Law & Society

The Living Mother of the Dead: Waiting Blindly in Search of Justice!

The ongoing human rights violations implore for a quick clamp down or else a new country, within a country, would ensue—an unhealthy country, where the rights of the common masses of the country would turn to be no more fundamental, where humans would be subjected to inhumane activities and where the citizens would have the fundamental right to health but would be denied the basic requirements necessary to remain healthy. This is not only an example of the grossest abuse of law, but in sync, it is also a stigma in the name of democracy, where only the interests of the so-called Big-wigs are served and those very people are to enjoy the fruits of a welfare democracy. Here, I seek to put a question. The situation which the nation is facing today, was it at all anticipated by the Father of the Nation. The answer lies, rather should lie in the minds of the law-givers and not elsewhere.

In order to keep tabs on the abuse and perpetrations of the crimes, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was appointed as early as in 1993 with powers conferred on them pursuant to which it was authorized to take suo-moto actions against the perpetrators. And the step towards constituting the commission does honour to the country. The commission is indeed a creditable achievement on the part of, what I call them, official moderators. It spreads awareness among the endless rural masses (term is used to describe the ‘Bigness’ of India’s population in spite of the family planning policies) of the country, who, hitherto, were of a view that ‘Sarkar’ is always for good! The language, technicality and the complicated procedures are indeed factors that limit the access to justice for the rural, illiterate, impoverished masses of the country. They raise their voices against the oppression of the police officers but quiet down in a trice, speculating that the procedures demand much more than us.

Were custodial deaths, ‘lathi charge’, invasion of Right to Freedom of Movement etc. not satisfying the desires of the Men- In- Power that now they have proceeded towards the perpetrations of more heinous crimes---yes, ‘crime’ is an apt word, the crime of killing someone out of rage and malice, the crime to invade the Right to Life of an individual, the crime of making a false report that the victim was not murdered, rather he committed suicide, the crime of conspiring with the political leaders or Men-In-Power to put an individual out of the way of their lives, the individual who got married with the daughter of the former, but due to lack of consent of the parents, was subjected to join the majority. The reason behind his death remains shrouded, but the Media is of a view that the murder was committed by the police officers, who were asked to do so by Mr. Ashok Todi, father of Priyanka Todi, and the same was not committed because the couples failed to obey their parents, but because Rizwanur (the one who got married to Todi’s daughter, Priyanka) was a lower middle class Muslim. Had it been a lower middle class Hindu the death would not have been resulted, says the Media. So, where are the Justice-givers? The old, poor lady has no more two sons. She is still lighting a candle with him, the only, son left, hoping that though justice is delayed in our country, but it would not be denied at any cost.

Well, I personally feel that the Justice which is delayed, would remain denied too, as is the usual case, when there are people involved whom no body can question. Take the words of the CM of Bengal. Mr. Budhhadev says that the matter will soon be investigated. In apparent words, I think the matter will only be investigated without any outcomes and convictions. The mysterious death of Rizwanur throws light on the unlawful acts committed by the police officers in guise of the so-called ‘wardi wale’, who pretends to be the only protectors of human rights or for that matter, the legal rights of the citizens. Doubting the veracity of the statement made by them, I would like to contribute to the statement arousing my personal belief. The persons in ‘wardi’, to me, are not the only protectors of law, but the only violators of law. Look what the Supreme Court has to say with regards to the nature of the officers; ‘No police lifestyle which relies more on fists than wits, on torture more than culture, can control crime….Nothing is more cowardly and unconscionable than a person in police custody being beaten up and nothing inflicts a deeper wound on our constitutional culture…’ (Kishore Singh v. State of Rajasthan; AIR 1981 SC 470)

These instances compel me to disbelieve law and its givers; to see that law could no more see; to dream that what the large majority of people dream of law and its powers is only a pipe-dream; to oblige me to opine that the true opinion of the people is rather false when they wisely vomit an unwise assumption that “Kanoon ke haath…..hote hain” and lastly to table a view that people will hear, the view of mine that might change the unchanged minds of people, the view of mine regarding the mysterious death of Rizwanur, that, there is less than a few reasons why he should commit a suicide, though there are more than a few reasons why he should not.

And this is only the beginning with a bad start, as opposed to a good one. My frantic eyes are waiting desperately to see an imminent thing, more grievous, which would shatter not only my eyes, but also the eyes of the blind people of India, who have lost their eyes, in all likelihood, due to the tortures of the people, and I am not [very] sure! The current situation pleads for a prudent strategy which would suffice to tackle the gross abuse of powers. The only thing I can do is stand still and perplexed, staring at the officers who at the time of Rizwanur’s death were sipping cups and cups of coffee, where the brother of Rizwanur was smiling as if he were sipping coffee and chatting with Rizwanur, where the old lady was just waiting desperately for a just trial with a small candle lighting, though the light could not suffice to shroud the darkness which continued to prevail in that single room, the blurred vision of the lonely old lady, the living mother of the dead. I would seek to end with the far-sight of the Father of the Nation;

‘It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings’.