Power Rules Laws
By – Pamarty Venkataramana
There were no laws, only power. That is what had marked the reign of all barbaric forces,like the Moghul hordes that plundered Indian sub-continent to be followed by colonial bucaneers who were bit more diplomatic in their nefarious designs of loot,plunder and destruction of host kingdoms.
Monarchy spelt power. Righteous ones provided for food,shelter,livelihood,human rights while the even more noble rulers catered also to animal and plant life.
Historical accounts have clearly highlighted that absolute power corrupts the psuedo and weak ones. In the process,palace intrigues,betrayals and springing up of people’s revolt as happenned with the French Revolution springing up concepts of liberty,equality,fraternity reshaped face of mankind.
Even dethroning of elected leaders of modern demicracies appears as incongruous as continued existence of constitutional democracies alongside sultanates which have regressive women’s rights charters.
All things considered,the much bandied ‘rule of law’ gets reduced to being a mere euphemism. Power rules. Might is right. Good governance regimes hunt for regulators of rules and laws,be they enacted,secondary or delegated laws.
Misinformation rules roost in digital age and the era of artificial intelligence. The recent claim by envoy of a big brother country has crossed the line. It is but another example of the most powerful nation on earth bluffing about the war in Ukraine and the support for Russia by mant African and Asian countries. Paradoxically,Ukraine blamed India,Pakistan and many other States to toe the American line. Khan of Pakistan is suffering because of that. Notably,MEA of India is made of a different mettle: he stood up for freedom,justice and peace. This is the qualitative difference in the exercise of power variously by different rulers.
While on Pakistan,that land torn away from motherland,India,the streaks of moghul treachery is visible time after time with almost all it’s Prime Ministers being imprisoned for their deeds or misdeeds. Fathers used to fight against sons and the sons would throw the fathers into prison. Brothers always fought against brothers for supremacy. The army and its generals are their arbiters. Democracy is a dirty word for the rulers of this terror factory in our backyard. Terrorism has been more a policy than a method of going to war. The consequences are there now for all to see as the West’s beloved land faces backlash against it’s native white population.
It is time now to wake up from the trend seeping into our own system where inequity in treatment by prevailing laws of majority Hindu temples vis a vis mosques,churches and other places of worship of minority denominationd of the population is a glaring instance of political impotence of powerful rulers. An uniform civil code is a sine qua non to set right the unequal laws. Political skirmishes at the hustings is one thibg and a gradual decline of power sought to be granted to hands of we, the people is another thing.
Do rules power laws or power rules law? One thing is for certain – the abuse of power is bound to reduce the best laid laws useless. Be it gun laws, veiled regulations or unequal treatment of equals under the Law.
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