Asking For Trouble?

If facebook and social networking sites are under the scanner, what platforms do the youth have to express themselves? There are forums aplenty in their schools and colleges, but what is so wrong in expressing oneself on the web? So long as it doesn't hurt religious sentiments, what wrong is anyone doing? Who decides what hurts religious sentiments and what is permissible? With the framework of some laws being ambiguous, be it cyber laws or otherwise, how does one know where to draw the line? Besides an individual's conscious call where to draw the line, the term is very relative as to each his own.

When 21 year old Shaheen Dhadha and her friend were arrested after her comment on the 18th November Sunday shutdown for Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackery's funeral in Mumbai, it raised an alarm across the country. Many look at it as a comment that did not hurt religious sentiments and ultimately she was let off after an ordeal she and her friend faced while suspects who ransacked her Uncle's clinic were arrested. But the fact remains is, where does the buck stop? It has spread fear amongst the youth and people at large. Does freedom of expression without crossing limits hold good in a free India in 2012?

In recent news, 2 employees of Air India were arrested for their comments on facebook. While there is still ambiguity on whether their comments went to the extent to outrage the modesty of a person in power and insult the National flag, the coincidence of this incident coming to light just after the Mumbai case might reiterate the thinking in the general public that their right to freedom of speech and expression is being curbed. In April in Kolkata, Professor Ambikesh Mahapatra of Jadavpur University was arrested for forwarding a cartoon depicting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that was seen as offensive. This sparked outrage over his arrest and will continue to be part of debates from time to time.  

Cyber laws are still relatively new to many and so is the fear instilled in many minds. While the internet is a boon, it is also a curse. But for the fearless, their conviction in being in the right does not stop them from speaking their minds while for some apprehensiveness ignites the thought of who decides where the buck stops and what the repercussions unfold.         

And Kasab Is Finally Hung!

When news came in of Ajmal Kasab's execution on 21st November 2012, a Wednesday morning, it definitely took time to sink in. Considering all the sarcastic sms forwards on Kasab in the last few years with an underlying tone of brickbats thrown at the Congress Government on the delay in execution and the expenses incurred by the Indian Government, indeed the news was true. Justice had been done in some way to the victim's families of the 26/11 attack. While the traumatic stories of victims is known, the tale of coming to terms with the loss and moving on was lost somewhere in the hustle bustle of life, that forces us all to wake up, face reality and take charge of life despite the void of loved ones. But it is easier said than done, as closure was always a heavy word looming large like a dark cloud for the families. Many lives have changed since 26/11 and 4 years later, with Kasab's hanging, the battle for closure is won for many of those unfortunate families that have lost their kith and kin. But for some, closure will still looms large, as the loss of a loved one is irreplacable with news of the young gunman's execution.

And what is worrying, is Pakistan's Taliban has vouched to take revenge with more attacks in the offing. But with the secrecy of the execution carried out by the Indian Government displaying an air of serious business, with political parties not letting individual party agendas get in way of delivering justice to the people of the country, a ray of hope is projected as a United India stands tall. The future is a challenge for the Government, with intelligence failure and unpreparedness that are often points that raise question about the Government's efficiency to tackle untoward incidents of such a magnitude. Yet it doesn't mean these lapses and others are not being worked upon to improve the efficiency of all concerned aspects of counter terrorism.

As citizens of the country, we are only in a position to trust our lives in the hands of the Indian Government, even as we keep asking pertinent questions that cross our minds. There is only so much we can do, while so much more that the Centre in coordination with State Governments can...to deliver in terms of action oriented answers to a billion plus questions being asked in different nooks and corners of the world's largest democracy.

Bengal...A New Era?

What is with the Trinamool Congress Government in West Bengal? Is it what we thought it would be, it is worse than it is portrayed to be? Is the new Government doing a U-turn on it's promises and issuing diktats to everyone in the administration and the aam aadmi too? So would I as a citizen on the State have to choose my expression of thought to the extent that I am in fear of being penalized?

That is the impression that I got from the meeting by the Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights or APDR with TMC MP Kabir Suman and theatre artist Koushik Sen as part of this meeting. Do I have reason to believe them? These are people who stood for change from the mindset of the 34 year old communist rule, these are the people who supported Mamata Banerjee to come to power. These are the people who believed like many of us in the State, that a white saree clad lady wearing a pair of hawai slippers would be the mascot of positive change.

