DNA Edit: Nation on a crime spree

For a concerned citizen of India, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data offers an incisive insight into the way her neighbourhood, her city or village, her state and the society at large are shaping up. Crime has the most direct and damaging impact on an individual, and the annual study, undertaken by the governmental agency, showcases failures at both institutional and personal levels.

The NCRB numbers for 2016 point to a marked increase in criminal tendencies while reinforcing some old trends. A jump of 2.6 per cent in cognisable crime cases over 2015 translates into an increase in 47 lakh cases in Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special & Local Laws (SLL) categories on a pan-India level — definitely not the signs of a peace-loving collective.

The topper state, Uttar Pradesh, accounting for 9.5 per cent of total crimes reported in the country, didn’t brook much competition this time as well, while Delhi, with the highest crime rate (974.9) steadfastly clings on to its ignominy.

Though it is heartening to know that incidence of murder, robbery and rioting has declined, as a society we have miserably failed to tackle violence against women, which registered an increase of 2.9 per cent in 2016 over 2015. The vulnerable groups, which also include the Dalits and senior citizens, continue to suffer as easy targets for violence and discrimination. What’s surprising though is how Lucknow, Patna, and Jaipur have emerged as the metropolitan sites of casteist violence, shattering the illusion that cities are more tolerant than villages where such deep divisions are held sacrosanct, and any ‘transgression’ is met with brutality.

Some might say that a year is too little a time to gauge a society’s progress or deterioration, and that the deep fissures, which have existed for long, would take centuries to disappear. What they tend to forget is that when India’s economic progress is measured on a quarterly basis, why should a year, rather year after year, be deemed inadequate as a marker of social progress?

Especially when the causes and victims have remained the same for many years? As we aspire to be an economic powerhouse, our minds would remain steeped in the anti-humanitarian ethos that had held us back for centuries.

While laws of the land show the gumption to tackle the inimical forces of patriarchy and caste, the situation on the ground is bleaker than ever. Progress cannot be pigeon-holed into economics; it’s a holistic term encompassing every aspect of life, unless, of course, the benefits are meant for the chosen few at the top of the pyramid.

A section of sociologists postulates that rapid economic development is also giving rise to crime since sudden prosperity or technological development catalyses overweening ambition. That is only partly true because the rise in gender and caste-based violence goes back to the ancient story of civilisation: the old order threatened by a new way of looking at life.

The data should make all right-thinking citizens, especially those elected for the purpose, sit up and work to reverse the trend.