- The Statesman
- 17 Dec 2013
Rancour exposed
Declining health would come in the way of two significant developments “registering” with the former firebrand of Indian politics, George Fernandes. Both, however, serve to confirm the viciousness with which the UPA (read Sonia Gandhi?) sought to nail the former defence minister on corruption charges ~ acts of sheer vengeance to get even with him for playing a leading role in ensuring that a political price was extracted for kickbacks in the purchase of Bofors howitzers.
On 11 December, a Delhi court discharged for want of evidence three Army officers who had been charge-sheeted by the CBI in what had been dubbed “coffingate”. A Special Judge ruled that there was no prima facie evidence to proceed against them. And just before that, the CBI formally closed its investigation into the acquisition of Barak ship-protecting missiles ~ in which Fernandes had been named ~ again for want of evidence.
That the several spokespersons of the UPA have opted for silence on both issues sends out a loud signal ~ almost as loud as when Sonia Gandhi charged the admitted “family-baiter” of graft over the bodies of soldiers killed in Kargil. A sick fuss had been made over the purchase of reusable aluminium caskets in which the remains of the fallen soldiers were transferred to their home towns/villages for the Last Rites ~ a first-time gesture that was gratefully acknowledged by the grieving families.
Prior to that, bodies were generally cremated in the operational zone. To have claimed a scam in the purchase of the coffins betrayed a low mindset. The UPA also chose to ignore realities that Barak missiles were procured only after the DRDO conceded that its Trishul missile was a “dud”. In both affairs the Congress leadership went to town targeting Fernandes; now it looks the other way.
That the several spokespersons of the UPA have opted for silence on both issues sends out a loud signal ~ almost as loud as when Sonia Gandhi charged the admitted “family-baiter” of graft over the bodies of soldiers killed in Kargil. A sick fuss had been made over the purchase of reusable aluminium caskets in which the remains of the fallen soldiers were transferred to their home towns/villages for the Last Rites ~ a first-time gesture that was gratefully acknowledged by the grieving families.
Prior to that, bodies were generally cremated in the operational zone. To have claimed a scam in the purchase of the coffins betrayed a low mindset. The UPA also chose to ignore realities that Barak missiles were procured only after the DRDO conceded that its Trishul missile was a “dud”. In both affairs the Congress leadership went to town targeting Fernandes; now it looks the other way.
As despicable as the political revenge-seekers have been officials of the CBI: they have confirmed all suspicions of relishing being used as tools by the ruling entity. They kept the futile probes “alive” until no more political juice could be extracted from them ~ as they appear to be presently doing in at least two defence-related inquiries.
Officers as senior as a former Navy Chief and a Major-General had been projected as crooks by the CBI in the missiles andc offin deals, their reputations sullied. Surely such defamation and character assassination of high-ranking personnel cannot go unpunished, the CBI must be made to pay damages, though money is poor compensation. That alone might inject some “spine” into what the apex court recently slammed as a “caged parrot”. An inappropriate description, for it can “peck” hard, at the directions of its political masters.
Incredible Bengal
The gambling, betting over a minor daughter and her forced marriage have combined to brew a lethal cocktail in Incredible Bengal, to use a variant of the tourism ministry’s glib advertising coinage.
Incredible Bengal
The gambling, betting over a minor daughter and her forced marriage have combined to brew a lethal cocktail in Incredible Bengal, to use a variant of the tourism ministry’s glib advertising coinage.
Altogether a triple whammy of a crime that is almost as hideous as the fatwas of the khap panchayats of northern India. It might be tempting to draw parallels between the incident in Malda district and episodes of the Mahabharata and Thomas Hardy’s Mayor of Casterbridge. Overlooked in the process is the difference between fiction and fact.
Aside from literary allusions, it has been a collective disgrace for Bengal as 2014 is set to unfold. The incident would have been inconceivable in 19th century Bengal when superstition and ignorance were the two nooses hung around the neck of civilization. The clock has been turned back to the medieval era and almost unbelievably so. Pre-eminently, there was Rammohun Roy, Vidyasagar, Bentinck and Dalhousie then to steer the process of the Bengal Renaissance. Who is there now?
A gambler, who had lost all and everything, gave away his 13-year-old daughter in marriage; horror of horrors, the decision was reportedly firmed up in the presence of gram panchayat activists.
Clearly, there are two facets to the crime ~ gambling per se and the marriage of the minor daughter as a criminally bizarre escape route. And if indeed the panchayat of Habibpur village was privy to the unfolding crime, it passes understanding how the district police administration can now be so impervious.
The least that the administration can attempt is to stop the wedding of a minor, which has been scheduled for 22 January, despite the fact that the families have gone through pre-marriage rituals. It would be an understatement to describe the circumstances as extraordinary.
In the larger context, it devolves on the State to crack down on gambling in rural Bengal, that can drive individuals quicker to penury than to a fast buck. There can be no deeper tragedy than to bet on one’s daughter. Sad to reflect, society is as backward and inhumane as it was in the 19th century. Malda records an awesome chapter of social history, not another fiction. Bengal has exposed its underbelly.
Aside from literary allusions, it has been a collective disgrace for Bengal as 2014 is set to unfold. The incident would have been inconceivable in 19th century Bengal when superstition and ignorance were the two nooses hung around the neck of civilization. The clock has been turned back to the medieval era and almost unbelievably so. Pre-eminently, there was Rammohun Roy, Vidyasagar, Bentinck and Dalhousie then to steer the process of the Bengal Renaissance. Who is there now?
A gambler, who had lost all and everything, gave away his 13-year-old daughter in marriage; horror of horrors, the decision was reportedly firmed up in the presence of gram panchayat activists.
Clearly, there are two facets to the crime ~ gambling per se and the marriage of the minor daughter as a criminally bizarre escape route. And if indeed the panchayat of Habibpur village was privy to the unfolding crime, it passes understanding how the district police administration can now be so impervious.
The least that the administration can attempt is to stop the wedding of a minor, which has been scheduled for 22 January, despite the fact that the families have gone through pre-marriage rituals. It would be an understatement to describe the circumstances as extraordinary.
In the larger context, it devolves on the State to crack down on gambling in rural Bengal, that can drive individuals quicker to penury than to a fast buck. There can be no deeper tragedy than to bet on one’s daughter. Sad to reflect, society is as backward and inhumane as it was in the 19th century. Malda records an awesome chapter of social history, not another fiction. Bengal has exposed its underbelly.
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