Justice Doomed

The recent verdict dispensed by the Supreme Court of India on Section 377 of IPC has generated huge clamor in public domain. The major point of conflict is the wordings of the verdict that reflect a mediocre, medieval, and regressive mindset of judges who risked their sensibility in addressing a larger democratic and human rights issue, in rather the most imbecile way possible. Articulating this judgment, first, they have contradicted the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of India, and second, misread the universal democratic principles.

Decriminalization of homosexuality has nothing to do with culture, religion, law and state; it's a consensual act between two free adults who have every right to do whatever they want to in a liberal society. Keeping an archaic, meaningless, orthodox piece of penal code, which has no relevance in the current social dynamics is another reference of state crime, and, simply, it reflects how vulnerable is India as the largest democracy of the world – the democracy that doesn't uphold the basic principles of human rights. This judgment is perhaps the most regressive one in the recent history and, beyond question, it degrades the democratic index of India in a modern world. In all modern democracies of the world, civil liberty takes the front seat of progression, and in India, it's almost invisible in action.

While political classes are now squarely blaming the verdict and reacting to this judgment in the most opportunistic way, they have hardly done anything significant in all these years. And the most incredible point in the context of this judgment is that even after 67 years of independence, India is still servile to the laws enacted by the Britishers some 150 years ago. As a parliamentary democracy, India has not only failed to imbibe the principles of modern democracy, but also it has aborted the mechanism of delivering fair justice to its citizens. Whether political, judicial, or bureaucratic, each organ of state has proved inefficient, indolent, and digressive to the modern democratic principles. Now is the time to overhaul the system in letter and spirit.  

On A Different Note

With growing trust deficits in democratic institutions, the citizens of this country today confront with burning challenges of harsh social issues and endemic corruption in all public offices, and hence they abruptly conclude that no institution in this country is working with integrity and propriety. Such generalizations are indeed irrational and questionable. Any system, however competent, is guided by rules and regulations established by law makers of that country. Remember, laws are dynamic and consequently change with social evolution. Whenever the laws become static and inscriptions of rock, then all the problems crop up and the people in power often misuse the embedded lacunae in the legal system.

For a progressive democracy like India, which has significantly excelled in many dimensions of human development in last few decades, the credit for excellence goes to the citizens of this country, and yes, a part of that credit is also meant for the people in power who have enabled a fairly workable system despite many challenges. Although in the course of time the ratio of good people in power to bad people in power has diminished significantly, there are myriads of ways to improve this system and make all the stakeholders accountable for their action. And for this we urgently need a vigilant judicial system to uphold the democratic principles laid down by the Constitution of India and then quickly intervene in the administration whenever it feels the principles of law are not sufficient to administer justice.

In the recent past, we have observed a frequent judicial activism in all walks of democratic institutions because the learned judges of Supreme Court or High Courts have convinced that either the administration is not discharging the desired responsibilities or the laws are not sufficient to handle the complex issues. However, the selective activism is not enough to manage the multitude of conflicts generated during the execution of law. What's essentially required now is to bring in drastic transformations in the working of democratic institutions that govern the hopes and aspirations of a billion plus populous nation.

As the growth story of India in last two decades has become a global case study for other functional democracies, it's imperative now for the law-makers of this country to strengthen democratic principles with checks and balances. Wherever we need radical changes in the laws to ensure fair justice to the citizens of this nation, the Parliament must pass ambitious, forward-looking bills to enrich the legal framework of this country. And the beauty of our democratic system is that together we can establish an effulgent India unfailingly.  

Satyamev Jayate: A Newfangled Social Movement

Every television audience was in a state of boundless suspense till the most expected debut TV program by Aamir Khan went air on Sunday (May 6) at 11 am on Star Plus. And I was equally hinged to my conviction that the program would be an out-of-the-box creation, not because Aamir Khan during his entire career in Hindi film industry has proved to be Mr Perfect, but often he has convinced to public that he is not just an entertainer, rather he is the epitome of social movements at a time when the citizens of this country have lost faith in our system, be it political, bureaucratic, or judicial. Aamir Khan just proved it right. Absolutely right. The program was worth watching for every genre of audience across social hierarchies.

