Justice for all...?

The rule of law is expected to be equal for all, granting the shade of its protection to all and sundry. And though some would opine that law by itself is not justice, and is best an imperfect mechanism, I submit that it is the best that we have at present.

But it is at times like these when one’s confidence in the strength of the law, in the impartiality of the scales, is shaken to the core. When the guards turn on us and ravage us and our trust. The case of the false encounters in Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, as also the inhuman manner in which the State dealt with the anti-SEZ protests in West Bengal brings to fore this quandary that the nation finds itself in.

On one hand, the State is expected to safeguard the rights and privileges of its citizens from all harm. The fundamental rights that are enshrined in its Constitution are not its grant to the people; the people have given themselves the Constitution and with its included provisos, and only they have the right to abrogate the same. The State is asked to protect these rights of all its citizens, irrespective of their caste, creed or sex. It may not exercise its prerogative, implied or imagined, to discriminate in this protection.

On the other hand, the State is seen to infringe upon the very rights it is established to uphold, to undermine the basis of the Constitution that it is obliged to guard. The lack of due process in dealing with the above-mentioned cases, and the absolute lack of respect and sensitivity towards the emotions and feelings as also a wanton disregard for the sanctity of the fundamental rights of the citizens is glaring in itself, and that the State is no more apologetic for its acts is a sad and most distressing matter.

While the acts are in themselves deplorable, those who would attempt to defend them by stating the seriousness of the ‘threat’ that the victims posed to the stability of the nation are living in a fool’s paradise. No threat can ever justify such an act of wanton perfidy. To exist within the garb of justice and order and to perform such a horrendous treachery is the height of hypocrisy. And the guilty have the gall to say that they did the right thing and, given the opportunity, would do it again, if required to. If there could ever be a cause for accusing someone of treason against the people, this would be it.

The states in question are being touted as models of development, as the engines of India’s growth. If this is the cost for India’s growth, I say, let India languish, for India has not sunk to such depravity as of yet to depend on the shedding of innocent blood to wash away the poverty of the ages, nor to stand on the shoulders of assassins to rise to the skies.

The law enforcement agencies are entrusted with the task of ensuring law and order, of guarding the nation from subversive elements, and the law from those who would want to break it. But I ask, in the words of Juvenal, who will guard the guards themselves?