A Failed State and its eroding Human Values

The deep shock and outrage at the dastardly killing of about a dozen innocent people watching the new Batman  film- The Dark Knight Rises in Denver, Colorado filtered through newspapers, blogs and related articles and made instant headlines, the world over. It was indeed a ‘’Dark NIGHT’’ for the audience.

The alleged culprit just about 24 years old, obviously a maniac has since shown no remorse for the massacre.

The administration was quick to apprehend the suspect before any further similar horrendous attempts, were made. Investigations in the case later showed that the act was pre-meditated months earlier and executed as scheduled.

One can easily identify the pain of the next of kin of the deceased as the attacks claimed innocent lives who never knew what destiny had in store for them.  

The western countries have always valued Human Life in a different perspective. Research and analysis is done and different innovative ways are brooded upon to prevent or minimize such loss of human life whether by homicide, suicide or natural disasters. The culprits are nailed quickly and justice prevails.

Every possible angle is probed into to ensure there is minimum loss of life and property. Their disaster management cell is well awake to all possible threats and search and rescue squads are always on their toes to meet any contingencies.

In contrast here, in India more than 80,000 people succumb to road accidents every passing year and the figures are alarmingly increasing in geometric progression. People get killed in petty issues – indiscriminate celebratory firing during trivial events like winning an election, marriage ceremonies etc. We have army men chucking helpless people out of trains in frustration. We have kids getting crushed under their own school buses. Countless People who perished in the 1984 Bhopal Gas holocaust have long been forgotten and given a measly sum of 400 USD in compensation. The irony of the case gets further magnified as entire families have been wiped out leaving behind no claimants. It seems in India life is very cheap and its value is easily identifiable and can be fixed with alarming ease. The value of a human life has steadily eroded over the years and deriving a fair and equitable Justice is virtually impossible for the common man.

Had any Indian company perpetrated such an act in the US our entire country and its economy would have been held to ransom and the perpetrators whisked away and swiftly tried in US Courts.

Compare that to the recent case when India had to move HEAVEN and EARTH just to get access to David Coleman Headley for questioning who covertly had provided logistical and tactical support to the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.

Losing a life and being a citizen of US /Israel /European countries would reap in huge compensation to the affected families and almost succeed in brow beating the suspect Country behind the act to abject penury.

In contrast on July 16^th 2012 the US Navy fired indiscriminately and killed an Indian fisherman in Dubai near Jebel Ali port, under the pretext of MISTAKEN IDENTITY. Obviously we being a soft state a token apology from the perpetrator of the crime was accepted without a murmur.

In April 2001 16 Border Security Force personnel were brutally ambushed and killed near Meghalaya border by the Bangladesh Rifles and the dead bodies were tied to bamboo poles and paraded in the Villages.

A ‘’STRONG ‘’ Protest was lodged with the Bangladesh High Commission as per the standard norm by our Govt. which under stably was overlooked by the Bangladeshi officials. The case is still being pursued at an official level between the diplomats at a leisurely pace. Only the families of those killed would know and experience the pain, anguish and humiliation.

Time and again we had to go through this humiliation because of the persona of a soft state or perhaps a failed state??    

 

Freedom @ Midnight

The glamour and dazzle of the night life in the western Countries as often seen in films, certain documentaries and life style magazines takes our breath away and transports us there mentally albeit, for a few moments.

We try to get succor however mild it may seem from their standard of living, the well arched roads, the clean and green environment which is a distant mirage for most of us, to ever think of achieving it, in our lifetimes.

Post the 1990’s liberalization outsourcing and the IT boom paved a certain section of the elite to get the hang of the comfort and luxury enjoyed by the westerners. The entertainment industry, the hotel industry, the tourism industry got a boost when people started spending their surplus income in quest for leisure.

The contradiction starts right here.

The problem associated with uncontrolled consumption of liquor is the same in every part of the world.

However with a stringent law in place coupled with a sensible mind has kept the so called workaholics or (alcoholics which ever phrase suits them) and their resulting antics within bearable limits in the western world. We are in a infant stage and perhaps do not know how to express and digest success, money and fame coming our way. Enjoying and Partying is good TILL it doesn’t become a nuisance value to others. The revelers should respect peace, tranquility and privacy of others.

In this part of the world, we have had enough incidents of this car(efree) revelers who have maimed, killed and ruined the lives of innocent pedestrians by drunken driving at the oddest hour of the night. Time and again we have witnessed the offenders going scot free on bail even before the bereaved family is through with completing the last rites.

We have celebs including film stars who have time and again blatantly violated the time- limit deadline  and indulging in revelry and blaring music often going into the wee hours of the morning. Their immediate neighbors reluctantly have learnt to adjust to this obscene behaviour and rather be a mum spectator fully aware, that their complaints won’t be entertained or registered.

Many new age and tech savvy youngsters have repeatedly evaded Police by regrouping on social networking sites and organizing rave parties. Countless number of innocent and gullible youth have fallen prey to this menace of drugs and our impotent law has been incompetent enough, to catch the miscreants who resort to newer technologies.

There was this sudden crave for hookah parlors (where pots filled with a deadly concoction of tobacco/steam and chemical laden essence is provided to customers -mostly teenagers and college students) to inhale and innumerable joints sprung up under spurious names in posh residential localities to cash in the business.

On getting specific information and leads, police raided such joints/hotels and people were caught red- handed indulging in all sorts of immoral activities. The people caught were so adamant that they refused to cow down and vowed to fight (for their legitimate and democratic rights????)

The Asst. Comm. of Police, Vasant Dhoble and his team has launched a relentless battle to end this tomfoolery with the result that the elite, upped the ante against him by spreading baseless charges.

Vasant Dhoble is under the media scanner for being a ‘fun spoiler’ for the upper class elite who indulge in letting their hair down and who morally believe that their democratic rights are infringed upon every time a joint was raided for violating, breaching and flouting rules.

No wonder many worried Parents stood by him in this crucial hour and supported his tirade however crude it may seem.

We got token freedom from the British rule on 15^th Aug 1947.The World slept while we woke up to freedom as one learned politician preached us, from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

This Freedom achieved @ midnight has had no real meaning because of the macabre situation which we are currently undergoing .It seems now, that we are sleeping over mindless issues while the world has moved on, lights years away.

 There is this Khap Panchayat existing in our Country where mature adults have to face their ire if they marry within the same clan or Khap. Innocent youngsters have been brutally killed by their own kith and kin for defying the diktat of the archaic law laid down in some 14^th Century.

No action has been taken against the murderers and this Practice has not dimmed in view of the administration’s light hearted efforts.

The ancient devadasi system (though OFFICIALLY banned in 1982) is still prevalent in the border districts of the adjoining states of Maharashtra and Karnataka and no one has dared to try and abolish this age old practice where young girls, just about reaching puberty have been abused by priests and devotees alike in the name of Culture and tradition and pushed into the prostitution racket.

30% of the total food production is wasted due to lack of warehousing and adequate storage facility. Approximately the same percentile of the population, go hungry to sleep every day. Freedom will be achieved when they get freed from the tantalizing hunger pangs.

Freedom will be achieved when we will be freed from the evil shackles of Corruption which has prevented our country from progressing for the past 6 decades.

Freedom will be achieved when scores of villages in remotest part of the country will get electricity and clean drinking water.

Holding placards, adoring a well- dressed attire (Armani , JJ Valaya  and versace ) and clamoring to remove a Cop who is merely doing his duty and trying to restore sense and sanity amongst the spoilt brats who are used to raising a mindless din over needles issues and caring a hoot for the law, reeks of arrogance, indifferent and callous attitude of these supposedly new age czars.