By Monica Islam:
“Even exposing a child to violence amounts to abuse,” asserted Kabukabu Ikwueme, a London-based freelance writer with a background in the legal sector. Yet, we see children not only being exposed to violence, but also being subjected to violence often. Maybe such crimes have become so commonplace that we are no longer affected unless they involve gory acts and graphic footage.
Modern-Day Slavery: From Open Fields to Secluded Homes from Monica Islam on Vimeo.
And [envoke_twitter_link]that is what happened in the week leading up to Eid-ul-Fitr[/envoke_twitter_link]. Social media was sent into a frenzy by a 28-minute video that captured the barbaric torture inflicted on a 13-year old boy named Sheikh Md. Samiul Alam Rajon (who eventually succumbed to his injuries). His body bore 64 marks of injury, according to an autopsy report. The video was recorded and released on Facebook by the perpetrators themselves so that “the world will see it”.
This incident has brought issues like extrajudicial killings and child rights to ethics in journalism to the forefront, when it comes to sharing graphic content. There are two issues which I want to focus on: our collective tendency to engage in mob justice and how we use technology to glorify our actions, including our vices.
My first contention relates to mob justice, or any form of extrajudicial justice, which is becoming an inseparable part of our social fabric. We take the law in our hands because the law enforcement agencies have failed us; because we know that getting justice through legal means in this land is near impossible. Hence, every time a vehicle accidentally bumps into another, the drivers leap out in fury to achieve, on their own, the ever-elusive justice of this land. Every time a minor is caught stealing, the employers feel it is their honor and responsibility to teach him/her a lesson through savagery.
Such an affinity for mob violence is deeply-rooted in our mindset as exemplified by the fact that many individuals from the educated classes are asking that justice be served by beating the perpetrators to death. It is one thing to demand the arrest of culprits, so that they can be jailed and reformed, and another to appeal for torture. The latter sends out a message that, only violence can tackle violence. It does not set us apart from the perpetrators who use similar claims to justify their actions (“The boy was caught stealing, so we beat him”). Yes, it is that easy to be “provocative” in this land. It leads us to a cycle of abuse which we are unable to escape because as we might know, human beings, especially children, do what they see, i.e. they pick up behaviors from their surroundings.
[envoke_twitter_link]This mob mentality can only be curbed[/envoke_twitter_link] by a fully-operational law enforcement system that is accessible to all, and is focused on reforming criminals, not just reprimanding them.
The second issue pertains to the misuse of technology. Technology falling into the wrong hands results in revenge porn and other sadistic content. ISIS records its acts of beheading captives and posts the videos online. A criminal rapes a minor girl, films the violation, and threatens to release the video online. A teenager bullies an overweight person, clicks a photo, and publishes the image online. All of these actions are modern-day equivalent of a hardened criminal walking with a severed head in his/her hand under broad daylight to terrify the public, or to publicly shame the victims and their supporters. Criminals are increasingly taking their violent ideologies into the tech world, without an iota of guilt. Is it because a few people are mistaking the freedom of cyberspace as a given digital lawlessness? Or is it because lawlessness from the physical reality is gradually creeping into the virtual sphere?
Even in Rajon’s case, while technology expedited the mobilization of support for the boy, it also paved the way for many remarks which read like gossip and reeked of sensationalism (“Was the boy forced to drink urine?” asked a friend on WhatsApp. “Is knowing that important?”, I thought to myself.)
To redress this situation, Bangladesh needs a comprehensive ICT law urgently that reflects public will and that aims not to suppress voices, but to filter content. Taking photos of a person without his/her consent should never be “okay” unless it serves some clearly-outlined interests of the nation. At a community level, the next time we pamper others, especially children and the underprivileged, with a tech “gift”, we need to sit down with them and talk about the responsibilities associated with an increased use of smartphones. Social progress must complement economic prowess.
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