pulled down the social distance programme at the lower gear’ – its completely of my own opinion. From the beginning, what the law enforcing agencies could do ? To me it seemed that, the authority should not have placed that an emotional Magistrate in such type of public places where there are mixtures of varying concepts of life.
In other cases, the law enforcing authority should not have gone to the harder point at the beginning. Because, in the society, there are so many public groups. Their culture, social and educational status may vary massively as well. Even some people do not realize the significance of such social distance programme as they did not have such experience before. So, before beating them, those people should have been convinced saying that at this time they should not be out of home - as they may be infected by corona; and due to this reason, they should keep themselves inside their home as the home was safe for them.
Well, what I realized that, that young lady officer was not well trained before giving them the responsibility at a major place. In the training, respecting the elderly people and favoring the low earning people should also be included in future training programme - based on our social norms.
However, what I may say again that the offences, such as beating inhumanly the people on roads by police, breaking rickshaw of the rickshaw pullers, breaking the utensils of the poor roadside hotel or restaurant owners - were more rude and insulting than that committed by the young lady.
Contrasting to the above connection, we became so pleased that some official persons from civil, army, police or volunteers came in the notice of the common people for their sincere act and well behavior to those peoples; and pictures of some of those persons even have been viral in the facebook.
(To be continued)
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