Woman Respect and My Stance

A community train for the University of Chittagong students. The train known as ‘Shuttle’. I got into a car on the Shuttle, looking for a seat, and so did a girl. All the seats were all but booked. The girl asked a student on her right side, “Who grabbed the seat, putting a bag of potatoes?" The boy who sat there answered that he didn’t know. At once, a boy came here quickly, and let the seat go to his dear one, keeping aside the bag of potatoes. The girl, turning to her left, found another student sitting and a bag lying. So, she asked gently the boy who the person was kept the bag. A seat in the Shuttle looks like a bench where two students can comfortably sit, but three may also sit on a bench. The boy who grabbed one seat using a bag of potatoes questioned the girl, “That's my bag! Whose bag means?”. Shocked! The girl was completely shocked upon receiving a hard-hitting question that she didn’t ever expect. She didn’t sound a word; perhaps she thought him a political personality.

Again, the boy let his another familiar girl have the seat. However, a friend of the boy made a space for the victim girl. I was furious as I found the girl being insulted badly because all the students, back and forth and left and right, had watched the incident, but nobody could dare to speak a word against the boy for his rudeness. I kept my boiling blood calm for a while. And I thought, it’s unwise to spread anger over an angry man.

The Shuttle crossed walking a few kilometers. I asked the boy of which Hall he is a resident. Hall is actually an authorized resident for the students of the University of Chittagong. He didn’t live in any Halls he informed me. I asked him then about his session and subject. He told me, “2017–18 academic year, Economics.” As I was his senior, I raised a question: “Was it good what and how you behaved with the girl?” He denied that he didn’t question her rudely. I said, “Look, all the students here have watched.” At one point, the victim girl broke out of her silence and strongly argued that the way he behaved was hard. From another side, a friend of the boy tried to calm me down. So, I said "Sorry" to the victim girl in favor of the boy, who showed his good behavior that hurt the girl.