It is not as if there are other nations in the world apart from the US where people do not wish to take ‘direct’ action against leaders they oppose. It is just that they mostly lack the means to do so. The repeated attempts on POTUS Donald Trump’s life have a common factor – the perpetrators could acquire firearms owing to their easy availability. They were not trained assassins, just mentally disturbed or very angry persons. As such, they could not succeed, even though they got pretty close to their target.
It is being stated that the latest attempt on Trump’s life became possible due to the laxity of those responsible for his security. The matter will be reviewed by those in charge, but it must be accepted that it is a very difficult responsibility. Recall the assassinations of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi – not every act can be anticipated or predicted, as the threats are many and, theoretically, ever present.
And it is not as if the common people are any safer. In fact, if one goes by the many violent acts that occur in India on a daily basis, there is an every present threat. Just on Monday, two security guards were attacked in Thane with a knife by a person believed to be a radical Islamist – only because they could not recite the Kalma!
The purpose of constitutional rights and having an organised system of governance is that law and order is strictly and efficiently maintained. While there is a near immediate response in the case of a VIP, the objective is to have a universal system that does the same in the case of every individual. This, of course, may be considered utopian thinking, but what else is an organised society for? Nations that are statistically ahead in terms of lower rates of violence – of all kinds – have certain similarities that can be replicated by others in accordance with the local culture and practices. It will be noted in all these cases that it is not just a better policing system that achieves this objective, there is established public behaviour that not only allows a better focus on the priority areas. Some countries have dispute mechanisms at every level that resolve issues in a civilised manner, while others have cultures that encourage violence at the slightest provocation. As such, proper behaviour needs to be inculcated from childhood, itself, so that violence is only the last resort. That essentially is the meaning of being ‘civilised’.
