The Rule of Law, most basic requirement of civil society is the rule of law which means that people must follow and obey the laws of the country regardless of their status or position in society. In the modern world, developed countries are proud that their societies are governed by the rule of law while most developing countries like India are ashamed that their societies do not have the rule of law. Developed countries are role models for underdeveloped countries, where the rule of law is still a distant dream.
People who follow the rule of law are often considered more civilized because there is more order in society. Everything in such a society seems to be in order. Streets are clean, lawns and parks are well maintained, government officials work in offices, trains and public transport run on time. Furthermore, there is almost no corruption in public offices. People are paid well, deliver better efficiency, and keep things tidy and clean. This society seems perfect to people from other parts of the world, who often wonder why they can’t be like them.
All societies need laws for their existence. Although laws may differ in every citizen, there are some basic principles that are common to all laws in the world. These basic principles are equality, brotherhood, justice and freedom.
The Indian constitution, for example, incorporates these goals in the preamble of the constitution which seeks to guarantee justice, freedom, equality for all its citizens and to promote among them the spirit of brotherhood.
These principles are so universal in nature that they find a place in every civilized society of the world. It is surprising that in reality the result of the rule of law is quite the opposite. The more civilized a society, the more disproportionate there will be among its inhabitants – the more injustice to those who cannot afford it, the less freedom due to strict law enforcement and the more hatred among citizens based on race, caste and religion. What went wrong in the implementation of the so-called rule of law?
Natural law
Indian thinkers in the Vedic period, which is about 3000 years before the birth of Christ, discovered that the universe does not perform its functions randomly but follows rule of law. This is called “Rita” or the universal law or principle that guides the universe. Human progress can be largely attributed to understanding these basic principles of nature and exploiting them for the benefit of mankind at the expense of the rest of creation. Human laws, therefore, contradict the laws of nature because they are human-centered and not designed for all of God’s or Nature’s creation.
However, in the man’s world, every other creature is killed if it is not useful for man. They can survive only if they can be useful for man. Thus man’s world does not treat any other creature of the nature with respect and does not provide them any right of equality, liberty, justice or fraternity. He cleverly usurps this universal law and makes it applicable only for human beings.
For all other lesser species, he has created a man-made-law, calling it ‘the law of jungle’ or ‘the survival of the fittest’ which justifies his domination over the weak creations. The fact, on the contrary, is that the laws of jungle are far more just and equal for all species than the man-made-law.
Most men are not concerned about the way they treat the lesser animals as they feel that ‘the survival of the fittest’ theory is more logical than the laws of nature. However, they forget that every principle created in the universe has to be applied on them also and that they may not always be a beneficiary. Man-made-laws do not stop with animals but they soon spread their wings to encompass human beings, too.
This is where conflicts between man and man starts that gives rise to hatred and wars. Man feels the pinch when the law of jungle is applied against them and the law of nature is denied to him. He is hurt when he is treated like weeds by the society.
Weeds: The Undesirable Plants of Nature?
One of the most interesting creations of the natural world is weed. Weeds are undesirable vegetation in the kingdom of plants. Weeds are defined as any plant that is not valued by the human society and usually tends to overgrow or compete with valued flora. Weeds are the plants which are considered by human beings as unattractive, undesirable, or troublesome.
In nature, humans have to constantly fight against weeds to make their artificial plants survive. Weeds grow automatically and if the artificial garden does not get human support, it is soon overrun by weeds and the whole field or garden becomes full of weeds. Weeds are created by Nature (God) because no human effort is required to grow them. However, they are so strong that man must constantly guard his creation from these weeds, lest all creations of civilized society be destroyed. Weeds are as undesirable for humans in the plant world as criminals in human society.
Criminals: Necessary Crimes for Civil Society
Similar to weeds in nature, there is a growth of criminals in civilized society. Who are these criminals? Why do they grow? Are these criminals healthy people or are they mentally ill as the civilized world often thinks?
A criminal is defined as a person who commits a crime. Crime is defined as an act which is a violation of criminal law which is punishable by law. Evil is usually thought of as an evil act and criminals are often thought of as evil created by Satan, out there to destroy civilized citizens, God’s children.
