TheDaak review

Book: State of Justice in India: Issues of Social Justice Volume III – Marginalities and Justice, Edited by Paula Banerjee and Sanjay Chaturvedi, 2009, 200 pages, Sage Publications India Pvt.Ltd

by Anna Nath Ganguly

Justice delayed is Justice denied

Justice in waiting is Justice incapacitated

The idea of justice is built on the concept of fairness and access, and social justice is vital for enabling and creating a community of trust, love and cooperation. The world we live in is rooted on the premise of freedom, equality, care and these combined with protection and dignity gives human life the oxygen and the kinetics to live and flourish. But justice is mostly kept waiting and exiled, which  makes life meaningless and unendurable. The longing for justice is weaved in hope and satisfaction. In postcolonial democracies, there are many hard realities and society is mostly divided between the society of propertied and the society of subjects.  And the want for justice is compelling. As per the latest records available on India’s National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) in February 2023, not hundreds or thousands, but millions are waiting for justice over 59,87,477 cases pending in high courts across the country The book State of Justice delves into the definition of justice in relation to democracy and the will for delivery of social justice. The work is lucid, specific and objective in its purpose discussing the theme of social justice in detail and arranged around five chapters, it touches upon the aspects of justice for Dalit, tribals, marginal women, AIDS victims, environmental victims deliberating on aspects of inequalities, low caste peasantry and narratives on justice.

Ranabir Samaddar, the Series Editor in the introduction begins with the thought that justice is a response to injustice, and it is noteworthy to estimate that the idea of justice responds to various conceivable situations. The focal point of the series in all four of them (Vol I- Social Justice and Enlightenment: West Bengal; Vol II -Justice and Law: Limits of the Deliverables of Law; Vol III -Marginalities and Justice, Vol IV-Key Texts on Social Justice in India) is understanding the practices and discourses of justice, actions and the conflict within justice that can destabilise democracy. Justice is not an easy feat to achieve, and certainly not a straitjacket concept. To establish justice is paramount for both people and democracy to sustain. The introduction probes into the fact that Western democracies had little room for considerations of justice and had only space for liberty, fraternity and equality, while the post-colonial democracies yearn for social justice. In its manifold forms justice can be achieved by attainment of dignity, retributive, reconciliatory, restorative, restitution, distributive, pardon, sentencing, redressal of wrongs and delivery in many sorts. The book relies on ethnographic studies and historical analysis for exploring the essentials of social justice in India and the nature of justice. In providing social justice, the author provides compelling cases that strive to reinvent liberal democracy and touch upon the idea of pluralism in development.  Two rationalities of analysis on justice are provided -one of knowledge, and the other of intervention. Each chapter focuses on  both knowledge and intervention in its speculation on social justice. The hard realities that surround many marginals only makes it more profound that when truth and politics clash social justice only gets half a life. The introduction is an orientation to the untold sufferings faced by those living at the margins for instance the case of West Bengal on foodgrains inadequate supply resulted in the unrest between two worlds -the world of enlightened concerns about the nation and those of material concerns.  

People and their quest for justice begins with the language and expressions that belong to them and cannot be seized. The marginals who are oppressed and unfairly treated due to the nexus between feudal peasantry, political leaders, criminal gangs and police forces, mostly feel powerless by the material forces, and weakened by power they become voiceless. But courage has many languages and while the material forces have exercised violence and torture, the powerless use songs, music, folktales and folk songs  like that from Jehanabad which was earlier part of Gaya district. Manish Jha in the first chapter titled ‘Gulamiya Ab Hum Nahi Bajeib(Life in slavery is not fitting with us anymore) details injustice and inequalities frequently faced by low caste peasantry. While the communities have been pushed to the edge, the reactions have been at times violent. But slavery and violence have been thrust on the marginal peasantry and the author demonstrates how ‘izzat’ and ‘Adhikar’ (dignity and rights) are necessities of these powerless and the historical injustice have compelled the people to chorus their pain of injustice and wait for an equal society. Jha presents some of the folktales in the form of lyrics to express the messages coming from the heart like ‘Azadia hamra ke bhawela….for free will has caught our fancy…’ 

The chapter is an accumulative narrative of humiliation faced by the marginals(peasants) and the interruption of justice in Bihar is upsetting . Ethnographic accounts of two villages Damuha and Noanwa were delineated to showcase how untouchability and exploitation runs deep through history and a space for protest and revolution is created. In the recitation by the indigenous commune in local dialect ‘Bharat swarg lok hai jai hin; Dheer dhara sajani; Chhuachhut ka bhed mitai hain; I deikha budhimani’ (India will become a heaven; Be patient, O my dearest, Untouchability will be removed, See the intelligence of Indians), the researcher enumerates that the time will come when India will be a land of promises and contentment when untouchability will be vehemently opposed and removed in its entirety.

