Killing in the name of love and honour

An Allahabad High Court bench in a landmark judgement, has strongly criticised the practice of honour killing 8212; where relatives and nei...

An Allahabad High Court bench in a landmark judgement, has strongly criticised the practice of honour killing 8212; where relatives and neighbours lynch boys and girls belonging to different castes just because they want to marry each for love 8212; and instructed the state administration and the police force to safeguard such couples against social hostilities. Justice Markandey Katju the grandson of Nehru8217;s Cabinet colleague Kailash Nath Katju and Rakesh Tiwari observed in their judgement: Love marriages crossing caste and communal barriers are becoming more and more common in our country. Such marriages are a manifestation of the revolutionary changes that are being witnessed by us more and more frequently. The caste system is a great evil and curse in our society and is hindering our national progress. Inter-caste love marriages are therefore in the interest of the nation, and at any event they are not illegal. Such marriages will also put an end to the great evil of dowry. The police in the state are directed that they must prevent any such 8216;honour killings8217; or harassment of people who love each other and want to get married, as that is a blot on our society. The police must also ensure that the persons entering into inter-caste or inter community marriages are not harassed by their relatives or any others and are free to live at any place with whosoever they like. The police in the sate must take strong measures against those who commit such 8216;8216;honour killings8217;8217; and harassment and they must stop this feudal, backward and barbaric practice, if brought to their notice, otherwise the police will be taken to task by this court. One hopes that other states will also take note of this judgement.

Fuel in troubled waters

The draft Petroleum Regulatory Bill, 2002, shows that we haven8217;t learnt much from the mistakes committed in the past while attempting to establish autonomous regulatory institutions. We are about to repeat the blunders that were committed while establishing the Telecom Regulatory Act of India two years ago. The controversies that had centred around the prolonged friction between the Government and TRAI, with the former refusing to give up its powers, will surely be repeated in the case of the Petroleum Bill. The TRAI had no autonomy and got overruled by the Department of Telecommunications at every stage. The same may happen with the Petroleum Bill as the words used in the Telecom Regulatory Act, arming the Centre with immense powers, have been repeated in the draft Petroleum Bill.

For instance, one clause in the Petroleum Bill reads: 8216;8216;The decision of the Central Government, whether a question is of policy or not shall be final.8217;8217; Evidently, the Centre wants to interfere with day to day, routine decisions of the regulator. Ideally, the regulator8217;s job is to ensure a level playing field for all producers and balance the needs of the producer with those of the consumers. It must ensure that the pricing is truly market determined and no cartelisation takes place. This cannot be achieved unless the regulator is totally autonomous.

Besides, the Centre is the owner of public sector companies like Indian Oil Corporation, which is competing with the other private sector players. Anyone would agree that the owner of the one company cannot have any overriding powers to influence the regulators. Finally, Regulatory Board members have a quasi judicial status and therefore must be removed only by a process of scrutiny conducted within the judicial administration. So the powers of the Central Government to summarily sack the Board members must also be substantially tempered.

The best role of all

Shatrughan Sinha8217;s inclusion in the Cabinet indicates the beginning of an era when filmstars are being taken seriously in North Indian politics. Unlike in south India, where filmstars have a history of playing a major role in politics, north India have always considered them at best as cosmetic appendages to politics. No wonder that even a superstar like Amitabh Bachchan could not get a Cabinet berth during Rajiv Gandhi8217;s time. Shatrughan Sinha8217;s appointment as a Cabinet Minister is significant in that sense. A serious politician, he had been ignored several times in the past, and there was speculation that the Bihari babu was miffed and was even leaning towards certain non-BJP parties.

For the record, Shatrughan even met Sonia Gandhi and spent a good time with Laloo Prasad Yadav in Patna, but his inclusion in the Cabinet, that too with a portfolio like Health and Family Planning, put that speculation to rest.

The other Bollywood hero from Punjab, Vinod Khanna, has also been made a minister for state for tourism. Looks like the time is ripe for Bollywood superstars to consider politics as a rewarding alternative. The Congress should also take the cue and try and introduce its share of glamour in politics before the BJP steals the show.