Plea for interim government to ban corporal punishment

Let’s put on pause momentarily all the noble and much-needed changes the saint-like Professor Yunus and his Interim Government of angels are working towards achieving for the greater benefit of Bangladesh.

A new Bangladesh, one totally free of corruption and skullduggery that allows the downtrodden among us the opportunity to at least eat well, no doubt aligns with the wishes of Allah.

Those noble Bengali martyrs of 1952 and 1971 (especially) must have turned in their graves many times over since their burial with abject abhorrence, disappointment, and in total rejection of the Bangladesh for which they had magnanimously sacrificed their lives. Such a shame... such an injustice... such dishonour attributed to them by those who survived.

No greater love can a person give his nation than his or her own life, but there has to be some gratification for its giving. No doubt many who did in 1952 and 1971 have questioned their decision with great pain and remorse in the hereafter.

But the past is the past and those who chose to ignore the past are doomed to repeat some of its sorrowful mistakes.

Change for the good
While indeed there is lots of change – good change – on the horizon, one cannot help but feel it’s somewhat akin to putting the cart before the horse in some respects.

You can be owner of all the wealth the world has to offer, but if you are in poor health, it’s meaningless.
For far too long Bangladesh has been cursed with corporal punishment. Children have been beaten senseless in schools and madrassahs (especially) and in their homes and other environments, by ignorant and or evil people.

If one were to conduct a survey among the members of the Anti-discrimination Students Movement (the Heroes and Heroines of 2024) no doubt... no doubt whatsoever... the majority if not all could relate stories about their encounter with corporal punishment abuse. 

Corporal punishment is an ignorant and abhorrent act and when performed on sacred grounds like in a school or madrassa, where teachers are assumed to know better and offer guidance and protection, it makes the sordid act even worse.

It is estimated there are over 10,000 religions in the world – Islam, Buddhist, Christian among the forerunners – and not one condones corporal punishment to children. Not one!

How would it be possible for any religion to claim to be loving and in synch with the commands of God if they were beating God’s children – God’s unique creation. It would be like taking a razor blade to a Picasso or Monet painting and slashing frenziedly.

Cruel, inhuman, degrading
Supreme Court justices Md. Imman Ali and Md. Sheikh Hassan Arif, attempted to rid the biliousness of corporal punishment in 2011. They declared it to be "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and a clear violation of a child's fundamental right to life, liberty and freedom.”

Our internationally acclaimed son of the soil, locally born Shakespeare, and Noble prize awardee, Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) shared with us a pearl when he said: “Discipline means to teach, not to punish”. 

When adults make mistakes, they are verbally rebuked. When children make mistakes, they are beaten. Where’s the sense and justice in that?

Corporal punishment has no benefits whatsoever, but can cause untold damage to a child’s physical and mental health. Every child is different. Every child thinks different. Beat one and to him or her it might be like water off a duck’s back. Beat another and it could drive them to suicide.

There are literally thousands of studies condemning corporal punishment and one – NOT ONE – advocating its use. That ought to tell you something.

The only fuel that has propelled corporal punishment for so long is ignorance. While there’s been much repetition of headline-grabbing jingoistic phrases like “the children are our future” from previous prime ministers there’s been no evidence in their support.

The Anti-discrimination Students Movement has time-travelled and brought “the children are our future” into the now... the present...  and the nation is most grateful as many generations will be for years to come.

While little effort was made to protect the dignity and wellbeing of members of the now commended Anti-discrimination Students Movement in their early years, let us end the injustice and abolish corporal punishment to those still in classrooms, madrassahs, homes, and protect what we can.

No child is safe from physical or mental harm where there’s corporal punishment. It needs to be abolished and should have been abolished in 1971.

Sir Frank Peters is a former newspaper and magazine publisher and editor, a humanitarian, a royal goodwill ambassador and Honorary Member of the Bangladesh Freedom Fighters and a foreign friend of Bangladesh )