Illusion & Reality

IIIusion and Reality

E.M.Adithyan

The crime prevention detection and prosecution process in India is abysmally low. This coupled with half hearted approaches of the law enforcement authorities and innumerable loopholes in the legal system ensures that only a negligible percentage of the accused are convicted. It is paradoxical that in a country having plethora of laws, degree of lawlessness is also the highest. According to agency reports only six percent of the accused are convicted in India. This percentage will further make a nosedive considering the fact that many crimes are not reported and many others, which are reported, and many are not recorded by the law enforcement agencies. There is a popular joke that whereas American and Scotland Yard police catch the culprit within hours of committing the crime, Indian police is well aware of the impending crime hours before is being committed. No wonder the crime rate whether it is robbery, dacoity, murder, bride burning or gang rape – are increasing at an alarming rate.

The concept of Equality before law enchained in our Constitution has become a myth as dispensation of justice is different between the haves and havenots, mighty and weak, rich and poor, seasoned criminals and ignorant unabiders of law. While thousands of under-trials (who know how many of them are innocent?) are languishing in various jails for years people who committed heinous crimes and amassed ill-gotten wealth are freely moving in the society with almost total impunity. Time and again we confirm the popular perception that law is like a cobweb where the weak and poor are trapped in and the rich and mighty breaks it.

After the independence our planners have visualised and India of self-reliance, self-dependence and growth coupled with social justice. However even after 53 years of independence we are more and more dependent on foreign countries for our survival. Under the pretext of liberalisation we invented multi-nationals to invade India and today we depend on them even for cool drinks and potato wafers. We believe in screw-driver technology and heavily depend on foreign countries for all the requirements of critical items, whether they are used in the manufacture (nay-assembly) of sophisticated equipments or consumer durables. India has become an ocean of poverty with few islands of prosperity. Over dependence on any country will slowly leads to slavery. We have to learn a lot from our neighbouring country, ie:China.

We make tall claims from terrace tops about our achievements in terms of quality and quantity. In the name of development, we have systematically strangulated our culture, tradition, ethics, value system, flora and fauna and ecology. While we have won awards, rewards, medals, recognition, ISI and ISO certificates, the actual quality has come down in many spheres. People talks proudly of their clock purchased 50 years ago still showing accurate time, whereas an automatic watch purchased two years ago running fast five minutes per day and a 20 year old mixer is giving uninterrupted service, whereas an ISI marked mixer is giving frequent troubles. Are we not fooling ourselves with manipulated facts and figures and window dressing?.

The tragedy in India is that there is a wide gap between what we preach and what we practice. This is further compounded by contradictions like a scoundrel giving sermons about morality, a criminal talking about social justice and a corrupt politician preaching probity in public life.

It is heartening to note that while the pillars of democratic institutions start crumbling, judiciary has taken a lead role in upholding the rule of law. This country has given birth to great luminaries and social reformers like Gautam Buddha, Swami Vivekananda, Sankaracharya, Gandhiji etc.

Let us come out from the shackles of our illusory world, restore the old values, bring back the past glory, make development in the true sense and spirit, to make this country prosperous- both materially and morally.