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By now, we have all seen the sickening images coming out of various tourist attractions in Sylhet and are appalled at the wholesale plunder of Nature. The once-beautiful white stones, sand dunes and green hills in the iconic Shadapathor and other areas are gone. What remains are scarred, barren landscapes. It is as if a wicked enemy has attacked and robbed the land and abandoned it to emptiness. This is a tragic sight in every sense. But what makes this destruction even more painful is that the plunderers are not foreign invaders or outsiders. They are the very people who live off the land and depend on it, yet they did not hesitate to strip it bare at the first chance.
Multiple media reports have exposed how those responsible for systematically extracting stones, sand and levelling hills operated with impunity right under the administration's nose. These individuals are not only politically connected but also hold positions in rival parties while posturing as community leaders. With theirapparent bitter rivalry behind, they joined hands in stealing stones. Their unity in this criminal enterprise, even amid fierce partisan rivalry and a ban on one party's activities after the July 2024 uprising, reinforces the widespread belief that criminals and thugs make strange bed fellows in politics. The fact that these aspiring leaders, some of whom are preparing to contest the upcoming February elections, are looting national wealth is a grim warning for the country. It also speaks volumes about the kind of leadership political parties cultivate when such men are allowed to climb the ranks.
When questioned about how this plunder occurred, environment, forest and climate change adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan rightly noted that such large-scale looting could not have happened without the involvement of the local administration. If not actively complicit, they were undoubtedly silent accomplices, turning a blind eye as hundreds of boats carried away stolen resources day and night right before their very eyes. While her assessment of the local administration's activities is correct, her office cannot escape blame. This theft occurred on her government's watch. They had the authority to stop it and failed to act. In the aftermath of a mass uprising fuelled by demands for change, this continued collusion between political parties and local authorities is nothing less than a bitter betrayal. When the guardians of the law become partners in crime, what hope is left for ordinary citizens? This creates a system of impunity where a powerful few can operate above the law and do whatever they want.
On social media, some have attempted to rationalise this plunder by arguing that people must eat and survival is more important than preserving Nature. Needless to say, this line of reasoning is both shallow and dangerous. This destruction was never a case of a few desperate individuals taking a little to get by. It was an organised operation that has destroyed several natural heritage sites forever. Even if we were to accept the claim that hunger motivated this looting, it would be like burning down one's home for a single night's warmth, with no thought for tomorrow's shelter. The profit from selling those stones will vanish quickly. What will they eat then, when the natural beauty is gone, the tourists stop coming and the very land that sustained them lie in ruins?
Unfortunately, this prioritisation of selfish gain over collective need is not confined to the brazen plunder of Sylhet alone. It is mirrored in the smaller, everyday crimes we have come to tolerate. Take, for example, the stealing of manhole lids. Their sole purpose is to keep people safe from falling in, yet across the country these heavy iron covers are pried off and sold for scrap. Each stolen cover fetches only a pittance, but the open holes become death traps. Even the thief's own mother or child could fall into the open manhole and die. In the pursuit of petty profit, they become willing to endanger the very people they love.
This mindset has spread far beyond our streets and is now staining our image abroad. Travel vlogger "Nadir On The Go" recently noted that Bangladeshi passport holders are being denied tourist visas with increasing frequency. Why, you ask? This is because too many of our compatriots have forged documents, misused visas or overstayed illegally. A handful commit the crimes, but the stigma falls on everyone. The net result is humiliation for the entire nation.
Why is it that our people no longer feel any moral restraint when choosing the wrong path? How did a culture that once valued honesty become one that worships wealth, no matter how it is acquired? This moral collapse is visible in our so-called "respectable" people who show off luxury cars and big houses, even though their money came from corruption, fraud and exploitation. But instead of being looked down on, they are praised. Theft, if it brings vast riches, is not just overlooked but admired. A thief clever enough to evade punishment is hailed not as a criminal, but as a hero. It is this twisted logic that allows the powerful to loot rivers and hills in Sylhet with impunity, just as it drives petty thieves to steal manhole lids.
This is the complete opposite of what happens in societies with low corruption. In those places, a powerful sense of shame acts as the most effective social regulator. In Japan, for instance, stealing is unheard of because it is the absolute opposite of honour. In ours, though, it seems that those with the least shame are the ones who want everyone to respect them the most.
Yet, shame is not entirely gone from us. Just last May in Natore, a young housewife took her own life after her husband was caught stealing fish from a neighbour's pond. She was so overcome with embarrassment that she couldn't go on living. Tragic as her act was, it shows that the moral instinct of shame still survives in some innocent hearts. Our hope for a better society depends on nurturing this feeling, where wrongdoing in all its forms will be met with disgrace, not praise.