The former Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde has said that dharma was not a concept of any particular religion and has no relation to the slaughtering of cows or eating beef.
Dharma is the elixir of human values of life that an individual inherits from his forefathers, he said while delivering the key-note address at the inaugural function of a two-day workshop on ‘Issues in Quasi Judicial Functioning’ here on Saturday.
Mr. Hegde said that to establish a cleaner and just society, every individual that is part of the Executive, Legislature, Judiciary and Media — considered the four pillars of democracy — should follow the path of dharma.
Expressing his dismay over the missing human values in democracy, the former Lokayukta said the people were losing hope and faith in all the four pillars of democracy, with both the Executive and Legislature being equally involved in multi-crore scams.
Mr. Hegde said the media, which was believed to have a greater potential and power to create a better society, had also lost faith after the exposure of Nira Radia tapes and such incidents. People were also losing hope and respect towards the Judiciary because of the charges of corruption against persons constituting it, he said.
Elected representatives had no interest in the welfare of the people, he alleged, citing the example how not even a single development issue was discussed in the Parliament, with both the ruling and opposition parties blaming each other for different scams.
Mr. Hegde said the only hope for the country was the young generation, who should be trained properly towards becoming good citizens. Human values and moral education should be intrinsic to the basic education system in schools and colleges, he said. Education was the most effective mode to impress human values on young minds, he said.
