Chapter 12

The evil empires

The concept of Evil Empires: One is familiar with the term Evil Empire. In the popular Hindu religion, there is a concept of asuras. These are, more or less, evil forces or even evil persons, or demons. In passing, I should also mention, that this was also a term loosely used by the Hindu Aryans, to denote the non-Aryan groups. I am not sure what the exact qualifications of an asura are. It can mean many things depending on what you are. For the Japanese, during the pre-Second World War period, the British and the Americans must have been asuras.

In popular Hindu mythology, the asuras were depicted as very evil races or demons. The gods or the devas fought with them, and annihilated them. The world of the asuras was known as the asuraloka.

Now, when we come to the world of English, the word Evil Empire should be understood in a different connotation. The world of English gives naturally a lot of freedom to a human being. Here, there is a systematic improvement in the concepts of liberty, humanity, freedom of speech etc.

Actually, all these things are embed in the constitution of most feudal nations. For, example, India has a constitution with an innumerable number of pages and interpretations, and amendments, in which all these rights are written. Yet the moment a common citizen tries to speak in a dignified manner to any official, or police personnel, it becomes an offence.

In this case, India does exhibit the character of an Evil empire. People do not have dignity before the government officials, the government officials squeeze out all the earnings of the people, every item of activity is taxed, each item of taxation is a power given to the officialdom to interfere in the life of the private citizen, the private individual is left to fend for himself, and to live by any means, people are arrested on flimsy grounds and beaten-up, judiciary is a mockery, it can't give any liberty to the person who is hunted down by the officialdom, in spite of all these tribulations people live on with a sort of indoctrinated understanding that the problems of this country are all due to the exploitation by the developed nations, and are ferociously antipathetic to them, even though their actual exploiters are right in front of them.

In this regard, it may be understood that in all feudal language nations, the actual suppressed persons are under a feeling of supreme gratitude to their very oppressors. This is how the feudal language programs function. And this helps in the perpetuation of the suppression.

Judicial lynching: In passing, I may tell of two things that I just remember: One is of the famous Rowlett Act* passed by the British Indian government during the I World War. It gave powers to the government to arrest and imprison anybody doing any national activities, without access to judicial remedies, for a limited number of days.  It was widely condemned by many Indian politicians. The one funny thing about this was that during the time of Emperors and Kings, there were no qualms if the King did away with anybody. But when the British brought the concept of Judicial remedies even against the actions of the government, any slight deviation from it by the government was a matter of grave concern.

Actually, in the so-called Free India, there are so many draconian provisions, and even other non-legal methods to deal with dissent. By dissent, it need not be taken as some anti-national activity. Any dealing with the powerful bureaucracy and police, which seems to them is lacking in proper respect can end up persons on a route to oblivion. In fact, there is a very significant instance in Kerala, wherein a man who existed as a very ferocious orator, which was interpreted as being with communal overtones, was sent into detention in another state, on a very flimsy charge of terrorism. The real issue may be that he was a bit assertive with the senior police officials. The tragedy that befell him is that once in jail in another state with a different language, and no person to recommend his credentials, he was beaten up and then charged with, and imprisoned for, assaulting a police official. The buffoonery of the whole situation was that this man has only one leg. One leg having being destroyed in an earlier attack by unknown elements.

This man is languishing in jail for some six years, and still, the charge sheet of his original case is yet to be taken up by the court.

Yet, when expert historians from this country deal with the judiciary, they would notice the Rowlett Act. Yet, the other terrible things that are an everyday event in India, in the so-called period of Independence, may not be given significance.

Another funny thing that I would like to mention is this: One day in a court of law, in Kerala, I found that when the witness is entering the witness stand, he has to bend down as there is a bar restricting his entry with a straight back. He has to literally go to his knees to get inside. When I enquired about this, I was told this is the way to enforce respect for the judiciary. There are so many things about how the powerful establishment deals with the common people, in its sense of insecurity that the common man may get a stature of rectitude and dignity. But none of the great towering personalities in India notice it.

When a citizen sees a brutal misuse of official powers, in India, like that of a man being beaten up by the police, he does not interfere, fearing that he himself would be the next to get implicated if he interferes. Also, the moment he interferes, he would have to go into the lower indicant level with the officials. The best thing is to get on with one's own life and maintain the social stature one has. At the same time, the police officials also take care not to hurt anyone from the formidable social levels.

There was a film in Malayalam, about the detainees in Andaman & Nicobar Islands* during the British period of India. In this film, there was a scene that naturally shocked the Indian mind. It was a scene in which a British Doctor is coming to a place. He has to have an Indian to bent and show his back so that he can put his feet on it, for his disembarking from the carriage. Actually, only after seeing this film did I ever hear of any such use of a man's back. Naturally the protagonist of the film, a young freedom fighter protests against the misuse of an Indian's back. Now, this scene did not shock me, but what did was when some persons told me this was how the British used to get down from their carriages. So much for the understanding about British India among the educated populace of India.

Actually, there are millions of Indians who truly believe the distorted history taught to them in their schools. Many believe that the poverty of India is entirely due to the looting of India by the British, and that before they came to India, this land was a prosperous land with all the people enjoying a very pleasant livelihood. And I have heard many educated Indians declaring their aim to wreak their vengeance on the British when they get an opportunity.

Now, let me go back to my subject matter: it is on the Evil Empires. I have just given an idea as to what is an Evil Empire. It can have the features of a nation with a feudal language, wherein there is distortion of social communication, and makes a certain section of the populace, above the level of critical purview of the people, and the general people themselves exist as appendages to these superior group, blindly believing what is dished out to them by the government. Moreover, there would be terrible exploitation of the people by the governing class, yet they live in blissful gratitude to the small crumbs that is thrown to them. They themselves act as propagandists of the evil regime which is contorting their very physical features into that of submissive apparitions.

These persons who are not used to freedom in speech, action, gesture, and even in thought cannot bear to see it in others. But, used as they are to living a life of ambiguity and guile, they can very easily camouflage their evil thought process in the presence of persons who live beyond their control.

The amiable friendliness they show is only a façade, and will last only till they get the upper hand.

Now, in this regard, I may even categorically state that nations like China, Russia, Japan, India, Pakistan, many nations in the European Union, South American countries etc. are potential Evil Empires in the classical meaning of the term. And it is in the interest of the freedom loving people of the world, including those living in these very evil nations, that the English nations do retain their superiority in all things, including economic strength, technological superiority, and cultural finesse. For, there are persons struck in the clutches of the rulers of these Evil Empires, whose only consolation is that there are still nations in existence where human dignity is valued, and who may yet make a final strike to release them from their shackles.

And, there is need for the English nations to see that they do not become the areas of natural progression for the evil empires. For, the real evil empires may not come always with a Pearl Harbor* type attack; but in a most subdued manner, and later take on the leverage of all social institutions, including the judicial processes. Once, they takeover all the easy systems in English would become a crime, and all actions, behaviour and attitudes so far considered as unbearable would metamorphosis into smartness, and personal capacity. The original system of polite interaction and fairness would be treated as fair gullibility and mental incompetence.