The Justice in the Market
“Are you a Shiv Sainik?” Lulu, my parrot, asked. He was perched on the Mango tree near my window and I was at my desk fiddling with pen and paper.
“Blah! What nonsense!!” The angry tone of my voice should have been easy to notice. But parrots are parrots! Lulu ignored it.
“Are you a Congressman then?” Lulu often confounds me. Here was a question that passes close to you like a bumper – ‘chin music’ as the Aussies call it – you do not have to do anything, it just whisks past. But it irritates you.
“Will you please stop playing these games with me, Lulu? You know pretty well that I have nothing to do with these people. What’s on your mind really, Lulu?”
“Then why are you sitting idle, looking so angry and confused?” Lulu hopped on to my shoulder and looked at me.
“Look, a newspaper carried a story recently pointing out that the accused in the 1977 Chasnala colliery accident, in which 327 workers died, have been convicted after full thirty-seven years. Bhopal gas tragedy is another story. Rama Raju of Satyam fame who was involved in a financial scam of several thousand crores rupees is convicted after six years! I am feeling outraged!”
“You feel outraged when you know that some people are getting what they do not deserve. Justice delayed……”
“Nobody values poor men’s lives like in Chasnala or Bhopal Gas cases. Nobody takes a financial scam seriously. Look at Mamta Banerjee. I suspect we Indians may have a secret respect for anybody who makes a quick buck!”
“The Rajiv Gandhi murderers are not yet hanged, in fact they may be let off the hook. The Delhi rapists in Nirbhaya case are sleeping well in Government custody. So does Subroto Roy. And now one more will join them.” Trust Lulu to spring a surprise.
“Who are you referring to?” I thought he was referring to Vijay Mallya, the wilful defaulter, whose Kingfisher has duped several employees, so I asked to confirm.
“Shiv Kumar Yadav. The rapist in Uber Case in Delhi.”
“Rape trial will be done fast. Political parties know what really matters.”
“But I am also concerned about other cases. Haven’t you heard of women who are bought and raped, the ‘famous’ Kamala Case?”
“Yes, So?”
“It is similar – Justice also can be bought and raped, as long as it is not a rape case, right?” Lulu flew away.
Vivek
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”
Very vital point you have brought out by this post. Dont know when people will realize these issue seriously. There is indeed no justice in the market, and we are quite ok with it. Very shame.