DR. S. AUSAF SAIED VASFI paints a dismal but graphic picture of moral and ethical degeneration in the Indian Republic and voices concern over the fast diminishing values not finding place in the President’s Republic Day address.
Is the over-a-billion-strong plural Bharat, especially its less-privileged segment, unjustified in expecting its Head of the State to be a visionary, a personage of imagination and insight? The President’s customary address to the nation on the eve of 63rd Republic Day is a case in point. Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil was genuinely expected to touch the ground realities and suggest measures to alleviate the suffering of aam aadmi, the man on the street.
Her sermon-cum-address has almost everything under the sun. But what it does not have is ideas that inspire and enthuse the citizenry to be up and doing. There is drought of probity. Youngsters do not respect their elders and teachers. Women are beaten up in the incidents of road rage. Corruption has pushed ministers, parliamentarians, legislators, tycoons, technocrats and All India Services personnel into jail. The ambience is conducive for graft. The atmosphere is saturated with violence. Intolerance is the order of the day. Moral turpitude carries a premium. Honesty is lampooned at and piety is the fodder of jokes.
Roads, ports, airports, child marriage, agriculture, education, which the President has touched, are alright. But do these routine topics make the nation sit up? In her core agenda, she must have included moral rearmament, character-building, decriminalisation of politics, renaissance of values, and how to contain role of money in elections, lacunae in law enforcement, abuse of power by the powerful at the countrywide level. That, we believe, would have turned the address into a vibrant and thought-provoking one.
HOW USELESS LIFE IS!
Just think and see how purposeless and how aimless life in India has become even among the educated, well-earning and those who are completely satisfied with life: The Times of India, on Oct 18, 2011 carried a story that gives a jolt to every level-headed person.
One Anand Ranthidevan, 39, and Deepa Ranthidevan, 36, committed suicide in Merces, opposite to Panaji in Goa in the first week of October. Reason? The couple was satisfied with life! Their suicide note, duly signed along with their will, read like a novel of Hardy or a tragedy of Shakespeare. The couple kept Rs. 10,000 in an envelope to be used for their cremation. The operative part of their note was: “We have lived a very eventful and happy life together. We have travelled the world, lived in different countries, made more money than we ever thought possible, and enjoyed spending as much of it as we could on things that brought us joy and satisfaction. We believe in the philosophy that our life belongs to us and only us and we have the right to choose to die as much as we have the right to live.”
Aren’t the total absence of values from the national skyline and aimlessness in life responsible for such reprehensible wastage of the most prized possession of humanity? To Muslims the world over, life is a trust of Allah. One is neither entitled to nor allowed to destroy it. Suicides are almost conspicuous for absence in the Islamic world. At the end of the day, we ask: Who is responsible for the foolish philosophy and idiotic step taken by the couple? Does our government at the national level teach anywhere the importance of life?
How would you react if the society denies even dignity in death to the widows? On Jan 8, the following lines appeared in The Hindu: “The bodies of widows who die in government-run shelter homes in Vrindavan are taken away by sweepers at night, cut into pieces, put into jute bags and disposed of as the institutions do not have any provision for a decent funeral. This is done only after the inmates give money to the sweepers.”
GOVT. CREDIBILITY
It is really ironical that today the credibility of the country is not what it ought to have been under the stewardship of a suave and soft-spoken Prime Minister, who is Oxbridge-educated and is known for his integrity, honesty of purpose and probity. Has the nation failed him?
How is it that we have chief ministers who have had to vacate their positions allegedly for graft; on whom courts and other judicial bodies have made adverse announcements. We have Union Cabinet Ministers who are in prison. We have Union Cabinet Ministers who have had to vacate their positions allegedly on complaints of ill-doing. We have Parliamentarians who are being indicted by judiciary for various acts including accepting cash for exercising their vote in Parliament and also seeking cash to ask questions in the House. These are examples of lawmakers who form the highest echelon of administration. So bemoaned Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr. Vinod Roy on Oct 12 last. Pain was manifest in his voice. His points of concern, which in fact are points of concern for the entire nation, were: The governance is at its lowest ebb; the morale of civil servants is low; the credibility of the government is at its lowest and the decision-making is a casualty.
