The loss of empathy

Are we, as a society, losing our ability to empathize? Are we so consumed with our short-term goals and selfish needs, that we fail to see what’s unraveling right in front of us? So overcome are we with fear that we don’t even try to even stop a murder? Why don’t we flinch when medal-winning sportspersons get rough-handled by cops? How do we walk away unbothered and carry on with the daily rigmarole as if it’s business as usual?

Look, not everyone is an activist or can afford to be. We have mouths to feed, EMIs to pay, taxes to submit. But how can one not be appalled at what’s happening around us? In recent times, few civil protests yielded any real result. Post-Nirbhaya, the outpouring of protests demanding safety of women in India was momentous. The Anna Hazare protests against corruption triggered a change in the political regime. In current climes, the farmers’ protest ensured a rollback of contentious farm laws while the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protests, though successful in putting the draconian laws into cold storage, were besmirched by sectarianism, hate speech, and planned violence before fizzling out thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic. Civil society now doesn’t protest, even the criticism of odious incidents is low; as if with a magic wand everything has turned okay in India. It hasn’t.

We still have women facing gruesome deaths — the Shahbad dairy murder in the glaring view of passersby is one such incident. The victim was stabbed 16 times, 6 times in the throat, her head bludgeoned by a boulder. It’s impossible to forget the bestiality of the murderer if you watch the video. He stabs, ruptures the skull, walks away, only to come back and repeat the exercise again. And all the while, there were people passing by. They looked but they didn’t act. No one stopped the heinous crime or even attempted to. In fact, at some points in the video, it seemed that the passersby were rushing away from the scene of crime. Locals did nothing, and the lifeless body laid on the streets for 25 more minutes before someone even called the police.

The moral fabric of our society seems more thick-skinned now. Violent public deaths don’t affect us and neither do Olympians alleging sexual harassment. Well-known Indian wrestlers, who have won laurels for the nation, were manhandled by Delhi police while marching towards the new Parliament on the day of its inauguration. Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia were assaulted and forcibly removed from the site of their agitation. If only the same rule of law and use of force would have applied on Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who has been accused of sexual harassment by several women wrestlers.

We should be shocked, concerned, and vociferous about happenings that threaten our society. Some people are of the opinion that allowing same sex marriage will upend Indian culture and society. In reality, it’s the brazenness of crimes against women, the acceptance of violence against the weak, the yawning and ever-growing gap between the rich and the poor — which are the real threat to Indian society. It’s the loss of sympathy, sensitivity, compassion, civic sense, and good Samaritanism that are in peril today. Don’t always expect the authorities and governments to act correctly. Sometimes, and nowadays increasingly so, we the people of India must demand the right action.

The writer is an author and media entrepreneur. Views expressed are personal