The sunset rule mars the fun

The caveat imposed by the DMP on the Pahela Baishakh celebrations in and around Suhrawardy Udyan and Ramna Park, reminds me of a cartoon I saw long ago. A pair of circus lions had managed to escape from the cage during a performance where the trainer's ability to control the animals had failed miserably. As the spectators ran helter-skelter for their life a smart aleck rushed and locked himself inside the cage. Quite safe from the tiger himself was this man but not the other spectators. It is left to one's imagination as to what happened to those unfortunate enough to be faced with a pair of tigers on the loose, or to the tigers themselves and whether they managed to devour a few or instead were killed by somebody. 

This is not the first time the DMP has come out with their innovative idea of providing safety to the people of the Capital on occasions such as the Bangla Nababarsho or New Year's Eve. We are told that some areas in the city are no go areas after a particular time on the eve of the English New Year, or that we are not to be out on the streets after a particular time as we have been told in this instance. Not for a moment should we doubt their intention or the fact that the citizens' safety is not the topmost priority in the mind of the DMP. We query their method of ensuring that.  

The DMP order takes one back to one's public school days or one's days in the hostel where one was expected to return after a particular time, and this was known generally as the sunset rule  since that was the cutoff time for the hostel residents to return. 

We find ourselves quite in the same position as those facing two tigers on the loose and nowhere to go except perhaps inside a cage. Those who want to enjoy the Udyan's ambience on the first day of the Bangla month will have to end their fun and merrymaking if they are in that particular area, by 5pm. No one will be granted entry into the area after 4 pm. And all these conditions have been laid out, we are told, for our safety. That might sound very reassuring; after all, who is not interested in his or her safety? But it speaks volumes about the society we live in and about the approach regarding a societal sickness. 

The police order is provoked by a most despicable incident in the same celebrations last year. Some ruffians had exploited the rush of people in the Pahela Baishakh gathering and sexually assaulted young women taking part in the celebrations. They have neither been caught nor identified. There are many 'ifs' and 'buts' in the matter including the failure of modern technology to recognise and nab the culprits. But isn't it a case of running away from the problem rather than tackling it head on. What if another untoward incident were to occur somewhere else in the city on the next Pahela Baishakh? Will the DMP curtail that programme next year so that we are all 'safe'? 

You know, there would be no accidents if all the vehicles were kept off the road, and if pedestrians were not allowed to venture out on the streets they would not run the risk of being run over by an errant bus driven by an untrained driver without a valid driver's license, and that happens everyday of the week. But have we even in our wildest dreams thought of keeping off the roads? No, instead the best is done to train drivers and to be extremely selective in giving driving licenses, and making sure that the police enforce the traffic rules to lessen the number of accidents.  

The answer to the 'tigers' we are grappling with is not to put everybody inside the cage and feel safe. The tiger is still lurking and will pounce on any unsuspecting victim. The answer lies in collectively facing the demon. And in facing the demon the police must ensure all the necessary security to the people who want to be uninhibited in their enjoyment of the day.    

One cannot cut off the head to cure the headache. We cannot run away from a problem, which we are doing in this particular instance. The answer to what happened last year is not in curtailing our normal activity. It is at best an escapist attitude by taking the easy way out. Our life or lifestyle cannot be dictated or affected just because some rogues are likely to behave badly on that day. The more we become defensive the more we expose our weakness and the more we allow these elements to feel like the 'victor' and prompt them to repeat their actions. Meet them squarely.

The writer is Associate Editor, The Daily Star.