THE CONSCIENCE WITHIN US! (TALES OF INCLUSIVITY) #WriteA PageADay

From childhood onwards, we are told to listen to the voice within us, the conscience, which tells us what is right and what is wrong. For many of us, this voice acts as a guide, taking us along the right path. As Potter Stewart put it so well, “Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.”

However, what happens when this little voice gets stifled by people who stray from the straight path, their eyes blinded by the lure of filthy lucre? People who prey on those weaker than themselves in every way and cheat them of their lawful possessions? Does hell have a special cell for these specimens?

Over the past two days, two news items have broken my heart. The same news clips are being played out, heart-wrenching scenes of families – mothers, wives, sons and daughters who have lost a loved one due to the apathy of corrupt officials.

The first was a 57-year-old farmer who hanged himself because revenue officials refused to accept his land tax. Owner of a mere 80 cents of land, he wanted to sell this property to avail a loan to educate his children. It was a harrowing period as he wandered from one government office to the other, pleading with officials to hand over his land deeds so that he could pay the land tax.

The saddest part was that this harassed man had garnered all the required documents and the final straw was when a revenue official allegedly demanded a bribe of one lakh rupees from him. At that point, the former had reached such a point of depression that his wife added her pleas to various officials, warning them that her husband was on the verge of suicide.

Finally, the breaking point came when beleaguered and depressed, the man hanged himself before the said revenue office, survived by his wife and three daughters.

Ironically, the day after he died, the procedure for which he took his life was completed within minutes. The District Collector has promised to recommend a write off of the loan and a state government job to a family member, much like locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Another distressing case is of a 57-year-old fisherman who was made to go from pillar to post, from office to office of the Revenue Department for over a year, to get the papers of his house and land, four cents in all, in order to apply for a bank loan. The land was found to be paddy land according to the data bank, and he needed to convert it to plain land.

The lethargy of the officials ensured that he was kept hanging with not a soul to address his grievances. Finally, he made one last visit to the office, and proclaimed that he would have to resort to suicide in case his request was not accepted.

The next day, in utter dejection, the man hanged himself on a tree at his residence. The suicide note he left said it all. In it, he blamed the corruption in the government system, alleging that despite having visited the revenue department for over a year repeatedly, with a need that was genuine and legitimate, the officials turned a deaf ear. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

This sad case is now breaking news. According to reports, this RD office is allegedly being run by agents who decide how large the bribes should be. People who cannot pay them find their files gathering dust till they manage to pay up. As a result, there are files that are almost two and a half years old, lying untouched because the requisite bribe has not been paid to oil their movement. A person committing suicide may be the only reason to move them, but by then, the damage has been done and the aggrieved soul has moved on, leaving behind a bereaved family. One more precious life that turns into a mere statistic! 

The concerned officials face suspension, but often after an interval of time, they are reinstated in certain cases, and go on to live their lives in comfort, uncaring of the lives they have destroyed with their callous attitudes. 

Do these people not have a conscience? Does it not bother them that their acts, or their negligence have caused unutterable agony to other human beings? What is the punishment they should receive, and can it ever measure up to the crime they have committed? 

The significant factor that comes into play is money. A person might commit a heinous crime against another, but if he has the money power to buy witnesses, twist the law,  and sway judgments by concealing evidence, he might buy himself enough time to distance himself from his crime. When money flows, principles melt away, and the only saving grace is the judiciary, even if satirist Jonathan Swift said, "Laws are cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let the wasps and hornets come through." 

However, if nothing else, the two suicides have proved that often, the poor suffer because they remain excluded from hallowed circles, while the rich will always stay within and stay included. It is hoped that we move on from the Orwellian philosophy that proclaims, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Instead, let us applaud Voltaire who spoke the absolute truth about humankind centuries ago.

"Men are equal; it is not birth but virtue that makes the difference."

Word Count: 943