Our country on the one hand is on the road to economic progress, but on the darker side, is slipping into the abyss of moral bankruptcy. This is evident from the upward moving graph of crimes as shown by the National Crimes Records Bureau reports. To the common man even a cursory glance at the newspapers is enough to convince him of this disturbing trend.
People are becoming more irresponsible and immoral in their social behaviour and our time-honoured ethical values have been thrown to wind in an increasingly materialistic, capitalistic and consumerist society. Women being the weaker section of society are at the receiving end.
Every year more than 7000 women are burnt to death for bringing ‘insufficient dowry’ or not fulfilling the greedy demands of their in-laws. Thousands and thousands of innocent women are tortured or forced to commit suicide. National Family Health Survey Report 2005-06 reveals that out of the 28,139 married women surveyed, one-third reported physical violence at the hands of their husbands; around 7.7 per cent reported sexual abuse.
In 2007 there were about 21000 rapes; charge sheets were filed in 94.6 per cent cases and conviction rate was a mere 26.4 per cent. It is an open fact that crimes, especially sexual crimes against women are grossly under-reported in our society as they attach a stigma to the victims. We know that the wheels of justice move very slowly in our country which is making the people frustrated with the judiciary.
Unfortunately even cases of incest are coming to our notice. Recently, there was a case of a tantrik in Mumbai who had been raping a woman along with the own father of the victim. Our Bollywood, about which many people of our country are shamelessly proud, dishes out hundreds of films in Hindi and other languages. They largely contribute to the moral degeneration of not only our teenagers but also play havoc with the moral sense of the entire Indian population. The irresponsible film makers want to spin money by encouraging adolescent love, premarital and extra-marital sex and even lesbianism, debauchery and licentiousness.
Last week we came across a report of rape of a domestic maid-servant by a high profile Mumbai film actor. It stole the headlines because it is related to a film personality. Otherwise tens of thousands of maid-servants have to tolerate such indignity and trauma. It is estimated that around 30 million women and teenaged girls are working as domestic servants in our country. Most of them are quite unprotected, underpaid and subjected to inhuman treatment and sexual harassment.
What lies at the root of this sexual depravation? Why men, and to a lesser extent even women, are indulging in indecent sexual behaviour. A large part of the problem has to be apportioned to our film makers, journalists and writers. You will find trash of immorality being churned out by them in the name of art and culture. Even respectable newspapers and magazines are presenting semi-porn and titillating material. There was news that one leading publisher is especially targeting teenaged girls by publishing 24 novels with colourful photographs on teenage love, premarital love, etc. If we do not rein in such immoral and filthy publications, we cannot stop our country from going down the road of moral bankruptcy and destruction. Let us act before it is too late.