INDIA: REFLECTIONS ON 80TH INDEPENDENCE DAY

Need for An Impartial and Objective Reflection

     As we celebrate our Eightieth Independence Day and pay our most respectful homage to scores of our freedom fighters who sacrificed their everything, including lives and that too at prime of their youth, we must also reflect how further we have carried dreams, hopes and vision of a free India. Our accomplishments as an independent nation generate pride. Yet our journey, as a republic, is also marred with severe under performance and disappointment.  Hence an enlightened reflection must be dispassionate and objective and yet point towards a better future.   

Our Progress As a Unified Nation

At the outset, our progress as a unified and cohesive nation, given the conditions in which we gained independence in 1947, must generate enormous pride in the generation that was the earliest architect of independent India. They proved all naysayers wrong who had doubted our ability to hold together as a nation, given our diversity and constraints. We survived horrors of partition, deprivations of crushing poverty, unprovoked wars imposed by deceitful neighbours, protracted insurgencies backed by external forces, linguistic and religious tensions infused by reckless politicians, social upheavals and internal turmoil inflicted by self-seeking politicians with authoritarian streaks. Yet we have remained a stable democracy and a vibrant society. Governments have repeatedly changed through largely free, fair and peaceful elections. Unlike several other post-colonial states, who have faced recurrent military coups, we can claim a democratic continuity, despite enormity of our challenges.

Economic Transformation

    The economic transformation of India, since the era of earliest days of independence, is admirable. With a roughly $4 trillion economy, growing at 7.6 percent in 2025 according to the World Bank, (World Bank Open Data (https://data.worldbank.org/country/india?utm_source=chatgpt.com), we are one of the major economies in the world. Our digital infrastructure, pharmaceutical manufacturing, formidable space programme, information technology, automotive sector, financial technology and overall entrepreneurial ecosystem have given us a strong global heft. Yet we should be mindful of the fact that we are one of the poorest countries in term of per capita income.  

    Chandrayaan-3, Aditya-L1 and the continuing expansion of India’s space capabilities have demonstrated that Indian institutions can accomplish far more complex goals with sheer competence and commitment of our scientists driven by national purpose. (Indian Space Research Organisation (https://www.isro.gov.in/ISRO_EN/Achievements_Department_of_Space_2025.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

    Similarly, achievements of our global diaspora reinforce our self -belief as a people. Most expatriate Indians are intelligent, prosperous and disproportionately influential in several advanced economies. Indian way of life characterized by family values and unqualified support to children is probably one of our greatest strengths as society. 

Uncomfortable Paradox:

   It shall be no exaggeration to state that we have created a paradox of world-class excellence amidst an ocean of extreme societal deprivation resulting from severe institutional mediocrity.

    National Family & Health Survey (NFHS)-5 found that 35.5 percent of Indian children under five had stunted growth and 32.1 percent were underweight. (Press Information Bureau (https://www.pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1779258&lang=2&reg=48&utm_source=chatgpt.com). 

    Successive Annual Status of Education Reports continues to reveal serious deficits in foundational learning. Our workforce remains inadequately skilled given our current status as $4 trillion economy our developed nation ambition outlined by Hon'ble Prime Minister. 

    The Economic Survey has repeatedly highlighted the extraordinarily low proportion of Indians receiving formal vocational training. (India Budget (https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/budget2024-25%28I%29/economicsurvey/doc/eschapter/echap06.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com). 

    These point towards an extremely worrying picture about the overall quality of human resource that we have. Approximately 800 million Indians, accounting for over 60% of total population depend upon free ration for survival. 

    The most important resource of nation is not natural resources, land and capital alone. While we are deficient here as well, given the size of our population, but it is always the productive capacity of human resources and the quality of cohesion within them that drives strength of a nation.   

Unprofessional and Oppressive Bureaucracy

    Our bureaucracy has many brilliant and incorruptible incumbents. Yet it appears too entitlement driven, unprofessional and rent-collecting behemoth, incapable of transforming the vision of a prosperous and strong India into reality. Citizens spend huge time and energy in navigating bureaucratic hurdles for their day today existence. Entrepreneurs struggle with routine permissions, regulatory uncertainty, litigation and informal transactions or underhand payments.  Bureaucratic institutions rarely encourage and support entrepreneurship with timely approvals and proper guidance but illicit networks, plundering and harming society, thrive and flourish in collusion with malicious components of same bureaucracy. Gone are the days when corruption was a menace only at lower rungs of Govt hierarchy.   

    Simultaneously, upright and professional civil servants often discover that integrity is too lonely and risky a journey. It invites severe systemic wrath in form of all-out hybrid warfare, destroying lives permanently. 

    Innovators in critical area of technological progress or national security encounter more administrative friction than cerebral challenges. 

    Despite all constraints, it is strength of our family values that produces amazing Indians who rise to the occasions to drive our collective advancement. Yet weak institutions drain huge energy for every modest progress. This makes our over-all progress far too sub-optimal.  

Sluggish, Inconsistent and Inaccessible Criminal Justice System

    A sluggish, inconsistent and inaccessible criminal justice system, widely perceived to be substantially corrupt, is perhaps the biggest bane of free India. It has been choking our collective progress by breeding avoidable conflicts and frictions. I have written extensively on this issue on this very blog, and I believe that the challenges in this area is far too deep rooted, systemic and probably an outcome of subversive warfare. There are many brilliant judges and fearless cops. But the systemic constraints and pressures far too outweigh the justice delivery system. 

    The National Judicial Data Grid currently records more than 5 crore pending cases, including nearly 3.9 crore criminal cases (National Judicial Data Grid (https://njdg.ecourts.gov.in/njdg_v3/?utm_source=chatgpt.com).  The justice that arrives decades late, if not beyond life-times,  and often skips in non high-profile cases, substantially loses its meaning and purpose. The phenomenon must have induced such epigenetic changes in Indian neural circuitry to normalise dishonesty, fear and anxiety as normal behaviour pattern. 

Corruption

    Corruption is both the biggest indicator and breeder of poor social trust, fractured social cohesion and fragile institutions. These are certain to doom any society. The extent of corruption and its impact on average life in India is unfathomable. It is widely believed that poor civic amenities to bad public infrastructure and horrible state of criminal justice system are direct outcome of rampant culture of corruption. 

    Public infrastructure exposes this pathology far more intensely, notwithstanding significant improvement in road networks in India recent years. For example, the CAG has recorded in a National Highways Authority of India case, that inadequate recovery of contractual damages resulted in an undue benefit of ₹203.07 crore to concessionaires. (Comptroller and Auditor General of India (https://cag.gov.in/uploads/PressRelease/PR-PRESS-RELEASE-ON-AUDIT-REPORT-NO-12-of-2024-ENGLISH-06760465e86ac91-50772570.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) 

    One audit does not define the Indian state; but hundreds and thousands of such institutional leakages exist and explain why public expenditure often produces less public value and public infrastructure than what it should. There was a famous case in Karnataka where a contractor committed suicide as 40% of the project cost was being demanded as cut money. I have written again extensively on this issue. From cradle to cremation ground, average citizen is more often forced to shell bribe. Every major procurement in public or private sector or every major public infrastructure project is incomplete without serious corruption. 

   Transparency International’s 2025 index gives India 39/100 and ranks it 91st among 182 countries. (Transparency.org (https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2025/index/ind?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) Again, the index is not a verdict on every Indian institution. It is a reminder that corruption remains rampant enough to cripple national capability. 

Flight of Capital and Super-Skilled Human Resource

    Poor systems continue to expel a huge amount of capital and talent from the country. Henley estimated a net outflow of about 3,500 millionaires from India in 2025. (Henley Global (https://www.henleyglobal.com/newsroom/press-releases/henley-private-wealth-migration-report-2025?utm_source=chatgpt.com). A degree of wealth and talent migration in a globalised world is unavoidable. But persistent and disproportionate outward migration of wealth and skilled human resource should provoke a harder question. This dangerously impacts the quality and pace of economic development. It is a clear indicator that citizens are not feeling secure, respected and institutionally rewarded within their homeland. Keeping quiet may be convenient but it will only delay an impending disaster. A frightened citizenry shall never make a great state or glorious civilisation.

Substantial Cartelisation and Criminalisation of Political Space

    India’s political discourse over the last few decades has become excessively rancorous. Rival political formations appear to condemn and curse each other for electoral victories rather than offering constructive perspective towards nation building and institutional reforms. Most public discussions on politics focus more on electoral wins and losses rather than governance issues.

