… Sound asleep was I, when the phone started ringing and I just opened one eye to see the number. Identifying it as a regular airtel customer care number, I just turned sideways and continued sleeping till my mom came and tells me “Bachchan,.. its 10:30” …. And I was like…”hmmmm....Ok”. Well reluctantly, I wakes up and grabs the newspaper immediately turning to the sports page to see the aussie-brits match fate. Not feeling very ecstatic about aussie win, I strolled towards the balcony and sat on the couch. It was a slow drizzle, with cool air making the ambiance even more lovely. I casually started turning the pages of newspaper once again when I ran into the latest case of “honor killings” where a girl killed nine members of her family fearing unacceptance & backlash for an affair with a guy from the same village. I must say every line was like shock to me with stories like families killing their own blood in name of honor and its all being done in broad daylights across all north india. Being from western UP region myself, I was not totally unaware of such killings but the rampantness in some of north indian states was a revelation to me! I put my coffee cup side and keep glued to the clipping. And by the end I was done, my eyes were wet to say the least.
Not anymore in a mood to read the paper further, I just closed my eyes and and the first question which occurred to me was “whose honor can be saved by killing some one?” Digging deeper, came the realization that India has thousands of castes, clans and communities whose complex relationship, ethos and cultures haven’t been truly understood even by the most prominent social experts. Really tried hard to see any rational-logic in such killings but finally the question remained un-answered !
In the quest to unravel the psychology behind such absurd cruelty, I started browsing with the search item “honor killings” and got a mind boggling 77 million hits on Google. And somehow my mind said “we are not the only un-civilized society, there are more sinister parties across the globe”. Moslems specially in middle-east are known to act more cruelly in the name of sharia-laws. Naked parades, consensual rapes, contract killings, public lynchings and what not ! Almost all the instances were from middle and south east asian nations. Whenever I closed my eyes, the gruesome pictures of those murdered made me mind-sick. And the fanatics all over the world do all this in the name of religion and culture. Did Mohammad, Jesus or Lord Krishna preach honor killings?
What kind of justice is this ? And whose honor is restored ? Will a family really live in peace by killing their own 20+ something sons/daughters ? My mind can’t answer these questions, but my heart can ! Only truth is that we have a history of 4500 years and we have come a long way from nomads to a more civilized version today. But we still have lot more to learn and evolove. A society where religion is the path to God rather than being used as a disguise to bring honor and where everybody has the right to live the way s/he wants irrespective of any societal boundaries. Hopefully, in my lifetime :)
- Bachchan
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Bachchan
