MONTH IN PERSPECTIVE

HARYANA: Haryana is going to dogs with law and order machinery looking the other way to the increasing attacks on vulnerable women at different places. And comes the news of a minister, one Shiv Charan Sharma, calling Geetika Sharma a ‘Servant’ of his former jailed colleague Gopal Kanda, and this is not a ‘big case’. All media informed public are privy to the fact that Geetika Sharma, who worked for the MLDR airline owned by Handa, committed suicide some months ago due to the physical assault and torture by Handa.

Handa is the prime accused in the case. Celebrating the jailed bird Kanda’s birthday in Sirsa, this Shiv Charan Sharma, the Haryana minister, had reportedly stated that “This isn’t  such a big case. Handa appointed Geetika as a servant by mistake”.

If the report in the print media is true then, either this minister Sharma is semi literate, not knowing what is an abatement to suicide, commenting even when it is ‘sub judice’, and what the term servant means, or he is arrogant beyond repair. He should be dismissed as unfit, to be a minister by the Congress government. Of course, it is another matter, he apologised after opposition reacted rather sharply calling it “extremely condemnable and insulting”. When shall politicians like Sharma learn decency in public utterances.

MAHARASHTRA: There is this Dr Sudam Munde and his wife Dr Saraswathi. They have a clinic in Beed, where they have been conducting illegal abortions of female feotus, and reportedly fed the feotuses to their dogs.  A case was filed against them in the court of Additional Session Judge Sudhakar Mahajan, in Beed in 2010. Doctor couple managed a bail in the court of Sudhakar Mahajan. In 2012, an arrest warrant was issued against the couple. Again reportedly same judge granted them bail. Little after the bail, a woman, Vijayamala Patekar, died while undergoing illegal abortion in Dr Munde’s clinic. Under pressure, the Doctor couple was arrested along with 15 others who allegedly sheltered them. Our judge Sudhakar Mahajan again grants all of them bail. To the bad luck of Munde couple, the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court cancelled the bail, the bailing judge was suspended. Obviously this Judge Mahajan was a rotten egg and had to be remanded in the larger interest of the justice. How can a judge bail out a serial offender serially, especially in a case of female foeticide?!

Some people are law unto themselves. We had written about it earlier as well, how Salman Khan is more powerful than Maharashtra home minister, or else more than 10 years’ old case of ‘Hit & Run’ against Khan is seemingly going no-where. It needed an activist to complaint to the court about the alleged favouritism by the Mumbai police in not persuing the case. As expected the police have denied the allegation by filing the affidavit. Clearly they are telling lies, because there were other cases of similar nature probably more grave, like that of Alister Pereira, which got over in flat 15 months. Or that of Nooria Hit & Run case, which took about 2 years for the trial to complete.

The case involving Khan had one death and 4 injured. Accident occurred at 2.45 in the early hours of 28 Sept. 2002. Y P Singh, former senior IPS officer of Maharashtra cadre, left service to join Anna Hazare movement had formally accused the Mumbai police of intentionally dillydallying in persuing the case. Besides ham handling of witnesses by the prosecution, Khan has been ignoring to appear in the court despite being asked by the court. Clearly there are two sets of law in operation for Mumbai Police.

There was this survey conducted by students of St. Xavier’s college in Mumbai on the utility and usefulness of skywalks across Mumbai city. To make these skywalks government had reportedly spent over Rs: 700 crores during the last decade or so. It was a greatly felt need near railway stations and certainly could have helped in the better management of vehicular traffic so also human traffic. However the key findings are not supportive of the huge expenditure the government has incurred. Of the 1000 adults who responded to the survey, 68% have said that skywalks are beneficial and 22% are lost, they are not sure if it has helped, while 16% opined that it has not helped. By any stretch of imagination, it is a money well spent. May be it will take some more time for the people to appreciate its usefulness. It is free of any clutter, one can get straight into railway station without any encumbrance of  crossing vehicles, and vehicles can be free to cross. But unfortunately used to the disorganised and unorganised way of life Indians by and large do not like to be disciplined hence the utility rate of these skywalks are less. It is safe, provided more people use it. Some security at night may be needed. Enforcement of crossing curbs on the road below, for those who oppose change, can greatly help in improving the level of usage of these skywalks. Indiscipline is our national malaise. If this reigned in, then all would realise that skywalks are  the best thing to have happened. Hope it happens.

