No street justice
Anna Hazares movement against corruption undeniably galvanised the nation against corruption. The main reasons were deep public revulsion against pervasive corruption,the belief that the movement was non-political and Hazare was a moral crusader. Today the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement is admittedly political. Its methodology is to level grave allegations of corruption in public against public functionaries and public figures,assume the infallibility of these allegations,convert presumption of innocence into presumption of guilt and on that premise vociferously demand resignations and even arrest of the minister as in the case of Salman Khurshid and his wife Louise. Salman Khurshid at a press conference produced documents and materials to rebut the allegations. Kejriwal rejoined by producing more material. The same pattern was followed in the case of BJP President Nitin Gadkari and will probably be adopted in other cases. This is totally unacceptable.
The intent of IACelimination of corruptionis commendable. But laudable ends cannot be achieved by illegitimate means. That was the constant message of the Father of the Nation. And that is also a cardinal principle underlying democratic systems wedded to the Rule of Law.
Brave Malala
the murderous attack on Malala Yousufzai,a fourteen-year-old Pakistani girl by the Taliban was utterly despicable. More shocking is the threat by the outfit that it will shoot the 14-year- old again if she survives. Malalas only sin was her desire for education. The response to the attack on Malala was heartening. Pakistan government has conferred on her a gallantry award,Christians in Pakistan prayed for her recovery and there was global support for her irrespective of race,religion or nationality. It is imperative that the Pakistan authorities ensure Malalas safety after she,insha allah,recovers,and furthermore take effective steps to eliminate these Taliban savages who strike with impunity in the name of religion and give a bad name both to Islam and Pakistan.
Soothing strains of jazz
Jazz aficionados in Delhi will relish jazz sounds from a variety of bands which will be performing at the FICCI in the last week of October as part of Capital Jazzs annual Utsav in Delhi. The performing bands are from Poland,Germany,Italy,Norway,Czech Republic and of course from India which will be represented by the Konark Reddy group. A star performer will be Froy Aagre,Norwegian lady saxophonist. The music will range from modern and fusion to mainstream. Musicians from different countries may have problems communicating with one another in English. But there will be no difficulty in communicating in the universal language of jazz. Jazz has a soothing effect on frayed tempers and highly charged nerves. Arvind Kejriwal and his indignant team as also the victims of the ferocious offensive by India Against Corruption may well benefit from the cool sounds of jazz. And hopefully that may also be conducive to civilised political discourse.
