The Juvenile or the Judge

Looking around, one can perceive that the stomachs are full but the minds seem to be empty. Rest but for a few, the mass seems to be gorging themselves off, with nary a mind of their own.

A long time back I read a story about a juvenile, who was poor and scared. He was put into prison for something that could well be described as tomfoolery. It turned out this was supposed to be a crime. The judge detested the idea of sentencing the child. He did not think that it was the right thing to do. But he could not help it as the law left him no alternative. He was bound by the law to pass judgment. It was an awful thing. The judge was doing something in the capacity of an official. Had he been man enough, he would not have thought of doing such a thing. The judge passed a sentence without any sense of responsibility, with any discomfort, just because he was acting as an official and not as a man.

Funnily no one seemed to have been associated in it. Not the Judge, not the Jury, not the Prosecutor, not the Complaining Witness, not the Policeman or the Jailers. No one felt any responsibility. No one took any responsibility. They just went about doing their ‘job’ as officials. No one acted as Men. The most shocking part was that even the general public did not consider these officials as criminals, but rather as straight, decent and honest men.

Now whether the juvenile or the judge committed a crime becomes a question.


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