Pune edit: No country for poor?
Just over a fortnight ago, DNA reported how Jhipru Mukane, a Katkari tribal in Thane district, died after he was kept chained and tortured at a brick kiln.
It is indeed appalling that in the second decade of the 21st century, barely 100km from Mumbai, a poor tribal can still be exploited, tortured and even killed by rapacious criminals masquerading as businessmen.
What is worse is that the local authorities still try to cover up such instances and pretend that all is well, until someone like this paper blows their cover. Just over a fortnight ago, DNA reported how Jhipru Mukane, a Katkari tribal in Thane district, died after he was kept chained and tortured at a brick kiln. After the Bombay high court took suo motu notice of the report, the government agreed to order an inquiry by the state police’s criminal investigation department.
Yet, barely a fortnight later, another tribal, Ramdas Valvi, was tortured and killed in similar fashion. The court has now ordered an investigation by the CID into the incidents.
With the court seized of the matter, the law may well take its course in these two cases. But the larger question remains: are the courts the only hope of justice for the poor? What about those whose cries do not reach the ears of the courts? What about the government that is supposedly elected by the people? What about the bureaucrats who are supposed to be ‘servants’ of the people?
It is instances like these that slowly but surely erode people’s confidence in the state and in democracy. Even if these are isolated instances, the full force of the law must be brought to bear upon those who seek to exploit the poor and the marginalised and an example made of them. Till that happens we can never be truly free.