The perpetual rise in criminal activities is indicative of dangerous times ahead and a society that is classified as one where no one is safe. In Pakistan, there seems to be an alarming increase in cases of violent crime and much of it seems to be targeted against women and children. Despite what statistics inform us, many human rights groups posit a strong possibility that many crimes committed are not reported at all. In a horrific addition to a surge seen in unlawful activities, there is also an increase in heinous crimes which involve nothing less than brutal murders by a male against female members of society known to them. Our headlines in the past year have been tragedies of horrific crimes committed against Noor, Saima and Quratulain; clearly proving our systemic failure as a society to protect our women.
Year after year, Pakistan is ranked by the Global Gender Gap Index as the most dangerous country in the world for women in terms of gender inequality. Despite our local laws, ratification to international conventions, several civil society organizations in place to counter this forever growing menace; we have constantly proven our incompetence to defend our women and girls. We are in an age where violent crime is more dominant than ever before despite our determination to achieve secularization and social advancement. Our efforts to attain equality, social progress, and democratic principles of governance seem to have failed in rendering a society that is fit for living.
Our headlines in the past year have been tragedies of horrific crimes committed against Noor, Saima and Quratulain; clearly proving our systemic failure as a society to protect our women.
In light of the recent evidence of growing violent abuse against women, we must ask the fundamental question of whether the ‘so called’ principles of modern society have enabled us better understand and provide solutions to the concrete systemic problems of inequality that women face in daily life or have we exacerbated the situation by simply normalizing abusive incidents?
Although we now stress the importance of highlighting the plight of sufferers, shifting the discourse onto victimhood and where everyone is allowed to exercise their individuality; the truth of postmodern times is that communities some more so than others have progressively become grounded in communal chaos and disorder. Our sense of morality or moral standards has come under major threat; as a result of which our consciousness is subjected to impairment and the lines between right and wrong have profoundly blurred and become ridden with ambiguity.
Moral codes develop through a process of cultural evolution which tends to lead to successful societies. Human societies have experimented with moral systems and codes of ethics over time which is believed to be beneficial for societies. The increased statistics of crime and delinquency demand introspection at all levels of society to assess where we have perhaps erred in allowing for the opportunity for criminals to commit such brutal killings.
Moral degradation has caused a shift in our social values which has paved way for a culture of evil and impunity to prevail. Norms of morality are also communicated and transferred globally much faster in modern times with their evolution happening at a comparatively quicker pace as compared to how societies used to evolve, historically. Societies are now increasingly complex with the magnitude and speed of transformation it has undergone standing unparalleled. For societies at the cusp of traditional structures and radical reforms, the ones truly suffering are countries like Pakistan where people have existed and continue to increasingly live in a state of predicament and which only seem to deepen with each passing day.
So to speak our local social, economic, political, religious and cultural institutions seem to be undergoing a process of transformation themselves. However, with everyday incidents such as those against the weaker sections of society our moral codes and belief systems have proven entirely inadequate when faced with the challenges of age undergoing transition. This seems to be counterintuitive against the ‘so called’ values of safeguarding humanity we are striving to preserve. Destructive behaviour appears so overtly visible and its effects are felt everywhere every day. The integrity and sanctity of what being human meant only seem to have deteriorated and lost somewhere in our claims for achieving civility and ideals of a utopian society.
Rather than borrowing and seeking external aid in trying to fight against the various forms of the plight in our society the only answer to deter growing crime (which is the principal impediment to development but often a neglected variable) is trying to recover our moral code. This is the only way our society will survive, which will be otherwise lost, if not rescued on an urgent basis and as a matter of supreme priority. We need to channelize our efforts in mobilization which ensures that amorality and unethical standards of behaviour and actions do not take precedence and become status quo. Our goal should be to purposefully infuse and attain ‘morality centred’ development objectives at an individual and communal level. The world may be in flux however a right does not become a wrong and vice versa, morality remains and will forever be universal.
It is high time that we reinstate and restore fundamental principles of morality and ethics so that our society does not have to gasp for critical components needed to keep its conscience alive.
The writer works as a Research Associate at Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad.