Some Thoughts on the Gangrape in India

Since times immemorial two deterrents have prevented people from acting out their animal impulses, the external deterrent of law and an inner deterrent of conscience. In India both have become weak as demonstrated by the gang rape in Delhi. The former, although now at its nadir was always plagued by inefficient bureaucracy and rampant corruption. But the latter has deteriorated faster in the free democratic secular republic of India faster than ever before in the history of India. 

The inner conscience has been traditionally built by religion, not organized religion, not the religion of meaningless rituals to placate Gods for selfish ends, but by dharma or righteous conduct.  Dharma is what sustains this world.  Dharma or deen-o-iman of Islam, Tem Commandments of Christianity and Dhamma of Buddhism teach those values, those mores and those behaviors that make a man a man. These values are passed on by parents, by religious institutions and by schools. And that is where India has failed miserably.

In post independence India religion, in the name of secularism, was removed from the schools and was maligned by politicians who used it for electoral purposes - Congress party maligning the majority religion to appease minorities and BJP stroking passions by assuming the mantle of its savior. While politicians all over the world, even in secular countries like the United States use religion as a moralizing force, freely quoting from scriptures to make a moral point, politicians in India discard or use religion only as an electoral weapon.

Religious institutions and leaders, too, lost the true purpose of dharma, of maintaining rita or order or Islam or peace in the world by producing the fear of karma phal or khauphe khuda or fear of the wrath of God. Instead of working selflessly, from village to village, city to city, to promote moral values and conduct, as the itinerant mendicants or the katha vachaks, tabligis, fakirs and saints of medieval and ancient India, they opened big institutions to get worshiped as Gods by selling self improvement to the newly rich middle class or to worship God for personal gains.

If crimes such as the heinous gang rape of Delhi have to be controlled we will have to work on deterrents, the external deterrent of law and the inner deterrent of conscience.  While the politicians and administrators should work to improve law and order, the religious leader and institutions should work on improving moral values. Instead of wasting their resources on improving the world hereafter they should focus here on earth. Instead of making huge places of worship, they should work to make huge hearts of their followers, hearts that will be willing to sacrifice their own selfish ends for others; hearts that will not hurt one another physically or economically.  The focus of religion should be dharma or righteous conduct and not meaningless rituals and propitiation for personal good.