REORIENTATION OF SOCIAL VALUES

By T.H Shah

Every society of the world even of antiquity has adopted some types of rules to
deal with the social affairs especially those where the commonalities of interests
exist and likely risks develop for clash and conflict. Social values and norms
regulate human relations thus ensuring smooth run of the affairs. The whole
normative structure of the society works in all corners of the society like
political, economic and social etc. Socialisation is a continuous process keeps
moving on uncontrollably and of course, beyond human control. It is a vehicle
which transfers or becomes cause of transferring social values from generations
to generations. To understand the nature of any society, the imperativeness lays
in understanding the norms and values of any particular society.

Human rights and social values have deep nexus, in some cases not separable from
each others. Gender relations, women rights and their equality, relationships between
social classes are all determined by the types of social values the society has adopted.
It can rightly be said that normative structure of society many protects or become
cause of violations of human rights. History is replete with such incidents and
happenings which prove this phenomenon. In ancient Arabian society, the newly born
daughters were buried alive, for, to have daughter was considered to be a social evil.
In medieval society of many European countries the rights of women were determined
not on the basis of human being, but from the prevalent social structure and
circumstances of that time. It is thanks to reformation and renaissance which altered
the whole structure of the society in Europe which resultantly laid the foundation of
democracy.

Though all the human rights conventions lay emphasis upon equality of human beings
in all spheres of life, but numerous hurdles hinder the way to the pursuit of human
equality. Even in some religions, the concept of human equality is openly denounced.
Reciting and reading of holy books of any religion should not be banned for the
people of its followers, but even then the followers of same religions cannot enjoy the
same sacred right. For instance, in Hinduism worst type of inequality prevails in
different social classes. Shudras one of the lowest class in Hindus cannot go to the
temples, cannot marry Brahman girls, they are not allowed to recite the holy books of
Ramayana and Mahabharata, Shudars are not allowed to sit side by side with the
Brahmin. Women were treated very badly like the ceremony of Satti, under which the
wife of deceased one has to burn alive on the funeral pyre.

In many Muslim communities, the social values are greatly responsible for flouting
human rights openly. Women are not given participation in political process as
happens in many Arab states, while the religion of Islam itself is staunch advocate of
protecting women rights in all social spheres. The prophet Hazrat Muhammad
(P.B.U.H) in his last sermons clearly denounced and slashed the concept of any social
class in whatsoever form, but classes still exist in Muslim societies particularly when
glanced upon the strong sacred status of Sadaat tribes. Sadaat tribe is considered to be
the descendents of Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) and are regarded the sacred class in
the Muslims. In many cases, exogamy is absolutely prohibited and thought to be an
unacceptable act. In Islam, man can have four wives at the same time under some
strict conditions imposed by Islam, but in many societies, having second wife in the
presence of other brings social repugnance, and becomes cause of strives and conflicts
in family matters, but in Arabian and Afghan society, the same practice is an
acceptable social values. In similar, the concept of intermarriage among different sects
of Muslim is also prohibited. Strong resistance exists for Sunni to marriage in Shia
and same vice versa. In Taliban-esque version of Islam, women are not allowed to
receive education while Islam itself binds every man and woman to seek knowledge.
The bedrock behind all the evils is the normative structure and attempts to connect it
to religious values which resultantly set the evil in.

Of the late, in international politics, the terms like terrorism, religious intolerance and
extremism are mostly perceived in Islamic sense only, while there are other isms as
well in which killing of human beings is regarded to get reward in divine sense.
Similarly, we come across such types of news like killings and eating flesh of children
in worst underdeveloped African countries, and we also hear news of slaughtering
children on the altars of the temples by extremist Hindus in India etc. To communist
philosophy, state is an end in itself and individual is means, therefore, state is all in all
and a sort of divine institution. Incident of students killings at Tiananmen Square in
China have roots in upholding communist philosophy. Suicidal attacks are ascribed to
the Islam, but in fact, they have been committed by other believers as well. The
motives behind not been religion but other social and political motives supported
them. What been the motives behind Samson who died together with his victims as he
collapsed a Philistine temple and of the Dutch Lieutenant Jan Van Speijk detonating
his own ship in the harbour of Antwerp to prevent being captured by the Belgians.
Describing the nature of suicidal attacks, the online wikipedia states that Modern
suicide bombing as a political tool can be traced back to the assassination of Czar
Alexander II of Russian in 1881. Alexander fell victim to a Nihilist plot. While
driving on one of the central streets of Saint Petersburg, near the Winter Palace, he
was mortally wounded by the explosion of hand-made grenades and died a few hours
afterwards. The Tzar was killed by a member of Narodnaya Volya, Ignacy
Hryniewiecki, who died while intentionally exploding the bomb during the attack.
There is no element of religion involved behind these suicidal attacks because the
mainspring has been patriotic and nationalistic sentiments the roots of which cannot
be traced in religion. Patriotism and nationalism are social values having no links with
religion.

The main reason for this been info-tech revolution and exchange of ideas that has
brought about great shifts in normative structure of many societies. Ban on custom of
satti in India, amendments in honour killings and hadood ordinance, even recognition
of homosexual rights in European countries, representation of women in political
bodies even in some Arabian countries, legislative mechanism for protection of
genders etc. are indicative of basic shift in norms and values.

In many parts of the world particularly in underdeveloped countries, lot need to be

done to reorient social values. Where people have no access to basic amenities of life,
and lead life below the poverty line, are most susceptible to become pawn at the hands
of hawkish elements who wrongly manipulate religious and social values for their
vested interests. The recent case before us is of fanatic and obscurantist Sufi
Muhammad in Swat, and Molvi Fazl-ul-Lah, who attempted to foist Taliban-esque
version of Islam on the people and openly labelled the followers of other sects to the
heretic, equally along with it termed the judiciary and parliament of Pakistan to be an
institutions ultra vires to Islamic concepts. Reorientation of social values needs in
such social milieu and onus lay on non-governmental organisations, and international
development organisations to make special focus on such programs promoting civic
education, policy intervention, and capacity building programs etc. It is an established
facts that war of ideas is most powerful than the war of weapons. French Revolution
justifies the point which been wrought by the writing of great scholars not by the
sabre-rattling of the soldiers.

(The Writer is associated with Press For Peace (PFP) as Director Research. He
could be reached at: tajammulhs@gmail.com )

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