Abstract: India, representing one of the
world’s major civilizations, appears to be largely indifferent to human dignity
and the life of the individual. This paper suggests that while abject poverty
is perhaps a major cause of this, another factor is a historical and cultural
background inimical to the dignity of the individual. The paper then examines
four non-economic measures to improve human dignity.
Global relevance of Indian problems
India is one
of the world’s largest countries, and one of its fastest-growing economies. Her
denizens are faced with a multitude of forces working against their interests.
These problems of India must capture the attention of the world, not only
because India represents distinct cultures not found anywhere else, but also
because it is home to more than a sixth of all mankind [1]. We who live in the
world of the extended supply chain and international commerce know that this
figure must be augmented by many who exist without India’s borders, even if we slight
the international cultural impact of India, such as derived from, for example,
writing, films and spiritualism. A positive change here would be for mankind's
good.
The struggle for limited resources
India is one
of the world’s poorest countries. If we consider the World Bank’s gross
national income (GNI) per capita metric, then, in 2010, India ranked 128 out of
177 countries, with data unavailable for a further 38 countries [2]. Within
India, a full 68.7% of the country’s billion-plus population lives (2010
figure) on less than two dollars a day (purchasing power parity) [3]. This
appalling poverty is perfectly visible in both cities and villages; it is
contrasted with signs of affluence, suggesting stark income inequality.
India is also
overcrowded. India (in 2011) had 382 persons per square kilometer. The
corresponding figure for the United States (albeit the 2013 estimate) is 34 –
that is less than ten times less than the number for India [4]. We have it on
Mark Twain’s authority that India is a terribly hot country for much of the
year [5], and air-conditioning is a luxury for the few. Add to all this the
prevalence of infectious diseases, limited access to modern sanitation, the low
rates of adult literacy, poor transport and communications infrastructure, and a
very corrupt state [6] – essentially all the typical problems of the Third
World, and one has the makings of a modern hell. In such a hell, it follows
that human dignity and life are not priced at a premium.
A historical context adverse to the dignity and rights of man
There is more
to the Indian hell than poverty, heat, mosquitoes and crowded buses. It is
exacerbated by three main factors. Before we expand upon this theme, it must be
stated that these three factors are also responsible for much good, and, as is
often the case in the affairs of men, have been a mixed blessing for India.
Caste
One of the
distinguishing aspects of Indo-European culture is the breeding of races,
through the system of caste. The system may have been corrupted over the past
millennia of upheaval but it is still alive and not entirely toothless today,
as may be seen in matrimonial solicitations and contemporary politics.
Simplified, it demands that some humans are worth more than others, and some
are not quite human. Dehumanization is the first step towards terrible crimes,
and the Weimar Republic, after it had ceased being a republic de facto, offers
us a recent example. Giving up caste would mean repudiating a central aspect of
Indian culture. However, perhaps it may be made nominal or, at least, harmless,
quite like the aristocracy in the European republics of today.
Foreign invasions and religious strife
Over
millennia, India has been visited by invaders, who were quite often successful.
Herodotus informs us that India, of all vassal states, provided the greatest
tribute to the Persian imperium [7]. The Greeks attacked India, and then there
were the Islamic marauders from the west. All left their mark, but the Islamic
visitors settled down in India and became Indians, bringing with them their
architecture, language, food, customs and, most significantly, religion. It is
almost a thousand years since Islam first came to India, but Huntingdon’s clash
of civilizations [8], in miniature, takes place with sickening regularity and
human toll in India, wherein Hindus and Muslims attack each other, in the main.
Like caste, religion offers an easy way to divide and classify people,
especially because adherents of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism in
India tend to be easy to identify as such, through attire, hairstyle and
accessories. It is a tested formula: identify a group of people on some easily
apparent basis, attribute to them monolithic and negative traits, inveigh
against the entire group in general terms using exaggerated stereotypes – and
the individuals vanish, they are no longer human beings. The answer is not to
ban religion, or to await the coming of a new, more tolerant God, but to open
up the religion–violence nexus to public debate.
