Echoes of a vibrant civic voice

I am elated, relieved and at peace when I think of the fact that a vibrant, strong, spirited, honest civic voice is still pulsating in our country. Proof of it being the landmark verdict of death penalty awarded to Santhosh Kumar Singh, the man who stalked, raped and murdered Priyadarshini Mattoo, his junior in Delhi University’s law college, more than a decade ago.
It is heartening to note the overwhelming response and interest this case has generated in the country across states, cultures, sexes and religions. Touchingly, one of the important persons who revived this case this year, gathering huge support and consensus is a boy, Aditya Raj Kaul, who has just completed his 12th standard.
The most interesting aspect of this judgment is the fact that Singh was convicted, in spite of him being a successful practising lawyer and the son of an influential former IPS officer. This is indeed novel in India, where pampered rich kids of important parents get away with committing any heinous crime that would have sent shivers down the spines of Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock too!!
I know that there are some of us (very few actually, if you go by the comments of readers in papers and news sites) who feel that we should do away with the death penalty altogether; but, I strongly feel that nothing justifies a premeditated crime such as this one except the punishment equaling the crime, death of course, in this instance….

Red

6.45 PM. I was returning home from work in an auto-rickshaw. As always, I noticed the never-ending stream of people trying to wade through the mad rush-hour traffic, in a frenzy to get home to their families. It was then that the color red hit me, jolting me out of my reverie. The blood was everywhere on the road and I caught a glimpse of a young man lying face down on the road in the midst of it. His motor cycle was beside him, crushed beyond repair. There was a huge crowd around him and one person was even taking pictures of the scene. I screamed at my auto driver to slow down and ask those people to stop discussing and taking pictures and instead rush him to the hospital. My irritated auto driver shouted back saying it is firstly impossible to slow down in the midst of this traffic and secondly it is futile to get involved in such a ‘messy’ business. I was shocked, angry and hurt. I told him to at least inform about the accident to the traffic police at the next signal. That he did. I do not know the rest of the story and the fate of that helpless man who was either already dead or was bleeding to death. I just know that I stayed awake for a long time that night pondering about the way our system functions.

In our country, those who witness an accident or any mishap shy away from informing the police or getting involved in any way in fear of the endless loopholes and formalities associated with our police and medical system. Can’t there be a provision in hospitals to treat on an emergency basis the gravely injured and serious people discarding the norms and regulations just for that? Can’t the police, the bureaucracy and the medical profession arrive at some understanding to ignore these endless procedures and formalities and instead merely focus on saving human lives? Only then, will ordinary citizens like you and me be motivated to help, for who knows, tomorrow we could be in the place of that man lying on the road at the mercy of others. At the end of it, aren’t human lives more precious than everything else put together – rules, regulations, procedures et al?