Hold Judiciary Accountable!

Yes, for the rape and eventual death of the girl whose story got told, and for the rapes and deaths of girls whose stories never got told. Judiciary, seen as the last standing bastion of people power in India is actually the most vicious and unaccountable arm of Indian democracy. It hasnt changed much since the British established it. Result - millions of pending cases with inarduously tortuous wait for justice for the people. It serves only and exclusively the powerful, ironically precluding the disadvantaged with its slow pace of delivering justice.

Who is judiciary accountable to. The much maligned politicians have to go in peoples court  every five years. The much disgraced police work at the whims and fancies of their political masters. But Judiciary is accountable to none. They also have that contempt law allowing them the power to put you in jail if you display a problem with their grand pronouncements.Politicians are way too afraid of them because most have pending court cases against them. This lack of accountability has resulted in the current situation where law has lost its power of deterrence. Rape all you want - I still have a million cases before I get to yours, ie, if I get to yours at all. If you are lucky, you will die your natural death before we get to sentence you - thats what our much revered Indian judiciary says to criminals. This is not merely a figment of my imagination. This is the reality.

Lets take some obvious examples. What on earth is Supreme court doing about Babri mosque dispute. Do they even have the will to pronounce the judgment. Or are they waiting for the stars to align. How about Sikh, Godhra, post Godhra massacres. In many of those massacres, rape was committed at massive scale. The ones who died got releived of their misery, the ones who live still suffer their pain and humiliation. When will they get justice.

 We often hold our Judiciary in high regard. But really its only the Supreme court that has captured our popular imagination. But justice for a billion Indians is served in the mofussil and district courts. And the inefficiency, nepotism and corruption prevalent in these courts will put even our most viled politicians look like saints. Who should be held accountable for that.

It appears that the Delhi rape case may get a speedy trial. But what will change for the thousands of other women that have been raped. Was  their rape any less of a crime. Were their perpetrators any less guilty. We must ask the judiciary to start publishing its status reports,on total pending cases and in what state they are in. Lets start with the rape cases. Then and only then will some good lasting change come out of this most horrific tragedy.

Classroom Shootings - Outlier or Inevitable

Tears literally ran down my eyes as I read about the teacher who threw herself in front of the assailant to protect her students (Std. 1). She did not duck or hide or ran away. She threw herself, at the certain death she saw in front of her. That is not just compassion and love, that is courage!

But the question is why does this keep happening in the US. Are these shootings, and there have been quite a few in recent times (Virginia Tech, the Gurudwara shootings, the Aurora Shootings etc) merely outlier events or are they an inevitable culmination of the much touted the US way of life. Is the US way or life responsible responsible for creating these outliers. Because whatever the motivation be for these shootings, one theme runs common - a lone gunman deciding to take life of a group of people (children), often for no apparent reason. What can be a reason to kill 20 kids?

For a large number of world population, it must sound crazy that right to bear arms is a fundamental right in the US, guarded by its constitution. I will not go into the merits or demerits of that. In spite of over 300 million guns held by US citizens, US is no pirate infested Somalia. But right to bear arms manifests itself in various forms during the normal day to day business in the US. Let me give just one example -  If you are ever stopped by a traffic cop in the US, it is best to just keep calm, keep your hands where the cop can see them, not reach for your glove box without being told to do so, and not do any sudden movements. You may wonder why. What's the big deal. Well, if you don't do all of that, you might just get shot. Yes, it is that serious.

Why? Because the cop has to start with the assumption that you are carrying arms with you and any sudden movement threatens him/her. You can be shot for no good reason other than the fact that the Cop did not know whether you were reaching for your driver's license or for your gun. I am not making this up. It is in California's license handbook - when a cop stops you, no sudden movements. Period.

Goes back to "right to bear arms". Another example is that of a man (I forget his name) shot in New York for running with a kitchen knife, and not surrendering himself to Police. He was likely high as well. But here is the thing - if he was a wild animal, a tranquilizer would have been used (most likely). Because he was a man, he was shot down. After all, animals can't bear arms, can they.  Phew!

Should the right to bear arms be revoked? I don't know. I don't know enough about the US, and its history/culture to suggest anything like that. But shouldn't getting a gun be made at least as difficult as getting a driver's license. That should at least be a start.