[Reader-list] Crime and No Punishment: Malegaon Blast Accused Get a Respite

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear Rajen jee (and all)

I have been reading the book 'Development & Freedom' by Amartya Sen lately,
and have found the basic idea of the 'Capabilities Approach' and the idea of
'expansion of freedoms and rights' very nice and important in the context of
development. And in this context, comparing with this approach, the RSS is
an organization which, along with its sister organizations, seems to be
working against this very idea.

Sen clearly articulates his position that freedoms and rights are very
important for individuals not only because they have an intrinsic value (in
terms of giving them right to political and social participation and
engagement), but also because they have an instrumental value (in terms of
seeking better conditions for themselves). For example, the freedom of
speech can help a tribal or a destitute to undertake political participation
or present his views on a social forum (which may or may not solve the
problem of the individual concerned, but at least is a right in itself). At
the same time, such a freedom can also play an important role in solving the
problem itself, particularly if there are many people who face a similar
condition and such an action builds public pressure on the authorities.

In this context, the Sangh Parivar must be castigated for having forced the
minorities into a 'threat complex' of a constant basis, by constantly
attacking their rights and freedoms. I had once earlier stated that an
important official of the RSS had once stated that 'the minorities must
depend on the goodwill of the majority community'. This is a totally
despicable statement, for at once not only does it disregard the rights
provided to the minorities by the Indian Constitution, but it also attacks
other rights and freedoms which a state is morally bound to provide to each
and every individual (like human rights, right to life, right to water and
so on).

In particular, the kind of attacks witnessed in Kandhamal, post-Godhra,
Karnataka or even after the Babri Masjid demolition, whether it be by
Muslims or by the Hindus, are of such nature too. And in particular, the
Sangh Parivar must be condemned for having toyed around with the rights and
freedoms of individuals, for its own political gains, either in form of
electoral victories (Gujarat 2002) or to form a loyal constituency within
the state.

Such kinds of actions have many disastrous effects, some of which I
summarize as follows:

1) These riots or attacks lead to loss of lives. What is particularly
distressing about such riots or attacks is the loss of lives, most of whom
are poor or middle class people at best. The poor and the lower middle
class, in general, are not in a position of substantial economic security,
so that during such 'troubled' times, they can avoid the idea of going to
work or for some other purpose. They have to go out and go to work, or open
their shops, or undertake their activities of occupation/employment, mainly
because if they don't do so, they would not be able to earn enough to
provide for their families.

And the economic insecurity of the innocents is used by the propagandists
and others who like to play politics on dead bodies, to kill them. And this
is something the poor have to face as a risk, in order to overcome their
economic insecurity.

2) When women are raped, when shops are looted and burnt, when men and women
are killed, then it's an attack on the right to life of the individuals,
most of whom may not have any connections to the 'cause' for which such
violence is perpetrated and later justified by our politicians (like Modi
using the Newton's Third Law). And this is an attack on the human rights of
the people who don't deserve to have suffered their fate, for no fault of
theirs. Most importantly, even if they may have been responsible for Godhra
(of which the probability is as much as that of sun rising from the west),
this does not mean that we as a society should go down to the level of
animals, of torture and of dogs in particular. It's our responsibility to
ensure that the system works in a proper way to decide upon the case, work
in a fair and transparent manner, based upon fair laws (which again don't
infringe upon the justified rights of individuals), and punish those who
work against the freedoms of others to exist (but with a view that they are
people who can or may potentially improve later in future, or at least
should provide them a chance to do so).

3) The riots and the partisan functioning of the police and state
administration, ostensibly to protect the perpetrators and violators of law
and order, are a direct attack on the right to justice of the victims. The
police and district administration, in many cases, has in the past and even
in recent incidents, failed most miserably to register cases on time, or in
a proper manner. There have been instances of clubbing of many cases in a
single FIR. In the case of Gujarat in particular, there have been instances
of police closing down cases on the premise of 'lack of evidence', which is
appalling considering the fact that it's the judiciary and not the police
which can decide if that indeed is the case.

