
The Paths to Fearlessness: Law and Journalism
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Those who, due to circumstances or limitations, could not enter fields such as Parliament, State Legislatures, the IAS, PCS, the armed forces, or the police, should seriously consider becoming lawyers or journalists. To resist injustice requires special capability. Government services can provide one form of strength, but when advocates and journalists engage with seriousness and courage, oppressors are often compelled to retreat.
The power of sticks, swords, or guns has limits. Confrontation based solely on force always carries the risk that self-defence may be misrepresented as crime. By contrast, the paths of law and journalism provide safer, more legitimate, and more enduring instruments of resistance.
A degree in law or journalism does not prevent anyone from entering politics, administration, business, public service, or maintaining physical fitness. Nor does it stop one from later pursuing the civil services or other careers. In fact, I have observed that when doctors, teachers, civil servants, retirees, traders, and others pursued an English-medium or chose journalism, they often became more confident, assertive, and fearless.
If one wishes to create accountability and inspire caution among wrongdoers, law and journalism are among the safest and most effective routes. Both professions remain open at nearly every stage of life. Other careers can also empower individuals, but few provide such direct and accessible paths to courage and civic influence.
In my own village, inspired by , by around 1980 nearly every household had one or two lawyers. As a result, no local strongman could even imagine committing caste-based atrocities there.
— , Former officer, Ph.D., D.Litt.
English