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THE root of violence is in the false sense of power that believes it can do anything because everything has been allowed in modern times and personal freedom has bordered on a sense of invincibility. This is the great illusion of our era, the belief that freedom is an unqualified licence rather than a structured privilege bound by moral and social obligations. We have to rethink our rights, our access to almost everything and revise the definition of ‘liberal’ because, clearly, the concept that ‘you are allowed to do whatever you want’ has been grossly promoted, misunderstood and, therefore, taken generally as a licence for all sorts of action, even rape.

The problem does not lie solely in individual criminals. Rather, it is embedded in a larger culture that has stripped accountability of freedom, eroding the fundamental principle that rights must be balanced by responsibilities. When people are conditioned to believe that their desires, no matter how perverse, can be acted upon without consequence, society as a whole suffers. What we face today is not just a crime but a structural failure that has allowed degeneracy to masquerade as liberty. This is why punishment alone will never be enough. The disease must be identified before it can be treated. Without understanding why such crimes occur, we will continue addressing only the symptoms while the root infection festers beneath the surface.

Cruelty must be met with strict laws. Not because strictness in itself is a virtue, but because certain levels of inhumanity cannot be dismantled with civility. But even before we discuss punishment, the very notion of amnesty must be contextualised. What does forgiveness mean when extended to those who do not recognise guilt? What is the value of a second chance given to someone who has never believed they did wrong in the first place? This is why our legal framework must first address the moral decay that breeds such crimes before attempting to rehabilitate the criminals. Without doing so, even the most severe penalties will be nothing more than temporary measures.

Rape and violence cannot be uprooted if we only punish the rapists. Punishment is necessary, but it is not a solution; it is only a response. The real work lies in dismantling the frame of mind that enables such crimes in the first place. And yet, this is where our greatest failure lies. Fear no longer frightens those who are no longer humans. Those who commit the worst atrocities do so because they no longer register fear, morality or consequence. A deadened conscience cannot be reached through reason and a society that continues to place its faith only in awareness campaigns and appeals to humanity is one that has already accepted defeat.

Besides capital punishment, the reason — near or remote, practical and theoretical — for such actions has to be identified. We have to clean the glass-frame from the inside; otherwise, even our regular wiping of the dust from the surface will still keep the portrait of Bangladesh dirty. The issue is systematic, the contamination far too deep for superficial solutions. If we do not examine the ideological and psychological underpinnings of such crimes, we will continue to be shocked by each new instance, unaware that the horror that we witness is not an anomaly but an inevitability of the world that we have created.

The problem is that the common people who ‘have to be’ good and are bigger in number can never be violent, even when necessary, and will, therefore, always remain unheard. They live under the illusion that righteousness alone is enough, that being morally correct carries a weight that will naturally counterbalance evil. But history proves otherwise. Almost all national matters are directly connected to them, but they themselves do not matter. Their voices are drowned out not just by those who are louder but by those who are willing to use force to impose their will. That is why, number- and not degree-wise, the greater good can never win against smaller evil and violence, once established, can never be remedied by love or placid individuals.

Since good is inherently incapable of being bad to fight the bad, other than ‘correction-violence,’ the only thing that can bring change is ‘law and power’ that should operate for the greater good but unfortunately does not. This is the paradox of our time: we claim to believe in justice, yet we lack the necessary will power to enforce it where it matters most. The structures meant to protect us fail precisely because they hesitate when hesitation is a luxury that we cannot afford. The law must be absolute, power must be decisive and there must be no room for interpretation when it comes to the most fundamental violations of human dignity.

Therefore, any immediate approach is doomed to fail because an immediate action inspires an immediate reaction and, thus, a vortex is created where the loop is sure to take us down, all of us. The cycle of violence cannot be broken by knee-jerk responses nor can it be resolved by short-term outrage. It requires a methodical, long-term approach that does not simply react to crises but anticipates and prevents them. But the real question remains: what are the indirect approaches towards this issue of extreme violence? And more important, what are the ways that will turn this mere population of a country into its citizens?

The answer does not lie in temporary policies or hollow promises. It lies in a fundamental restructuring of how we understand power, justice and societal responsibility. The people must be transformed from passive observers to active participants in their own governance. A nation is not built through slogans and idealistic rhetoric; it is forged through discipline, law and an unwavering commitment to moral integrity. If we continue to allow fear, ignorance and unchecked individualism to dictate our fate, we will remain trapped in the same vicious cycle of violence and decay.

True citizenship is not about holding a passport or following the law out of fear of punishment. It is about embodying a moral and intellectual consciousness that does not require external enforcement to function. This is the ultimate goal — to create a society where justice is not a reactive measure but an intrinsic value embedded in the collective psyche of its people. Until that happens, we will continue to deceive ourselves with half-measures and wishful thinking, watching as our nation deteriorates under the weight of its own inaction.

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Hisham M Nazer is an assistant professor of English in Varendra University.