The adult members of society have no time to think about such abandoned children fending for themselves on the street. On the contrary, they are apt at being so harsh and unforgiving towards those weak and unfed ones.***

The Saturday issue of this paper carried the photograph of a heart-rending scene on its third page. The caption of the picture did not provide any details of the two minor children on a rickshaw surrounded by a furious-looking mob. Though it was a still photograph, one could still sense the direction all those hands were moving and that was to hit the children. Why was the mob so cruel towards those children? What could be gathered from the caption was that the children committed the "grave sin" of "stealing food to satisfy their hunger." And that has infuriated the mob. They appeared to be too outraged at the "crime" those two hapless, hungry minors had committed! The human beings that comprised the mindless mob had as if never come across any adult member of society so low as to steal other people's money or make off with any other kind of valuables! Have they never seen a purported custodian appropriating something belonging to others he or she is supposed to protect? Or didn't they ever experience in their own lives or seen their relations or acquaintances being made to suffer the misfortune that the powerful are grabbing their assets and they are unable to protect their possessions!

We have no knowledge if ever any angry mob as the one in the picture dared to lift their hands to hit such powerful member of society. We have never even heard of any such crowd giving the corrupt people, who are stealing public properties day in, day out, a good beating like they are doing in the case of the two helpless minors.

What kind of offence those two children were capable of committing? They certainly were not able to commit any big crime that needs the physical strength and brain of an adult person to materialise. An act of burglary, for instance, requires the intelligence of an adult person to think it up ahead and then have all other paraphernalia to put the scheme into action.

So, what was the damage? Well, these two minors had taken away some edibles from a shop or any other place without the permission of the owner only to satisfy their hunger. Why they had to adopt such means, no one in the crowd cared to ask. What they were doing is unleashing the barbarity hidden in them, under their civilised-looking garments, on those two small children. The way they were treating those two helpless children, it was hard to believe they had ever been children themselves.

Who among that enraged group of people have not had any experience of ripping off sweetmeats or pickles from the kitchen unbeknown to their parents? Most of those in the mob have probably had such experience in their childhood, and perhaps, they take a kind of nostalgic pleasure in telling those childhood exploits to their progeny. And some would even go further to narrate with a kind of self-indulging delight how they stole their neighbour's chicken under cover of darkness or even their livestock from the goat-shed and had a feast over those animals. But they would like to stress at the same time that those instances were part of their juvenile delinquency and they did not really mean to steal, but they did steal all the same, not out of any real need, but for pure fun. Oh what a cogent logic for stealing!

But alas! The two children as shown in the picture were too hungry to afford any fun. To all probabilities, they had none to look after them. But the people in the crowd had no time to tarry a moment and ask themselves: Why had those minors none to feed them? Had they not any parents? Did they ask these children before assaulting them why were they stealing food? Why were they taking such a risk without going for scrounging for food, say, from some kind person, or did they not have any other alternative means to fill their two small bellies?

Did these questions ever cross their mind?

No. The adult members of society have no time to think about such abandoned children fending for themselves on the street. On the contrary, they are apt at being so harsh and unforgiving towards those weak and unfed ones.

We have no qualm about wasting so much foods and drink at the social occasions taking place everyday, but our heart sinks when some hungry child knocks at their door for a morsel of food. Our children have plenty to consume and waste. But the children on the street have to go hungry day after day or even have to jostle with the dog or the crow for any leftovers in the garbage heap on the roadside.

In such a society where there are children like Piya and Sumon, who have no roof over their heads, where their days pass like animals only in search of some food, where they have no guardian to give them the warmth of love and care, what right do we have to punish them for stealing some food? On the other hand, those who were so angry at them and were slapping and punching the two children without mercy were the real offenders and what were committing was nothing short of the worst kind of outrage!

It is not those two poor hungry kids, trying to protect themselves with their raised arms from the belligerent mob, who should be ashamed of their conduct. On the contrary, it is those infuriated barbarians in the so-called civilised citizens' garb, who are a crying shame on our whole society!

The writer is Editor, Science&Life, The Daily Star.