Criminality writ large; or the elephant in India's drawing room
NB: A comment on contemporary Indian politics by Anikendra Sen. Self explanatory. DS
We are descending into anarchy. Totally. It's not the anarchy of society at large, loosely described as "civil society." It's the anarchy of the establishment in which it is each one for himself and devil take the hindmost. A woman gets raped and brutally murdered after being mutilated in unmentionable fashion and the establishment takes great pains to say she wasn't raped, indeed hires a professional agency (what kind of professionals are these?) to say that she wasn't raped.
The rape didn't happen. What about the murder then?
Another bunch of the same establishment comes out with information that there are bad eggs among them who were bumping off people who didn't pay them off. Did that happen?
A religious structure falls to rubble. The highest court in the land says it was an illegal act and the same court says it's alright to build another structure of another faith in its place but the original destruction it declares was an illegal act. Then the same court finds that those accused of destroying the original structure are not guilty.
No one destroyed the structure. So there was no rape and no destruction.
A student group sits in protest and a bunch of masked marauders proceed to beat the heck out of them while their associates count how many condoms are strewn around the campus. The beaten students get rounded up and accused of sedition, produced in court where they are further assaulted by defenders of the law and no one gets caught barring the students who continue to be charged with sedition.
A bunch of women, largely old, sit in protest against what they fear will deprive them their kith and kin and their kind of citizenship of this land and over a period of time, they, too get accused of sedition. Another bunch of students sit peaceably in a library and the police enter and beat the heck out of them. They're next accused of sedition.
Another bunch of people decide to celebrate the 200th anniversary of a war in which oddly enough the British army won thanks to the Mahars (same caste as Ambedkar) against the Marathas and all hell breaks loose. It has been celebrated every year and now, all of a sudden, it is a plot to kill the prime minister. For the last two hundred years? Sedition again.
A film actor of some repute, depressed or otherwise, decides to do away with himself. Sad but true and now confirmed by the best medical brains of the country. But it is a murder done by a criminal drug ring. A lunatic actress makes wild allegations and gets Y category security. A central agency takes over the investigation. It becomes a Maharashtra police vs Bihar action.
Meanwhile the family of the raped and killed victim gets surrounded by the cops and threatened into silence. A security ring is thrown around her village to prevent the opposition from entering. The media, most of which are complicit, are told that facts are being "twisted" ( what a farce!) and legal action will follow. The police that are supposed to keep their mouths shut pending proceedings in court, sing like canaries accusing everybody other than the perpetrators of the crime.
The Chinese invade and occupy large chunks of our territory and it's publicly announced that no one is in possession of our territory. Meanwhile senior and infantile officers announce that we are capable of fighting on 2 and a half fronts followed up by numerous announcements best left to the Foreign Office.
The Covid-19 pandemic runs rampant and the Home Ministry (not the Health Ministry) runs roughshod over all others on what to do until of course the Home Minister himself is struck down by Covid. India marches ahead to occupy the first position on the Covid stakes.
Meanwhile the GDP is down 24% unemployment figure are even worse. So who is in charge? A man fondling peacocks? Or as some of us are aware that there is a stage that is known as the "total autonomy of the superstructure" and that is where the anarchy lies.
Avay Shukla: Acts
Of God And Follies Of Man
Samjhauta Express
blast case verdict: ‘Who will answer for death of my five children?’
Jailed and Harassed
Former IGP Darapuri, 76, Shares His Ordeal
Prem Shankar Jha:
The Shadow of Haren Pandya’s Case Lies Long Over Justice Arun Mishra
‘This episode is going to haunt SC in years to come’:
Justice AP Shah on CJI sexual harassment case
Hannah
Ellis-Petersen: Actor's death fuels media frenzy in India