Colonialism and its legacy
The rumor of
Indian wealth persisted even after the Persians, Hellenes and Muslims. The
Portuguese, the Dutch, the British, the Danes and the French all came to India,
over the last few hundred years, to trade and colonize. Of them, the British
eventually won, and India became the most prized possession of the British
Empire [9]. The British Raj was responsible for making the English language,
and British customs, a prerequisite to the individual’s advancement. A social
hierarchy was established with the British at the top, and the wealthier
landowners and princes far from the bottom. Yet again, India had a social
scheme which encouraged exploitation and ill-treatment of those towards the
unlucky side of the spectrum. The Raj has now ended, but the mindsets of
servility and arrogance persist. The only ostensibly humble servants of the
people must be forced out of the Kafkaesque castle they operate from [10].
Politicians must be forced to travel in public buses, or whatever means of
transport their modest, official incomes support, whenever they wish to move
themselves between feasts. They must be subject to the same inconveniences in
the name of security that the masses must deal with, and learn how to themselves
turn door-handles when they waddle between rooms in the houses of power.
Officers of the state must be courteous towards the citizens they feign
serving. There must be no need to grovel for a driving license. Or in order to
obtain information as to which counter of which office might provide the recondite
form one needs to fill out to initiate the first stage of applying for some
official document that is a pre-requisite for applying for a driving license.
Four levers of positive change
The question
of human dignity is intimately related to that of individual freedoms and the
exercise of the human faculty of analytical thinking. In our complex world, we
are often bombarded by information and opinions. The onus is upon us to
identify issues of importance, sift through the onslaught, and ensure that we
are not being asked to tolerate the suspension of freedoms, ours or those of others,
on the basis of flimsy evidence, straw-man argumentation, ad hominem attacks, a
fallacious argument from authority, emotional flag-waving or any other device
traditionally employed by the demagogue. Whilst much of India’s ills may be
attributed to the fundamental problem of destitution, there is more to the
matter, as we have explored earlier. Economic advancement, as demonstrated in
part by growth in India’s Gross Domestic Product, and investment in
infrastructure will solve part of this problem. We now examine four other means
of attacking the lamentable lack of value placed on human life and dignity in
India.
1. New
ritual of basic human interaction
If one
wanders the streets of India’s metropolises, and observes how most people
engage with strangers, one shall find it difficult to accuse Indians of being
over-courteous and excessively friendly when dealing with strangers. One
assumes that most people across the world treat their immediate family and close
friends well – it is when they must deal with a stranger, or with someone from
whom they are buying a service or a product, that one gains an insight into how
important courtesy, form, civility and friendliness are in a given society.
Indians often dispense with a greeting when they meet, jumping straight to the
matter at hand. They tend to be dismissive and belligerent towards waiters,
doormen, housemaids and drivers. Indeed, any given social or economic hierarchy
appears to be regarded by all involved as a moral hierarchy, and this ostensibly
moral hierarchy appears to define social interaction, justifying the
ill-treatment of all those beneath one, and subservience to all those above
one, and also enjoining upon all a diktat to stay within the social or economic
structure and to police others, thwarting anyone attempting to break free.
This paper
hypothesizes that the introduction of a basic formula for human interaction
will improve the shabby manner in which many Indians are treated, and will
cause those usually at the receiving end of ill-treatment to be perceived as
human beings who are automatically deserving of dignity. This six-point formula consists
of the following:
make
eye contact when speaking to the human;
do
not shout at the human;
greet
the human with a culturally-prescribed phrase or gesture;
use
a culturally-prescribed phrase or gesture when ending a conversation with a
human;
employ
the culturally-relevant equivalent of please and thanks when requesting and receiving
something from a human;
adopt
the formal form of the second-person personal pronoun to address the human, if
the language provides for it (Hindi, like French, does).
This formula
ought to remind us that the other protagonist too is a human being, not very
unlike ourselves, and possibly also entitled to be treated with respect.
Smiling is optional.
