Day 18 – Q 4.One one hand one can’t disagree to the fact that compassion is an important human value. On the other hand, compassion as a human attribute is missing from most societies. Can you tell what happens to a society that lacks compassion? Does in the long run, lack of compassion leads to decay of social institutions? Examine.

4. One one hand one can’t disagree to the fact that compassion is an important human value. On the other hand, compassion as a human attribute is missing from most societies. Can you tell what happens to a society that lacks compassion? Does in the long run, lack of compassion leads to decay of social institutions? Examine.  

एक ओर इस तथ्य से असहमती नहीं हो सकती है कि करुणा एक महत्वपूर्ण मानवीय मूल्य है। दूसरी ओर, अधिकांश समाजों से एक मानवीय विशेषता के रूप में करुणा गायब है। क्या आप बता सकते हैं कि उस समाज का क्या होता है जिसमें करुणा की कमी होती है? क्या लंबे समय में, दया की कमी से सामाजिक संस्थानों का क्षय होता है? जांच करें।

Introduction:

“Compassion is to look beyond your own pain and feel the pain of others” – Dalai Lama

Compassion is a feeling of sympathy and sadness for the suffering of others and a wish to help them to overcome it.

Body

Compassion as important human value:

As Dalai Lama says – the ultimate source of a happy life is warm-heartedness and compassion is a constructive emotion related to intelligence. It brings positive change in the society. E.g. Bharat vatwani showing compassion for mentally challenged persons was able to build a rehabilitation home.

Compassion is a part of our everyday experience of being human. E.g. Helping a person who is deprived of food and clothing (Compassionate Kozhikode, operation suleimani).

Compassion missing from the society:

However, compassion has been missing in many spheres of life. E.g. often it is reported, public gather around an accident and take photos rather than helping the victim out of compassion. 

The same can be seen in many other situations like the attack on African students in Karnataka, mob lynching that happened in UP, Gujarat etc., – all due to absence of compassion.

There are many other instances like Hemant Kumar, an MNC manager was ostracized by his entire village as he refused to wash the feet of priest because he was a dalit. None of the communities/ families felt compassion, placing themselves in his shoes and evaluate if what they did was right.

Societies lacking compassion:

Absence of compassion in the society will lead to lack of fraternity and harmony.There will be inequality, ostracization and alienation of certain sections in the society. As a result, there would be increased crime, hatred and unlawful activities in the society. E.g. Lack of compassion towards the genuine problems of landless/tribals led to the development of Naxalism.

Further, it results in lack of social capital as there will be the alienation of groups due to lack of compassion. This leads to distrust and an environment of suspicion. Thus, there will be a lack of social capital and limited public participation in the society. This will lead to the collapse of social institutions.

E.g. 

• lack of compassion in family perpetuate patriarchy and mistreatment of women in the family. Further, old age person sufferings might be overlooked resulting into decay of family.
• Government overlooking the problems of vulnerable sections. E.g. in spite of 66% of persons in jails are undertrials, little is done to address the issue. This is due ot lack of compassion by shown the govt.
• Religious institutions discriminate in absence of compassion E.g. the practice of triple talaq, ban of entry to women in sabarimala until recently etc.,
• In economy, there will in exclusive growth and increases the inequality and also unsustainable growth due to lack of compassion towards the environment.

Conclusion

The Dalai Lama in his teachings said, “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” Rightly so, compassion almost always leads to an affirmative result and is of paramount importance to each and every one.

Additional information (Note down examples related to compassion):

• Sonam Wangchuk helping the people of Ladakh in improving their life by taking projects like Ice stupa (solving the problem of drinking water).
• Krishna Teja the Sub-Collector of Kuttanad in Alappuzha district of Kerala, organized ‘operation kuttanad’ that saved the lives of nearly 2.5 lakh people (and 12000 cattle) during the catastrophic floods.
• Basant rath- A senior IPS officer distributing free books to students, hailing from remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir, in order to help them crack competitive examinations.
• ‘Compassionate Kozhikode’ and ‘Compassionate Keralam’, winning the trust and volunteer help from the locals to successfully clean ponds, feed the hungry, help and improving lives after the recent floods and involving youth in the betterment of the society.
• Poma Tudo – an IAS officer treks more than 2 km every week to meet hilly villages in Nuapada district of Odisha.