Obliquely Straight

It does baffle me when responsible people in responsible posts exhibit behaviour that I believe, is irresponsible.

What would you expect to happen in the following scenario?

With evidence loaded against him, X is sentenced for an imprisonment of 10 years by the High Court. X appeals against the order in the Supreme Court. When X has already gone through a year's sentence, the Supreme Court finds new evidence in favour of X and pronounces X innocent.

Would you not, in this case, expect X to be released immediately? But, there comes a twist.
The Supreme Court says, since X has already been for a year in prison and since X is still in prison, let X spend the remaining years of the sentence in prison. That is, though the Supreme Court over rules the High Court, though it, in effect, says that the High Court is wrong to have put X behind bars, it still says X can go on in jail, now that X is in jail anyway!

If the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly was unlawful, if the Cabinet or the Governor or any other scapegoat was wrong in trashing a democratic verdict, then, it should be a matter of the least botheration whether elections are underway or not. The fact is that some people in power committed a crime and they should be brought to justice. Even if every preparation for the elections is over, even if elections are to be held this day, they ought to be cancelled and the party thrown out of power must be brought back.

I find it strange that every lawyer, every politician, every judge and every commentator talks of the verdict expected in the coming elections when the Supreme Court has annulled the prescription of the Governor in the first place - where does another election figure in the picture here?

I am not an Accountant; but for some reason, the term "Sunk Costs" keeps ringing in my ears. There is enough drama going on in this country - let's not add further mockery to it.

The Worst Organisations

"You get into public life to better someone else's life - not your own. "

Nice words these are, by Vijay Amritraj. They leave no ambiguity as for the substance of Public Life; its sad, however, that it has come to signify a Utopian scenario, rather than the normal walks of life.

Talking of the 'substance' of public life, what we see these days are the haggles and scrambles in places supposed to be the centres of power and the hubs of activities. Should I say, a total disorientation and a complete lack of strategy? When one finds oneself in the Parliament or the Legislative Assembly, the Representative can only be expected to take some time before he/she comes to the grips of what's going on around. Faced with huge responsibilities, loads of data and a total chaos for ambience, organising oneself can be a daunting task, let alone doing something productive.

"What are the roles and responsibilities? What is the job description? Who am I reporting to? What is the order of priority among the scores of issues? What is at stake? What is the law? How will my argument be evaluated? . . . " These could be a few questions facing a Representative who's just joined the Parliament. Doesn't he need an orientation?

How about framing a few rules of conduct, in the first place, and enforcing them? To begin with, introducing the position of the 'speaker' to the members and explaining who he is, why he is there and how he is supposed to be treated? I suppose there is a 'leader' of the ruling party and a 'leader' of the Opposition. How about making sure that they are the two people who can bring issues forward and the rest are not supposed to clap or thud or boo(ze) when either of them talks? Of course, they do not have to have their fingers on their lips, but might just as well be instructed to remain silent. I wonder if anyone in a corporate meeting room would exhibit any sort of misdemeanour while at the discussion tables. And definitely, the members may be taught of the dangers of plunging right into the 'well'.

The numbers in the Parliament are overwhelming! Are they being broken into Teams to discuss issues? Do the parties apprise the members of the 'agendas' that are to be brought to the table and expect the 'teams' to bring in perspectives, before they go to the Parliament? Does every person inside the nice, spacious room know what is happening in there?

When people get together to discuss matters of lives and deaths of a billion people, the first thing to be expected of them is to get themselves organised. Would any private organisation dare to adapt the structure in the Parliament for its Sales Meeting? Are we not being crazy to let this happen for so long?

Political parties are organisations - and they are supposed to be organised. Garnering a specified number of votes must not be the only criterion for parties to make it to the Chair. They have to prove that they can be productive, that they have a working organisational structure with proper hierarchies in place, that they can come up with new ideas, that they have the structures to generate ideas from every person in the organisation, that there is complete freedom of expression, and that the functioning of the parties that get to run a democracy are, indeed democratic. We do not need a group of people in the Parliament, who when left to themselves with their present structure and resources in the corporate world, would not even be able to raise a single Rupee from shares in the market or turn a paisa in profits.

When the Spine turns Vestigeal

The first time one hears of a murder, one is shocked. The next time one hears of a slaughter of a dozen, one may be awe-struck. The third time, it may take a massacre to move the person - anything short of that might be just news.

We witness a similar situation now. Rapes in trains, cars and temples are nothing more than pieces of news. For the media, they are sensational news - flashed all over, generating more revenue, more web hits. However, the implications for the society are grave. People are getting used to it, becoming immune to its impact and taking it in their stride!

How many of the news papers and the media have carried an incident of rape on the front pages all the way till the culprit is caught and prosecuted? Which website has gone the extra mile in covering the news, garnering public voices and making sure that the criminals are brought to justice? Have we become so dumb and numb that we cave in meekly to the atrocities to be mere spectators and nothing more?

If rapes are becoming more and more common, if women are increasingly vulnerable to these assaults and if some bastards have developed the audacity to commit such crimes repeatedly and increasingly in public places and in broad day light, it is the Government's indifference to the crimes against women and the media's negligence of its responsibility that are to be held accountable. Laws are not for punishing after the crime is committed - they are supposed to thwart them in the first place. If the present laws are not strong enough to make criminals hesitate, trash them and get new ones that work!

I challenge the media, any one in the media, to take any of the recently reported series of rapes on its front pages in highlighted boxes till the day the case is closed and the criminals are sent behind bars. That, and only that, will make people listen and think. Flashing the news for a day and moving on to the next victim will only make the public insensitive to the issue and encourage the voyeur to get more practical. For once, let us think beyond money and business!