IS THE GOVT STUPID?

Is the Government Stupid?

At their age I did not have such clarity of thought. I was of the view, that the shifting to Singapore of the 23 year  raped intern who is battling death, was a ruse by the government, to ensure she dies outside of India. Her dying in India would fuel passions and trigger a fresh round of uncontrollable protests.

So, yesterday, when I took my usual journey from Mumbai to Delhi, I though I would engage with the crew, young people they, to get a feel of what they think. I was surprised to see, they were very clear, the girl would die, her condition was so critical, that the government did not want her to die in India. I realized I was cleary over estimating myself and underestimating this younger generation.

They have clarity of thought which at their age perhaps we did not have. The air hostess also engaged in very mature conversation and said that girls should wear appropriate attire at all times, something that I would never openly say, though would always recommend to my daughter and wife and even mother.

When you have a generation with such maturity of though, it indeed becomes very difficult for any government to  handle them with anything that is less than abject sincerity of intent.

The crew prayed that the girl should somehow live, and I would do the same.

Theek Hai!!! Lekin Kya?

If the police is on your side, you have made it in India. It is the most helpful police of the world.

I remember as a child growing up in Kanpur, our entry into Green Park and seating in the Governor’s Pavilion (a colonial pseudonym for the VIP Enclave) was always facilitated by some valiant IPS officer. My fondness for munching on peanuts as I watched India bat, was also pandered to by a committed and courteous cop. And I must confess, I was never fond of cricket, but liked all else at Green Park right from the entry to the peanuts.

As a young corporate executive, once I was invited by an MP to accompany him to a Ghazal recital in Golf Club Noida. This venue was very particular about not allowing cars inside its premises. It was a cop who facilitated precisely that. Since, the organizers did not expect a guest with the MP, an extra chair for me, on emergency basis, was again organized by none other than a healthy (read pot-bellied) Daroga.

Such good people as you can see, and why do you guys criticize them. My mother is a gynaecologist. In India, you don’t have a structured system of marriage counseling. So Indian women and even men, treat their Gynaec as a marriage counselor also. Sometimes even a mediator. And she has often sought police help to get matters sorted out between girl and her in-laws. Of course in such settlements merit of position is not as critical as on whose side the police is taking. That party will clearly be the weighty one.

So as you can see, even though our police may bitterly be failing in its policing duties, but they are doing so much more, including but not limited to marital dispute settlements.

Sarcasm apart, you cannot blame the police. There is a rot in the society at large. When you enter the police, you pay a bribe, which by an amazing capillary action reaches up to the home minister and CM. The bribe money has often been raised through land sale by a poor farmer or through an expensive loan. Land sale by a farmer is like selling his livelihood. Upon selection, the first objective is to get a posting from which the investment made for entering the force can be recovered. The dynamics works the same for key positions like police commissioner.

I remember, in 2006(?) our house in the posh Lucknow colony had been occupied by a man whose daughter was supposedly close to Akhilesh Yadav. At least that is what the police claimed to justify their inaction against the fellow. This fellow would neither pay rent nor vacate. When we met the SP Transgomti, we saw something very interesting.

He did not rise to receive my father a retired Colonel  (a usual courtesy that should be extended). In fact we waited for 40 mts despite reaching at the appointed time. But he met with alacrity the shadow of Sheila Gautam an MP. Just for your information, these shadows or PSOs are constable rank people. He even summoned his inspector and told him to take care of the PSO of the MP, as the latter could facilitate even that which IGs could not.

Besides, cops are used as drivers / cooks / chaperons / and often clean utensils in the homes of senior officers. There is a hue and cry about VIP security, I can tell you there is an equal number of police personnel engaged as domestic servants in the houses of senior officers. And these cops they don’t regret working as domestic helps, as there are ample benefits attached. Most of them never fired a bullet in all of their career.

So the focus is not duty. It is also not policing. It is about being resourceful. And as Indians, no one needs to explain to us what is meant by this phenomenally potent word.

Some of my close friends are in the police. Very fine human beings. People with good values. Personal integrity above reproach. But again victims of the system which, they initially thought they would set out to change. They cannot even with freedom verbalize their angst against the rot in the system. They do their wee bit, align to survive and move on. 

