The VERDICT - you cannot have the truth!

The BJP today condemned Home Minister Chidambaram's statement that the famous Ayodhya title suit verdict of the Allahabad High Court has nothing to do with the demolition of the Babri Masjid which remains a criminal act.  The BJP does not want the Home Minister to say something like this, because the matter is before the court.  Apparently, an act of vandalism that ends in the destruction of a historical monument, is not obvious enough for the BJP to accept someone calling it a criminal act, even if it were a matter of opinion.

Despite the hope we can have in the Supreme Court, the most dangerous precedent has however, been set by the Allahabad High Court.  By giving even the slightest legitimacy to matters of faith, it has chosen belief over truth, by deciding not to go purely with facts.  The "verdict" - to split the disputed land in 3, equally, amongst the litigants disputing its ownership, is in itself, perhaps the most uncontroversial settlement it could have prescribed, but that sort of "commonsense wisdom" is meant for people's courts, not for a high court.

The "law" as we have subscribed to, by being a democratic nation, is written in letters, not in beliefs, and not in our judgement of how the verdicts may play with emotions and feelings of communities too vested in their beliefs. The court is equipped to deal with facts, not beliefs.  If someone now comes up with an empirical evidence to disprove the existence of God, then what happens?  Our legal systems should be impervious to these situations.

Where are the facts that can establish to whom this land belongs?  What do we do if we cannot arrive at those facts?  Simply ask for more evidence, it is that simple.  Wait until the evidence shows up and if it does not, rule in favour of status quo and throw out the litigation(s).  That is all a court has to do.  Has the Allahabad High Court done that?  It has gone a step further, without fulfilling its fundamental duty.  It has chosen, very strangely, to bring a settlement into play, without making the law take its course.  It has chosen to quell the "problem", instead of ending the dispute.

This "settlement" verdict, even more bizarrely, is the sort of thing that much lower courts, like Panchayat courts, resort to.  That is the expectation there, and they are immensely qualified to do so, through an informal jury that usually know the parties in the dispute rather well, and the entrusting of the judgement is left to some wise "counsel", usually the older citizens of a village.  These are the courts that order stripping people naked, honour killings, revenge rapes, public humiliation, and other inhuman punishments, that are clearly unconstitutional and highly illegal.

The courts of the more formal legal "system" have lawyers, to interpret, clarify, and sometimes enforce the "law".  It is a very rational profession, that depends on volumes of "Indian Law" that many are students and practitioners of.  It is an evolving set of laws, but at any given point in time, "Indian Law" exists as an edict in written form.  God is not called upon to enforce it.  Our law enforcement agencies are.  If we were to consider beliefs, religious sentiments and such irrational subjects in a court sworn to uphold the "law", we should have religious leaders, psychics, tantriks, priests, mullahs and such working in courts, not lawyers, advocates and judges!

In its most fundamental essence, the job of a court is to uphold the "law", not even attempt to deliver "justice" even as it pronounces judgement.  If there is no evidence, the alleged murderer walks free!  How many times have we seen this happen?  It is the only way the "law" works.  If the law is found inadequate to deal with a certain dispute, the case rests, sometimes indefinitely.

We as a nation, have unwittingly, stepped onto the slippery slope of legitimizing the irrational and given it the status of equal consideration with objective truths.  For this alone, we will have to pay a very heavy price.  "Satyameva Jayate" is not true in this case, do we even realize?

By the precedent set by this verdict, credibility is given to events that supposedly took place hundreds of years before INDIA came into existence, on the 15th of August 1947.  The title suit itself is only about who the 2.7acres of land in Ayodhya belongs to, but the three way split laid out by the "verdict", based on some place of worship having existed there many hundred years ago, over which supposedly another place of worship was built, also years before India came into existence, borders on absolute madness.  Even more bizarrely, madness is what is supposedly being avoided right now by this immature "compromise".

This was never about Hinduism or Islam or what people believe in.  This should always have been about the law of the land.  What if somebody gets it into their head now, that their ancestors' temple or an entire civilization's ancestral, historical or religious wealth is buried beneath the Parliament building?  How about beneath the Rashtrapathi Bhavan or the Taj Mahal?  Shall we demolish these buildings and wait for another verdict to tell us whether that is criminal or not?  Clearly there is no end to this kind of nonsense.

