Please very strongly protest the lathi charge on anti-coke activists on their march against exploitative coca cola water guzzling unit at plachimada, kerala on the Independence day, yesterday. Six people were injured and many arrested. The people in this village as also others have been peacefully protesting since 2002 against the exploitation of drinking water and environment-livelihood threat by this MNC. The luxury product meant for indulgents in metros. This untenable product has created untold misery to already marginalised in all the place where the coke-pepsi plant is located. It is a request to support the collective spirit for justice. It is a tribute to the staunch belief in non-violent action of impoverished people in a brutal and vulgar world of coke-pepsi. The belief we appreciate and need be institutionalised otherwise violence is a plausible option. In an increasingly frustrating, diminishing democratic support and mounting livelihood disparities and add to it insolence of “trustees of nation” violence sometimes is the only option. So we are actually precariously perched unless off course needed corrective actions are taken and democracy wins. But the recent happenings are ominous of things to come. The appalling verdict by Supreme Court paving way for crass commercialisation of Education is shocking. This is hitting at the roots of ideals on which this Nation was created, capsulated in the Constitution and very ironically meant to be protected by the Judiciary. Education is a social responsibility of the State and is NOT considered as a business venture. Yes privatization in certain manner on certain front is important and private involvement helps better the situation but this is not that case and that too in a country were disparities are acute. Yes professionalism is important but not at the expense of responsibility and expectations from the State to protect and safeguard social justice. This verdict is an attempt to buy competence. Or more accurately an attempt to deny job opportunity to the competent but poor. Now some apologist might say companies will not recruit incompetent people, so the Market will definitely take a corrective action. That’s hogwash. Firstly most of the jobs now available are service sector oriented so the competence is bit too superficial. It’s more about fitting in where class affiliated norms are sometimes the deciding factor. Further basic intelligence can always be chiseled into required competence. This verdict is denying that access. This verdict therefore is a death knell to egalitarian aspirations of the Nation builders, as also inhuman to the conditions and realities we live in. So now I guess we can have more air-conditioned English speaking run ultrasound clinics mushrooming in posh colonies and help the sophisticates to do normal things. The verdict is an assault on the foundation of the Nation for which scores of people have (and still are) sacrificing their life. This Nation is not for auction. Yes marketeers are important, so is a shit-pot. But shit-spot has a place that is toilet and not the drawing room. It seems that there is an attempt to beautify drawing rooms!!!. Since globalisation (nobody is against it unless offcourse one reduce it to product exchange only) all arguments, all system seems to be collapsing into Marketeer’s esteemed worldview. This is dangerous and will have serious repercussions in future. Nobody is denying that economic growth does fuel overall “development” but the socio-environmental sustainability is an important deciding factor. There is a thin line separating profit motive and exploitation. It is important that this thin line is not blurred. Transaction is not the only the way to define relations in society otherwise what is the “profit” in helping out people in need the latest case being that of some unselfish acts during mumbai flooding. Lets understand this: Marketeers are expendable and can be bought. Money is the all-encompassing worldview here. The importance given to Marketeers and their worldview in Media is not entirely unexpected. Media is here to make profit and marketeers help them. So media in most case is no different from Ramjibhai ki atta chakhi ki dukkan (udhar mang ke sharminda na kare!!)!!! It really is cynical, not denying that some spectacular people are still involved to prevail sanity. So all is not lost. The marketeer’s worldview is strongly resisted. This is not the characteristic, which defined people who participated in Freedom struggle or the ideals they wished to universalise. This is not the characteristic, which defined people who are doing some incredible work away from the media glare or more appropriately not tailored for the media event, so as to later claim rewards (this is what define small timers, they squat themselves next to power centers, waiting for falling crumbs. Success is a camera and glib easy confidence away these days!!. Ayn Rand’s capsulation of capitalism (essentially happiness) as extension of “selfish motive” is a gospel truth here). These are not what defines lets say Aruna Roy or Baba Amte to give few example from vast number of people we are aware of, that is if we make an effort to know and take time to appreciate rather than ogle at TV. Incidentally both of these people I had the opportunity to meet. Ms Aruna Roy when there was a jan sunwai on Education which also was one of the first public appearances of Amartiya Sen after he was awarded Nobel prize. Baba Amte I met on the way to Narmada valley. The contribution of these people to name few is significant to define Development, which should and need be understood by all. The Supreme Court verdict is therefore vulgar, mischievous and product of incompetent mind, out of touch with ground reality. This is a serious setback to civilised society. These lines of incredible Confucius:"If a State is governed by the principles of Reason, poverty and misery are subject of shame; If the State is not governed by the principles of Reason, riches and honor are subjects of shame”. Confucius is my all time favourite!!. The issue though is more than Reason (albeit we are dealing with unreasonable pompous people), it is about compassion and social justice. Being a significant branch that defines Democracy, Judiciary is bound by its commitments to society and therefore cannot shy away from this responsibility. This, it has is amply evident. The UPA government is fervently appealed to pass a legislation to bypass this verdict for the interest of majority of people in this country. This is also an immediate need to reform judiciary.
