Murderers Turned Artisans of Lord Ganesh

Its festival time in India again, time for the Ganesha Puja in a couple of days then followed by the Durga Puja or Navratri for many, Dussehra, and then Diwali and finally we have the Christmas and the New Year.

Day before yesterday a small news caught my attention and I felt very happy. I felt it is a new festive year with a new beginning, with something good happening, cause of these Pujas. I have an opinion that religion brings people together but it also tears apart many too. The numerous riots are caused mainly on the basis of religion and caste.

What caught my attention was a few murderers have turned artisans and is making Ganesha Idols which is selling out too. This has happened in a jail in Gujarat where a few inmates took training in making clay models and are making so nice models of the Lord Ganesha that the Jail authorities are finding tough to take orders, its like Demand is more for these idols compared to the supplying capacity. Whats best is the people who are making are inmates on life terms and they are from all religions specially mix of HINDUS and MUSLIMS. These inmates have forgotten their religious barriers if any and have come together in the making of these Ganesha idols.

This is great example of secularism in our country. Might be its time that out religious leaders and ministers and certain groups who blacklisted secularism in the country takes a learning from these people. These inmates are of the feeling  that they have got a new beginning in their life.

It is highly commendable on the part of the SABARMATI JAIL AUTHORITIES to have come up with such a noble idea and more noble on the part these inmates who showed enthusiasm in learning making clay models and proving themselves to be more than fit for the purpose.

Will our religious leaders call these Blasphemy? or would they appreciate the efforts.I feel many people are actually appreciating and that's why orders are pouring in for more. More over these people are making clay models which is environmentally friendly compared to the normal POP(Plaster of Paris) models.

I feel the government should take in measures to improve the psyche of such people who have turned worshipers of humanity from being a bane to humanity. This would improve the morale of other criminals too thereby making the country better with less crime. These instances should be cited as an example to many. These could be an example to those youths in India who take cudgels in small issues and refuse to mentally accept the truth beyond being a true humanitarian.

I remember a year back there was series in one of the famous TV channels where it portrayed about many criminals who turned themselves to a respectable citizen of the country. There were examples enough which showed us the fact : Criminals are not born they are made. Such instances are there in other countries too I am sure and these are the ones which should be more highlighted instead of only notifying people through media about the ongoing crimes in the society.

Are Rioters BORN or BORNE?

Who are these people who we call rioters? Are they are part of us-the common man. Do they eat,drink,sleep? Do they have jobs to go to everyday?

A lot of such questions arises in my mind when I think of riots. Today morning I saw that civil riots have claimed 100 lives in Syria. Well, Syria is far away , what about  the ongoing riots in Assam? So many lives are lost, and in a nation where we are already reeling with many natural issues like floods and drought at certain parts of the country such a riot means wastage of tons of money.

Where do these rioters come from? Are they made or they are born rioters. Here I remember writing an essay during my school days : Are criminals born or they are made? Well the essay aptly fits this purpose. Rioters are none but criminals only the nomenclature is different.

So how do a normal human being become a criminal. There are quite a lot of opinions on this . Many say its the family they are from and many say its their nurture which makes them a criminal. But there are other opinions too. The famous psychologist Sigmund Freud was of the opinion that every humans have a criminal tendency but the socialization process curbs down the criminal tendencies.

Theres a saying that every human being has a good element as well as a bad element in his/her. It depends on a lot of factors which one comes out. I feel it also depends on that person as to what he wants to be.There could be a lot of reason for a criminal mind. A child witnesses crime in his/her home, stays in an area where crime is rampant can make him a criminal or might make him a very good person who hates crime. Thats where a psychology of a person comes into picture. But these are exceptional cases.

We mostly see  crime getting in ones nerves , which is contrary to many who say crime is in the blood. A doctor can have a child who in years to come can become a criminal , on the other hand a criminals son can become a doctor for the poor.

I personlly believe that crime is not born in an individual, it is borne. The greatest example being the hundreds of militants in different parts of the world-they are recruited in a good name, their brains washed and made into an animal who lacks all human touches. They become so out of the world that they fail to recognise their own parents, relatives and friends. Moreover there are certain terrorits who are well eductaed ones too and come from a good family background. So how comes they turn into criminals? e.g Osama Bin Laden- the dreaded terroist whose head had a million dollar bounty from USA. Not only Osama bin Laden , but there are more such militants across the world who chose the wrong way. There are many scientists who are found to be a part of these groups. Even it has been found that people in a country's army were in cahoots with a terrorist group.

Coming back to rioters who are also criminals after all, are not born but borne. They are either brain washed to cause damage to society and take law in their own hands. Think of the various riots in India itself. Starting from Independence , the most common riot in India has been based on religion. The main two religions in this subcontinent, the hindus and muslims have fought since time immemorial. Whether you talk about the Bombay riots or the Godhra riots or the 1993 ayodhya riots which shook india and its tremors are heard still now in Indian Courts.

What do these people gain from riots. Crusades and riots have never helped anyone since time immemorial. The 9 crusades which the world knows off happened to regain back religious territories like Jerusalem being a important place. The first crusade was launched on 27 November 1095 by Pope Urban II in response to an appeal from Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, who requested western volunteers to help him repel the invaders from Anatolia. Here again we learn that he asked for volunteers but nowadays are any one asked to volunteer, people just raise their voices to promote themselves and people surprisingly do fall for the trap too.

So we humans have a long way to go , righfull education is not the only way to avoid riots and innocent people turning criminals, there is a special need of psychological education so that one donot turn to a rioter. Proper education, not in terms of pure bookish knowledge but a knowledge find ones spiritual self to maintain oneself in the righteous manner and not against the law is of utmost importance.