Swastee Ranjan on the death sentence awarded to the four rapists: There is less in fact we can do once the law of the land has spoken its verdict, and no matter how much we scream, the law of the land will not hear us. Of course, if we were backed by 24-7 media channels and at least 50,000 people in protest may be we have a chance. But since that will not happen I have only to express dissent. Over the last twenty four hours, I have read and heard all sorts of claims for supporting death penalty. A family member infact said, that ‘they should be stoned to death’. I do not support death penalty, and in every which way oppose it, but the matter before us today is not the verdict but the manner of judgement itself. Rape is a brutal crime, all rapes are brutal, no rape is not brutal, some rapes are brutal, every rape is brutal. This is the nature of things as it stands, and as an ardent admirer and a participant of feminist struggle, I cannot be happy with a judgement that pronounces death penalty because ‘this’ rape was an ‘exception’ and that ‘this’ rape, proved to disturb the social ‘norm’. All rapes in fact should and must disturb the social norm, to accept anything less, is infact making yourself available to rape. And that is the reality I inhabit, even after a ‘historic’ or a ‘benchmark’ of a judgement : I can still be raped today as I could have yesterday or a week back or in December of 2012. This is what the judiciary has set as an example. But my very learned lawyer friends have told me in no less polite terms that the ‘nature of the crime’ demanded this. Well done lower courts!’ In the scope of being a social scientist, one reads of social history as it unfolds, and one reads of great dynasties that walked ruled and conquered. The modern democratic state, is a state that is an ‘enlightened’ state, and it contains within its fold, the ability to guarantee to every human being liberty, equality, of thoughts and actions. It is the only state, in which justice can be secured through democratic institutions, through the law giving constitution. The constitution of this democracy is a sacred weapon. Law is the means through which this constitution can be put in place and perhaps move towards a more celebratory equal society where liberty is a prioritised value. Justice is served by following the law, which one hopes is equal for all. The judgement is a far cry from equality. It is a democratic justice, and a democratic majoritarian justice. It is a vengeful justice, in which the law services the constitution by giving this ‘particular’ woman a right of life, thereby denying it to all others. The society demands punitive action, read the judgement somewhat. Where the blindfold of the justice – the judgement itself is is swayed by the society. Who is the society? Is the society truly democratic and can govern itself, and can it ensure that this ‘justice’ is in fact the ‘best’? If this is the society, that rejoices in the happiness of the judgement : Join hands for every rape that occurs in this country, no matter the status of brutality, if the society demands ‘bite marks’, then the bite marks will be shown, if the society demands, signs of ‘ravishments’, then the society will get it: But please demand justice for all, not for one. And when you do, and when you kill each one of those ‘beasts’, please give me my gun : I will shoot even before you rescue me. And then we will have a peaceful society. Or maybe Not. We all go to the law; because we understand that the society can be biased and ill informed about its choices. We address the constitution as if it were to apply to all of us, we believe in the constitution because we admire the transformative capacity of the book. As a woman, the response that I was looking for was not in the nature of the death penalty. I was looking for a judgement that could have probably given hope to thousands of women, who have suffered, but cannot testify their version of things as brutal and as ‘grotesque’ or cannot verify that they were in a posh suburb of modern India. These women also deserve justice. Justice, cannot be an apple for one, and an orange for another, and death definitely is not the solution. The sheer amount of bloodshed if this were even remotely true would have devastating consequences. Justice was served to the people who turned up at India gate, to those who believed that women were sisters and daughters and mothers, not human beings. Justice was served to the able media commentators, who had TRPS like a rocket. Justice was served to the politicians who called said she was nothing but a ‘laash’. I stand humiliated by this measure of justice. In the various disciplinary debates that we can have, the celebration of the lower courts judgement as historical and commendable, I stand to critique the system, I need to critique the system. The system does not stand in moments, but everywhere and in every encounter. It does not stand in protest and resistance alone, but even in times of normality. Criticism alone can help in understanding any means of radical transformation that the society can and must hope for. I never thought of myself as a radical, and I don’t endorse that there should be no law, but as a woman, I am even more afraid than I was yesterday: I will have to be raped in exceptional circumstances, and when I do, I will have to die.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 17:58:41 +0000
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