What would it take for the nation to please step away from juvenile utterances of "India First" and other such nonsense, and take note that what is under attack here is not the freedom to have beliefs, or practise religion, but the very basis of what a "nation" stands for?  The Constitution of India does not have a "God" concept in it.  It is a very mature document, and one that we have all, by being citizens of India, by choice or by rude or convenient destiny, subscribe to.  We swear allegiance to this document each time we use Indian currency, apply for a passport, or show our identity to avail a service.  All this exists, because we, the bona fide citizens of this collective called "India", have chosen to define ourselves by writing down (not believing in) what constitutes and defines India.  This very definition is under attack here now that we are opening the doors for revisionist historians armed with useless rhetoric, beliefs, dogma, and an inarticulate sense of being "Indian" that is clearly not recognizable by our Constitution.

It might be very challenging for some of us to even get involved with an issue of this nature, to even invest the thought to understand what is at play here.  Surely, there have been no riots, so this must be a good thing?  By that logic, it must be a good thing that hundreds of our women are getting raped on a daily basis, children kidnapped and sold, and spurious medicines are killing thousands of us.  Heck, no riots!

This is about the whole idea of a "nation" that is being challenged here, and the Allahabad High Court, somehow, right now, has chosen to do what it should have recommended for the three litigants to do in an out of court settlement, and fallen well below applying the law of this land to clearly state the ownership of the piece of land, which was, by the way, never split in its ownership in any time in history!

What do we stand for as a nation?  Do we take our laws seriously?  Do we respect our Constitution?  Do our leaders stand for the oaths they take?  Do we have ANYTHING at all that is sacred to us as citizens of this nation?  If we say "yes" to any of the above, then we must realize that religion is at best a personal matter, and even when it is a matter of community, it still cannot be given enough legitimacy to become a matter of the nation.

If we are about to embark upon a mission to right all the wrongs of Indian history, why don't we agree to agree to smash every structure that stands today to see what lies beneath?  Surely, this would bring ALL truths from our past out in the open, and we can build a new India, maybe even a shining one, from scratch!  Our lawyers would be delighted with millions of lawsuits!  They might actually have to ask for God's help to handle the sheer volume of work!

Please be disturbed.  Be very, very disturbed if you understand the gravity of this new issue - of the judiciary choosing to mete out a settlement instead of the truth it should always pursue.  Who are we going to rely on now to uphold the law?

BSK.

The Next Gen Indian Brain!

Who else but an Indian company can do this, and who else but Indians would be proud of something as dreadful as this?

My brain is....

My brain is.....

Hidden by my tummy!  Okay....

Of course...

Please.  Does it really take so many of our retards to put this industry together?  How about taking an incredible device like the human brain and downgrading it to the level of a dumb chip?  Seriously, how insulting on years of amazing evolution, that we should be proud of finally achieving the greatness of a microchip?  Isn't the human brain behind the making of these chips anyway?

If I remember right, this company is also the one that puts out ads. like, "Oh, see that cow?  It gives milk because its teats were designed by our engineers!"  "See that kid walk like a frog?  Our computers designed the sponge of his shoes!", yap all over the world about how great India and Indians are, but aren't proud enough to proclaim themselves as a "Rupees" 22,000 crore company.  It is always a "$" 5 billion company.  Talk about pride!!!

BSK.

Hindi Diwas, to hell with us.

It's official now. The whole of India is going to be oppressed by a
new demon called the Hindi Diwas, and apparently it stands for "Hindi
Day". It's coming on Sept. 14th, and this can of worms had to be
opened by the Hindi imperialists. From this day on, it can no longer
be hidden behind well meaning phrases of national unity, nor can it be
clouded by any doubts over whether Hindi is going to be imposed on the
whole of India.

It won't take very long for us to have a "Thamizh Dinam", a "Kannada
Dina" and umpteen other equivalents, and why not? To each his
language is important, and I'll be damned if anyone dare stands in the
way of any of these occasions.

There was a debate on television last night about this, on a program
called We The People. There wasn't enough confrontation here, but
there will be everywhere else, thanks to this mindless provocation from the Hindi
imperialists. As always, the most irritating comments came in as
tweets and e mails from people mentioning Hindi as a "national
language", as if such a thing exists. Clearly, ignorance rules.

