August 29, 2007

Some measure

How do you stop horrors like what happened in Hyderabad a few days ago?

Simple: you go after the scum who kill, whoever they are, with all you have. It seems so obvious to me that I sometimes have to pinch myself to remember that others appear to think differently.

Whether it's bomb-setters in Hyderabad and Delhi, or sword-wielders in Ahmedabad and Baroda, or train-burners in Godhra, or house- and shop-burners in Bombay, or lynchers in Delhi and Bhiwandi: I don't care and neither should you and neither, certainly, should those who administer our laws. All these thugs, criminals, terrorists -- call them whatever you like -- and their masters who drive them must be punished. Period.

Whether you have a perverted idea of Islamic jihad on your mind, or a twisted redemption of Hindu honour, or a crazy Christian crusade, or a topsy-turvy quest for Sikh revenge, or some other religious sickness: again, I don't care what you have -- but when you kill people, you must be punished. Period.

No two ways about it. No equivocation about what is and what isn't terrorism, no convoluted rationalizations for why one brand of killing can be safely ignored, no empty arguing about what caused what. Punishment, that's all. Justice, that's all.

See it that way, address it that way, start today: then we will have done some measure of justice to the memory of those engineering students suddenly dead in Lumbini Park. And the others, suddenly dead there and elsewhere in Hyderabad. And in Bombay before. Godhra. Bhiwandi. Baroda. Ahmedabad. Delhi.

Your fellow citizens all, suddenly dead. Justice to their memory.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

impressive.

Anonymous said...

Once simple suggestion for you-

Afzal has been convicted by the highest court and still his sentence is not carried out becase of "secular" reasons. Why don't you start a campaign for his immediate hanging (ok no campaign but a simple post and ask all your cronies to sign it)....

Also demand very stern action against muslims who are going on a rampage because of an accident in agra. How about a online petition for that also and get it signed by your cronies...

Jai_Choorakkot said...

Various anons on these 2 posts,

Dilip may IMO deserve some of what he is getting, having lined up on numerous occasions behind the
'cause and effect',
...there are such things as backlashes...,
explanation vs. justification mode

but he appears sincere in his stand on these (my own concept of when an explanation stops being an explanation and starts being a justification is a bit blurry).

1. I think Afzal has received due process, and the execution is being delayed for considerations other than justice- but it is Dilip's right to hold the opposite opinion.

Some niggling few of the points raised by the Afzal bandwagon made sense in the context of the case against him (>90% were unrelated or irrelevant) and it is important to me that we are satisfied he received due process.

2. Stern action against mobs anywhere definitely yes-why particularly identify them as muslim?

3. Why should the signing of a petition be contingent on or necessarily gated by any others.

regards,
Jai

Anonymous said...

if that is what helps...why hasn't the justice system or government (of any country in the world) been successful in completely curbing crime in their territory? why is America the most vulnerable state today?

we all need to address the larger question of why these things are happening. Without doubt, justice has to be delivered, if you kill you deserved to be hanged, but simultaneously look for what caused them, otherwise it will only be a temporary cure to a permanent problem.

Anonymous said...

"Stern action against mobs anywhere definitely yes-why particularly identify them as muslim?"

really ? funny that identifying a mob as muslim takes your goat! one wonders why indentifying victims as "xyz" has never been questioned...

everyone knows the answer :)

Sartaj Hans said...

One thing worldly maturity has taught me is that in real life nothing is black or white.

However, nothing gets done all we ever do is assign everything to grey.

To do things in this complex world, one has to start assessment of the fundamentals.

And, in that sense, yes, you are right Justice is a fundamental concept.
There are other fundamtal concepts too that need to be explored, articulated and evaluated.

A viable practical improvement will come only as an amalgamation of all these.

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