“…Lend him a live
victim” Page 3
This was the first time my blood boiled while reading this
heart wrenching, tragic tale of confessions.
So many contradictions in that statement. When did we start
playing God, deciding the fates of innocent, ordinary men as per our whims and
fancies? Are we now back to barter system, treating humans as nothing more than
mere goods? Are we legalizing trading of
humans, which by definition constitutes to human trafficking, a grave offense?
And all this for what, a typographical error? So, that’s all a human life is
worth now, a mere typo! And the worst, unimaginable contradiction comes from
the fact that the person making this statement is one who has taken an oath to
protect the very men he wants to victimize.
In a country which boasts itself of equality for all
citizens under the law, why is murder distinguished based on who commits it.
Killing in self-defence by an ordinary citizen requires immense proof, but this
burden of proof is discharged in case of self-defence by a police officer or
army personnel. Unfortunately, this liberty given to security and defence
sectors has led to legitimizing encounter killings and murders, the repercussions
of which are fatal to democracy and equality.
We as a society have
developed such a numb attitude towards ‘justified violence’ that even after the
1970s in West Bengal, 1980s in Punjab and 1990s in Kashmir, we continue to
watch the same scene right round the corner, without blinking an eyelid,
without pausing to be affected by our conscience. Are we more deaf, dumb and
blind than an actual disabled person? Have we lost our feelings and deprived
ourselves of our virtues? What are we left with then?
Our country boasts of high class intellectuals, lawyers and
judges. Then why is it that we have still not moved ahead from the archaic and draconian
pre-independence era laws? Probably because we are in some still under the rule
of an oppressive regime, with just new definitions and new faces. Can we truly
say our country, every inch of it, is truly independent?
All we have done, since declaring our independence, and
continue to do so is passing numerous acts and amendments. The Unlawful
Activities (prevention) Act, 1967, Preventive Detention Act, 1950, Madras
Suppression of Disturbances Act, 1948, Defence of India Act, 1967, Maintenance
of Internal Security Act, 1972, Disturbed Areas Act, 1976, National Security
Act, 1980, Terrorist and Disruptive Activities act, 1985, Prevention of
Terrorism Act, 2002, and Unlawful activities Amendment Act, 2004. Situation
today is the proof that these acts have made no place more peaceful than
before, and are mainly used as a tool by the state to deprive an ordinary
citizen of this country of his constitutional rights of freedom and equality,
making him bound to the mercy of the state. This implies that we are not as free
and independent as our constitution tells us, we are only as free and
independent as our state wants us to be. Celebrating Independence Day is merely
celebrating the liberation of India from the British rule. But surely this is
not all that we had aimed for, was it? But, authoritarianism continues to reign
in our democracy.
Have you ever wondered why these cases of illegal and brutal
massacres keep repeating? Are we that incapable of learning lessons and
improving our defence system? Are we really in a state of war as is suggested
by the officials or are we purposefully being kept in this state of war?
A terrorist is kept in custody for months, taken care of
well, and provided with an attorney, until a complete legal battle is fought to
prove him guilty, even when the actual evidence for his persecution was seen
live (on TV) by millions of citizens sitting in their homes. However, such is
the irony of our judicial system that 100s of our own countrymen are being
illegally abducted and murdered in the name of ‘militants’, without proper
evidence or motive, and no one raises an objection.
Reading the confession of an army personnel, wherein he
agrees to have worked with underground groups to catch the so-called militants, makes you wonder, who they
were actually protecting. The roles of gangs and unaware citizens seems to have
been strategically interchanged.
A high functioning system cannot work only with the one
team. It most definitely requires involvement of all the stake holders. It is a
disease worse than corruption and one which plagues our country even after 70
years of independence.
The issue starts when you start looking at everything as a
business, even capturing terrorists. An act that is meant to be protecting and
safeguarding the citizens, an honourable act, suddenly becomes a business deal.
And the deal has to be profitable no matter what the cost.
So, basically, it is all about system protecting, nurturing,
and emboldening the system. System that comprises of everyone except for the
group it has been created for – we, the people.
And quite strangely, the award system for bringing about
peace and stability in a conflict area is based on the number of kills rather
than the number of peace efforts. It is no wonder then that the number of killings
and shootings are always on the rise. Now, who wouldn’t want to get that next
award, that next medal of honour!
At a point, you question what is it that makes an ordinary
man treat his own kind with extreme cruelty and spite? What is it that forces
him to display such indecency, which one would not even expect from lions and
tigers? Why is man so eager to gain authority and control over another man’s
life?
By the end of the book (if you do choose to believe what’s
written in the book), you neither feel disgusted nor angry. Nothing surprises
you anymore. Not all of the breaking news or the horrific incidents. And this
is when humanity goes downhill – cruelty met with numbness.
However, the bitter aftertaste of reading the book lingers
on for a long time, and you start to question every event, every article, every
opinion and every news put forth before you. And at this point it is for the
individual to decide which and how much of the data is to be believed. This is
what the book achieves successfully. It makes you question, consider and
analyse rather than blindly accept all as the ultimate truth.