In the debate was the question - "Do we need a national language to
unite us?". My answer is a categorical NO, and even if it were deemed
necessary, it sure shouldn't be Hindi. I'd prefer Tamil to be honest.
I can already hear the conch shells being blown by the majority.
Sorry, fools, the national bird is the peacock and it sure isn't in
the majority like the crow. Neither is the stray dog going to replace
the Tiger as the national animal, nor is the flower of the parthenium
plant going to replace the lotus. So, the "majority" nonsense isn't
going to work.

There's a reason we take pride in the Peacock, the Tiger and the Lotus
and cringe about the Crow, Stray Dog, and Parthenium. If we have to
choose our "national language" based on beauty, evolutionary status,
and power of communication, there are other languages that would give
Hindi a sound pasting. Out goes the "quality" angle for Hindi.

Now, we can get onto the real debate - do we need some "unifying"
language? Now, why would I want to be unified with the pigs who have
already declared Hindi Diwas as being something of national
importance? I don't want to associate myself with this bunch of
fanatics, ever. It's a dangerous ploy from them that will create
needless suspicions, misgivings, anger, chaos, and very sensitive
distinctions between Hindi and non-Hindi speakers, and is the first
salvo in what will invariably become the most divisive cultural battle
within India. Our enemies must love this!

The assumption that India is somehow not unified already is a
dangerous one. The Indian Rupee has more than ensured that we have
enough of a market size as "India" to keep all of us interested in
staying together as one nation. We have demands for new states, but
all part of the Indian Union. Strong as ever, more officially diverse
now, more chaotic, but also more dynamic, expressive and climbing up
the ladder on the international importance stage. None of this came
about because of Hindi, but a fair bit due to English, thank you very
much.

The laziness surrounding the thought processes that repeatedly lead to
this debate is remarkable. A farmer in Goa has no need to feel
"oneness" with a carpenter in Hyderabad, but I'm sure if these two
meet by circumstance, they will be civil enough towards each other.
With or without language, their realities are fairly different from
one another, and with or without language, their differences are what
will make each interesting to the other. Homogenity will kill India
and everything we stand for.

We are a large country, an ancient country, but a very young nation.
India is still just an idea to us, and nobody really understands it
completely. We as Indians have never had any need to show our
solidarity with one another, except when the very idea of our
existence as a nation has been challenged. We do not have to be
worried about our loosely defined existence either, for it has taken
enormous courage to conceptualize this Indian nation in the first
place and there is nothing to indicate we won't have the courage to
stand by the idea, however flimsy it may eventually prove to be.

By singling out Hindi for preferential treatment, the fools behind
Hindi Diwas have taken a very dangerous, uniquely annoying, and
shallow path of celebratory giddiness that will be received as a
challenge by many of us. Part of the price to pay to live in a
democracy is allowing for the potential for a few fools to disrupt,
distort, and delay our ideas of progress. In this case, there are
sady, a lot of fools, and a lot of us are going to suffer the
consequences of their flippant attitudes towards the non-Hindi Indian.

The descent of the level of this conversation, is now brilliantly
highlighted by this ridiculous Hindi Diwas. So, what can be the harm
in entertaining some low thoughts to mark the decision? What are we
supposed to do on this bloody Hindi Day? Greet each other in Hindi?
Or speak in Hindi the whole day? Sorry vakkalolingala, naanga
Thamizhley dhaan pesuvom. Otha ennada pannuvey, chappathi naaye? Any
lower and it won't be fun. Now, if we had a day for each language in
India, that would mean we would all have to speak that language on
that day, and we can already see a least minimum of twenty five days
of our productivity going down the drain.

What have we accomplished during "The Year of the Girl Child" or "The
Year of The Tiger"? Would Hindi Diwas save our students in Australia
from racial attacks, now that we are going to be miraculously unified?
It is apparent that some people in New Delhi have a lot of spare time
on their hands and have to conjure up some nonsense, ostensibly, for
us all to get excited about. The devil's workshop is working full
time and is flying the Indian flag on its chimney.

The slide in India's national debates these days brings to the fore
not an issue that two sides see differently, but distinctly, very
distinctly, puts on stage two Indias across an enormous divide. One
side knows what the issue is and has the intelligence to deal with it,
and the other is either ill informed, uneducated, or simply incapable
of cohesive thought. It is not hard to see which side of this
volatile divide Hindi Diwas came from.

This cannot be resolved without a massive reprimand to reverse
stupidity. Sorry dear Mother India, this is going to get ugly, real
agli.