TAMIL NADU: Vishwaroopam, the film by Kamala Haassan, has unwittingly exposed another ‘roopam’ of politics in Tamil Film fraternity. Jayalalitha has only used her position as the CM of Tamil Nadu to ban it, when prima facie there was hardly any case. Reportedly in Kerala, there was no problem in screening it. Even court, once allowed the screen then withdrew the permission. All because the government had raised the bogie of law and order. Of course the larger issue of freedom of expression was certainly given a go by which is again an issue of another bigger debate. But what is sad is Kamala Haassan, a genius in his own inimitable way, was made to eat a humble pie by forcing him to agree to cuts, which even by some Muslims’ standards was hardly of any relevance.

CHHATTISGARH: Gautham Navlakha, is an intellectual and a writer who has sharp and strong views. He normally supports everything what naxals do, who are according to him victims of the system and are justified in doing all violent actions and reactions.

Of course, India is a huge place where all kinds of people live, and sometime don’t let others live. Naxals are certainly a fringe group some of whom must have suffered societal wrongs, they certainly need sympathy for their suffering, and empathy for pro-active corrective actions so that they are helped back to the society to which they always belonged.

Unfortunately both, the misguided Naxals, as well as, the insensitive state are wrong on many counts, and hence the problem of naxalism has grown to difficult to manage proportions. And comes the latest reports “Dead trooper booby trapped” and “Arms dealers trying to contact Maoists: NSA”.

Both these reports appeared in less than two weeks time. Both the reports, by its very nature appear extremely diabolic. If one can be called a terror act, the other is clearly anti-national. One was when Maoists implanted a bomb inside a dead CRPF trooper’s stomach, found while conducting autopsy. It was a 1.5kg bomb stitched inside the abdomen of a dead Jawan. This is clearly barbaric. Would this communist card holder Gautham Navlakha, who writes extensively for Economic & Political Weekly, being part of its editorial board, have difficulty in accepting his fellow travellers naxals to be terrorists?

KARNATAKA: Word fantasy and fantastic have a common connotation and that is the incredibility dimension. Karnataka government had leased out huge tracks of land to corporate play boy Vijay Mallya at Kunigal in the outskirts of Bangalore. These kinds of favours are a-done-thing for varieties of reasons and considerations, both political and financial. Mallya was using the land for breeding his race horses. Thus basically it is a stud farm.

Railways had a proposal to construct a tunnel under the stud farm for the Bangalore-Hassan broad gauge railway line. Both Karnataka govt. and Vijay Mallya let their imagination go wild. They came up with a fantasy and the ever obliging government, being corporate friendly, declared the stud farm as “a site of heritage value”. Or how else to save the stud farm for Mallya! Again it could be for some considerations. Naturally, the railways cannot disturb the ‘heritage site’, and planned a detour. Livid, over the railway plan to acquire farm land, farmers knocked at the court. Our farmer friendly government did not blink, to favour a businessman at the cost of farmers and their interest.

The court, while upholding the farmer’s petition observed that “state government has evolved a fantastic adjective of heritage site in respect of a stud farm” and has asked railways to go ahead with their survey for tunnel under stud farm.

This is how our elected government cried with the poor and sided the rich.

KERALA: Some months ago Palaniappan Chidambaram’s son complained against a small time businessman from Puducherry for a twitter incursion into his private public image. Being son of union finance minister, he had the clout with the police in Puducherry. The twitter man was hauled up by the police under some clauses of I.T. Act. He managed to get a bail, may be after a day, but vowed not to apologise for the twitter message.

Then one day Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackray dies in Mumbai. A girl in Palghar, some 100 kms north of Mumbai questions in her twitter, the bandh, in the wake of this SS Chief’s death. And another agrees, saying she liked it. Shiv Sena goes berserk and police in Palghar acts with alacrity to arrest both girls. It arouses the netizens and nation goes viral on this arrest. Maharashtra Chief Minister goes on over-drive gets all the charges dropped and police reprimanded.

