{"id":3966,"date":"2015-04-02T01:06:27","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T19:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/?p=3966"},"modified":"2015-04-02T01:06:27","modified_gmt":"2015-04-01T19:36:27","slug":"when-will-i-take-the-law-into-my-own-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2015\/politics\/when-will-i-take-the-law-into-my-own-hands.html\/","title":{"rendered":"When Will I Take The Law into my Own Hands?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The lynching of a man accused of rape in Nagaland, raised questions about\u00a0mob justice – and in light of subsequent revelations<\/a>, its dangers. Like everyone, I agree that due process must be followed, and is a cornerstone of our Constitution. I hold no truck with those encouraging “encounter killings” by the police, and neither do I support AFSPA – a law allowing for the indefinite revocation of civil liberties in a huge area.<\/p>\n

But what happens when the law fails to do its job? When the police refuse to file an FIR? If the case drags on for years without any sign of it ending? These are all cases where the law fails us. And it’s not an honest failure – it’s not as if there’s insufficient evidence. The government’s failure to deliver justice is deliberate…sometimes even malicious.<\/p>\n

In such a situation, I would have no moral qualms about taking the law into my own hands. For the simple reason that the state broke its contract. As a good citizen I obey the laws, I pay my taxes. In return, the government protects my fundamental rights, and provides me with a justice system to punish those who wrong me. When the police, the government, or the courts don’t hold up their end of the bargain, I will have no qualms about meting out justice myself.<\/p>\n

There are countless cases in the news where the police refuse to even register an FIR<\/a>. As citizens, what are we supposed to do in a situation like this? Let’s say as a victim, I’ve even complained to the higher ups\u00a0and still nothing happens? What if I’m met with resistance at each and every step?<\/p>\n

I’ll go one further. A deliberate miscarriage of justice occurs each and every time a court case languishes for years with no end in sight. The state is duty bound as part of its deal with me to complete a trial within a reasonable amount of time. But when the system is so badly broken that adjournment after adjournment keeps getting in the way, when the government refuses to drastically increase the capacity of judges, when the police\/population ratio is one of the poorest in the world, how can the state claim that it’s doing its job of keeping up its end of the bargain?<\/p>\n

There are two reasons for why people don’t commit crimes. The first is the mere letter of the law – necessary as it is. The other is that people know<\/em> that some things are wrong. I choose not to be a murderer not because it’s illegal, but because I don’t want<\/em> to do it. My conscience doesn’t allow me. I can have the luxury of conscience because it’s the state’s job to carry out justice, not mine.<\/p>\n

But when the state deliberately fails, then why am I under any obligation to hold up my end of the bargain? If I am wronged and I see that the government is not doing what it’s supposed to do, I don’t think I will have any moral qualms about taking the law into my own hands.<\/p>\n

But this doesn’t mean I target people who had nothing to do with hurting me in the first place. I have no sympathy for naxalites<\/a>\u00a0who hurt innocent\u00a0citizens. I also abhor “mob justice” like what happened in Nagaland. My stand is very narrowly limited to me personally taking action against\u00a0a specific person, and\u00a0only when the law\u00a0deliberately<\/em>\u00a0fails to uphold its end of the bargain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the state deliberately fails to deliver justice to me, I will have no qualms about taking the law into my own hands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-rights-and-freedoms"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen Will I Take The Law into my Own Hands?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When the state deliberately fails to deliver justice to me, I will have no qualms about taking the law into my own hands.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2015\/politics\/when-will-i-take-the-law-into-my-own-hands.html\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Will I Take The Law into my Own Hands?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When the state deliberately fails to deliver justice to me, I will have no qualms about taking the law into my own hands.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2015\/politics\/when-will-i-take-the-law-into-my-own-hands.html\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Expressions - 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