Opinion Honour killing?
Intentional killing of a person for marrying within the same gotra or outside ones caste or community is plain murder.
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Intentional killing of a person for marrying within the same gotra or outside ones caste or community is plain murder. When this dastardly deed is called honour killinga cruel misnomerI sigh with the poet that,The purity of language is defiled. The meanings have turned traitor in the night.
The Chief Minister of Haryana is reported to have said that customs and practices are above the law and the Constitution. That is pure constitutional heresy as will be apparent from a bare reading of Article 13(1)(3)(a) of the Constitution under which any custom or practice or usage which is violative of a fundamental right is illegal and null and void. That apart,such practices are repugnant to ones elementary sense of fairness. For example,there is the practice of infanticide which is restored to in certain communities. Surely,the murder of an infant is not above the law and can be prohibited and penalised. Take the phenomena of sati,which was widespread in some parts of our country and was sought to be justified on the ground of religious custom. Parliament considered this practice as revolting to the feelings of human nature and violative of a womans fundamental right to life and dignity. It enacted a legislation penalising the practice of sati,whose constitutionality has been upheld by our Supreme Court.
The fact that honour killing is a crime punishable under one or more provisions of the IPC is not a valid argument against the enactment of a special law to extirpate this practice as in the case of sati. We need a specific law criminalising this evil practice,providing stiff penalties and also making the offence non-bailable. States must act firmly and promptly ignoring electoral and political considerations.
Autobiographies & memoirs
Recently,there has been a deluge of autobiographies and memoirs by eminent lawyers,former Speaker of the Lok Sabha and others. They make interesting reading,yet,lack the element of frankness and disclosure of events or affairs which might dent the image of the autobiographer. An understandable tendency of an autobiographer is to selectively conceal rather than courageously reveal. But there are exceptions. At 95,Khushwant Singh in Absolute Khushwant with Humra Quraishi bares it all. His visit to a brothel in Bombay,his rocky marital relationship and his sexual escapades and fantasies. At his age and present stage,Khushwant does not care a damn about what people would think of him. Tony Blair,former Prime Minister of UK,in his memoirs,A Journey,surpasses all and tells it all. He admits he hit the bottle to help him cope with the pressures of life in No.10,describes the Queen as stuck up,and uninhibitedly tells us that on the night of 12 May 1994 I needed that love that Cherie gave me,selfishly. I devoured it to give me strength. I was an animal following my instinct. One wonders whether these revelations are motivated by Blairs belief in the virtue of frankness or with a view to achieve record sales of his book whose proceeds are supposed to be handed over to the Royal British Legion. Perhaps an act of expiation for the reckless and illegal invasion of Iraq and loss of several British lives.
Signature tune for CWG
Multitude of ills,including Mother Natures fury,plague the Commonwealth Games. There are doping scandals,scams stinking of corruption,incompetence,negligence et al. These should be looked into and dealt with severely at the appropriate time. Today,our single objective should be to ensure success of the Games and thereby maintain the image of our country. The media is undoubtedly entitled to expose the various acts of commission and omission but may abstain from sensationalism and creating a demoralising atmosphere of defeatism. Our signature tune at present must be Yes,it can be done and it shall be done. Mohsin Menezes,one of Indias finest jazz musicians,as a national service may well compose a rousing lyric on that theme to boost up our morale. Capital Jazz will lend its wholehearted support.
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