An Unending Debate

Disclaimer: First, read the article in the below link authored by one of the eminent professors of the nation, Ms. Usha Ramanathan. Only after reading her article, read my response.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/the-disturbing-truth-about-an-execution/article4503120.ece

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            In the wake of the recent hangings of two dreaded terrorists – Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab and Mohammad Afzal Guru – many of the eminent columnists and experts have questioned the Government’s action of executing them under wraps. Few of them had even gone to the extent of questioning the legality/morality of imposing capital punishment/death penalty bestowed to Indian Judiciary by the law of our land, Constitution! More specifically, in response to Ms. Usha Ramanathan’s “The disturbing truth about an execution”, (Editorial page, March 13, 2013) I would like to throw light on the aam aadmi’s side of this poignant or rather, an unending debate.

              “A swift trial should not be at the cost of a fair trial” - these were the words spoken by the Chief Justice of India in the wake of the horrid Delhi gang rape case. But a fair trial should not be bereft of the Capital Punishment if the nature of the crime and also of the criminal demands to (the two precedents set in the state of Punjab vs Bachchan singh case). If a capital punishment was awarded to a convict after conducting a fair trial, whether it was implemented by the Government or not should be the matter of concern rather than how it was implemented. Obviously, the Government cannot change the procedures outright in implementation of the capital punishment. 

                The predominant factors to be considered in supporting my argument are - the plight of the victims, state of the judiciary and the Government’s functioning in the nation.


                 On the point mentioned by Ms. Usha that there is a violation to Article 21 [Protection of life and personal liberty] in case of Afzal Guru, I would like to question her if the Article 21 is applicable only to him and not to those victims who succumbed to the acts of such perpetrators. The plight of the victims is excruciatingly difficult to put in words. Their loss is irreplaceable and their living has largely been jeopardized due to such dastardly terror acts. For them, the best thing that can happen or the best thing they can expect from the Government is that the perpetrators of such crimes be stringently punished as per the law of the land. This was evident in the testimonies of the victims who spoke after the hanging of the above mentioned terrorists. 


Situational decisions of the Government
           
                   Ms. Usha has pointed out at the deliberate breaches in the procedures prescribed in the Jail Manual. It is to her attention that the Government is ought to serve in the best interests of a nation. It should take the call (on implementation of execution) based on the then prevailing situations and the nature of the convict. Though it has not followed all the guidelines prescribed in the Jail Manual, it is bound to follow all the procedures laid down in constitution. And there is no where mentioned in the constitution that the secret executions are ‘unconstitutional’. Going by the responses and testimonies, the Government was commended by the large sections of the society for its act of executing these terrorists. 



             On the point mentioning that the Union Home Minister has acted illegally – As a matter of fact, the minister need not respond to the Government’s action of executing terrorists but he has responded and rightly defended the Government’s act by providing a proper reason. The execution of the Rajiv Gandhi killers was stayed by a judicial bench on the grounds of inordinate delay in disposing off their mercy petitions. Though the verdict is awaited (in Bhullar’s case), until that moment i.e., as on 9th February, 2013, the Government is not at all bound to stop its current functioning forecasting the verdict of the future cases. It is only after Afzal Guru’s execution, that a bench of apex court has ordered a stay on all the executions until its judgment in Bhullar’s case is pronounced.
   

              And on point of Government tendering apology and providing reparation to the family of the terrorists, it shall be highly ignominious as such acts will only show the Government in poor light. In fact, it is the family members of the convicts, who should apologize on behalf of them to the families of the victims. These convicts of the terror acts should be unpardonable. 


The state of Indian Judiciary

             According to our rule of law, the judiciary provides an accused a fair trial. It first provides the accused, a defense counsel, then further appeals in the higher courts and only after several adjournments and deliberations, a capital punishment order is endorsed [only sections 121, 132, 194, 302, 305, 307, 364A, 396 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 shall attract death penalty]. That doesn’t end the story, for there are review petitions, clemency plea and finally a judicial review over that in case of a rejection. Also the number of executions carried out in India since 1995 till date only amount to a paltry four (Auto Shankar, Dhananjoy Chatterjee, Kasab, Afzal), whereas the death convicts number from 2007 to 2011 itself is around 435. The number rose to 476 as of February, 2013 (Source: Amnesty International). This number speaks of itself that how far the Indian Government is staying away from implementing the capital punishment and yet when it is obliging the judiciary’s orders in rarest of the rare cases, people are questioning its will. This will only reduce the crime deterrence rate in the criminals.

