For The Sake Of Truth

Truth is accused of telling a lie. 

And, The hearing begins...

The judge, arrives in the court and asks the prosecutor to put forward the case. The charges are leveled and truth stands in the dock hearing all of these. The charges are so serious that it threatens the existence of the defendant. If truth lose today in the court, it might not ever be able to stand again. And as so, what would've been the value of truth if it also needed the support of lies to survive...!!

The Judge asks the defendant, how would it like to plead.?

"Is there any choice, mi lord!", truth exclaims.

"My whole existence depends on how I stand different from a lie. Will there be any difference if truth also speaks lie.?

I plead, not guilty, mi lord." The truth concludes.

Judge orders to start the trial..

And the trial begins..

1. Where is truth

Prosecution : 

    The most problematic thing about truth is, it's actually nowhere. Truth is a hypothetical thing emanates from some unrelenting minds. The metaphor found in Indian mythology which reads, "Truth is God"; is actually a satire on truth as one can neither see the God nor the truth. What is claimed truth by someone is actually their side of the story. People have got their versions of truth and after that there seems a complete hollowness in their claims. 

Sometimes we presume truth on a side just because they seem more terrified than the other one, our decisions sometimes are biased on the basis of how a litigant appears, it might be his/her gender, caste, belongings, societal status and many more to look into before we decide whose side the truth lies.!

This court should ask the defendant, when it claims itself truth, is it actually truth or is it only its side of the story.? Where is truth?"

Defence: 

    "Indeed I am hard to find or should I call, rare to find. But just because you can't seek me doesn't mean I don't exist. But let me assure you, I am not God.! You might or might not find the god but if you seek me with open mind and soul, you will find me for sure. 

It's true that people look through baised lens when it comes to decide the merit of the case. But it's a matter of your prejudices and how can I be responsible for that.? I am not bound to any identity. I don't understand why is it so hard to understand!?

2. Truth is Arrogant: 

Prosecution : 

    Your Honour, the accused has long surmonised itself if not god then equivalent to god. But let me bring about this fact also in your courtship that truth itself is not a sacred cow, it's highly arrogant in behavior. 

    The problem with truth is it can't accept the existence of lies. It deny them completely even without going into the fact that there might be a little possibility where the opposite may exist. 

It's not always the case where lies are spoken out of fun or for personal benefits. Sometimes lies save lives too. They are spoken for the sake of everyone rathar than for one. 

     "Let's go back to the 1993 Mumbai blasts. There were total 12 blasts occurred in city targeting hindu majority areas and left 257 dead and 713 injured. This happend just a few months after Babri demolition in December 1992. The communal tensions were already very strong when blasts shocked the people of Mumbai. The then CM of Maharashtra, Mr. Sharad Pawar, rushed to give details of the incident through his public announcement but for the sake of public good he altered the no of blast to 13, not 12. He made a fictitious blast at Mosque Bunder, an area of Muslim majority and calmed the already tensed nerves of Bombay. The city returned to normalcy within two days." 

Your Honour, this was a lie that saved thousands of life then otherwise we all know where it could go.

I don't want to make it truth vs lie match. I just want to shed some light on the fact that lie and truth both coexist but having said that the defendant is too arrogant to agree that.

Lord Krishna addressing Arjun, says in chapter 16 of Gita, 

"O Parth, the qualities of those who possess a demoniac nature are hypocrisy, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, and ignorance." 

And in chapter 18, "If you always remember Me, by My grace you shall overcome all obstacles and difficulties. But if, due to pride, you do not listen to my advice, you will perish."

It must be clear mi lord that those who are so ostentatious in their walk, are deemed to perish. 

Defence: 

    Your lordship.. just a moment ago I was unseekable and now they find me and declare me "arrogant". How funny is that!

Well it's true that I don't see lies existing with me but I have never denied the existence of lies completely. I would've not been here fighting my case if I hadn't have accepted the existence of the opposite. 

Speaking truth comes with some cost and not everyone is able to pay that, I agree. I also agree on the fact that sometimes telling a lie might be a better option than bearing the brunt of the costs associated. But this is not me who claims lives of people. Today's time is quite volatile. Half backed informations spread like wild fires. People believe in them and kudos to their little sense and impetuosity, they react the way in which that information wanted them to react. And this is something that claimed lives around the globe, not truth, mi lord.

It's not arrogance what they quote but it is the ignorance what they want to hide. Just like the 18th century poet Thomas Gray writes,

"Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise' ".

3. Is half truth even a truth?

Prosecution:

    Let me grab this opportunity to ask a serious question, is half truth even a truth?

The so called truth told by Yuddhisthir led to the death of Dronacharya. Why did he die, if it were true that his son had died? Yuddhisthir knew the consequences of the half truth he had told. He deliberately lowered his voice when he had to speak the other part of truth so that it could be misinterpreted and Dronacharya threw his weapons. 

Your Honour, 

I do find me on the same page as the defence counsel with respect to those half backed informations.

This is a world of social media where doctored videos, short clips, text without context are often posted to spread misinformation. But there is a glitch here. These all things aren't completely fabricated, they all are part of truth, 'though not a complete truth'. So should we let it continue  to happen as whatever is being shown is all a part of truth or should we come out and ban all of these because they are just a part of truth not the complete truth. Isn't it a time to declare them all lies?

