The Buck stops here...(?)

A great day for Freedom.

The opening line is about a Pink Floyd song and the title of this blog is the namesake of a talk show by Barkha Dutt this evening. The question mark is what is in my head.

Sanjay Dutt was barred by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India from contesting the upcoming elections, citing his ignoble tryst with the Law. He is being made an example of- according to interpretations by all and sundry in the media.

Now, I'm far far away from being a Sanjay Dutt fan. But I do not understand how and why he does not get to contest an election just because he illegally bought an AK47 from the underworld (but did not use it, thankfully). How come certain people with more heinous crimes to their name, get away- like the Babri Masjid demolishers and those involved in the Godhra genocide?

Here are TWO examplar situations- not very old- whose perpetrators are well known and are thus qualified enough to be made examples out of.

In the case of Dutt, the Law went the whole hog- digging up 16- year old dirt to make an example out of one man's momentary lapse of reason. Which is a good thing...

...It shows that the Will and Capability is there in our system to dig deep and come up trumps to enable a positive verdict. So why the hell can't they do it to the real villans? Our lawyers, judges and most policemen- largely- are people of strong moral and ethical character and integrity- who will not buckle under pressure.

So why the double standards? Is it because Dutt is a celebrity, and this should seen as symptomatic of the power struggles for the arc lights between celebrities and politicians? Or is it that the two examples of Babri Masjid and Godhra are too obvious to make note of, and that perhaps nowadays it is stylish to be not-so-obvious?

Criminals ask for Presidential Pardon after a Supreme Court verdict, which, in corollary means the President can question the wisdom of Supreme Court verdicts and whether such mild 'example-making' will really get the country anywhere. Our President really could...if she would.

I would even go ahead and recommend the name of rabble rousers like the MNS- as a worthy example who can be made an example out of. Thankfully the MNS hasn't been "recognised" by the Election Commission, but that doesn't prevent them from contesting the elections and enabling coalitions. So is there a point in such verdicts?

Why can't wannabe boys stepping out from thier political bloodlines be made an example out of? We have a recent example of a Nobody who has N-O-T-H-I-N-G to his credentials, going ahead and making spiteful, shameful remarks abouts Muslims and having the balls to say that the tapes are doctored!!

What is heart rending is the fact the local representatives of these political outfits (your friendly neighbourhood shakha pramukh for e.g.), actually do good work at the local level like addressing community grievances, enabling things for local people etc. So we vote for them because we like them as our representatives and for the work they do. But in the hierarchy of things, these representatives actually end up propping the bigots and religious fanatics . So frustrating!!

Is it not our right to have an election process where educated people have a say in who sits on the top rung? The operative word here being educated.

What is more sinful ?...buying an AK47 from the underworld? or instigating a nationwide communal riot by demolishing a mosque which till that time, no one except history buffs really noticed? or permitting the rape and killing of the members of a minority community?

The joke -as always, in such cases- is on the Judiciary. The ones who got away- and we know them- are laughing their heads off.

Today was a great day for Freedom. Sadly it got wasted.