Moral castles of our society are crumbling rapidly, breaches in our ethical edifices are widening alarmingly, values are deteriorating viciously, ideals of integrity and justice are fading evidently, modesty and decency are vanishing into the thin air, obedience to parents and elders is gone with the wind, gratitude and appreciation have become a talk of the past, sympathy and empathy have disappeared without any trace, love and affection are no longer the attributes of Ibni-Adam, compassion and kindness are no more earthly stations – I mean, human world in general and Kashmir valley in particular is bereft of necessary virtues and rectitude.
What has caused the immense damage to our moral fabric? Where did we go wrong ? Every conscious soul is looking into the possible reasons for the enigma. But, these are the cries in wilderness. The erosion continues like an acid rain on a metalic villa. Sermons, lectures, advices and speeches have not yielded anything pragmatic to us. We are going from bad to worse. The venom is spreading dangerously. Required antidote to detoxify the society of the venom is yet to be discovered. None of the means is working to tranquilize the beast in man. Haya (modesty) is buried deep under the soil. Gen Z has gone beyond the frontiers of decency. A recent episode of extreme shame and obloquy has hanged our heads down when students went on to hug their teachers in front of a crowd. It is not our way to pay respect and gratitude to our teachers. Hugging a teacher that too publicly is a slap to our collective conscience. It is against our core ethos and morals.
This type student-teacher relationship may suit the west but surely not us. When a father desists to hug his teenage daughter, then how can the same daughter embrace a stranger ? It may be an ordinary thing for rest of the world but for us – It is definitely an extraordinary thing. I don’t want to embarrass or humiliate that daughter anymore, but something is terribly wrong with our education and upbringing.
Had her parents and teachers taught her the proper code of conduct? Had she learnt the Quranic rulings of kinship and embrace? Had she been aware of Mahram and ghair Mahram? She would have not hugged her teacher.
The teenage girl is not guilty, but, we as mentors and teachers are guilty. We are worried about science, maths, and civil services, but we aren’t concerned about life. We continue to be complacent and carelessness – and it is our biggest fallacy.
Our contemporary education has probably failed to alleviate and mitigate our sufferings at the ethical front. Modern education has rather been detrimental in our moral and ethical deterioration. Our perception of education is contrary and paradoxical to our ancestors’. We send our children to school for the construction of their future houses while as our fathers and forefathers would send their children to school for the construction of souls. Our core concern is the livelihood of our children while as the major objective of our ancestors was the character of their children. Our benchmarks are purely physical, but the pursuits of our elders’ were absolutely spiritual. Manners and etiquettes were not sermonized rather pragmatized by our forefathers. Values and beliefs were not taught through books but through practical lessons.
We have probably outshined our elders in terms of the number of doctors, engineers, technocrats, politicians and scholars, but we have certainly failed to produce honest, dedicated, modest and morally upright citizens, albeit a few exceptions. Our choices are solely materialistic. And consequently , our moral renaissance and rejuvenation seems to be a distant dream. A few decades back, places of learning were fewer in number, degrees and diplomas were very rare, but people were abundantly rich in virtues. Humanity was blooming with ethereal values. But, now, neither degrees nor schools are making any difference to us. Modern education has probably done more harm than any good. We need to revisit our priorities and preferences.
Education was thought to be the elixir and panacea that would cleanse humans of the indecent and dishonest stuff. Moral lessons from books and teachers would shape up pious men and women of tomorrow. The education was like a potion that would cast off immoral and indecent spells from our children. Contemporary education sans the same effect. Teachers of past were the perfect role-models to be emulated. But, now, our priorities and preferences as educationists, parents and students have changed. Our pursuits are flawed and fallacious. Let’s blend sciences, languages and history with morality. Let all stakeholders change their priorities to restore and revive the old glory of bygone times.
The author is a Teacher and a Columnist from Bandipora, writing regularly on culture, climate, history, education, folklore and social issues. He can be reached at mushtaqhurra143@gmail.com
