India is becoming a dangerous place to live day by day. A female driver was badly beaten up by another driver in front of DPS Vasant Kunj in a case of road rage. A group of hooligans thrashed passengers and assaulted girl students in a moving train. Hindu and Muslim mobs go on rampages at the drop of a hat. Doctors don’t turn up even while knowing the patient is dying. And of late, kangaroo courts in Bihar have been punishing suspects with great brutality. What does it signify?
A simmering civil unrest and total lack of justice. People don’t believe in law. Although film personalities are being sent to jail with great fanfare the common person on the street and in the villages have by now accepted that justice doesn’t exist in our country and in most of the cases police is more dangerous than the criminals. The pathetic conditions in our country have brought even law-abiding citizens to a sub-human level. Criminals roam around committing crimes with impunity and the civilians can either face daily humiliations submissively or turn into a mob and take law into their own hands.
These bursts of violence also show a deep-rooted depression. People have simply given up on their country, its people and its surroundings. Try to say hello to some stranger and you’ll know what I’m trying to say. See how people treat public facilities and places. See how we treat people from different classes and economic backgrounds.
I think both our religious ethics and social morals are all fucked up. In theory our religions preach love but in practice they perpetuate hatred and suspicion. Does it happen anywhere else that people who build a temple cannot enter that temple? Similarly, our social feelings never picked up after the independence. Whatever love we had for the country left with the British. In the name of love for country we merely have jingoism and charade. No wonder the BJP can come to power after promising a temple and the Congress strives for power by pitching communities against each other; we don’t have even a single political party in the country that truly fights for the betterment of the country.
Who is to blame for this mess? Our collective national conscious to a great extent, and I think the way we allegedly got independence. Mahatma Gandhi’s ways of non-violence perhaps gave rise to a population that was devoid of any fighting spirit. We became used to accepting violence, first from the British and then from our own oppressors. Violence is an injustice, and when you accept injustice than you lose sense of justice. And even if you accept it, at least don’t wrap it in the garb of non-violence. We were too weak, mentally and physically, to beat the shit out of them, and that was that. As a race we have been inferior and this should have been tackled either during our struggle for independence or immediately after that. Our country would have been better off had we kicked the British out with force. The centuries of defeatism and segmentation would have washed off. We should have had a general, not a Mahatma.
Consequently, as a civilization we are too weak. We turn barbaric when we face a submissive opponent and we become helpless (peace-loving) victims when a strong opponent attacks us, whether from within the country or from outside.
Solution? Abolish all kinds of discriminations severely. Let people be proud of their country by making every citizen important by providing equal opportunities and justice. Instill civil sense in them and let them know law is the same for everyone. Root out politicians that use religion and caste to remain in power.
Two things should be free in our country: healthy food (this includes safe drinking water) and primary education. Make everything else expensive if need be. Strong, educated people mean a healthy country.
When people are healthy, educated and happy, they don’t commit crimes, and they don’t tolerate injustice.
[tags]politics, crime, nation building[/tags]
