Opinion | Do Good, Have Good!

Blue Collar Crime also called Street Crime is the criminal offense in a public place which nowadays is common in the UT of J&K. Simply street crime is what we normally think of when we say “Crime”. And there has been an increase in street crime in our UT from a couple of years such as mugging and robbery, drug dealing and shoplifting, pick pocketing and purse snatches and all that sort of thing. Woman harassment and target killing is also street crime that is newly introduced .The rise in blue collar crime is a symptom of a deep-seated malaise in Kashmir’s society ,having its origin in issues of growing unemployment and inequality_ huge difference in status and wealth between the rich and the poor. When the lower class people look at the fine jewelry, brand new cars and brand new advanced cell phones, their heart throbs for their luxury life, which they cannot afford. As a result they are desperate to make money by any means possible. Thus they commit crime and resort to illegal means to attain their niceties. So poor people will steal from the rich and the rich will use the poor people to become even richer will continue here in our society, giving birth to different crimes.

But there are some other factors too like lawlessness, backwardness and double standards ubiquitous in the society. Also, some impute attributes in individuals like greed, indifference, apathy, jealousy, showing off, being unduly competitive blah blah blah can lead people to commit crimes. Poverty unlike these is an external incitement and not an inherent negative attribute of an individual.

Everyday stories of street crime appear in the news headlines, but has any solution been catered to?

The most common street crime in Kashmir these days is mobile snatching; jewelry snatching .These robbers come well prepared physically and mentally to commit the crime. Anytime at anyplace ,by any means ,these criminals get hold of helpless and innocent people walking on the streets and rob them of all valuables, cash, cell phones etc .Few get caught by police but there are some gangs that are becoming  unchallenged .

Another blue collar crime is murder and woman harassment. For example, few months ago in an extremely shocking incident, a 30 year old woman was brutally murdered and raped and her body was chopped into pieces by a man in district Budgam. It was perhaps the 1st murder of such a kind.

An 8 year -old girl was murdered by her father in Lolab area of district Kupwara in April this year. A 16 year -old boy killed a man for objecting to relationship with his daughter 1june of this year.

Also a few days ago a teacher and a principal harassed their students in two different schools.

On June 22 two young boys kidnapped and raped a girl in the hotel of Kangan and in another case a young boy was killed by his friend.

Another school teacher was suspended and arrested of alleged sexual assault on a 7th class female student in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district on June 22.

The crime rate in Kashmir may not be as high as in other States / UTs of India but it’s crucial to raise awareness about the laws implemented by any failure to do so will likely result in raising such issues and crimes .As increasing lawlessness in cities become the alarming problem everywhere .The majority of people are still unaware of thermo cause of this menace.

Some of the research has proved that the majority of the crimes that are just being done by the young, poor just because of the poverty in their neighbourhood. They are lacking the basic necessities.So fighting or struggle for the bread ,cloth and shelter and dropping from the schools  is forcing them to get involved in criminal activities .Like ,teenagers normally neglected or those whose academic achievements don’t meet the expected standards usually fall prey to negative peer influence and  also leads to alcohol and drug addiction in some cases. Drug abuse is gradually going up our young children, as drugs reduce self-consciousness to decisions and impairs judgment hence, encouraging an individual to commit crime.

The main cause of high crime rates are directly linked to the social/economic situation of any given area. Therefore in order to bring an end to this evil or crime we must educate our children and youth because only educated children and youth can make up strong and peaceful pillars of its nation. To wipe out blue collar crimes (street crimes) from our society, we need to revert back to the basics of our Islam. We must also build a strong and  non-toxic  family fabric ,parents should give care, time  to their children – whether rich or poor parents .If principle of equality ,justice and peace are adopted ,it would soon show the fruitful results InShaAllah and will help to vanish blue collar crimes to some extent.

As a crime is committed when a law is violated or broken. The filing of charges doesn’t change that. What will change the conviction for committing the crime? So even if it is an organized crime which has scandalous patronage from different quarters, we need to look into our core and trace the roots of the criminals. CCTV cameras should be installed at the streets, especially crime prone streets / areas to assist the police in catching the criminals.

The Government should take some adequate steps to control these crimes in Kashmir and other parts of the country to create a peaceful atmosphere for its citizens. The police need to work closely with the community, because only community policing as a strategy can encourage people to eschew fear and come forward to report the crime and hence, enhance public safety.

– The writer  is a social activist, benefactress and teacher and can be reached at ulfatanwar906@gmail.com