Vastanvi's woes

The Islamic seminary's Majlis-e-Shoora (managing committee)’s unceremonious sacking of Dar-ul-Ulum-Deoband Chief Maulana Ghulam Muhammad Vastanvi smacks of vendetta by his detractors there. When Vastanvi offered to step down the very same Majlis-e-Shoora rejected the offer asking him to wait till the committee exonerates him of the charges against him alleged by his detractors. In fact, the din against the forward-looking Dar-ul-Ulum-Deoband Chief Maulana Ghulam Muhammad Vastanvi was much ado about nothing. But, now it is clear that the Majlis-e-Shoora played into the hands of his arch rivals who were perhaps uncomfortable with his broader vision and a reduced amount of orthodoxy. Perhaps, they wished to see a hard-liner occupying the Dar-ul-Ulum-Deoband’s apex seat. It is sad that his critics in Dar-ul-Ulum-Deoband, who were spearheading the smear campaigning against him to unseat the saner voice, not only scored an emphatic victory over moderation but also might emerge as the lone saviours of Islam. Admittedly, what pains is the way they ran the smear campaign to paint him a ‘traitor of the community’. It is also obvious from this that the hardliners from among the Muslims do not want the ordinary Muslims to come out of the Ghetto and the minority persecution complex. Ironically, it is the Modi who must be smiling at the turn of events as he stands to derive maximum political mileage out of it.

Salwa Judum or Self-defence Populi?

The Supreme Court order, de-legalising Salwa Judum, has delivered a serious body blow to the ongoing fight against the Maoist’ menace in the red-corridor. This will also be a major set-back to the governmental efforts to contain the armed attack of the Maoists against the mindless Maoists’ armed ambush. While, there is no doubt that it is unconstitutional to arm the citizens in normal circumstances, the conditions prevailing there demanded such an unprecedented step by the state. The outcome of the SC decision appears to be a case of “Good case argued badly”. The terrorising conditions and the insecure atmosphere prevailing there seem to have escaped the notice of the apex court. Otherwise, this important point was not adequately highlighted before the honourable court. Arming the civilians for self-defence against merciless mercenaries/terrorists is being used as an effective strategy in various parts of the world including in India. Punjab, Kashmir, etc are a case in point. No doubt Salwa Judum has the potential to be misused and degenerated into a private army in the countryside. But at the same time it had the participation of the people against the organized violence by the Maoists. Admittedly, it may also be argued that securing the life and property of the citizens is the primary responsibility of the state and hence the state should not abdicate its responsibility to do so and hand it over to the citizens in a dangerous manner, but then it is not possible for the state to extend security matrix to every citizen. Given this, the preventive step for self-defence with the people’s participation cannot be faulted. So, if required, the state must file an urgent Review Petition before the honourable Supreme Court for its reconsideration and reversal of the order. Otherwise, whatever good work done against the Maoists will be frittered away and the Maoists will sooner rather than later gain upper hand in their armed insurgence and violence.

CURTAINS FOR BLACK-MONEY?

In setting up a Special Investigation Team to monitor investigations into the issue of Black Money the Supreme Court has moved to a hitherto unexplored area in an unprecedented manner. This master stroke also tantamounts to censuring the government for its failure to get its acts together on the sensitive issue so far with the urgency with which it should have acted. However, it is a matter of fact that the political parties have no clarity of purpose and sense of urgency to unearth the money stashed abroad, which is running into tens of thousands of Crores of rupees to home - estimated to be a mouth-watering Rs 500 billion ($1.4 trillion) according to conservative figures. Had they been sincere about it, there would have been at least some genuine efforts to get back this Black money from the safe havens. In fact, no one appears resolute about this which must have prompted the apex court to move swiftly and convincingly. The centre alone cannot be blamed for the black money, which is an inherited problem of several decades. The stakeholders in the black-money must be from all walks of life barring the poor and the middle-class, who have nothing to stash abroad or for that matter in their own country. The Supreme Court decision would be welcomed by welcomed by a large section of the society as this is likely to force the hands of the government to refrain from dodging the issue any more. The agencies concerned will also be compelled by the legal supervision to pursue black-money doggedly and purposefully. Nevertheless, the unprecedented action of the apex court is likely to heighten the confrontation between the legislative and the judiciary in an equally, if not more, unprecedented way.

