Editorial, "PROMISES ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN ONLY," in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 31 January 2017, Volume 13, Part 1, No. 2 issue

PROMISES ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN ONLY

We all remember Mr. Modi, then star campaigner for the current ruling party, during his election campaign repeatedly drumming into the ears of gullible public that he and his party would alone be able to bring back the lakhs of crores of black monies smuggled out and hoarded in foreign banks, and not only that, he would get deposited Rs. 15 lakhs from that vast amount in the bank accounts of every common man! And we know what happened to that – their own party President Amit Shah retracted, laughing it away as a ‘jumla’ – false election promise not to be kept! A similar breaking of promises occurs to the Telugus of Andhra Pradesh too, which has been promised special status by the outgoing Prime Minister at the insistence of the then opposition, now ruling, party leader, Venkaiah Naidu, again repeatedly promised not only by Venkaiah but also Modi, as also included in their election manifesto. At the time of bifurcation, this editor and many others opposing the attempts at bifurcation itself were not, naturally, focusing on post-bifurcation issues but it was Venkaiah who, shamelessly colluding with the then ruling party, was at the same time posing as a protector of Andhras and demanding special status for 10 years. Then came Chandrababu, another shameless traitor to Telugu interests, posing as the only guardian angel for Andhra people’s interests, demanding 15 years special status. And now all are retracting – another big jumla! That on the basis of a heap of lies – that the 14^th Finance Commission commended scrapping of special category states, though such can be found nowhere in its report. Even if made, it is not binding and they cannot pose as if they are implementing all such recommendations. They talk of giving a special package, for which they are statutorily bound, but nothing to be found in the actual black and white. But, it is true that as yet there are 11 special category states, receiving large amounts of Central Aid on 70% grants: 30% loans basis and several tax concessions, sops and special packages to backward areas, etc. and that gives great fillip to their development and addition of Andhra Pradesh for say 5 or 10 years will not cause any heavens to fall down. Now under the inspiration of the Jallikattu movement in Tamil Nadu, people of Andhra are once again pooling up their guts and efforts for launching a big agitation for achieving this just demand, but it is to be seen whether they will prove themselves as victorious steadfast fighters or just remain as aarambha Suuras (heroes at the start only), as customarily deprecated.  §§§

Editorial, "INDIAN FESTIVAL SPORTS AND CRUELTY TO ANIMALS," in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 15 January 2017, Volume 13, Part 1, No. 1 issue

Indian Festival Sports and Cruelty to Animals

Not without profound wisdom did the saying, “Man is the most cruel animal on earth,” emerge and we see the whole history of human civilization full of gruesome bloodsheds in genocidal conflicts leading to extermination of big chunks of its own species and in egregious cruelty toward and extinction of countless bio-species. The very conduct of taming and making pets/draught animals of various animals and birds is doubtless much cruelty to them; one shudders to even think of what would be our ‘fate’ if those species were to grow more intelligent/powerful and retaliate in kind on us.  This much clearly said, it is also to be clarified that the sport of ‘Jallikattu’ which has been considered as involving cruelty to animals and its conduct provisionally banned by the Apex Court does not in fact involve any stark cruelty to animals, save that perpetrated in taming animals and, moreover, has assumed the nature of a cultural tradition cherished and now being assiduously agitated for by Tamil people. It has already been clarified in this journal earlier that “Jallikattu is a traditional sport of running with and catching bulls let loose wildly on the occasion of crops festival (Sankranthi/Pongal) days in some parts of Tamil Nadu and also in some villages of Chittoor district … … more euphorically held in Tamil Nadu with people’s emotions and sentiments attached to it. Bulls are only tamed but not killed unlike in the Spanish and French bullfights. Rather, the bull tamers often get injured and at times some even get killed. When the European Courts themselves allow the sanguine sport of bullfighting in the name of artistic expression and longstanding local tradition, there was no reason for our Apex Court to insist on banning it.” The same argument holds for the cock fights held in many Telugu districts during Sankranti festivals, though those appear bloodier and one of the cocks is almost invariably killed. But then, we cannot also overlook that chicken [meat] is one of the choicest meats cherished by a big majority of the people in India, and crores of those birds are artificially reared in poultry farms and cruelly killed in huge abattoirs. So are lakhs of cattle, especially buffaloes, killed “in revolting manner in big mechanized slaughter houses and their meat exported abroad to make … India the largest exporter of beef in the world – all this done legally without any scruples or any real protest/resistance from the so-called societies for prevention of cruelty to animals or any administrative/ judicial bodies.” So, the best solution lies in Courts not banning those, but directing the framing of strict regulations to eliminate, to the utmost extent possible, the cruelty and other related vices in their conduct. §§§

