Needed, sustained outrage against injustice

P C Vinoj Kumar

14-July-2011

Vol 0 | Issue 1

The Weekend Leader shares the anger of millions of Indians against the perpetrators of the Mumbai triple blasts.

But this anger is not enough. India needs sustained outrage against injustice.

Do we need a series of blasts and a media inspired outrage to stir a nation’s conscience? Should our wrath be reserved only against the perpetrators of terror attacks? And importantly why should the public fury subside in a matter of few days or weeks?

We, as a nation, need to sharpen our conscience and cultivate a better sense of justice.

Justice is not the prerogative of victims of terror attacks alone.

Justice has to be readily available to every citizen in this country; to the rich and the poor, to the tribal and the dalit, to the Muslim and the Hindu, and to urbanites and villagers.

The yardstick of justice has to be the same for everyone.

In India, more often, justice is both delayed and denied. And we, the people, are too busy with our daily grind to sit back and analyse what’s wrong with our justice system.

Daily, rights of people are being trampled upon by the very Institutions that are meant to protect them.

Tribals are being forced out of their forests and their land grabbed by mining companies. The tribals are coming out on the streets and protesting, but still they do not get justice.

Have we responded to the cries of the Tamil Nadu fishermen, who are shot dead like dogs by the Sri Lankan Navy?

Do we know that in the last twenty years over 400 fishermen who went on their boats, telling their children they will be back in the evening, never returned home?

According to an estimate (of year 2006), there are about 3 lakh undertrials in Indian prisons, many of whom had spent several years in prison without even being convicted.

Trials go on endlessly. People have served jail terms beyond the maximum sentence prescribed for their crimes.

And since the suspects of the Mumbai blasts are believed to be some Muslim terror groups, isn’t it also relevant to ask what happened to the inquiries into the Gujarat riots that claimed the lives of hundreds of Muslims?

Who facilitated the riots? What position was he holding then? What are the charges against him? And where is he now?

The families of the riot victims too need justice.

Let there be sustained outrage against all forms of injustice.