Day 55 – Case Study Q 2
2. You are posted as the District Magistrate in a hill district of a North Indian state. The locals have an age old tradition of sacrificing animals during the month of harvest. They celebrate the sacrificial ceremony with great zeal and vigour. However, the Supreme Court has just banned the practice of animal sacrifice after a PIL was filed against the practice by an international NGO. Yet the locals are adamant at following their revered tradition and are even ready to get arrested and face legal consequences. In fact a group of young people from the locality has threatened to commit mass suicide if the administration attempts to interfere in their tradition. The situation appears to be out of control and journalists from all over the country have gathered in your district to witness the unfolding of events there.
Q.What would be your response in this situation? Examine all the alternatives that you have at your disposal. Also discuss their pros and cons. Which alternative will you choose finally? Why?
INTRODUCTION
The job of the District Magistrate should involve upholding the constitutional integrity and at the same time not hurting any section of the society. Any straight forward step harming the ethos of the society, without showing sensitivity to larger public sentiments could be instrumental in augmenting the already existing antipathy. A District Magistrate should thus be a skillful person, who knows the skill of maintaining the equilibrium between constitutional sanctity and upholding public sentiments.
BODY
In this case, an effective solution needs to come up-by taking into account the following stakeholders-
- Local people who want to follow their age old tradition.
- Animals- who are to be sacrificed.
- Me-District Magistrate.
- International NGO fighting for animal rights
- Supreme Court- who as issued an order to ban the animal sacrifice.
- Journalist from all over the country covering the situation.
My challenge, in this case is not only making sure that most of the stakeholder are satisfied with the feeling that justice has been made to them and that they are not suppressed with the help of force, also to send a larger message to the country of what should comprise of a progressive Indian society and to how law & order is maintained in the country with priority, also setting a precedence that blackmail by large crowd cant be a way to suppress the rule of law.
The dilemmas that potentially I can face in this case are as follows,
- Constitutional Morality vs Societal sentiments.
- Human traditional practices vs Right to life of the animals.
- Traditions vs Rationality.
Hence, my job is to analyze the pros and cons of every possible step and thus, going for an effective solution managing all the demands & expectations that are persuasion persuasion out of me, such as-
- Duty to enforce the court order.
- Ensuring that the situation does not go out of hand, and violence does not creep in.
- Going for persuasion, but at the same time maintaining law and order.
- Showing Emotional Intelligence and keeping calm even in extreme situation
Options available to me are as follows-
OPTION: Allowing the Traditional Practice of Animal Sacrifice.
Pros:
- It will avert the situation going out of hand.
- It will ensure that violence does not creep in.
- People will have the feeling of their traditions being upholded.
- It will ensure peace in the area.
Cons:
- It will be contempt of the court.
- It will show inability on the part of the Government machinery to uphold the Rule of Law.
- It would set a wrong precedent of blackmail and showing large numbers- can lead to take the administration on the back foot, ultimately leading to regressive decisions.
- We could see more such incidences throughout the country taking a que from this incidence.
OPTION 2 :Banning the Practice by use of Force
Pros:
- It will mean that the order of SC has been followed in Letter and Spirit.
- It will give out a message that Rule of Law is of highest priority in India.
- It will protect Animal Rights.
- It will send a strong message to the International community and the Media.
- It could prevent any possibility of blackmail in the future.
Cons:
- It could lead to violence in the area.
- Certain youth can actually carry out suicidal actions out of haste, which could lead to further disruption of law and order.
- It could mean that traditional values are suppressed, it could aggravate the insecurity and alienation amongst the people
- If people suicide in actuality, the administration could be accused of sacrificing humans for protection of animals.
OPTION 3: Taking a Step which could provide a practical solution (This will be my solution)
In order to have an effective solution, i will take the following steps
- I will try to persuade the locals to give up the practice, giving them lessons of actual historical culture, make them understand the practice in the current form is actually the dilution of the culture.
- Arranging the meeting, between different stakeholders comprising of elders of the village,youth of the village, International NGO, National media.
- I will keep my seniors in loop and discuss the solutions with them, this would mean that i am sticking by the ranks of hierarchy.
- I would call upon a meeting of the gram panchayat as well and make them understand the benefits from their point of view, if they stop the practice of animal sacrifice.
- I will try my best not to involve any issue of force, but at the same time – I will step up the security cover in the district. This could itself act as an deterrence for the youth for not carrying out any extreme step.
- I will also keep medical personnel ready, so that any extreme step could be treated and a mishap is avoided.
Thus, following the above mentioned steps could mean achieving equilibrium between Constitutional obligation and being sensitive to the feelings of the general public. It could mean that an effective solution is met, by using arbitration. It will also mean that a strong message is send throughout the country, that Rule of Law is protected also the International NGO and the International community gets a strong message about India, being sensitive to the rights of animals.
CONCLUSION
Therefore, by applying the above steps and going for a hybridized solution would mean that I would have performed by duty with diligence, upholding the public sentiments and passing the test of my Emotional Intelligence, Integrity and Sensitivity with at most care.
BEST ANSWER: GOG