Perhaps it
might be an idea to prepare and publicize a set of guides which outline not
just the formula described above, but also recommended and expected actions in
certain scenarios. For example, “What not to do when you see a wounded woman
lying naked on the street”, “What to do when you see a bunch of men attacking
another man”, “How to react if you witness an automobile accident”, et cetera.
2. Promoting
the literature of the indigenous languages of India
There is a
plethora of languages in India. The Constitution of India, in its eighth
schedule, lists twenty two languages [11], all of which presumably enjoy the
patronage of the State, and are, in some sense, official. English is not one of
them. However, even the casual observer to India cannot help but notice the
prevalence and influence of the English language. It is used in government
business, in the judgments of the Supreme Court of India and in shop signs.
Many Indians adopt English words when speaking an Indian language. Further
along the scale, many Indians routinely engage in the linguistic phenomenon
known as code-switching [12]. Purists may shudder, and some Indian languages
will die out in the coming decades because of disuse, but there is another,
more insidious aspect to the apparent inability – clearly demonstrated by any
five minutes of any recent Bollywood film – of many Indians to speak any Indian
language, without borrowing words from other languages or switching languages
in conversation. It is the almost complete lack of a modern literature. This
paper hypothesizes that this lack automatically draws those desirous of
literary stimulation to foreign-language sources, or to sub-standard local ones.
Furthermore, that this lack is an impediment to the healthy development of the
young adult, especially if he or she is not adept in a foreign language,
leading therefore to a lower estimate of the self, or also of another, if not
conversant in a literary tongue. Here, the example of Elieser Ben Yehuda, who
single-handedly revived and revitalized Hebrew, and allowed the budding Israeli
nation to possess a language of its own [13], serves as a beacon of hope.
Today, it is easy to hear a conversation about romantic love in Hebrew, without
the speakers being obliged to borrow words from Yiddish, English, Russian or
Arabic. Perhaps, someday, we may be able to make a similar assertion about
Hindi or Tamil.
3. Ministry
of Human Dignity
There are
fifty one ministries in the union government of India [14]. This paper proposes
the establishment of a Ministry of Human Dignity, with the mandate to seek
consensus on what human dignity means for the Indians, and to work towards
protecting and increasing it across all spheres of activity. The Ministry must
draft and sponsor bills which amend existing laws which might be detrimental to
human dignity, and introduce bills which seek to give more powers to those
seeking to increase human dignity. It must examine occupations and contracts to
ensure that, at least in the mid-term, no one has a demeaning job, through
raising wages, or improving conditions. Disallowing demeaning and
spirit-destroying jobs might also help to drive innovation. The Indian Army is
another fine legacy of the Raj. One perhaps less fine aspect of the army is
that officers routinely use soldiers as personal servitors. This circumstance
is a prime example of something that may be reviewed by the Ministry of Human
Dignity. However, the way in which the Ministry may perhaps effect most
widespread change is through examining popular television shows and movies.
Many Bollywood movies are full of casual slights to personal servants.
Employees are threatened with physical violence, in an almost off-hand way. Police
officers are portrayed as rude monsters who barge into private homes and talk
down to those they are supposed to serve. The callousness of India is captured
inadvertently by almost every Bollywood film. This must be questioned, and
allowed only if it serves the plot. Municipal personnel in India being polite
to auto-rickshaw drivers may come across as an incredible novelty at first, but
might encourage school-children and businessmen to treat with decency those who
depend upon their favor.
4. Ministry
of Fun
Another
ground-breaking political innovation shall be the establishment of the Ministry
of Fun. Surely, the human spirit needs more than food, shelter and the sight of
Indian politicians attempting to engage in an intellectual debate to keep it
going. The Ministry of Fun shall endeavor to ensure that the public has access
to sources of entertainment, such as music halls, tennis courts and movie
theaters; that citizens have access to fashionable clothes, alcohol, massages,
sex, dance, libraries, parks, elephant rides, swimming-pools and art-galleries
et cetera, in a safe and non-demeaning manner, subject to relevant local
legislation, price-controls and majority of said citizens. The Ministry may
also commission opinion polls to gauge the happiness of various parts of the
citizenry, and seek to act upon its results. Sample questions may include, “How
often did you smile last week?”, “How long ago was it that a stranger was friendly
towards you?”, “When was the last time you had a coffee, other drink or meal
with a couple of friends?”, “Would you like more coverage of our esteemed
politicians demonstrating their erudition in Parliament, or more of physically attractive,
skimpily-clad men and women on government-controlled television-channels?”,
“When was the last time you heard a funny joke?”. Happy, well-balanced citizens
are less likely to attack other citizens engaged in the pursuit of happiness.