In Kerala, reportedly some 111 persons arrested for sending twitter and some for liking it. Issue here was the infamous 17 year old Suryanelli rape case. Despite having been ‘exhonerated’ by all legal processes, name of Rajya Sabha Deputy chairman P.J. Kurien kept coming back again and again especially after the well published Delhi rape and death case of a medical student. PJK keeps flaunting the ‘exhoneration’ by all competent legal authorities. But then, it was on the basis of witnesses made available to the authorities then. However fresh revelation have considerably increased the pressure on PJK to quit. Of course, in the ‘highest tradition’ of politicians across the national spectrum, PJK is refusing to step down. His party, fortunately for him, is supporting him. But pressure among people, especially the Left and their supporters are on the offensive. In fitness of things, he should resign, get cleared and comeback. But as usual, all criminals are worried that the golden hen of political position would be lost forever, if given up under pressure. PJK is just being an opportunistic politician.

RAJASTAN: These days literary festival like art festivals are getting into public domain mostly for all wrong reasons. Latest to be in the limelight is Ashish Nandi, one of India’s finest sociologists. All that he said at Jaipur Lit Fest was, how empowered and corruption have become a common denominator of equality. According to Nandy it was only the upper class intelligence which ruled the roost in corruption scandals, now with political entry having increased for SC/STs, the opportunity of making unearned income or undeserved income or simply put, to indulge in corruption has increased, and SC/STs have used the opportunity to their advantage. Hence if money is one of the measurement of empowerment and therefore equality, SC/STs have managed it, opines Ashish Nandi. Quite frankly he is not far from truth. Brilliant example is Madhu Koda, who in matter of months is known to have made Rs: 4000 crores as a standby Chief Minister of Jharkhand, not to mention likes of Maayawathi or Ram Vilas Paswan. It is another matter that both Maayawathi and Paswan are baying for the blood of Nandy for just speaking the truth. Fortunately Kancha Ilaiah has taken a principled stand saying, that Nandi did not say anything seriously wrong, but probably could have put it differently, besides being opposed to any legal action against Nandi. Anand Teltumbde, the other prominent intellectual, a grand son of national icon BR Ambedkar, has also ignored the ruckus. Of course, this should not end up being licence to SC/STs to be corrupt, since it has a equity dimension in a corrupt milieu.

NEW DELHI: One national news paper from Mumbai carried two views on the same page. One on Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and the other on U.S. President Barack Husain Obama. One said “Self Goal by Shinde” the other said “An Assertive Obama”.

With all the claims by U.S. being India’s friend, there have been occasions like not considering Indian sensibilities while deciding on issues relating to Mumbai terror attack on 26/11. U.S. excempted  ISI of Pakistan under immunity provisions, much to the chagrin of India, so also 35 years of imprisonment with possible 5 years remission, to the key handler of 26/11 attack, David Headley, instead of life term until death or death penalty. After all some 170 people were killed in the attack. Thus with all their noises they clearly know where their interest lie.

Despite some not so reasonable responses to Indian’s concerns, Obama, generally has been very clear in his 2nd term address to the nation and is likely to take decision which can impact positively. Be it Palestine issue, containing China’s hegemonestic aspirations, Pakistan’s diabolic role vis-à-vis-Taliban terrorism etc. All the above issues would have impacted India positively in some ways.

But our very own Sushil Kumar Shinde, in his Political brinkmanship, allowed himself to be embraced by terrorist Hafiz Said and his ilk by officially stating that RSS & BJP were running terror camps. Now by any stretch of imagination this is far fetched. Of course there were instances of Abhinav Bharat activists allegedly involved in terror attacks, ostensibly to repay in kind, for what groups from across the western borders have committed and continued to commit. But to make a sweeping statement just to please the political leadership of his party and influence Muslim vote bank is to clearly play into the hands of Pakistan. His remarks were received with glee from across the border is no surprise. As one paper puts it “With one stroke he has knocked out the bottom from the known Indian position that ISI and its agents, local & foreign, perpetrate terrorist acts in this country”. At this point we all need to ask an honest question. How unsafe are Muslims and Christian in India as compared to Christians and Hindus in Pakistan?

It is only the hype by media and politicians who kept the divide gaping for their partisan ends. Certainly Obama is far more honest than Shinde. That is the bottom line.

It is very apparent, that Italians are better at the application of rule of law. On Feb. 13, just about all Indian news papers informed their readers “Italian defence giant Finmeccanica’s CEO arrested along with other three on charge of paying a bribe to land orders for helicopters for Indian VIPs”.

