Thakur is a reference to feudal
lords, this medieval reference are carried by some people as embellishment, an
indication of superior self, an entitled achievement that has significant
pointers in casteist pits. Bearing this crudeness, that detrimentally degrades
social dealings, individual attitude towards others and a constant dread to
egalitarian values is referred to as tolerance. It’s like the second amendment
in US, the sacred rights to carry fire arms, an amazingly deviant society that
has the history of slavery and brutal methods to control. Quite evidently this
right is the extension of these brutal practises, and can be gauged by the
people who support this as also heinous practise of trophy hunting. Indian
elite have much in common with American far right, though they divide
themselves neatly into liberal and traditional that they are tethered to
squatter, and don’t mind revivalism on these matters, is what clinches the
deal, it makes stray sacrifices worth it ounce. From these conservatives
degrading pits they construct groovy liberal world. Hilariously some even
masquerade as leftists, comrades in Bengal are known to be consuming moral
renegades!
When Thakur dunked in the
entitled reference makes his anachronistic presence into modernity this act is
referred to as stellar representation of plurality, the crude nuances emanating
from this is celebrated as tradition and culture, hence diversity. Now when
Thakur works his way into judiciary, with amazing ease that comes to anyone who
has heightened awareness of social norms and traditions, the adherence and
benefits, concomitantly amazing lack of moral bearings or ethical contexts in this
insistence of debauched framework, then we have Justice Thakur. Justice Thakur
is heights of oxymoron if there is any, makes it compelling when he is the
judge at Supreme Court. It’s like Saint Hitler beatified by Pope. Truly
contemptuous, my lord. Now that we know our protagonist let’s get into the crux
of the matter, it so happened that the executive officer of SriPadmanabhaSwamy
Temple at Thiruvanthapuram (a conservative estimate of hidden treasure, that
was recently found in this temple, puts it at a value close to 1.2 lakh crore Rupees
or US$18 billion. If the antique and cultural value were taken into account
these assets could be worth ten times the current market price. Now that is
only one temple in small state called Kerala. Meanwhile India languishes at 135th
rank in UNDP HDI index. It is a miracle when you juxtapose these. Now the site
has shifted to Business, Media, Politics and ofcourse Judiciary…essentially
wherever there is money, power and yes ambiguous ethical standards and vague
ideas on competence. IPL is a minor billion dollar enterprise in this context)
was asked to “not be carried away ideologies, revolutionaries and politics”
when dealing with Supreme Court. Clearly, judges (reigning lords) of SC, HC or
even session’s court don’t have the right to ask what anybody should speak or
not, significantly the insinuations are reflection of mindset and attitude of
the judge concerned, this is strong arm tactics and a severe violation of individual’s
right to express. What makes it shocking is that this violation is happening
right in the space that is supposed to dispense justice. This arrogance is
stark reminder of forces that seeks to quell voices of people. Indian judiciary
is known for its gross incompetence, they have given lots of misery to the common
people in the last many deacdes, it is also not unknown that they reflect their bias towards to the
powerful and mighty. There are multitudes of cases where they are found to be
amazingly incompetent, this after decades of lassitude procedures and
lackadaisical ways of dealing, it is indeed the determination of the victims (and
sacrifices they make) that the cases somehow reaches its logical conclusions.
Recently after almost twenty years (that is like one generation later, in the
meanwhile mylords have come and gone enjoyed the power and luxury, and ofcourse
‘settled’ their progenies –who sometimes champion higher causes depending on
the lick so on) Uphaar case verdict grossly favoured the powerful, the
absurdity is mind-blowing. Now this is high profile case as it is based in
Delhi and exposed to constant media attention there are cases and cases that
expose these amazingly arrogant but ignorantly assured mylords. They are so
immune to people’s misery that it makes me wonder whether they are human beings,
then I realise it is one of the stellar qualities that one assumes when placed
in entitled surroundings very much assured by squatter’s depraved logic. This
is what makes them so insularly cruel. Recently, the heinous massacre of Khairlanji
was found to be wanting on perpetrators that this happened to the most
vulnerable section of Indian society. That Thakurs of the world are
congenitally incapable to see these “ideologies and politics” and inhuman
“revolutionary” zeal herein is telling. Most importantly the judiciary should
have by now evicted squatters from the temple precincts, this is a
discriminatory occupation and gives legitimacy to exploitative framework,
instead of taking steps to terminate these they ironically, in a shocking case
of injustice and absolute lack of awareness of the social context and
implications herein, gave all the rights to these perpetrators. This is what
happened in Chidambaram temple. Incidentally, it is pertinent to note here that the meaning of the term ‘descent’ has been expanded to include ‘discrimination based on caste’ by the general recommendation number 29, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) 1969. Indian judiciary will do well to remember that it is a signatory to that convention along with more than 170 other countries.
It is clear that the upper crust
of Indian judicial system is conscripted from well-entrenched bourgeoisie
evolved over hegemony of centuries. The elites are known to use nuanced language,
that may imply that they are modern, while the brethren in the lower courts are
known to be crudely feudal and primitively assured, savour this enlightened view
“Hindu scriptures do not allow upper caste men to touch a low caste woman, the
accused could not have raped the Dalit victim”, this is not a rare instance nor
the attitude uncommon. Indian legal luminaries have this constant itch to
express their deviant views wherein their mandate is to look at the facts,
understand the context, show compassion, deal sensitively and dispense justice
in all its fairness. But no, the characteristic arrogance and pupating egotism
will have to express, the kind of uttering is sometimes so shocking that it
numbs. This is our judicial system, and hilariously despite crude ways they are
so much assured of their pontificating, as if it is their god given right and
our fate. This is insidiously deviant, and that it thrives under democratic
institution is a disgrace.
Coming back to the case at hand,
Thakur’s rant was in reaction to the officer taking exception to ‘even’ half an
hour slot given to the royal family every morning to exclusively enter the
temple. The officer reminded Thakur that this practise was reminiscent of
social evil of untouchability of past era.
This mylord saw as a threat hence necessary strictures. It is known that
institution ridden with elitist and caste/class privileges frequently reverts
to reactionary instances. Feudal and discriminatory institution are carried on
with impunity under the garb of tradition, reminiscent of hoary past and
severely denting democratic norms, many times making these values meaningless. Not a
moment or instance of such demeaning practises should be allowed, indeed it is duty of
the judiciary to enforce these if the legislature and executive fail. Clearly
the institutions have failed as is reflected from degradations and apathy, and
judiciary is reduced to defend puritan confines. Likes of Thakur are a blot on
judiciary. Slant in reporting by media accentuates this, it is camaraderie in
action, from this pits they look for legitimacy. Yogi Berra, once said “The future ain’t what
it used to be.” This blogger says the past ain’t what it used to be. They have
constructed the past with a firm grip on narration and therefore use it for
contemporary benefit as also show themselves benevolent.
It is in this context that though,
this blogger agrees with the protests by the writers against silencing of
dissenting voices by thugs, has reservations. Nayantara Sahgal undoubtedly has
a point and she ofcourse is a venerable legitimate voice but these deterioration she is pointing to and attributing to were always present. Ironically
she might even be part of it, and significant reason for thrive. Not that I expect
writers to be professional protesters (as they are accused for selective outbursts, this is a trick to silence writers) but yes strong dissent is in line. I haven’t really seen
this in matters that have severely degraded the society. Indeed I feel as if I have
stumbled into some virgin forest inhabited by long lost cannibalistic tribe
assured of its superior place in the universe, strange rituals they perform
while some act conscience objector as they partake the feast, contributing to
the diversity and amiable tolerance. 
