By the Editor

Mahatma Gandhi once said, hate crime but not the criminal. He might be true in his philosophy but most people are not enlightened souls. People abhor the criminal much more than the crime and some crimes are so heinous that one lifetime won’t be enough to forgive or lessen the intensity of those who commit it.

Forgiveness is a virtue but whom and when to forgive is another virtue in itself. Indian penal system is old and many of the laws haven’t changed or updated to the transitions and needs of the Indian society but those who are changed often fail in implementation. Quiet often the punishment given is not in accordance to the severity of crime. Few days ago, a six year old was sexually assaulted in a school in Bangalore, a teacher brutally beats his blind students in the name of discipline and the most common news now days, rape. Regardless if criminals committing such acts comes into limelight or not they barely get the punishment in proportion to their crime except few who catch national media attention in really bad way.

Recently, the two minors who are accused of rape and murder in Nirbhaya rape case got a stay on death sentence on grounds of them being minor. These so called kids would become adults in couple of months or may be in years but would that make them somehow mature, more responsible towards women or have a miraculous change of heart. No law or punishment can reform these people. There are people in this world whom you cannot correct or show them a righteous path. They very well know right from wrong but it’s just not in their nature to do good. The point is not to start rolling heads but at least make an example who cross all the limits of humanity.

Many of you might have observed people jumping the ticket lines at railway station, people not caring for the traffic rules or littering on public roads. This attitude of defying the law and order aggravates into serious crimes that we read about in papers and see on television. Perhaps may be this is not our fault because though our constitution makes everyone equal but referring to a famous quote of George Orwell, some of us are more equal than the others. Politicians, higher officials, business tycoons and magnates can bypass any and every law whenever they want and this mindset permeates down to the man on the street who thinks rules are for others.

Another problem is that of implementation. You can bring a new law but what if nobody wants to enforce it, we have seen it with several bills ranging from defense, anti-corruption to social justice.  The most painful aspect of this failure comes to light when politicians try to divide people on the basis of language and regionalism. More so this disregard to constitution is seen in the fight against terrorism when certain politicos instead of pushing the envelope in fight against extremism try to appease certain communities through their policies. POTA or Prevention of Terrorism Act of 2002 is one such example.

One mistake should not define a man’s life, may be that’s true but what about child molesters, rapist, traitors and other’s who commit such atrocities, what law can justify their lives meaning. Sometimes justice is about taking revenge.