VOX POPULI
by
AAM ADMI
Issue No. : N 010
Issue Date: 12 Dec 2022
Contents:
1. Vice-President Dhankar In Feisty and Combative Mode
2. Modi's Insolent Democracy
3. Bilkis Chali SC - Supreme Court
Vice-President Dhankar In Feisty and Combative Mode : 11 Dec 2022
Vice-President Dhankar in his first address to the Rajya Sabha stoked controversies by raising issues like the doctrines of separation of powers of the 3 arms of government that must be respected and that the judiciary should not have struck down the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) bill overwhelming passed by Parliament as it went against the will of the people and Parliamentary democracy. One thinks that all this was unnecessary for his opening address and he should have treaded the path of caution and followed decorum. Dhankar has thus opened his innings in the Rajya Sabha continuing in the same vein as in Bengal where he was constantly creating nuisance to a democratically elected government of the TMC.
Thereafter on the Rule 267 issue where declared business of the House can be stopped or postponed to take up any issue raised by one or more members of the House is a time honoured procedure allowing members to take up matters of perceived urgency. Now Dhankar has said that this will be allowed only if more full clarifications are given by the member/s on the matter that they want to take up. This negates the urgency aspect by instituting another process to be complied with before the matter can be heard in the House.
Further Dhankar is echoing the stand of the BJP and the present government on matters like India's low standing on the the World Hunger Index claiming that this is done by a private body and its credibility is suspect. Little does he realise that almost all rating agencies around the world are private who build their credibility over years by their methodology and acceptance from other institutions including governments. That they have rated our neighbours in South Asia higher than us using the same methodology is something that Dhankar is missing and that there is no reason for them to pick on India and deliberately show it in a bad light. If we have any issues with the processes followed by the rating agency then we should engage with them and bring to their notice what India has done during Covid particularly to alleviate hunger like giving 5 Kg. of rice free to each BPL household etc. That majority of this rice finds its way back to the black market channels since the beneficiaries sell this to generate cash for their daily needs other than rice, which is something which Dhankar may not be aware or if aware is deliberately keeping his eyes away from it. Concluding, Dhankar has probably not heard of the tradition in Indian Parliament that Vice-Presidents are to be seen but not heard. Maybe with a quiet President Murmu, Dhankar wants to come out on his own and into the limelight and therefore showing his feisty and combative mode from the beginning.
Modi's Insolent Democracy : 10 Dec 2022
Modi's road show in Gujarat on Election Day is again that in-your-face pugnacious attitude of his, saying I will do this. Let me see what you can do about it. Insolence is Modi's hallmark. This message is to the Opposition considering that the Election Commission is in his pocket and they would not dare take any action. Where it is expected that the Prime Minister of the nation would set an example by following the election norms. Modi does the complete opposite. He goes out and publicly and brazenly flouts the Election Commission guidelines. Where the lead as the custodian of democracy is with the Prime Minister, Modi makes light of it. That is the problem.
Bilkis Chali SC - Supreme Court : 6 Dec 2022
We talk of justice for women in India. This is the story of Bilkis who while pregnant in 2002 was raped by a group of men during the then riots in Gujarat. She had to go through many pains to register the case and get it to come to the courts. Fearing that she would not get justice in Gujarat courts, the case was transferred to Maharashtra. After due process of hearings, the rapists were given life sentences. Bilkis though not happy since she had wanted the death penalty for the attackers had to be content with the life sentences. She would have preferred incarceration for life as punishment for her attackers, but that was not to be. Bilkis went back to her normal life thinking the black memories of that fateful day in 2002 were over. Flash forward on the case to 2022. Bilkis receives a jolt in her humdrum life with the news that all the rapists involved in her case have been released from jail. Unknown fears haunt her now. Will the rapists seek revenge against her for having put them in jail? Bilkis has heard that the State government has released them under some amnesty. She has also been told that upon the rapists release from jail, they were felicitated with garlands at a public function. This makes Bilkis worry more. Since 2002 it has been a BJP government in Gujarat and if the rapists have its support, then Bilkis has nowhere to hide. Earlier she had never thought of hiding. But then now her adversary is powerful and is all around her. In every passing shadow that she notices around her, she sees a lurking attacker and fears for her life. Her peace of mind has been shattered for herself and for that of her family. Bilkis has heard that the Central government had given a general amnesty in this year, the Amrut Mahotsav of our Azadi, to release prisoners from jail but this did not cover rapists to be specific. Then how was it that her rapists were released. She has again heard that they walked out of jail on the same day the Central government circular as mentioned above was received in Gujarat. Some people have been telling her that the Gujarat government had made some committee earlier and that it recommended that the rapists be released for good behaviour. The Gujarat government had referred to the Central government this committee's report but then no one seems to know what the Central government had said on the matter, whether to release them or not. But in any case all this does not matter now since the rapists are roaming free in Gujarat. All this uncertainty and fear about what would happen to her, has aggravated Bilkis' apprehensions. To resolve this Bilkis has decided to go to the Supreme Court to seek succour, re-assurance and relief that justice is still alive and kicking in India. Will Bilkis be successful in her mission? Will India give her justice?
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S Kamat
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Email: kamatsrinivas@hotmail.com
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