Comments on: Questions of Violence

By: Ajit Pendharkar

Ajit Pendharkar — Sat, 19 Nov 2022 10:56:15 +0000

Hello Vivek.
Once again you have tabled an earth mover.
By the time I am writing this one more shocker has erpupted
” BODY CUT INTO 35 PIECES like a vegetable ” .
The worst part is our sensitivities are dead.
Our ethical upbringing has to be uniform for all irrespective of Religion,castes & social class.
There is a great urgency on this.
Kudos to you and your third eye.

By: Dr Devendra Bora

Dr Devendra Bora — Sat, 19 Nov 2022 06:19:25 +0000

Yes, physical violence is to be denounced by all means.
How about emotional violence – equally & more devastating . . .

By: V J Rao

V J Rao — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 04:32:35 +0000

Dear Vivek,

Thanks and yes, violence is so much a part of life. This arises from power imbalance and that power could be monetary, authority, physical, etc. In this therefore it is not about what is right or wrong but about who is more powerful. I have seen violence in factories. Have seen murders because of inter union rivalry and also deprivation and helplessness. And this is in all kinds of institutions – organizations, gender based, politics, even religious organizations. Will go away only when a balance is achieved, and that is a long haul!!

By: Dr Preeti Shirodkar

Dr Preeti Shirodkar — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 04:09:29 +0000

Awesome blog as always and a very important one. Have some strong views on this matter. Let’s catch up and talk. Usi bahane!

By: Sharad Gangal

Sharad Gangal — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 02:26:15 +0000

Aftab Shraddha the latest. Most gruesome.

By: Mirza Yawar Baig

Mirza Yawar Baig — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 22:30:34 +0000

Our problem is hypocrisy. We worship the Mother Goddess and rape women. No woman is safe, especially in our cities. We talk about Ahimsa and take videos of violence happening instead of intervening to stop it. A young boy is stabbed in the train in Delhi. An 8 year old girl is kidnapped, drugged, raped over three days, confined in a temple. One of the rapist who is less than 18 years old calls his uncle from UP to come and rape this little girl. Among the rapists is a priest and a policeman. Finally they kill the girl by crushing her head with a rock. The news is in the papers for a few days. Then silence.This is our culture. This is our present. The future will be built by people who will be used to this.

By: Joseph George A

Joseph George A — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 22:05:19 +0000

Violence is perhaps the unregulated expression of anger. Anger itself is an assertion to get what one does not yet have. The deeper need in the assertion is clearer when the unconscious is accessed in perceptual process. The expressed want is cultured in civilization through shared norms of acceptable conduct. The anomie is sign of abnormal conduct which a minority in society conduct acts of incompetence. The competence required is to regulate the desire of want that anger signals from the unconscious. Notice how spanking or using the rod on children has become undesirable conduct in our lifetimes. Violence is a radical imposition of wants to the exclusion of the wants and needs of the other. It is possible for us then to comprehend that physical assault is merely the tip of the violence iceberg. What simmers beneath is not just non-verbal needs that are unmet, but also verbal assault in pursuit of one’s needs.
Clarifying one’s own needs and integrating or aligning the conscious expression with the unconscious need is the inner struggle each of us owns. Projecting this process on others is irresponsible in mutual spaces. Rapport is no trifle.

Seen this way, understanding a criminal’s action is to comprehend what positive intent went unintegrated that a murder, or rape or stab comes about.

It is this radical control that indicates not only the obvious incompetence but also the choiceless and helpless state in which the criminal operates. Choice is a function of awareness. Awareness is a state in which confusion is resolved. Awareness is also described as a state of acceptance in which our imperfections are clearer to us.

A supreme example is that of the Buddha state that accepts grief or sorrow around us. This sorrow could be from such unintegrated needs. The Buddha resolved his actions through self regulation. Sorrow is the mirror opposite of anger. Sorrow or grief is the coming to terms with the perceived loss of what one thought one had.

Laws are social devices to regulate desired norms of those in larger society. Imagine in reverse for a bit. Imagine norms that inflict the desires of criminal intent. Is that not violence too?
The see-saw in this desired equilibrium is ongoing.

By: VINU PILLAI

VINU PILLAI — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 17:25:58 +0000

Sir, this a bold blog. This leaves so many questions unanswered.

By: Vivek Patwardhan

Vivek Patwardhan — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 17:19:02 +0000

In reply to Munir Khan. So true your observations!

By: Munir Khan

Munir Khan — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 17:17:56 +0000

I appreciate your blog Vivek.Unfortunately the situation is getting worse. Daily papers are full of horrible violent stories that are actually happening. Frankly difficult to understand the behavioural aspects that how can one do such things. The public is interested more in video making than saving the victim. Looks as if we have collectively lost our balance. While government and politians are basically responsible, we as citizens also should be more demanding.