It was amazing to hear eminent lawyer and constitutional expert Fali Nariman come down heavily on the sting operation conducted by a journalist on the Gujarat magistrate who signed warrants on the President and Chief Justice of India for a price on the talk show "We the People". Mr. Nariman blithely came out with the naive advice that citizens should not buck the system but go through the proper channels. In this case, the right action in his opinion was to complain to the Chief Justice and give the system a chance.
It is really astounding that such a highly respected legal luminary like Mr. Nariman has failed to comprehend the extent to which the institutions of this democracy have been subverted and wrecked by the politicians past and present. Like Mr. Nariman, Satyendra Dube also apparently believed in the system. See what the it did to him. More recently, an aeronautical engineer who was thrown off a running train in Mumbai, sustaining grievous head injuries, was left to fend for himself by the Railway police. They did not even have the consideration to help him get admitted into a hospital. This he had to do on his own. To compound his misery, the police registered his case as accidental due to the pushing and jostling of boarding the train. Only when his story appeared in the media, did they alter the statement. Even the family of the Prime Minister's nephew failed to get the system to deliver, until their high connections were discovered. Yet Mr. Nariman, who seems to be totally out of touch with reality, expects the ordinary citizen to throw himself into a system that eventually consumes one. Perhaps by virtue of his exalted position, Mr. Nariman has never had to face the travails of hapless citizens who put their faith in a creaky and totally corroded system that only kicks into action for a privileged few. India shines indeed, but only for the ruling elite, industrialists and those close to the centres of power. They can bend and manipulate a conveniently flexible sytem to suit their nefarious purposes. The rest of us ordinary mortals alas, given a choice, must keep a safe distance from this rotten system that more often than not ends up by swallowing the victims whom ironically, they have been put in place to protect. Diana ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
