Curse of India — its lawlessness

Vijay Ivaturi
Aug 25, 2017 · 3 min read

The past 2 weeks have been very worrying ones for India. Hospital tragedy, train accidents and riots. Ok, this is neither a political commentary not a rant against the current government. We have been in this state of lawlessness for nearly 70 years. There is peace by and large. Quoting from one of the Hollywood movies — Peace is not absence of conflict but presence of justice. Unfortunately, even after 70 years of being an independent nation, we struggle to ensure justice. We struggle to maintain the rule of law in this great nation.

Where did we go wrong? I believe it is our inability to acknowledge the current state of affairs which is pushing us further into a deep abyss. Every time a tragic incident happens, there will some talk, more talk and it simply dies down. Lawlessness has become so common that everyone from the poorest/weakest section of the society to the most prominent people of this country break laws.

Want our share of water, want our share of job reservation, want our religious beliefs to be held supreme, want a separate state, want a separate district, want a separate railway division — reasons could be any — end result always is violence and lawlessness. India’s lawlessness can be explained in below broad categories.

  • Casual offenders — these are the biggest group. Almost the entire nation falls in this category. People do not have any sense of accountability, traffic rules, cleanliness, basic hygiene, low level corruption. Doing a really sloppy work (construction, agriculture, manufacturing etc) is simply the norm. These are the soft lawbreakers and are the most dominant part of our society. Horrible state of our public healthcare, education, agriculture and infrastructure sectors is a direct result of this.
  • Conspirators — these are the folks who indulge in corruption and acts of violence in a planned manner. They often take refuge under politics, religion, region and caste based umbrellas to execute their nefarious actions. Mob violence and medium to high level corruption are their trademark contribution to lawlessness in this country.
  • Organized groups — naxalites, maoists, terrorists and other violent groups fall in this category. They are heavily armed, have a healthy financial and social support and can go to any extent to inflict collateral damage to the nation.

While the issues mentioned are there for everyone to see, there is no real effort to curb any of the problems. How can these issues be addressed? Well, there are ways to address them.

  1. Spend 2 minutes on ANY road India and you will get the complete picture of how lawless this country is. First thing we have to do is instill a fear and respect for the law. Our roads and the way people drive on them needs immediate improvement. We are currently a Third World country and deservedly so. Imagine this — if our police and government cannot control people even of roads during normal days, how can we expect them to protect us during major events like terror attacks or mob violence?
  2. Healthcare, education and agriculture are the most neglected areas. We should target to be in a state where EVERY Indian parent is willing to put their child in a Government school, EVERY Indian patient is willing to get admitted to a Government (not due to compulsion, but by choice)
  3. A significant revamp and law enforcement and judicial system is required. This is one area, which if revolutionized will drive a major change in the country. All corruption, violence and injustices can be handled effectively only if these two institutions are strengthened.

As we today watch the blatant display of illegal power and mob violence, it should make us all ashamed of how this country has shaped up in past 70 years. Yes, we made progress in some areas. But without justice and effective law enforcement, our progress is getting undermined each and every minute.

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Vijay Ivaturi

Written by

Parent, techie, history buff

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