Humans With No Humanity

KK

Can you see the eager photographers in the above picture? They were taking photos and recording videos from different angles. And what were they filming?

A 13-year-old girl injured and drenched in blood was lying unconscious, but the group of men stood around her filming her. Nobody came forward to help her.

She was found last week in the roadside bushes with multiple injuries, including on the head. Nobody bothered whether she was a victim of road accident or attempted murder. The poor girl had to wait until police arrived and took her to a hospital on an autorickshaw.

The girl, a class IX student had left her home in the morning to purchase some stuff from the nearby market, but was reported missing, and found lying badly injured in the evening.

Later her family lodged a case against an unknown person on the charges of kidnapping and attempted rape and murder, as she was last seen with a youth in a CCTV footage. The investigations are on to trace the culprit.

Now the question is what comes first in the mind when such a victim is seen. The answer is obvious, “Empathy and immediate help.” But what those bystanders were doing? “Filming.” When there is such a gap between thought and action, it’s certain that we are lacking somewhere as a human being.

Those unknown persons not only showed their apathy, but also made made their photographs and videos viral that revealed the minor victim’s identity. Can we do the same thing if the victim is from our own family?

I’m happy that the policeman, who lifted her in his arms to take her to hospital, lodged a complaint against those heinous people, who have since been booked for interfering in the administration of justice and character assassination of the victim.

This will give a lesson and warning to such silent offenders, as this is not the isolated case. It happens so often and people remain mute spectators and the worse is that they continue to make videos, while the victim keeps pleading for help by feebly moving hands or limbs.

This is the extreme of inhumanity. They forget that love and compassion are the necessary ornaments of humanity, and a “well done” is far far better than a “well filmed.” They are humans but with no humanity. 

But why such an apathy or heartlessness at all happens? Because the person who takes the victim to police station or hospital are questioned vigorously and suspected prima facie. Such a person is mostly made witness to help in the investigation process that will require his frequent presence in police station and courts.

To my mind, police and legal authorities should try to help and applaud such Good Samaritans instead of harassing them in the name of investigation. The law should be liberalised and made people-friendly, though it’s also true that in some cases, offender himself takes the victim to police station or hospital.

What I think if we have real concern for humanity, should not get so upset about something so trivial as going to police or court for doing a greater service as a human being, but again, it depends how we measure what we think and what we do.

I conclude with what Mahatma Gandhi thought about this,
“You must not lose faith in humanity, as humanity is an ocean. If a few drops are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”

–Kaushal Kishore

68 Comments

  1. Well said. We have developed a nasty habit of clicking everything and anything to post on Instagram or Facebook but this is not only stupid but very cruel when the poor girl is in need of first aid and hospitalization. This is such a thought provoking post.

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    1. No, it’s not femicide, it’s a crime, it’s total apathy, an inhuman act. And the reaction of bystanders would have been the same, if the victim had been a boy or an aged man.

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  3. I am with Gandhi on this, but, if I see an injured person, would I not right away call an ambulance while rushing to help? Who would think of what happens afterwards in a situation like that? I hope that I will handle such a situation better than described by you. To put these videos on social media is utterly dispicable.
    But people do put videos of their children getting hurt on social media, under “funny home videos”.

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  6. There are layers here.

    The criminal justice system is unforgiving. I pity anyone who ends up a witness – at least in adversarial rather than inquisitorial systems. There is little incentive do anything other than avoid. I am unsure as to the answer. There has to be the opportunity to defend, and that means the investigators and prosecutors need to ask some difficult questions as well.

    But there is another layer. The commodification of people. Humans as objects of exploitation. This is rooted in capitalist economics, but extends into social hierarchy and positioning.

    Both will require some radical restructuring of society’s priorities, and a renewed concentration on compassion, humility and selflessness.

    I am nowhere near there myself, however.

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    1. Thank you, my friend, for your deep reflections. As you said, some radical changes have to be made to see the desired impact. Let’s see how the things unfold, but I’m sure such undesirable elements are not going to define humanity.

