A Gun Under Your Pillow, Or Our The State

Topping the news today is the report that Chacha Manmohan S Gandhi has cleared the decks for the creation of a new National Investigative Agency to look after the investigation of all terror crimes and also – this is the interesting part – deal with drug trafficking.

War on Terror and War on Drugs: Just like Uncle Sam.

Looking deeper: Manmohan seems to want to keep the top police bureaucracy happy: Here is the report that, after the intelligence failure in Mumbai, the heads of the central intelligence agencies are not going to be touched.

Everything changes, but everything remains the same.

Note that this is an investigative agency. It will get into the act after the crime is committed. What about prevention?

At Antidote we have consistently held up the law-abiding citizen’s right to keep and bear arms, to protect himself, his family and his properties.

Yet, one reader, Rambodoc, has recently posed two questions:

“Don't you think preserving law and order within society and protecting citizens from hostile aliens is the legitimate task of Government? The question is not 'how would private security work' but 'why won't the Government provide security?'”

I think it would benefit us all, including our netas and baboos, if we WAKE UP to the happy fact that our The State is no longer a monopolist on the use of force. This monopoly has steadily been eroded, and now vast swathes of the landmass are “controlled” by illegal armed groups – all “non-State actors,” to use the current terminology. Therefore, the only way to proceed is to further diffuse the power of arms - down to the last Individual.

Here is an article from today's Mint by Mrinal Pande on how the country-made gun, “tamancha,” is manufactured, owned and used in Uttar Pradesh. This quote is illustrative of the fact that the police have more or less stepped aside from their bonafide duties:

“The police is not a problem but an integral part of the business, according to knowledgeable sources. The manufacturers claim they need to give a regular cut to local authorities who thereafter turn a blind eye to the trade. Occasionally, the police may also procure kattas or tamanchas from these factories. These are then ‘planted’ during raids.”

Under the circumstances, the following appears sensible behaviour on the part of the honest villagers:

“The villagers are also avid buyers of firearms in this region. Everyone here who must guard his crops and share in irrigation waters and travel to cities every now and then carrying cash, sports a tamancha. And having a gun under your pillow is considered a style statement in villages.”

So there we have it. Some heat under your pillow, or our The State from On High.

Speaking of “high” reminds me of the spliff I was planning to smoke, what with some fine Manali being presented to me by some friends the other day.

Here at Antidote we are also opposed to the War on Drugs.

And Boom Shankarr 2U2!