Editor,
The phrase ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ is demonstrated every single day in our country where it takes years, nay decades to wait for court rulings. The victim and the family do not really see the perpetrator punished. Blame it on the lackadaisical attitude of the police and the investigating team or the delay in pronouncement of the verdict, the fact of the matter lies in the truth that there is often no justice at all. As common people and victims that fall prey to heinous crimes, the trauma they are made to go through can be felt and understood only by them. In a country like ours, it is indeed a very long wait before justice can actually be delivered. At times the punishment is not even commensurate to the crime committed. What can we look forward to from the judiciary? The law will take its own course while the victims are sufferers. Can we then not work on our own individual minds and morality? Can we not train our sons and daughters to follow the path of righteousness and our sons in particular to respect women’s bodies and understand the boundaries they cannot cross? We should start from home, nurture them well from their tender years and inculcate in them the spirit of compassion and empathy Until then, it may not be wrong to say that loss of honour, loss of life, loss of integrity, loss of human dignity is what the victims are made to live with or even die of.
Yours etc.,
Jenniefer Dkhar,
Via email
Separation of powers imperative
Editor,
It will be a mockery of justice if the executive blurs the line of the separation of power and assumes the role of the judiciary for the sake of instant justice. In the book, ‘Alice in Wonderland’, Lewis Carroll beautifully described it through the mouth of a mouse. The mouse narrated how a cur called Fury, serving as judge and jury, condemned it to death.
Let us recall the nonsensical trial in the poem, ‘The Mouse’s Tale’, ‘Fury said to a mouse that he met in the house, “Let us both go to law: I will prosecute you. Come, I’ll take no denial: we must have a trial: for really this morning I’ve nothing to do.” Said the mouse to the cur, “Such a trial, dear sir, with no jury or judge, would be wasting our breath.”
“I’ll be judge, I’ll be jury,” said cunning old Fury: “I’ll try the whole cause, and condemn you to death.”‘
The same kind of situation emerged as if straight from the pages of Alice in Wonderland. It was when some constructions were being razed to the ground by bulldozers. What was the reason for their demolition when those constructions were neither unauthorised nor encroachment on public roads? Those demolitions had deliberately been executed by the administration to punish some accused before the beginning or completion of the trial. Long live ‘The Mouse’s Tale’!
It is better late than never. The same thing can be said about the recent Supreme Court observation. After many houses were bulldozed for such a reason, the Supreme Court, at last, on September 2, questioned the bulldozing of homes and private properties of persons accused of crimes or even their relatives by States as a possible act of public retribution, saying the law does not permit the destruction of the family shelters of even convicts.
Justice B.R. Gavai asked, “How can anybody’s home be demolished because he is an accused in a case? The law does not permit that… Can it happen even if a person is a convict?”
The question is so obvious that a small child can answer it without any difficulty. First, no punitive action can be taken against an accused until the person is proven guilty. This is the reason why it is said that a person is innocent until proven guilty. It will be ludicrous to buy the logic of the cur called Fury. How can “I’ll take no denial” of an accused and “We must have a trial” exist simultaneously?
Now, what if the person is a convict? Even in this case, the executive cannot add more punishment to what was given by the judiciary. Moreover, can a wife be punished for the crime committed by her husband? Should the administration destroy the future of innocent children by destroying their homes if their father is a criminal? Rather, it is the duty of the state to ensure that the innocent family members of a convict may not suffer humiliation and are not forced to adopt illegal means for survival.
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,
Kolkata
Who will be the next US President?
Editor,
The editorial “Battle for the Presidency” (ST September 11, 2024) made interesting reading. Election is a super complex topic more so when the race is close. It is hard to predict the winner even though Kamala Harris is leading national polls 3 percentage points over Donald Trump (44%) with a promise of her “new way forward”. The National Poll is a useful guide as to how popular the candidate is across the United States but they are not necessarily an accurate way to predict the result of the election. Hence the editor is right it is “a million-dollar question” as to who will win the election on November 5, as voters in the US go to polls to elect their next President. Though Trump is older than Harris, in politics age is immaterial as long as you have the “fire power.” Here I recall what the late Brington Buhai Lyngdoh said when asked by a scribe in Chumoukedima, Nagaland in 1998, “Sir, when will you retire?” Lyngdoh replied “Politicians never retire but simply fade away.” The big question now is – will the result mean a second Donald Trump term or America’s first woman President?
Yours etc;
VK Lyngdoh,
Via email
Concern over animal cruelty
Editor,
I’m writing in response to your recent “Shillong Jottings” piece about the neglect of animals. I’d like to share my own troubling experience with animal cruelty in our community. For a while now, I’ve been feeding some stray dogs near my home. These dogs are gentle and shy, often waiting quietly at our gate for food. However, things took an ugly turn recently.
It started when a neighbour’s grandson threw stones at these dogs. Naturally, the dogs barked in self-defence, though they were more interested in their food than causing trouble. Since then, this neighbour has been ruthlessly attacking these innocent animals, seemingly intent on harming them. We even have CCTV footage of these attacks, which our local dorbar (community council) has access to.
This neighbour has demanded that I stop feeding the strays, but I refuse. There’s no law against helping hungry, helpless animals. Things got really weird when he called us at midnight, bragging about watching CCTV footage of me feeding the dogs. I mean, don’t we have better things to worry about? Our area has had thefts and break-ins, but instead of using the CCTV to catch actual criminals, this guy is obsessed with whether or not I’m feeding some harmless dogs.
I want to remind everyone that there are laws against animal cruelty. This letter serves as a warning to the person responsible. if the attacks on these strays continue, I won’t hesitate to take legal action. We need to be a community that cares for all its members – human and animal alike. Let’s choose kindness over cruelty.
Yours etc.,
Jonathan Albert Khyriem
Shillong-2