WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE
“This is a court of Law, young man… not a court of Justice.” Justice Oliver Wendell Homes Jr. I feel sad, shocked, disgusted, angry, numb and even cynical – I am short of terms to describe it – when I hear about the recurring incidents of gangrapes in our country. The latest, to shock us and numb us, is that of a little 9-year-old girl in our Capital. This girl lived in poverty of her Dalit basti , and she had gone to fill a bottle of cold water in a crematorium in her neighbourhood. When I think of this girl, being gangraped and burnt to death, in such a horrific manner, I experience the entire gambit of emotions stated by me at the outset: sadness, shock, disgust, anger, numbness and cynicism. Man, we know, is an animal… We also know, that a section of animals is called ‘beasts! The ghastly acts of gangrape, or such crimes, can be carried out only by beasts. The beasts in the jungle do it for their food, and that’s how they are supposed to ...