Crime and punishment

Crime and punishment

Dr. Jassim Taqui

The legendry Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky produced his best in the famed novel crime and punishment. The novel depicts Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-law student, kills an old pawnbroker and her sister, perhaps for money, perhaps to prove a theory about being above the law. He comes to police attention through normal procedures (he was the victim's client), but his outbursts make him the prime suspect of the clever Porfiry. Meanwhile, life swirls around Raskolnikov: his mother and sister come to the city followed by two older men seeking his sister's hand; he meets a drunken clerk who is then killed in a traffic accident, and he falls in love with the man's daughter, Sonia, a young prostitute. She urges him to confess, promising to follow him to Siberia.

An inner struggles took place  deep inside Raskolnikov that centered on the rule of law, justice and responsibility. Ultimately, the conscience prevails.
The inherit theme of the novel is that nobody can be above the law and one way or another he/she would face punishment.

This novel continues to be relevant even today. For Pakistan, which is trying hard to establish the writ of law, the question continues to be: Are the corrupt politicians beyond accountability even as they looted the wealth of the state and transferred over $ 200 billion to the Swiss banks?
 Does the fact that you earn billions of dollars make you untouchable even when you betray your own country and work as an agent of foreign power to bring about chaos and anarchy so as you continue to be relevant?