It is Silence nay Speechless nay dumbness that Sonia has made a virtue of

Attire and attributes may not necessarily be in sync. Attire mostly impacts attitude but whether it has done so in the case of Sonia Gandhi is clearly a million dollar question. She has adopted the Indian attire but I am not too sure if she has imbibed some other aspects of the Indian culture. She, as is well known was not an easy convert to Indian-ness. It was more of a compulsion as there was so much to gain by doing so.

She makes public appearances with head covered but, with the flair of a fashionista. Truly, this act is more of a charade that she seems to have adopted from her late mother-in-law. Although, it is supposed to be symbolic of the culture of her adopted country-India, whether, she behaves with the same Indianized modesty in real life, and whether she has been able to really internalize Indian culture and Indian-ness in ample measure to be able to indelibly morph with local culture that she seeks to project, undoing her origin and upbringing, is something that is impossible to ascertain.

She has made silence a virtue and why not. Our Munis did so and were venerated for that. In fact the root of the word Muni is from the Sanskrit “Maun” meaning silence. The person who would stay in state of Maun was a Muni. Brilliant! And this elderly “Munni” (young lass) seems to idolate the ancient Munis who would practiced maun for internal enrichment. So the question is, in the case of Sonia, is it silence, or speechlessness or just downright dumbness.

Come rapes, come Anna, come Kejriwal or come terrorists, she maintains a golden silence, never to be broken.

If you would look at the Presidential elections of the US, it is not difficult to decipher how diligently the candidates prepare for public debates. While the first debate of Obama was somewhat of a damp squib, Romney was extremely impressive in that one. But usually, Obama is exceptional in his public utterances. Regardless, the margin of his victory this time was much thinner than his last. On the other hand look at our leading lady, who has made speechlessness nay dumbness such a virtue.

Having denied her all credit for rejuvenating a decadent Congress party, I must admit, her commitment to her family is clearly more Indian than Indian.

  

Capt Saurabh Kalia

My goodness! Our government did finally muster the courage of raising the issue of torture meted out to a martyr - Capt. Saurabh Kalia with the traveling Pakistani Minister to India. Quite in contradiction to our distaste of taking issues head on.

We are a caste based hierarchical society. In the past for some castes fighting was the ordained profession. And people belonging to those castes could not deign take up any profession other than one entailing fighting for the preservation and maintenance of Dharma. The latter connoting ‘social order’ in this case. The other castes felt somewhat alienated from such causes, as those causes were too exalted for them to connect with. So martyrs were largely unsung by a vast majority, as they could not identify with them. Within the caste, such martyrs would constitute folklore, epitomize selfless sacrifice and be held as example for more of the caste. So

The caste system today in India is predominantly vestigial in most walks of life, saving matrimony, where a sense of erinaceous self preservation seems to dominate the process of mate selection resulting in in-caste marriages. But this trend too is on the decline, as how long can man made social norms dominate the natures process of mate selection.

Coming back to what I intended to write on, Capt Kalia was commissioned with the 4 Jat, and was one of the first who sighted the infiltration by the Pakistanis. He was captured and tortured. He died and was honored posthumously, but his father continues the torturous fight for justice for his son.

Capt Saurabh Kalia with his 5 men were captured by Pakistani troops and tortured for 2 weeks before their mutilated bodies were handed over the Indian authorities.

The Istanbul Convention provides very clear guidelines for certifying torture. As per the Geneva Convention, all signatories of the Geneva Convention must refrain from perpetrating torture. Pakistan is a signatory. But gory tales of torture by the Pakistani army or private militia are nothing new.

In the case of a dispute, the International court of justice Hague could be approached. I am sure, there will be justice which will clearly repudiate fatalism that Government of India is wrestling with.

Well, some people say, the Government of India is taking a very practicle stand, as taking the matter to ICJ Hague may open a pandoras box, as Pakistan may take many cases of Kashmir to same court bring negative mileage to India at a time when it leasts needs it.

But while political prudence may dictate India’s inaction on this account, it may clearly be prejudicial to the psyche of a father who still laments not only the loss of life but also the dignity of his bereaved son.