Hiren Pandit: In 1947 the British strategy of exploiting the people of the sub-continent by dividing them by religion was very old, they succeeded in this strategy. In this strategy, the British showed the people of the Indian subcontinent as Hindus or Muslims before they became human beings. Throwing them into the colony spread a poisonous vapor of mutual dislike among us, which we could not get out of for almost a century. Maybe it works more in the head now. In the era of extreme excellence in science, we are going to become digital Bangladesh, Smart Bangladesh.
But research is needed to find out in which era we are stuck in the mentality. It has to be figured out in the so-called modern age, not in the barbarian or medieval ages. We are still reading about things that are not very important in our lives, not even for the world. We have almost left out the words of progress, modernity, and humanism or are going to give them. So much progress is being made but it is time to think if we are falling further behind in terms of mentality.
So, we need to focus a little more on our cultural movement activities. With the help of technology, people’s thoughts and visions move from one end of the world to the other in an instant. But the blackness and prejudice of our minds have not gone away, and may never go away. Whether it is Bangladesh, India, America, Sweden or Myanmar, no one is behind. Yet we are not human, neither Hindu nor Muslim nor Christian nor Buddhist nor Jew. But there seems to be no fundamental difference between fundamentalists and fanatics whether they are Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, or Jews.
Humanism is nothing to them, only their interests. It is better to be a saint or a good person than to pretend to be a saint or a good person. In this subcontinent of ours, the anti-religious sentiment is always very strong. We use it when we need it. Only we common people do not understand this. Once upon a time, we knew that man is a rational creature, when he has law and judgment, he is the best creature on earth, and when he loses law and judgment, he is the worst creature on earth” This is what the philosopher Aristotle said. We are humans, the best creatures of creation, we are separated from other animals or everything for judgment and conscience.
But, are we using our judgment, intelligence, and conscience? We do not think about how much moral slippage, and conscience slippage is happening every day. We are constantly abandoning the human qualities we have, ethics and morality are disappearing, and our ability to judge good and bad is disappearing. People’s compassion for people is disappearing in the womb of time, and love and kindness, and respect are slowly disappearing from our midst. But we are gradually losing our human qualities, not as human beings, but gradually becoming inhuman and behaving cruelly like beasts.
Why is this happening? As we are getting educated, our sense of humanity is constantly decreasing where it should be increasing. But why? Educated people are supposed to have more humane qualities, but it is not seen as much now. Nowadays one has to be constantly wounded, just turning the pages of the daily newspaper is about to suffocate, reading all this news, it is difficult to believe one’s own eyes. We are all self-centered and working for our gain. Everyone is busy with themselves. Are we thinking about the country, society, family, and children?
How much more social and moral degradation is needed to turn us around? How long will it take to develop themselves as an ideal person? To raise children as ideal people? Who will answer this question? Will it from the society? Want to the state? Want to the residents of the society? Want to the government? Everyone is only busy with themselves, only thinking about themselves. We never think about building a beautiful country, society.
The news of being bullied by students, teachers, parents and public figures has now become a matter of everyone’s attention or it has become a daily casual matter! Are we becoming residents of a spoiled society? Etiquette, shame, rules and regulations are disappearing from society? Are we stepping towards a wild society? The government is busy for the future welfare of the country, and the opposition parties are busy to save democracy in their language. But we who are the general public, what will happen to them? Is anyone busy or thinking about us, or have time to think?
But it is not visible at all. How do we know we are in a trap? Are we as a nation moving forward? Doesn’t seem to be progressing much, we have a couple of good achievements! They are also wasted in crying and throwing, moreover, there is social and moral decay, due to this moral decay all our achievements are fading away.
We can hold on to our achievements. The teacher is busy with his coaching center rather than teaching in the class, do we have time to think about preparing these students who will lead our future? The child’s parents are busy raising the standard of living, no one has time to think about whether the money earned by working day and night is of any use. We are not in a position to take care of what the child is learning, what he is doing, where he is going, and who he is mixing with. But why it was not supposed to happen? The government and civil society should think about why this happened.
There is no way out of these without a concerted effort. Once upon a time, there was money lost, nothing is Lost, health is lost, something is lost when a character is lost everything is lost, but it has changed a bit to now the character is lost nothing is lost, health is lost something is lost, when money is lost everything is lost. Now money is everything, everything is possible with money. We are only running after money. It is undoubtedly possible to say that everyone will be at the same point about the conscience that is determined by the judgment of good and bad but will be at a different point about separating good and evil, that is, there will be different opinions on determining what is good and what is bad.
This difference can depend on the person, society, area, time, event etc. The work of conscience is to assist human beings in making appropriate decisions by judging future thoughts based on the present, giving it to the good and bad, advantages and disadvantages, capabilities and inabilities, and principles, but the actual decision must be made by the being itself. We all talk about the peace of the country, talk about the harmony of all, talk about brilliance, talk about principles, talk about truth, talk about success and we even like to hear these words. Conscience becomes violent when one’s bag is not so full in comparison.
Whatever peace or other positive things presented themselves for, a sick conscience comes and covers them like a cloud and hides the blue of the sky, which causes absolute suffering to all. But, do we think about conscience? Now we are busy competing to see who can go as low as possible. We don’t think about how much moral slippage is happening every day, in the race of life, everyone is concerned about how to move forward by leaving behind who is involved, it doesn’t matter to us that the slippage of conscience is happening. Be resourceful at any cost.
We are constantly losing the human qualities that we have, for the acquisition of wealth, for the sake of luxury. Morality is disappearing from among us, our ability to judge good and bad is disappearing. Human sympathy for human beings is disappearing in the womb of time, and love and kindness are slowly disappearing from our midst. Why is animalism growing among us? Where is the end of this social unrest? This degradation cannot be eliminated by legal framework alone. For this, the necessary social movements and civil society should come forward in this regard. Our human values have reached rock bottom. Why did this happen?
Bengalis are generous and passionate people. They are blessed if they benefit others. We have known this for a long time. We came to see it. But now we see the opposite in reality. Now we have lost tolerance and patience. What is the benefit of increasing the rate of education? It is time to consider whether we are being educated and are driving towards more barbarism. No form of education is helping to build our sense of values and humanity. It seems that we are gradually going back to primitive times. It is important to think deeply about the matter. It will be difficult for a nation to straighten up once it falls over the edge of the abyss.
We are ready to give up dignity and self-respect for money! On the other hand, in the construction of society, as an ideal citizen of the state, it is time to think about whether we are fulfilling the duties we have in the state, society and family properly, or whether we are forgetfully forgetting them. If a teacher’s questions are leaked before the exam, what kind of teacher is he? He or what morality will teach his students! and what can the nation expect from him? If we give up my sacred morals, then there will be nothing left to say.
We all have to come together and stand in a row with this slogan, we love my country, for this civil society has to play a leading role. Because first, we as a nation have to eliminate all social and moral degradation. Our backs are against the wall in terms of moral degradation, let us turn forward again, get educated in moral education, use our Sukumar scholarships properly, and take Bangladesh forward. Let’s turn Bangladesh into a beautiful Bangladesh, which was achieved in return for the sacrifice of 30 lakh martyrs and the honor of countless mothers and sisters.
Hiren Pandit is an essayist, researcher and columnist