    The 2014 electoral verdict in India appeared substantially a repudiation of the prevailing ways of governance. Accumulated legitimacy deficit of the UPA years, corruption scandals, policy paralysis and a widespread perception that the political system had become an entitlement machine had contributed to regime change. The current government has unquestionably pushed up India’s trajectory in infrastructure, digital governance, welfare delivery, financial inclusion, external positioning, strategic ambition and technological aspiration.   

    Yet the challenges of corruption has turned far too worse and systemic. Institutional-structural deficiencies have aggravated in many sectors. It is impossible for courts and investigative agencies to contain corruption within an acceptable threshold. Simultaneously, most cabals and syndicates of previous regime have also sneaked into the current dispensation as well to perpetuate the larger culture of corruption with greater impunity. Spirited cartels appear to have captured several institutions for their own private agenda. Many institutions have witnessed serious erosion in their integrity and efficacy, even though loyal incumbents are often able to deliver on tactical priorities of the regime quite efficiently. But overall strategic capacity of state institutions appears to be on decline. 

    Indians must appreciate that great leaders are temporary but good institutions are permanent. 

    A powerful leader can accelerate progress of a state. But only institutions can sustain that acceleration.      

      Opaque political funding has perennially undermined the quality of our democracy. This challenge has continued to rise instead of waning. In one of the rare and courageous judgments in recent years, the Supreme Court in 2024 struck down the Electoral Bond Scheme. The issue exposes the sustained structural problem of political finance. The Court held that non-disclosure of political contributions violated citizens’ right to information and struck down provisions permitting unlimited corporate contributions. (Sci API (https://api.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2024/10865/10865_2024_1_302_51365_Judgement_11-Mar-2024.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com))

    This should have produced a bipartisan discourse on reform of political parties. None happened.

 On the other hand, we come across criticism that 'Leader of Opposition appears to believe that controlling India is his divine fundamental right.' Critics cite his actions and speeches that suggests that 'he appears aggrieved that this right to rule India has been illegitimately taken away' from him by the current Prime Minister.' While his criticisms of the government have been relevant on many issues and these have rightfully brought the Government under pressure, but the tone and approach appear way less than dignified, honourable and effective. Moreover, his credibility continues to be suspected by large sections of educated population given his dynastic entitlement. 

    If viewed from the prism of national security, almost entire political opposition offers no convincing escape from the current predicament or challenges gripping the political space of India. Most parties remain trapped in dynastic entitlement, patronage politics, personality cult, and negative mobilisation and corrupt politics, instead of offering a powerful perspective. Opposition parties are focusing only on removal of incumbent rather than providing any perspective on transforming the political space and the quality of governance. Internal democracy, intellectual renewal and regeneration, culture of principled dissidence in interest of public good remain conspicuously weak in all political parties. Loyalty is always valued in political space of our democracy that has appeared extremely suspicious, if not hostile, towards integrity, ethics and intellect.  

    It is unrealistic to expect a political culture built around inherited entitlement or personality cult to suddenly become engine of national and institutional transformation. There is genuine crisis that Indian democracy is grappling with. There seems cartelisation of entire political space of India, which eliminate space for high-quality ideas and leadership that can spearhead genuine transformation of governance in near future.

Security and Geopolitics

India continues to struggle in the trap created by the receding colonisers who fractured our composite national-cultural identity by raking up the monster of xenophobic Islamic radicalism that resulted in creation of sectarian state like Pakistan which eventually turned into the biggest aggregator of terrorism and organised crime. It also left behind a confused border issue with China that we have neither appreciated nor resolved.  I have explained in my 2020 paper on national security that how threats and challenges in the region, that we face as a nation, are far more than routine neighbourly irritants. We have been a wide range of complex grey zone wars to identity conflicts, covert and proxy wars. Both West and China seek to equate us with Pakistan to undermine our inherent moral strengths. 

    Pakistan’s military establishment has developed religious militancy into an instrument of asymmetric covert warfare against India through a series of proxies internally and regionally. Serious scholarship documents the evolution of Pakistan’s use of non-state actors, including crime syndicates. The nuclear capability has been used only to create space for proxy warfare. (OUP Academic (https://academic.oup.com/book/27124/chapter-abstract/196504781?utm_source=chatgpt.com))

 Islamist terrorism has remained transnational in character. Religious identity has been weaponised, leaving its reverberations in India. India should have understood much earlier identity war by Pakistan this was not merely a law-and-order problem or a territorial dispute. It was a statecraft issue requiring intelligence superiority, military deterrence, diplomatic isolation, economic leverage, ideological resilience and competent justice delivery system at home to protect the national cohesion of India.

    Yet Indian state needs to be careful that its enemy is violent extremism and the state structures that enable it—not Indian Muslims, not Islam and not religious identity itself. India has to guard its Muslims from radicalisation by appropriate mix of strategies. What we need is not counter radicalisation from Hindus but smart and tactical war to preserve our entire civilisational space. This is possible only by strategic equilibrium among institutions and not total obedience and surrender to partisan agenda of any group. Challenges are too delicate and formidable given the global geopolitical context. 

   India also needs strong strategic realism to shape its relationship with the wider world. Western powers, China, Russia and others pursue their own interests and agenda. Some may welcome India’s rise but only for their own interests. Most are likely to balance it by propping up Pakistan. United States has appeared to prefer India to be strong enough to be useful and yet it is back to its old ways to propping up Pakistan to neutralise India. 

    India has traditionally enjoyed a degree of goodwill across faultlines in West Asia, Central Asia, Africa, Far East and South America. This was outcome of our humanist liberal outlook as a state as well as our long civilisational roots. During era of American hostility in the previous century, many American allies frequently took anti-India position on various issues. But a combination of economic, military and covert prowess has potential to alter the larger geopolitical calculus within the region and beyond to win more active allies and passive supporters. India need not take partisan stand to endorse states facing isolation. Serious security partners do not need open diplomatic mollycoddling. It is better to keep such relations under the wrap.       

    Further, it is naive to expect any global or regional hegemon to allow India to be strong enough to become consequential on its own or emerge as a formidable power. Yet we have to find our own ways and quietly negotiate challenges in this direction. Deception, ruthlessness and cold calculations have always been integral component of geopolitics. These shall continue to remain so even in foreseeable future. We must convince our corporate leaders to be partners in institution building in India rather than act as collaborators in institutional subversion for short term financial gains. It is possible for them to realign their goals in a manner where their own profitability and rise can converge with larger national priorities.  In a globalised world, an India with fragile institutions can expose them to far more serious vulnerability. 

    We must also appreciate that there are so many transnational financial, technological and strategic interests that profiteer from sub-optimal progress of India.  They would like our continued under-performance and dependence on them. Our weaker criminal justice system and poor regulations allow them to profiteer at bigger scale. They have no moral commitment to our strategic progress. They would like to cripple domestic enterprise and industry by subverting our own institutions. Most may not be foreigners. But in a globalised world, no domestic network can thrive without powerful global patronage. We need to deal with it calmly and not emotionally. 

      Stakeholders of India cannot afford to act on assumptions that the world wants us to succeed. Pleasing or soothing words of our external friends and adversaries need to be reciprocated but we cannot lose focus of deeper understanding and evaluation of different shades of external entities and contexts.  Institutional resilience alone can help us negotiate with external world more efficaciously. World respects power and careful harnessing of power further enhance comprehensive strength.  

    Our sheer survival, in a competitive and hostile world, warrants us to become economically too formidable to be coerced, technologically too innovative to be intimidated, institutionally too resilient to be subverted and strategically too valuable to be ignored. This is possible not by expression of aspirations and intent. We need genuine leaders or an army of professional leaders in different spheres. There is no dearth of smart and committed brains in our society. India never ceased to produce individuals with sagely integrity and high-quality intellect. It is imperative that they are brought together and their strengths are optimally harnessed.     

Need For a Fundamental Shift in Outlook: Relevance of Indocracy

    India needs a fundamental shift in way it interprets national power and identifies its priorities. GDP is not national power. Neither are missiles, aircraft carriers or sophisticated weaponry sourced from foreign manufacturers. Even diplomatic visibility on its own has limited value.

    National power is the compound result of healthy citizens, educated minds, productive workers, robust and trustworthy institutions that promote excellence, technological capability, economic depth, military strength, social cohesion and national confidence and an overall culture of excellence, innovation and entrepreneurship, and total freedom for conscientious and enlightened dissidence. State has to appear protector, benefactor and corrector of every citizen, especially the high-end contributors to national power in every realm.

The governance question facing India at this juncture is deceptively simple:

How do we enhance maximum potential of every Indian and harness the same to achieve our national goals with right priorities?

This is where Indocracy becomes relevant.