Editorial, " 'PURATCHI TALAIVI' PASSES AWAY," in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 31 December 2016, Vol. 12, Part 2, No. 24 issue

puratchi talaivi’ passes away

in mysterious circumstances in a corporate super-specialty hospital in Madras, with the true causes and real conditions of her ailments never revealed but the entire matters suppressed in utter secrecy in a sort of ‘deep State’ said to be controlled by a Mannargudi Mafia in connivance with or perhaps even under the commands of the near-fascist central government that is running amok now. This veil of secrecy totally blinding the eyes of the public, who in millions deeply mourn the loss of this ‘revolutionary leader’, is unthinkable in a democracy with a minimum sense of transparency, accountability and respect for the public opinion. It rather reminds us of the banana republics of modern days or the palace intrigues of the olden times. Jayalalithaa Jayaram, the intelligent, erudite and talented cine actress turned politician-become head of government, who launched several welfare schemes for common people in Tamil Nadu and that way become the darling ‘amma’ (mother) of masses in millions, but also earned notoriety in political circles with her wayward conduct and corrupt practices, at times suffering obloquy and imprisonment too on that count, is an admirable, strong-willed and free thinking lady no doubt, who certainly contributed to the ‘pennin perumai’ (‘greatness of woman’ – the title of her debut speech in AIADMK sessions which captivated the audience, and paved the way for her eventual successes) and was one steadfast chief minister who could always stand up to the undue meddling of the power intoxicated central governments and strongly supported the sovereignty and autonomy of the states pleading for a genuine federal democracy. Her Rajya Sabha speech of 1984 declaring, quoting Dr. Ambedkar, that “a Federal Constitution means, that the provinces are as sovereign in their field, as the Centre is in the field which is assigned to it,” and closing with approval of the invaluable warning words of Dr. B.C. Roy that “An attempt to build a strong Centre on the Foundation of weak States, is like an attempt to build a strong building on the foundation of sand,” is indeed a precious piece to be cherished by all votaries of federal democracy. In all the gloom of the sheeple meekly following the powers that be, glad to note that there are some rays of light with some determined, democratic minded persons/groups speaking out for a judicial probe on her medical treatment and eventual demise, and we too demand a comprehensive judicial inquiry into the circumstances and causes relating to her tragic and, to say the least, suspicious death. §§§

Editorial, "MAD TUGLAQIAN MEASURES," in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 15 December 2016, Vol. 12, Part 2, No. 23 issue

MAD TUGLAQIAN MEASURES

The chapter of Mohammed Bin Tuglaq in Indian history, with his horrible measures of madness and cruelty, is a gory interval in our long history, sometimes it seems almost incredible, but watching the mad show going on in our country now in the name of ‘banning’ of big currency notes, trumpeted as an indispensable measure for fighting corruption and ‘black money’, nothing seems impossible/un-replicable in this country. Ever since the Mahaa Moorkh announced with a bang in all pomp and show in the night of 8 November 2016 that all 500 and 1000 Rupee Notes would not be legal tender but for a few exemptions till 30 December,  that this was essential to curb, unearth and eradicate black money, the whole country is in serpentine queues for all these five weeks or more searching for paltry amounts of cash to pull on lives and in the process several persons lost their lives even. In a country where more than 80% of all financial transactions take place in cash, at least 20% have no bank accounts at all, and where 86% of the cash-coins are but these big notes, could any madder measure be conceived and sought to be implemented to destroy the people and the economy altogether, one wonders. Leave all that talk of black money, which could not be, in cash, more than 5-10% of the total cash in the country, what about the loss of lakhs of crores to the economy – of incomes to the people at large who in millions queue up before non-working ATMs and ill-equipped banks for days together? What about the loss of precious lives day in and day out of helpless persons, unable to withstand the rigors of standing? Of shutting down of industries or forcible/invisible retrenchment of lakhs of workers in not only unorganized sectors, of the woes and weal of crores of farmers who cannot sell their produce at any affordable or even low rates due to such cash crunch? Has any country in the world been able to even lessen, let alone eradicate, black money by such an insane measure? To buttress their indefensible measures the fraudsters spread all sorts of lies, including the so-called demonetization of big currency notes in the US in 1969 – which never occurred. Now they are even talking about a cashless society – a sure way to totalitarianism. And we have been seeing new sorts of corruption and black money emerging with the ruling party-wallahs preponderant in that line too, and ministers and leaders of the ruling party – Jaitley, Gadkari and Gali Janardhan Reddy et al - lolling in luxuries and spending hundreds of crores for marriages etc. when people are dying for want of trifles of cash to buy medicines or food even. In any other country, such a despicable government would have surely vanished due to people’s wrath but here it still continues to run like a bull in the China Shop. §§§