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    1. Yes, awareness is very important. There are some candle marches and protests here too, but the culprits need to be punished quickly. Thank you, Cindy, for sharing your reflections 💖💕💖

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  9. Your depth of humanity shines through your brilliant piece, my brother Kaushal. As Aparna said in her comment, we’ve become so quick to click anything and everything. This callous and very disturbing “click-happy” phenomenon does shine a light on how despite all the tools we have at our fingertips, we have become so inured to the pain and suffering around us that we scarcely see people as human beings anymore – just “objects” so removed from our collective psyche that “they” have become nothing more than things – we have stripped all dignity and humanity away as you so articulately say, and yes, it is a sad indictment on us all. Thank you for your post, Kaushal-bhai! It is not just a brilliant piece of writing but it is such a necessary reminder to us all to at least try and regain some semblance of humanity that we have collectively lost in this cold era of “me” as opposed to “us”. Thank you again my dear brother!

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    1. Thank you, Afzal Bhai for summing up the whole issue so appropriately. I totally agree with you on the shift from “us” to “me.” The heart bleeds when such an inhuman act is perpetrated by the so-called human beings. Thank you, my friend, for resonating with me and with the majority of human beings.

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      1. No thank-yous ever needed my dear brother, what kind of human beings would we be if we cannot bear witness to and raise our voices in protest against any and all forms of oppression and repression be it patriarchal miaogyny, religious fanaticism, rabid nationalism, the attacks on people from the LGBTQIA community, and one could go on and on. It is always most heartwarming and makes us feel less alone when we find like-minded people with whom we can connect to on a human-level – and I am ever thankful to have the opportunity to share these spaces with fellow-travellers in heart and mind and thought, and we are the stronger standing shoulder to shoulder than the forces that choose to divide and people who choose to stomp on others instead of lending a hand so that all fellow humans’ dignity be respected and fiercely protected. 🙏🏾.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. This has come direct from your heart, dear Afzal Bhai. Every word of yours is true and so real. I agree we should raise our voices whenever and wherever we see injustices being dished out intentionally. Discrimination or ill-treatment on the basis of gender, caste, religion or sex orientation defies any logic or sense. Let’s join our hands to do our little bit of good wherever we are.

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  12. I’m sorry for hogging up more space here, my dear brother KK, but this piece of yours has left me so pained – all the comments above from everyone who has responded to your piece is such a profound reminder, on a human level, that “we” still have the capacity be simply human. Coming from South Africa, we often read about how elephants respond when a member of their group dies – they mourn for days, and we homo-sapiens have the gall to refer to creatures with whom we share this planet “animals” in a pejorative sense – while over and over again it is our species that exposes us all as cold, callous, greedy, selfish people who as someone put it “the only species on earth that hunts on a full stomach”. It is shameful and we should be ashamed and appalled and furthermore we should be shaken up by your piece and by all the comments shared above to do the most we can to at the very least try and regain some scintilla of “humanity” which we see being eroded all around us. That instantaneous impulse to click and video such horror instead of lending a helping hand instead makes me shudder and strips bare all the superficiality we wrap ourselves in and exposes us as being the real “beasts” who walk this planet.

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    1. Thank you, Afzal Bhai, for sharing your hurt feelings. You can imagine how I felt while writing this piece. Normally I don’t like to share bad and undesirable feelings, but then I also feel that if such things are not exposed and criticised, these things will remain under wraps, that will in turn embolden such unscrupulous elements. We must know darkness to appreciate light and its brightness. Your example of elephants is a clear example how animals still preserve soft feelings while humans are developing animal instincts.

