Justice – A Dilemma Confronting Humanity

Social media has transformed the way in which we perceive everything. Right from how everyday mundane activities have become a part of “digital creation”, to how numerous unheard talents have been given leverage over social media platforms — even to the extent of monetising and creating a livelihood out of them, to how communication as a concept has become much more efficient and less geography-barred, it is a well-established and sometimes even comforting fact that we have completely changed the way we live compared to our previous generations.

It is, therefore, no surprise that every “controversy” or topic of the day, as it were, ignites a fresh debate, transcending geographical and geopolitical barriers. It seems as though every issue, small or big, that crops up, is every household’s talk, as if we have adopted a “drop everything and act now” approach — if only we understood that it is merely lip service!

(In)justice – a hypocrisy of sorts?

Among these is the raw concept of “justice” — something that has seemed to have trickled down to the remotest of areas, defying all socioeconomic strata. As humans in the modern era with a continual longing for a better lifestyle, the term “justice” implies different connotations for stakeholders in society. But if we boldly posit: How can there be justice without injustice?

It appears obvious at first, akin to yin/yang; without black, there wouldn’t be white. But justice, both as a concept and as a social issue, is not merely that black-and-white — it’s the grey which often confounds us. For a lower middle class household in a Tier 4 city at the cross-section of urban-rural land in India, “justice” is a far-fetched idea. The quest of their populace is for basic necessities and amenities, and anything more than that is a luxury. For a celebrity, however, it’s possibly something that they hold closely linked to their profession. Nevertheless, some may even say that it is mutually exclusive: in this profession, there isn’t justice; and if you want to stay here, you need to let go of expectations of justice that will only hold you back.

With such varying definitions and degrees, how do we quantify “justice”? The simplest answer is to say, we cannot — you say it, I say it, we all do. Is it not, then, a hypocrisy of sorts — to expect justice, yet pay no heed to how it’s measured? In recent years, with major geopolitical shifts such as the pandemic, the humanitarian crises and the wars, all of us have been affected in some measure — social media has ensured that geographical barriers are erased and that one nation is worried and is taking active efforts to solve a crisis in another nation altogether.

Nonetheless, all we generally do is to take a diplomatic stance on issues — we believe that the issue will be solved eventually, and that it is too “risky” to get into the matter, even in our small capacities. Rome wasn’t made overnight, after all.

Freedom of expression — a theoretical construct

Law is a field which transcends the actual fraternity. Every individual has a say in every issue, and that is the essence captured and enshrined in our Constitutional framework. Everyone has a voice, and they can utilise it fully, barring certain reasonable restrictions. Every case in the public eye sparks debates for and against the judgement, and after all, we are the best judges of our own true character.

Let us assume that this certain ruling was a clear grave injustice to the victim. It has happened before, and will continue to in the future – the individuals in whose hand ‘justice’ lies, are humans, too – prone to their inescapable biases and idiosyncrasies. This particular judgement causes hue and cry in society. Everyone is unhappy — moreover, are helpless — but it is rarely that we see that someone disagrees in public gatherings and even private discussions and deliberations.

When we advocate for the right to freedom of speech and expression so much, what stops us when we are given the leverage to truly voice it out? A simple answer is hypothesised: law students, legal professionals, academicians, even the laymen from all fields — the risk of being outcast from society is what suddenly and disappointingly makes us forget our own freedom of expression!

It is time we stop remaining silent. It all starts at home, as they say. Let us take small steps by facilitating open and non-judgmental dialogues in the comfort of our four walls. Let us embark upon understanding what is “justice” for each one of us with reasonable minds. Only then can we truly expect even a semblance of justice in our world.

Ninupta Srinath is a policy researcher and law student

Published on: Tuesday, June 04, 2024, 06:00 AM IST