Genocide of Intellect:Lalit k kaul

 

Subjugated Mind cleansed of Thought Process is Genocide of Intellect.

                                       Lalit K Kaul

There is hunger in the stomach, below the stomach and hunger of the intellect. A human being is possessed of these in the same proportion in which the three Gunas- Tamas, Rajas and Sattvik- are present in him/her. One may satisfy the hunger in the stomach and/or below it, or may choose to ignore the two for sometime, but the hunger of the intellect is never satiated. Qualitatively the hunger of the intellect is same in all human beings while it does differ quantitatively.

Human mind that perceives the external world based on its inputs from five senses (Gyan Indrian), that perception varies from an individual to another individual- not only qualitatively, but also quantitatively. So, one finds that the depth of knowledge attained and the urge to know more and more about a subject(s) varies from one to another and this capability or incapability is governed by one’s Internal World which is an  infinite storage of memories good and bad and unfulfilled desires as accrued over innumerable cycles of life and death ever causing the change in the proportionate mix of Tamas, Rajas and Sattvik Gunas.

Irrespective of the material condition of a human being, the thought process within never ceases to be as the mind never ceases to be active. No matter how accomplished one may be materially, if devoid of a thought process is no different from an animal. To have a thought process implies to have an individualistic  point of view on matters and attendant situations howsoever diverse and at variance from others; the intersections with others’ perceptions, notwithstanding.

Therefore, to enable a human being from being different from animals demands an environment that allows one to express and experiment based on one’s thought process and, sure, bear the consequences. Inhibiting this natural (Divine) attribute of a human being is Genocide of Intellect.

The Womenfolk:

Across civilizations and religions the women have been and continue to be the victims of Genocide of Intellect. Without meaning to demean the profundity of Vedic world-view, yet unhesitatingly I make bold to say that, in that world-view, women were not assigned a respectable place in the society. I say this after having read Padma Puran, Shiv Puran and Manu Smriti. Not much is left to interpretation as the text employed is straight and simple, as it’s in texts of other Abrahamic religions.

Even if I may be accused of not having understood the content in its totality as One Whole (social order), the observations and experiences in contemporary world – that claims to be the most civilized and progressive- insofar as place of a woman in a family/society is concerned, the Genocide of their Intellect can’t be denied. Yes, indeed, exceptions don’t make the Rule, no matter what generation and/or what Yug one may refer to.

The Q: What’s the place of a  woman in our society in general and our households in particular irrespective of  her being literate or illiterate, professional or home maker, beautiful or ugly?

It’s this Q that begs an answer in a language that a person with very ordinary Intellect can understand for, philosophical articulations don’t help. If women are human beings, which indeed they are, then they are as much imbibed with a thought process as men are and, therefore, should be allowed to express it freely under all circumstances transcending the social taboos, if only to contribute in moulding the destinies of families/societies and Nations.

Societies across the Globe have to internalize this basic Truth that the Creator has ordained that both she and he compliment each other in the secular world; that the race of human beings would have been non-existent if they didn’t compliment each other. Her place in the society and at home shall derive respect only if she has this freedom to express in matters related to worldly affairs- at whatever level- and is not treated with disdain. Her place as ordained by the Creator has been denied to her. It is amazing that all the religions have accorded her a place of second rate being to be always at the feet of her husband!

Emancipation of Women:

Her emancipation lies only in the act of not following the religious dictates that thrust superiority of man over her. And, women have to realize that they shouldn’t be trying to be equal to men as that makes men as their Ideal for, the creator has endowed her with the kind of resilience and resolve that men lack. To aspire to be equal to man is to limit flight of the mind and is tantamount to self- inflicted Genocide of Intellect.

Unless the above evolves, womenfolk won’t be emancipated and their Genocide of Intellect shall continue for, a woman may be an excellent professional, yet if she is deprived of her say in matters social, religious and economical in her family and society then she remains suppressed insofar as her thought process is concerned.

