Justice must reach the poor

Justice is “truth in Action” and in Indian context, poors are very far from it. In holistic approach justice includes all, Social, Economical, Civil and Political justice. A country like India which had already suffered a suppression of people’s utterance on British hand. But after independence poor people began to realize that their bad days have gone and now they will get equal share in country’s all resources and they will get justice easily because they are going to be the part of a “democratic nation”. But these dreams of people somewhat remained as dreams because of Indian social structure and the complex and clumsy way to seek justice made them more despair than they were used to be earlier.

People in India still at bay from basic amenities, they have always been the victim of atrocities by affluents, bearing exploitations of capitals class and also higher caste. In Indian context discrimination on the basis of caste , creed, and religion is more critical and pathetic because we are denied our basic rights. Although, Constitution of India provides many remedial actions to exempt the destitutes from atrocities. Preamble of the constitution enshrines all the justices “ social, economic, and political”. But these all rules and rights are operational only for certain sections of society , although constitution makes them mandatory for all and sundry , but poor people barely get benefitted by these democratic ideas. There are many causes for which poors are still far and away from justice is “Lack of information”, Government is endeavoring its best to do just with poors, but in India majority of Indians live in villages where they are isolated from rest of India, they are confined to their own area only. They even don’t know about the flagship schemes run by the government and the laws which are made to safeguard them from discriminations and atrocities. What an irony is this?? , things are being done for poor but they don't know anything about them. Main problem is we have failed to link our rural people , and for this “digital gape” is one of the major cause. With rural perspective, India is semi-globalized country because majority of people are living in the countryside which almost constitutes 70% of India’s population are still not connected with whole India. Rular people are not aware of their entitlements and lack of information is responsible for their unawareness. For instance, People in villages still engaged in manual scavenging, they are reluctantly doing it as well, but they don’t know government has made a bill for them “Manual Scavenging bill 2012”, under which no one can employ any person for manual scavenging , it is prohibited by law. These laws are made to provide justice but they totally failed to deliver justice. Whether such legislations in itself can stop atrocities done on poors?? , whether, merely a law can stop malpractices?? . Lack of information about the schemes and other public funds are exempting poors from their basic entitlements. Enhancing education among the poors and efficient working of government institution on block level can make a difference., and can make their life worth living.

This is a paradox, when india is excelling in the world in terms of economy, and trades , at the same time poors in India, even today is dominated by the higher class and higher caste and bearing atrocities and exploitations on their hand, in every conditions poors are always at the receiving end. To stop atrocities done by the dominated section of society , there is a constitutional institution i.e. courts, set up to redress the grievances but due to high court fee and expensive lawyers along with omnishamble judicial process , poors barely get any justice. Due to destitution poors can’t hire good lawyers and lack of good
lawyers means rare chance of justice, which in pragmatic sense is the real face of judiciary system in India. In some cases even judges are bought by affluents. Rampant corruption in public institutions make poors’ life more destructive. When any law starts to fade its lusture due to obsessive misuse, people at that juncture lose their faith from law. Rampant corruption and infringement of laws have became the reason of poor’s suppressed utterance , actually they are caught in catch-22 situation. Justice in many cases is not being deliver due to the cumbersome and sluggish process of courts, in many cases poors have to strive for 20 or even more years to get justice, although with uncertainity. For poors ‘’Justice delayed is justice denied’’ In India, where 70% population spending their lives on 20 rupees per day, if they don’t have sufficient money to survive , then how can they bear the court fee and lawyers fee to seek justice, that’s why in many cases they even don’t file their cases and continue to bear atrocities. So, The biggest evil for them is their poverty.

Reservation policy by the government has helped a lot to the poors who are from lower strata of society. But since independence , this reservation policy has created a huge gap“Inequality among equals” . If reservation policy has already helped some people and now they are above the average life standard of Indian people, then why they are still getting benefits of this eternal reservation policy?? . Once a person comes out of the vicious cycle of poverty, for them there should not be any reservation. Not perpetuation but eradication of poverty and caste system was the motive of reservation policy. Whenever we talk about the justice for poors. Political leaders always come up with the new reservation policy for different groups, if one favors SC/STs then others demand reservation for muslims. Is reservation Is the right , and only way to give justice to the people ?? In India few communities are in majority besides this all are minorities. Is reservation on the basis of minority group right?? .Is it not the perpetuation of vote bank?? .

