Godfathers of Teen Gangs Mustn't Be Public Representatives

Criminals do not only harm their victims. They harm the whole society as well. They destroy the socio-cultural environment of an area and its peace and security get threatened. Among those who patronize the teen gangs are the most harmful.

For they mislead a part of the future generation, ruining their future in the process. In Dhaka, Chittagong and other cities, there are groups of violent adolescents who often involved in various crimes, including killing. And they are backed by some grown-up men.

These violent teenagers form 'gangs' just like adult criminals. In Bangladesh, these 'teenage gangs' sometimes make the headlines. Their godfathers, however, remain free.

Several such godfathers came into limelight in recent times ahead of the upcoming election of the Chittagong City Corporation as they wanted to get a mandate from the people to run the city corporation. There are seven people who are running for the post of a councilor but are also known as patronizers of teen gangs. All of them are leaders, activists, and supporters of organizations backed by the ruling Awami League.

Two of them received the support of the ruling party as candidates in the upcoming elections. The remaining five are being called 'rebel candidates’ as they did not get the support of the ruling party.

It may seem that there are not even a dozen of godfathers of the teen gangs in the Chittagong metropolis. But in reality, the number is really high. There are 48 names in the Chittagong Metropolitan Police database. The names of the seven candidates are also on that list.

Chittagong Metropolitan Awami League vice-president Khorshed Alam said, "People with clean images have been nominated from the party." That means he believed those two candidates enlisted as godfathers of teen gangs in police databases are candidates with a clean image.

Awami League candidate (Ward No 13) Waseem Uddin Chowdhury is known as a godfather of such teen gangs. A tenth-grader was killed in a clash between teen gangs on 26 August last year in Waseem Uddin’s area.

Another member of Ward No 14, Awami League candidate Abul Hasnat, was accused of murdering college student Didar.

Although the ruling Awami League did not support the other five candidates, they are all involved in AL politics. One of them is accused in five cases and is now in jail after being arrested by RAB.

Any person being extremely detrimental to the country and society does not have the quality to be a public representative. It is expected that the voters will recognize their voting rights properly. But the experience of the recent elections says it is not certain that voters will be able to vote as per their choice.