Daily Post 1386
IS THERE ONE JUSTICE?
Having grown up in democratic India, studying the same civics books, some even political science, constitution and law, others the less fortunate or knowledgeable, have learned justice the hard way. Naturally, with this diverse knowledge and experiences of life, the perceptions can be radically different. There is no way that we have disseminated the standard understanding of law to the masses. When there is no unison of thought, how can there be a unison or standardisation of expectation? When people attach different meanings and practice to justice, what is the nature of justice that exists? There can be only one justice or there is no justice.
This stage we will not able to reach in the foreseeable future, till such time shrill calls of justice day in and day out, would have their own expectations, that too mostly unmet. Another interesting aspect of our democratic living is that whatever we can get away with, we call justice. This is the most acceptable definition in this country today. The numbers game has been on in assemblies for decades and it is widely accepted now, that justice has been dispensed to the one, who gets the throne. The resorts and buses and guards for the legislators has been a normal rigmarole in the self-created complex task of interpretation of people’s mandate. Is that justice to the people?
A midnight judicial hearing in a case and an indefinite wait in another case to be decided, are both a part of the same justice imbroglio. The two at the receiving end would find justice to be totally different. A traffic cop stopping you can be unjustified whereas an encounter can make perfect judicial sense to the same people. Justice they say cannot be impacted by the extraneous circumstances whatsoever, is an exercise in futile idealism. The interpretation of law is law itself is another truism. It’s a reality that justice is meted out or denied to vast majorly of Indians outside the courts in their day to day life, by the executive. Mandated by law denied by practice has been another fact plaguing us without a break.
Is running from pillar to post justice? Is the comfort of getting one’s due not justice? Internally displaced in your country, the scenes which we all witnessed, does not show any modicum of justice. While groups / lobbies demanding justice even when no such issues exist, is a travesty of justice. Is not wearing mask injustice to the people who are taking all precautions. Is health infrastructure unpreparedness not injustice to the persons you serve? Justice is a mindset issue intertwined with duty and a step further with conscience. Impartial objective mind with no vested agenda having the capability to deliver and fight for the citizens is justice. People who need justice cannot fend for themselves.
JUSTICE IS NOT LIMITED TO COURTS AND CASES, IT IS A BATTLE FOR A FAIR LIFE, DAY IN AND DAY OUT.