Denial, as they say, is not just a river in Egypt.
The dictionary defines the word as the act of gainsaying, refusing, or disowning; negation; the contrary of affirmation. In psychology, it is termed a defence mechanism. Essentially, denial signals the desire to maintain a certain status quo.
Denial is amongst the favoured modes of operation of many people at home and in society. In each case a certain image of self or the organization is being protected. At home, it becomes useful when the standing with other members of the family is perceived in jeopardy. In bureaucratic circles, image preservation before the world at large becomes important.
The trouble with denial is that it does little to change reality. It simply allows the doer to extend his or her stay in the world of fantasy wherein all proceedings play out according to one’s personal fable, or an official line being held sacrosanct. People seek to live out their lies, while issues of actuality develop unchecked.
Used in tandem with denial (of reality) is projection, another defence mechanism that claims that one’s faults are actually the faults of another. Literally it is the act of throwing or shooting forward in attributions. In the process, introspection at home is eliminated.
Of great concern to India and to the expat community are reports that the attacks on Indians in Australia are racially motivated. Australian governmental officials play down implications that that country may not be safe for Indians by insisting that the events in question are merely criminal acts. In response to the Indian advisory to students seeking education abroad that they need to exercise caution in moving about freely, they accuse their counterparts of fueling “hysteria”. Crime, they say, exists in Australian metropolitan cities in the same way that it does in Mumbai, Delhi or Kolkata.
The reality is that the acts are criminal – robbery, assault and battery, and so on. The reality also is that Indians are targets, specifically because they are considered potentially soft when compared to others. In that sense, the cases reported on are criminal as well as racially motivated. In the ensuing diplomatic acrimony, an important fact evades attention – that most of the attackers are minors.
The Hindu reports:
According to the dossier submitted to the government, nearly half of those arrested so far or on the run are juvenile or under 18 years of age.
It is possible that the global economic downturn has created frustration anger in the new generation perceiving a bleak future in adult working life. The bureaucratic response of denial of the issue will not make these events disappear. This growing phenomenon of minors taking to crime as a solution to their problems should be of a greater concern to the people and governments of any nation.
Children are the future of a nation, and in these cases, a noticeable complement of them is being neglected or misguided. It is clear that their nurturance is in need of focus. The protection of an apparent image through denial is hardly the best way to combat the rise of racial profiling for criminal intent. Full-blown racism is only a flea skip away.
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