“Raksha Bandhan” is primarily a Hindu festival celebrated by brothers and sisters in India, Nepal, Mauritius and among Hindus all-over the world wherever they are residing signifying a spiritual, moral and social bonding among them. The fact that the celebration is not being merely confined to biological brothers and sisters and that it is observed each year acts as a constant reminder of the moral duty of male population among Hindu communities to ensure safety of female section of the larger society. The etymological meaning of two words “Raksha” implying protection and “Bandhan” attributing to commitment which arises out of tying a knot/ceremonial thread defines the significance of the festival as a reminder of core human values such as moral and spiritual values and social capital. However, the occasion is also celebrated among Jains but in a different manner represented by Jain priests giving ceremonial threads to the devotees. As one of the holiest days as per the Hindu mythology, the festival is observed on the full moon day of the Hindu luni-solar calendar in the month of Shravana/August month of Gregorian calendar. While there are many mythological stories around the celebration of the festival, one particular story relating to Krishna and Draupadi clearly stands out because of its large audience. The epic of Mahabharat which has been telecast several times through different channels of Indian Television must have created a worldwide audience over the years. In this popular mythology, Draupadi, wife of Pandavas tied a ceremonial thread to Lord Krishna and the latter in return provided protection to the former at a critical juncture when she was being physically harassed and morally tortured by Kauravas to a level that she had no other way except trusting Krishna. The commitment demonstrated by Lord Krishna who is revered as God/Almighty by the Hindus, towards his sister and obligations arising out of the ceremonial thread the sister had tied to him assigns spiritual and moral significance to the occasion whereas the level trust that Draupadi demonstrated was marked by social capital.
In contradiction to the moral values and spirituality underlining the commitment to protect the female section of the society which is symbolically represented by the festival, the brutal and inhuman rape and murder of a female doctor at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata on August 9 this year signifies sharp degeneration of moral values and social capital among certain sections of people. The issue is not merely about security of female doctors rather it deals with more serious and larger phenomena of degeneration of moral and spiritual values and decline of social capital. Social Capital as a concept was first coined by American Political Scientist Robert Putnam indicating the level of trust prevailing in a society which was demonstrated by the trust that Draupadi had with Krishna even during her utter helplessness. As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) annual report, there has been a surge of 4% in crimes against women in India throughout 2022 including cases of cruelty by husbands and relatives, abductions, assaults, and rapes. These incidents are caused by lack of social capital and they undermine social capital, in turn, as well. In West Bengal, doctors’ agitation and support of the opposition parties towards delivering of quick justice to the victim led Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to initiate her own march to ironically demonstrate that the government is also expecting justice to be delivered to the victim of such shocking and despicable crime whereas the government’s initial response to the macabre offence had engendered many doubts as regards the nexus between political establishment and perpetrators of the crime. This has led to further politicisation of the issue. Meanwhile, the nation-wide protests of doctors are impeding the medical services that patients of different hospitals desperately need. Besides, CBI’s primary investigations point to the fact that the case could be more complicated with involvement of several culprits. However, the politicisation of such inhuman and despicable acts exemplify a long-term degeneration of moral values and social capital in the society in a much broader sense.
While the laws relating to crimes against women have been strengthened from time to time for instance, the definition of rape in India has been widened to include non-penetrative acts and the age threshold for rape trials has been lowered so that 16-year adults can be tried, people commit such crimes with impunity and disregard for higher moral and spiritual values. The level of trust that individuals can expect from others in a society has gone down to an all-time nadir. Criminals still believe they can get away with their crimes and some believe that such cases of crimes against women might go unreported because of social stigma revolving around gender violence. However, the most important elements of humanity that go missing among the people who commit such crimes are inculcation of moral values and social capital that can distinguish them as human beings from lower beings.
Dr Manoj Kumar Mishra, Lecturer in Political Science, SVM Autonomous College, Jagatsinghpur, Odisha, India.
