A Tale of two men

Asumal Sirumalani and Vijay Jadhav, both accused of the most heinous of crimes, while Vijay Jadhav raped a lady in Mumbai Asumal Sirumalani raped a child of sixteen in Jodhpur, the similarity of the both the cases ends right there.

In the case of Vijay Jadhav and his other accomplices, the entire Mumbai police force was on the hunt for him. The entire police machinery was put on the job of tracing and apprehending the culprits, and the 5 culprits were arrested in 50 hours. The outrage against this crime resonated across the country right from candle light vigils and demonstrations in the hinterland to the hallowed portals of the Parliament house, where the leader of the opposition Sushma Swaraj thundered, “nothing less death for the rapists”. And no less a person than the Home Minister made a suo moto statement in the Lok Sabha that the Maharashtra government was in the process of appointing a special public prosecutor and setting up a fast track court to expedite trial.

All this happened on the 22^nd of August, a few days previously a child of sixteen was raped by Asumal Sirumalani, a 72 year old man. The girl and her family filed a complaint with the police in UP and the case was registered on the 21^st of August. Since then the girl and her family have threatened, the child’s character assassinated and she has been labeled both mentally unstable and/or a conspirator by the supporters of Asumal Sirumalani, when these did not work one of them also tried to buy off the silence of the girl and her family. All this while the culprit travels across the country at will. But, what is surprising is the eerie silence of the powers that be and voluntary laxity on the part of law enforcement agencies in taking action. When the police finally nerved itself to summon the culprit, it waited for over 8 hours as Asumal Sirumalani was occupied elsewhere, would the same police have waited for 10 minutes for Vijay Jadhav to finish his tasks before accompanying them to the police station. Not only this, he has been given the leeway by way of being asked to appear for questioning before the 30^th of August, giving him ample time to tamper with the case and evidence and build his defense.  But the most worrisome is the eerie silence from the people in power on this heinous of crimes, let alone speaking out against it public figures instead of rallying behind the hapless girl have closed their eyes, ears and sense of justice and humanity to silently watch while this (un)godly man and his supporters go about town, whipping up communal passions to cover his heinous deed. And what of the Government, “the Chief Minister the police is investigating the case.” Did he or anyone else accord the same leeway to Vijay Jadhav and his accomplices they were tried, convicted and sentenced as soon as it was known who the culprits are. Yet, the same Government machinery and the media seems to be handling this fiend with kid gloves and according him the highest respect, in the eyes of the law he should have been arrested on the 21^st of August itself as soon as the FIR was registered against him and the warrant for his immediate arrest made.

The reason why Asumal Sirumalani is being accorded such privileges is because his other name happens to be Asaram Bapu, who many rever as a god man, let alone the fact that by this vile deed he has shown himself to be devil incarnate. Until men like Asumal Sirumalani are put on fast track trail and handed the death sentence, the system will continue to nurture fiends like Kanda, Asumal and Ram Singh. If the state and central governments do not the guts to have this man arrested then it is time for the President, Pranab Mukherjee to step in and fulfill the oath he took, “to preserve, protect and preserve the dignity of the Nation and its People.” As the Nation and its citizens cry out for justice like at no other time in its history.

Prayers for Aam Aadmi, Windfall for the Rajas

“I seek the blessings of Lord Indra to bestow on us timely and bountiful monsoons, I would pray to Goddess Lakshmi as well.”
With these words, India’s Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee, wiped his hands off the fate of the Indian middle class, and went on to bestow his and the Government’s largesse on the new age rajas and rani’s of India.
The UPA government’s budget for 2011 -2012 has dealt the final blow to the already bleeding with high prices and inflation middle class. The expectations of this huge but largely overlooked population of the country was neither high nor unaddresable, its expectations from the budget were simple, address the issue of hoarding and price stability, and a small measure of relief in the taxation structure by making the direct taxes more realistic and in tune with the times. The Finance Minister has turned a Nelson’s eye and ear to the pleas and expectations of the Indian Middle Class. Forget lessening their burden, he has only added to their woes by levying a tax on Medical care!!
The middle class, that is fighting to hold on its last shards of dignity now has to protect itself from sickness and ill health, for to fall sick and be admitted to a hospital will mean he will now have to sell his soul to pay for the current exorbitant cost of medical care plus the tax on healthcare. The Finance Ministers gift for the middle class!!!
Forget, the relief the Finance Minister has made the burden of the common Man, heavier still, a whopping 130 items of every use like tooth powder, spectacles, packaged foods etc have been taxed. Not only this, the new tax structure has impacted the already reaching the sky cost of education by making stationery more expensive.
But, all is not lost for the common man, in case he/she survives the strain of meeting ends meet and can afford the increased cost of healthcare, to reach the age of 60, he/she will get an IT exemption upto Rs 2.50 lakh. And if they can manage to stretch a little longer to reach the ripe old age of 80 years, he/she will get an IT exemption of 5 Lakhs!!! Needless to say that it is the monied class, which is above the daily fight for survival like the middle class, that can aspire to live upto 80 years and enjoy the Finance Minister’s largesse.
And what of the monied class, the Rajas and Rani’s of the emerging India, the Finance Minister has filled their stockings with gold, silver and precious stones. Not only have these become less expensive but the Finance Minister has given them more moolah to splurge on these luxuries, by reducing the surcharge on domestic companies by 2.5 %.
As for the celluloid kings, the Chopra’s, Johar’s, Bhatt’s etc. the Finance Minister has bestowed a windfall on them by exempting the countervailing duty (CVD) on jumbo rolls of cinematograph films of 400 feet and 1000 feet.
One needs to applaud the Finance Minister who has with his foresight and vision taken another step towards making India an attractive investment destination for the FII’s. So what, if in doing so he has sacrificed the interests of the common man. After all, history is made of tales of sacrifice and valour. Only in India’s case it is the valour of the Middle Class to carry on against all odds and its determination not to succumb to mass depression no matter what blows the political and administrative class rains on its battered backs, that is to be appreciated.

by Neera Kishore

courtesy Hindi Milap