Fact was, the bribe or the kickback of about Rs: 350 crores was the loss to Indian exchequer. And reportedly allegations of huge bribe were going round since over a year. But Indian govt. did not act citing ‘no specific input’. Suddenly all hell broke when the other side wanted to come clean and acted on their own. It was just like BOFORS. It was Sweden, who broke the news, and India drew ‘blank’ after ‘strenuous efforts’ by our CBI for close to 3 decades. Then it was Rs: 64 crores. Now it is Rs: 350 crores, CBI ‘acted’ then also, and they are acting now also. Yes now they are running all over and with purpose, since the instruction have come from the top to act, for obvious reasons, the Italian connections. Will have to wait and see what happens next and whose head shall roll.

But an interesting dimension of this VVIP helicopter deal is the cost of it. Reportedly, Barack Obama, the U.S President turned down buying this AW: 101 helicopter for the White House as U.S. felt it to be very expensive and instead just upgraded their existing fleet. But for Indian VVIPs cost is of no consequence. Their life is very valuable and has got to be protected besides the luxury they are entitled to. So what! Chidambaram may have to find newer ways to raise revenues, including taxing the super rich! Kyaa Baath hai!

Hanging of Afzal Guru, in the 2001 Parliament attack did bring about the closure of the case. However it did leave quite a few questions unanswered. Was it a political execution? Was it to satisfy a section of Indians? Was it to satisfy the collective consciousness of people of India, as Supreme Court tells. But then, he was caught for waging a war on the nation. Parliament of India is not a tiny temple in Kashmir, which you can demolish and get away with it. But Parliament of India is an edifice of huge socio political significance. Attack on it, surely is to be seen as an attack on the whole ‘Idea of India’. Absolutely unacceptable, and reportedly this Afzal Guru is not repentant for the attack. He has been given full assistance by the legal process. Supreme Court has gone into the whole gamut of the case. Only after considering all aspect apex court found him guilty of being a key accomplice of the terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammed from Pakistan. There were scores of innocent death. Completely avoidable, some families have lost lone bread winner. Were the design of attackers to succeed, the horror could have been unimaginable. Thank god, all attackers could be killed. Thus the decision of the court is fairly grounded on judicial premise. Except whether death sentence was right or not, there was no reason to stop the ultimate punishment. The letter didn’t reach the wife before execution, Supreme Court review opportunity was not given, now body is not being returned, these are questions of larger questions. Answers are there for all these questions. May be some day, when the issue cools down, government or the authorities shall give all these questions appropriate answers. Until then its Jai Hind.

WORLD: Haven’t our women folks, rather women activists or can we call them feminine activists always protested rather vehemently, any adverse comment on their sartorial attitude or ways. In India from across the spectrum, there have been in the past and continued to the present, observations from many quarters like, the police, social thinkers, elders and even senior ladies in positions of authority have commented that revealing and body hugging clothes do entice some men to attempt at possible physical assault.

We have witnessed in the past how many women’s organisations, activists, including men and students, both girls and boys reacted rather sharply saying it is the criminal mindset and dress habits of women or girls have no impact at all.

And comes the news from the west, the citadel of modernity and probably even nudity. A London based news informs “Women in short skirts, high heels ‘risk rape’, says UK-MP”.

Britain have many Indians and other Asians as Members of Parliament. But this Mr Richard Graham, a Tory M.P., is out and out – pure Englishman, born and grew in a more open society of London. He had reportedly stated “While what a woman wore did not necessarily attract sexual predators, it could make it harder for them to get away from an attacker”. And mind you, he is not alone, there is this Jo Wood, a trustee of Rape Crisis England & Wales, too echoes similar sentiment. “Its not about the impact of your clothes on a potential predator - its about whether the clothes you are wearing make it harder to get away from a predator”.

In any case what needs to be appreciated is that the scanty and skimpy clothes do make the men turn on. What next is essentially a matter of chance. Thus the fact remains, it could still be a trigger factor, take it or leave it.

We have been hearing in recent past that India will emerge closest friend of United States, repeated many times over, by President Obama, Hillary Clinton and all those who can influence thought and action within the United States. But on ground, somehow, things do not look as bright as they make it out to be. It has been always our experience. Not that things have not worked, it has worked. There has been upward trend since a decade or so ago. But at crucial moments, story has been otherwise.