The Parent and Child Relationship:

It’s not about affording a luxurious life or otherwise to one’s child; not about affording the child best possible education; it’s about interacting with the child to fathom as to what’s going on in the child’s mind. It’s about conversing with the child on one to one basis without bringing in the so called discipline that’s supposed to define the behaviour of one to another. Not to say that all etiquette and mannerisms should be thrown to winds, but to emphasize that the child should be brought up in a way that encourages him/her to express himself/herself freely in matters of concern.

When a parent says that the child doesn’t listen to him/her, the opposite may be equally true. Ordained to Listen is ordained to Follow and if enforced zealously not only snaps free exchange of thoughts, but also stampedes child’s thought process and that’s Genocide of Intellect.

If a child is unable to express himself/herself on matters of importance, as perceived, to him/her then- keeping aside the relationship by birth- the cultivated relationship may not be healthy as it wouldn’t be transparent. In addition this whole process may impede evolution of thought process in a child and end up-on a thought plane- to be subservient/enslaved to others’ opinions without having any of his/her own.

On a Global Plane:

Often one hears about “world being unipolar/bipolar”. The number of “super powers” define the number of blocks and hence the poles. While it may be termed as political subjugation, yet there is a much bigger issue that no political commentator or political leader seem to talk about and it’s Genocide of Intellect at Global level.

Post Renaissance and Protestant revolution the Western nations armed with new world-view and its associated science and technology went on a crusade to annihilate and colonize civilizations like, African, Asian, Latin American and of course the civilization of the Natives of what has come to be known, for nearly three centuries, the United States of America. They annihilated native world-views supported by their respective knowledge bases.

Politically the world may have been single or multi-polar, the multi-polar knowledge base that existed prior to colonization was ruthlessly transformed in to being unipolar. Thus the Knowledge Base was homogenized while classifying respective native Knowledge Bases nothing more than comprising a set of superstitions as they didn’t measure up to the yardstick of being “scientific” as defined by the rules of their “science”.

Imposition of unipolar Knowledge Base was not only tantamount to Genocide of human Intellect at an  astronomical scale, but it also brought about unparalleled, unseen in the past, miseries, poverty and destitution in the societies that were thus enslaved intellectually as they were programmed like robots to practice colonizer’s science and follow their world-view and to internalize the Truth that “theirs was the only civilized way” to be followed. The basis of any civilization is its Knowledge Base derived from its world-view and once that was homogenized, the world had truly become unipolar.

The consequences of such a cleansing of various Knowledge Bases are there for all to see what with more than 4/5^th of the world population in turmoil struggling to feed themselves and engaged in internecine wars.

The leadership of the colonized nations that emerged via thorough grooming and indoctrination by colonial masters remained convinced that, indeed, their pre-colonial Knowledge Base was based on mere superstitions and had no “scientific’ basis whatsoever.

More specifically in India- pre-Islamic rule had a share of 45% in world trade and pre- colonial rule a share of 35% that had reduced to 3.75% in 1947- the leadership of independent India chose to declare the natives with native Knowledge Base – that had been instrumental in such huge shares in world trade- as “backward” and zealously sought to inculcate “scientific temper” in them leading to their explicit exclusion from rebuilding our nation from the state of destitution that “scientific tempered” colonizers had left her in. Because the only way to develop and grow was to deploy colonizer’s Knowledge Base. This is nothing but Genocide of Intellect at mass scale.

The net effect of it all is that after 75 years of independence our political leadership takes pride in proclaiming, “We feed 80 crore of people without any financial liabilities on them”

If it is not a classic case of having transformed a huge mass of people from being humans to animals, what else is it! One can’t contribute to the economic growth of one’s nation because of exclusion from “scientific” world and therefore doesn’t have to strain his/her mind as long as things of basic necessities in life are provided for uncharged. Like an animal one lives; where one eats, recreates and is given a shelter; an animal may strive to have all these, but this human is deprived of that. There is no choices they can make; no decisions they can make for, whatever is provided for is what they must accept.

Genocide of Intellect is the worst affliction that human societies have been enduring and it must be got rid off in times to come.