300 Pices of Human Flesh

The surprising verdict in the sensational Neeraj Grover Case, that has shaken the conscience of the conscientious citizens, is shockingly inadequate and can be justifiably called a case of miscarriage of justice. But, it is futile to blame the learned judge for this. Conversely, the Police in first place seem to have failed to professionally investigate and book the accused, sealing the legal loop-holes for a seasoned Criminal lawyer. Secondly, the prosecution too miserably failed to prove the charges against the accused making the assessment and conclusions of the judge truly onerous. The sincere and honest Additional Sessions Judge M W Chandwani, who presided over trial proceedings, cannot be blamed in not delivering a judgement meeting the expectations of the parties interested in the sensational case. A judge cannot decide on the quantum of punishment merely on the basis of the alleged-but-not-proved cruelty and sensational newspaper reports and the concocted story of the police alone. He is enjoined to follow the justice, equity and good conscience and be guided by proof beyond doubt in criminal case. The bereaved family and the friends of Neeraj have reasons to be rightfully agitated over the “light” punishment the accused have got away with. People are more agitated that the prima donna of the case – Kannada actress Maria Susairaj- got away so simply with a mere three years of imprisonment for causing to disappear the evidence under section 201 of the IPC, even as the prime accused navy officer Emile Jerome Mathew, was sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment. Mumbai Police, known for its rare talent and investigative intelligence must introspect on the entire case and learn to tie up all the loose ends in such sensational case with more care. This case is likely to be remembered for the shoddy job done by all concerned, if the Police version of chopping Grover’s dead-body into 300 pieces is to be believed.

Rubbish Thoughts on Corruption

The non-Congress political parties are making political hay out of the avoidable night operation by the government in the infamous Baba Ramdev episode. But, if one analises the events that led to the avoidable, it can be seen that the Government had Hobson’s choice in the matter. If the Yoga Guru’s Political act were not conked out, it would have prompted more and more so-called civil-society members to pick up the gauntlet under the pretext of fighting corruption. It is everyone’s knowledge that the country has been undergoing a crisis of public morality and public trust. Who gets an opportunity to steal the public wealth, does so with impunity thumbing his nose at the legal machinery in the republic. The government alone cannot wage any meaningful fight against corruption. It needs the whole-hearted support of the society at large. The process of dismantling Licence Raj was initiated the very same Congress Party in 1992 with the sole intention to eliminate the sources of corruption. Now, it has come to the notice that the very same avenues are being misused by a section of the politicians to pocket sweat-money through insidious methods, which needs to be rectified through effective legislation. But, this does not mean that all Indians are corrupt or all Indians are clean. There are wolves in sheep’s clothing everywhere, but killing all the sheep to eliminate corruption and black-money will be like burning the entire house fearing a little mouse. Similarly, attributing the UPA2 government for all the ills afflicting the nation will also be unfair. The adversaries of the Congress have been employing a devious ploy of singling out Dr. Singh in Corruption Index as Mr. Clean, even as they blame the Congress Party for all the ills. We must understand the complex Cycle of Corruption and try to do our mite to reduce it to the barest minimum, instead of wailing in futility.

Fasting by Proxy

The adversaries of the Congress Party have been crying hoarse over the night Police action against Baba Ramdev. Some even likened it to Emergency Days. This may be due to passions running high since the timing chosen for the Police action may be ill-advised. Conversely, the people who assembled there are supposed to know the repercussions of such assembly, which became unlawful assembly. May be this is a technicality? But then everything happening is a mere technicality. On his part, Baba Ramdev has under-estimated the brute rule of law, when invoked, and over-estimated the popular responses and the political windfall his fasting would fetch. This certainly was a religious congregation under the guise of Civil Society. If allowed to continue, his fast would have triggered more and more such fasts, tearing the democratic fabric apart. Suppose tomorrow a few Muslim Priests or Buddhist Monks or Christian Priests emulate him demanding reasonable or otherwise demands, what will happen to this country? Allowing such proxy-campaigns is fraught with the danger of the Indian Republic going banana republic way. Those who support such ill-advised assemblies must bear it in mind that we are living in a functioning democracy. We should not carry the protests too far lest the society fall apart. Admittedly, everyone is rightly disgusted with corruption and black-money, but this should not encourage the people to blindly support those suffering from Lime-light Seeking Syndrome. To this extent, the action of the government is justified in ordering crack-down against the politically motivated Proxy-Fast.

(Un) Civil Society

The divergent views among the Government and the Civil Society Members on the contentious Lokpal Bill are unfortunate, to say the least. The government may undoubtedly be reeling under a volley of corruption charges. But, this should not used by the Civil Society to bulldoze the government into submission to accept its suggestions in entirely without mutual acceptability and debate. The feasibility of such proposals in the proposed Lokpal Bill must be weighed for their pros and cons. Moreover, the onus of implementing such suggestions will be solely with the government and the Civil Society can abdicate their responsibility in case of constitutional eventualities, if any, in future- which is most likely. Therefore, ideally, both sides should reveal flexibility to accommodate the reasonable ideas of the other side. The whole exercise should be for the common good of the society and not used to score points over the other. The government’s suggestion to keep the PM, MPs and the judiciary out of the ambit of the Lokpal should be viewed from the genuine concerns and apprehensions it has over the proposal. Admittedly, including them is fraught with possible scenarios of constitutional crises. Similarly, the Lokpal should not be omnipotent wielding more powers than it can judiciously wield to weed out corruption, which has permeated all walks of life. In short, the Lokpal itself should not become a Frankenstein in future. A corruption catharsis is good, but this should not lead to a constitutional catastrophe.