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      1. So very true my dear Kaushal-bhai! It is gut-wrenching to see such abominable behaviour and I’m with you completely that we have to use all the tools available to us to expose the ugliness of human behaviour. From the brutal crackdown and merciless attacks on young women in Iran who are fighting and getting whipped and tortured and murdered for something we take for granted in the free open societies we live in and whose freedoms we enjoy to the barbarity of wars and of occupation and of displacing countless indigenous people as their forests are being plundered for profit makes it hard to be hopeful and positive at times, but we take hope and stand in solidarity with those whose rights and basic demands for basic freedoms are met with brute force. Thank you, Kaushal-bhai, for your shining a light on not just what we want to see and hear but on what we need to see and hear so that we have no excuses for our indifference and our inaction. Thank you brother. Truly.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. … we could go on and on, my dear brother, so we take solace and hope in that we are not alone in our thoughts and we can embrace further hope that we SHALL overcome. 🙏🏾 Shanti Shalom uKuthula Salaam Paix Paz 🙏🏾

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      3. I agree with you, we can keep talking and writing on the subject, but the best thing is to understand and contribute our mite in our own humble way to check this sort of menace. The good thing is that most of us feel in the same way, but the bad thing is that majority remains indifferent, that in a way, unintentionally, supports the unscrupulous elements. Let’s be aware of this irony and do whatever we can for restoring humanity in every sphere of life around us. 🙏💐

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  15. Such happening of unhuman act coupled with apathy of the passersby are height of grave concern. If one does not help another person, how fair it would be that he/she expect any help, later if anything wrong happens to him/her??
    Nicely written and good to share for reminding the filmy people to be humans.

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    1. You’re right, VM, one should think of that, but such people think that they won’t be subjected to such cruelty. It’s a folly on their part, as bad elements don’t spare anybody. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

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    1. Love is here in this world, but not in those heartless people. They are not meant for this divine feeling. Thank you my friend for sharing your views.

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  18. This is shocking. Humans gone crazy! Would they be taking pictures if it had been a boy, say one of their brothers? The quote of Gandhi’s is wonderful but in todays world the oceans are full of plastic and toxins and we are poisoning ourselves! As above, “where did the love go?” 🙏🤍🙏

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    1. Thank you, Ashley for your thoughtful comment, but as I said, it’s not a gender issue. Those bystanders simply want to be first in sharing such ghastly incidents without a human touch. They just want to increase likes and subscriptions on their sites. As regards love, it’s still there, but not in those heartless people.

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  19. Thank you, Kaushal, for once again writing a memorable and thought-provoking post that will affect so many readers for a long time.
    You know me well enough to realize how upset I will be reading that
    such a crime could happen in my favorite country. I can only hope all involved will be punished and shamed for such cruelty.
    Gandhi’s wisdom quote is the answer to my sadness. Thank you.

    Joanna

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    1. Thank you, Joanna, for your heart touching words and deep reflections. I would like to discuss about such inhuman people to name and shame them. Let judiciary and police do their work, but as a responsible citizen, we must raise our own voice against such heinous elements. I can understand your feelings, but at times, it’s better to speak up.

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  23. I am shocked by this. Truly shocked! I am glad you wrote this piece and how you felt about these people. I will say no more as I do not want to descend into bad language and stoop to the low level of these creatures and their phones !!!

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  25. I feel terrible just reading it…poor girl…may she is okay now. Although what she went through, none of us can’t change that, but people shouldn’t add to it either.

    This same thing-I don’t understand why people, why you want to take pictures of someone in pain, when you can offer a helping hand instead. So you can upload on your page or channel, for likes and followers?!

    Even if police gets judgy, still, it doesn’t give people the right to take snaps, while the girl suffers there in pain. So sad.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thank you for reading and commenting. I have seen such people making videos even when the victim is a boy or an aged person, and every time I feel that it’s nothing, but perversion, a sick mentality. I simply wonder what would be their reaction if the victim had been one of their relatives. Stern action needs to be taken against such people who instead of extending a helping hand, simply add insults to injury.

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      1. If the victim turns out to be their loved ones, their reaction will be different of course, more protective and genuine. But people often forget that others are also someone’s loved ones, someone’s honor, above all they are humans.

        No doubt actions should be taken. Those who are in their right minds should put a stop to this madness, we should spread awareness, and reminders. In short, everyone should do their part.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. The only mantra is “Do your little bit of good wherever you are..” If it happens, this earth will be a better place to live in. Thank you!

        Liked by 1 person

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