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

As civilization advances culture declines :

From time immemorial, human race has been making efforts towards civilization. From cave
dwellers to modern day's concrete jungle dwellers, it has been a journey of development and
change for human race. Civilization, as defined in most dictionaries, is a social process where
societies evolve to higher levels of development. The process through which the Stone Age man
evolved into the man of 21st century over thousands of years, is what civilization is all about.

Culture, on the other hand, is more of a by-product of civilization. In the process of

civilization, different groups of people developed a way of life unique to themselves. This way
of life is the culture of that particular group of people. That is how we have different cultures
in different countries. The word culture could also mean development of the human mind to
higher levels of thinking, refinement of the individual. These two meanings of culture are one
and the same conceptually. The culture or way of life of a group is determined by the levels of
refinement of the human minds constituting the group.

Civilization and culture are often the most widely discussed topics, particularly since the dawn
of the 21st century. This has been necessitated because never before has human civilization
and culture been subject to such rapidly changing scenarios, thanks to the giant leaps that
human race is taking towards technological advancements. Cultural changes are bound to
happen as people all over world are inter-mingling and new thinking is evolving. We see new
changes in culture and life styles every alternate day. All this is part of civilization of human
race, which is a never ending process.

In our today's world, we constantly hear about deterioration of cultural values, about the
benefit of advances in civilization at the cost of human values, rights and peace. We are pitied
at leading mechanical lives and always speak about the glorious past. Our own advancements in
civilization are looked upon as a bane to the very human race that made those advancements.
"Where is the world heading?" - this is one question everyone seems to be asking these days.
That is why, it has become a common notion that as civilization advances culture declines.

This is where, may be a change of the line of thinking would help in putting things in the right
perspective. Civilization, as mentioned earlier, is a never ending process. Human race was
never meant to remain static, dynamism is inbuilt in human beings. We, humans, have an
undying thirst for change, to explore new ideas, to venture into unknown areas. It is this thirst
that has lead to all the inventions and discoveries over thousands of years. At every stage,
whenever there were changes in civilization, cultural changes walked hand in hand. Cultural
changes happened during every phase of history be it the Stone Age, Iron and the Bronze Age.
Changes happened during the Industrial Revolution, changes happened during every country's
struggle for liberation and changes are bound to happen as we enter into a whole new era of
advancements in civilization of the 21st century.

Take the case of India. We say Indian culture is declining and we Indians are losing our culture,
meaning, we are losing their values. Was there one unique Indian culture since the planet Earth
came into being? No, Indian culture or the Indian way of life, like every group of human beings
evolved and changed over centuries. The earliest known culture of the Harappan Civilization
changed over the centuries with the raise of the Aryan civilization. It changed again with the
raise and fall of every ancient kingdom. More changes came from the medieval kingdoms and
finally through the British rule. At every stage, Indian culture did not decline; it only absorbed
the new features of every phase of civilization and is where it stands today.

The cultural decline that we talk about today, is actually not a decline, it is an evolution of
existing culture into a new form. Why then do we suddenly talk about cultural declination with
advancements in civilization?

One basic point could be because, today, we think we have reached highest points of
civilization and that is why we turn back to look at the journey of human race over time and
pin point the culture we have lost in the process of civilization. However, we should remember
that, advancement in civilization is the very essence of human nature and civilization is bound
to keep going further and further. The cultural changes that occur as a consequence are not
something to be looked upon with despair but they are something to be welcomed since they
are a proof of the advancements that human race is making.

We have to accept that change is inevitable as we make progress. Either we face

advancements in civilization and the consequent changes in culture or remain static where we
are today and prevent culture from "declining". Once we are able to accept the fact that
culture changes as civilization grows, we would find that many of our grievances are resolved.
If today's life seems mechanical, it is because machines have become an integral part of life. If
early man welcomed the invention of wheels to make his life easier and thereby accepted the
changes in culture as a result of it, we too should welcome changes that our new inventions
bring along with them. If invention of wheel was a new level in civilization for humans,
centuries ago, our technological advancements mean a new level in our civilization. If our
ancient men had not invented the wheel or cultivated land or the use of iron, we would not
have been what we are today. At every stage of civilization and changes in culture, even those
ancient times, someone would have looked back to think the advancements in civilization
brought about a decline in culture but that never stopped people from thinking higher and it
never will.

In conclusion, that which changes is what we call civilization, it would not be civilization if
things remained the same. Culture, which is the result of civilization is bound to change as its
parent changes. Culture never changes for the good or for the bad, it depends on the
perspective of the individual dealing with it. As civilization advances, culture does not decline,
it plainly evolves.

Harichandana Devalla

Courtesy : civilserviceindia.com