Veritable Veracity
Greetings readers! We honestly don’t know where to start. The Republic of India has made its Judiciary look like a joke, and it hurts to say this as young citizens. Many things are going on, and several rhetorical questions are popping up in our minds. Let us put them across, one by one. Read on.
To begin with, we’ll put forward a few instances. In Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, a 17-year-old girl was raped and murdered in 2017. The accused was declared guilty and put behind bars in 2019. In Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, a 16-year-old girl was raped and murdered in 2017. The accused was declared guilty and put behind bars in 2021. The rape of an 8-month-old baby in Delhi, 2018 shook the nation.
Sorry, did we make you uncomfortable? Almost everyone shunts such news for their own reasons. However, we cannot sugarcoat the truth anymore. It is going to taste bitter.
Recently, in 2021, the upholders of Indian Law made a statement that took the entire country by astonishment. The Supreme Court and the High court stated, in two different incidents, that the rapists would be free to go if they agreed to marry the survivors. This opinion of the Justices seems pretty irrational to us. We think one would never let a rapist go if they agreed to marry the survivor, and especially not drop charges against them without any form of rehabilitation. It’s no surprise that the rapist murdered the poor girl after marriage just to get revenge.
Now, why do we think the Judiciary is becoming a joke? Why do we think that the Judiciary is not far off from a circus? And how did we reach here? That is because we feel the system is outdated for the present era. We presume that the upholders of Law are going wrong somewhere. India has the world’s longest written constitution, and sure, it was written a long time ago and some elements definitely need a refresh, but the constitution hasn’t made itself rigid and amendments are definitely possible. However, we haven’t filled up our seats with a healthy mix of deserving candidates, leaving amendments just a possibility, but not a probability. One of the problems is corruption. No matter what our constitution says, people pull strings to dodge the consequences of their actions in real life. This is the hard truth.
Why do they say, “justice delayed is justice denied” when mostly justice is always delayed? Why do they say, “justice is blind” when we know that justice should have the most powerful eyes? Why do they say “everyone is equal in the eyes of law” when the law goes silent for someone influential? Why? Just why?
What about loopholes in the law? Why do they go unnoticed? At the time of the Nirbhaya rape, the one accused was a minor, however, during the first hearing, he was a legal major. He was still sent to a juvenile court. If he was able to commit such a crime when he was almost an adult, why was he treated like a child? Rape is a crime, no matter who does it or how it’s done. The judiciary should enforce strict laws and actually enforce them properly.
You must be wondering whether we are against the Law. No, we trust the Judiciary. Let us clarify that we would be happy if there were a few amendments to the Law. The Constitution is a beautiful book, and of course, there are people who uphold the Law and are truly working to make the world a better place. We appreciate and respect all of you.
Also, this brings us to our education system. Inculcation of sex education, basic human rights, and basic law as topics in fundamental education would be a huge leap forward. Sending the girls to a secluded room where menstrual taboos are broken is a common practice in schools. If the boys knew about the menstrual struggles of girls, would it be taboo anymore? So what if they knew? Who is at a loss if they knew? No one!
There is a thin line called consent, and once we go past that line, it’s termed rape. This is where just general awareness comes into extreme importance. Also, we need to eliminate the taboo that has stricken us and make our kids comfortable with talking about stuff like this. Start talking to your kids about sensitive stuff, break the barrier of taboo towards sex, having crushes, metamorphosis, mood swings, menstruation, anorexia nervosa, birth control, etc.
Educate, spread awareness, respect fellow living beings, love all, hate none.
Thank you for the patient read, it’s really hard to talk about such matters, especially because of society, but hopefully, this is the first step in spreading awareness and making these problems a thing of the past. It’s Shreya and Ali signing off until next time.