Look at this latest case of David Headley urf Dawood Geelani, a Pak-American. World is privy to the truth that he worked for both U.S. intelligence and ISI. For the U.S., he was an informer, who would inform on terror activities in Pakistan. He had a firsthand knowledge of terror since he was an associate of LeT. For ISI, he would work as spy to keep them posted on India and likely targets of vulnerability.  Thus he was a double agent. Being an informer this Headley would always be in the U.S. radar. Thus they would have known of his travels to India and his itinerary. Hence it would be within the realm of justifiable imagination to think, if only U.S. authorities were to keep India in the loop on this diabolic lump called Headley, chances are 26/11 could have been avoided, so are the deaths of those about 170 who were killed – Indians, American and others. What calculation the U.S. had in this move to keep India in dark is a mystery. The mystery confounded when U.S. granted ISI chief a curious immunity from law suits in America. The 35 years of imprisonment for this Pak-American is therefore disproportionate to the crime he committed. U.S. being U.S. will have all kinds of justification for not seeking life sentence instead of death sentence, since he turned approver. However the fact of the matter is, it is indeed a case of judicial miscarriage, since India which suffered the most and the maximum, had no role in this decision. And the Democratic Party of Obama administration has reportedly admitted that 94% Indians voted for Obama. So it was indeed a let down by Obama and his men.

An Islamabad datelined report informed “Indian prisoner in Pak jail dead after beating”. CBMs or No CBMs, Pak will keep doing what Pak is best at – keep tinkering and play foul with any emotive issue. Pakistanis in Indian prison or vice versa is an ever present fact of life for varieties of reason. But least one can do is to cause physical harm or beatings to helpless prisoners, who would be there by accident, for entirely no fault of thiers. However what is despicable in this particular case is that the victim was to have been released after just two days remaining in his 5 years jail term, informs a Pakistani lawyer, Tehseen Khan. According to Khan, who too was in the same prison and was released little earlier, he was mercilessly beaten by jail staff abusing him with racial remarks against India and minorities. The victim Chamel Singh’s only fault was he used water from a tap to wash his clothes. If the details as reported form Islamabad are true this is another barbaric act after the barbaric beheading of Indian Jawans killed on LOC in Kashmir by Pak army men. How can you sustain a civilized relation with such countries?!

There is another juicier side of Pakistani national scene. A Paris date lined news in the print media headlined as “Sarcozy faces probe in Karachi affair” tells us about a diabolic development in an arms deal between France and Pakistan. According to the report, French court had authorized an investigation into the role of Sarcozy, who was a budget minister in late 1990’s in an alleged kickback in the deal. But in 2002, there was a bomb blast in Karachi which killed 11French Engineers, ostensibly because the kickbacks received by the then French Prime Minister Edward Baladur was not shared with the Pakistani connections. The court was apparently probing if Karachi bombing was a revenge for the cancellation of bribes secretly promised to Pak officials. The idea of commenting on this news unrelated to India was due to the Pakistani angle and how they can kill innocents if their money share is not paid, even if it is illegal and illegitimate?

So, Pope Benedict XVI has quit, citing reasons of failing health due to growing age. Reportedly this happened after 600 years, of a similar voluntary retirement. Reportedly some were shocked but there were those who called it courageous. Yes, when the whole world of faithfulls looks at you in reverence, to call it quits requires a courage of rare order. Christians, the world over must salute this apostle for the courage of his conviction.

Of course, there are any number of controversies surrounding Vatican. The child abuse by priests being the most damaging. Funding by totalitarian regimes and the underworld, which leads to financial scandals by its very nature. Lets face it, it is the fate of all religious orders, because there is lack of transparency in their history and geography. It is like Samuel Butler’s “Way of all flesh”.

Pope Benedict XVI, too had a rough sail during his tenure, with his views on Muslims, Jews, divorce, contraception, ordination of women, ending celibacy for priests etc. It happens in every democratic set up, we always agree to disagree.

This could be the lot of all his predecessors so also his successors. But all do not call it quits. All of us need an old age home, so all try to hang on as long as god does not decide to make his last call to us. But Pope Benedict XVI has proved that he is an individual and is made differently, and therefore acted differently. And that indeed is ultimate freedom, the freedom from desire. As he walks towards the evening twilight, the sunset, lets al pray that all goes well for him. Amen.

J.Shriyan