GIFT FROM APEX COURT
After a cursory glance at the front-page headlines on Jan 26, an average Muslim, in his utter cynicism, treated the Supreme Court order to probe all fake encounters in Gujarat from 2002 to 2006 as a gift from the Apex Court. Justice Aftab Alam and Justice C.K. Prasad passed the order on two petitions filed by the eminent journalist, Mr. B. G. Verghese and the lyricist Mr. Javed Akhtar.
When the Gujarat State Counsel Mr. Ranjit Kumar raised questions on the PILs pending since 2007, the Bench observed: “There was no need to question the ‘bonafide’ of the petitioners, all prominent citizens. ‘Why in Gujarat when (such) a matter comes, the State initially and vehemently denies it. When the matter is scratched even slightly, only then the facts come to light and the State Government admits it is a fake encounter.”
Hats off to the highest palladium of justice.
Judiciary, in fact, is that pillar of democracy in India that is not tied to vote bank. Let us have a look at it. Forty-four judges are facing internal probe in U.P., 42 in Rajasthan, 33 in Madhya Pradesh, 31 in Maharashtra, 23 in Jammu & Kashmir, and 22 in Gujarat.
Do you know that Mr. Justice P.N. Bhagwati, former Chief Justice of India, was an ardent admirer, nay firm devotee of Sri Sathya Sai? In the light of an interview to Bella Jaisinghani, Mr. Justice Bhagwati gives a clear impression that Sri Sathya Sai was his god, whose devotion to him knew no bounds – literally. To quote Mr. Bhagwati: “Every single one of my judgements has been guided and inspired by a divine hand (weeps). I believe in two entities, Krishna and Sathya Sai. I am not a devotee but a lover of Krishna. People may call me mad, and yes this is madness. The madness of love. At the age of 11, I would run outside the house and weep for Krishna. As a professional, each time I would sit down to write a judgement at 5 o’clock in the morning. I was only writing what my god dictated. Bhagwan held my hand as I put pen on paper. Everything that I have achieved in respect of the law, and people say I have achieved a lot, is owing to the guidance and inspiration of Sathya Sai Baba. There is no doubt on this score.”
As one of the earth-earthy, this scribe thinks that all judgements of Mr. Justice Bhagwati need revision by a competent legal wizard. Do you agree?
Today the pendency of cases in the Apex Court is monstrous – over two crore. But the former Supreme Court Judge, Justice Ruma Bali pulled no punches on Nov 10 last when she said from hypocrisy and secrecy to arrogance, nepotism and plagiarism, all bedevil the higher judiciary. Two other bedevilling factors she cited were to brush things under the carpet and liberal use of phrases like ‘be it ever so high’, ‘the law is above you’.
230 MILLION GO HUNGRY
Our country is, and to some extent justifiably, craving to become a superpower. But the ground reality is different. Are you prepared to believe that 230 million Indians go to bed hungry? Add to it that over 55,000 women die due to child birth every year. Of the total children born in one year, a mind-boggling 13 lakh die before they reach their first birthday, most of them within a few weeks after entering into this world. You also must know that 58 per cent of the world population which practices open defecation lives in India.
DELHI: THE RAPE CAPITAL
Want to know about rape? Peruse: A report from Bhopal came on Sep 28 last which said: “The 7-year old may not have a dad, but in the space meant for father’s name on her birth certificate there were three names – of the three men who allegedly raped her mother when she was 15. Admitting that it was a shocking case of insensitivity, Sub-divisional Magistrate (Dindori) Kameshwar Chaube said he would personally determine if the certificate was genuine and how it had been issued.
According to National Crime Records, Delhi and Mumbai accounted for one-third of the rape cases registered in 2010. Delhi alone recorded 1,422 cases of kidnap and abduction.
Besides the male wickedness, is there any other factor also responsible for crimes against girls and women? In this context some politicians and police officers have, of late, been advising the fair sex to wear modest clothes and not step out in the night.
Karnataka’s Minister for Women and Child Welfare, Mr. C.C. Patil says: “I personally do not favour women wearing provocative clothes and always feel they need to be dignified in what they wear.”
In this age, even the dead widows do not enjoy dignity. To the pro-half-naked, dignity is a relative term. Most probably they would not buy this ‘subjective argument’. But they cannot refuse three facts that 93.7% of Indian mothers cannot afford a non-cereal diet for their children, 20% children face abuse in Bharat and 90% of 11 million abandoned kids are girls.
O Tempora! O Mores!!