    Indocracy is based on much deeper understanding of human psyche, evolutionary journey of India as well as major civilisations and their strategic psyche, especially the way these have evolved, alongside a very broad range of issues varying from governance, geopolitics, warfare, security, technology, science and economy etc. Though the entire idea is not in public domain, because the complete work has been repeatedly hacked, yet the broad contours are available, It is scientific blueprint of a strategic statecraft that may not be perfect and requires continuous refinement. Yet Indocracy envisions a mutually empowering equilibrium between individuals and institutions and institutions and society as well as society and state. It also draws from ancient wisdom from not merely a passive but active and progressively improving quality of harmony between man and nature. yet it comes down to focusing building right attributes within individuals, varying from physical strength to cognition to technical skills to human empathy to help them evolve into better human beings who can help build better society. The entire idea is not about wishful thinking and moral aspiration. It offers a hardcore and ruthless strategy towards societal and national transformation.  

    China has demonstrated extraordinary state capacity to carry out societal and institutional transformations at unprecedented scales. It is virtually shaping global geopolitics in a way that was unimaginable half a century back. The West has continued to retain its immense technological, financial and institutional prowess even though it no longer appears in a position to shape the world the way it has done so until the last century. Certain states of West Asia and Africa can still rely on natural resources. But with burgeoning population, shrinking land and water resources, and a host of governance challenges and pressures, India has to rely on exceptional innovation and energy. Indocracy points towards a viable, sustainable and optimal course of trajectory. 

    A larger call for transformation or re-dedication to the cause of nation shall remain a rhetoric, unless Indians, especially its elite, summon their conscience, courage and self-belief to set an example themselves by attempting build a mutually empowering equilibrium with wider society. Our aspiration to turn Vishwa Guru or Vishwa Bandhu shall appear hollow unless we ourselves rise beyond our parochial caste and language identities. 

 PS: Kindly forgive typographic errors. I cannot invest time to correct these.

WHEN JUSTICE FALTERS, GENERATIONS SUFFER; CIVILISATIONS CRUMBLE

JUSTICE: THE SOUL OF A CIVILISATION: 

Man’s journey from primeval barbarism to civility has been driven by the quest for a just and fair world. This is what that has infused power and energy among small communities enabling them transform into great civilisations. Justice has not only been the focal point of security from arbitrariness of power or perversity of those in position of authority, but it has been the soul of every extra ordinary state, society and civilisation. A society that practices higher quality and principles of justice in its context, always succeeds in optimising collective potentials, capacities and output of its people. But when justice falters, even the greatest among nations and civilisations sink into pit of vulgar power grab by self-seeking groups and cartels.

               In every context and every era, the vision for a better society, that at times caused societal upheavals and violent changes, was driven by the dream for a fair and just world. Across civilizations, principles and practices of justice were never perfect, if looked from contemporary sensibilities of our respective cultures. Human sensibilities varied in different contexts and so did the larger priorities in each context. These have continued to evolve throughout history, yet the centrality of justice was never incidental. Philosophical texts and literature may not have mirrored realities in society, but these always reflected enlightened yearnings in each context and era.

ANCIENT PHILOSOPHIES: ACROSS CIVILISATIONS:

Ancient Indian sages envisioned a just society as one driven by Dharma – the eternal cosmic rhythm that obliged rulers and ruled to adhere to their respective roles. Texts attributed to Brihaspati,  Parāśara, Śukrācārya Manu, Yājñavalkya, Narada, Vishnu Smriti and eventually Kautilyan Arthashastra extended justice into codes of law, governance, and societal ethics—each insisting that fairness, including protection of the weak and vulnerable and restraint on authority of sovereign was the axis of legitimacy of rulers. The Chinese concept of ‘Mandate of the Heaven’ or Confucius’ Analects, Mencius’ defense of the people, and Han Feizi’s Legalism all converged on the principle that rulers were obliged to rule only in accordance with the highest principles of personal ethic to pursue the larger principles of justice for all.

In West Asia and Iran, the Code of Hammurabi (18th c. BCE) carved fairness into stone; Zoroaster’s Asha proclaimed truth and justice as cosmic order; later Islamic jurists like Al‑Farabi and Ibn Khaldun envisioned justice as the foundation of virtuous polity and social cohesion. In the Greco‑Roman world, Thales and the Milesians shifted thought from myth to rational order, laying the groundwork for justice as natural law. Plato imagined justice as harmony of soul and state, Aristotle distinguished distributive and corrective fairness, while the Stoics universalized justice as living in accordance with nature. Rome codified this into jus naturale, eternal and binding across peoples. Later philosophers—Aquinas, Locke, Rousseau, and Rawls—extended the dream: justice as divine order, social contract, and fairness as equity.

Similarly, Russkaya Pravda of Kievan Rus to Japan’s Confucian‑Buddhist codes and Indonesia’s adat and Pancasila, underlined justice as the axis of legitimacy of authority. Each affirmed that the fabric that held together a nation was not force or fear but the integrity and quality of justice as observed in society and enforced by institutions. Higher the principles of fairness that these rules and laws manifested and the degree of uniformity with which these were administered, greater was the harmony and cohesion of a society.

DEMOCRACY: PROMISE OF HIGHER QUALITY OF JUSTICE: 

Dawn of modern representative democracy, liberation of United States, French revolution, rationalist humanist ideals of the so-called enlightenment philosophies, women’s rights, abolition of slavery, universal adult franchise, large-scale de-colonisation, emergence of independent India, driven by the larger Gandhian principles of truth and non-violence, Universal Declaration of Human rights (1948), and advancements toward modern welfare states were all progresses in quest of a more just world. Yet in absence of eternal conscientiousness and sagacity of global leaders, entire world appears far more vulnerable to drift from established principles of justice at altar of self-seeking human frailties.

WHEN SOCIETIES LOSE CONSCIENCE, STATES DECAY AND CIVILISATIONS SLIDE BACK:

            Civilisations often slide back and states decay, when societies lose their conscience and courts become moot spectators or active collaborators in murder of justice. An integrated and interdependent world has been huge opportunity to transform plight of mankind. Yet it is larger poverty of global leadership and vision that has seriously eroded Justice, fairness and trust from the global order. Domestically, most democracies are struggling to protect efficacy of their institutions. In absence of serious innovation to restore institutional resilience, some of the most established democracies run the genuine risk of terminal decay and degeneration.

INDIA: 

In India, democracy appears to have descended into a bitter squabble for power between major political formations. Life, liberty, security and dignity of ordinary citizens are relevant only to the extent that these are kickable in larger arena of political football where major parties are vying for capturing levers of state power, more for their own private agenda than building the nation. The process of dismantling key institutions of state may have gained momentum in recent years but it was kicked more than five decades back. Unfortunately, both civil society and intelligentsia have demonstrated enormous poverty of purpose and resolve to resist the same. This situation has turned precarious largely due judiciary’s abdication of its responsibilities to uphold and protect rule of law. It shall not be unfair to state that despite flashes of rare integrity and wisdom among a microscopic minority of judges, entire institution of judiciary appears  

Ironically, there is virtually no discourse within intellectual and strategic space of India on extricating our democracy from this quagmire. While a robust judiciary that prevents, pre-empts and deters breach of rule of law or social and national cohesion is indispensable for optimal progress of India. An ascendant and assertive India, manifesting its essentially humanist civilisational values, is likely to enhance the quality of strategic equilibrium in the global power balance. This requires a genuine leadership to build a social system that adhered to the highest principes of justice and an efficacious legal regime to protect the same. Eternal principles of fairness and equity are well known in every society. None embodies it better than Indian constitution and Indian laws. But the day, Indian courts start administering the rules and laws uniformly and transparently, without any fear or favour, the world shall be far better. Few judges may have to gamble with their lives; but patriotism, courage, integrity and humanism need not be monopoly of soldiers in battlefield alone. All stakeholders of society, especially members of higher must embody the same to defend morale and conscience of society. They must remember:

 
Justice is heartbeat of a society and Judiciary its custodian; When justice falters, generations suffer; civilisations crumble.

 

[This was published on this very blog on Aug 09, 2026, but had to be reproduced as that piece has been corrupted]
 

 

WHY MUST INDIAN JUDICIARY TRANSFORM ITSELF TO REGAIN ITS DIGNITY, CREDIBILITY AND EFFICACY

Judiciary is not merely arbiter of disputes; it is the final bastion of security of the nation and guardian of conscience of a civilisation.

Justice in India: Largely A Rhetoric Devoid of Substance? 

