No society is completely free of evil. The only difference is that of degree. When it goes beyond a point it threatens the very foundation of a stable society. For past some time we, as a society, are witnessing some harrowing instances. And all this calls for serious reflection, and even more serious follow up in terms of concrete action. Some of the disturbing trends in our society for past some years are stark rise in the cases of drug addiction. And now for last some months we have seen a good number of young people committing suicide.
What is also a hugely disturbing matter is a rise in domestic violence cases. If we add all these things it clearly depicts that something is seriously wrong with our society. The expressions concern over these destabilising trends is all but natural. As a living and conscientious society we must feel disturbed, and express serious concerns over what is happening in our society. Not just the civil society, government agencies have also been very vocal on these deviations found in our society. It is always commendable if a government department makes some special effort to curb such elements, or arrest the trends that contribute to deviations in society. Similarly, if a civil society formation comes forward and fights against the evil processes in the society, it is praiseworthy. But there are certain things that need reiteration on all such occasions.
First, for the government departments; law and punishment is not the sole way to eliminate such elements. Every wrong thing cannot be corrected by employing force. The long stick of law is a useful instrument but only when it is used wisely, and in tandem with other corrective measures.
Now the civil society formations, particularly those with a religious background. Sermonising and shaming are effective ways for holding back people from going astray, but it cannot work alone, and it doesn’t work always. We need to understand our society, and work on the reasons that lead to such deviations. In most of the cases reasons are psychological and financial. We need to rescue people there. The starting point is that we consider these people as victims, not criminals.