A desire to change....?

Yesterday's blasts in the heart of Delhi perhaps once again served to lull us out of what is increasingly seeming like a sense of security and complacency. Whatever may be the cause célèbre behind this and all other related incidents is perhaps beyond the point now; this isn't the act of rational people, so reason isn't exactly what we need to comprehend here.

That those who plan such dastardly acts care neither for the lives of innocents nor even for the tenets of their own faith is reflected in the fact that this incident has taken place in the middle of what is regarded as the holiest month in the entire Muslim calendar, a time for fasting, penitence and penance. Surely a true believer would not have resorted to such extreme means at a time when the Lord seeks him to be most forgiving? And perhaps this again is the wrong question addressed to the wrong people, because no person who truly believes in a Divinity could be so barbaric, so heartless.

While we heap opprobrium on the assailants, we must also realize that it is high time that we safeguard ourselves from such attacks in the future. While it is impossible to completely neutralize the threat of such incidents, it is always good to be able to and to minimize them as far as possible. Newspapers and the television media have discovered that Indian intelligence agencies had knowledge of the potential threat, and have insinuated that despite having such 'knowledge', the agencies chose to sit quietly. I wonder whether these agencies knew anything about these incidents beyond the fact that they could occur, something that even a common man could know. And this shouldn't be construed as a criticism of the agencies, because I doubt terrorist organizations publish a list of coming events for the next month for the perusal of the public.

What hampers the intelligence agencies the most in India is the lack of a pan-India policing agency or a federal law and order body. Intelligence gathering, being a preserve of defence and law and order, is a centralized activity, but acting on intelligence, when gathered, is left to different state police agencies, which do not necessarily collaborate with each other. Internal rivalries, Himalayan egos, and a tendency towards blowing one's trumpet at the cost of the greater good have time and again hampered what should have been seamless investigations. In this year alone, four different cities have been afflicted by the venom of terrorism. With one federal agency, it could have been possible to investigate all these crimes more effectively, as often where the same organization is behind such crimes, crucial evidence is left behind, something that can enable creating a chain of responsibility back to the organization itself.

Perhaps it is too much to ask of our political class to give up their regional loyalties in favour of a national spirit. Perhaps we may as well go on dying, because in the end, we are the people who create the political class who is wont to let us die and do nothing about it. And if we aren't prepared to die, perhaps next year when we have the chance, we may vote for a change. Platitudes to the dead and consoling the injured may work for a month or so, but the wounds that these incidents inflict on the soul of our society are festering, and it is the need of the hour that we, the people who ultimately matter, do something about this. It is not just our duty to our society; it is our duty to our families, to ourselves.

Justice is served.

Justice is deemed served only when the victims feel a sense of closure. It is imperative that one understands that while justice may be delivered, by virtue of a sentence or a verdict, it may still remain far from allaying or soothing the angst of the victim(s), if it doesn’t take into consideration their emotions, and merely judges the issue on the basis of cold facts.

The Jessica Lal case, which has rocked India, has come to an end. Some would exclaim the ultimate conviction of Manu Sharma and his accomplices as the victory of justice, and a reaffirmation of the trust that the common man reposes in the corridors of the judiciary. Some would see this as another indication, another vindication of the principle that all are equal before the law, be they a king or a commoner. And quite rightly they believe so.

And yet, 7 years is too long for justice to be served. In these years, the parents of Jessica Lal passed away, in wait of their daughter’s murderer’s conviction. Allegations of the most reproachable and reprehensible manner have been leveled against the late Ms. Lal herself, and not much was said or done about the one who made these comments. Evidence was tampered with, and the entire judicial process mocked at. What absolute power can achieve if it wishes to do so is aptly demonstrated by way of the manner in which the convicted tried to subvert the system. That despite all this, justice was delivered is in itself a matter of pride, a matter of great celebration.

The family of Ms. Lal had declined to ask for the death sentence for the convicted, on ideological grounds. So, life imprisonment for them is a just punishment, and perhaps somewhere these beliefs of theirs must have weighed heavily with the court when it took the decision of whether to pronounce the death penalty or life imprisonment.

I am a supporter of the death penalty, and advocate it being used to punish those who commit the most abominable crimes, such as pedophilia, patricide, matricide, and even rape. Homicide involving torture of the victim also ought to qualify, as it isn’t simply an act of passion therein, but a coolly planned crime, aimed at causing the greatest degree of horror.

But in this case, the rarest of rare criterion is inapplicable, simply because this was a crime of passion with no ulterior motive behind it. And I do not find it odd to say that by declining to punish Mr. Sharma by way of the death penalty, the court has judged rightly, and judged solely on the basis of the facts before it, and not on the media outcry and the public sentiments associated with the case. The fears of the defense counsel have been shown to have been unfounded, and one’s faith in the judiciary has been reaffirmed once again, manifold.

Justice restored.

The Lady would be pleased today. For once, those who had always been beyond her pale, those who had refused to submit to her diktats, those souls now tremble at her feet, wondering what greater travails she will choose to inflict on them.

The conviction of Mr. Shibu Soren, 'distinguished' member of the Union Cabinet of Ministers, and 'father' of the State of Jharkhand, by a sessions court in Delhi, in a kidnapping and homicide case, and his consequent life imprisonment is a sign that India may be a flawed democracy, but it's flaws have a long way before they may be deemed sufficient to overpower reason altogether. That there are protesters who are declaring the 'innocence' of Mr. Soren doesn't deny this fact; rather it was expected, as Mr. Soren is after all a politician, a leader of the 'masses', and would be expected to find some support from amongst them.
But then I pray that there be no miscarriage of justice, that no laws be passed to overrule such revolutionary convictions, wherein an incumbent member of the Executive has been charged with homicide in cold blood, and has received the second highest form of punishment possible under the Indian Penal Code.
Let this judgement serve as a reminder to both the Executive as also the Legislature that they are at best the representatives of the people, their legates in the halls of power and authority, not their overlords. Let them know that the people have enshrined in their hearts the slogan of ancient Scotland, Nemo me impune lacessit (No one wounds me with impunity). Let this judgment be a wake-up call for all those who know where the rot lies in the system, and cause them to start cleaning it up, not just for this generation, but for generations to come. Let not the Lady be forced to pull on her blindfold again; let this be her prerogative, not her misery.