Guity Till Proven Innocent - Fear Amongst Security Forces

Justice seems to be turning around on its head. Even though the justice sees everyone to be innocent till proved guilty, the security forces and the system as such seems to presume everyone to be guilty till proven innocent. To me it seems that the terrorists and the anti-national elements are succeeding in their purpose; that of instilling fear and distrust amongst the population.

This is evident from the irrational behaviour of the government as well as private agencies involved with security and safety. Don't believe them when they tell you that they are doing it for your safety or security, the fact is they are utterly, hopelessly lost about what is happening around them and even more clueless about how to stop any mishap or incident.

Going to the malls is becoming a pain. You spend more time waiting in line for parking your car than what you would in the mall shopping. There seems to be difference of opinion amongst the different malls as to the preferred method of terrorists to get the explosives into the mall. At some malls they check only the underside of the vehicle and at others only under the bonnet. I am yet to go to a mall where they check both places. Yes, they also check the boot. So the easiest way to carry explosives into a mall is to carry it inside a car, since no one bothers to check that. Either ways, I bet most of the guys handling that mirror to check the underside of the vehicle or for that matter inside the bonnet do not even know what a bomb or an explosive looks like. The closest most of them have got to explosives is the fire crackers they use during Diwali or for other celebrations.

The other day I went for a movie and the security checked me and told me to deposit the cigarette pack. I did not have a match box or lighter so I asked him why the pack of cigarettes. Rules, he said. I mean who ever heard of someone using tobacco to inflict harm on others besides smoking it.

Another funny things I have observed in hotels and malls is that they allow you to carry your mobile phone without even looking at it. In fact some of them even tell you to keep the phone in a basket and pass it so that the phone is not taken through the metal detectors. Now as far as my knowledge goes, it is very easy to use a mobile phone to act as a trigger for detonators. Wonder why no one is bothered about that.

Now another trend has started, courtesy the fake currency notes business. If you are giving five hundred or thousand rupees note to a shopkeeper he looks at it and then you suspiciously as if he were expecting you to come along with a fake note. It is entirely upto the vendor whether to accept the note or return it to you. If it is returned, one really does not know what to do with it. You take it to a bank and they will veify the authenticity of the note but then nothing stops the next vendor you give the note to, to return it again as a doubtful note. The government agencies have taken it a step forward. They ask you to write your personal details, with phone number and then the serial numbers of all the notes that you are giving before they accept it. Needless to say that they can get back to you anytime in the future with the charges of dealing in fake currency. How one is going to prove his/her innocence after a few days or weeks or months is beyond me.

There are many more such examples of unjustified and irrational behaviour. Security is a state of mind. If you look around yourself the state of mind seems to be troubled, more so the minds of security agencies and the government. All they are doing in the process is troubling innocent citizens because of their incompetence and fear. sn't that the very aim of terrorists and anti-national elements? Create FEAR...

Are Bandhs Really Democratic?

The Supreme court has turned over it's own decision regarding Bandhs on it's head. The surprising thing in this case is that it is not only an establishment overturning it's opinion, it is a case where the same individual Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, has reverted his own opinion. Yes, KG Balakrishnan was part of the Kerala High Court bench which had termed Bandhs as illegal, back in 1997. At that time the judgement was upheld by the Supreme court. Eleven years later the same man as the Chief Justice of India has overturned the very decision that he had taken and the Supreme Court had upheld. To me it says only one of two things, First Justice KG Balakrishnan is fickle minded and should not be relied upon to be rational anymore. Second, the Chief Justice has succumbed to political pressure and can no longer stand up to his convictions. Either way it is bad for the Indian judiciary.

"What (will) this court do. It is their right to express their feelings," are the words that the Supreme Court bench used. There are many ways of expressing feelings, or does the SC bench not know that. Or are they just translating their behaviour at home to express their feelings. Angry with wife, stop doing anything till such time she comes to her senses. Whatever happened to tools like communication, discussions, brain storming, media interviews. The statement only shows the helplessness of the courts, and the Supreme court, mind you. What is worse is that all the present bench has to do is only cite the precedence and the earlier judgement of the supreme court which termed Bandhs as illegal and unconstitutional, like it did in Oct 2007 for the DMK Bandh in Tamil Nadu. What has changed in the last few months since then. So, obviously some vested interests or external political pressures are at work here.

The decision taken back in 1997-98 was based on the upholding the interests of the public and correctly so, that Bandhs were getting too frequent and were disrupting everyday life. People were suffering, businesses loosing money, public amenities like hospitals, transportation etc shutting down and at worse people were being coerced into being part of the Bandh against their will. The state and the country loosing money is in any case the last thing on anyone's mind.

The Bandhs are generally called by the political parties which, as any electoral polls will show do not represent even 50 % of the population of the state or country. How can they be then a form of protest to just "express their feelings"? A Bandh does not express the solidarity of the entire state behind the cause since more often than not the public is terrorised to stay inside their homes and shops threatened with dire consequences if they open. It is just a case of political vandalism. Destroying property, causing loss to the economy and terrorising people just to project some vested interest to the masses and also to gain cheap popularity or shall I say, show of power.

In 1997 the HC had said, "No political party or organisation can claim that it is entitled to paralyse industry and commerce in the entire state or nation and is entitled to prevent the citizens not in sympathy with its viewpoint from exercising their fundamental right or from performing their duties for their own benefits or for the benefit of the state or the nation." The Supreme Court had upheld the decision at that time. Is the Supreme Court now saying that it is alright to paralyse industry and commerce? Is the Supreme Court now saying that it is okay for some individuals or political parties to hold the citizens, state or country to ransom? Is it okay to snatch the fundamental right of citizens to move around freely, even so, for a few hours, using sheer terror tactics?

India has finally started showing some growth and development, a consitent and strong economy and has just started to be counted as a nation of power amidst the International community. Why would the Supreme Court want to send us back to the days of misery, unemployment, poverty and hooliganism? We are still grappling with external terrorism, why does the Supreme Court want to encourage Internal terrorism? A society can be free and offer the freedom to citizens only when it has the wherewithal and the inclination to control abuse or misuse of that very freedom. We don't As is the misfortune of our society, some unscruplous elements will again misuse the freedom to express their feeling and take us back into the dark days of fear and terror.

I hope better sense prevails on Feb 16 and the Supreme Court and the honorable bench do not turn their current thoughts into a decision which will undo whatever little was achieved in the last eleven years.