In Uttar Pradesh, caste precedes human lives substantially and Badri Narayan Tiwari in Chapter titled ‘Social Justice in Dalit Pattis of Rural UP’ spotlights how the Dalits who belong to the caste of Chamar and Pasi have been unrecognized and made to bow before a system crafted by dominant majority. The author observes that many of these caste-based communities had given up their traditional caste-based occupation due to the social experiences of humiliation and the biases they faced. Untouchability is widely practiced, and these communities have been oppressed systematically. Chamar women have been doubly disadvantaged and the state of oppression and social injustice has been profound. The role played by Sant Ravi Das as the champion of the Dalits of the Chamars have been recollected in the chapter soliciting the fact that education alleviates and needs to be free from the clutches of control. Presenting through beautiful songs featuring how the life of the Chamars have been casted in exile and still waiting for reparations from the injustice faced, the chapter by Tiwari is a trajectory of failure of egalitarianism and suppression of voices of dalits and wounds within the community.

Amit Prakash in his writing on social justice for the tribals brings to center stage the connection of tribal rights relating to human rights. The cause of tribals cannot be achieved without securing socio-economic rights. In the chapter, narratives around ethnic identities and minority rights featuring the deprivation are broached. Like L.R. Knost weaves in her poem by inscribing the words – “Tell your story. Shout it. Write it. Whisper it if you have to. But tell it. One by one, voices will start whispering, ‘Me, too’.” Prakash brings out discussion on South Asia and the regional failure in tribal rights. Development, liberal democracy, rights are the principles for designing an equitable society but severely malfunctioned to ensure socio-economic justice. The Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights Bill) 2005 and a Draft National Policy on Tribals has failed to address forest rights and those living around it. The road to be travelled is set, but the destination has not been decided, which makes the quest for social justice just paper tigers.

The Tribals, The Chamars, The Peasants have been subjected to historical injustice and the longing for justice has been long and full of trials. The book contains  anecdotes and cases with sufficient evidence of sorrows and tribulations. Though there is mobilization for fight to justice but vehemently the causes are exiled for long. Concern is raised throughout the pages of the volume encapsulating how social justice has been reduced to bare minimum  leaving the cause to die a slow death.

The discourse on marginals like AIDS victims and marginal women takes a deeper understanding in Paula Banerjee’s chapter four. The only chapter that delves into the international scenario of AIDS victims from America and Africa where the crisis led to marginalization of people across. The plight of sex workers and their vulnerabilities brings out the gender debate and injustice. The author presents with factual evidence and detailed data and reports released from authentic sources on how West Bengal State AIDS Prevention and Control Society (WBSAPCS), state of Nagaland and reports from Assam are exploring the difference in society, the heterogeneous and homogeneous binaries and lesser attention paid to women sex workers who are more vulnerable to AIDS. The researcher feels that Asia, mostly in India effect of AIDS is devastating and demoralizing. On climate change victims and environmental justice by Sanjay Chaturvedi, in the final chapter of the volume, it is presented  that disasters, displacement and inequities are interconnected, and those who are at the margins fail to cope and adapt. The author asserts that the environmental problems bear downs disproportionately upon the poor and the deprived. Contextualizing environmental disaster, the landscape of ecological injustice, manual scavenging has been addressed in the chapter and the frameworks for laws and movements citing references of Himalayas, Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) have been accentuated.

The route and extent of the path to justice have never been an easy ride and always stormy. But the ride must continue. The book Social Justice in India is a resourceful contribution to the thematic list of concerns on justice, not just documenting but reassuring the faith that social justice is desired and cannot be delayed. The wait for justice may take a quick recess but it cannot be compromised or paused. The book is a keepsake for investigators and development personnel  who wish to understand social justice and how to achieve it. It is  a resourceful treasure and an essential read for anyone working towards equity and .human rights.

©TheDaak2023