How often do we come across injustice in our society? Does it ever bothers us? Do we ever take any action against it? Never. We care only if it concerns us directly. We have become immune to injustice which we witness everywhere in our society. When it comes to views/expressions of others which go against our values and beliefs we don't think twice before raising our voice against them.
Children begging on streets and working in restaurants is a common sight for an Indian. We Indians don't think twice before taking the service of a child to do our household chores. We are well aware that child labour is illegal and that all children aged between 6-14 years have the right to education. Every time we take the service of a child, we are supporting injustice an exploiting the poor. It's our duty to make sure that these kids get educated. Even if a single person makes an effort to eradicate child labour and sets an example for others, people are likely to learn from him/her. But people are self-absorbed and nobody is interested in taking any initiative .
Our conservative society considers homosexuality immoral and against Indian culture and traditions. Some people oppose it on the pretext that it's unnatural and a mental disease. When Indian high court legalized homosexuality in 2012, most of the Indians got offended and protested against it. Baba Ramdev, the famous yoga guru criticised the Indian high court for decriminalizing homosexuality and motivated his followers to protest against it. People who condemned the amendment of the Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code did not think about the human rights of LGBT community which has been facing discrimination from years and is forced to lead a life of secrecy.
Muslim leaders issued a fatwa against brave writers like Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasreen for hurting the religious sentiments of muslims. In India, even a tweet can land you in jail. Several Indians have been put behind the bars just because they updated something objectionable on their social media accounts.
Our society recognizes just two genders and considers eunuchs as disgusting. We have been taught to be scared of them and not to consider them as a part of our society. The eunuchs in India are deprived of several human rights and face injustice. They don't have the right to get passports and ration cards. Their families disown them and nobody offers them a job. They are forced to beg or work as sex workers. They are beaten by cops for trivial issues just because they are eunuchs. Why don't we realize that eunuchs have the right to exercise their basic human rights? We laugh at them, call them "Hijra" and socially exclude them. They face social stigma wherever they go, whether it's a hospital or school, they are always excluded. Eunuchs have almost no fundamental rights. Why are they treated so badly? Why are they subjected to injustice? Why are they socially excluded and deprived of employment? Is it because of our old beliefs as per which eunuchs are to be ignored and considered inhuman or it's because we are not bothered about them? Whatever may be the reason, we can never understand the sad and miserable plight of eunuchs because upliftment of their status will make no difference to our lives.
It's a shame that religious intolerance is a part of our society where most of us feel proud to be a part of a secular nation. Muslims, Dalits and single women face housing apartheid in most of the Indian cities. It's a form of injustice but sadly there is no law against it.
We have a casual approach towards all evils prevalent in our society especially the ones that doesn't affects us directly. Our mindset and "chalta hai" (it's ok) attitude is not going to take us anywhere. Some of us take pride in blogging about child rights issues but we restrain from taking any action against it. Things will change the day we start taking action against injustice and understand that individual effort matters. If we want to voice our own opinion then we need to learn to accept others views/expressions
Children begging on streets and working in restaurants is a common sight for an Indian. We Indians don't think twice before taking the service of a child to do our household chores. We are well aware that child labour is illegal and that all children aged between 6-14 years have the right to education. Every time we take the service of a child, we are supporting injustice an exploiting the poor. It's our duty to make sure that these kids get educated. Even if a single person makes an effort to eradicate child labour and sets an example for others, people are likely to learn from him/her. But people are self-absorbed and nobody is interested in taking any initiative .
Our conservative society considers homosexuality immoral and against Indian culture and traditions. Some people oppose it on the pretext that it's unnatural and a mental disease. When Indian high court legalized homosexuality in 2012, most of the Indians got offended and protested against it. Baba Ramdev, the famous yoga guru criticised the Indian high court for decriminalizing homosexuality and motivated his followers to protest against it. People who condemned the amendment of the Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code did not think about the human rights of LGBT community which has been facing discrimination from years and is forced to lead a life of secrecy.
Muslim leaders issued a fatwa against brave writers like Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasreen for hurting the religious sentiments of muslims. In India, even a tweet can land you in jail. Several Indians have been put behind the bars just because they updated something objectionable on their social media accounts.
Our society recognizes just two genders and considers eunuchs as disgusting. We have been taught to be scared of them and not to consider them as a part of our society. The eunuchs in India are deprived of several human rights and face injustice. They don't have the right to get passports and ration cards. Their families disown them and nobody offers them a job. They are forced to beg or work as sex workers. They are beaten by cops for trivial issues just because they are eunuchs. Why don't we realize that eunuchs have the right to exercise their basic human rights? We laugh at them, call them "Hijra" and socially exclude them. They face social stigma wherever they go, whether it's a hospital or school, they are always excluded. Eunuchs have almost no fundamental rights. Why are they treated so badly? Why are they subjected to injustice? Why are they socially excluded and deprived of employment? Is it because of our old beliefs as per which eunuchs are to be ignored and considered inhuman or it's because we are not bothered about them? Whatever may be the reason, we can never understand the sad and miserable plight of eunuchs because upliftment of their status will make no difference to our lives.
It's a shame that religious intolerance is a part of our society where most of us feel proud to be a part of a secular nation. Muslims, Dalits and single women face housing apartheid in most of the Indian cities. It's a form of injustice but sadly there is no law against it.
We have a casual approach towards all evils prevalent in our society especially the ones that doesn't affects us directly. Our mindset and "chalta hai" (it's ok) attitude is not going to take us anywhere. Some of us take pride in blogging about child rights issues but we restrain from taking any action against it. Things will change the day we start taking action against injustice and understand that individual effort matters. If we want to voice our own opinion then we need to learn to accept others views/expressions