The Prominence of mode of teaching

The way a prescribed syllabus is taught to the students holds the key rather than the very syllabus itself. Irrespective of whether it is state board syllabus or CBSE or ICSE, all are standard ones, each differing only in the ‘complexity levels’ but not in the standards. The mode of teaching should enthuse children and stimulate their creativity quotients. In addition to it, nurturing the specific interests of a child will also help in boosting their creativity levels. This has been showcased in various films as well, Taare Zameen Par, being one of those.

For example, most of the students find history to be a boring subject on account of the innumerous time periods to be memorized but when history is taught as a subject which every Indian has to know (about one’s nation/freedom movement/culture/society), it will be impressive than ever - This infuses the interest in a child’s psyche and automatically stimulates the creativity.  

The Scar (e) of a Bomb Blast

21^st February 2013, Thursday - It was just few minutes past 7 PM (IST) and I was as usually seated in the last row of the office bus in a quite relaxed fashion with my legs swayed upon the handle of the seat in the penultimate row. All of a sudden, when the bus had stopped at the (TV Tower) traffic signal, I heard a big sound. One of my colleagues, who was sleeping in the seat beside me woke up to the impact of the sound produced and was caught unawares. Then, I immediately went to the cabin of the driver and started to enquire what was that sound. The driver replied that it might be due to some gas cylinder blowing off. The bus started moving and while we were talking, we heard another whopping sound. We saw few objects flying into the sky at a distance of around 500-550 meters ahead of us. People started to yell and run helter-skelter. Our bus received mild vibrations. Then, we confirmed that it was no gas cylinder but a nerve-flinching bomb blast. Our bus did not stop. It moved on. As it crossed the bomb blast sites, we witnessed scores of blood flowing on the opposite side of the road and smoke engulfing from the roadside tea corner, the roof of which was in shackles. We were among those to watch the first glimpses after the blasts. The site is a very busy commercial area with hundreds of students, working labor, customers, and hawkers moving every ten minutes. After reaching home, and upon seeing the news, I came to know that I had my rebirth thanks to the traffic signal. If only the traffic signal wouldn’t have stopped our bus, we would have been directly opposite to the place of bomb blasts on the other side of the road.

My parents upon seeing the news scrolls in the Television, called me frantically just to know where I was. Likewise, the parents of many, few of whom are not so lucky! I tried to call my friends but to no avail. I came to know later that all the signals had been jammed in the surrounding areas moments after the blasts went off. The gruesome pictures flashing in the news channels, the screams of the people, the oodles of blood flowing on the road can never be forgotten in my life. The persons who suffered grave injuries included those who had either lost their limbs or eyes; whose hearing capacity was impaired; and, whose body parts were mangled – these disturbing images made me to ruminate for one moment that if this is the ‘Progressive India’ aspired, by the great leaders’ struggle and sacrifices (against the colonial rule of the British to achieve freedom for their people), on the successive generations to take the nation forward!

The pathos of these people is inexplicable in words. Their lives will no more be the same. The daily wage-earners cannot earn owing to the loss of their primary limbs and the students cannot continue their studies owing to the loss of their vision. The families and the dependants of these victims will be shattered owing to the disruption in their means of survival. Though the Government has announced compensation package to the victims, it does mean very little to them as the wounds inflicted by these bomb blasts are not only physical in form but also cause them mental distress as their daily lives are jeopardized. This agony through which one has to go through is devastating. Even before the ugly reminiscences of the earlier blasts in the city (2007 Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park blasts) are wiped out from the memories of the inhabitants, another grisly incident struck deep into the heart of a common citizen, the effect of which might even damage one’s morale of subsisting a ‘safe’ life in a city like Hyderabad.