There is change, but is that change all positive? When there are biases towards people, towards media, towards issues, towards thoughts and ideals...Would it be perceived as positive change? If you think about what the State needs and what the people want before what only one person wants, there is alot to research and understand. The history of Bengal, the culture and the dream that people want to see West Bengal transform into.

Where is the industry or the will to make that dream come true? It goes beyond words, there is more practicality involved in the form of action. The intent cannot be without focus, the way forward without knowing what it entails in reality. You can have agriculture and industry side by side. But industry cannot be built in the air. Land has to be acquired and unwilling farmers given a chance to understand what the future holds. This doesn't mean that farmers' land can be taken away by assuming they will understand what the future holds for them. Nor does this mean that all multicrop land makes way for industry.

This I say not as an expert, but from what I am given to understand. If Gujarat as a prosperous State can find ways to progress without dictatorship, what stops West Bengal? Politics! In every sphere, be it education, employment or anything that can do without politics. Is everything the erstwhile Left Government's fault? Even if it, how long can it remain the reason for stalling progress when the intent and implementation is there? How can every unpleasant event be the conspiracy of the Left Front?

It is not about any political party, it is about what is being done for the welfare of the State. There is so much to say, even if I don't want to. All I am interested in is to see the outcome of the 'Poribortan' or change in a positive way. When I can proudly say, I belong to a new era Bengal!

What’s Reel And What’s Real…And What’s Media Doing Sniffing It Out

It breaks my heart to see the mother of the 18 year old Dalit girl in Pipli in Orissa, crying for her daughter, praying that she will get better. I went to see her twice on Saturday and Sunday. Both times, all I saw was her sitting perched on the charpai and crying incessantly. She is poor, illiterate and does not understand what is happening in the case, whether it is the arrest of the main accused Pasei Prashant Pradhan on Sunday or that the Congress is putting pressure on the BJD Government, asking Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the accused Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathi to resign. All she knows is that her daughter Bobbina is lying in hospital in coma, with her neck swollen after the accused raped her and he with his three accomplices strangulated her on the 28^th of November 2011. It was only in December that Bobbina”s brother managed to file an FIR after great difficulty.

When I break the good news to her mother that the main accused has been arrested, she looks at me with a sense of hope amidst her crying continuously…Hope that justice will be done. But when I ask her what she feels about the main accused being caught finally after all these months, she just tells me in Oriya, that she wants her daughter to get better. That is what is her main concern, for she knows that her daughter is more precious to her than the politics behind the case. The victim’s grand father too says that he is more worried about Bobbina. That is the love they have, feeling the pain and suffering rhat she is going through even as her mother tells me that her daughter is a lovely girl. While there are chances Bobbina might be shifted to AIIMS Delhi, her family hopes it will result in a miracle. For them AIIMS is another jargon in the oblivious world of literacy and knowledge.

The first thing I saw when I set foot into Arjunguda, the village in Pipli block to meet her parents and tell them that the main accused has been arrested, I see workers of a political party that is barely prominent in Orissa, but they are there to play their game of cards. I see they are sitting there talking amongst themselves. One of them comes up to me while I am speaking to Bobbina’s mother and then is enlightened about her identity, trying to pacify her too, But it is no more than just a show. For next, I am asked to go take his President’s soundbyte. To use this as a gimmick for a few seconds of air time and garner votes from the illiterate and unaware poor is sad and distasteful. But such is the game of politics. Speaking of which, the main Opposition in the State, the Congress might have an upper hand here with a loss of face for the BJD thanks to the Agriculture Minister.

I wonder, do films depict reality or does reality imitate reel life? To think that the Agriculture Minister was sheltering the accused in his farmhouse before they went absconding is more like a Bollywood film come to life. To think that Bobbina’s fate was doomed because she was witness to her friend being molested by the same culprits. Because these girls were Dalits they could not speak up while the accused with their political clout looked to get away scot free. While Bobbina’s friend went on to commit suicide after being molested, she fights a battle far worse in the SCB medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. Had it not been for an activist filing a PIL in the High Court demanding better treatment and media highlighting the case, Bobbina would probably not have got the little that she deserves too.

The plight of the low socio economic masses and the clout of the political classes shows where India as a third world country is heading to. While people raise questions over media hyping situations, what should they then do as the watchdog of democracy to show that not every atrocity after all is going unnoticed.