Notwithstanding having all flaws and fiasco of government institutions in perspective of justice delivery to the destitutes. Still there is a ray of hope for poors because now the scenario is changing. NGOs and civil society are getting active day by day. Now government is making schemes considering the final outcomes from that particular scheme. “Aanganbaadi” , “Janni suraksha yojna” , “Kaniya vidya dhan” etc. are the schemes which are being implemented in the grassroot level. For social justice and to deliver time bound services to the citizens especially poors , Bihar government has implemented the ‘’Right to Public Service’’ , following the footsteps by seeing the success in bihar, Odisha government has also implemented this right in odisha. The main problem with poors is they are not cognizant of the things for which they are entitled. Now, making them aware , this task is take up by many NGOs . A.P.J. Abdul kalam’s mission to eradicate poverty from the world by global sustainable development system, that is PURA ( providing urban amenities in rural areas). By these type of innovative steps poors must get justice and justice will reach the poors. This will definitely bridge the gap between rural and urban people and will help the rural people to come up and work with solidarity to make India full globalized. Because, if we believe ‘’justice must reach the poors’’ then the permanent solution is to eradicate that poverty and vanish the poors by making them affluents by providing all amenities to them, justice will automatically reach to their doorsteps. It is long process but cent percent possible. To make justice delivery process efficient for poors we must need judicial reforms, reforms in the way of execution of schemes and Probity in government offices. Now a days to exempt poors from cumbersome process of
court and to deliver justice at the drop of a hate , some states have already initiated the process of “Jantaa Darbaar” where poor people’s grievances are being heard and they are also redressed on the spot.
By:- Tanveer Ashraf

Managing work and home :- Is the Indian working woman getting Fair deal ??

Women in India continue to face discrimination and social challenges and often becomes the victims of domestic violence. Somehow the scene has drastically changed in past two decades. Time has gone when women were kept confined to the four walls then women were abandon to participate in holistic mundane life. Women were only consider as suitable for household work. After myriads of agitations by feminists and ‘’Pro-Women Liberty” movements along with adequate state’s participation, women have established not totally but partially affirmed their position in the society. Now, women are empowered in many perspectives. They are doing jobs in various post of the country, but If we say'' Indian women'' then we can't exclude those women who belong to rular background. Although their miserable conditions fail to impact the existing '' Brand India'' but indeed they constitutes the real ''Bharat''. Those women who are working in paddy fields whole day and then accomplish the household chores , these cumbersome work make their life more than hell. Women working in ''tea plantation'' fields even have to carry their child on their back, but to earn their livelihood they are reluctant to do, afterall they are dominated by their male partner. In such cases what should be the obligations of men??. . Is it a fair deal for working women?? ..There is no doubt, women are becoming self reliant and enjoying economic liberty but for this they are doing compromise with ''human liberty''. This time is more devastating for women because outside work and home related chores are making their conditions more pathetic.
Indian society is male dominated society, to break this stereotype women should come forward to claim their entitlement, i.e. ‘’equal rights in public sphere’’ . Most of the elite class women are now self-reliant and self-dependent. Most of them working in prestigious companies and organizations. In some areas they are proving themselves as excel than men. Notwithstanding having all equal abilities in official work, in most cases they are facing prejudice ,they don’t get equal weightage in their work, sometimes they have to work at low wages along with extra burden of household chores. In this perspective Indian women is not getting a fair deal. If both husband and wife are working and they both are enhancing family’s fiscal status, then Is it not the duty of the husband to accomplish half of the household chores???....................
Humans have created the society and society has distributed the work , women for household work, and men for outside work. This distribution of work by society is outdated as women’s work is not restricted to house ,they are also contributing in ‘’outside work’’ , if this change is dynamic ,then why men’s work is restricted to outside only??? …..This is a gender bias. Societal rule has always been the impediment of women’s autonomy, inter-alia physical, mental and social.
Status quo for women in India is solely a case of discrimination. Rural areas are more prone to such prejudice. Orthodox ideology still prevails in the society. Male chauvinists can’t see women of claiming equal rights, they consider such acts as against social norms and consequently women have to face violence. So, in this case only empowering women, and making them economically strong will not affirm
their position in the society until we have any potent instrument to eradicate the stranglehold male domination over the society. To change the status quo we should have to make women empower economically , and most importantly changing of mindset of male in the society will help in getting equal status for women.
As far as human rights and equal distribution of works are concerned, besides managing work and home, women have certain ‘’Natural obligations’’ as well. Status of motherhood, and related complexities are only provided to women by nature. Perhaps this was not considered at the time of work distribution by the society, but in pragmatic, how can we neglect it?? ....Men are exempted from these type of obligations, so to mitigate the workload of women, will it be wrong to entrust men with certain household obligations??...
We are living in a dynamic society, ceaseless effort and pro-women equality thinking can make a great difference. This unfair deal can be converted into a fair deal by certain changes in the society. Male fanatics must change their mindset, equal participation of male member of the family in accomplishing household chores, by valuing women's work in home which are often treated as work with zero value, its time to provide equal dignity to women and finally, Working women can choose their delegates to perform their household chores, by this they can empower those women belonging to lower strata by providing jobs in their homes.
By:- Tanveer Ashraf

