Street protests that calls for subversion of the law

It is bad enough that our Judiciary system is pathetically slow, and has an abysmal rate of conviction, and that too after a couple of decades has passed. We should be thankful that the understaffed, onerously slow moving judiciary finally manages to get someone convicted.

 

And once that happens the tamasha starts.

 

Of late, people have taken a vicarious pleasure in subverting the judgments of the Courts.

 

Take the case of Yakub Memon, who was a mastermind of the Mumbai blasts two decades ago. He was given a fair trial, appealed, lost, appealed again, lost again, filed a review petition, lost, sought pardon from President, denied, appealed against that, lost, sought pardon from Governor, denied, appealed against that, lost, went back to President, denied, appealed..............................am sorry if your mind has started spinning by now, but that is more or less how his case went. Though many might say that he did not deserve all these chances, there is no denying that he got a fair trial, and deserved to get the Capital punishment, as long as Capital Punishment exists in this Country. One would expect all right thinking Indians to respect the judiciary, but heck no! Out came the NGOs, Social workers, Left Liberals, Media and scoundrels who made such a noise that the judiciary was made to look a tyrant, when in reality it was Yakub who was the heartless villain. One might have given a benefit of doubt to the protesters that they genuinely believe Capital Punishment is wrong, and it has to be done away with. I have no objection to that. They are entitled to their view point, just as I am entitled to mine. But they don't have the conviction of belief. If they had, they would have followed up after Yakub's hanging, and tried to have the law changed. But we haven't heard a peep from them since then!!!

 

Same is the case with the release of the Juvenile convict who was released yesterday after serving his sentence in the Delhi Gang Rape case. I do agree that he should have got a longer punishment morally. But we need to abide by the law of the land. As usual there  was lot of noise, with street protests against his release. This is absurd. Everyone knew he cannot he held back under the current law, and even if the law were to be changed, it cannot be applied retrospectively. If the protest is for ensuring the law to be changed in the future, it is fine. But the tone and tenor of the protests do not indicate that. They wanted Supreme Court to disregard the law of the land, and pass a verdict that is illegal. This is dangerous. Of late we are witnessing lynch mob mentality amongst Indians, encouraged by the media (for selfish ends of increasing their TRP ratings and to boost their relevance which is fast eroding), and this should be addressed and rectified at the earliest.

 

The laws are there for a reason. It may not be perfect. But as a democracy, we need to abide by the laws that are in existence and should not give space to those who try to subvert them for their personal opinion, personal ends or even political ends. Because, then it will lead to anarchy. We can't let it happen.

The Gloves are OFF

Buddhirakshasan, my insider in Delhi is more accessible these days as he is on Whatsapp. We caught up with each other after a long time.

 

Hi BR

 

Hi Swamy.

 

What is new?

 

The Iron Fist is being revealed by BJP. The velvette gloves are off.

 

I thought they were still on when Modi invited Sonia and MMS for a cup of tea recently.

 

Even I thought so. Modi did offer to smoke the peace pipe, but Sonia spurned it.

 

Because of National Herald Case?

 

No no. If it had not been for NH case it would have been something else. They just want to obstruct any law being passed.

 

BJP must be upset with the non passage of the GST bill.

 

Hmm... I am not sure. GST will bring lot of short term pain and is not a panacea for all the ills that is facing our economy. True it has its advantages in the long term, and is a game changer in a way, but I guess Congress blocking it is being enjoyed by BJP, as it gives them a chance to paint the Congress as obstructionist and anti national.

 

Hmm.......What about the NH case?

 

Looks like this has the Sonia and Rahul really worried.

 

The case may not be concluded for a decade at least, considering the current speed of our judicial process. So Why worry?

 

Swamy, it is the perception. The mother and son thought they had a halo around them and they are above everything else. They having to appear in a lowly magistrate court as accused on such an open and shut 420 case will completely expose them. They will no longer be held in awe by even Congressmen. When the mighty falls, they fall with a thud, and people take considerable pleasure in trampling them under their feet once they are down and out.  

 

Hmm...

 

And the Case against them has lot of merit. With a non Congress Government in power, the judiciary may not be as favourably disposed towards them as in the past.

 

So it is because of this that you say the Iron hand is out?

 

Not quite so. Look at the CBI raid on the Principal Secretary of Kejariwal.

 

What about it? It is against a corrupt officer? What is the big deal?

