Hierarchies of Justice
On Monday night September 12th, we were robbed. We live on the top floor of a three storey building in a quiet area of Andheri. All this time we had scoffed at suggestions received from all and sundry about putting grills to our windows. We wanted to breathe in the sense of freedom and safety that we thought our third floor apartment would provide. We were wrong.
That night some bare-footed bugger walked into the window of our study either from the overheard terrace or climbed up the pipes along the walls. Surprisingly all he walked away with was my laptop, with all the invaluable data and memories I had collected on in over the last two years, leaving behind another newly purchased laptop, digital camera and Discman.
The next morning on discovering the theft I lodged a police complaint. That’s when I faced the unfair treatment meted out to the submissive and the poor. The cops met the watchman who was on duty that night, and gave him two slaps before the man could even say anything. When I stopped the cops from what I thought was completely not done they snapped back at me and told me to mind my own business and let them carry out their investigation.
The watchman, a scrawny little fellow from some small little village in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh, barely literate, could rarely speak confidently. He was not even being suspected of the crime. His only fault was he was asleep on his duty, instead of being ever so watchful. But if a man does two shifts of 8 hours each, every day, only so that he can earn Rs. 1600 a month, it is but expectable that he is going to doze off while at work.
Can we call ourselves a fair democracy where the poor and the weak are always under suspicion? Does it give the cop or anyone in his position to slap someone only because he is sure that he will not have the courage to standup and question the slap? Will there come a time when the economically and socially underprivileged have as strong a voice as all of us? Well I hope so.
That night some bare-footed bugger walked into the window of our study either from the overheard terrace or climbed up the pipes along the walls. Surprisingly all he walked away with was my laptop, with all the invaluable data and memories I had collected on in over the last two years, leaving behind another newly purchased laptop, digital camera and Discman.
The next morning on discovering the theft I lodged a police complaint. That’s when I faced the unfair treatment meted out to the submissive and the poor. The cops met the watchman who was on duty that night, and gave him two slaps before the man could even say anything. When I stopped the cops from what I thought was completely not done they snapped back at me and told me to mind my own business and let them carry out their investigation.
The watchman, a scrawny little fellow from some small little village in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh, barely literate, could rarely speak confidently. He was not even being suspected of the crime. His only fault was he was asleep on his duty, instead of being ever so watchful. But if a man does two shifts of 8 hours each, every day, only so that he can earn Rs. 1600 a month, it is but expectable that he is going to doze off while at work.
Can we call ourselves a fair democracy where the poor and the weak are always under suspicion? Does it give the cop or anyone in his position to slap someone only because he is sure that he will not have the courage to standup and question the slap? Will there come a time when the economically and socially underprivileged have as strong a voice as all of us? Well I hope so.
posted by Ashok at 11:05 PM
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