    Justice in India has perennially appeared an expensive, inconsistent, and unaffordable luxury, inaccessible to ordinary citizens. Police and courts are dreaded entities. Most ordinary citizens seek to avoid them to the best of their capacity. A satirical cliché that captures the reality of justice in India states that the blindfold of Lady symbolising Justice in Indian context does not indicate impartiality; it rather demonstrates her deliberate refusal to see crimes of the powerful or cries for justice of the masses.

    I recall, in 1989 at Jawaharlal Nehru University, I had vociferously asserted in a public debate before a retired eminent judge from Supreme Court, where audience included senior academics and eminent lawyers, that: "justice in India was an expensive commodity that only the rich and powerful could afford." That assertion was welcomed with thunderous applause. 

During that era the underlying reality was ability of elites to afford top lawyers who could manipulate courts. Today, in a globalized world, integrity of most institutions has eroded. Notwithstanding few exemplary verdicts, judicial processes have lost their credibility. Miscarriage of justice appears a norm and delivery of justice an exception. 

Checkered Past of Indian Judiciary

    Indian judiciary had once played a transformational role in society. Judicial verdicts in cases like Romesh Thapar (1950), Golaknath (1967), Kesavananda Bharati (1973), and Maneka Gandhi (1978), Bandhua Mukti Morcha (1984), Shahbano (1985), S R Bommai (1994) etc fortified democracy. The Hussainara Khatoon (1979) case rescued undertrials, while Olga Tellis (1985) upheld livelihood rights and Vishakha directed detailed mechanism to protect women from sexual harassment.

   This was the era when the courts could confront state and privileged elite without inhibition. Yet miscarriages of justice were not entirely unknown. But these stemmed more from procedural constraints rather than perversity or malice. Mathura rape case, Bhagalpur blindings, ADM Jabalpur's actions during Emergency, and the Bhopal Gas tragedy settlement, that undervalued thousands of lives, are few examples where justice appeared to have succumbed in the courts. 

Courts as Marketplace of Influence, Money and Underhand Deals

    Informed and ethical lawyers suggest that over the last two decades or so, Indian courts have increasingly resembled marketplaces where influence and money dictated outcomes more often than legal merit of matters. This is not withstanding many exemplary verdicts and brilliant judges. Registry manipulation, bench hunting, and monopolization of court room legal victory by top lawyers became norms. 

The cliché — “A good lawyer knows law, but a great lawyer knows judges” has not appeared as brazen in any other democracy as in India.

High‑Profile Cases Reflecting Rot:

 Following are a miniscule sample of a series of high- profile verdicts that undermine credibility and image of judiciary:  

• Salman Khan hit‑and‑run acquittal despite eyewitnesses.

• 1999 BMW hit and run case where justice was diluted by awarding community       service to wealthy offenders.

• Jessical Lal murder case where people had to come on streets in support of victim;

 • 2024 BMW hit and run case, where courts tried to protect the offender and          eventually granted bail to offender who celebrated as if he had won a war; 

• Sanjay Dutt arms case marked by lenient paroles.

• Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter where most accused were discharged.

• Acquittal of alleged rapists of Bilkis Bano.

•  Frequent parole to a number of influential murder and rape accused, diluting the punishment/sentence

The real list may be too long and even contentious. But the privileged have routinely escaped accountability under law whereas ordinary citizens languish in queues of adjournments for decades to very often face injustice.

Justice Delayed, Justice Denied

    India’s judicial backlog is staggering. Over 100,000 cases are pending in the Supreme Court alone, with nearly 40% older than a year. At lower levels, pendency stretches into decades. According to National Judicial Data Grid, the total pendency of cases at High Court and District Court levels has crossed 5.5 corers and as per web, 75-80% of these are criminal cases. This underlines a chilling reality. If incidences of crime are so high and courts are not able to deliver verdicts, this will only enhance criminality in our society. Alternatively, if most are innocent, it is equally dangerous. It implies that our police is framing innocent citizens.  

    Though Indians are not as violent a society compared to many other societies. But inefficient legal system is probably criminalising entire society. The entire scenario appears more like a silent war against the nation, that is bound to cripple our long term progress and advancement.

Besides, a delayed justice appears hollow and meaningless.

Corruption and Complicity

'Corruption in India has increasingly become an acceptable way of life'. These are words of none other than a former Chief Justice of India, who admitted corruption in higher ranks of judiciary. This was much before a pile of huge cash was accidentally caught at residence of a High Court judge, and yet the highest court shielded him or let him off with resignation instead of an investigation and deterrent punishment. 

According to some bar and bench insiders, the intensity and depth of corruption and subversion in Indian judiciary may be far deeper than what average mind shall be able to fathom. This not merely corrodes the judiciary at multiple levels but endangers entire society. Some of the known corruption controversies in higher ranks of judiciary include:  

• Justice V. Ramaswami impeachment (1993) exposed misconduct.

• Cash‑at‑Judge’s‑Doorstep (2008), Punjab and Haryana High Court;

• Justice Soumitra Sen impeachment (2011) confirmed misappropriation of funds.

• Medical college bribery scandal (2017) brought corruption allegations to the Supreme Court’s doorstep.

•  Pile of cash at caught during outbreak of fire at official residence of High Court judge Yashwant Verma (2025);

There are repeated scandals that have surfaced in media hinting at serious systemic rot.

    Prashant Bhushan has relentlessly charged judges with corruption. He had once asserted that half of India’s supreme Court judges were corrupt and faced a legal case also where he had apologised. Later, he declared that dossiers are used to blackmail judges, and that the judiciary has enabled the “destruction of democracy” . Former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi’s admission that the judiciary is “not free of corruption” and his acceptance of a Rajya Sabha seat after retirement only confirmed pliability of judges and substances in allegations.

Systemic Malaise

The malaise in Indian judiciary is structural. These are manifest in

• Selective urgency in politically sensitive cases or those involving mega corporates;

• Post‑retirement appointments of judges, incentivizing subversion in judiciary.

• Opaque collegium practices shielding misconduct.

• Case backlogs enabling manipulation.

    These have eroded public trust in judiciary and weakened democracy’s institutional spine.

Identification of Deeper Contradictions

There are far too many deep structural contradictions that have impaired efficiency and output of Indian judiciary. Some of these are well known and yet following illustrate the same convincingly:

   a) Dominance of Lawyers in Higher judiciary: Most High Court and Supreme           Court judges being former lawyers may be aware of legal technicalities but their               experience and exposure as lawyers do not equip them with orientation requiring them       to be courageous and ethical judges;

    

    b) Larger Ecosystem of Corruption in Society: From cradle to grave, Indians            of         recent generations have grown up in an environment of corruption. This            makes         it difficult for most of them to act with integrity;

    c) Poor Pay and Ostentatious Paraphernalia: All state functionaries are paid                         poorly and yet they are given such regal paraphernalia that makes corruption         an          inevitable; Judges in higher courts of India get bungalows in top                                         locations with massive infrastructure and support staff and fleet of expensive                      BMW cars which they can never afford after retirement, if they live with                            integrity; they are virtually compelled to turn corrupt to continue with comparable life      after retirement.

    d) Indirect Pressures: It is widely believed that from recruitment to transfers to a                 wide variety of issues pertaining to judiciary lack transparency and                                    accountability; Mystery in these process make integrity a casualty.

Road to Future

India cannot afford a judiciary content with ritual dignity while ignoring decay that kills justice, chokes society and cripples optimum progress of the nation. Reform is existential. While a detailed evaluation is required, but the following could be starting points: 

• Transparency in appointments to end collegium opacity.

• Rigorous induction and in-service training and regular psychological conditioning to inculcate integrity, professionalism and psychological resilience;

 • Accountability for misconduct through enforceable mechanisms; 

• Insulation from political patronage to restore complete independence of judiciary;

• Technology‑driven efficiency to reduce pendency;

• Elimination of unnecessary frills and enhancement of pay and allowances of judges; 

• Simplification of judicial process and introduction of structure forms to ensure easy filing of cases and their quick comprehension;

• Inbuilt incentives for high-quality verdicts in key priority areas;    

• Incentivizing high-quality judgements through a variety of possible means;

• Severe punishment for perjury;

• Punishment for willful obstruction of justice or deliberate delaying tactics;

• Eradication of cartels of lawyers monopolising access to justice delivery system;    creation of a mechanism of specialization of lawyers where fee structure of every lawyer in every category is transparent;

• Eliminate space for need based corruption and deter greed driven corruption;    with exemplary punishment for guilty; 

• Creation of Judicial Accountability Commission to review personal conduct of      judges; ban on all post-retirement incentives of apex court;  

There can be far to many other detailed instruments. But the above are basic minimum requirements for resuscitating soul of Indian judiciary. 

