Events surrounding two high
profile deaths in the past week have made me worried about where we are moving
as a society, me included.
Bal Thackerey. Noone can deny
that he was controversial, admired and followed. But in keeping with the common
tradition of not talking ill of someone who just passed away, media kept to its
script. Mumbai also followed the expected routine – long marches, public
display, cousins’ feud and total bandh. All was fine till a girl decided to
post something which she never expected to create such an issue. In my opinion,
what she did was insensitive and silly, but definitely not deserving arrest.
But
what worries me most is the intolerance. Are we ready to take up arms and fight
for everything? Who decides what is right and who is to be punished? The frenzied,
pumped-up mob on the road?
----
Kasab. No controversy here. He
did a heinous crime and deserved the highest punishment possible. But I am not
sure if even the courts and the President can decide to kill someone,
whatsoever the crime is. One half of me says, no one, I repeat, no one has the
authority to extinguish life out of anyone. The other half says, “rarest of
rare criminals” do deserve capital punishment.
I noticed a Gandhian saying Kasab
must be hanged in public (Wah!) , a film director saying that he would love to
see Kasab lynched to death and the public celebrating as if it was Diwali all over again. What is happening to
the country? Are we any different from Afghanistan and Taliban? Kasab is dead,
it is a fact. A quiet satisfaction is the most extreme reaction I can think of.
I just cant imagine celebrating someone’s death, whosoever it may be. And
another thing that worries me is the mindless information floating around, and
our curiosity to digest all those. What did kasab eat for breakfast? What is
his weight when he died? What were his last words? Did he cry? Who prepared his
noose? The media in both countries are having a field day, feeding us shit
which we gleefully eat.
I am afraid, aam admi
has become mob admi. Not good at all.
2 comments:
If i were the only person to ahve authority, i would have shot him dead at the moment i caught him. you can never ever do anything more from a man like him, its all waste of money. Whatever media did after police got his custody was pure crap and i dont wnat to comment on that politician, wooohh, i don't want to get arrested ;-) see, they hae achieved what they wanted, nobody cantalk ill of him. Take a microscope, lets start searching for Secular state India, where you have right to speak
I would either not accept people feeling 'enjoyous' after Kasab's death. The state tried to maintian its democracy by just delaying his final judgement by years but actually dint prove it is... But there are certain crimes which needs to be handled this way one of such wud be the criminals in the delhi gang rape. So, either it is based on the severity of the crime or the severity of the responses and reviews from the ppl. I read a news today about a sentence given by malaysian govt that ' rapists need to be made sterile' which would be good i felt... ;)
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