Rule Of Law: Phew; Who Said It Is For You and Me?

As an educated citizen who has great faith in the constitution of this land, I used to be a little bit extra vociferous about the maintenance of the rule of law in my state Kerala until I had a direct experience the other day about how the whole thing is being run. I used to argue that things are either blown out of proportion, or portrayed with some malicious intention whenever something bad about the maintenance of the rule of law appeared in the media or came up for discussion in public forums. But to know how politicized the whole system is, and how irresponsible matters are dealt with when a common man seeks assistance for the maintenance of rule of law, I had to get a direct experience with the local police itself.

It all started a week ago when my aged mother, accompanied by my brother in law and his 5 year old daughter, went to a nearby temple where the annual festival was going on. One drunken man tried to block their way and almost strangled my brother in law, and shouted obscene words. Even though my mother, seasoned by her age, and my brother in law because of his pragmatism ignored the incident as a normal altercation, I persuaded my brother in law to tell about the incident at least to the police party who was standing nearby. The drunken man was summoned by the sub-inspector who was on duty there, but without even a feeble warning he was set free as if nothing had happened. When I hinted that we had a valid complaint against him, he just nodded and mumbled something. However, I asked my brother in law to write a complaint to the sub inspector and give it to the police station itself.

Within a couple of days I realized that such a complaint would never deliver the results we had intended. But as a man who had immense faith in the police system in our ‘God’s Own Country,’ I got another neatly typed complaint of my mother and gave it to the deputy superintendent of police himself. The officials there assured me that such a complaint would never go in vain and the case would be dealt with utmost care and urgency. I was also relieved that justice would be done finally. But almost a week has passed since my mother has lodged that complaint, and nothing good has happened so far, except that a new realization that the maintenance of rule of law fails to deliver when it comes to common citizens like my mother and brother in law.