                       Globalization Vs Nationalism

Globalization in indian context is not a new phenomenon. India had, for millennia, been engaged with the rest of the world. It has enjoyed a series of visitation and fierce invasions, that’s why even in old inscriptions we find the sanskrit dictum “Vasudhaiva kutumbakam’’*the world is a family+,what we call today is a ‘global village’ but after advent of British [east india company] in india ,for nearly 200 years we became isolated with rest of world. Britishers made trade policy of india for their own benefits .But later half of British rule is more crucial because it was the time when a sense of nationalism began to generate among the indian masses and it was the counter product of hostile British rule in india. Nationalism was at its peak during the second half of the 19th century[1857 revolt] and during first half of the 20th century,when we launched many successful moments agains British rule.
Neverthlesss, after independence, india emphasized to remain as self-reliant country almost for four decades it was because of political omnishamble, social and economic chaos at that time . until 1991, we relied on domestic production or we followed ‘Swadeshi’ but in 1991, when india opened it economy to the world and pronounced the principle of LPG (Liberalization , privatization and globalization ) , among which globalization has played a better role in making india realize its potential in the world stage . India took risk , eventually it proved miracle for indian economy and globalization become a successful model for india .
Today ,. India is fastest growing economy in the world and third largest country in world in terms of PPP (purchasing power parity),according to IMF (International Monetry Fund). The success story in Indian context which has made India a visual place in the world map is due to policy of globalization , besides this there were many factors which are responsible for making it successful , government’s liberal norms with trade , abolition of licence raj , role of corporate sector , and in recent times role of internet can’t be neglected . In this world of internet , country’s boundaries are virtual and fictitious , frontiers can’t stop the different country’s citizen to create a new global village of which, they can be better describe as “NETIZENS” (cyber citizens ) many social media is playing their splendid role in fusion of people’s though , culture and life style.
India has entered in that era where physical border lines in perspective of professionalism ( trade with another nation) has no meaning but in terms of nationalism we have strong and sensitive frontiers lines like LOC (line of control) with Pakistan and macmohan line with China. We have created these lines because we want growth but not at the cost of people’s life which are against the citizens’ interest.
Nationalism is something which bounds us from our motherland and especially with the people who are associated with the motherland. This sense of national integrity can’t be fade with the enhancement of globalized world. Even our leaders who represent India on the world stage take decision by keeping in mind the interest of 120 crores people of India. Globalization has augmented the tranquility and fraternity among the nations but in some points it has also created huge diplomatic complications ,recent ‘’Italian marines case’’ is a trivial example of diplomatic conflict.
There are some problems which are not related to any particular country, they are global problems like carbon emission, climate related complications, environmental degradation, proliferation, energy security etc.., we have to come together to tackle these problems. There are many forces which are making us close through globalization but International terrorism which is the negative facet of globalization is making people more concern of national security and enhance nationalism in them.
Nationalism and globalization are two different terms with contrasting sense. Globalization emphasize on enhancing the relationship with rest of the world, while nationalism emphasize on enhancing the relation the relationship within the country. Nationalism arises out of the sense of being a particular country’s citizen which confined us to the particular country only but in the era of globalization we must set aside ‘’chauvinism’’ or ultranationalism to make the globe as a better place for living. Chauvinism for a country in this globalized world could create war related problem. Nationalism in itself is good for country’s welfare and for the welfare of the nationals. Main challenges for us are to maintain our nationalism along with globalization with motive to increase fraternity with rest of the world, so that we can combat our problems of global order.
There are also some critics of globalization in Indian context that after 1991, ‘’poors are becoming more poorer’’ and affulents are getting staggeringly rich. Globalization is only for Affluents and they are only getting its benefits. Destitutes have suffered from the process of globalization. Somewhat it is true but the main cause of destitution and sufferings of poors in India is not only globalization. The ‘’Vicious Cycle’’ in which they had been caught years ago is still prevail in the lower strata of Indian society, and these are due to the failure of policy implementation and people’s own lack of will to revive themselves.
When we talk about globalization we connect it to the economic terms and trade with other countries. Is it not a narrow definition of Globalization??. Jawahar Lal Nehru had said on the eve of indedencdent india on 15th august 1947 in the historic speech of ‘’tryst with detiny’’ that ‘’ Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world’’ . This sentence alone utters a beautiful combination of both ‘globalization with aspiration of national interest’, but , Whether status quo globalization policy favours all dreams which once Jawahar Lal Nehru talked about??. Along with economic globalization we need to globalize our education system with the contemporary world, we still have old outdated police system, so we need to globalize the internal security system as well. Then we realize the real taste of globalization.
We can connect our nationalism ( Pro-National Interest) to globalized world in numerous forms and in myriad ways to create peace in the world. We should take Jawahar Lal Nehru’s sentence ‘’ Those dreams are for Indian, but they are also for the world’’ in revamped form as ‘’ Those dreams are for world, but they should be also for India’’. Then at that juncture we can eradicate destitution and can make Indian society as world level society and India can emerge as a new global power.

By:- Tanveer Ashraf