Conclusion: A Vibrant Judiciary is Critical Component of National Security

    Weak institutions provide fertile soil for covert warfare by opaque foreign forces and a host of criminal and mercenary forces. The former have always patronised the latter for both financial plunder as well as scuttling optimal progress of a targeted nation for their larger geopolitical agenda. I had highlighted in one of my posts on this very blog that mega organised crime networks in South America have infiltrated ranks of police and judiciary in many outwardly stable and sovereign democracies. These crime cartels are dictating political agenda, influencing election outcomes and have reduced several states into their private battle yard where malicious incumbents of police and judiciary have been acting as private soldiers of these cartels. 

Fortunately, we are not close to such a scenario. Our institutions are still sturdy enough compared to many fragile states. But if the rot in criminal justice system is not checked at the earliest, our difficulties are bound to intensify. Opaque political funding, rampant corruption and criminality in ranks of police and bureaucracy, mushrooming of multiple shades of crime networks, amidst suspicion of rising corruption and inefficiency in all ranks of judiciary, make us severely vulnerable. Our own unique geopolitical challenges, clandestine terror, organised crime and subversive capacity of our external adversaries further enhance threats to our state and society.

    Without an elaborate network of organised crime on Indian soil and subversion of section of population, such sustained wave of terror attacks that rattled India for over three decades was impossible. Subversion of sections of police and judiciary appears more than obvious given the fact that a large number of professional and upright securocrats of the country, who made big contribution in dismantling Islamist organised and terror networks have been sidelined or criminally persecuted and harassed by combined cliques within judiciary and police. These include many senior police officers themselves.       

    When justice is inaccessible and grievances fester, society starts dying because the trust in the systems erodes. When courts appear biased, people lose faith in entire state apparatus. The objective of terrorism and covert war is also to undermine popular trust of citizenry in credibility and efficacy of state institutions to protect them. Corrupt judiciary and compromised criminal justice system may not be threatening the society in same spectacular way as terrorist attacks or conventional wars. Yet the net outcome is same. 

The high and mighty in the ranks of judiciary must appreciate that Judiciary is not merely an arbiter of disputes; it is the final bastion of national security. If judiciary is subverted, the very state apparatus loses its legitimacy. 

   While judiciary must never overstep its jurisdiction, it can always facilitate a strong quality of strategic equilibrium among various institutions, compelling their incumbents to act with integrity to the best of their capacity, instead of pursuing their self-seeking personal agenda.

 India needs genuine leaders in judiciary.  They need not wield arms, but with a stroke of the pen they can resuscitate the morale of an entire society. A vibrant nation has never prospered by blind obedience to its leaders. Societies must ask questions, challenge authority wherever they go wrong. Only character, integrity and sagacity in judiciary can defend such rights of citizens. 

HOLLOW COURTS: SILENT KILLERS OF NATIONAL VIGOUR (Judiciary-Vol 2)

        An independent, impartial, ethical and efficient Judiciary is the best guarantor of not only security of life, liberty and dignity of citizens but also the vigour, vitality and cohesion of a nation.  Internal peace and harmony have perennially been the bedrock of vibrant societies and robust states. 

   

CASE OF CEUTA: DID JUDICIARY DENT SECURITY?

    In concluding part of my last post on Judiciary, I had mentioned that the institutional capture by cartels and syndicates was the biggest betrayal of democracy. Cartels - of crime and corruption, under larger patronage of opaque global forces- can exploit open spaces offered by democracies to capture key institutions of state. This dents capacity of democracies to govern themselves in the best interest of their own security as well as wellbeing of their own people. 

    Recent developments in Spanish territory of Ceuta – where thousands of military age male from neighbouring Morocco took over streets, looting public stores, destroying assets, stabbing people, molesting and raping women and breaking into houses of peaceful residents- becomes relevant. There is a strong opinion that the crisis is an outcome of sustained erosion in efficacy of judicial systems over last few decades. Spanish courts, of late, have faced persistent allegations of declining capacity to implement reform laws and contain corruption in society, including its own ranks. Sluggish judicial processes and dwindling autonomy of judiciary are believed to have dented the agility and dynamism of entire domestic institutions. Hence, they failed to proactively anticipate, assess and deal with unexpected crisis. Every failure does not lead to a spectacle as many lapses quietly erode vigour and vitality of societies and states. By the time it gets too obvious, it is often too late. 

    Spain is still a powerful state, despite hostile gestures of President Trump. It should overcome the crises in Ceuta, but the episode shall leave a permanent scar on its people. Further, it is no guarantee that it shall not face bigger and irreversible problems if its collective energies continue to be choked by internal discords and inefficient judiciary. This is also a lesson for other nations facing similar or more intense problems.   

FORMIDABLE CHALLENGES OF INDIA: 

Probably the challenges in India are far more intense and serious even though it cannot be compared with Spain. No part of India faces the predicament of a small territory like Ceuta, strategic located across a vulnerable strait like Gibraltar, with contested sovereignty over centuries, and highly intense threats from radicalised forces of North Africa. Yet every state and every region their own share of challenges and threats, which call for optimal preparedness all the time. 

    But when judiciary loses its efficacy in any state, it dents capacity of institutions and morale of people both to stay prepared for unexpected challenges and threats. An inefficient judiciary, incapable of fulfilling its sacred obligation to uphold rule of law in a democracy, brings the entire governance edifice under severe stress. The net outcome is erosion social trust and fracture of social cohesion. These dent morale of not only upright and ethical citizens but even upright and professional functionaries of the state. If the situation stays unremedied for long, states experience erosion in their capacity to fulfill even their most fundamental obligations.

    A large developing state with fragile or subverted institutions, especially the criminal justice system, amidst serious external threat, in the current technology driven globalised world, is far more vulnerable to unexpected disasters. The consequences may impact not only the masses but even the elite. The threat need not always be in the form of external military or terrorist attacks. From natural calamities to polluted air and water to poor civic amenities and dysfunctional institutions to serious economic and technological stagnation to inability of state to negotiate with complex external challenges etc can impact lives for all to varying degrees.

    Even if a state is able to endure and emerge from a major crisis, the scar on its psyche is more often irreversible. 

ASYMMETRICAL COVERT WARS BEYOND MILITARY BATTLEFIELDS

    In a volatile and trust deficit world, clandestine subversion of institutions by hostile forces is a known form of covert warfare. This is perpetrated relentlessly, with varying degrees of intensity, even during peace time. From regional and global hegemons to lumpen and criminalised states to a host of internal mercenary and parasitical groups are involved in the same. While every act of lawlessness and governance failure must not be interpreted as covert war, but poor social trust and fragile criminal justice system provide the most fertile soil for subversive warfare by external powers and mercenary forces. It becomes easier for opaque global networks, with elaborate world-wide infrastructure, to capture lax institutions of liberal states through pliable proxies. Very often cohesive cartels come up in these institutions to take over institutions or rig chain of succession to leadership level roles, but these cartels shall struggle to survive without patronage of more powerful global forces. Hence, it is more important that key stakeholders of a state take proactive measures to protect their institutions. 

 

RECENT ACADEMIC RESERACHES AND INVESTIGATIONS

    Many courageous and ethical researchers and investigative journalists have often tried to offer deeper insight into this sphere. But our overall knowledge remains limited. One of the recent works captioned "Violence, Coercion, and the Politics of State Capture' (Federico Manfredi Firmian, Routledge, 2026) offers comparative case studies on how elites allied with militias and organized crime networks captured courts and governance in Madagascar, Sudan, Lebanon, Mexico, and Colombia–Venezuela borderlands. Judicial institutions are manipulated to shield illicit economies and repress accountability (Taylor & Francis).

    Roxana Gutiérrez‑Romero (Oxford Academic, 2026) in the work captioned "Killing for Control: How Drug Traffickers Capture the State and Expand Their Criminal Economies" exposes how Mexican drug trafficking organizations used bribery, assassinations, and intimidation of judges and politicians to dominate resource‑rich regions. They apparently carried out over 500 political assassinations and 156 attacks on relatives of officials, in a clear manifestation of direct cartel penetration into judicial and political systems (Oxford Academic).

    Hanna Samir Kassab & Jonathan D. Rosen (Springer, 2019) in their work "Corruption, Institutions, and Fragile States" explore how corruption and organized crime infiltrate fragile state institutions, including courts, creating systemic impunity and weakening governance (Springer). 

    "Embodiments and Frictions of Statehood in Transnational Criminal Justice" (Eva Magdalena Stambøl & Randi Solhjell, Theoretical Criminology, 2021) offers a large number of case studies in Mali and Liberia show how fragile judicial systems, under international “penal aid,” became arenas where global and local power asymmetries allowed criminal groups to exploit weak courts (SAGE Journals).

