On Instant Justice: Part II

Chauri Chaura & Bose

Like many people, I first learned about the Chauri Chaura incident in my school. 

On February 5, a mob led by Congress Volunteers in the Chauri Chaura district of Gorakhpur burned down the police station, leading to the death of twenty-two policemen.

Gandhi called off the non-cooperation movement following it. 

He justified it by saying:

I personally cannot be a part of the movement half violent and half non-violent, even though it may result in the attainment of the so-called Swaraj. 

Bose argued that calling off the movement just when public enthusiasm was reaching the boiling point was "nothing short of a national calamity". 

It was a national calamity - I agreed when I read about it then.

I wonder if my stance is the same today.

Humans are not always just and rational. We succumb to our biases and impulses, more often than not. We bow to social pressure and rewards when we are too weak to do the right thing. 

Sharon Carter said in Captain America: Civil War,

When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world -- "No, YOU move.”  - But truth be told, we are not always brave enough to do this. And hence, the encounters.

Despite the slow pace of our judicial system, we need it because it tries to reduce, if not eliminate, the biases and flaws of our human nature. It provides objectivity and attempts to give every citizen, even ones who clearly have committed hellacious crimes, a platform to tell their part. 

The stories of such encounters, assassinations, and 'revolutions' are glorified in numerous movies.

But the fact of the matter is, that we don’t need police officers like Singham or Simmba to encounter the accused.

You can argue that killing those culprits was the right thing. Our judicial system is lousy, unnecessarily complex, and rigged with way too many loopholes. They would have been allowed to live for years. They would have been in jail. But still alive. How fair is that? How fair is it for the woman they murdered? For her family? For the nation?

But encounters aren't the solution. It isn't even the obvious one. It's just a good enough answer for hyping up the news, creating a favourable opinion for the ruling government there, for the police officers to be labelled as Hero Cops, and good confidence-boosting entertainment for us, the general public. 

Giving us reasons to be hopeful. For a better future.

We need a stronger law and judicial system. That's what we need. But that's going to take time. And effort. Spread over multiple years.

But do we have the patience for that?

We need lawyers like Jagdish Tyagi (Jolly) and judges like Justice Sundarlal Tripathi to build a better system. 

Being brave doesn't necessarily mean being violent. It means to have the courage to do the right thing. No matter what.

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Do you think the encounters were justified? Let me know your opinion by replying to the email!