Shiban Khaibri
Most of us knew scantly in our school days, the real meaning of a saying, painted on the outer wall of the school which read, “He who opens a school door, closes a prison.” Yes, the meaning of a prison really sent shivers down the spine as to who could be such wretched ones to be inmates of a prison or the messages vividly depicted in the charts hanging prominently in photo frame shops with the caption “Karni Bharni” or “as you sow, so shall you reap.” The illustrations in such charts in respect of breaching of moral codes in the society like speaking a lie, thieving and snatching, teasing an innocent, gambling, disrespecting parents and teachers etc would instill fear as well as swamp us with the type of punishment prescribed for most of common sins committed by some people. Have such paintings and such photo frame shops and the like vanished as being redundant and “unrealistic” or not supported by scientific reasoning etc and thus replaced by the ones with more potential commercial gains ? And when crimes take place in the society, at once we yell to call the Police “incompetent” and not “doing anything”? Immediate reaction of most of us usually remains confined to, “But, where was the Police” , when a crime of a ghastly nature takes place. But Police, obviously cannot be expected to be present all the time, at all the places, with all the people and in each and every social , cultural or religious activity to preempt crime taking place or reach the crime spot instantaneously to catch the culprit while committing a crime or within seconds of the commissioning thereof.
What were the parents doing , why they failed in bringing up the child in such a careless and totally over indulgent parenting so much so that they later turned arrogant, delinquents and criminals – should be our first reaction, if necessarily not a deep lament. In Yamunanagar Haryana, a student shot his teacher Principal dead just for mildly scolding him for not being serious about studies and reaching the School quite late. The teacher was just like his mother, an innocent woman. Heavens would have fallen, stories after stories would have been published, and most of the writers would have vied with one another in blaming the teacher, had she given him a lash or two with a cane or made him keep standing on a bench for the entire lesson period as a punishment. She did nothing of the sort. How the boy reached the lethal weapon, the loaded revolver kept by his father, think – decide and reach the school and go straight to the room of the Principal and shoot her dead? He had reportedly his favourite pass time creating crude and lewd music videos. He was usually found by his parents , in particular his father, lip – syncing non sense and irritating “hits ” like “18 vich munda badnaam ho gaya”… or “At 18, the boy has earned notoriety”. Just see the other lines, “16 va bhi tappeya , 17 va bhi tappeya, 18vich munda badnam ho gaya”… or “I have crossed my 16th and 17th year of age but at 18 I became infamous”…. And he translated the third rate lyrics, very often lip – synced by him, into a reality by killing an innocent teacher of his mother’s age in cold blood and thus Munda in reality badnam ho he gaya. The souls of legendary lyricists like Kavi Pradeep, Shakeel Badayonni and Shahir Ludhianvi must be aching on such level of cheap poetry which inspires not but abets a young boy to commit such a heinous crime. Kavi Pradeep’s famous lines,”Dekh teray sansar key haalat kya ho gaye bhagwan” …are proving more prophetic. Gone are those movies, watching after which our elders used to ask , “So, what have you learnt from the film”? One would feel scurried in recalling the scenes and deduce a moral to the satisfaction of the elders hence watching the movie, once in a blue moon, would get a ‘satisfactory post watching scrutiny certificate ‘. And now, actors are seen holding automatic weapons in both hands and using them indiscriminately raining bullets and bludgeoning the targeted ones to painful death. Sex, violence, obscenity, robberies, rapes and then retributive onslaughts, lewdness, amorphously designed themes and other plots and scenes landing at total amorality, are the offshoots of most of the modern day Bollywood movies in our country. They leave a trail of deleterious effect on the psyche of the youth and very often leading them to violence.
Reverting to the kernel of the topic, the money lender father of the killer boy used very often to indulge in celebratory firing. It is obvious that the purpose of celebration and the manner of celebration indulged in by his father must have always been unwarranted and totally reprehensible. The video of a wedding celebration, gone viral shows father and son changing the holding hands of the pistol and firing by turns in the air. It would have been in the fitness of things to arrest his father for charges of abetment of the crime and allowing him unhindered access to the weapon rather than just under the provisions of the violation of the Arms Act. Now see the other face of the coin . Under revised laws, he will be tried as an adult criminal and expectedly get a term to serve the Jail sentence which will seal his otherwise bright future. Not to speak of the youth, why do the parents not think on these lines but prefer their “loved ones” to get spoilt to an extent of no return?
Ryan International School incident in Gurugram, Haryana where a 7 year boy’s throat was found slit in the bath room sent shock waves across the country when it was found that a class 11 boy of the same School was behind this gruesome murder as the killer boy wanted the exams and the parent – teacher interface postponed since he was not ready and prepared to face the same. A student in Brightland School of Lucknow had a student of her own school of 1st standard severely beaten just to have the school closed for the day much before the scheduled time. In Noida, a 16 year old boy killed his innocent mother by breaking her skull with a cricket bat and a pizza cutter. He then killed his sister just to keep her from being a witness to the crime. How this spoilt boy was motivated to crime is attributed to the same affliction as that of the killer of the lady Principal. A video game called the “Gangster in High School” fascinated him to the extent of addiction. This video game dares players to kill and this “killer” game was found on his phone and other devices.
The parents are primarily responsible prior to the teachers in moulding the children into adults of capabilities and abilities with the required quantum of urbanity, subtlety and all round refinement which we call in traditional parlance as “Sanaskars” in such a way that they never deviate from the straight, neat and fruitful path into the one leading into the deep gutters of crime like drugs, violence, sexual offences and cheating of any order. The time tested and proven ancient Indian traditions of the institutions of Gurukuls must be taught at schools and as to how the relationship between the teacher and the pupil were the most revered only after with the parents. Conversation and mutual understanding between the parents and the children as also between the teachers and the students are pre requisites of crime free adolescence.
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