by Bharat Dogra and Jagmohan Singh
Despite inheriting a rich cultural legacy Punjabi society has not been able to avoid high levels of distress and stress created by several social distortions of recent decades. This is visible, among other things, in the high consumption of various intoxicants and the related addictions, the high burden of certain ceremonial expenses such as those related to marriages and dowries, certain social divisions at times getting more tense and in the high incidence of certain types of violence and crimes, not to mention the years of terrorism related violence which hopefully are behind us. The high levels of inequalities of any society themselves constitute an important factor of stress and distress which can get aggravated in different ways. Society’s own stresses in a border state like Punjab are accentuated by forces from beyond the border for their own narrow ends, and the forces of imperialism also pursue their narrow interests in less obvious ways which are nevertheless more serious than is commonly realized, thereby increasing chances of increasing sectarian divide and violence.
In any such analysis of society to find causes of stress, it is not enough to just look at the more visible factors of distress and stress. A less discussed but important aspect is the absence of clear thinking and social commitments with respect to the most important tasks and responsibilities. In such a situation of confusion as well as social vacuum, it becomes more likely that various kinds of social problems start increasing. Confusions are caused, for example, by strategies like green revolution being first promoted as a big hope followed by inability to explain several serious problems caused by them. Social vacuum is caused by absence, or relative absence, of credible alternatives to take place of failed strategies or programs.
It is in such a vacuum that we see worrying statistics such as nearly a million persons being in need of de-addiction ( about three fourths due to alcohol and one-fourths due to other drugs), or about 15% of the families having one or the other members as addicts. Then there are other problems such as those related to the consumption of guthka, with serious implications for oral cancer. The WHO tells that alcohol is linked to about 200 kinds of health problems, including several kinds of cancers. So on the one hand there is wastage of limited income, followed by serious health problems and conditions, expenses incurred on their treatment and de-addiction, loss of work and income, involvement in crime and violence, increased risk of accidents etc.
Several factors apart from social vacuum and supply-related factors may be leading to the rise in consumption of intoxicants, one factor being less nutritious food availability (grown with high doses of agro-chemicals and lacking in important micro-nutrients) also creating a craving for intoxicants, or workers and peasants getting pushed into situations of hopelessness, or among higher income groups, liquor brands becoming a new symbol of socialization and glamour, later resulting in addiction. However the difficult conditions of several households are certainly made much more difficult by one or more cases of addictions.
While women consume the least intoxicants, in many villages and urban settlements not at all, but it is they who suffer the most in the context of increasing difficulties in meeting essential family expenses. What is most painful for them is that in several cases as a result of intoxications essential expenses for nutrition and education of children cannot be found. In addition violence against women is much higher in households of alcohol addiction in particular. It is not surprising that in some of the more affected areas, women mention intoxicants as the number one problem. However the strong feelings of women get less attention. In the case of drugs at least the seriousness of the problem is recognized, but alcohol addiction does not even get the necessary attention.
The strong gender bias in Punjab society has been generally reflected in a very adverse sex ratio, a situation that became worse with the introduction of new technologies and the resulting escalation of cases of female foeticide till some remedial action by the government checked this highly disturbing trend to some extent. More recently there have been several reports of high rates of several crimes against women. The high and increasing expenditure on marriages of girls and dowries reflects the gender bias and also accentuates it. In her study based on interviews with 136 family members of suicide victims, Ranjana Padhi writes, “Of the respondents who are currently in debt (125), almost half have spent loan money on a marriage in the family. Around 37 used loan money to marry off daughters, at an average loan amount of Rs. 1.9 lakhs; 12 took loans to marry off sisters-in-law, at an average of Rs. 2.75 lakhs, as against only 4 who took loans for marrying off sons at an average loan of Rs. 1.1 lakhs. Of the families who have used loans for dowry and marriage, 22% have some amount of landholdings. Of greater concern is that 23% of landless labourers are also in debt owing to wedding expenses and dowry.” (2012)
Many rural societies traditionally had close ties between various sections but quite often these were rooted in inequalities. For example, ties between big land owners and landless farm workers could be close but only as long as the landlessness and lower position of the workers was accepted. The real challenge is to rebuild close relationships on the basis of justice and equality, as in the longer term only such relationships can be accepted by both sides and hence can be stable. Unfortunately, what we see in Punjab is growing alienation of these different sections.
Earlier the decade of 1981-91 was called a period of terrorism and during this period the proportion of the Hindu population living in the villages of Punjab declined as they faced greater threat from terrorists. Remedial steps at the political and the administrative level were successful but new problems have also emerged. As Sucha Singh Gill writes, “This decade has been free from any conflict leading to communal polarization. However, the polarization within the religious groups on class and caste lines especially among the Sikhs has been sharpened. Jat Sikhs have been dominating the rural areas. They own and cultivate land and employ SCs and BCs persons as agricultural labourers. There are sharp decline in the number of SCs operational holdings from 54,000 in 1990-91 to 37,000 in 2005-06. Jat Sikhs also control common property resources such as Shamlat land, Panchayati Land, land of the religious places such as the Gurudwaras (Sikh temples).” (2013, CRRID)
There are growing signs of dalits being denied land rights to an even greater extent than before, and the resulting discontent. If such trends persist, social harmony will be badly affected. At present these social relationships are at best fragile and precarious. Hundreds of people were killed in an earlier phase of indiscriminate violence and terrorism, so any threats to social harmony are a cause of great concern, particularly as several powerful interests at home and abroad are waiting to fish in troubled waters.
The situation becomes even more precarious due to the increasing criminalization of the society, high rates of many serious crimes, formation of gangs and inter-gang violence, the prevailing ‘gun culture’ and the involvement of politically influential persons in crimes. In fact, news reports on increasing substance abuse have drawn attention to the involvement of prominent political leaders as well as officials.
This also draws attention to how various social problems can be related to each other, and many of these can be related in turn to governance problems in general and in particular to corruption.
On the plus side there is a rich legacy of social reform and many people including youth are motivated to come forward for this if only they find the right opportunities. These must be increased and the potential that certainly exists for many sided highly useful social reform should be taken forward.
Prof. Jagmohan Singh is Chairman of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Centenary Foundation.
Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children and India’s Quest for Sustainable Farming and Healthy Food.
