Only firm action against the perpetrators and those who instigate will provide a lasting solution. Adharmis must fear the rule of law and only then Dharma will prevail.
There is a very shameful episode in the Mahabharata – it is the episode of Draupadi’s Vastraharan, in which the Kauravas try to disrobe her. While many may say that the episode is shameful because it is with respect to a Woman’s position in society or her dignity, I find it shameful because it shows the breakdown of law and order in a Rajya in such a way that the Adharmi (one who doesn’t believe in or follow Dharma) is able to abuse the very same law and order that arrests a Dharmik from opposing the Adharma.
The Dharmik Pandavas look up to the King and his courtiers to protect them from what is wrong, but in vain. The blind king, one who knowingly refuses to stop the Adharmi by taking the excuse of being helpless and all his courtiers show equal helplessness by hiding behind the flimsy curtain of set laws of the land. It is this hypocritical helplessness which caused Draupadi to face the biggest assault of dignity on any woman and it is this hypocritical helplessness which caused the Mahabharata War.
Circa 2020 … we are again in the grip of hypocritical helplessness where Adharmis use the same law and order as the other citizens to stake their claim on every facility the country offers them and use the same law and order to show their muscle, demographic, monetary and international powers to intimidate Courts, Police, Army, Government and the ordinary citizens of this land. And yes, the ordinary citizens of the land who are law abiding are harassed by this very law and order system and are prevented from exercising their rights or asking for JUSTICE.
Under the cloak of Secularism, the Majority who look up to the law, are again and again prevented from saving their Sadhus, their Cows and other cattle, their land, their dignity and their Freedom of Expression. Under the excuse of International Human Rights, the Rights of the Majority are trampled upon and they are repeatedly intimidated by various State Governments and the Centre through threats and warnings. Under the guise of protecting the Identity of the Minorities, the cultural identity of the Majority is being routinely obliterated via the holy book called the Constitution.
(Artist of the above paining is Shirsha Acharya, 19 years old from Bahrampur, West Bengal)
Like Draupadi, the Hindus, Sikhs and Jains repeatedly ask the Law and Order system and the Highest office of the Land, as to what their fault is? Is their fault only that they are law abiding, waiting patiently for someone to rescue them? If like the Pandavas, our Politicians through 1947 had already accepted slavery of the Adharmis and lost their right to their Conscience, did they have the right to push the rest of the Majority into slavery and to being disrobed by the Adharmis?
If like the Wise Courtiers of the land, our Judiciary could only serve via the Rule Book (laws) and the words of the Constitution ignoring the visible Injustice done to the most ancient civilization of the world, do they deserve to be respected? If like Dhritharashtra our Prime Minister covers up lack of firm action against Injustice under the cover of helplessness, should he not be shaken up by the shoulders and forced to see reality?
I have faith that the ruler of our land and his courtiers (PM, Judiciary, Army and Police) are followers of Dharma and want to protect our country and her people, but right now they seem to have resigned to helplessness and inaction. I request them through this write-up to shed this inaction … the people of the country will support you to the hilt if you take strong action against all those who are doing wrong. Else, Dharma, like water, finds its own way to prevail.
