India, July 19 -- The true character of a society is revealed not by the speeches of its leaders, the claims of its economic success, or the grandeur of its civilisational inheritance, but by the instinctive response of ordinary people to another human being in distress. By that measure, contemporary India has reason to engage in some deeply uncomfortable introspection.

Almost every day, newspapers and television channels report incidents that should shake our collective conscience. A man lies bleeding on a busy road after a collision, while passers-by gather around him-not to help, but to record videos on their mobile phones. A woman, assaulted in broad daylight, cries out for assistance as curious spectators watch from a distance. Vict...