Vol 4 No 2 | July-Sept 2024

The Darogha’s Soul

Story by Mohd Salman | Art by Annada Menon

 

People over principles

“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right!”
– Isaac Asimov, ‘Foundation’

“There’s no grays, only white that’s got grubby. I’m surprised you don’t know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.”
– Terry Pratchett, ‘Carpe Jugulum’

If only our Darogha had read the above lines by Asimov or Pratchett, or indeed by many authors, poets and thinkers through the ages on the subject of right and wrong, morality, and the rules of life in general!

Rules, regulations and ideas of morality impart a sense of order to human civilization, but people are always more important. Throughout recorded history and probably every single day, people in positions of authority (or at the very least, responsibility) have made decisions guided by unquestioning obedience to orders or rigid beliefs in ‘principles’ that they value more than they do actual people.

Our Darogha might have fared better if for a split second before he took his lathi to the weak, he had stopped to ask himself if what he did was truly the right thing, or just a thoughtless execution of rules. Did he value order more than justice? And what would his life (and those of the people he punished) be like if he had just thought?

 

Bertolt Brecht has an answer:

“General, your tank is a powerful vehicle
It smashes down forests and crushes a hundred men.
But it has one defect:
It needs a driver.

General, your bomber is powerful.
It flies faster than a storm and carries more than an elephant.
But it has one defect:
It needs a mechanic.

General, man is very useful.
He can fly and he can kill.
But he has one defect:
He can think.”
― Bertolt Brecht

 

Muhammad Ali’s conscientious behaviour

The legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, apart from his accomplishments in the ring, is also known for announcing himself as a conscientious objector and refusing to enlist for the Vietnam War. Ali remained steadfast in spite of losing his boxing licence, being stripped of his titles and being arrested. He famously said:

“…I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality.”

Here’s Ali talking about his position on Vietnam.