    City Bar & Vance Center Reports on Latin America (2025–2026) documents reprisals, assassinations, and disciplinary retaliation against judges in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, often linked to organized crime and political interests. Judges were killed (e.g., Bolivia’s Víctor Hugo Claure, Ecuador’s Lady Gissela Pachar Huanga) for rulings against cartels and corrupt elites. 

    Dejusticia Report: “With Judges on the Chopping Block” (2026) highlights Venezuela and El Salvador as prime examples of judicial capture, where courts became instruments of authoritarian regimes and criminal gangs, rubber‑stamping abuses and dismantling independence (Dejusticia)

    Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF) & GI‑TOC Panel (2026) warns that organized crime in Latin America infiltrates judicial structures, customs agencies, and financial systems, securing impunity and territorial control. Courts and prosecutors are weakened, while cartels exploit prison systems to consolidate power (DPLF)

     Cartel penetration in criminal justice system is systemic and not driven by bribery alone. They often deploy assassinations, intimidation, and manipulation of judicial appointments to ensure their grip over criminal justice system. Fragile states with weak and inefficient institutions, rampant corruption and amenable to external pressures are most vulnerable. Courts are always the easy targets and so are upright and professional security officers. Cartelisation and capture of Judiciary undermines sovereignty where democracy and rule of law may survive more in form and less in substance. Courts tend to serve cartels and authoritarian rulers, which again in fragile states thrive more due to patronage by opaque global forces rather than goodwill of the people.

    Societal fracture, criminal violence and rampant corruption provide fertile ground for institutional erosion. Mega cartels weaponize these to ensure impunity and expand their illicit economies in collusion with corrupt and pliable elements in politics, bureaucracy, corporates, media  and eventually criminal justice system. The form, degree and intensity varies. 

INDIAN CONTEXT

Credible gold standard citations are too far and few in the Indian context. But recent media disclosures about Lawrence Bishnoi gang operating a global crime network appears improbable without larger patronage and support of clandestine cartels within Indian police. The places of its operation in North America or Dubai further point to something obvious. These places already had strong footprints of Pakistan backed Khalistani and Islamist groups, whose nexus with rogue and malicious elements within Indian police, judicial and political establishments is well documented.

    Vohra Commission report, commissioned after the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts, chaired by N.N. Vohra (Home Secretary), had categorically stated that D‑Company and other syndicates had deeply entrenched themselves in police, judiciary, and politics, creating a parallel system of governance. The report had warned that politicians, bureaucrats, and police officials were protecting and profiting from criminal cartels, undermining sovereignty. Role of judiciary has not been openly mentioned but it is assessed, on the basis of several available inputs, that the entire circle of subversion just cannot be completed without a similar and substantial degree of subversion. The Vohra commission had recommended creation of a dedicated agency to monitor and dismantle these networks. Nevertheless, such a bureaucratic solution was far too incapable of redressing the rot. 

    Patronage of D‑Company network by Pakistani ISI is well known. It is widely believed, on basis of credible researches, that this cartel's grip over narcotics trafficking, extortion, contract killings, and money laundering was simply impossible without strong nexus with powerful cartels within police, judicial and political establishments of India. A recent report by Times Now (2026) mentioned that 'Enforcement Directorate' had exposed D‑Company’s drug empire where both incumbents of Indian police and hawala operators were colluders. Earlier, US Treasury and UN Sanctions (2003 onwards) had designated Dawood Ibrahim as a global terrorist, citing his role in financing terror and infiltrating Indian institutions. This was done on the basis of credible evidence alone.

    Khalistani Outfits like Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) again involved in a wide variety of organised crime including narco trafficking. Both the groups are known to be working under direction of Pakistan’s ISI. Their nexus with cartels within Punjab Police has been spoken of at many platforms. The legendary former DGP of Punjab Police Late K.P.S. Gill (1997) had documented how Khalistani militants had thrived under police and political patronage in Punjab.

    These networks have definitely not died down as yet. There are several media reports that have highlighted drone incursions in Punjab from Pakistan, transporting both heroin and arms. These again hint at corruption within segments of Punjab police and organised funding of Khalistani cells. India Tribune (2026) has highlighted how ISI channeled funds to recruit rural youth of Punjab. The report exposed the larger narco‑terror nexus with politics. There are extensive media reports highlighting the penetration in Indian systems not only in Punjab but other states as well. Some of these I have mentioned in my paper on terrorism (An Indigenous Strategy on Terrorism - DocsLib). But the large size of the country and relative strength of institutions and resilience of Indian values have so far contained the level of subversion below a certain threshold level.  But there is definitely a need for serious institutional evaluation of the situation and initiation of efficacious remedial measures.  

 

In closely integrated and interconnected world, irregular and asymmetric warfare are integral components of zero-sum geopolitical chess by big powers. These wars extend way beyond military theatres. Courts, policing systems, bureaucracies, media ecosystems, regulatory institutions, and even political processes can become arenas of strategic manipulation.

 

STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS 

I have stated earlier in my write ups that in contemporary closely integrated and interconnected world, irregular and asymmetric warfare are integral components of geopolitics.  Such wars extend way beyond military theatres. Courts, policing systems, bureaucracies, media ecosystems, regulatory institutions, and even political processes can become arenas of strategic manipulation. 

Local cartels, often ignorant of larger picture, capture key institutions of their own states for their private gains. When institutions designed to protect society become instruments of selective power, democracy survives in form but loses its substance.

 PSYCHOLOGICAL CONDITIONING 

    The deepest consequence of institutional capture is psychological and not merely legal or political alone. I have maintained, on basis of scientific research, that it is possible to capture not only institutions but also permanently alter the psyche of substantial percentage of people in an entire generation. External adversaries shall benefit if a society is trapped in a never-ending emotive identity conflict and sense of helplessness among citizens. This will automatically destroy societal cohesion and capacity of institutions to act impartially and fairly and morale of people to resist the damage.  

    In case of India, delayed justice, and even gross injustice, have become a predictable norm. a large percentage of ordinary citizens appear to have ceased expecting fairness from legal and judicial institutions. Such a scenario is certain to destroy popular confidence in institutions. 

    Integrity, altruism and human empathy have perennially been the bedrock of social trust. But now these are more often dismissed as naïveté. Dishonesty and opportunism appear to have become rational and desirable attributes of individuals and silence or collusion in dishonesty appears the highest hallmark of wisdom. In such a society, fear is no more an occasional state of emotion among deviants and violators of law. Rather it has become the framework of governance that expects compliance of citizens even against norms of rationality and law. Can such a society ever succeed in pursuit of comprehensive and sustained excellence in human endeavours? Shall it ever be able to optimise its collective all-round strengths of its people?  

     Neuroscience provides a convincing explanation. Through neuroplasticity, repeated exposure to intimidation, arbitrariness, and helplessness rewires behavioural responses - when RNA recodes DNA, instead the usual coding of RNA by DNA- that becomes part of genetic make-up over generations. These condition more and more individuals to increasingly favour conformity over courage and survival over principle. Across generations, persistent environmental pressures may also influence epigenetic patterns, reinforcing inherited tendencies towards distrust, learned helplessness, and institutional disengagement or even cowardice and opportunism.

    The biggest strength of a civilisation is not the wealth of some of its elite but the character of its masses. Such a phenomenon of learned behavior due to state oppression with judicial collusion attacks on the very fundamental strengths of our civilisation.   

      The ultimate battle, therefore, is not for legal and technical rules and procedures alone. It is for enhancing the quality of institutions of state and society that are dependent upon character of citizens. The latter depends upon opportunities and ambience available for optmising the strengths and capacities of human mind. These alone can equip us with the civilisational confidence to negotiate with both internal constraints and external challenges.  

    Our legal-clerical approach to governance, amidst rigged institutions and poorly conditioned societal psyche - especially the epigenetic survivalism evolved over generations among a substantial section of population due to centuries of oppressive foreign occupation- have been gradually retarding our civilisational strengths. It were relatively higher thresholds of integrity, altruism and societal trust among majority Hindu and Indic faith practitioners and liberal Muslims of India, that had helped democracy survive and thrive even amidst extreme poverty, after independence. Probably there is no other example of this kind. Nevertheless, subversion of institutions or failure of adequate evolution of democracy, especially severe dysfunctionality of criminal justice system, may be permanently eroding this strength of ours.    

HOLLOW JUDICIARY: SILENT CAPTURE OF INSTITUTIONS 

     In democracies, courts are the ultimate custodians of observance of rule of law. If such courts lose credibility, integrity and efficacy, the entire governance-administrative edifice comes under serious threat, seriously retarding all-round capacities of the concerned state.

