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So it was independence day, once again. Like all independence days I tuned in to hear what our PM had to say today. But I need not have because his speech was so boring, repetitive and ridiculous that I nearly fell asleep. And it was only eight in the morning. In fact this speech was quite appropriate for the last year, the year before that, the year before before that year and quite likely for the next year, the next to next year and may be even for next to next to next year.
Out of hundreds of allegations of fake encounter deaths why is the focus of our entire nation on Sohrabuddin and Amit Shah? Is it because a fake encounter of a Muslim is a different story than that of a Hindu? And that too because it happened in Narendra Modi’s Gujarat? Why is the CBI investigating only this case and not so many others where the guilty are quite likely from the Congress party? What about numerous allegations of fake encounters in Andhra Pradesh? What about the prosecution of Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar in Sikh riots case? What about Ottavio Quattrochi?
Rajdeep Sardesai says, “I thought SM Krishna acted with great dignity. He may not be the ideal foreign minister, but atleast he’s a gentleman”. Sardesai is not alone. All our media personalities including Barkha Dutt and Arnab Goswami are kind of hailing SM Krishna as if he was a great statesman who was in complete control of things in Islamabad and that his not doing some tough talking was an achievement in itself. In my view they’re all mistaken, SM Krishna included. In my view by not retorting SM Krishna and in the bargain Dr Manmohan Singh has made us a laughing stock of the world, particularly in the Muslim world. I too was so very wrong when I wrote this post Indo-Pak talks: A goalless draw wherein I said that results were known to us before the talks started and that this would end in a draw. Sadly, it has not ended in a draw. Its 1-0 in favor of Pakistan. Yes, we lost, once again.
Look at it any which way you want, it is only the man on the street who is hurt, on one hand by rising prices and on the other by political parties enforcing a bandh. And that’s the irony of it all. The call for bandh to highlight the problems of the common man itself poses many problems to the man on the street. BJP president Nitin Gadkari says, “What else can we do in a democracy?” Well, a very valid question for sure. But then why was the bandh not so effectively enforced in non UPA ruled states? Is inflation and fuel price hike not an issue in opposition ruled states? If not then why the double standards? Unless, the aim was to punish the voters of these states for having voted for UPA?
Who is a Lokpal? If thats tough here’s another one, who is a Lokayukta? Well, Lokpal is supposed to be an ombudsman at the center who can look into irregularities by govt officials/politicians and give redressal to grievances of citizens. Lokayukta is supposed to be one in the states with the same functions. Thats the theoretical answer. The practical answer is that there is no Lokpal at the center. There are Lokayukta in some states, seventeen to be precise, but they are mostly toothless, with hardly any powers. And here is a shocker.
Be it the Ruchika Girhotra case or Jessica Lall murder case the high and mighty not just delay the justice but more often than not get away too. In 1985 we allowed Anderson to get away and after twenty six long years of trial the seven surviving accused of Union Carbide India Limited have been given just two years of punishment and they have been let off on bail to boot. To further frustrate us the Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohan P Tiwari who delivered the verdict told Times Now yesterday that JUSTICE HAS BEEN DELIVERED. Nothing has changed, as you can see. The high and mighty still get away, Indian or American. Maybe a khap panchayat would’ve done a better job than our judicial system.
How many times in a life does it happen that your Prime Minister has wasted your time? I don’t know about you but it happened with me today. He wasted two good hours of my day when I could’ve done something more worthwhile like washing my dishes. At least that way something meaningful would’ve been achieved. If you find that statement too blunt and demeaning try answering this one. Why does anyone hold a press conference? More importantly, why does a Prime Minister of a country hold a press conference? Is it to commemorate an occasion like completion of one year in office? Or is it to answer questions from the media on important issues, which are numerous, at the last count? Or is it done to make an announcement? Or worse, is it just to play safe? Unfortunately, Dr Manmohan Singh did the last. He only played safe. Neither did he commemorate his last one year in office because there is hardly anything to commemorate. Nor did he give a satisfactory answer to any question and he most definitely did not make an announcement unless being a fairly satisfied man is counted as one.
Which caste are you from? Are you a Jat? Or are you a Brahmin? Or a Gujjar? Or are you an SC/ST? More importantly, are you ashamed of your caste? I’m a Brahmin and I’m not ashamed of it. You may say that since Brahmins are considered to be the upper caste I don’t have to be ashamed. May be, but let me tell you that I’m not exactly proud of being one either. I just happen to be a Brahmin. It’s not my achievement and it’s not my fault either. And I very sincerely believe that keeping the manner in which I was brought up the same (I’m referring to the financial status of my parents which was lower middle class) I would’ve been the same person that I’m today even if I was born in a different caste.
If khap panchayats have their way same gotra marriages should be made illegal. If indeed this amendment goes through, same gotra marriage between two Hindus will be illegal whereas marriage between a Hindu and a Muslim/Christian/Jew or a person of any other faith would be perfectly legal. Or by that analogy inter religion marriages will also need to be made illegal. And that includes the one between Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi (OOOOPS!!!). By extension it will also imply that marriages between a Christian and Muslim or between individuals belonging to any two different non Hindu religions will also need to be made illegal.
They say that don’t kill the human but kill the devil inside the human. But tell you what? Devil can never die. It’s only the human with the devil inside him who can die and he must.
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