From Justice to Justification: The Politics of Manufactured Morality

Democracy is not merely a mechanism of elections; it is a living ethical construct—anchored in civil liberties, institutional transparency, and judicial integrity. But when the machinery of power aligns itself with coercive policing and criminal elements, this moral fabric begins to unravel. In such a state, those in power do not merely hide their transgressions—they construct an alternate narrative where lies are legitimized, and truth is criminalized.

This narrative is not accidental—it is meticulously engineered. Facts are distorted. The language used to describe events is strategically altered: oppression is rebranded as “conflict,” protest is framed as “conspiracy,” and questioning authority is dismissed as “politically motivated.” The system ensures that dissent itself becomes a punishable act, while those in power assume the mantle of victimhood.

The police—tasked with defending citizens’ rights—loses its impartiality in this ecosystem. It ceases to be the guardian of justice and instead becomes the custodian of control. No longer serving the Constitution, it serves the interests of the ruling establishment. In its hands, the baton of justice transforms into a tool of management and suppression. The silencing of inconvenient voices, the misuse of legal provisions, and the arbitrary interpretation of laws become normalized tactics in the playbook of power.

Perhaps most insidious is the rise of criminals and strongmen who, under the patronage of power, reinvent themselves as people’s champions. Cloaking their actions in the language of social justice or regional pride, they gradually begin to mimic the rhetoric of politicians, adopt the symbols of nationalism, and identify enemies not by fact, but by convenience. Their violence is sanitized as “public outrage,” their threats romanticized as “resistance.” In this fusion of crime, politics, and propaganda, a new trinity emerges—one that seeks to dismantle authentic dissent and delegitimize genuine struggle.

Politics, in turn, lends this entire edifice a false sense of legitimacy by dressing it in the garb of ideology. Public discourse is steered away from real issues and directed toward manufactured narratives—emotionally potent, yet intellectually hollow. This capture of the narrative space is not a defense of the state; it is the burial of truth.

What we confront today is a state of moral inversion—where truth is punished and falsehood is rewarded. When power brands criticism as conspiracy and turns the victim into the accused, it becomes evident that the system no longer operates for the people—it exists solely to protect itself.

This is not merely a crisis of institutions. It is a moral emergency. And confronting it requires more than bureaucratic reform; it demands the awakening of collective conscience. For when the pen of the law is guided by the whims of the powerful, and politics is reduced to the management of appearances, it is the vigilant citizen who becomes the final guardian of truth.

In this battle of narratives, never mistake truth for weakness. History has shown time and again that even the most entrenched regimes have crumbled—because some refused to kneel.

Ashish Singh has finished his Ph.D. coursework in political science from the NRU-HSE, Moscow, Russia. He has previously studied at Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway; and TISS, Mumbai.