Changing attitudes unravel India's social order

Kuldip Nayar, an eminent Indian journalist who is a former Indian High Commissioner to the UK and a former Rajya Sabha MP writes in a Gulf News Special on 'India's social order is slowly unravelling - Sept 7, 2007.'

"A four and a half year-old child dies in Shimla on the Mall because the ambulance carrying him does not reach the hospital in time. The road is blocked by a throng of protesters from the ruling Congress and the BJP.

A panchayat (village committee) in Haryana forcibly separates a newly-born boy from his parents belonging to the same clan (gotra). Upper caste members kill a dalit who is acquitted by the court in a jat murder case.

A policeman chains with his motorcycle a poor boy who had stolen a gold ornament and drags him in public. A truck runs over four people of the minority community which retaliates by fomenting communal trouble.

On the face of it, there is nothing common in these incidents. They illustrate strong emotions. Yet what strings them together is the society's insensitivity, the authorities' nonchalant attitude and people's blind faith in the tradition which was wrong even when adopted. It also shows the other side of the society. The social order is breaking up. The value system is weakening further. The common man is losing faith in decency because of hard, insecure life."

Read his full article here.

India has a vibrant civilisation going back to 5000 years and today India is resurging as a global player with booming industrial development especially in the high technology sector.

India is the world's largest democracy and is an emerging Asian superpower, but it still has rampant poverty especially in the rural areas and the social chaos that Kuldip Nayar so eloquently describes in his article.

What this demonstrates is that a society must first have the basic fundamental rights of citizens and the rule of law accepted and respected by all its citizens in order for a democratic form of government to succeed in solving problems and reducing poverty.

Perhaps, there is a lesson here for Maldives.