Crime and no punishment? We have failed our children

Insurance is a huge business with extraordinary money; almost everything in life is insured. There is one sector however that no insurance company would ever venture into guarding against a country's failure. Nobody can prevent a nation from failing if that is where it is firmly headed. The spate of rape and murder tragedies over the past week make one wonder if India is now witnessing events that befit a failed country.

Kathua gangrape and murder
She is an adorable girl, only eight years old, with a god-like innocence in her face. Her family lives in a community not far away from a forest. Spotted alone, she was tricked and taken into a forest. She was drugged, tortured and dragged into a Hindu temple and kept hidden inside it. She was continuously sedated, tortured and raped by numerous men in this temple over several days. Finally, they snapped her little neck and dumped her mangled body thoughtlessly on the street. 

A special police team investigated the incident, and in a stunning twist, fellow police officers were also charged along with the rapists-murders for crimes of corruption, manipulation and destruction of evidence. This gruesome incident deeply stilled and shocked this country. However, in an equally stunning and an unprecedented aftermath, many advocates took to the streets to protest the filing of the chargesheet for this crime! Meanwhile, the Prime Minister, who takes to his twitter handle at the smallest opportunity, fell into a mysterious silence. The accused rapists-murderers were all Hindus in this case; the eight-year-old girl was a Muslim. This might explain why my Hindu-advocate friends in that locality took to the streets and our Prime Minister held his silence. These things indicate a failed country. The day we, as a society, ignore the rape and murder of a child because that child is of a different religion, community or economic background, we have begun our race towards full-blown failure. This incident took place in Jammu and Kashmir. 

Unnao Rape
Almost in tandem, In Uttar Pradesh, a 16-year old girl complained of having been raped by the local MLA. Her outspokenness cost her father's life, thanks to violence unleashed by the MLA's brother. The police did not register an FIR against the MLA and instead, arrested the victim's father on a fabricated charge. Her father died after the MLA's brother had brutally assaulted him and police took him into custody instead of rushing him to a hospital. The Prime Minister failed to notice this event too and no tweet appeared. The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath was not bothered enough; It is quite difficult to imagine what exactly would invite his disgust and outrage for as he has effortlessly explained away so many perverse events that have taken place during his tenure.

In a failed country, many perverse things happen and it would be futile to care for anybody. Are we there already?

We have strict laws against kidnapping, rape, murder, assault, corruption and manipulation by public servants and the like. We have created a police force to enforce these laws. And, we have also created a judicial system to punish those that break the law. If we ensure that we have a robust police system and an efficient and independent judiciary, we do not have to go to the streets to protest at events like the above. 

However, our police force is breaking down due to relentless manipulation by our political establishment and our judiciary is already beginning to show cracks. If we go back in time over the past few years or decades, we will notice that the things that hve outraged us over the past week are simply more terrible manifestations of crimes that have taken place over decades. It indicates our steady decline as a society. If something is not urgently done at this juncture, it may turn out to be too late to reform or recover.

Rule of Law
Radical Islamists must be rejoicing at being able to show to the world how a Hindu governed country treated a little girl in Jammu. The Maoist movement, which seemed to have subsided, is now making a steady comeback in many States; they would cite the Uttar Pradesh incident to recruit more citizens who are severely disillusioned with our governance. Even initially peaceful rallies and demonstrations around the country are turning out to be very violent, leading to unanticipated deaths and casualties in many cases.

We were supposed to be governed by the 'rule of law'. Several countries claim to be so governed. Let us use an illustration or two to ascertain what 'rule of law' really means. The President of the United States is the most powerful person in that country. However, last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the offices and home of Trump's decade-long confidant and personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. An extensive team of prosecutors had planned their strategy over several days, had requested and obtained a warrant from a judge and coordinated with multiple investigative agencies - without the prior knowledge of Trump. 

On the morning of the raid, President Trump had no power over anything except to put out a tweet criticising that raid. Those raids are thought to have led to the collection of incriminating material against President Trump. We, in India, have very similar laws and yet, our reality is horribly different.

I have criticised our Prime Minister generously in this column. However, I would be terribly foolish to not remind this country of the considerable damage that has already been done by the Congress Party in creating or worsening differences between different groups of citizens just to gather more votes for their party.

Quo Vadis?
The solution to our woes lies in our own hands, however. We must be careful about whom we elect as our MLAs and MPs, and by a thoughtful choice, we could bring about a dramatic and positive change in our system. In the forthcoming election to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, you hold a responsibility to make a meaningful choice of a candidate; when more voters choose responsibly, we could build robust police and the judiciary. Violence and crime cannot be prevented entirely. However, a country that swiftly punishes the wrongdoer and informs the public of such punishment goes a very long way to deter future crimes. We have no direct control over the crimes, police or the judiciary. However, we do control our vote and that is all that matters. A responsible and a thoughtful vote is the only insurance we have against repetition of the horror that we saw last week. So, we do have insurance against failure and that is our vote.

The writer is a Supreme Court advocate