Still a long way to the gallows!

The decision of the Delhi High Court upholding the death sentence imposed by the lower court against the convicts of the infamous Nirbhaya rape and murder case of December 2012 was on expected lines. After all the four butchers deserve no mercy and if at all there was any punishment higher than the death penalty it would have also met the cause. Yet there is still a long way to the gallows, an appeal in the apex court followed by a mercy petition to the President is apparently on the cards. Absolutely legal delaying tactics, yet I am convinced that ultimately the perpetrators of the heinous crime would indeed pay back by hanging.

Despite the huge national outcry that followed the ghastly crime and the awarding of the death penalty, rape is not yet off from the daily headlines. Perhaps the reality that the wheels of justice indeed grind slowly in this nation of ours gives enough hope and encouragement to criminals of all hues and shades to carry on with their activities unabated. After all justice is yet to be finally dispensed to the murderers of an ex prime minister of the country and it often appears that perhaps by a quirk of fate they may even escape the noose that they so rightfully deserve.

And therefore crime continues unabated. The retribution for the crime is available only through the judicial system of the country that is definitely fair yet agonizingly slow. And that leads a common citizen to wonder, often at times when he feels threatened, that it may indeed be better for the nation to follow the punishment systems of the middle-east or a developed and almost crime free nation like Singapore where swift and deterrent punishment has almost eliminated crime and ensured adherence to rules.   

And justice delayed is actually justice denied. Even within the bureaucratic machinery punishments for obvious and glaring cases of misconduct as well as malafide take years to settle. Perhaps it is a case of those who can make a change being beyond the system and hence never being able to really appreciate the need for introducing systems that are the need of the times. 

Misplaced compassion is also often a reason. Even the greatest of our religious books, the Gita does not condone misplaced compassion on the underserving. Arjuna who is moved by a bout of compassion when he witnesses his own men poised to fight one another on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, is counselled by the lord to do his duty and not be moved by misplaced compassion.  

“Chalta hai” typically defines our national attitude. Concern only for the self without realizing that our welfare lies only in the welfare of the society, is perhaps the bane of our social system. Sadly confining oneself within the general rules of the society is regarded as a sign of a person who has not really arrived, in total variance with the conduct one witnesses in developed societies. It is indeed sad and a sign of backwardness of our social structure that social hierarchy invariably plays a vital  role in interactions, whether it is between a traffic constable and a bureaucrat in a white ambassador or a man on a bicycle and one in a car.

“Rules are for Fools” and “Might is right” are two proverbs that I came across right at the beginning of my career almost thirty four years ago.  And what a fit they have been. Rules and processes are discarded or applied on a case to case basis to favor or disfavor. It is not like the developed world where yardsticks remain the same irrespective of the power or wealth at the disposal of the individual under consideration and the judicial systems dispense justice that is swift and deterrent. 

Perhaps it is all about being a developed nation or being one of the developing ones. Yet the transition would only happen if we move forward as there is absolutely no premium on standing still. 

Taste of own medicine

My friend Vikas Arya has hit the nail right on the head when he says that the officer clan of the railways, has started getting a taste of its own medicine through the recent suspensions of faultless officers. His statement has opened up a new line of thought, hitherto unexplored.

It is indeed true that the officer clan of the railways never batted an eyelid in imposing indiscriminate suspensions and punishments on the front line staff, without caring a fig about whether the guy is really responsible or not for the act of high treason that the guy is being charged with. What has however emerged as a serious concern is that the bar has been moved upwards and officer class has also started getting a taste of the medicine that they regularly prescribed to the downtrodden. I find it ironic.

The fact remains that the railways with over fourteen hundred thousand employees has lost its HR focus totally and absolutely. The concern for the “aam railway man” has almost evaporated in the last few decades. It amazes me that in my over three decades of service, I have not been summoned to attend even one meeting that had the welfare of the staff at its core. Is it not sad that we discuss budgets, operations, materials and projects and even welfare of the super bosses, but never, repeat never the welfare of the staff.

Leave alone welfare, the system presided over by the railway bureaucrats leaves no stone unturned in exploiting the staff to the hilt. Classic instances of the same are some very glaring exploitation cases of irregularly utilized railway staff at residences of very senior railway officers who go even to the extent of physical assaults and extracting money from the hapless employees.

And I am amazed at the extent of charge sheets being issued, aghast at the trampling of self esteems and sad at the overall environment that promotes injustice and tends to deprive basic human dignity to those below by those above.

And the management continues to think that the problems plaguing railways lie elsewhere. How foolish and how sad!