There are many similarities between crooks and weeds. Criminals grow automatically in every society and society has to work hard to get rid of these criminals. Villains like weeds are so strong and competitive that they have the power to overpower civilized people.
Therefore, they are fought together by the community. But in every society, there is evil and there are criminals. We are used to seeing criminals as unnecessary crimes like weeds. Whereas if God (Nature) is the creator of everything, then everything in this world must be created with a purpose. “What could be the purpose of the creation of the villain?” We wondered
.Criminals, in fact, are creations of the civilized world. In an uncivilized world, there would be no laws, so there would be no lawlessness and therefore, no criminals. If we are to understand the utility of criminals in the civilized world, we must imagine a natural world without weeds. In such a world, all crops had to be grown by humans by artificial irrigation canals, tube wells, and other irrigation systems used for agriculture.
In all certainty, humans will only grow plants and plants that are useful to humans and other species will definitely not survive in the human world. Furthermore, man’s energy is limited and with all his efforts, he can barely manage a small part of the world by artificial cultivation, so the entire physical world would be without plants and so would be without oxygen and other animal life and the environment. system. This will soon lead to the end of the world including humans.
The role of the villain is similar to that of the weeds. Imagine a world without crime where everyone follows the laws of the land without question. It will only provide the status quo in the world. Kings will always be kings and only children or their loved ones can become kings.
Poor will always be poor. The king would frame more inhumane laws that would give them more power. The less fortunate people will die of hunger and poverty because they will not violate the law and the state has no obligation to feed them. Thus a world without criminals will become a place where people
will die of indolence, boredom and cruelty. Such an ideal world, indeed, would be the most inhuman and the least desirable for mankind.
Thankfully, so-called criminals automatically grew up in every civil society as soon as humans created laws to regulate them. Human laws are always opposed by them because most of them contradict the laws of nature, namely equality, justice, freedom and brotherhood. The state always has to face opposition from those who break the law and are known as criminals. They may have an ugly appearance like weeds but they only provide oxygen for the people for life. So in the future, people recognize them not as villains but as heroes
Hero’s Way of the rule of law
While man hated villains, he adored heroes. He can lay down his most precious possession which is his life with one call from his hero. Who are these heroes?
Are they civilized people who obey the rule of law or criminals who are against the law? Take Mahatma Gandhi for example in the modern world. He was perhaps the greatest criminal of British rule in India and he was imprisoned many times on charges of waging war against the state.
He spent more than 15 years in prison for his various crimes. But the Indians call him the ‘Father of the Nation’ and love him more than any civilized person on earth. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison, yet he was a national hero not only for South Africa but for the whole world.
Throughout history, we can find many examples of great people who have broken law and been punished for their crimes. The list includes people like Christ, the Prophet Muhammad, Socrates and Galileo. Yet it was these people who changed the history of the world and they were revered as heroes by the masses even after their death.
How many people have you ever known who became heroes without breaking the law and committing crimes in their time? Maybe none. Heroes are created not by following the law but by breaking the law.
Divine Rule of Law
It is not always good to follow the rule of law blindly because it provides order and rule of law in society but it kills mankind because the implementation of most man-made laws is against the laws of nature. Man-made laws are often disguised under the guise of natural laws such as equality, justice, freedom and brotherhood, but they serve only opposite purposes.
Most people see the letter of the law but fail to understand its spirit. We all have to understand that breaking man-made laws is one of the fundamental requirements of all civil society, if it goes against the laws of nature or divine rule of law
Thus anyone who violates the law need not be a criminal. One should dig deeper into the facts before declaring a lawbreaker a criminal. The main difference is probably to see if he breaks the law for the benefit of humanity or for his own selfish ends. Is it based on need or greed? Therein lies the difference between good and evil, between a true villain and a hero. People who break the law for others or fight injustice are heroes and not criminals. A poet said “Jo lade din ke khet, Sura toi” (The one who fights for the weak is the real hero).