4) The riots or attacks led in this way, also lead to a 'fear psychosis'
among the sufferers. They fear that raising their voice or speaking for
their rights may lead to further trouble, and therefore keep mum and quiet.
In many cases, especially of rape, women don't register cases not only
because nobody would marry them (another shameful facet of Indian society,
that nobody would be ready to marry a woman who has been raped, as if it was
the mistake of woman if she got raped), but also because if they do so, they
may face more damaging consequences in the long run. Partisan district,
state and police administrations colluding with political parties results in
many of the cases also being closed for 'lack of evidence', which ensures
that the minorities fear for their lives, and thereby shift to 'safer
localities', thereby resulting in the formation of ghettoes.

Such ghettoes are not only against the right to life, (which guarantees that
people can live in India anywhere as they wish, except in certain states
based on certain conditions), but also against  the basic right of human
existence to settle anywhere as they wish, which is a moral obligation on
all states, not just India. Moreover, the after-effects of such ghettoes are
not too difficult to envisage. The decrease in conversation and dialogue
between people on either side of the ghetto, the social segregation of the
people and their lifestyles, combined with the complete emotional sense of
loss (in addition to physical sense as well) is something which is a huge
cost imposed on the society, thanks to the politics of 'revenge' and
victimization, which our politicians and some of the organizations forget,
considering that they don't have to bear the costs.

5) The biggest attack is actually on the capabilities, which Sen rightfully
accepts as substantially important, for while freedoms are helpful in
allowing people to choose for themselves the kind of lives they wish to lead
or they value as important, capabilities are instrumental in allowing them
to do so practically. The riots attack these capabilities in many people.
Children who may have been able to receive proper health care and education
prior to riots, may lose their parents and thus also lose both the freedom
to be healthy and educated, as well as the capabilities to possibly have
used these for getting better job opportunities or to lead lives which they
could have valued.

Similarly, the case of raped women or single women or those people who
survived having seen the destruction around themselves as well as death of
their family members, is not very different from the children as well. More
over, those who were injured upto substantial extent, thereby being rendered
disabled or even ineffective in physical or mental capabilities, have thus
been made incapable of actually living the life as they want. (Of course,
these are subjected to restrictions and responsibilities as well, and that
must be recognized)

In all this, while many political parties have been responsible for all
these bad effects at some time or the other, in particular, the Sangh
Parivar has played a continuous role in acting against the very rights and
freedoms which could have improved the condition of the people to a large
extent. Even today, Gujarat is behind Kerala in terms of the female-male sex
ratio, female and infant mortality rates, literacy rates, and various other
indices of health and education. And this is ironic considering that Gujarat
has had a much faster economic growth than Kerala. Yet, most of this growth
has been jobless. And the only contribution of the Sangh thereby has been to
infiltrate institutions in Gujarat on a comprehensive scale, thereby
spreading their tentacles, roots and ideologies across the state, thereby
changing the very nature of political debates in that state. The result is a
'Hindutva-ization' of society, which means that even a municipality of the
Congress can be a party to the idea of destroying the mazaar of 'Wali
Gujarati' under curfew, with nobody opposing it of course.

The end result is that instead of focussing on undernourishment,
implementation of NREGA, or (comparatively) bad state of health and
education in that state, the focus in public debates is constantly on
Hindutva and victimization of Hindus, most of which, even if it occurred,
happened in the past, and certainly not the present. And this only ensures
that instead of the tribals, the poor, the downtrodden, the economically
backward getting entitlements from the state and thereby getting the freedom
to lead lives of their choice, they are forced (in the sense of having less
or no choices) to be a part of the propaganda which is increasingly playing
an important role in the subjugation of minorities  (politically, socially
and economically) as well as leading lives as per the dictums and the
customs which the Sangh values, rather than what the tribal customs or
societies may have themselves valued. Infact, the very introduction of the
idea of tribals being Hindus, is something which has been instituted by the
RSS and other such organizations, which should be as strongly condemned, as
of them being proselytized to Christianity without a genuine basis for
changing the faith (which should be based on a change of heart at least,
backed by substantial inner viewpoint).

Thus, the RSS is mostly spreading their ideology rather than improving the
capabilities of the tribals, which could have helped them to lead lives the
tribals value (not what the RSS values, the Hindutva way of life). But then,
for some people, it's very difficult to accept and digest it.

Regards

Rakesh