    In one of my earlier posts on this very blog, which was also published in a magazine named Asian Affairs, in 2019 (Jitendra Kumar Ojha on Democracy, Governance, Geopolitics, National Security & Leadership : India's Crying Need for a Robust Criminal Justice System), I had stated: " A deficient criminal justice system not only hinders rule of law but also impedes internal security and social harmony, which are critical for economic development and national security". 

    Hollow courts in democracies are probably the biggest collaborators and approvers of subversive war against their own state and civilisation. This is especially when they lose their capacity to uphold and defend rule of law. It is irrelevant if the cause us procedural constraints or personal epigenetic factors of certain incumbents. The net outcome shall be silent capture of critical institutions by energised cartels seeking to enrich and empower themselves at the cost of an entire nation and society. 

Poor justice delivery system can destroy social peace and tranquility at one level and seriously impact mental health of citizenry, by raising anxiety levels and generating hopelessness. This directly impedes optimal peace, security, stability and progress of the targeted state and its overall capacity to negotiate with challenges and tap opportunities.

    Challenges concerning our judiciary is not an isolated one. There are multiple indicators that despite outward facade of democracy and sovereignty, we may still be a colony where capacities of state and society have deliberately been curtailed to restrict, if not choke, our optimal progress. Hence, I have been advocating, all on my own, a new science of statecraft captioned as Indocracy.  It encompasses all dimension of governance, security and geopolitics and it is not driven by common sense or law or moral philosophy alone. Rather it is outcome of much deeper inter-disciplinary wisdom and deliberation that goes way beyond normal personal exposures and simple academic information. 

    India needs an urgent, if not immediate, reform in its entire criminal justice system to secure its societal spaces and guard its institutions from all shades of internal and external covert warfare. Our failure in this domain is the only explanation for our sustained under performance on all parameters of governance and security compared to our northern neighbour, who used to be a younger civilisational sibling of ours, but has practiced Kautilyan statecraft with far higher levels of integrity than anyone else. 

Yet it is still not too late to chart out a new course of our own.

 

                                                    (To be concluded with last volume on Judiciary)  

When "Cockroach" Youth Capture Imagination of the Nation

"Cockroach" Youth Capture Imagination  

I was planning to write the second part of my series on Judiciary which I had commenced posting last weekend. But it is impossible not to reflect upon the agitation by youth under the banner of “Cockroach Janata Party”. It has captured the imagination of the nation and won hearts of people by sheer romanticism of innocence, integrity and defiance identified with youth. There are disturbing aberrations as well and some of them have been heard using objectionable and not so decent language. Yet most of them, unlike spoiled brats of India's nouve rich and powerful getting in news for all the wrong reasons, seem to nurture a dream for a better future for themselves as well as entire society. Majority appear fairly grounded. This again reflects innate strength of society and upbringing, which is definitely not consistent. The Government has clearly come under pressure and started negotiations with them making many tactical concessions and yet held its ground on many issues.  It is not clear whether this agitation shall end if specific grievance on NEET paper leak is addressed or it may embrace other issues of governance failures. 

Initially the ruling dispensation and its troll army had sought to defame and de-legitimise the young protestors as well as their symbolic and moral anchor– Sonam wangchuk- through a narrative war. There were attempts to paint the agitators as proxies of global deep state and mainstream media either ignored them or projected them in disparaging light, questioning their integrity and intent. But the damage control exercise was initiated only after clear public indignation over the way police treated the young protestors. There is a potential that the "Cockroach Janata Party" may persist and, if guided and anchored by wise and sensible elders like Wangchuk and may be others, it can become an agent for a bi-partisan transformation in governance systems. But the process shall not be easy, given the deep entrenchment of powerful vested interests thriving in all segments of economy and society.

Ironically, the nomenclature “Cockroach” of this new group was triggered by a disdainful and dismissive remark towards youth of the country by none less than the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India (CJI) himself. Though intense public scrutiny on social media compelled him to cover up his words with big plaudits on youth of the nation, but the damage had already been done. Ironically, the incumbent CJI himself has been in line of public anger more than once over his words and actions in a manner that impacts credibility and image of judiciary. He has repeatedly appeared insensitive towards citizens and docile towards political executive. A group of enterprising youth chose to float an entity named "Cockroach Janata Party" in a clear mood of defiance against the highest functionary of judiciary most of whose recent judgments over the last decade have increasingly projected the judiciary as a subservient arm of the executive.   

 Since the beginning of this century, a host of factors have unleashed a sustained process of subversion of institutions in most democracies, but the challenges are far more formidable in India, given its size and constraints. But attack on integrity and autonomy of institutions have appeared more direct or brazen over the last one decade in India. Nothing can be more painful, generating an ambience of hopelessness and despair if institution of judiciary loses its credibility and impartiality. If private considerations or external pressures, or sheer ignorance, force the highest incumbents in judiciary to deviate from ideals of rule of rule or lose empathy for people and youth, it will be end of a civilisation and our humanis traditions that we boast of. 

Free press and free media have always been the biggest guarantors of individual freedom, dignity and security. These act as the biggest bulwark against atrocities by criminalised gangs or even isolated thugs who can potentially capture sections of state machineries. They may run a parallel system to pursue a private agenda in the name of state. 

Sadly, both free press and free judiciary in India appear to have shifted in political ICU amidst serious subversion of our entire political space. Nearly all political parties are caught in a trap of opaque funding, unavoidable corruption, deliberate subversion of state institutions besides nepotism and cronyism of the worst kind. This is not a new phenomenon and it would be grossly unfair to blame anyone individual or entity. But probably its intensity has never been felt as high over the last five decades or so. While there is world-wide erosion in integrity of institutions, humanity shall suffer immeasurably if Indian democracy continues to lose its direction. I have always believed that India needs to spearhead many innovations in democracy and one of these have to be reform in political parties. This is not about political finding alone. Apart from transparent funding, we need a general culture of leadership, high quality discourse and a wider culture of fair competition within and among political parties. The challenge is huge but not impossible. 

Larger Pent-Up Mass Anguish 

Despite primary focus of the current youth protest being restricted to grievances over NEET paper leak, the mass outrage reflects a larger a pent-up frustration over poor governance, failed promises and a vindictive and oppressive abuse of coercive power of the state against unarmed citizen. Face of the agitation, Sonam Wangchuk, an educationist and innovator from the frontier region of Ladakh, was able to inspire the youth across the nation, in what appeared an inherent manifestation of psychological, emotional and cultural cohesion of the world's most populous nation with the longest and oldest humanist roots.

A dispensation that has appeared consistently arrogant, oppressive and vindictive towards any citizen who has been even remotely critical of its actions or outlook, and particularly targeted apolitical ethical civil servants and contributors to security and progress of the nation, initially responded with war-like bellicosity towards unarmed protestors. Police Commissioner of Delhi was abruptly shunted out on the noon of July 17 and within hours of taking charge, the new police Commissioner ordered a brutal crackdown on protestors. Sonam Wangchuk was forcibly shifted to a Govt hospital in the early morning of July 18 and scores of unarmed protestors were assaulted. Many young people were seen standing calmly and bleeding and yet armed cops were violently assaulting them with batons, even without provocation. Many Delhi police personnel or suspected thugs from the ruling party were also seen in civil dress and slippers assaulting protestors. Young women were also not spared. Male cops were seen slapping and assaulting female protestors and, as per a viral video on social media, one male cop was seen trying to poke a stick into private parts of a fleeing female protestor.

Though Government appears to have temporarily climbed down from high mountains of arrogance to talk to the protestors, but its focus remains restricted to deflecting the present crisis rather than mending the flaws that led to the crisis or initiating remedial measures to bolster the quality of governance and efficacy of institutions. Some heads have rolled but only in bureaucracy. The Government has been adamant upon protecting the Education Minister, who, according to most impartial and apolitical observers, should have taken responsibility and quit. 

Why Must The Movement Remain Apolitical 

The protesting youth, driven by a dream for a better India, need to protect apolitical character and integrity of their movement. Moment they allow their platform to be politicized, they may lose credibility, focus and purpose. It is deep-rooted systemic contradictions that have thrown up a political-governance model that has been causing larger sufferings and occasional crises. Instead of expecting a change of heart in our political class, they must look for transformation of this political-governance structure. This will never be easy in immediate future. 

Nearly a decade and half back, Delhi Police, under a different dispensation had also unleashed violent crack-down on protestors who were sitting on hunger strike. Though a politically inclined Yog Baba had to run away in female robes, probably as part of a deceptive strategy of cops, he permanently lost his credibility. Agitating youth must appreciate successive political and police establishments have been more or less same. Indian police has been perennially loyal to political masters and not people of this country and Constitution of the nation. Simultaneously, opportunist sections of the society, lacking character and ethic, always seek to fish in troubled waters. This calls for greater vigil.

