The Evil In Our Midst.

Right about the time I read Udayan Namboodri’s article on comparing corruption in India versus the evil in the world, my twelve-year-old son was writing a paper on Vlad the Impaler. He told me that Vlad was one of the most evil men ever. I told him that he was just one of the many. I gave him some examples. What I could not tell him are the examples of evil in our day to day lives. He is still too young for that.

Here is what Namboodri wrote in his article: The term “banality of evil” was coined originally by Hannah Arendt, a famous political scientist who went to Jerusalem to cover the trial of Adolf Eichmann. Eichmann initially took the stand wearing a deadpan expression, which made most people imagine how hopelessly dark and bureaucratic was the core of the Nazi mass-murder machine.

Evil in real life does not go around growling “kitne aadmi thay” like Amjad Khan’s Gabbar or “Mogambo khush hua” like Amrish Puri. Evil in real life is the harmless looking old woman who forces her daughter in law to abort her female fetus or worse, kill the baby girl. You will go past this person on a daily basis and not know it. Evil in real life is the middle class family, which exploits a child servant on a daily basis and robbing the kid of the most precious of Bholenath’s gifts – innocence.

If you look at various examples of cruelty in the history of mankind, you will realize that most evil goes unpunished. Hitler was punished. Jews in the media and elsewhere have used all their power to ensure that not a day goes by when people are reminded on the Holocaust. I understand and support them wholeheartedly. But I will cite some examples which in sheer cruelty match up with Hitler’s evil while others aspire to do so.

1. Pakistanis killed a very large number (upto Six lakh by some estmates) of Bangladeshis at a kill rate that even the Nazis could not maintain. Did anyone get punished? Tikka Khan lived comfortable till well into his eighties. Other army butchers got promoted and became prominent members of Pakistani society.

2. Jalianwalabagh massacre. Even more impressive kill rate. Thanks to Amar Shaheed Udham Singh one of the perpetrators got punished. But what about the others? What about the Indian soldiers who fired upon their brothers and sisters?

3. Entire Mughal period is replete with examples of cruelty inflicted upon Hindus but our history books have been sanitized and now the Muslims have become the victims only to be protected by our pseudo-secular champions. Cruelty covered up by a cruel joke.

4. All the people killed during the partition of the country because a slew of selfish decisions made by leaders who are now worshipped.

5. Corruption. Yes. Think about it. This is one evil which does not kill directly but it does so slowly in a way like acid dissolves metal. You know exactly what I am talking about.

6. Social practices like dowry, female feticide, killing of female babies and honor killings are all rampant practices in India which still confound any self respecting Hindu. As we have written on this blog many many times that while all kinds of female deities are worshipped in India, Indian girls are treated with an inexplicable disdain.

These are a few examples of absolute evil in just our sub-continent. Some of it happened in the past while others go on in front of our eyes. As Edmund Burke said: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” But what can we do you ask? Of course in some cases we need to pick up a weapon or have a time machine – luxuries we cannot afford. But the victims of social evil, which happens right in front of our eyes, could use a helping hand. It is our dharma. It is our Karma. If we don’t do anything about it then we have no right to call ourselves Hindus.

A MUST READ is at : http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/267181/20111214/india-40-million-missing-girls-problem-gendercide.htm
The Namboodri article can be read at: http://dailypioneer.com/columnists/item/50688-the-banality-of-evil.html

Our blogs on related subjects are as follows:
http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2011/06/worship-durga-ma-kill-girls.html
http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2011/01/domestic-violence-and-future-of-indian.html
http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2010/09/dowry-and-divorce-banes-of-indian.html