Are we a Civilized Nation?

I have sometimes been told that I see only the negative side of events in India. I do not agree with this assessment but can you blame me when I feel totally shocked and despondent when I see headlines like the following?

Shocking News item - 1

• Woman, baby die after hospital refuses admission.

Kanpur: A dalit woman and her new born child died when she was forced to give birth on a road after doctors refused to admit her.
The doctors refused her admission, as she did not have the money to pay the hospital.

News item - 2

• Dalit paraded half-naked for stealing

Patna: A middle-aged Dalit woman in Bihar was tonsured and paraded half-naked on the orders of the husband of a woman village head for allegedly stealing a few bananas.

Basra Devi, in her mid 50s, of Balua Basanta village in Vaishali district was meted out the “punishment” on Saturday. “I was forcibly tonsured and paraded half-naked in the village by the people despite pleading that I was innocent,” Besra Devi said.
According to villagers, after she refused to pay a fine her head was shaved. “How can I pay a fine when I don’t have enough to eat?” she said.

News item - 3

A few days ago, some landowners chopped off the fingers of a 10-year-old Dalit girl, Khusbu, for plucking a few leaves of spinach from a vegetable field in a village in Bhagalpur district.

A Dalit youth was beaten and humiliated in public by some powerful people in a village in Muzaffarpur district after he refused to work in a field without wages.

News item - 4

• Turned away by hospital, woman delivers in parking lot.

Medical Negligence: This is not the first time doctors at the same hospital have refused poor patients in critical condition.
Gurgaon: In Gurgaon, there is news of a tragic case of medical indifference. A woman lost her baby due to lack of medical attention at the right time.

Doctors at Gurgaon Civil Hospital refused to deliver the baby as they felt the case was complicated. She delivered the baby in the parking lot after she was turned out of the hospital. The baby died soon after.

Another baby had died in a similar manner a few months ago but the hospital authority had completely ignored the case.

“We were told to take the child to Delhi after a few hours because the doctors said that the case was very complicated. But she gave birth on the pavement,” said the lady’s husband.

Now tell me - Am I to be blamed if I feel despondent?

I may add that no doubt our media is becoming more and more vigilant and is these days quick to draw public attention to such grave societal ills. But I can wager that for every such tragedy reported, many more may go unreported since the powers that be in many areas are capable of preventing poor people from reporting such atrocities to the media.

There is another aspect that often goes un-discussed in the media and in public in general — it is the middle castes and not the so called forward castes that are largely responsible for such acts of brutality. But our politically correct media have not yet summoned the courage to call a spade a spade.

A third aspect is that such gross acts of caste hatred are more evident in North India than say in the south. There are historical reasons for this. Thus the reform movements of Narayana Guru in Kerala, the Justice Party movement in Tamilnadu, the social reforms of Maharajas of Mysore in late 19th and early 20th century brought the worst acts of caste hatred—the kind we now see in North India to almost an end. I do agree that more needs to be done.

You may notice that the politically, socially and economically powerful OBC class is cornering the handouts of an obliging political class. Now that this class has tasted blood following the Supreme Court judgement upholding reservations in higher education – there will be no stopping them. They have already demanded reservations in the judiciary. Also on the cards is reservations in the private sector.

I am reminded of something an India sociologist said in the context of merit being of no significance anymore in our country. The sociologist said that merit seems to matter and caste religion no bar only in Cricket, films and the underworld.

If we are so brutal to fellow human beings what chance do animals stand in India? Ask the Tiger. The animal not Tiger Memon the gangster!