There has been a spate of horrific news items in media recently about heinous crimes against children. It began with Kathua and Unnao, and since there has been no respite. Young girls have been raped and murdered in Surat and Ghaziabad. What is referred to as ‘the conscience of the nation’ has been shocked like never before. Reactions to these gruesome incidents have exposed the widespread moral rot we as a people are suffering from. Shock doesn’t last long. The reflex is to extract political capital out of the misery.
The conduct of the elected representatives—in case of Kathua, even ministers—has been barbarically insensitive and unacceptable. How immune we have become to pain and suffering of others. The Prime Minister was goaded into breaking his silence but this hasn’t really made much difference. Responses of party workers—both the BJP and Congress—have reflected deeply ingrained communal and casteist biases.
Partisanship of media has been revolting. One newspaper jumped the gun by announcing that there was no rape in Kathua. Unnao was worse. The accused in this case was a legislator of the ruling party having a stranglehold on the constituency that can best be described as family fiefdom. The local police were obviously scared of taking any action. What followed was even more brazen. The rape victim’s father was hauled up on charges of some petty crime and thrown in lockup where he died in custody. Had this brutality not been exposed, the ‘Neta’ having unmatched command over muscle and money would in all likelihood still be roaming free.
The phrase ‘law will take its course’ has become meaningless. It translates as ‘the rich and the powerful will sooner rather than later be out on bail swaggering and bullying witnesses who will crumble and turn hostile’. Presumption of innocence works in favour of the accused more so if he/she is a politician.
Now that the Cabinet has cleared the deck for harsher punishment for sex offenders —particularly those who violate children—can we breathe a little easier? Not really. There is a strong sense of deja vu. Hadn’t the nation been similarly enraged six years ago after the shameful Nirbhaya affair? The law dealing with rape had been swiftly amended and punishment made more Draconian. This has hardly had any deterrent effect.
If those who belong to the ruling class are for all practical purposes considered above the law of the land, there can be no hope of any accused ever being proved guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Lackeys and henchmen too enjoy a protective shield. Liberal-humane interpretations of criminal justice system are only invoked in defence of celebrities caught in what we are told are ‘unfortunate web of circumstances’.
Eyewitnesses—admittedly not always most reliable—disappear; policemen and others who may be privy to vital information die accidentally or succumb to mysterious ailments unlamented. From the fodder scam to Vyapam, black buck killing to countless fake encounter cases, the same sickening pattern is repeated.
Policing has become synonymous with VVIP bandobast, protecting those enjoying various status symbol categories of security and/or finding innovative ways of extortion and illegal gratification. Recruitment at lower ranks as well as grovelling loyalty displayed shamelessly in higher echelons solely on the basis of caste solidarity has destroyed all possibilities of reform. Both Kathua and Unnao show how alienated crime investigating agencies have become.
How many cases can the apex court monitor or order to be handed over to SITs? How many cases can be transferred to be tried outside the state? How long can people retain their faith in Rule of Law under present circumstances when frontal assault is mounted on the independence of the highest court in the land?
Let’s not stray from the subject. India, poised on the thresholds of the third decade of the 21st century, is full of contradictions. We—even the educated and city-dwelling articulate members of civil society, who take for granted our secular, democratic, liberal credentials—are prisoners of a mindset that continues to be gender-biased, patriarchal, feudal and obscurantists. Harking back to a glorious mythic past where atomic weapons and internet existed when the rest of the world roamed around naked in the forest hasn’t helped matters.
Sycophancy hasn’t been introduced by the BJP and NDA. Congress had elevated it to the level of fine art before the Era of Emergency. Belief in occult and blind faith in tantriks, Gurus and Godmen hasn’t left the scientific community untouched. Few have the spine to speak up. We are more worried about washing off stains of sins than concerned about crimes and punishments. Doll-like girls—and some boys too—will continue to be mauled, maimed and killed till we wake up to the dark reality.pushpeshpant@gmail.com