RECENTLY there was a spate of suicides by youngsters. Children in 7th, 8th and 9th standards, and teenagers in 12th standard and youth in professional courses like medical and engineering committed suicides. The entire nation was shocked and saddened by the very fact that those who are supposed to cheerfully see great dreams and work with enthusiasm to fulfil those dreams chose to die like this!
With sympathy towards these children’s families most of the people in Bharat squarely blamed our education system for the pressure on the children for these tragic suicides. From informal discussions to panel forums in media, everywhere the blame was put on the education system.
Last week when this was happening, I came across a 35-year-old smart corporate executive. He himself started speaking with me and suddenly he said, “These systems are not made for facilitating our work with the authorities; but they are designed specially to torture us.” I was shocked. Such a well-to-do and efficient executive was blaming the systems? He narrated his experience: He had been holding a corporate entry pass for airports as per rules. The pass is issued for year March to March. But to renew the same, the pass-holders have to apply in November. Then they issue a pass up to December end only. Then again the pass is to be renewed up to March. To get the form one has to go to the domestic airport, to get it stamped go to the international airport, and then to submit it go to the domestic airport! What a great time-waste circus! Security concerns are fine, but so are they to issue a passport! If an important document like a passport can be done in a single-window way then why this torture? Sadistic systems!
Are such sadistic systems only in the urban areas? No! They are very much there in the rural areas too. During my travel in many rural parts of Bharat, I met many small and marginal farmers. For a loan to buy a pair of bulls or a cow they are made to fill up so many complicated forms, made to attach so much documentation and even after this babus in the banks harass them so much that they get depressed. How much ever most political parties tom-tom “easy loans to farmers”, it is all on papers. In practice that hard working poor farmer is tortured and humiliated for the loan. Sadistic systems!
In cities and towns we see many school and college-going children and youth standing in a queue at the stations and bus stops for hours just to get a concession pass for travel. The timing for such pass process is such that the children have to bunk their school/college. In villages we see long queues in front of ration shops. By the time half of the housewives get their ration, the shop-keeper announces closure of the shop for lunch! Sadistic systems!
Systemic sadism is settling in most fields—be it social institutions like education, economy, judiciary and what not. Sugar price has touched Rs 50 a kg. A middle-class family in whose house I had stayed had a smart young boy who told me, “Two years back sugar factories were making huge losses. Suddenly a minister announces that there would be low production of sugar this year and in two weeks sugar prices went sky high taking shares of the recently loss-making sugar factories also sky high. It is all in the system. This is all planned to loot the common man because the common man has no teeth. His only weapon is his vote and even in voting these systems prevent him from making a right choice. Half the people are not given voter IDs in time and those who got IDs do not get to vote.” Some part of this boy’s angry expression may be exaggerated, but I could feel the cynicism pent up within him.
At such a young age, if our children and youth are going to get such deadly cynicism then they are not to blame; it is our sadistic systems that have to be blamed. But blaming something does not stop the menace of that something. We all need to work towards removing such dangerous sadism from our all systems. At this moment, it seems that this killer sadism has already gone deeper in our systems, otherwise our children and youth would not have chosen to end their budding lives! As it always happens, rather than going deep into the real reasons of such sadistic systems that kill many people— children/youth for rat race, farmers for either not getting loans or due to the burden of repayments, labourers due to non-payment of wages, brides due to dowry torture, old parents due to negligence of the children, middle age professionals in the middle of their careers for falling economy, teachers for not getting a permanent job even after teaching for 20 years—many in media and on other public forums started blaming those particular parents/schools/colleges.
It is easy to blame individuals for systemic failures, but it is not correct. Today’s parents themselves are the prey to these sadistic systems and in spite of that they try to give their best to their children. Both children and the parents are so stressed that like many other relations even these relations are strained today. And again, the blame goes to sadistic systems.
Strangely, there seems to be discrimination even in the sadism of the systems! The systems that so much harass Hindu farmers for loans, suddenly become friendly towards minorities (one of such minorities very fondly now has started calling itself “the second-largest majority in India” and yet wants to get all minority benefits snatched from Hindus and Hindu SCs/OBCs/STs! Sadistic systems in the name of democracy!). For admission in a school/college a meritorious Hindu or a Hindu SC/OBC/ST student has to stand in the long queue even to get a form; but the minority institutions not only get unusual facilities and favours from the governments but even their students get jobs an platter! This is also sadism within a sadistic system.
Electricity department and income tax department raid those who steal electricity and those who do not pay income tax. How many Muslim localities are raided by electricity department? How many Muslim businessmen were raided by income tax department? Even the criminal law system seems to be sadist towards Hindus. Even the criminals follow the same sadism. Bharat has not heard of any abduction of a Muslim boy or a businessman for ransom; only Hindus are a soft target for governmental or criminal sadistic systems!
So, today, Hindu in Bharat is forced to face double sadism. One, which is set in all systems and the other that is specially designed to torture Hindus to ‘look’ secular, modern, moderate! This has been putting additional stress on the Hindus. Otherwise, tell me why none of the children/youth/farmers/executives who committed suicides is from minority? Why are all of them Hindus? And don’t give me the secularists’ favourite answer: Oh! These religions do not permit suicides. However, much the Hindu traditions, parents and teachers try to soothe the minds of children/youth and others in Bharat, the sadistic systems are sitting tight with their vicious mouths wide open to gobble up Hindu kids/youth/farmers/executives. Now, it is up to us, if we want to submit ourselves to these specially-designed sadistic systems or to completely bring about a change! Don’t we want to finally free ourselves from the British systems designed to harass Indians? Don’t we want to have our own well-proven Hindu systems that care for values and well being of all rather than being superficial to look secular, modern and moderate?
(The writer is a renowned cancer surgeon and secretary general of VHP. He can be contacted at [email protected])
