Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th of September has indeed been lucky for the nation and its constituents. In Modi, the nation got a new ray of hope in the otherwise hopeless scenario that we find ourselves engulfed in. The enthusiasm of the constituents over Modi got a major fillip by the rare court verdict that that satiated the collective conscience of the country. The perpetrators of the heinous crime on the 16^th of December have been paid back in the same coin and for once, justice was not merely seen to be done it was actually delivered. Yet the mere fact that the juvenile who was the worst of the lot has got away lightly should lead the society to introspect whether someone fit to rape and murder be treated with kid gloves. Is it not a travesty of justice?

Perhaps the nadir had been reached, both in governance as well as social values and the now the road is only up, uphill I must say and moving forward therefore would indeed necessitate a resolve much more firm than what the nation has witnessed in its history. It appears that the second war of independence has just begun, and this time it is not freedom from foreign rule, but freedom from mal-governance, rampant corruption and a erosion of ethical and moral values. It is indeed time that we as a nation realize that true freedom and development do not come cheap and the price would have to be paid even sixty six years after the tryst with destiny.

A new era of nation building appears to have dawned on this land that was once regarded as the noblest and richest territory in the world. That is what gives a rare significance to Friday the 13^th of September 2013.

Many of us are shocked and angry at the clamor of a few misguided souls lamenting at the award of death penalty to the gang of four, the gang that achieved the rare distinction of carrying out the most heinous crime possible on a human being. That these misguided souls would have been singing a different tune had their own daughter undergone a fate similar to Nirbhaya is also true. While the hanging would indeed act as a deterrent to many rapists lurking in dark corners and allays, its impact would be many times more if it is carried out in full public view in the Ramlila maidan. The ground that every year witnesses the mythical victory of good over evil would indeed rejoice over the real elimination of evil from the society. 

Evil needs to be crushed with an iron hand and not given an opportunity to rise again. Ramayana and Mahabharata, the two holiest epics of the hindu religion have shown the way that evil needs to be crushed for the good of the society. This judgement therefore gives solace to aggrieved hearts and there were millions of them after the 16^th December incident. 

Friday the 13th would indeed have a new connotation from now on!