The Pizza Alarm

It was Friday, the day after the serial blasts had terminated 16 precious lives and shattered many others’ in the heart of Hyderabad city. I was a witness to that gruesome incident or rather I was a lucky survivor thanks to the traffic signal (I would have been directly at the site of the bomb blast if the traffic signal hadn’t stopped our bus). Waking up early in the morning, I was skeptical on going to office amidst the chaos prevailing in the city due to the blasts. Reluctantly or more rightly, with a specific purpose doing rounds in my mind, I had been to office for fulfilling that purpose. The bus took an alternate route; all through the journey, I was talking to fellow colleagues about the grisly incident. Expectedly, there was a low turnout in the office compared to that on the other working days. The day at office just passed on very quickly with my ‘work’ (now do not ask me what that ‘work’ was).

While returning home, our bus took the same alternate route (which is a trifle shorter than the original route) due to which I have reached home earlier than my actual arrival time. Two days before, my sister had asked me to take her to a movie apparently for the night show. I had declined her as I was tired after reaching from the office and then immediately within a mere one hour gap, I was not at all willing to be in a theater. But on Friday, I had reached home earlier and was not tired. So, I had more than one reason to go to the movie (to divert my attention from the horrific episode on the previous day, being the other reason). So, along with my dad and my sister, I went to the movie. The movie, “Pizza” was touted to be a thriller. We just went in as mere spectators with no expectations from the film. But the reaction from the film was unexpected – spine-chilling horror and a rendezvous with the screams of the ghost(s)!

The first half had literally shaken me upfront and rooted me out of my seat – the element of scariness was so much that I closed my eyes for most part of it. Most of the scenes were filmed with no background music and all of a sudden, followed by a huge sound – this had the chilling effect on the viewers what the director of the film had intended to. I wondered if I was the only person who had that ‘shrill across the body’ feel, but I was proved to be wrong as some of the audience too closed their eyes, while some have dozed off, and the rest were shouting loud to keep themselves not to be taken aback by the ‘horror-sparks’, that the film was bursting out on its viewers almost at the unexpected moments.

The second half had eased out with the twists unfolding and the film ended on a very amusable note. It had showcased how the horror elements in the first half - which had a trembling effect on the audience - were dished out actually by the protagonists of the film. So, the audience who were expecting with bated breath what the second half would bestow upon them, had pretty much relaxed the way the second half turned out to be. That included me as well!

After reaching home from the cinema hall, I was reconciling the factors of what made me so scary – firstly, it was a cold night outside, and with the air conditioner running, only made us shiver with cold; secondly, the silent background music added to the intensity of the scenes; and finally, the inherent fear of the horror had made me flustered. All in all, “Pizza” is one movie which made my nerves cracking with fear. Probably, that’s the reason why I called it “Ram Gopal Varma’s baap ka movie”. Not to mention, I have known that a genre called ‘horror films’ exist only through the lens of Ram Gopal Varma.

Republic Day - RGV's Notion!

      

       In order to coincide with the 26 January 1930 Lahore resolution of "Poorna Swaraj", this day in 1950 was declared the day of "Republic" in the history of independent India. That was the day on which the sacrosanct to our nation's ruling, "Indian Constitution" came into effect though it was adopted on 26th of November 1949 (S. Preamble).


      Today it's 64th Republic Day and still our constitution holds the highest order, which only shows why India is the world's successful and largest democracy despite several odds in the form of diversity, internal & external threats and more.


Be proud to be an Indian!

Do something to this nation, which gave you everything, if not, most of the things!

వందేమాతరం! वन्देमातरम! Vande Mataram! 

Work-Life Balance

“Life is about using the whole box of crayons” – This quote defines how to live the most precious possession of any living being¹, i.e., life. In a box of crayons, you will find both, your favorite color(s) and also color(s) which you dislike. But to convert a drawing into a picture-perfect painting, you need to strike a balance in the choice of colors to be used for the painting. In doing so, you might definitely end up with using any color which you dislike. The same way, life is all about striking a balance; Where to strike the balance is purely dependent on your intuition. Let us now examine a true incident happened in our very own nation to introduce the topic.

