The Supreme Court of India is plying a proactive role to weed out ills of the society. Recent orders on corruption, black money and inappropriate appointments have send shockwaves in the corridors of power. Several white-coloured gentlemen are cooling their heels in prison. Lokpal Bill, which had been pending since 1977, has gained great momentum and the atmosphere is so surcharged that it will not be easy to put the file in abeyance any more. Action and effect both are laudable.
The apex court has also taken note of political corruption which has taken such an ugly dimension that complainants of minority appeasement have become anti-minority to the extreme. They even did not care to uphold their constitutional obligations. Cases of fake encounters and anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat fall in this category. Steps taken by the Apex Court are welcome. However the important question that baffles the mind is whether these measures are enough to uproot these evils. I do not find answer to the question in the affirmative.
No law of the land allows accepting bribe for any just or unjust obligation. Enough laws are available in our statute books but of no avail. Therefore some more new laws are not the answer until we give some thought to real causes. These causes are much deep rooted in our system than we are able to see.
One of the main reasons of flourishing the culture of bribe in our society is increasing social acceptability of corrupt practices. A young boy posted on a plum post, attracts more parents to seek his alliance with their girl than to a person who has less chances of extortion. Lust for money and craze for pomp and show has gripped even those who teach morality to the masses. The ashrams have been converted into luxurious abodes. Even sadhus and sants, who are expected to have renounced all that is mundane, hold assets of millions of rupees. It is in sharp contrast to the ethos of Indian culture studded with the memories of simplicity of saints, sufies and fakirs who used to live in huts and lead a very simple life.
WHY THIS CONTRAST?
Western materialism and consumerism has won over our minds. Morality of old age has become obscure. Even our law system has failed to give due importance to our moral values. Legal sanction to homosexuality is a glaring example of rejection of Indian moral values in the contemporary law system. Live-in relation, which is an offshoot of acceptability of “sex by consent” out of wedlock, even before marriage, has got legal sanction against our ethos. Those who want to hold old age moral values and want to safeguard sanctity of their boys and girls and want to get their off-springs married with some time-tested considerations, are being hounded by the westernised minds. Vilification of Khap Panchayats is its example. I belong to a region where these Panchayats are popular. For every dispute, there is a Panchayat and many disputes are solved locally with the intervention of elders of society. Many restrictions ordered by these Panchayats have done tremendous good. For example, total ban on serving liquor, limit of 5 or 10 in wedding parties, restriction on varieties of food served in the parties, etc.
Recently some excessive incidents have come up; for example “killing” in the name of honour. These are aberrations. These incidents are more depiction of increasing criminalisation of the society than the fault of Khap Panchayats. Numbers of tented members in the corridors of power are increasing day by day. There are complaints that the number of members in legal fraternity with criminal tendency is increasing day by day. So is the case in these Panchayats. Sometimes persons with criminal mentality succeed to get upper hand and to take revenge for some personal animosity do hijack the proceeding. So fault does not lie in Panchayats but in the ever increasing criminality. Again, it is failure of our legal system. Criminals take benefit of the loopholes of the system and get scot-free while innocent persons languish in jails. The case of Malegaon blast (2006) accused is its example.
SOME OTHER ISSUES
Interestedly, our supreme court has taken up recently two more issues of vital importance for the society. One is: the hungry across the country are denied their right to food, even as thousands of tonnes of food grains rot in government godowns. The other is: Child labour. Both the issues are interlinked. In spite of food godowns are overflowing, poor people are not getting food. They are punished even if they try to corner a lump-full from spilled food grains. Those who send their children to work belong to the same category of have-nots. Their hunger pushes them even to sell or mortgage their children.
The solution to the problem does not lie in taking them out of work places or banning child labour. It is found that these steps do not solve the problem but complicate them. Increase in the number of street children is not a healthy sign for a society. These children easily become prey of criminal gangs. These faulty measures render a poor family to languish in utter poverty and face hunger. Thus the remedy is worse than the cause until complete social security is provided for the child and the poor family.
THE WAYOUT?
Complete revamp of Cr. P.C. so that criminals may be punished exemplarily;
Fixing responsibility on IO and punish him for implicating innocent persons without reasonable evidence, merely on the basis of doubt; and
Proper consideration of moral values against western legal wisdom.
Decriminalisation of the society; which may be done only by revival of moral values and suppression of the culture of consumerism.
Providing complete social security for the poor.
A LEAF FROM HISTORY
Islamic system of Zakat provided an exemplary system of social security. During the Rightly Guided Caliphate, it was hard to find a poor or hungry person in the State. This system does not spring from the corridors of modern democracies but from the hearts and minds of those who understand their obligations ordained by Allah and received through His messenger. The problem lies in the fact that we have become materially rich but morally poor. Can our courts change the course of life by upholding our values and discarding those who have become so sacred for the system that even homosexuality has become respectable?
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