Politics
Legal System and criticism
Read this excellent op-ed in The Hindu by V R Krishna Iyer. I am glad someone is questioning what the Supreme Court says. In a recent pronouncement, the Chief Justice of India said that judges were “constitutional authorities” and not public servants, and therefore not covered by the Right to Information Act. In an excellent retort, Iyer explains that the difference between “constitutional authority” and public servant is merely semantic. He argues that constitutional authorities are, in fact, a higher category of pubic servant and are therefore more accountable for their actions. If what Iyer says is true, then why is criticism of the courts or legal procedure considered contempt of court? Must the Supreme Court not be subject to the very laws they seek to uphold? As Iyer puts it,
“The Indian judiciary must accept Frankfurter, that frank and superlative U.S. Judge who wrote: “Judges as persons, or courts as institutions, are entitled to no greater immunity from criticism than other persons or institutions.”
In a recent order on the defamation cases against Tamil actress Khushboo, the Madras High Court refused to dismiss the 29 cases against her on the grounds that she had expressed not-so-flattering opinions against the judiciary, and that she had no reason to be aggrieved. Excuse me, but I thought I lived in a democracy? A person does not enjoy her fundamental right to constitutional remedy because she dared to say something against the courts, which are responsible for providing that remedy? In a democracy, I have an inalienable right to freedom of speech and expression. Nobody can take that away from me. The courts were, until now, the only neutral and non-partisan forum for justice. If the courts put themselves above the law, how can we trust them to protect the rights of normal people like you and me?
To its credit, India’s legal system has managed to remain free from external influences for over 60 years. We cannot afford to let that change. Judges will only be more respected if they agree to subject themselves to the laws they are appointed to uphold. Judges are subject to law, not above it.
India and Poverty
Came across this page when I tried to sphere content related to my most recent post. No, I don’t dispute any of the statistics. I am sure all of them are true. There certainly are 22 million cases pending in Indian courts. And all the other stats about rapes, discrimination, poverty, farmer suicides and the like are true. But, what I find amusing is that all this is being disclosed by a Pakistani, who calls himself a social scientist. I wouldn’t have had a problem if he had been equally critical of his own country on the rest of his blog. But, he seems to be trying rather hard to prove that India is not as great as the media would like everyone to believe.
Just one thing on the courts issue: Mr. Ansari forgot to mention that Indian courts function and that Chief Justices are not thrown into prison or sacked because the President fought with his wife (or husband, as the case is with Ms. Patil).
Free speech or irresponsible politicking?
India should adopt the chicken, and not the peacock as its national bird, says Jug Suraiya. Why? Because the government has allegedly been chicken hearted on issues ranging from Taslima to Tibet. Ok. Our esteemed Ms. Nasreen first. She recently left India to an undisclosed European destination, claiming that her physical security would be compromised if she told us where she was going. And why did she do so? Because the Indian government kept her under “house arrest” and caused much emotional distress. She doesn’t stop there. She claims that the treatment meted out to her by the Indian government was no less than “cold-blooded state terrorism to drive her out of the country.”
Oh yes, it’s terrorism when you try to protect a person from angry mobs throwing stones at her house and request that she maintain a low profile until things calm down a bit. Maybe we should have left her at her house in Calcutta, or waited until she was grievously injured and then filed a case of attempted murder on the angry mobs. Would Ms. Nasreen have been happy then? How can a person, whose only connection to India is a temporary visitor’s visa, be so ungrateful and accuse the government of state terrorism? I mean, just because she is a woman? Just why is India obliged to host her and provide shelter? She is not an Indian. M F Hussain would have deserved it. But Taslima? Why should we stick our neck out for someone who doesn’t care a damn for us? For someone who equates India with countries like Afghanistan under the Taliban and calls the Indian state a terrorist? I am sorry to say that my regard for Ms. Nasreen went down several notches after reading this report.
I certainly support her right to free speech. But one must understand that with freedom, comes responsibility. You can’t say what you please and expect your audience not to react. Mob violence is unacceptable in any context and deserves to be condemned and punished. But does a writer not owe something to the society too? She may have had a difficult childhood and adolescence, but that does not give her the right to heap such abuse on a state that tried its best to help her out. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs extended her visa despite much opposition, and on the condition that she tone down her criticism and try to respect the sentiments of the people whose hospitality is enjoying. Is that too much to ask?
Her claims that she was denied access to healthcare and that the Indian government tried to “poison” her through drugs is simply too far-fetched to believe. I do not hold the current Congress government in very high esteem and have in the past questioned its attitude on various issues. But, even I find it impossible to believe that it is capable of plotting someone’s slow death. I mean…come on! To me, this seems like the result of a hyper-active imagination. As far as all that crap about Indians treating a guest nobly is concerned, I don’t care any more. As far as I am concerned, Ms. Nasreen has proven herself unworthy of the old Indian adage, “Athithi Devo Bhava” (May the guest be treated as God.) by heaping abuse on the very country that has hosted her and kept her safe for almost four years now.
And then, comes Tibet. All I say is this. India has enough problems without taking on those of Tibet right now. Let’s set our house in order and concentrate on the more important issues of education, economic development, military and energy security and poverty reduction before we set out to “liberate” anyone else from oppressors. Was one Bangladesh experience not enough? Let’s please mind our own business. Let’s leave the world’s problems to George W Bush.
Of apples and oranges
Here is a gem from Sitaram Yechury. I mean, who publishes such crap? Oh, a well-known newspaper like Hindustan Times of course. I actually checked if it was published under a satire or humour column or something. But no. I had overestimated their intelligence I suppose. And did you know that our dear Mr. Yechury got his BA (Hons.) in Economics from St. Stephen’s? I find that rather hard to believe after reading the following words.
“…globalisation has given rise to the phenomenon of ‘jobless growth’. The growth of employment has always been lower than the GDP growth rate globally. Both these features put together mean that the purchasing power of the vast majority of the world’s population has been declining.”
Eh? What’s the relation? It’s like putting apples and oranges together and claiming that there is a fall in mango production this year. Ok. Ok. I think it’s time I stop taking any communist seriously. As Amit Varma so succintly puts it,
“Let’s all just stay poor then, so there’s no danger of losing the money we haven’t had a chance to earn anyway.”
Someone teach these guys basic economics please!!
Of politics and truth
On Sunday, I watched a talk show on Star Vijay titled “Neeya Naana”. The topic under discussion was truth vs. lies. One section accepted that they lied and justified white lies on the grounds that they were necessary for survival. The other self-righteously proclaimed that lying under any circumstance was bad and compromised basic values. At the end of the show, I was left with the feeling that those who admitted to lying and justified it were, in fact, speaking the truth, and that those who denounced it were being the ultimate hypocrites.
Those who denounced lying were quite justified in their anger; if, they had admitted to lying about minor things every now and then on the process. But, pretending that they are descendants of Raja Harishchandra left nobody in doubt about their honesty. Tell me frankly, can you honestly say you don’t ever lie. I admit I do. From claiming I never heard mum telling to bring milk when I was busy doing other things, to going to Cafe Coffee Day after seeking permission to go for culturals when I was in college, I have lied. I still do. But those lies are about things that will not, in any way, harm anyone else. And you know what’s worse? On the side of truth, were two distinguished politicians of the Congress Party, both of whom hold important positions within the party. Tell me, can a politician honestly claim never to have lied? Would you expect me, as a common citizen to take any politician at his/her word? Well, no. I refuse to believe a politician who says he has never lied. After all, an honest politician is an oxymoron. And so, I could not simply not buy the argument.