Presumption...

Presumption – a simple 11 letter word…. but few other words in the English language, can claim to have as far reaching consequences as this word. The idea of presumption shouldn’t be alien to any of us – we live presumptions everyday. Ideally, most people, or, may I add, most rational people, would act and conduct themselves on the basis of facts and take decisions based on such facts. But then, are facts always readily available to a person? Can people claim to base their decisions on hard facts, all the time, everytime? Of course not. People are no fact finding courts, examining each evidence presented to it, deciding on its relevancy or admissability as evidence, and coming to a conclusion on the basis of that evidence. More often than not, very few facts will be known, and inferences drawn therefrom and may be framed in as many ways as permuting a hundred numbers.

Presumption is a necessity. Presumption is convenience. Presumption can make you believe what you want, or it may, when backed backed by enough skeletal facts, make someone else believe in what you may want them to believe.

It was presumption at play, when the world believed George W. Bush, when he claimed that America had “clinching” evidence that Saddam possessed WMDs. It was presumption at play when an infuriated mob burnt a police vehicle, stripped a government school teacher and almost started a riot in Old Delhi when a TV channel reported that the teacher was forcing students into flesh trade. It is presumption at play again, when, every bomb blast in Kashmir is attributed to the cross-border “foreign hand” that may put even Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” to shame!

At this juncture, I would attempt to put forth a definition. Presumption, can be said to be an inference drawn from a certain set of facts without any actual credible evidence, or any other fact or circumstance, whatsoever, either corroborating or proving such inference. [Four and a half years of studying law comes with its side effects!]

As I have earlier pointed out, presumptions are a necessity. Presumptions are choices we make everyday, to save us the trouble of knowing the facts, so that we may “settle” things in our minds and resolve “issues” that may open doors for “conflicts” and (lack of a better term compels me to use this) “internal dissatisfaction”.

Here, I wish to discuss the infamous Nithari case as an example. The gruesome killing of innocent children and then burying their bodies shocked (and justifiably so) the conscience of the society. The perpetrator must be given the harshest punishment… again, justifiably so. And if this does not qualify to be a ‘rarest of rare’ case (and thus a fit case for capital punishment*), I wonder what will. But do we, yet know, whether Moninder was actually involved? Or the degree to which he may be held culpable? Let me add here, that I am in no way attempting to defend him; rather am using this example to substantiate what I just pointed out – resolving conflicts. Imagine how unsettling it would be, if we were to find out that the perpetrator of Nithari is at large. The criminal must be given a face; the guilty must be punished; that society is winning the battle against crimes, is what our collective conscience would want to believe in. In such cases, the easiest way to end this conflict is to presume, on the basis of what is known and to end the “internal dissatisfaction” which may arise on account of nonpresumption.

Presumption may thus, be said to be perceptual reality, or an altered version of reality. It may, of course, be actual reality or put simply, reality, as long as correct inferences are based on facts.

Human beings, at the end of the day however, are subjective and emotional beings. It could hardly be expected that they would base their decisions or frame opinions based on cold facts with utmost sincerity to the truth, free from biases and external influences (and if it were not so, then humans would be no different from computers!). These influences help us to arrive at our own presumptions.

You might have in the past been involved in an accident where you were on a two-wheeler. Next time you see an accident on the road (say) between a two wheeler and a 4200cc turbo charged SUV, you, in all likelihood, have a ready answer for who the culprit is. Again…presumption.

Presumption is what we have been making right from our childhoods. It is, nothing but a natural need…(maybe this can be related to Darwin’s theory at some level). Thus, we live presumptions everyday..we create new presumptions everyday..we perhaps even club two presumptions to arrive at a third..

It is thus important, to strive to make guarded presumptions, so that even when we presume something, it is, as close as it can get, to actual reality.




* - The author is not a staunch supporter of capital punishment.