OPinionatED

or

VOX POPULI

by

 Aam Admi

Issue: 162                                         Date:  01.08.2016

Contents:

1.       Salman Khan's Acquittal: A Travesty of Justice

2.       Persecuting AAP

3.       Stop Encroachment of Water Bodies & Focus on Underground Infrastructure in Our Cities

Salman Khan's Acquittal: A Travesty of Justice

There is a sense of stupefying coincidence in the acquittal of Salman Khan for having killed the endangered blackbuck/chinkara deers in Rajasthan and a similar release that the actor got in the Bandra driving case when he mowed down some pavement dwellers with his SUV while he was presumably drunk. In both cases the main witnesses were not available and thus with the prosecution not being able to prove their case Salman Khan got off scot-free because of lack of evidence. In the first case, the driver of the car at the time of the incident was absconding for close to 12 years but surprisingly he surfaces the day after the acquittal of the actor was announced. In the second case, the policeman escorting the actor at the time of the accident died during the pendency of the case. It is another matter that the Maharasthra government is planning to go in appeal against the judgment in the Bandra case. In the blackbuck case some of the actor's compatriots from the film community have applauded Salman Khan's acquittal claiming that he was being harassed in this as well as other cases because he was famous and had money. But is it not more plausible that precisely for these reasons the actor has subverted the justice system by ensuring that evidence against him is not presented. It cannot be believed that in both cases the actor has done no wrong. In fact he is a serial offender with a background of tendency to use violence to achieve his ends. Additionally it was also stated that some film stars were present with Salman Khan at the time of the blackbuck incident but why were they not accused similarly, implying thus that the actor did not commit any crime? Is it not that those who actually commit the offence are the ones who are hauled up under the justice system and not bystanders? An interesting issue is that if such of these equally famous stars were present why did they not come out in the interest of truth to give evidence against their colleague actor? Why did the stars close ranks with Salman Khan and try to protect him and in thus subvert justice? Is it not the reputation of our film industry, that they are self-seeking, pampered and live in make-believe reality far removed from what happens in common society. Under the circumstances as covered above it is best that our government withdraw the decision of Salman Khan being the flag-bearer of the country's Olympic contingent at the upcoming Rio games or better still the actor himself should withdraw on counts of being maybe 'indisposed'. It is not only in the case of film stars but also politicians and their families, criminal cases are dismissed or cannot be proven because of either lack of evidence or hostile witnesses, which in plain language means that they have been bought or coerced. This is precisely what we are seeing in the Salman Khan cases also. 


Postscript: Whenever anyone from the film or entertainment industry is accused of a crime, the first reaction mechanism by them is posing as an innocent and also that of being victimised. That because of their fame and money, they are being slandered for either publicity or material gain. Additionally the accused celebrity looks at the matter as a film script where the story can be changed at will so that the hero/heroine emerges spotlessly clean!

Persecuting AAP

The BJP-led Centre seems to have some kind of anathema against AAP, particularly its elected representatives that form the Delhi government. That is the only underlying reason which can explain the unrestrained and unbridled attacks against the MLA's of the AAP party in recent times. Initially it was the investigation into the educational certificates of the MLA's to prove that they were bogus or wrongly obtained. Surprisingly the BJP has never asked the Gandhi family - Sonia and Rahul to prove their educational qualifications. In politics, the education degrees are the least of the requirement since the people are interested in the extent you serve the electorate. It is not that the AAP is without fault since as is their habit they went for the highest among the BJP and asked for proof of Narendra Modi's degrees.

Then there has been antagonism between the Delhi police and the AAP from its initial days, in fact even earlier when Arvind Kejriwal was associated with Anna Hazare's movement. This running feud continues to this day with sundry AAP MLA's being arrested for one or the other reason in the course of performance of their duties in their constituencies be it causing public disorder, obstructing the police and/or outraging the modesty of women. Where one could interpret some of these cases to be excessive enthusiasm on the part of the AAP MLA's to do their work, there could be the same disease with the Delhi police in showing alacrity to enforce the letter and spirit of the law when it comes to AAP MLA's and party members. So there is a necessity of showing restraint all around both by the AAP as well as the Delhi police.

