Vigilance

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

Why does a man steal and loot when the survival constraints have almost been conquered by civilization. In the beginning when the next meal was uncertain  understandably he stole from those who had enough. But why be greedy of more and use the nature-given intelligence to collect and hoard what is not legitimately yours; thereby making the survival of others difficult? Scheming , plotting, planning to create chaos in society are insecure values. In the past chieftains and kings attacked other small kingdoms for land, water and other resources out of insecurity. The fear of losing freedom was a constant destabilizer of the mind. To escape chaos often we invited tyranny and to escape tyranny we had rebellions. These survival values now are slowly  being substituted by modern governments resorting to vigilance, espionage, lens eyes to keep the society in some order.  But inspite of governmental efforts man's innate evil propensities come up in novel ways to sabotage Order. Chanakya arguably is the first thinker tactician who thought of vigilance in a systematic manner to protect the common man from evil interference in their lives. The Arthashastra gives a detailed account of internal and external spying devices to ensure uninterfered freedom of the people. Machiavelli, who came much later in Europe, is at best a second cousin of Chanakya. But he too advocated the lion-fox games for administrative efficiency.

In the modern world all  Governments have  vigilance departments to prevent corruption which has ramified dimensions intruding into man's freedom to live as per his wishes. Thievery is now  a very sophisticated  black art. Cheating in the name of service, exploiting weaknesses in the law of the land, not to speak of plain and simple bribery, fake and sallow companies to loot public money, chit fund schemes and many such devices impinge on human gullibility. These evil practices compel us to  rethink human goodness in the changing contours of societal life. Greed for money and power reduces man to the quintessence of dust. Crime today has gone hitech and the cyber world has opened up unthinkable avenues for the vile propensities of man. Often a sadistic  cynicism is noticed, especially in the political and industrial spheres where greed is substituted by motiveless malignity. Human nature is denatured by criminal fancies. Such crimes are beyond law and order. This evil is surreptitious and vicious. To keep the society on course governments are taking  counter measures everywhere. And this measure is also not flawless: For no human agency today is above board. But choicelessly we have the vigilance department to check corrupt practices in men and organisations.

Vigilance is an imperceptible force operating in the society by governmental decree. It is not vigilantism which is a self-proclaimed moral energy often intruding on social freedom. vigilance is the eyes and ears of the administration to make the society comparatively clean and free flowing. We must  however  remember  that no human society can ever be absolutely free of corruption. If a doctor deliberately  illtreats a patient or demands money for certain services the patient often pays for his  life depends on the doctor. In such cases vigilance is helpless. If the patient does not complain the authorities  cannot do anything. If a teacher feeds wrong ideas  to his students no vigilance can help matters improve. Here comes the other value: courage to speak out. But if a man is benefited by unlawful means he prefers cowardice to courage. Here too vigilance is irrelevant for the victim thinks of himself as victor swallowing  his pride. If pride is not a native virtue, the courage to willingly accept suffering to purge the society will never come.

There is also another fear. The vigilance officer at times blackmails a corrupt man. Who will watch such officers who appropriate the societal authority for personal gains? What  is required today is perfect awareness of the constitutional  values which come from the right kind of education. But education today is functional. The moral fibre in man is dead in his chase of success. If man develops a strong moral sense he can contribute to the society the freedom of movement towards development.

"Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty"  said Lord Bryce. And this means each individual should be vigilant to safeguard his own rights and perform his duties honourably. This moral uprightness is difficult to inculcate if not impossible. Vigilance therefore, ought to be a moral exemplar to itself and the society.