Many would question the format of this program for its semblance with reality TV. But it was an altogether different breed of program that Indian TV viewers got to experience it first time with a different expectation. I wish all the viewers would at least internalize that difference. Started with a quite moving emotional anecdote by touching upon the role of mother in everyone's life and then building up the synchronized viewers' empathy, Aamir logically came down to brass-tacks – the sordid state of female foeticide across the country.

Although everyday we come across with myriads of reports on female foeticide in newspapers and television programs, what's different here in this program was the story-telling by Aamir along with glaring evidences from a panel of victims who certainly were not only from the lower strata of our society, which is often misconceived by majority of people, rather an eye-opening case was there from an elite family living in the capital of this country. Remember, the victim who's a doctor and married to a doctor as well and lives with a family of educationists ranging teachers and professors, essayed her story with great poignancy. Unbelievable. Under the hood of elitism and false tradition, how these hypocrites are engaged in such heinous crimes without fear for the consequences.

What's more startling was that when a Delhi-based doctor revealed that how the government in 70s started sex determination test in typically government hospitals as a measure to check the growing population of this country - the most abhorrent fact that any citizen of this country would like to assimilate. And that was a hard fact indeed. The program that was started under the auspice of government patronage eventually multiplied its tentacles and now the sex determination test is a Rs 1000 crore plus industry in India. The politicians and government machinery in tandem have been beguiling us for many decades and still we hardly have time to introspect.

The nexus was even deeper and devastating. When two journalists, who carried out sting operations on “female foeticide and integral role of doctors” across many districts in Rajastan, exposed the dirty kinship between government and judiciary, the trust of public in a democratic system could have touched the nadir. In the recent past we have observed the fashionable judicial activism in selective cases; however, when it comes to an endemic social issue, the same loaded activism loses its steam.

I wish the viewers of this program couldn't have expected more than what Aamir reiterated at the end - the magic wand. When the Prime Minister of this country helplessly cries that there is no magic wand to check corruption, on a very distinct and compelling note Aamir accentuated, yes there is a magic wand, and it's we the citizens of this country. Only we can bring in the desired changes in this country by participating in such movements. A great thought indeed. Kudos Aamir. Hope you equally overwhelm us in the coming episodes.

Regulating Media: A Bad Idea, Certainly

When the country is severely reeling under endemic corruptions and politicians have taken a ride on the sentiments of citizens of this nation, the very naive idea of pushing a private bill (by a first-timer MP Meenakshi Natarajan) to regulate media not only indicates how ignorant the MP is about the very basics of Indian Constitution that enshrines freedom of speech as fundamental rights, but also she intends to advocate a democracy to function without freedom of press. In a democratic setup, media is the only institution outside governance that acts as an independent watchdog and brings truth to the fore.

Freedom of expression is the corner stone of democratic evolution. Conventional media run by professional journalists and editors represents the pillar of free speech. Although recently few media houses have crossed their ethical limit and displayed downgraded standards in reporting biased, frivolous news pieces; nevertheless, the idea of regulating media by state agencies is altogether an untoward move.

As law makers, the legislators have the privilege to bring in any draconian law which would suit their political objective; however, in a functional democracy, the most stringent, anti-democratic law is even subject to complete abrogation when the government changes. India has already witnessed the fate of a draconian law like TADA in the last decade.

The developed democracies like US, UK, and France are the greatest upholders of the principle of freedom of speech and expression. Despite myriads of exposes against the ruling class in press, these nations have even ensured free and independent media. The law-makers of these nations are true democrats who believe in freedom of expression. A self-regulated media is undoubtedly a great partner in a long, meaningful democratic journey.

However, in India, majority of politicians are tainted, corrupt, and law-breakers, so a free press becomes a huge roadblock for their escapades. In the history of high-decibel scams in India, whether it's Bofors, 2G, or CWG, it was only media that exposed the matter in public domain first, and then the police or judiciary executed their responsibilities later.

With regulated media, the freedom of speech will be strangled and every report that will be published in media will be nothing more than a public relation exercise because of excessive state monitoring and hegemonic bureaucracy. Post enactment of law, no government would like to support an independent media, and eventually state-run media will take the lead. Are we heading to transform such a vibrant democracy into a communist country like China? Maybe, that could be the hidden agenda of many political parties. Nevertheless, India as a nation of great political diversity won't afford to take that route.