Each day as we tune into news channels, there are reports of violent acts, unrest and dishonesty engendering a sense of fear. Added to these is the apparent lack of a solution to resolve these crimes which are fast increasing across the globe. If newspaper reports are any indication, even the legislative bodies, which are expected to be examples of decorum, decency and civility, have been deviating from their well-established high standards of probity and debate.
The law-enforcing agencies also have been bitterly criticised for atrocities on the suspects and the undertrials and complicity with criminals. Students, who are supposed to be observing discipline, are reported to be on the rampage in the campus or on eve-teasing errands in the buses. These days, even some preachers of religion and morality are found to be involved in various unlawful acts. The situation in the international arena is no better. When an ordinary person finds that there has been an all-round fall in standards of public and private morality and observance of the law, he or she feels tempted to take recourse to illegal or extra-legal measures.
What are the reasons for this sorry state of affairs? What can now be done to make man law-abiding and peaceful by nature? There are many factors which have led to the present near-anarchic state of society — the main among them, being lack of moral and spiritual education, ignorance about the identity of the self and the spread of materialistic values etc. And, so, the remedy now is to include human values in education and have value-based politics and to give importance to the code of conduct for every profession. Most people dismiss morality by saying that it differs from person to person. So who draws the line between right and wrong? It is possible to dissolve this difference by understanding spirituality as it is based on the truth that every human being is intrinsically virtuous and possesses qualities of wisdom, purity, peace, love and truth.
So any act that goes against these fundamental qualities amounts to immorality and disturbs the social fabric. And so, to cleanse society of crime, there is a need to foster a culture of spirituality. Spirituality adds dignity to how people look at each other.
There is a need to use the latest technology, media and government channels to empower people to recognise their own goodness so that they obey laws themselves, and even if some people err, others in the society respond to the victims’ appeals with greater responsibility and humanity. Such a culture would then be able to create harmony deep within people where laws cannot reach, and promise inner security that fences and guards cannot provide.