Frequently, I hear from people, official or the unofficial surveys say the crime rate has been growing in India and outside India. When we think of us as a race living as a civilized creature on the earth from many centuries, it surprises one that let alone overcoming this natural tendency to commit crime we as are falling for it more.

Is the crime from much more primitive parts of the brain and genes than of being civilized and organized in a society? Or maybe, we are failing to find a cure to this disease and all we are doing in the form of conviction is just a band-aid and not a cure.

In simple terms, the system should have tamed the man not to crime, like it has to wear clothes, live in houses etc. Nobody tells one to do all this. We do follow these untold rules of being clothed, cultured etc. It has grown into our genes. Not only those but many other rules of being civilized are embedded in us though the ages.

Why did it fail in the case of crime? Why are we not able to forget the rule of the forest “Survival of the fittest”?

May be it is our approach towards it which is failing. May be we are trying to target the criminal, not the crime. Punish the criminal, but the crime still lives in him, in most of the cases. Until he realizes on his own, he still lives the crime.

Are we helping them realize? How many people are not returning to their profession after being convicted once? The roots go into our perception. We still don’t completely judge a crime by its motive, but its deed. This makes a lot of difference. It is simple, if I slap you, there might be two reasons for it. One being I’m angry and the other there might be a bee on you cheek. They are not same. This is definitely considered while judging a crime, however not sufficient.

For example if a man kills the other, he is hanged to death or imprisoned for 14 years in India. Consider a guy who killed his relative for money, a guy who kills for money (A gangster or goonda) and a terrorist. In the society or public’s eyes, these people are hated in the ascending order.

When you consider the motive, it should be the other way round. Because one thinks that he is killing for god, the other for money and the other for still more trivial reason. We just hate or punish them in the angle of threat. A single guy less harmful to the society compared to a gangster and him to a terrorist.

The punishment is decided based on how much danger does the accused pose to the society. It is more or less same like caging a tiger as it is a danger. Even when someone like them is convicted, very less is done to get the thought of crime from the criminal. And irrespective of his status of mind, he is let go after a stipulated time.

In this context I remember famous lines of Sri Sri, a popular Telugu poet, from Mahaprasthanam.

Ee Desha charitra choosina emunnadhi garvakaranam

Narajathi charitra samastham parapeedana parayanatvam,

Narajathi charitra samastham parasparaaharaNodyogam,

Narajathi charitra samastham raNarakthapravaahasiktham.

“History of any country has nothing in its pride.

Human history is all about people causing distress to each other,

Killing each other and

Bloodshed of wars.”

A person should be stopped from committing crime more by his sense than the fear of being prosecuted. Until then the history remains blood stained and the future fearful.

Image credit: Joe Mad

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