On justice

First published December 06, 2019.

There was a very violent rape case in Hyderabad, India where four persons raped and burned a veterinarian in a planned manner. This has caused a huge uproar in the country. The police arrested all four of them, and in the early hours of this morning they were all shot dead in an encounter. The police state that they tried to escape - all four of them - at 3AM in the morning and were shot. The commissioner of police has been known to be an encounter specialist, having been involved in a case in where two culprits of an acid attack on two college girls were killed. It is my opinion that this is an extra judicial killing. There is a very high chance that the police have probably staged an encounter and taken justice into their own hands.

Public response to the killings have been one of joy. Members of my own family, on WhatsApp groups have praised the police as heroes and various ministers across the country (West Bengal, Bihar) have made statements saying that everyone else should follow the Hyderabad example. From the statements that I have perused, it seems as though people in their anger have lost all faith in justice. Only a few civil rights activists have spoken out and asked that the police encounter needs to be investigated. These brave souls give me hope that there are still voices of reason amidst the mass of hate calling for revenge. People are maybe afraid that anything they might say will be misconstrued for them siding with the rapists. It is as though the mob wanted blood and they got it in the form of brutal killings.

Rape is evil. It is a form of violence against women. Extra judicial killing is equivalent to lynching by the police. It is violence against humanity. Violence only breeds more violence. I feel that the country has reached a tipping point in this regard - billions of people craving for revenge because they are angry. This is inherently not sustainable in the long run - it does not solve any problems, and will only create more violence and suffering.

I think people find it easy to protect themselves from the effects of horrible cases by dehumanizing the criminals. “They are not humans, they are devils and deserve to die” reads one comment. “These animals must suffer..” reads another. But the four criminals are not animals, nor are they devils - they are human beings. Human beings who think it is acceptable to objectify, abuse and incite violence against women. These human beings are just like you and I, they could be your friends, your family or your colleagues - they are just like us and are among us. Therefore, the path to change is a long and a hard one. The problem cannot be solved overnight and is only made worse with use of further violence. Awareness, gender sensitivity, and education are good starting points to resolve the issue in the long run. This can be coupled with better policing, prevention and fast track justice for the short term.

Then, again, maybe change driven by the principles of compassion is too much to ask. Maybe even change is too much to ask. The incident made people angry, and this anger needed to be released - a sacrifice was performed and now people can go back to normalcy. The policemen who pulled the trigger, and constructed an elaborate lie in the report will probably tell themselves that they are the heroes - and sleep peacefully at night. They did what they could, and what they believed in - they did something, they took action. Philosophers and arm chair thinkers (like the civil rights activists, including people like myself in the above paragraphs) wax and wane eloquently about what we think is right. But to implement idealist thoughts to action is much harder. And here lies the problem - "truth fades without the strength to act.”

tags: #opinion #india