Syed Mustafa Ahmad
There are many evils prevalent in our society. Some of them are attached with it since time immemorial. But some have recently entered into our society. The evils prevalent in our society are: dowry, drug addiction, domestic violence, female foeticide, female infanticide, illegal abortions, corruption, gender inequality, racism, human trafficking, casteism, poverty, food adulteration, hoarding, etc., to name a few. All these evils adversely affect our lives. All the evils are against humanity. But some are graver than others. Like female infanticide and female foeticide are against humanity and the natural plan. No one has the liberty to kill a living being especially a human being. It directly attacks the very survival of generations. But this sort of behavior is not the culmination of some days; but it has a long history that slowly and steadily prepared the ground for such a behavior that we see in our society. Here, I would like to throw some light over some causes that will make us understand the real nature of these evils. The first cause responsible for these evils is materialism. This materialism is such a path that is to be treaded upon carefully. It has the potential of creating as well as destroying. But the experience shows that a majority of people are destroyed by the harmful side of materialism. They worship materialism. They store it, thinking that it will remain with them forever. Humanity is humiliated in the pursuit of this. The destruction of the Central Asia, Myanmar, Syria, Kashmir, Africa, etc., to name a few has made it clear to us that when the Crown of humanity acts against his or her capacity, the fate of the whole world is destined to be destructive. This destruction gives rise to a number of other crimes. Drug addiction, sex scandals, human trafficking, etc., happen in these areas because in the backdrop of failure of the government, might becomes right. Anti-social elements take place of morality and the result is that the society falls into an abyss of immortality, where from is very difficult to come out. The second cause responsible for these evils is religiosity. Religions almost teach peace and comfort. There are some rare occasions when violence of very less magnitude is permitted but on some criteria. In today’s world, religiosity has taken the place of religion. It can also be defined as the distorted version of any religion. Dowry system in Islam has been permitted on the pretext that the last Prophet Muhammad ( PBUH) gave his daughter Hazrat Fatima some household things, at the time of her marriage. The things discussed in the most authentic books show that they were some household things and nothing more like a cushion with date leaves. This incident is taken as a condition for forceful dowry. A girl is forced by her in-laws to bring the modern gadgets from her parents’ home. But the reality is that when a father according to his wish gives some things to his daughter as a heart’s contentment, it is legal. But when it becomes the matter of life and death, it becomes religiosity and becomes a life-taking evil. Such an attitude attacks the basis of humanity and there is open ground to become frustrated. Frustration brings so many evils.
Overall, the humanity has become the causality and such trends are above the laws and regulations.
The third cause responsible for this is that we lack scientific temper. Every religious and non-religious text stresses upon this fact that a person should ponder over the creation of the Universe. The perfect design of the Universe will make a person realize that there is someone who is the most intelligent and the perfect designer. The diversity among the living beings will allow him or her to appreciate his or her Creator. The diversity among the non-living things will also leave him or her amazed. The natural phenomena will force him or her to think that they happen due to natural causes. There is no human contribution in it. This kind of mindset is an asset for the whole humanity. In contrast, the superstitious mind never thinks like this. He or she fears the natural phenomena. The rainbow is something to be worshipped. The big trees on account of their size are to be called sacred. Animals are for the service of man but in a humanitarian manner, are worshipped without any solid base. God becomes happy when we help each other, regardless of colour, age, religion, etc. But what when we sacrificehuman beings to appease gods, means that we are more nasty than animals. God hates violence but we kill each other on the pretext that certain people bring ill-omen and they should be killed instantly. This approach is quite dangerous and its fruits are quite bitter to taste. The fourth cause responsible for these evils is the lenient government. They actually are hand in glove. If they are serious, no crime will occur on large scale. The culprits should be dealt harshly. There should be no complacency in punishing the culprits. The culprits, due to many reasons, get freedom without much pain. The strict laws will stop the smooth growth of crimes. In politics, a ruler should be an embodiment of both mercy and dread. A ruler will rule according to the situations. The other side of him or her that is dread, is more important in the contemporary world. The language of love is not understood by the majority of people. So, it becomes necessary to get them on the right track by the use of stick. I feel it is nice to punish the guilty so that others get a lesson. It will somehow bring down the graph of evils down. The fifth and the last cause in my opinion is that there is gender inequality. A girl and a boy are discriminated on the basis of useless things. A boy is generally taken as a source of pride while a girl as a source of shame. This mindset will not allow girls to live. The ways will be sought to kill them so that the shame they bring with them is ended forever. It gives right to female foeticide, female infanticide and domestic violence. Our social structure makes it possible to distinguish between a boy and a girl. A girl is always looked with suspicion. Most of the times, boys get scot free while girls are subjected to different harassments for the same activity that is done by a boy. This inequality is found everywhere. From homes to the markets, the story is same. This atmosphere brings no comfort but only gloom and frustration. And we are eyewitnesses to this. No day passes without some girl raped, teased, molested, etc., due to this futile concept. It is a long story of misery with no end in future. The present is the mirror of future and when the present situation is gloomy and there is nothing done on the ground level to set it right, the future will be gloomier. We call ourselves modern but we still live in an orthodox manner. We have not understood the reality of a man’s creation. If we had understood it in the real sense, we would have mended our ways. If someone knows it, he or she still follows others and the society becomes devoid of the ethically good persons who create so many problems for the society, it times for crimes to stop occurring and re-occurring again and again. Overall, the humanity has become the causality and such trends are above the laws and regulations.
(The author is a freelancer and writes regularly for “ Kashmir Horizon” .Views are his own [email protected])