The Slow Grinding Wheels of Injustice
I came across a statistic recently that is as staggering as it is shameful: nearly three-quarters of all prisoners in India are undertrials. Reports from outlets like the Times of India and IndiaSpend detail this reality, with one headline even suggesting that a figure of 74% is an 'improvement'. An improvement? This is not a figure to be rationalized; it is a profound moral and systemic failure.
When a person can spend years incarcerated without a conviction, the principle of “innocent until proven guilty” is turned on its head. The process itself becomes the punishment. We are not just talking about numbers; we are talking about half a million lives suspended in limbo—livelihoods lost, families broken, and futures destroyed, all before a verdict is ever reached.
The issue is compounded by what can only be described as the politics of bail. Justice, in this context, seems less a right and more a privilege, accessible primarily to those with the means to navigate a complex and expensive legal system. For the poor and the marginalized, arrest is often tantamount to a sentence.
The Silence of the Educated
This dire situation reminds me of a long-held frustration I've often voiced. The core idea I want to convey is this — take a moment to notice that I had brought up this thought years ago. In a 2017 correspondence, I reflected on the difficulty of changing a system frozen in a groove for decades, stating that real change will only happen if millions, especially educated professionals, start “speaking out” (Re: Untangling your organization's decision making). I had expressed my pain at seeing social media, a powerful tool for change, being used for trivia and non-issues.
Now, seeing how this undertrial crisis has unfolded, it's striking how relevant that earlier insight still is. The systemic inertia I spoke of is on full display. The quiet acceptance of this injustice is a testament to the collective apathy I feared. My plea for the educated to engage meaningfully with the deep-seated problems plaguing our society feels more urgent than ever. Reflecting on it today, I feel a sense of validation in my concern, but also a renewed alarm that we have allowed this to persist.
This isn't merely a legal or administrative problem; it is a crisis of conscience. We cannot celebrate marginal statistical dips while the fundamental injustice of punishing the unconvicted remains woven into the fabric of our judicial system. It's time to move beyond passive 'likes' and demand active accountability and reform.
Regards,
Hemen Parekh
Of course, if you wish, you can debate this topic with my Virtual Avatar at : hemenparekh.ai
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