(Essay) Contest Essays for Feb 2007 : Does Cannibalism still exist? - A critique

Does Cannibalism still exist? - A critique :

Evolution of human beings can be traced 60 million years back in time. Since, then there has been a constant evolution, both physical and mental, in man. We have grown as human beings, the most potent race among all living beings, one which have the ability to think rationally about life and living.

Even though our cave-living ancestors did not possess the amount of polished grey matter, they cared for the society in which they lived. May be they were not able to talk but did have feelings for others. They never hunted their fellow compatriots till the time they were hungry and starving to death. But these are the stories of a bygone era, where the difference between man and animal was only in their physical appearance.

Millions of years have passed and we live in a civilized world where we have every comfort of life and do not need to hunt for our food. We still need to grow as human beings, as the superior race amongst all animals. Even today some of us have got a monster on the hind sight of our life, which doesn't care about humanity and is eager to waste a life for his won pleasure, pleasure of lust, money, power and all such immaterial things.

Such scenes were observed in the recent killings in Nithari village. Moninder Singh and his accomplice Surender Koli were involved in the heinous crime of killing about forty children to meet their cannibalistic desire. Initial investigations revealed that the accused use to sell the body parts after killing the children. Some reports also convey that both the accused use to have sex with the corpse.

Can we call them human? Do these actions not resemble animal behavior? Even animals care for there brethren. We cannot categorize them as animals, as it would mean demeaning the animal world. The question that arises is what prompted Moinder and his accomplice to perform such a monstrous act. This cannot be because of food as in the case of early man. How could a person do such a thing? That too an educated and well to do person who has his own family. This could not be an act of a normal human being. The person has to be suffering from mental illness which prompted him to commit such an unpardonable act. This is sheer act of cannibalism and an example of a cultured animal butchering innocent children to satisfy his lust and mental hunger. Children, who haven't seen even their full bloom, were murdered cold bloodedly. What sort of person had been the accused who was not moved by the sobs of innocent young children? Where was his humanity when he was committing such a crime? Is there some problem with our society and the social environment, which inspires such an act? May be the rate at which we are moving ahead in every aspect of life we are leaving behind the very essence of humankind - Love and Care.

We are social animal, we live in a group and support each other when required, that is the name of life. But what does the audience in charge of the region doing all these days, since which the crime is being committed. If one cannot prevent the crime atleast it should be treated so that person who has suffered gets some solace out of the actions taken. Whereas we find different patrons of such a crime who want to use it for their own personal interests. This is no less of an act committed by the cannibals. This also shows the big divide between rich and poor. People who are sufferers are mainly poor villagers of Nithari and there has been no respite to their grief even after the crime was exposed. There has been no action initiated against the killers till the time the issue was hyped and broadcasted in the media. Had it not been the media and general public outcry, may be the culprits would have gone Scot-free, as it has been the case in so many of incidents. Now that the case is being unfurled by CBI, more and more of the convicts are being held responsible for the act. We can only pray that the convicts get the type of punishment they deserve and solace for the grieved populace on Nithari.

This is high time when we need to add a cog in the wheel named 'social responsibility', so that such incidents could be absolutely reduced. More than the orthodox policing we need a step towards 'moral and social policing'. We can make the difference that is if we want to? However, the government and the administration need to be proactive so that such incidents don't recur in future. Every time you cannot expect a 'Rang de Basanti' act from the citizens. If such crimes are probed into only when a huge hue and cry is made over it, then where lie the responsibility of police and administration, which is responsible for the overall law and order situation.

We should stop calling ourselves as social animals if such heinous crimes occur in the society where we live. We are better off wearing animal skins and live in caves if cannot curb such crimes which are acts of social blot. We will be celebrating our sixtieth year of independence this year, but where is the independence from crime. We are out of the colonial chains but do we have the ability to fight ourselves? The questions to be asked is - Are we independent in real terms? There are lots of questions that need to be answered about the social environment that is prevalent. And no one is going to answer them, we have to search the answers within ourselves.

Arindam Banerjee

Courtesy : civilserviceindia.com