Once upon a time when I did think I could change the world,
and took keen interest in National and International politics, there were
severe issues that were too complicated for us to do something immediately. But
we were people who did their little bit to try and make changes that could make
a positive impact.
With time I away, and life overall became cynical. I refused
to be marred with depressing news from all over the world, kept to Delhi
Times/Bombay Times; liked my intellectual dose of Hindu and Economist and Guardian and CNN to
keep myself socially relevant….until today!
The Delhi gangrape reports made me squirm. The capital of
the country, the victim, the perpetrators, it all seemed delusional. Not that
cases like this did not happen in every other town, every other day but this
was hard hitting….maybe because of the sheer descriptive aspect of it.
This incident was after many years of Rang-De-Basanti, and
over time the young India has found a voice. It was using the social media
tools for almost everything. People were being arrested for Facebook posts, and
criminals were being identified through that etc.
Relevance I don’t know if was being questioned.
After Kasab’s death penalty, (the time death was being
celebrated) every platform of media was choker blocked with opinions, 85
percent, safely was formed out of (as Economic Times rightly called it) “Half
Knowledge”. (And maybe I was one of them!) But once I decided to be the ghost
observer of what happens in this space, I realized our governance is today also
influenced by social media.
And today the death penalty of the perpetrators has garnered
so many likes and retweets that shares that it does bring out a severe lack of
logical and judicial maturity. At this point one can expect a huge dissent. But
honestly the background of these four men is like lakhs of people around us.
Maybe he is the man who washes your car, fixes your household equipments, does
your odd job.
The little of my understanding of the death penalty is that it sets the precedence for the other,
it forms the basis of doctrine of deterrence, the idea of deterrence is
meaningless if the sentence cannot be passed on. This is where the strange
intersecting point arises-the singularity and the repentance.
Unfortunately what happened in the court of law today is the
fallacy of feeding the ego and hysteric outcry of the herd. From the time of
Kasab, the public opinion has tasted blood, yet again the Indian judiciary fed
the “collective conscience” . My question to that collective conscience is “Will
that really deter criminals or rapists”?
So what exactly did we send out as a message today after the
verdict, that you will be hanged until death?
Strictly personal opinions are (convoluted and can be seen
as outcry of despair)–
1 Perpetrators should also kill their victims,
lest they are caught and punished with death
2.
The country does not need to ensure a safer
environment but satisfy the outcry of mass media
3.
The country does not need to address the issue
of sexual repression and the taboo around sex
4.
Education of men and women together from the
onset of socialization is definitely not in the cards because all men can be
rapists and all women can be provocative
5.
The country is fine to wear blinkers in cases of
medical malpractices or abuse behind closed doors and those cases can continue
for years
6.
Corruption and malpractice by the rich and
influential is not as severe as the Delhi gangrape
7.
Rarest of the rare is ok to become a norm
because it satiates the public demand before elections
