Where the Land is without Fear!

According to data compiled after the last general election by National Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), 162 of the 543 members of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, had criminal cases against them – including serious charges such as rape, murder and kidnapping.

The recent Supreme Court verdict is a good start to bring this sheer mockery of Indian democracy to an end. However, as an ordinary Indian, I believe that this judgement will also meets its muted end soon. The end will come in shape of pseudo intellectuals debating on National TV on its demerits, politicians praising this in public but slowly colluding with each other to kill it through an ordinance or a larger bench or a Presidential reference or any of the numerous ways in which the system is known to take care of its ilk.

The Right To Education Act was a landmark act, and it now has left no mark on this land! The Right To Information (RTI) still remains a very powerful act, however, is now mostly used by mischief mongers to cause trouble to blackmail a susceptible government machinery. The "No Black Glass" judgement added to the revenue of Sunscreen companies in South India and parts of some metros and State Capitals in North India, however, left UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, MP etc., largely untouched!

What we have to understand is that there are large tracts of this country which are natively lawless. The concept of law as being civil to each other and having respect for human life is beyond comprehension of ordinary Indians in lots of places in this country. These are the places were women are raped and burnt and Kangaroo Panchayats stone people to death. In a lot of ways, a lot of places in this country is essentially like Mallala land. This part of the country, together, also populate most of the seats in our parliament.

In HR terms, we have a saying: Garbage in garbage out! Until the very fabric of the society in such places does not become civil and social, such changes as the one the honorable Supreme Court plans, cannot be implemented. Criminals will learn puppetry, and their puppet wives will sit in our parliament!