The writer is working as a senior DSP in Punjab Police and has done Masters in Police administration as well as Masters in Psychology. Apart from his professional police duties, he undertakes social work as well as writes for various newspapers and magazines in India to spread information and awareness amongst the masses about the current issues. He has also authored a book, “NEW INDIA
THE REALITY RELOADED”.
Over the past few days in India, the newspapers headlines
have been screaming loud; TV newsroom anchors have been shouting with
melodramatic effects and an atmosphere of intense discussions has gripped the
old and the young alike. An air of some sort of celebration is being tried to
be injected into the blood of Indian mainstream society to make them believe
that after 34 years of painful wait, the perpetrators of 1984 Sikh riots have
been finally taken to task by the law in India and now, sufficient punishment
is being meted out to these devils in flesh and blood. Well, is it seriously
such a rosy picture to be painted and asked to be digested; afterall, the
victims of 1984 communal riots have lost almost everything in their lives in
order to fight and survive in this legal battle of justice. What sort of
ironical justice is this which comes after an ordeal of 34 years. Infact, it is
a blind travesty of justice and painful mockery of the victims emotions that they
were forced to relive these torturous moments of heart-rending memory all
through these 34 years of burning hell. The newspaper clippings showed tears
dripping from the hollow eyes of Jagdish Kaur and Nirpreet Kaur, the relatives
of the 1984 riot victims. These tears of suppressed helplessness stood cruel
testimony to the endless wait and life-threats they had to undergo in order to
see the light of this day when Sajjan Kumar was pronounced guilty by the Court.
A lot has already been written and said over the 1984 Sikh carnage that had
massacred the soul and psyche of India. The victims still recount the dreadful
tales of horror with fear, dismay and feelings of dark anguish.
One begs to ask the question that have we learnt any lessons or not in these 34
years? India normally takes pride to be addressed as a society with strong
credentials of multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingual
characteristics with a powerful belief in the adage, ‘Unity in Diversity’. Are
not we a part of hypocritical society where we run amok in the name of religion
and mob mentality. Also, another question which cries for immediate attention
is that can India’s social fabric of unity in diversity survive for long in
such hostile circumstances wherein an atmosphere of intolerance and religious
polarization has got created and anybody, even well-acclaimed actors like
Naseerudin Shah are dealt with iron hands by mobs on social media when the just
simply express anxiety and concern about their children’s safety.
It is not only the 1984 ghastly pogrom that comes to mind but also various
other instances wherein the communal clashes had ripped off our pseudo-unity
of nationhood and exposed the harsh
realities of Indian society. Every time the society is torn apart by
radicalization and religious extremism, the system of administering justice
goes dead or paralyzed and gets resuscitated only when sizeable damage and
destruction has already been committed by the goons who vandalize properties,
kill people and rape women in the garb of indulging in mass riots. Justice and Rule of Law, it seems, are the
first casualty in India whenever these are highly needed in excruciating
circumstances, especially in cases of communal riots, group clashes and mob
vigilantism.
It pains the heart that justice is not only delayed but also denied to the
victims in cases of communal riots. Whether it is Hashimpura (1987), Bhagalpur
(1989), Mumbai riots (1993), post-Godhra Gujarat riots (2002), all these cases
have one thing in common- an inordinate delay in trial and lackadaisical action
by the authorities concerned. It took a
long gap of 18 years to take the case of Bhagalpur killings to its logical
conclusion; similarly, the recommendations of BN Srikrishna Commission report
on the 1993 Mumbai riots, are still yet to be implemented. Innumerable
fact-finding commissions of inquiry are invariably set-up after every communal
riot takes place in India and then, the perpetrators are provided political
support or religious backing, the witnesses are killed and the relatives of the
victims are either offered monetary inducements or threatened with dire
consequences to withdraw their cases and ordered to shut up their mouths, eyes
and ears forever.
Such kind of inappropriate delays in dispensing justice is fatal in itself to
the very idea of providing an impartial and unbiased justice. This is because
many witnesses might die during such a long process of ‘wait, watch and pray’
and even the incriminating evidence gets lost which plays a crucial role in
securing convictions for the prosecution. In fact, one another aspect of such
inordinately delayed criminal trials is that it leads to overcrowding of Indian
jails where more than 60 per cent of the inmates are undertrial prisoners.
Thus, it can be said that even the right of the accused to fair trial also gets
wholly denied in the process.
It has also been seen that it is not only the snail-pace of judiciary that is
responsible for delaying the justice delivery mechanism, but also the police
and administration which needs to be indicted for its lapse of duty. It is high
time that the police reforms are implemented in India, otherwise, the police
machinery would continue to be misused and manipulated as a lethal weapon of
oppression by the people’s elected representatives for giving political color
and vent to their own vested nefarious agendas that actually never goes beyond
securing, rather stealing power in our rudimentary vote-based democracy. Ask
any survivors or the relatives of the victims of 1984 communal riots, they
would tell you in their choked voices of emotional deadpan expressions that how
the police in Delhi had thrown in the gauntlet of responsibility and blatantly
refused to help them out in the face of the ire of politically motivated mobs
burning the Sikhs and their properties without any remorse or resentment. Now,
fast forward it to the recent Jat agitation violence in Haryana or Bulandshahr
episode of cow vigilantism, the situation seems to have not changed as far as
the police action and role is concerned. How can the police shun its
responsibility to protect the citizens at a time when it is most needed by
them? Why are the police officers in these cases not held accountable and
subjected to dismissal from their jobs after their lapse of duty is proven
through departmental or court monitored enquiries. Is everything an eye-wash in
our Indian society and is it perceived to be written in the destiny of the
poor, weak and minorities in India to suffer and perish in the agony of
communal riots every now and then?
It is ultra-important that any case of communal riot must be thoroughly and
speedily investigated in a time-bound manner by a Special Investigation Team
(SIT) as this would rule out any possibilities of bias and manipulation on the
part of the local police which is believed or seen to be subservient to the whims
and fancies of the local politicians or the government machinery in power.
Also, such cases must be tried by a Fast Track Court (FTC) and the trial in
riot cases must be mandatorily conducted on a day-to-day basis. We must realize
that the writing on the wall is getting clear with every passing day- if India
fails to protect its minorities and misses the mark to provide speedy justice
to the victims of any communal riot, it will not be long before that the
country would get balkanized and torn into innumerable factions, each grudging
a hatred, venom and animosity towards the other. Let the politics take a back
seat and we understand that collective action is the need of the hour to
rectify the bedlam of horror of yesteryears bloodshed. It is time to correct
the rot and set the system in order. India must take preventive and curative
steps; we cannot afford anymore 1984 riots. Afterall, the scars are still fresh,
the emotional pain has refused to subside and wounds have not healed till now.
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