Or should we let them continue in the name of Yuddhisthir as the person who never told lies is supposed to get heaven. 

Half truth is a lie. Mi lord.

Defence:

    Your Honour,

I will have to repeat myself.. half truth is not a truth. How come a person can present herself in half..? Can you deliver half justice ?

There is no such thing, mi lord!

Yuddhisthir didn't want to tell a lie explicitly so he deliberately lowered his voice while telling the other part of truth but Dronacharya died. It was due to the misinterpreted truth which should not be treated less than a lie.

Truth is not only a written or said word it is more than that .. It is not only about the perception of the receiver but also about the intent of the speaker. Truth is more what one can thought of. It is not about the body.. it is about the soul..

People's error can not distort truth, even if the distorted version is more popularly accepted. As Gandhi quotes,

“An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it. Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self sustained.”

Life throws many situations at us which may distract us from the path where we might need lies to survive but every lie ever told, incures a debt to the truth. 

4. Truth is not absolute

Prosecution:  

     My all arguments lie on a very simple understandable fact that truth is never absolute itself. It's just a side of story. There can be a day when what we call a truth today may become a lie. It depends on time also. 

Truth is subjective not objective. The mankind has struggled a lot to find a truth that suits to everyone irrespective of their belongings, irrespective of the time they are in, irrespective to their beliefs, faiths and what not yet the pursuit of truth had been a futile journey. It kept on changing from time to time. As much as we tried to explore truth the more we drifted away into a more complex reality. In the realm of science philosophy, religion and everyday life the quest continued to create dillusions for the human race. Even the knowledge, the history we claim to possess which has been propagated for centuries is itself suspicious.

Essayist and novelist George Santayana famously said that history is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren’t there.

Napoléon Bonaparte remarked that history is a set of lies that have been agreed upon. Winston Churchill famously said that history is, what is written by the victors.

So where lies the truth? Read that question carefully. Yes, the truth often lies. Probably the best answer to that question is couched in another question. One that was asked by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate when asked to decide the fate of Christ.

Defence:

    Your Honour;

The universe we are breathing in, is constantly changing. The change frequently throws challenges to our limits. It keeps on reminding us of our being human every second. How come a creature so imperfect can know this whole universe completely. How can one find a single objective truth. But just because we can't find any eternal truth we should not lose interest in ephemeral truths. This society is run by that truth. We need to swerve us toward the path where our consciousness lead us. Our soul knows the right path and that right path is the place where I reside. 

Truths are expensive while lies are cheap. One has to invest his lots of energy and precious time to write truths while lies are fabricated. You don't need to have any prior knowledge of anything to write fictions, do you? 

We ignore truth for temporary happiness. 

Sometimes the costs look a bit punishing too. It might take some of your relations at brink or take some toll on your mental or physical states. You can always have an escape route to dodge all of this, but with the support of lies. It might project lies as rewarding. But truths unburden you. It makes you feel light and makes your heart feathery. So this society has to decide, will it be okay with that burden or would it like to make itself free?

Your Honour when lies are rewarding and truths are  punishing who would dare to speak truth.

This court will have to decide whom should we promote. Truth can be burdened under the mountain of lies but for the sake of truth many such courts will have to stand up. People will have to see eye to eye and dare to speak truth. We will have to protect and respect people who daresay truth.

The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it.

I have been subjected to various trials from the time immemorial yet the debate goes on. It is likely to continue for many centuries from now. The changing reality will always pose impediment to establish one objective truth. Yet one has to believe me. Truth is Truth, It doesn't need lies to survive. I am eternal.

I conclude, your Honour.

Judge:

    This has been one of the most intriguing case so far. The tussle between truth and lie actually reflects the tussle of life itself. This debate seems not to end soon and the purpose of finding one absolute seems impossible.

The ultimate aim for us should be to achieve a balance where both, truth and lie, can coexist. But this coexistence shouldn't be on the cost of human conscience. The endeavour will go on.. we will continue to seek right path and that's how we have reached so far. 

This era has been quite a volatile one. Misinformations are spreading like plague of locusts. One will have to develop basic consciousness while feeding on information from all around the globe. It comes to the sanity of people when they come across any news on social media platforms. The age of any fake or fabricated news ends when it reaches to one sensible person who holds it to herself instead of forwarding it.

We will have to stand up. We will have to make sure that not any innocent person has to bear the brunt of lies in the light of law. We make sure that no truth ever spoken attracts punishment out of proportion and not any lie ever told in bad intent leave without getting punished. We will have to care about society as a whole to make sure that it passes the test of time always. So that we might lead a little near to that one single objective truth.

When truths are nonpareil, lies are indispensable too.

Many a times we all have wished to remain in a pseudo world instead of awakening to a new dawn. Many a times truths are very bitter to swallow.

Not only lies become a burden all the time sometimes truth also creates burden on human heart. Sometimes it is really hard to accept the changing reality. 

So it's better to admit it today that life without a lie is a utopian dream which seldom comes into practice. 

I urge truth to make a space for the opposite so that they can have a peaceful coexistence together.. 

But..

When lives are at stake..

When lies are creating havoc on the guiding principles of our humanity 

When lies become fatal errors..

Then in order to make the truth prevail..

One will have to stand again and again

 For The Sake of Truth.

Truth Acquitted.

a.

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