 

It is the timing. They could have done it after the winter session. But they chose to risk Parliament being stalled by going after the guy, which made Kejariwal mouthing inanities.

 

Hmm.......

 

Kejariwal played his cards badly. By accusing the BJP in support of a blatantly corrupt officer, he has exposed himself and is shorn of his USP as an anti corruption crusader.

 

BJP must be rubbing their  hands in glee.....

 

Exactly. Sonia and Rahul would have got more political mileage if they had quietly presented themselves before the court in a dignified manner, and AK would have had his image refurbished if he had distanced himself from the raids. But both played right into their hands.

 

Looks like next in the line is Mamata on the Sharadha Chit Funds scam

 

Well..I am not sure. BJP has given up West Bengal, and don't stand to gain anything by taking Mamata head on. But she has 12 Rajya Sabha MPs, which can come in handy. My guess is that they will leave her alone, and remember that Mamata is a more seasoned politician, who has been hit with worse in the past and has triumphed. BJP will surely be wary of taking her on. Better to leave the sword hanging over head.

 

Thanks BR. GTG

 

Bye Swamy

Indian Batting - A cause for Worry

Indian Cricket Team should be really worried.

 

Their batting is in shambles. We always knew that there will be a difficult period of transition when Sachin, Sehwag, Dravid and Laxman calls it a day. But the next generation batsmen had sufficient exposure under them to carry the baton.

 

Batting has two components - Technique and Temperament. Without the latter, the former is of no use. During the past few years we have seen India backing players who are talented over those who has good temperament. People like? Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu were given a long rope. The surfeit of One Day Cricket, where bowlers have to operate under severe restrictions, and which essentially favour batsmen who can tonk the ball around without much technique gave all these players a sense of overconfidence. The super stardom and the money that went along with being an Indian ODI player lulled them to complacency, and they hardly worked on their technical short comings or temperamental flaws.

 

Take the case of Suresh Raina. It is known even to a Club bowler that Suresh Raina doesn't like the short ball, and he is very suspect during the early part of the innings. Also his defense is suspect. What has he done about it? Nothing. Steve Waugh had a similar problem during the later phase of his career. He was popping up catches on the leg side if the balls were directed at his ribs. But he worked on it and developed his own technique of just loosening the grip and fending it to fine leg for singles.

 

Rohit Sharma is exceptionally talented. There is no doubt about it. Just watch him bat when he is in full flow and you will amaze at his technical correctness and the time he has to play the shots, which is the hallmark of a good batsmen. But the number of times he has got out to soft dismissals before either fully set or just when his innings is about to take off is very high to give comfort to the next batsmen padded up.

 

Less said about Shikhar Dhawan the better. He tries to emulate Sehwag, but Sehwag was a genius. I would rate Sehwag a better batsman than even Sachin. Dhawan has obvious weakness against balls angled across him outside the off stump. One would expect him to work on leaving these balls. But no. He continues to perish the same way innings after innings. Contrast this with Murali Vijay, who has really worked on his game outside the off stump, and is perhaps the most dependable batsmen in India today.

 

Kohli has issues outside the off stump while Ambati Rayudu, though talented missed his best years serving a ban.

Rahane and Pujara have been not given the kind of support they deserve. They have been kicked up and down the batting order, pushed in and out of the team, to accommodate some of  the favourites of the Captain. This has unsettled them.

The sad part of Indian batting is their utter inability to play spin. Of the two completed Tests in Mohali and Nagpur, India struggled to reach 200, and that too only with the help of tail enders. And this against a novice spinner like Harmer, a part time utility spinner like Dean Elger and an erratic leg spinner Imran Tahir, who bowls at least 2 boundary balls per over. Most of the Indian batsmen are walking wickets. A long spell for all of them in domestic cricket is the way forward. Look at how Murali Vijay, Pujara and Jadeja has benefitted from playing Ranji Trophy.

India used to blood youngsters once - Sachin played when he was 16, Kambli and Azhar were barely in their 20s, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan was a teenager when he routed West Indies, as was Maninder Singh. But somewhere down the line, we have refused to take a calculated risk and rope in young batsmen into the team. By the time they do make a breakthrough, their attitudes have hardened and they are reluctant to adjust their game. The big money from IPL also serves as a disincentive for them to correct themselves.

Whatever happened to Unmukth Chand, Mayank Agarwal, Sanju Samson, Vijay Zol and their ilks? Why don't we give at least a couple of them a decent run? They cant definitely do worse than the tried, tested and failed current crop.