Wednesday, February 12, 2020

DEFICIENT SOCIAL TRUST: PITFALL OF A CLOSED SYSTEM?

(This is yet another post written on Facebook on same day when Dr Wenliang died)


Chinese social media has been witnessing unprecedented levels of grief and anger over death of a young Chinese Doctor Li Wenliang early this morning. Wenliang had been arrested on charges of spreading rumour over his sincere efforts to warn about impending corona virus pandemic as early as on December 30th. He had apparently contacted the virus while attending an infected patient who was unaware of it. People believe that timely action on warnings of the deceased Doctor could have contained the corona outbreak much better. But he was humiliated and eventually paid with his life for his integrity and sincerity.
Many Chinese people have commented in various words that ‘liars and cronies were hailed as hero whereas an honest Good Samaritan was persecuted’. Does it happen only in totalitarian systems? Probably, declining and degenerating democracies could be similar or even worse.
The issue highlights how even a mighty state like China and its people are vulnerable in absence of a trust based society and transparent governance. One innocuous repression of intelligence and integrity can invite large scale disaster for all.
Of course, people need to be responsible in their utterances. But genuine mistakes in any sincere expression of opinion or facts must not invite retribution.
A democracy like India has been routinely witnessing repression of merit and verbal wars in the name of public discourses with lavish use of lies, deception and hateful propaganda. These are assault on Indian state, society and civilisation as these impede ability of people to excel and foster collaboration to optimise their collective strength. Democracy sounds hollow and hypocritical in absence of individual integrity and social harmony.
INDIAN society and civilisation had thrived in the past by its ability to create a trust based society where individual integrity fostered both excellence and stronger social bonds. It was decadence and decay, though not complete, that led to their ruination and pulverisation at the hands of barbaric savages during medieval era, which has been universally described as the dark age on the subcontinent. It had failed to promote science, knowledge and rationality as well as larger social harmony and dignity of individuals that India as a civilisation had boasted of, much before the rest of the world. When Europe witnessed Renaissance, we were plummeting to depths of perversion at the altar of debauchery, repression and eventually colonial plunder, with of course energised resistances from several quarters.
We need to learn lessons from the past but not get trapped into it. It can only take us down. It is not the identity but the values that matter. It is irrelevant whether overwhelming majority of people on the subcontinent converted to Islam out of fear or on volition. It is also a fact that invaders did not bring great civilisational virtues or stronger scientific values. It was purely failure of an inward looking, stratified and decaying India to civilise, and not convert, areas beyond the subcontinent that sent marauder and barbaric to plunder and pillage. We need to learn lessons in security and governance and not politically encash it.
None of the oppressive or even the so-called hardline protagonists of Islam on the subcontinent have adhered to the Humanist and egalitarian values that the Holy Prophet of Islam had tried to preach in his context. His values and ideals were decimated and hijacked soon after his death, which was manifest in killing and humiliation of his own descendants, including many women and children at Karbala. Islam became a pretext for loot, murder, plunder, pillage and rape, something that the Holy prophet of Islam had tried to resist and eliminate. And surprisingly in India, Islam discovered a humanist strand of Sufism and sought to discover and revive some of the real teachings of Holy prophet, which are more in sync with Upanishadic teachings that were reiterated by Lord Buddha.
Oppression, fear and hatred can never get the best out of any people and society, especially in a heterogeneous India. For the sake of rise of India, our democracy must avoid a return to medieval era mindset. Social harmony and social trust as manifest in some of the eternal values of pre-caste era of the ancient civilisation of the subcontinent are critical for a stronger India. These alone can contribute to a more harmonious world and not the “shop keepers model of representative government” founded on colonial plunder and pillage of the entire world, despite some brilliant innovations and practices perfected in recent centuries.
The entire integrated, interconnected and a somewhat leaderless world needs original INDIAN values more badly at this juncture. We cannot and must not go back in time. But fusion of modern Democracy with Kautilyan principles of governance, Buddhist notion of Dharma and Confucian principles of harmony can enrich and secure the world beyond all expectations and imaginations.
At the same time our alternative to extremism must not be corruption, perversion and yet another form of decadence or perversion symbolised by dynastic political syndicates. Sadly, they have been masquerading as political entities and thriving on subversion of governance, society and state. Probably Indians and the world need resurgence of civilisational values of original India and not the resurrection of decadent identity clashes of the medieval era.

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