A cut from the past:

In India, during the period of late 1970s, when Janata party came to power defeating the Indian National Congress in the general elections, there was an interesting tale involving the then Minister of External Affairs, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. When he had entered his chamber to take charge of his office, he observed that a portrait of an eminent personality was missing on the walls of the room (he used to visit the same chamber earlier). He immediately ordered his secretary to reinstate the portrait of that eminent personality. That eminent personality was the first Prime Minister of Independent India, Chacha² Jawaharlal Nehru (belonging to Congress). Vajpayee had every reason not to restore the portrait of Nehru, for he was his political rival and her daughter Ms. Indira Gandhi’s Govt. had imprisoned Vajpayee. Yet Vajpayee was keen on reinstating the removed portrait of Jawaharlal Nehru, only for two reasons – One, he had a great respect to Nehru as a person which was evident in his speech in Parliament after Nehru’s death and two, he probably would have wanted the portrait to inspire him for striking a balance in his official work and life like that of Nehru, who was known for striking a great balance between his official work and personal life. This one incident from the recent past brings us to the topic of dealing with the term ‘balance’ between work and life.

Why balance is needed between your work and your personal life?

                

         The ‘work’ relates to your career aspirations while the ‘personal life’ relates to your daily-go lifestyle. There is an adage, “Life is indeed beautiful. It’s times when we sink into our hectic and stressful lifestyles that we are blinded and fail to see what we have”. Maintaining balance in one’s life leads to, as preached in Buddhism, following the path of ‘Ashtangika marga’ in removing the quotient of ‘grief’ in one’s life - in simple words, ‘be balanced, and be joyful’. 

How to?

There are innumerous ways to achieve this balance. Usually, books preach several desiccated methods. But the most ‘practical’ way is to take a cue of the past or do whatever you like to be at peace, as the noted American author Steve Berry once said, “Follow your heart”. 

Mythologies prove that the kings used to unwind themselves from the ruling anxieties by participating in various cultural events of the period. This tradition has been carried from generations to the present day – we witness various cultural events all over the nation in the form of musical concerts, plays, theatre, art, etc… - this becomes one of the channels for providing entertainment to the audience and in doing so, providing the much-need quotient of ‘relief’ in one’s life in the modern world of LPG (Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation).

As family is the primary institution of a society, devoting time to one’s family is equally crucial as much (preferably, more) as that of the time one spares on one’s career. The ways can be many (dinners, adventures, outings, holidaying, etc…), but the onus lies on taking the time out from your work to your family. And not to forget that, all in this world are not privileged enough to have a family of their own. For those, the mantra to achieve balance is simple – indulge in an activity that keeps you at peace, here, the onus lies on identifying that activity.

Conclusion:

 “Apnee haalat ka bee ehsaas nahi hai mujhko, meine auron se suna hai ki pareshaan hoon mein...” – meaning which, you do not know your state and it is only after listening from others that you are in a worried state, you came to know you are worried. An individual’s focus in leading a happy life should lie not to be in such state and avoid becoming a victim of the dire situations. The crux of the story boils down to identifying the methods to strike a balance in one’s life, which is imperative to lead a happy life and make one’s life beautiful³.

P.S.:  

1. This write-up discusses only on the life of ‘human beings’.

2.‘Chacha’ should not be read as a ‘title’ to Jawaharlal Nehru because he is referred to as ‘Chacha’ by the children of the nation only out of affection. [Article 18 of Indian Constitution abolishes conferring titles on any citizen of India].

3. Do not look on the other side of ‘beautiful’ because exceptions always exist.

Self–Defense is Vital

“A woman is the soul of one’s existence” – One should try to build one’s conscience accordingly. The various steps for ensuring safety to women can be enumerated as below:

Role of women: As part of their self-defense, carrying a sharp pointed pen, a blade, or chilli-powder can save one’s day [Moreover, the section 100 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) guarantees protection to women (pertaining to rape assaults) in exercising her right to self-defense, in an event which the death to the assailant is not considered a crime].

Role of Government: Various safety guidelines have been announced such as establishing integrated help lines for women, installing CCTVs at public places and more. 

Role of Police: It is always advisable to memorize the police helpline numbers. They should be deployed in plain clothes at susceptible places.

Role of Private Organizations: Providing women escort to the women employees using the organization’s transport facility and employing women drivers (Delhi has recently introduced women cabs).

As the notion goes, “you are the best savior of yourself”, self-defense is the mantra or the immediate step to avert grave incidents.


P.S.: This was the response that I had sent to 'The Hindu' for their "Voice your Views" column, but alas! this was not selected for publishing.