Finally, take the case of the AAP MP Bhagwant Singh Mann who has been hauled up for posting a video going through the gates of Parliament House and showing the process of selection of questions for Question Hour on grounds of breach of security. Mann is a first-time MP and in his enthusiasm he has probably got carried away to do what he did. But the whole thing is being made into a mountain from a molehill and if any more stringent action than the temporary suspension is taken against Mann then it will be a black mark against the Speaker Sumitra Mahajan for not being fair and impartial. There was no need in fact to refer the incident to a committee and based on Mann's unconditional apology the Speaker could have closed the matter with an admonishment. This is being stated since there was no breach of security and whatever was shown on the video is known in the public domain. The problem with the BJP is that they have double standards, if it is their people then they will look at it leniently but if it is any other party particularly the AAP then the action needs to be the strictest because the party is the gravest offender. This needs to change. 

Postscript: It is not that the AAP is absolutely without fault since many of their Delhi MLA’s have criminal records and/or criminal cases against them. Further the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal who came to power on a platform of being different, promising effective governance and zero corruption have as time has passed looked more and more like any other political party in the country. Their populist measures of free or supply at subsidized rates of water and power are nothing but attempts to shore up their vote banks and then the massive expenditure on publicity of multiple full pages in the national media to build up the party and the supremo’s image running into crores of rupees are nothing but completely wasteful expenditure which if nothing else could have been spent at the least on humanitarian efforts to improve the lot of people during extremes of weather, like heat in summer or cold in winter. The stridency of some of their positions and the tendency to make headline grabbing comments are nothing but showing up their immaturity and lack of political experience. But one thing you will have to give to the AAP is that the BJP-led Centre and the Delhi Police by accusing the AAP MLA’s of criminality may be trying to level the playing field since both the BJP and Congress across India have more of their legislators booked for criminal offences than the AAP. The lesson that is being taught here is that in politics you cannot be different and everyone should be similarly accused, in that lies the crucial matter that the shield from law and order enforcement agencies remains inviolate. In the enquiry committee appointed by Lok Sabha Speaker, Sumitra Mahajan, in the AAP MP Bhagwant Mann case she has shown rare sagacity in appointing Kirit Somaiya, a BJP MP who  had accused Mann in the first place. So accuser, judge, jury and hangman all in one package! That is justice – BJP style. We need to wish Mann the best of luck in coming out unscathed in this matter.

Stop Encroachment of Water Bodies & Focus on Underground

  Infrastructure in Our Cities

he heavy rains in our urban centres recently like Gurgaon (Gurugram, the change of name does not seem to have helped in averting nature's fury), Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai has brought to the fore the fact that there is no planning for evacuating excess water in our cities be it through storm water drains or underground sewage pipelines. It is a fact that that we have no consideration for wet plains of rivers, lake beds, coastal zones etc. while building our cities or giving approvals for building complexes and we indiscriminately construct our urban centres over these kind of land areas. When nature in some years takes time off, these agglomerations survive but then when it comes back in its normal intensity or in excess as we have seen in these times of climate change, we see scenarios as witnessed lately in Uttarakhand, Chennai and last week in the above mentioned places. Mumbai has a problem somewhat different from other urban centres in its older party of the city with water-logging year after year during the monsoon because of its antiquated drainage system which has not been renewed for more than a century in some areas and at times of high tide  the excess water being  obstructed in the city from flowing into the sea. But then in the newer parts of the city the infrastructure for drainage and water evacuation has not kept pace and new developments continue to encroach on water bodies and coastal areas which used to be holding reservoirs for excess water and/or channels for this water to flow into the sea. The fact that the newer areas like Gurgaon and south-east Bangalore are facing similar problems emphasise the fact that drainage and sewerage continue to be disregarded and/or neglected even to this day. Unless we start respecting our water bodies and recognise that underground planning in our cities is as important as over-ground planning, we will continue to see our urban infrastructure breaking down. This will not only lead to damage, loss and destruction of private and public property but over time the loss of human life at these times of disaster will continue to increase. We keep talking of holistic development which focuses only on above ground facilities and structures and it is time that we expanded this definition to underground infrastructure on the land on which our cities are built. 80% of our water bodies across the country are either encroached or have been polluted by sewage and it is time that this situation is checked, restrained and reversed for the sake of our future generations. 

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