Ruled by the “Unknown”

B L Saraf
The pattern is predictable. This is how the state administrators react when innocents are felled by the gun of a terrorist , which , unfortunately, has become a regular feature :
“At place “Z” some unknown gunmen fired up on ” X ” who was rushed to the hospital but on way he succumbed to the injuries. The culprits will be apprehended and punished severely. We will not allow such dastardly acts to happen in future.” This is the standard draft of an official Press Note put on a auto mode, programmed to make to the media: soon the news of an unabated terrorist attack , killing an innocent , breaks out. We have the mortification of witnessing this spectacle, without any alteration, since decades, now. The tragedy is that the “unknown” has seldom become “known.”
As far as we know no gun wielding murderer applies for -nor does he require -a permission to kill an innocent. So, the authority concerned please educate us-the helpless victims – where does the question of “not allowing them” to repeat the nefarious act arises ? What adds further to the agony of victims is the claim set out by the authorities, just a few days after, that the “perpetrator of the crime has been neutralized and the gang busted.” It comes so soon and with a great dispatch that the god of crime detection Sherlock Holmes and his able companion Doctor Watson are put to the shame.
A psychological effect of not knowing ‘the who and why ‘ behind the attacks and the fear that there may yet be more senseless violence to come, demoralizes the public thereby creating a fit ground for anarchy in the society. An inability to identify the terrorist makes governments look inept in the eyes of public undermining their legitimacy.
Well, it can’t be denied that many a time the real unknown commit the act which even Scotland Yard police can’t prevent from happening. What has been happening since 1990 has turned people cynical to believe the state. What aggravates position for the law enforcers is the fact-though unfortunate it is-that the terrorist has assumed a high political and emotional dimension . Terrorism has come to mean different things to the different people, eluding a true definition. UNO continues to grapple with the problem. Therefore, by its very nature a terrorist will remain unknown, until brought to the justice.
Our law enforcers may derive some solace from the fact that the menace of the “Unknown “- Naa Malum Afrad – has become pandemic across the Sub-Continent. A bard from Pakistan depicts how the disease had spread in that part of the world:
Phalay Shehar mein Aag lagaein Naa Malum Afrad
Aur phir amun kae nagme gaien Naa Malum Afrad
Lagta hay insaan nahi koey tchalawaa hay
Sab dekhein par nazar naa aye Naa Malum Afrad
Shehar mein jis janeb jaien aek hee manzar hay
Aagey peechay daien baien Naa Malum Afrad
Hum sab apnay Shehar naa- pursaan kay basi hein
Jis kaa nazam -o -nask tchalatei hein Naa Malum Afrad
(The literary piece tells a chilling truth that I couldn’t restrain myself from quoting it almost in full. Of course, with due acknowledgements and apologies to the author.)
That sums up what poet says; that we are at the mercy of that “unknown” who roams freely every where; seen by everyone: creates mayhem and then comes to condole openly. Yet we feign ignorance. So much so that we are condemned to live in a god forsaken city which is ruled by the “unknown ” – the faceless. We may boast of being better than our western neighbor-surely we are in many respects-but in the business of “unknown” there is a remarkable equality.
The politicians across board have interest in keeping things and designers ‘unknown.’ On the recent controversy around Face book content which allows hate speech to go unchecked the subject experts have come to analyze that the politicians deliberately allow things remain unknown, to further their political agenda. Analyzing why the hate content goes unchecked in the social media and the plea taken by FB administrators ,the experts say that Political Parties often use vernacular content to reach out to supporters which allows Face book an escape route, when it says that it has classifiers only in Hindi , Urdu, Bengali and Tamil languages .
National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, speaking recently to the IPS Probationers said “it is the civil society that can be subverted , suborned, that can be divided, that can be manipulated to hurt the interests of nation.” He stressed upon honest implementation of the laws” laws are not that good as are made. Laws are as good as they are implemented and executed and the service people are able to get out of it .”
NSA concluded his address thus :” No nation can be built where rule of law has failed . People cannot feel safe and secure if law enforcers are weak, corrupt and partisan .” To be faithful to the NSA, it is imperative on the law enforcers to come out of this “Naa Malum” syndrome – as quickly as possible .
PS: It has to be admitted that the law and order enforcers are truly hard-pressed. To make us secure, they have been on their feet since 1990 -often at the cost of their lives. We have to make an allowance that the constant state of vigil they are on and the unrelenting situation there are in may, as J Krishnamurty says , make their mind to move from known to the known but it can’t reach out into the “Unknown.”
(The author is former Principal District & Sessions Judge)