When people “ students and housewives, slum-dwellers and thesouth Delhi set “ came out in the streets demanding justice for the gangrapevictim, only one factor was missing in the state’s response: empathy. The firstresponse from those elected or appointed to oversee law and order was obviouslyto play the blame game. When the prime minister spoke up a week later, a coupleof extra words after the formal end of the address revealed what was lacking init: empathy. Against that backdrop, the chief justice of India (CJI), AltamasKabir’s comments stand out in contrast for its compassion.
“Whatever happened that day (December 16) was not only acrime against an individual. It was a crime against women in general andsociety in general," CJI Kabir told the sixth national conference onimplementation of protection of women from domestic violence in New Delhi onMonday. If that sounded like platitudes our politicians’ mouth, this is whatcame next: “What happened that day was not something new. But it caught theimagination of the people and led to a tremendous upsurge and this upsurge, asI have said earlier also, was fully justified. What started as a protest, as amark of showing one's anger, it was all genuine, absolutely necessary.”
Later, talking to media persons on the sidelines of theconference, he added, “I salute everybody who took part in the protests. I wishI could have been there but I can’t.”
So, there is at least one person around the Raisina Hill,and no less than head of an organ of the state, who not only does not seeprotesters as enemies of the state but also identifies himself with them. Hecouldn’t be there among the protesters but his words have done the job.
Moreover, this empathy of the head of the judiciary is notlimited to words alone. He along with the Delhi high court chief justice havebeen instrumental in ensuring speedy justice by establishing a fast-track courtto hear cases of crimes against women.
Speaking from the same compassion for the victim that madehim salute protesters, he also spoke of a need to change the mindset of thejudicial officers who take up such cases. "Many of us are quiteinsensitive. Many of us look to the strict letters of the law," he said.He had told judicial officers to be sensitive to problems related to women andchildren, he said.
Call it sympathy, compassion or sensitivity, isn’t that theonly thing missing in governance, in what protesters call ‘system’? Imagine theheads of the other two organs of the state, the executive and the legislature,bringing this element to their work, and there would not be any need to “changethe system” which of course is not going to happen without ‘systematic’procedures to go about it.
For that, just as with the judicial officers, the powersthat be will have to change their mindset and look at people as people insteadof taking them as mobs.
in association with Governance Now