Another regretable Judge in the News is Nanavati mamu, who is so “competent” that he is omnipresent!!!. You name the Commission he there!!. It’s about licking the power honey!!. The more the better. The better the more!!. His report on Sikh massacre is hogwash, an attempt to remain in the good books of politicians. You never know where the next lick is!. There was another mamu who enquired into Sikh massacre and goes by the name Ranganath Mishra who quite hilariously accepted to help investigate into “allegation” of riots and not “nature” of riots. What riots?!. Who when where?. Never heard that?. He later was rewarded with a seat in the Parliament!!. One scoundrel who was involved in the killing: Tytler goon comes in TV (Aaj Tak with Prabhu chawala, who I thought did a pretty good job as an interviewer) was in his seditious best…prabhuji ….hoji…sunoji maje ki bath…Yah scoundrel it all a fun. He also has grouse against Ms. Shiela Dixit, Chief Minister of Delhi for being an “outsider”. Obviously at one point Sikhs were also outsiders. So outsiders should be kicked out or killed. Ms. Shiela Dixit incidentally is one of the highly efficient and admired CMs in India. Coming back to the main subject, the mamus have been not very competent, it is amply proved.
Essentially an enquiry of this nature is not entirely a judicio-legal enquiry subject. There are many issues involved. This narrow perspective of the Commission is one of the reasons why it has failed consistently. A judge need necessarily be one of the members of the Enquiry Commission, represented by various experts (like NCW, NCM), activists in different fields. It has to be multidimensional approach and essentially Open public enquiry. The people need to know how the investigation is proceeding. Ditto like the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa) to give a success example. The Government should stop this farce of Commissions, essentially to feed some retired judges at the expense of public money. If you take the statistics of effectiveness of the Commissions set in last 20-30 years it will be a revelation. The judges are bit too incompetent to handle enquiry into events whose magnitude are much beyond their small anglicized world of hard bound law books arranged admirably on the rack. This will NOT do. There is a need to De construct the existing understanding on Commissions.
Another regretable Judge in the News is Nanavati mamu, who is so “competent” that he is omnipresent!!!. You name the Commission he there!!. It’s about licking the power honey!!. The more the better. The better the more!!. His report on Sikh massacre is hogwash, an attempt to remain in the good books of politicians. You never know where the next lick is!. There was another mamu who enquired into Sikh massacre and goes by the name Ranganath Mishra who quite hilariously accepted to help investigate into “allegation” of riots and not “nature” of riots. What riots?!. Who when where?. Never heard that?. He later was rewarded with a seat in the Parliament!!. One scoundrel who was involved in the killing: Tytler goon comes in TV (Aaj Tak with Prabhu chawala, who I thought did a pretty good job as an interviewer) was in his seditious best…prabhuji ….hoji…sunoji maje ki bath…Yah scoundrel it all a fun. He also has grouse against Ms. Shiela Dixit, Chief Minister of Delhi for being an “outsider”. Obviously at one point Sikhs were also outsiders. So outsiders should be kicked out or killed. Ms. Shiela Dixit incidentally is one of the highly efficient and admired CMs in India. Coming back to the main subject, the mamus have been not very competent, it is amply proved.
Essentially an enquiry of this nature is not entirely a judicio-legal enquiry subject. There are many issues involved. This narrow perspective of the Commission is one of the reasons why it has failed consistently. A judge need necessarily be one of the members of the Enquiry Commission, represented by various experts (like NCW, NCM), activists in different fields. It has to be multidimensional approach and essentially Open public enquiry. The people need to know how the investigation is proceeding. Ditto like the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa) to give a success example. The Government should stop this farce of Commissions, essentially to feed some retired judges at the expense of public money. If you take the statistics of effectiveness of the Commissions set in last 20-30 years it will be a revelation. The judges are bit too incompetent to handle enquiry into events whose magnitude are much beyond their small anglicized world of hard bound law books arranged admirably on the rack. This will NOT do. There is a need to De construct the existing understanding on Commissions.
