Largest jungle democracy

Two young girls get arrested for making innocuous remarks in the facebook. One of them actually for liking the post made by another. Bail was granted but only for a surety of Rs.15000. In Chandigarh a policeman is killed by a neta when he tries to protect the honour of his daughter. In Punjab an ex-service man is beaten up along with his daughter who tries to protect him by the 3 policemen. In UP a very honest and courageous police officer is tortured and mercilessly killed by a neta who also happens to be a don. The same neta had got another DSP killed who dared to investigate his case. This chilling incident brought back long lost memory of killing of an ACP by Idris Mian (if I remember correctly)in Calcutta (not Kolkata then). I was perhaps in school at that time and I remember having read the whole story in the India Today. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the police officer though I am quite confident of the name of the mafia don who got him killed in filmi style. Do we have a natural inclination towards the negative? Do we subconsciously give more importance or respect to the perpetrators of the crime than the persons who fight them? Unlike movies heroes like the ACP and DSP Haque get killed and nothing happens to the villains who continue to lead a 5 star lifestyle. Yesterday another police officer was mercilessly beaten up and hospitalized by a group of netas on the premises of the assembly. The law is draconian and action is swift when common man is at the receiving end, but when it involves netas the law does everything possible to give them ample time. An enquiry is ordered so that netas can buy time to find a way out to protect one of their own. One should really admire the collaboration amongst various political parties when it comes to their benefits, privileges and protecting their own. All these incidents are actually linked and brings to mind the following dialogue from the movie "Agneepath" very well delivered by Amitabh. “Kehne ko yeh sheher hai…Sirf kehne ko..Par idhar jungle ka kanoon chalta hai maloom..Cheenti ko Bisturiya kha jaata hai..Bisturiya ko mendak..Mendak ko saanp nigal jaata hai..Nevla saanp ko maarta hai..Bhediya nevle ka khoon chus leta hai..Sher bhediye ko chaba jata hai..Idhar har taqatwar apne se kam ko maarkar jeeta hai”. When rakshaka becomes bhakshaka, jungle raj prevails. The rule seems to be if the common man gets x number of years in jail for a crime then the policeman gets 0.5x and neta gets 0x. It should actually be reversed. The rule should be more stringent for people who are abusing their power. If a common man gets x number of years for a particular crime, a policeman or any other official or professional who basically take advantage of their position should get 1.5x years and the netas who are responsible to run this country should get 2x. A doctor misbehaving with his patients should also come under 1.5x category. So let us not hold the netas responsible for all the ills in our society. Literacy is a bigger threat to this country than illiteracy. The educated class is also not less than the political class. Only difference is they don't have so much power and privileges. Can we imagine someone like Rajat Gupta going to jail in India? A good example is the proposed law for Lokpal. If the corruption charges are proved the perpetrator of the crime will get 1 year in jail but if it is not proved then the complainant will get 2 years. What can be more ridiculous than this open and preposterous travesty of justice? When the senior police officers can be mercilessly killed openly in a premeditated manner what protection can they provide to the public? Our leaders started with tacitly supporting the criminals. Then they actively nurtured them and now politicians themselves are the worst and the most dangerous of criminals. We the Indians have great respect for foreigners. How could we prove Churchill wrong? Churchill was against granting independence to India as he thought India would be ruled by scoundrels and rogues. He said "Power will go to rascals, rogues, freebooters". Lincoln who defined democracy would have commended the innovativeness of our leaders who have given a new definition to the concept of democracy. One gets confused if democracy should be defined as government by the VIPs, for the VIPs and of the VIPs or by the criminals, for the criminals and of the criminals. May be there is not much difference between the two these days. Announcement of separate funds to tackle specific law and order problem may help to score political brownie points but will not improve the situation on the ground. In any case, 80% of these ad hoc kind of funds will be looted by the leaders. If we have the intent and focus on improving the existing systems, ensure that honest, upright and courageous officials are in charge of critical roles then the system as a whole will be efficient and effective. At times one feels that people of this country also deserve these leaders. What can they expect if they sell their votes to the highest bidder? That is the genesis of corruption which has spread like an octopus over the last several decades. Leaders like Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan are not successful. Loksatta party has only one MLA and that is JP himself. He should consider himself lucky. All these discussionsand debates in the electronic media has no practical impact. Veteran and shrewd leaders are aware of that. Still they will not say so openly. They still join such debates and defend their positions knowing well that it doesn't really matter. How many people watch such programs and do their independent analysis and more importantly how many of them vote? A dialogue from the movie "Gangajal" comes to mind. " Samaaj ko police waisi hi milti hai jaisa ki samaaj khud hota hai" and netas, of course. have to be a step ahead of the police. This wonderful and beautiful country is paying a heavy price every single day for this collective stupidity. How much one misses leaders like Subhash Bose, Sardar Patel and Lalbahadur Shastri!