A big majority of agitating youth have shown enormous composure and calm, despite aberrations by many immature and naive ones among them. Yet their leadership needs to be careful that their movement is neither polluted nor hijacked by any vested group or force, especially if they aspire to build a better world for themselves and the entire citizenry of India to inspire rest of the humanity.   

Most spontaneous mass agitations by relatively naïve or political greenhorns, struggle to guard against infiltration by negative elements.  Many undesirable elements have crept in to this movement as well. Certain Islamist zealots have been seen carrying flags of Islamist nations and radical group and shouting provocative sectarian slogans. Suspected criminals and thugs have also been seen assaulting cops and journalists or using foul language.  Simultaneously, individuals perennially known for strident views against unity and integrity of the nation, and suspected links with hostile external forces have also graced the stage of this agitation. 

This is inevitable when a large protest takes place as all and sundry with an agenda against the establishment come together. But the credibility of the ruling dispensation appears so low that many apolitical observers have expressed apprehension that the Govt itself may have infiltrated some criminal elements to defame and discredit the protestors through a narrative warfare. Some armed individuals have also been apprehended enroute the protest site. While some police men and women have been gracious and even agitators have also been seen helping cops suffering from commotion, it is most unfortunate that some cops have been seen threatening to frame the protestors or brutalising them or damaging their own vehicles or public property with malicious intent.  

Amidst these developments, almost entire political opposition of India has latched on this opportunity and tried to hijack this agitation for their own partisan gains. However, there is hardly anything substantive or remedial or constructive vision that has come out from them. No government controls a magic wand to do things perfectly. Ability of a government - to do good or bad- depends upon quality of institutions. Quality of institutions depend upon larger societal, economic, political, security and geopolitical equations. Yet powerful ideas and extra ordinary leaders- with exceptional integrity and resilience- can transform these at accelerated pace. There is enormous and persistent poverty of leaders with these qualities in entire political space of India. 

Leader of Opposition of the country, also tried to hijack this agitation for his own agenda to change the Government or replace the Prime Minister. Of course, it is his right to act in this direction and nurture such aspiration. But any change in Government without any serious and credible vision or blue-print for improvement in the governance apparatus does not inspire confidence.  He claimed that all security personnel, even while dragging him during his brief sit in at Prime Minister’s residence, whispered in his ears to topple the incumbent Government. This is possible. 

 But many critics of the Government have perennially described LoP as the biggest source of strength of the present Government. His sibling and her spouse had once been touted as the biggest symbol of nepotistic and crony corruption. Many believe that, despite a fairly formidable army of volunteers of this party, the Government itself might have invited him to join the agitation to take the sting out of the student agitation. At least a section of Indians still dread the return of Vadranomics despite all extra ordinary personal qualities of the Leader of Opposition, whose grace, decency and civility remain unparalleled in Indian political space. 

But at this juncture of history, a large country like India needs statesman-like vision, integrity and courage from any challenger to the Govt.  Only a genuine campaign to reconstruct and re-build more powerful institution that history has ever seen can extricate India from its current challenges. Sadly, the entire Indian political space badly lacks such idea or leaders with such vision, credibility and acceptability.

A Deeper and Strategic Approach

  Something like paper a leak in an examination, or any crisis of this nature or a brutal state oppression, is manifestation of larger dysfunctionality of systems. Where corruption, dishonesty and disdain toward masses have become a way of life for people with access to power and authority.

Systems have been rendered helpless because the most offenders enjoy political or criminal patronage. They cannot be prevented and deterred by the routine functioning of the state. If few spirited incumbents in civil service or police or judiciary attempt to stop such criminals and stand by people or seek to uphold long-term interests of the nation, they face vehement all-round clandestine multi-faceted covert war. These vary from narrative warfare to public defamation by a pliable media to economic strangulation to physical intimidation and assault and even beyond. Ironically, entire political class appears on same page against such crusaders and Judiciary more often acts as passive approver, if not active collaborator. This is indeed dangerous for long-term sanctity of institutions as well as our progressive evolution as a state, society and civilisation. 

Even a rigged and oppressive system, always maintains space for VVIPs who can get certain things done through their power and authority. At time the highest functionaries of the state appear the biggest patron of forces subverting rule of law. Hence, wherever stakes are high for these VVIPs or the patrons of system, smaller subversives - out of their deference towards their patrons or for the sake of their own survival- may relent or conceded in certain instances. But this does not change the basic character of the system and offer no guarantee against other disguised or open injustices. 

Hence, there is a strong possibility that some of the paper leak offenders may get punished in this case. There is no guarantee that paper leak shall stop permanently or India's educational system shall get better. 

Latest media reports suggest that initial suspected kingpins in NEET paper leak have been given clean chit by CBI. Going by my familiarity with the culture of loyalty among a section of cops and judiciary towards rulers that they may definitely punish some people but those need not be real culprits. 

However, such isolated punishments are no solution to dysfunctional institutions. Besides, this is not the only challenge facing the education system or our youth of the nation.  India needs a comprehensive and total re-think on agenda and strategy of governance to put people at the centre instead of few VIPs or families or corporates or civil servants. 

A decade back, the country had witnessed massive agitation over Nirbhaya assault case. Yet that did not stop the wider trend of such brutal and heinous assaults on the women of the country. Many powerful members from ruling and even non-ruling political parties, among others, have faced charges of brutalising women. 

Unless state attempts to address the underlying causes of a crisis, which is a fundamentally flawed political-governance-bureaucratic-judicial and social-economic order, such larger sufferings and injustice, and worse shall remain inevitabilities.

Need to Build Robust Institutions

The biggest challenge facing India faces at this stage of its evolution is sub-optimal, deficient and poor governance. Assault on integrity and efficacy of key state institutions is not monopolised by any particular political party. The political systems and political parties in their current form pose the biggest threat to integrity and efficacy of institutions, especially amidst the pressure of larger global ecosystem that appears highly exploitative to developing nations like ours.  

Despite all positive contributions by Indians in different spheres of human existence, the existing political-governance model is the primary cause for governance failures and humanitarian crises that we keep facing. In fact, political class - within the existing parameters - can do very little to address most governance failures or offer a strategic solution to our challenges. They are more obsessed with grabbing power through every possible means. 

They cannot be faulted for the same because each are involved in the same and there are no effective regulations or barriers. Clandestine subversion of integrity of governance institutions by political cliques and cartels are inescapable necessities for survival of this political model. We need a serious transformation in the entire political-economic-governance processes in our democracy. Hence, unless the political class builds a larger consensus on quality of regulations on political competition as well as invites and invests powerful ideas towards institution building and protection of sanctity institutions, our challenges, difficulties and woes shall persist. 

Road To Future

Popular mass movements in journey of a state and civilisation offer avenues for course correction and remedial measures. But it depends upon a culture of wider sagacity and integrity as well as a higher degree of trust among all key stakeholders.

Irrespective of what happens from here, I can only say that this is an opportunity for bigger reforms in our entire governance system. Probably, many segments of state and society shall be more amenable to larger changes in wake of this youth movement. The ongoing youth movement has brought about a rare opportunity for entire society. 

Government of the day must not hesitate in sacrificing few of its political associates as well. Incumbents in bureaucracy and media need to search their soul with greater integrity. It can also be an opportunity to both co-opt and yet silence political opposition by making bolder concessions to the people while striking at political opportunists and parasites. But ultimate objective of stateman like ruthlessness has to be larger good of the nation and a civilisation. 

No individual is more important than stability of the systems and credibility of the Government. No Govt appears weak by being amenable to popular sentiments. 

I have always maintained that the gravest threat to a large state seldom emanates from invading armies. It is more often the silent and unnoticed capture of state institutions by self-seeking cartels for their own private gains. Such a phenomenon gradually erodes not only the credibility of state but retards the quality of progress and evolution of entire state and society. 

Such dynamics, if unchecked and unremedied, can lead to situation where the very capacity of state to protect and uphold its most critical interests- including its long-term stability and security, as well life, liberty and dignity of its citizens- can be paralysed.  This is what has perennially defined the decay, degeneration and downfall of big powers and empires.

Institutional capture is a reality in India. Larger wellbeing of the people and the nation require infusion of credibility and efficacy in all our institutions. Political and administrative class of the nation need utmost innovation to devise least painful and yet effective ways to bolster capacity of our institutions. They must build larger consensus on the same. That alone can prevent, preempt and deter humanitarian and man- made crises in all domains of governance. 

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