Corrupt Shalishkers Obstacles in the Way of Ensuring Fair Justice
Shalish is playing an important role in resolving disputes and maintaining social peace, tranquility in the rural area. In the same way, Shalish has saved the rural people from the suffering and hazards of the formal courts. In addition to the state Justice system, Shalish or the social justice system has brought peace and security to the people in order to eliminate various inconsistencies and injustices in society. And the implementation of these activities has been possible for some beneficent Shalishkers. The Shalishkers considered themselves proud by expressing their sense of responsibility and morality in these voluntary works. But over time, that is likely to change.
Village Shalish or social justice system is not contradictory to existing laws rather it is a recognized judicial system by law. The practice of shalish has been going on since ancient times. There are many aspects of Shalish or social justice system such as:
A. Creating a judicial structure based on a preliminary concept.
B. Assimilate the statements of both parties and concerned persons by following a specific course of action.
C. Verify the signs of the incident and complete other ancillary work.
D. Identify judicial issues.
E. To make a self-reliant and practical decision based on the analysis of all aspects of the case.
But it is a matter of regret that in some cases these simple approaches are complicated by some greedy Shalishkers. Helpless accusers of the village have to suffer extreme misery. At one stage, thus helpless people get in frustration and violence spread in the society. Society is going towards evil consequences.
Then there is the matter of deposits. A large sum of money is said to be deposited by the disputing parties for the smooth completion of the Shalish. The issue of depositing money is nothing but embezzlement of money from both parties. Moreover, these corrupt Shalishkers never want the Shalish to end soon. Because, if the Shalish is completed early, first of all, they have no chance to capitalize on the disputing parties. Secondly, they have to face the difficult reality of returning the deposit. There is also the example that, Year after year has passed but the Shalish is not ending.
In the past, Shalish was an important system of resolving disputes in rural areas. The role of the state system as well as the rural arbitration system in eliminating various inconsistencies in the society was commendable. Shalish has saved the lives of many rudderless people. Liberating society from innumerable conflicts and anarchy.
Moreover, rural people always try to avoid the lengthy and expensive process of formal courts. These people want small disputes to be settled locally without going to court. The greedy Shalishkers exploit this simplicity of the helpless villagers and harass them. Now, these people are biased in somehow before sitting in the Shalish. Ignoring the principle of justice, became attracted to bias. Thus social acceptance of Shalish is declining over the years; however, finding no feasible alternatives in hand marginalized people of the Village area still depends on Shalish very much.
Bangladesh is one of the developing countries in the world and most of its population lives in villages. So, Shalish is very important for rural people. In this situation, the benefactors of society have to come forward to uphold the tradition of the village Shalish or social justice. Society needs to get rid of these hired Shalishkers. People must be freed from the sword of punishment called injustice in the name of justice. The position of these selfish Shalishkers in society is definitely not strong. They made loud noises and were not strong enough to speak fluently. They look glamorous, but inside they are empty.
Writer:
Shah Jahan Al Sadaf
Student, Department of Law
Comilla University, Bangladesh
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