Riots- Is India Proud?

It is disheartening to read about the plight of riot hit families which surfaces in the news every now and then. The cover stories are heart wrenching realities of the modern era communal riots. But apart from being highly readable stories they serve little purpose to the society as well as to these victims. The sluggish pace of justice delivery system means the culprits are walking scot free even as the victimized families find it difficult to bear the loss of their breadwinners. This in turn motivates the perpetrators of these crimes to carry the same heinous crimes in the future as they are assured of impunity by their political masters. In this way, rather than giving a landmark judgement which severely punishes the guilty and becomes a precedent in any unfortunate riot case in the future, law is inadvertently providing shelter to the perpetrators.

Of course, the cliche "law will take its own course" doesn't stand a chance in front of the might of the state , Gujarat being an obvious example. It is high time we realize that Justice delayed is justice denied. The biggest disappointment is how easily general public seems to have forgotten the worst form of human violations that India has ever witnessed. Be it Godhra or anti-sikh riots, one thing that stands out is the reaction of the general public which seems to care more about Sachin scoring his 100th hundred than asking for justice for these inncoent victims. Many people dismiss it as black blemishes on an otherwise white dress but they fail to realise that unless the root cause of these acts is not taken care of in the bud we stand a chance of making the whole dress dirty. Wake up...NOW!

-Sunny Gusain 

''Free Porn" Manifesto

Million dollar question?
Is it Bhanwari!!!!!

India is a strange country. It might sound like a cliche but I cannot help but restate that it's full of paradoxes. I was left half laughing and half thinking after hearing the news of two Karnataka ministers watching porn in the state assembly. Before the incident becomes a political battleground for BJP, the ruling class, and the Congress, the opposition, lets put the record straight and bisect some sanity out of the incident. Although there were a lot of delicious oxymorons I thought of after hearing the news, prominent amongst them were:

• One of the ministers involved in the incident is a Women and Child Development minister in the state government..Of course I am sure he will evade the law with impunity. The gravity of this fact is far much deeper than anyone of us can think. It's like we are watching some B grade Hindi or Tamil cinema where the one who is supposed to uphold the moral values is himself the one who is the inflicter of pain and agony. Typical.
• These were the "elected" representatives of the people of this state. It seems the electorate is suffering from Stockholm syndrome. This is true in the whole Indian context and not just the state assembly. The only plausible explanation to the indian electorate' s obsession with selecting the same sordid and morally corrupt members time and again in state as well as Lok Sabha elections. Or to put it more blatantly, we our ourselves the dichotomy we see in our elected representatives. After all, this is what you can expect from people who have criminal records even as they are contesting elections. "Harakiri" at its best by the electorate. 
•  It would be a crime not to consider these two "idols" sexual perverts. Not only should they be penalized for watching porn but should also be tried for infringing the ideals and integrity on which the democratic structures like state assemblies work. Although I am sure they will find some way or the other around the law. After all, when Suresh Kalmadi says he has "full faith in the judiciary" what he actually means is "I will find a way out of this mess, you suckers( the middle finger is obvious)." 
• That this incident took place in a state where the moral brigade, backed by the state government, has often, if not always, tried to protect the "ideals of Indian culture and traditions" by bashing youngsters going to night clubs and bars, is hilarious and ironical.
• No moral brigade or the "upholders of Indian Values'' has come out in the open and out rightly bashed these two "Perverts". Ironical.

Law will definitely take its own course or recourse or whatever may be the case but the real onus of these two MLAs getting elected or reelected in the future is on the people of Karnataka. They have two options:

• Demand to make porn legal in the assembly or anywhere in the state. It would be naive to believe that none of us have watched porn or circulated it in some form or the other. Why not might as well legalize it? (Don't look with askance, I know what you do in your free time). Why live in irony? Be straight. Make "porn to all" an election manifesto.
• The other option is to Ban them from contesting any elections in the future. Highly unlikely as it is, though I am sure all people reading this will agree to it. 

Democracy rules choice is yours.

- Sunny Gusain

Democracy or Mobocracy ?

Literary Great
or
Blaspheme?

As the famous words by Churchill go, "democracy is the worst form of government except all others that have been tried".  A dysfunctional democracy is no less better than an autocracy. We are going through a period in our democracy where our polity is out for a toss and the general liberty of the populace is also under threat. The point of discussion in this article is the treatment that India's most distinguished writer Salman Rushdie gets from the ruling government. Rather than welcoming him with grace and with a tinge of pride, the government works to ensure that he is unwelcome in the country. Citing security concerns, the Rajasthan CM searches for ways to block his entry into the Jaipur Literary Festival. And, of course, the impending elections in major states with a sizable Muslim population doesn't help the ruling government either to welcome Rushdie with fanfare. After all who wants to 'offend' the Muslims when they can be a vote bank. In this context, the rabble-rousers and 'protectors of minority sentiments'  take advantage of the polity's uncertainty and resoluteness on the issue. I fail to understand why the centre cannot take a stand whether Rushdie is welcome or not. Why play this ''I didn't say no but I don't mean Yes'' game. 

Doomed?

As is well known, the novel "Satanic Verses", due to its supposedly inflammatory  and blasphemous writings about Prophet Mohammad and Islam, is already banned in India since 1988. I don't get the point then, why is there so much hullabulla about Rushdie coming to India then. Protests by a few people should not infringe on the rights of millions who want to welcome the literary great to the country. The bigger issue here is not the coming of Rushdie to India but rather the kind of regressive society we have become as a whole. The falling tolerance levels of our society is a cause of concern for liberals like me. But clearly, without a clear political will these issues will always remain in the collective psyche of our society while also empowering the so called ''sentiment saviors of the minorities''. That time is not far when every writer or politician or person in this country will be jailed for 'hurting the sentiments of some person or a group'. We cannot emulate China on growth and development parameters but we surely are headed for their societal control norms. 

-Sunny Gusain.