Are We Civilized?

The recent event in Delhi has prompted me to question our nature as a society and a country.  The details of the crime were shocking in its nature and chilling in its brutality. It makes one want to question the very notion of living in a civilized world. Are we?

It was appalling that the perpetuators took it upon themselves to “punish” a 20 yr old by beating her with an iron before gang raping her and throwing her half naked on to the side of the road from a moving bus. And what might her ‘crime’ be; she went to a movie late night with a boy.  That she fought back when these animals began to harass her and her friend.  I wonder if even cavemen thought this way.

The reason for someone doing this may be varied. From alcoholism to mental instability to basic criminality. You can even say economic factors contributed to this crime. But to me the issue is more deep rooted than that. This is not the first incident that we have heard recently coming out of our country. It’s not going to be the last. This one has gained such significance only because the sheer brutality of it is unprecedented.
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I believe one of the best yardsticks of a civilized society is in how we treat our women.  So long as our wives are bullied and beaten into submission, we are not civilized. So long as we do feticide of our daughters we are not civilized. So long as our sisters cannot go out in the night without fearing their safety or being harassed, we definitely are not civilized.

We can debate about what the ideal punishment is for these animals. I have heard death penalty, social ostracizing and life imprisonments. But what punishment will make up for the trauma she has suffered. What will be justice if, heaven forbids, she succumbs to her injuries and passes away. Society is the biggest loser here as it will lose a medical student, someone who was getting trained to save lives.  Mind you, I am not saying that these brutes are to be left alone.  They should be brought to justice before a law that I believe is too lenient and not enough of a deterrent to crimes like these. But that’s a topic for another day.

For a country that gave the world Kamasutra and Khajurao temple we seem to have very weird notion of morality and culture. That notwithstanding, why are groups or individuals enforcing their sense of morality on others. We are a country based on tolerance. Be it for each other’s views, religion, caste or sex, we Indians are supposed to at least be tolerant of each other’s beliefs and way of life.  Sadly I see this basic tenant of our “Indianness” eroding slowly away in all walks of life. Until we get back to that we do not have any right to be referred to as civilized.