Monday, January 15, 2007

Justice

Two separate events bring focus to our country,
  • The appointment of KG Balakrishnan as the new Chief justice, the first ever lower caste individual to hold the prestigious post. (I hate the term "dalit" as espoused in the media and likewise, it only serves to further divide us by giving a group of individuals a distinct name). Many people tell me that the mere appointment of a few SC/ST individuals to high government posts takes attention away from the ground realities, that the lower sections of society still continue to be marginalized, and that only when we are able to make a difference to them can we be righteously joyful. While they definitely have a point, we still have a long distance to travel in terms of social equality, but an appointment like this(considering the media attention it grabs) sends out a message to the population. A message that has the power to change the mindsets of people.
  • The Noida killings, a case that gets more gruesome as the days proceed and more details are unravelled. As per a NDTV report this morning, the count of the mass murdering of children lies at 70. With a population of 1.1 billion it is hard for many to fathom the proportions of these grisly killings. Picture a loved one among these 70 and it will become more clear. I can't help but imagine the bestiality of the murderer(s) who has/have committed these crimes. Why? Why were these innocent children killed? Is it part of a bigger plot such as a kidney racket? If so, are we to hear similar cases in different parts of the country(Bhopal has 400 children missing on record today)? Or are these the actuations of a socio-pathic mass-murderer? Whatever be the case, the initial verdict in this case is clear, the police have failed us. These crimes were committed across 2 years, couldn't the police have noticed something sinister as the number of missing children began increasing? Which brings us to the question, were FIRs registered for all these missing children? The CBI has taken over the case, and I will only be too pleased to see the police be held answerable for their lapses. To all the families that have lost their children, I understand your pain and my sympathies reach out to you.

4 comments:

Kaushik said...

Now in you second section of this blog you are saying in Bhopal there are some 400 children missing. Now sitting some where you are writing a blog and saying lot of things like your sympathies reach out to them and all those stuff. What have you done, or what are you doing so as to make sure that such a thing has not happened or will not happen in Bhopal? So you are no less a culprit than those Policemen of Nithari. They also got a complaint they did not act maybe because of some genuiene reason or they were in the process of investigation. You also got a complaint may not be directly, you are also not acting on it. Isn't it? I believe you efforts of writing the blog are directed more towards sensitising the people rather than doing something concrete.

Thottekat K M said...

Neel: The elevation of KG Balakrishnan to the post of Chief Justice of India is meaningless as an example


Kaushik: The evidence against the police of Noida is overwhelming... They seem to be guilty of either collusion or, at best, plain incompetence... They had been informed of the missing children periodically and they chose to do nothing about it demonstrating complete apathy to the people they are supposed to protect... Comparing Neel to them is simply ridiculous as he is not in the same position of responsibility as the police...

Neel: However, I can understand the reasons behind Kaushik's thinking... While your intentions may be honourable, it would be better if sentiments are kept away from opinion pieces... Sentiment simply cloud the article / blog with emotion, even if the logic behind it is faulty or there is an absence of reasoning... Your judgement seems to be premature & the statement "The CBI has taken over the case, and I will only be too pleased to see the police be held answerable for their lapses." clearly indicates that you have been emotionally swayed without considering the facts of the case...

Thottekat K M said...

Neel: The elevation of KG Balakrishnan to the post of Chief Justice of India is meaningless as an example of social justice taking place in India, as the appointment is based purely on seniority...

Kaushik said...

tqm: I am not saying in any way that Police of Noida is not guilty. I agree that in this case Police of Noida was guilty. The only reason why I compared Neel to Police is because of the mention of the Bhopal incident. He is aware of the fact that 400 children are missing there or atleast he thinks so, He is aware that the police there has not acted on it. What has he done or is doing to make sure that such a thing does not happen there also, that too when he is concerned so much about them. I know the things he or me or you can do about it is very limited. But have we done that limited thing? Whatever little and limited be the thing we can do, have we done that? before going and claiming that we are elite and trying to rally together people so that someone from some corner comes up with a solution. Even though this rallying thing is happening for the past 'I don't know how many years' through newspaper editorials, BB's, blog etc...