Humanity in the country is under severe test, and it appears to be failing. As a nation and as a society, we are getting increasingly brutal and insensitive.
Two recent news items were extremely disturbing. The first was regarding the apathy of the passers-by towards road accident victims in Jaipur, and the second was the brutal rape of a five-year old girl in Delhi. Coming a few months after the heart-rending Nirbhaya incident, it appears that Kalyug has now fully enveloped this great land of Ram, Krishna, Rahim and Gandhi.
What sort of a society are we living in, where a new low is scaled every day? How deep is the abyss still, I wonder every day after the morning bout with the newspaper. Were the value systems never there in our society and we merely maintained a pretence of the same for centuries together? That’s obviously not true. Our sacred books tell us how values governed Indian society in ancient times and how the erring were swiftly and harshly punished. How does one then explain the series of brutal rapes in a society, the Scriptures of which harp on maintaining the dignity of the fair sex? How else can one justify a total lack of concern towards fellow humans as displayed by the passers-by who did not heed cries of assistance from a father whose wife and child lay grievously injured (and died thereafter) on the road?
The Father of the Nation lived his life for others, yet his sons and daughters — we, the people of India — live only for self, with absolutely no concern for fellow citizens who are in extreme distress and need our help urgently.
Yet our leaders will continue to parrot their old line of defending the juvenile. As a mature politician recently and rightly said that a guy fit enough to molest and rape is also fit enough to undergo punishment. But, will our VIPs ever appreciate this simple statement? Perhaps they will, the day a daughter or sister of the high and mighty goes through the ordeal that Nirbhaya or the five-year old went through. Till then they shall continue to narrate what in their opinion will get them votes. But they are wrong, any politician who comes forward and sets things right, even by institutionalising harsh and unpopular measures like hanging or castrating rapist juveniles, is bound to emerge as a hero of the nation at the next hustings.
Expecting the bureaucracy to pilot measures for a value- based society will, however, continue to remain a mirage. The recent display of rabid conduct by a senior police officer while he was handling aggrieved protesters at the hospital where the five-year old lay is, perhaps, in tune with what the bureaucracy has on offer for the masses it is recruited to serve.
While I have always searched for reasons that would make me proud of being a Hindu as well as an Indian, today my head hangs in shame over the acts of the society I live in. The fact remains that, even the much-maligned as well as poorer nations are far superior to us insofar as just and comprehensive handling of the masses by the rulers is concerned.
They don't' brutalise women like in our country, nor do they allow one who brutalises to get away without facing the same level of brutality that he inflicts on others. Our record at handling terror is also shameful. While an American would indeed be proud of the bold manner in which his Government has handled the Boston incident, our actions and reactions stand out in stark contrast, with even responsible leaders clamouring to save the lives of those who butchered their own countrymen or defiled sacred institutions. Sadly, our judicial machinery with all its inherent merits, has also never believed in the dictum that justice delayed is justice denied. At least their actions do not suggest that they do.
The common man on the streets and the high and mighty in the comfort of their luxurious homes know what is wrong. Each and every one of us knows what is wrong with the nation and uniformly expects and also waits for someone else to set it right. This has forever remained the biggest tragedy of this great land, also known as Bharatvarsh.
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