Conclusion
India is a beautiful
and brutal land. She has made immense contributions to the world, in food,
music, philosophy, religion, languages, architecture and mathematics, and has
been intimately involved with other great civilizations over millennia. However,
a transformation from a land where women are routinely treated as chattel, where
the desire for violence is often the first response, and where contempt for
human beings is commonplace, to a land where human dignity and personal
freedoms are valued, would be the most impressive experiment in the history of
our species.
References
[1] According to the United States Census Bureau, the
total population of the world, projected to 05 January 2013, is 7,057,646,519 (http://www.census.gov/population/popclockworld.html).
The population of the modern republic of India (01 July 2013 estimate) is 1,220,800,000
(retrieved from the same website on 05 January 2013). A simple division
suggests that 17.3% of all mankind is Indian.
[2] GNI per capita is the gross national income,
converted to U.S. dollars using the World Bank Atlas method, divided by the
midyear population. GNI is the sum of value added by all resident producers
plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output
plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property
income) from abroad. World Development Indicators, provided by the World Bank (http://databank.worldbank.org),
retrieved on 05 January 2013.
[3] Poverty headcount ratio at USD 2 a day (PPP) (% of
population) is defined as the percentage of the population living on less than
USD 2.00 a day at 2005 international prices. World Development Indicators,
provided by the World Bank (http://databank.worldbank.org),
retrieved on 05 January 2013.
[4] Retrieved on 05 January 2013 from Wikipedia, based
on Indian and US census records http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_population_density
[5] “In India, “cold weather” is merely a conventional
phrase and has come into use through the necessity of having some way to
distinguish between weather which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which
will only make it mushy.”, from http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2010/04/mark-twain-on-the-weather
[6] India is ranked 94 in order of corruption, with
the least corrupt countries occupying rank 1. http://www.transparency.org/cpi2012/results
[7] “The Indians made up the twentieth province. These
are more in number than any nation of which we know, and they paid a greater
tribute than any other province, namely three hundred and sixty talents of gold
dust.”, so Herodotus the ancient Greek historian. http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00generallinks/herodotus/book_03.html#89_107
[8] “The great divisions among humankind and the
dominating source of conflict will be cultural.”, “The Clash of Civilizations?”,
Samuel P. Huntington, Foreign Affairs, 1993.
[9] “In the first half of the 20th century, having
been the "Jewel in the Crown" of the British Empire, India became the
first part of that Empire to secure separate nationhood and independence.” http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/parliamentary-archives/archives-highlights/indian-independence/
[10] “The Castle (German: Das Schloss) is a novel by
Franz Kafka. (The) protagonist...struggles to gain access to the mysterious
authorities of a castle who govern the village for unknown reasons...(The
novel) is about alienation, bureaucracy, the seemingly endless frustrations of
man's attempts to stand against the system, and the futile and hopeless pursuit
of an unobtainable goal.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Castle_%28novel%29
[11] The eighth
schedule of the Indian Constitution http://lawmin.nic.in/olwing/coi/coi-english/Const.Pock%202Pg.Rom8Fsss%2836%29.pdf
[12] “In
linguistics, code-switching is switching between two or more languages, or
language varieties, in the context of a single conversation.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching
[13] The
founder of the new Hebrew language was born 150 years ago in Lithuania on 7th
January 1858. “Before Ben Yehuda, Jews could speak Hebrew; after him, they
did.”, attributed to Cecil Roth, http://www.beit-ben-yehuda.org/index.php?id=112
[14] This resource has a list of all 51 Indian
ministries http://goidirectory.nic.in/union_categories.php?ct=E002
