When Santosh Singh was pronounced guilty, civil society breathed a collective sigh of relief. The Afzal Gooru death sentence too met with much applause and some criticism emanating from politics, but that’s a different matter. For what they both did, they must pay and an appropriate punishment should be pronounced. Both were found guilty of heinous crimes, but the public reaction was as worrying as the crimes. The scroll that TV news channels run with viewer’s comments at the bottom of the frame had one that read, “Santosh Singh should be stoned to death and his father publicly hanged”. There were similar calls for Afzal Gooru, the terrorist’s blood. If this didn’t disturb viewers, one can only wonder at the kind of collective conscience society has. Those guilty of such crimes must be dealt with for the sake of justice. There were too many reactions about revenge. They are responsible for their actions as we must be for our utterances. Get revenge for the victim and in some way we too feel somewhat reassured that society is “just” and our lives won’t be snuffed out at some brats whim.
So what is justice? Is justice, institutionalized revenge or is it a reform mechanism? What does it hope to achieve? Is it a way towards a creating a society free of terror, insecurity and fear? A system that gives its citizens the confidence to be confident. Or is it an eye for an eye? It seems that for many, justice is nothing but a system of institutionalized revenge and that may just be because the establishment too appears to see it that way.
One rule in America seems to suggest that justice for them is in fact institutionalized revenge. In some states, an execution can be a spectacle for the family of the victim. A convicted murderer when executed may be watched by the family of the victim (or victims) through a glass wall. There is a bed with the accused strapped in, lethal injections administered that kill him. The victim’s family watches this from across a glass wall. I’m not sure what the rules are for cheering or clapping. When Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma bomber was convicted and sentenced to death here’s what John Ashcroft, attorney general decided, for the benefit of victim’s families and society as a whole. I quote from his statement “ The Oklahoma City survivors may be the largest group of crime victims in our history. So the Department of Justice must make special provisions to assist the needs of the survivors and victims' families in accordance with our responsibilities to carry out justice.
As attorney general, I authorize the following measures for victims of this crime. First, we have decided to allow two additional citizen witnesses to be present at the execution in Terre Haute. Second, under these special circumstances, we will arrange for a closed-circuit transmission of these events to Oklahoma City. For these individuals, it became-- it is important in a unique way that they see, at least, and I think they believe that and I believe they are right-- that they have a capacity to witness this event.” So this execution, this event was telecast live much like a boxing bout or cricket match (20-20 anyone??). Who knows there may have been lager louts getting together witnessing the execution over pizza and beers like a Superbowl evening. Is this the sign or a progressive, developed society? Is this the way we are going? America after all appears to be the model of choice for most upper and middle class Indians - readers of this column.
An institution or society cannot react thus, even if it is towards a bomber or a murderer, and still be perceived as progressive. What really is the difference between a Taliban who’d stone men and women (usually women) to death in a spectator packed football stadium and this American glass walled private performance model…or live telecast? Only that the live audience was a lot larger in Taliban’s Afghanistan since in their version of Islam they were all brothers and this was being done to benefit the whole lot. Kind of like one big happy family, and in the case of US law the family is just cousins, siblings, parents etc.
An individual seeks revenge, an institution cannot. Institutions created by society must be bigger and more evolved than mortals who create them. They must be dispassionate. They must be bigger in every way. And therefore cannot seek revenge. They must seek reform. If death is a means to reform then death it is, if its prison then prison and if public stoning leads to a reformed society then public stoning it shall be, but the motivation must be to work towards a society that evolves.
At no point am I either condemning or advocating the death penalty. This isn’t about that. But what one should have a problem with is the baying for blood, the glee and thrill of a kill that is all around, on the streets of Bhagalpur and the drawing rooms of Delhi. Just the cases in question differ. If someone I loved had met the same fate as Jessica Lal or Priyadarshini Mattoo, I have no doubt I’d want blood. An eye for an eye. At that time I’m not looking for justice, I want revenge. And going by what one has seen in so many cases I doubt I’d wait for a court to give me that, would I not be justified in seeking it out myself? That’s what the husband of the victim of chain snatching Salim in Bhagalpur went on record to say, that Salim deserved what he got. That is the weakness of individuals. That is why democracy is considered a more evolved system of governance than dictatorship or any totalitarian regime, because what the collective consciousness creates is devoid of base and primitive motivations and actions… or so we hope.
The understanding of justice both by society and the enforcers of law must change at a very fundamental level if we are to move towards a safer nation. A court does not dole out revenge, it provides justice. As long as we keep that in mind we might hope there wont be more Santosh Singhs and Manu Sharmas but if we continue to look at justice as revenge be prepared for scrolls that say “stone him to death” prepared for many more such cases, many more miscarriages of justice, and many more scrolls that might just read “skin the bastard alive”.
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