With Major Avtar Singh shooting himself dead (after having gunned down his whole family) the theories of retribution and natural justice are making rounds. And why not? Jaleel Andrabi's restless soul, at long last, rests in peace. No one could bring the killer to the book till one day he decided to do it all by himself. We are delighted and (as long as we are humans) we can't control the delight of seeing the earth cleansed of a killer.  No matter we wouldn't have wished to see his family bear the fruit of the seed he sowed, but the upshot is heartening. The murderer has gone.  Damned. Accursed.
Nemesis, they say, is notoriously slow. I don't completely depart from some universally held beliefs of restitution, recompense and revenge. Human desire to see truth proved as truth is natural. But it doesn't always happen that rampantly and it can't. It's only the rarity of an event which makes it memorable. God's mill, whenever it grinds and wherever, is for all and (for being just) has got to be for all. Justice cuts across borders and beliefs, parties and ideologies. Though the reasons for Singh to have committed this act might have been many (other than the Andrabi murder), but the episode has chilled us to the bone. Sure, a guilt-racked Singh who escaped all punishments couldn't eventually escape the inevitable. But a self-assuring way of foreseeing all killers meeting the same end is a bit too simplistic.
For some whose faces light up with a triumphant glee on seeing Singh dead, one question may cause a disquiet. When will a dead man step out of a nameless grave and expose the one who had him shot dead? What about other Avtars whose crime files lie long buried beneath the sod, who magically didn't stain their hands with the blood they shed, who (no matter which camp they belong to) converted politics into an institution of murder. Be that men with or without uniform; if chickens ineluctably come home to roost, shall we hope to see them all finishing their stories themselves – the same way as Avtar did?What does the law of natural justice say in their case? Do not the restless souls of those they killed in cold blood hunt for them? Will not the bereaved be delighted when they meet their nemesis?
In whichever avatar the Avtars of our age will surface, humanity will always cry for justice.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 16 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 16 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 17 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST