Civic sense or lack of it is quite inherent in Indian society. Recent happenings like the outrage over the Surf Excel add and the attack on Kashmiris post- Pulwama in various parts of India bear witness to it. Yet the question that first arises among the most sections in the society is how are these events related to civic sense in the first place?
This is due to the fact that Indians have a narrow view of civic sense. Civic sense encompasses not only cleanliness but a variety of social ethics like respect for other people and their cultures, law-abiding and decorum. Civic sense is the unspoken norms to be followed in society. Just writing this would give an inkling of lacking we are as a society. Indians exhibit a hypocritical appearance of civic sense. We claim to be a towering force with our civic sense and morals yet in action we are miles away.
Case in point:- The Nirbhaya Case from 2012. There were widespread outrage and demonstrations following the horrific incident. Yet reports have indicated that the victim lay by the roadside while Delhi rushed past in their cars. The lack of sensitivity shown to others plight was frankly disgraceful beyond belief. Only last year where demonstrations were made in support of the rape accused shows among other things the absence of even modicum of civic sense.
This demonstration marked a new low for the country
Law-abiding is in a terminal decline. You only have to travel outside your home to witness it. The blatant disregard for traffic rules ( which have been so abused you might as well consider them to be extinct) bear witness to this lack of civic sense. What exacerbates the problem is the moniker of “Everyone does it so I will too” which is ingrained into Indians. The result is a loss to society with approximately 1.5 lakh people dying every year in road accidents.
One Death every 4 mins due to accidents in India
An alarming trend has been the exponential increase in intolerance to fellow citizens beliefs, cultures, background and other similar attributes. The post- Pulwama outrage directed towards Kashmiris which involved physical harm clearly express them. What was even more disturbing was the justification it had from society. People in their nationalism/anger forgot that there is a justice system in place in our country. It is for the system which will convict people who were gloating about the attack. Also, the actions of a few don’t entail that all the people from that background are similar.
We have become so intolerant with each other than a simple TV advertisement has sparked outrage. An ad which promotes communal harmony and being considerate to other people’s beliefs have witness backlash in the name of positions one religious belief over another. People do find the time to complain about such things yet are too occupied to help anyone in need. This along with the communal riots which are widespread in our country paint a rather damning account of our society.
Social media today is a prime example of the lack of civic sense in Indians. With there being negligible regulation and consequence, this has led to a large amount of hate being spread around. Death threats, Rape threats are common on these platforms. You only have to see any of the social media platforms to see the hate and toxicity that is spread there.
Even if we look at civic sense in the narrow sense yet even then Indians are found to be woefully inadequate. Despite having a dedicated Central Mission on cleanliness, started by the honourable Prime Minister citizen participation remain non-existence. Little participation in existence is mainly token and done to claim pieces/pictures in newspapers. The streets of our cities are rife with spit marks, garbage, vulgar graffiti and overflowing sewers. It all comes to the citizens' civic sense as the roads are dirty not because of not being cleaned but because someone dirtied it in the first place. You can see pieces of evidence of it even while every day. People nonchalantly throwing garbage from the windows of their car while on the road is a common occurrence. People today are so driven towards their personal goals that civic sense as an ethic has become a nuisance. Also disheartening is the apparent pride which people show while exhibiting lack of civic sense. Those who exhibit civic sense are mocked and ridiculed greatly in society.
The best way to handle a troll is to ignore it
Even our schools which should form as the foundation for inhibiting civic sense in the next generation show a complete disregard for it. The sense of togetherness in society is rarely promoted and are present as pages to be memorized by students rather than to imbibe in themselves. There is a sense of entitlement which is growing in our society where people consider they are entitled to certain favours just because they are at a higher position. Prominent personalities have been known to throw fits at being asked to do something just because they are famous. Planes have been known to be delayed to accommodate politicians or famous personalities. This sense of entitlement forms a major threat to the very fabric of our society. India is a diverse country and the need of the hour is general civic sense before it gets too late.
This is due to the fact that Indians have a narrow view of civic sense. Civic sense encompasses not only cleanliness but a variety of social ethics like respect for other people and their cultures, law-abiding and decorum. Civic sense is the unspoken norms to be followed in society. Just writing this would give an inkling of lacking we are as a society. Indians exhibit a hypocritical appearance of civic sense. We claim to be a towering force with our civic sense and morals yet in action we are miles away.
Case in point:- The Nirbhaya Case from 2012. There were widespread outrage and demonstrations following the horrific incident. Yet reports have indicated that the victim lay by the roadside while Delhi rushed past in their cars. The lack of sensitivity shown to others plight was frankly disgraceful beyond belief. Only last year where demonstrations were made in support of the rape accused shows among other things the absence of even modicum of civic sense.
Law-abiding is in a terminal decline. You only have to travel outside your home to witness it. The blatant disregard for traffic rules ( which have been so abused you might as well consider them to be extinct) bear witness to this lack of civic sense. What exacerbates the problem is the moniker of “Everyone does it so I will too” which is ingrained into Indians. The result is a loss to society with approximately 1.5 lakh people dying every year in road accidents.
An alarming trend has been the exponential increase in intolerance to fellow citizens beliefs, cultures, background and other similar attributes. The post- Pulwama outrage directed towards Kashmiris which involved physical harm clearly express them. What was even more disturbing was the justification it had from society. People in their nationalism/anger forgot that there is a justice system in place in our country. It is for the system which will convict people who were gloating about the attack. Also, the actions of a few don’t entail that all the people from that background are similar.
We have become so intolerant with each other than a simple TV advertisement has sparked outrage. An ad which promotes communal harmony and being considerate to other people’s beliefs have witness backlash in the name of positions one religious belief over another. People do find the time to complain about such things yet are too occupied to help anyone in need. This along with the communal riots which are widespread in our country paint a rather damning account of our society.
Social media today is a prime example of the lack of civic sense in Indians. With there being negligible regulation and consequence, this has led to a large amount of hate being spread around. Death threats, Rape threats are common on these platforms. You only have to see any of the social media platforms to see the hate and toxicity that is spread there.
Even if we look at civic sense in the narrow sense yet even then Indians are found to be woefully inadequate. Despite having a dedicated Central Mission on cleanliness, started by the honourable Prime Minister citizen participation remain non-existence. Little participation in existence is mainly token and done to claim pieces/pictures in newspapers. The streets of our cities are rife with spit marks, garbage, vulgar graffiti and overflowing sewers. It all comes to the citizens' civic sense as the roads are dirty not because of not being cleaned but because someone dirtied it in the first place. You can see pieces of evidence of it even while every day. People nonchalantly throwing garbage from the windows of their car while on the road is a common occurrence. People today are so driven towards their personal goals that civic sense as an ethic has become a nuisance. Also disheartening is the apparent pride which people show while exhibiting lack of civic sense. Those who exhibit civic sense are mocked and ridiculed greatly in society.
Even our schools which should form as the foundation for inhibiting civic sense in the next generation show a complete disregard for it. The sense of togetherness in society is rarely promoted and are present as pages to be memorized by students rather than to imbibe in themselves. There is a sense of entitlement which is growing in our society where people consider they are entitled to certain favours just because they are at a higher position. Prominent personalities have been known to throw fits at being asked to do something just because they are famous. Planes have been known to be delayed to accommodate politicians or famous personalities. This sense of entitlement forms a major threat to the very fabric of our society. India is a diverse country and the need of the hour is general civic sense before it gets too late.
Comments
Post a Comment