There is quite a heated debate, whether religiously or generally, whether a person should be charged with guilt or not. One school of thought suggests they shouldn’t as the ‘devil’ made them do it, while the other, often the more religious ones, state otherwise. Slice it anyway you prefer, the fact of the matter is simple; every sane human being has the mental capacity of distinguishing between the good and the bad, the right and the wrong, and lawful and illegal. Whether the devil persuades them to carry out sinister plots, or they are inspired for all the wrong reasons to create chaos, arson and other societal plagues, they should be held responsible.
Any act of unkindness, rudeness and downright denial, or use of force falls under the definition of cruelty. These are acts which are unfortunately carried out by human beings over other fellow beings. Whether driven by inferior motive, bribed or “an act of the devil,” we cannot deny that these are wrong and cause far more issues to the general society than imaginable.
For us, it may just be yet another tragic story, but for the oppressed, it is a completely new height of disgrace, shame and psychological torture. Acts such as these are what promote a cause effect to take place, pushing even the calmest of minds to the ragged edge. The results, driven sheerly by vengeance, end up by someone eventually committing a crime. This is just one of a million ways how cruelty, crime and the cause behind them are interlinked. Worst of all is the fact that these have become a part of the society; one that we live to experience and live to tell the other day.
Cruelty isn’t necessarily limited to human beings. There are people who tend to carry out atrocious acts of cruelty on animals such as horses, donkeys and monkeys. Birds and other exotic creatures are caught deliberately and sol to the highest bidder. The cruelty lies in the fact that some of these are endangered species. The crime prevails too as the buyers simply do not seem to care what they are buying, as long as it pleases their eyes.
The society has regretfully lost the scope and importance of accountability. Hold someone accountable today for their crimes and you immediately face backlash.
Every heinous act, that is both cruel and criminal in nature, has a certain cause that motivates a human mind to carry out the act. The problem is, to the accused, this might seem like a justifiable move, whereas in reality, things would be far from it.
All of the above are commonly found all around us. None of these have anything to do with anyone’s ethnic background, race or religion. It does, however, have everything to do with awareness. A simple example of that would be the hundreds of so-called ‘honour killings’ that take place every now and then. It does not take long before one can figure out the root cause of all this; ignorance.
Ignorance is a bliss
In the example above, it is us, the ignorant people, who convert the bliss into a personal leverage. Throw in a bit of power and political ties, and you are nigh untouchable. It is as if they consider themselves as gods walking on earth; as if they will never face their karma answer for their crimes against humanity and the community. The cause here is ignorance because they consider women as tools. If it is a young and naïve girl, they will not hesitate in prosecuting the girl. If the same girl is their mother, they will defend her life with all their might. Paradoxical or plain absurdness? We shall let everyone be the judge of that!
Crime exists because there are people out there who are ready to usurp the rights of the weak and the petty. Crime continues to rise because the plague of nepotism over merit exists, which paves way for unfair advantage and preference for some. Crime continues because the high elites are exempted from their charges of murder, theft, corruption while on the other hand, the weak and the poor face the gallows for merely half a percent of the crime in comparison. Such flawed justice system will pave way to the wrath of the people, turning it from agitation to a full-blown civil war and unrest.
Just like the fire triangle that we are taught in our science books, all these three elements serve as fuel. Take one of these away and you are well on your way to resolve the problems. Take the cause away, the crime will cease to exist and so will cruelty. Without any reason, no one would prefer to be cruel nor commit crimes. Poverty, hunger, being disregarded, belittled, discriminated or publicly embarrassed are some of the most common causes behind most of the crimes that take place. Others involve money where ignorant men and women are brainwashed into committing stupendous crimes against humanity, all in the name of religion.
With all said and done, our society is on a brink of nervous breakdown. Open your social media apps and all you see are people fighting and cursing each other for exercising their right to vote for someone else. Is our society truly come to a point where we are fighting over basic rights? Everyone has a right to opinions; exercising their right should and must not offend anyone else.
Crime, cruelty and cause; they have plagued mankind for ages and continue to do so. As long as ignorance remains, the vicious cycle will be far from over.
Disclaimer: Surkhiyan believes in freedom of expression and providing space for views and opinions from all sides. But we may not agree with everything we publish. The views expressed in this op-ed are that of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Surkhiyan. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
