‘How many times can a man turn his head and pretend he just cannot see?’ These Bob Dylan lines came to my mind when I read that Jessica Lal’s murderers had been acquitted. A girl shot twice, at a crowded party for refusing to serve drinks, because the bar was closed. And years later her murderer goes scott-free. Why? Because he happens to have a powerful and rich father. Newspapers and social activists are blaming the hostile witnesses and favourable judges. But it is us Indians in general at fault, it is not just the system, but we who let people take advantage of the system that are at fault. How many times will we see the country’s legal system, being twisted and turned around to deny justice to the weak of the society it is supposed to help. How many times will the rich and powerful get away unscathed for their crimes.
People show apathy to this news, because for them Jessica is dead, and that’s all there is to it. But a day will come when someone important to us will be left hungry for justice and we will bleed to see people being apathetic. The important thing is to understand how this case can encourage the rich and the powerful of the society to take law in their hand. Eventually a day might come when it will be a crime to be poor and weak. And any criminal act of the rich and powerful will be pardoned by their position in the society. A democracy that is a servant of money and power…. That’s what we will be reduced to!