THE 'PAHELA BAISHAKH' INCIDENT

Photo: Prabir Das

The beginning of a new year comes with hope, a yearning to do better, to help others, to make the nation a better place to live in and of course, to fight for justice. In Bangladesh, we look forward to the month long Ekushey Boi Mela, one of the largest book fairs in Asia, in the month of February. We think of adorning ourselves in yellow, celebrating the first day of Phalgun on February 13, not to mention, the food, the pithas and songs that we will sing together on Pahela Baishakh in April. This is our tradition, our culture, the definition of celebrating as one in Bangladesh.

However, the recent report submitted by the authorities on last year's Pahela Baishakh sexual assault incident is absolutely disheartening, not to mention outright disgusting. Last month, detectives submitted the final report in the case over sexual assault on women during last year's Pahela Baishakh celebrations, saying that none of the culprits could be identified or arrested.

Reported by The Daily Star, sub-inspector Dipak Kumar Das of Detective Branch (DB) of police, also the investigation officer (IO) of the case gave the report to Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in the afternoon. “The incidents of sexual assault [on women] took place during the Pahela Baishakh celebrations on the Dhaka University campus. We have submitted the final report but could not identify or arrest any of the offenders,” court sources quoted the IO as saying in the report.

More than 20 women were sexually assaulted in the evening of Pahela Baishakh (April 14, 2015), on the DU campus for over an hour. At least 27 CCTV cameras were installed all over the area along with several police check points in every corner to ensure security on the day when everyone comes together to celebrate. Although a number of police personnel were standing nearby, they did not do anything to stop it. Moreover, one officer released two of the culprits caught and handed over to him by the public. For a long time, the police kept denying that the women were sexually assaulted, despite a huge public outcry.

In fact, we remember the authorities being very confused for weeks. Strange statements were issued every few days. At one point the authorities were also blaming the few rescuers, Liton Nandi, Suman Sengupta and Amit Dey, at that point of time, of lying to the media for attention.  "We were returning from a meeting and happened to be at the TSC area," says Liton Nandi, President of Chhatra Union. "There were thousands of people in the area. Even then, we could figure out that a group of men were deliberately trying to create a gridlock. I sensed that something was terribly wrong. We could only hear someone screaming. As soon as we reached the spot, we saw that the group of men was gnawing at the girl, while her husband or boyfriend was trying to protect her." According to Nandi, the girl did not have any clothes on her. Her sari had come off. The men were groping and grabbing at her. "We tried to stop the men from attacking; at one point we also began to hit the men to make them stop," Nandi remembers. "Eventually, I took off my Panjabi and gave it to the girl so that she could cover herself. The girl got on a rickshaw, fixed her clothes and returned my Panjabi to me."

A few feet away, the rescuers found yet another group of men attacking a young girl of not more than 16-18 years of age. "She fell to the ground because of all the gnawing and groping," says Nandi. "I realised that the girl would die under the stampede. We ran to the spot and were literally begging the men to stop. “She is going to die” - I shouted to the men. “Please let her go!”"

It's a wonder why the authorities suddenly claim that none of the culprits could be identified when they, themselves had identified them months ago. On April 18, the police for the first time admitted that the women were indeed sexually harassed. They had also released photos of eight youths who allegedly carried out the assault and declared a reward of Tk 1 lakh for information on each of them. They were identified from the combined footages of the CCTV cameras installed around the scene.

It is time for yet another revolution. We know what had happened at the DU premises last year and that the authorities are well aware of the incident as well. If the culprits are not taken in and punished, there will be no more of the Pahela Baishakh celebrations; the beauty of Phalgun will go unnoticed and the Bengali dream, as we know it, will slowly wither away.