Bang! Open up! Open the door at once!

Manuel opened his eyes and looked at his watch. It was 2.30 am. `What is it?’ asked his wife sleepily.

`I don’t now,’ he replied as he got ut of bed to open the door.

As soon as he opened it, three big soldiers pointed a gun at his head. `Get your coat on,’ they said. `You are under arrest’,

`But what have done?’ he asked.

`You wrote to the newspaper and complained about the government. You said –er-bad things about our leader. You asked for elections.’

`But the newspaper don’t publish my letter,’ cried Manuel as they pulled him to the door.

`Of course they didn’t,’ barked one of the soldiers. `we don’t lat the papers print complaints about the government.’

Manuel didn’t have time to say goodbye to his wife ad three children. The soldiers pulled him to a car and took to a big prison. On every wall there was a picture of the leader. `I hate him’, thought Manuel, `Nobody wanted him to govern our country. Nobody voted for him in t e election. He and his friends took over because they did guns.’

One of the soldiers pushed him into a small room. A man with a cap started asking questions about his friends. Manuel didn’t answer the questions, so the soldiers hit him.

`You shouldn’t hit me.’ He cried. `It’s against the law. I have not committed any crime.’

` We make the laws here,’ said the man with the cap. `We can do what we want.’

After some time, the man with the cap said, `All right, we’ll leave it for today. I will see you again tomorrow-and if you don’t answer our questions then, we will arrest your wife and children. We will see if they want to talk.’

They pushed him into a small dark room. As Manuel lay on the floor, he thought of all his friends who had died because they had asked for elections. He thought of his wife and children. `Can I let them go through this too?’ he asked himself. `What shall I say tomorrow?’

This is not a story for you to read. But, sadly, things like this happen in some countries of the world. People are not free to say what they think about the government. The newspapers cannot complain about the government. People cannot vote in elections. They cannot choose their leader. The leader rules by making people frightened and killing people who complain. We are lucky. It is not like this in India.

Here, we have a democracy. Our newspapers are free to complain if our leaders do wrong. If we don’t like the government, we are free to say so. We can choose our government by voting in elections. Everyone over the age of eighteen can vote. There are laws to stop people behaving badly and hurting the poor and weak.

Fanatics sometimes commit crimes because they don’t respect others’ beliefs.

If the police think someone has committed a crime, that person has to go to a law court. Judge decides if the person is guilty of the crime. The judge also decides how punish guilty criminals.

Criminals may pay money called a fine for some crimes. The worse the crime, the more they pay. For example, if motorcyclists ride their cycles with rash ride, they may have to pay a small fine- a few hundreds rupees. But if factory owners pollute a river with poisonous water, they may have to pay a big fine-a few lakh or crore. This is because many fish, animals and even people ma die from drinking the polluted water.

Criminal may go to prison if they commit crimes. The worse the crime, the longer they stay in prison. For example, if thieves steal few hundreds to thousands, they may go to prison for few months. If they hit someone on the head and steal a few lakh, they may go to prison or several years.