Spectators of Injustice

Every society, every country, and every individual faces some kind of problem. In some societies there is racism, as in United States. In others there is casteism and gender inequality, as in India. In many parts of Africa, people struggle with poverty and hunger.

So the question is: when these problems stand before our eyes, why do we sit silently with folded hands? Every day we hear news of women facing rape and violence. Countless people are attacked or killed because of caste or race. Yet most of us remain spectators. We watch these tragedies like a show.

We call ourselves civilized human beings. Then why do we not raise our voices? Are we waiting for the day when such injustice happens to us personally?

Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and B. R. Ambedkar also lived in societies filled with injustice. But there was one difference between them and most people today: they spoke up. They stepped out of their comfort zones. They confronted injustice instead of ignoring it.

Today, many of us simply wait for the government to solve everything. Someone may be dying before our eyes, yet we look away and walk past. A woman may be harassed in public while thousands stand there silently watching. This indifference is itself proof of the cowardice of a society.

I want to ask: if, after becoming educated, we still cannot protect our own dignity and the dignity of others, then what is the meaning of education?

“Ask yourself: if I were suffering injustice and others stood by silently watching, how would I feel?”. We should remind ourselves again and again: If not us, then who?

We should also not wait for some “perfect moment” to do what is right. The right time is now. As Martin Luther King Jr. said: “The time is always right to do the right thing.”