VOX POPULI
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi
Issue: 254 Date: 29.10.2018
THERE WAS NO ISSUE OF VOX POPULI DATED 22.10.18 SINCE WE WERE AWAY TO KOLKATA FOR THE DURGA PUJA.
Contents:
1. The India #meToo Movement Should Be Allowed To Die A Slow Death
2. Another Democratic Institution, The CBI Falls
3. Nirmala Sitharaman Should 'Lead' The Nation On The Rafael Issue By Putting Out
A White Paper On It
The India #meToo Movement Should Be Allowed To Die A Slow Death
The time honoured maxim of jurisprudence that an accused is to be considered not guilty until he/she is proven guilty seems to have been turned on its head when you assess the #meToo movement whether it is in Hollywood and the Western countries or in its '#meToo' version in Bollywood and India. Based on a woman's complaint professional bodies and corporate entities seem to be taking cognisance of the complaint and are initiating action to debar and/or suspend those involved. The principle of natural justice wherein the accused needs to be heard is also given the go-by. Most of these complaints of sexual harassment, molestation and/or rape pertain almost to 10, 15 or even 20 years ago. There may not even be a shred of evidence to support the victim's case if it all it comes to court but the media and also the government seems to recognise these slanderous allegations as a fit case for action. Emboldened by such approaches there are many women coming forward with their #meToo stories, some concocted, some maybe true but the reading of the tales is a journey through soft porn. Anyone writing against these women are termed patriarchal or paternalistic and vilified. Consider the case of the accused in these cases who are established in their professions to various degrees and in the cases of some who are considered as leaders in their field and society at large. What are they to do when such accusations surface? It is difficult for them to address the media since the trend seems to be in favour of the accuser and the tendency is to get as much of the salacious details as possible. Moreover the incidents more than 10 years old have been lost in the passage of time. Where people cannot remember what happened yesterday, one wonders what credence should be given to incidents more than 10 years old. There is also the aspect of consensus in the incidents where if the act is between two consenting adults then there is no issue at all. So the only option for the accused is to take the legal route for redress as has been done in 2 of the more celebrated cases in this India #meToo movement. Now let us look at the other side of the coin, that of the accuser. These women for the furtherance of their careers or professions thought it fit to do whatever is required to get ahead, which particularly applies to the entertainment industry, and now looking back want to take revenge against those who they feel had slighted them or insulted them. Their actions have therefore nothing to with women's rights at large but remain individual grouses. Again women talking about about the paternalistic attitude of men are actually doing a disservice to the female gender and the women's rights movement by exposing their weakness. The #meToo movement in that sense is putting back the women's rights movement by decades and all because of some aberrated and disoriented women. Another insight that the #meToo movement has thrown up is that the media and society at large are sympathetic to women's causes which is a good thing and it is time that women use this goodwill to further their position in our society and not waste this on frivolous and demeaning personal agendas. Concluding, the #meToo movement should be taken off the public radar and allowed to die its slow death in the law courts.
Another Democratic Institution, The CBI Falls
This government has with great consistency undermined the independence and functioning of the CBI as an institution. By trying to leverage and have its own men in position so that any investigations are moderated and guided to their advantage the working of the CBI has been compromised. Earlier the Supreme Court had called the CBI a 'caged parrot' but presently the analogy to a 'puppy on a leash' seems to be more apt with the two puppies in the current scenario barking at each other to seek positional and territorial advantage. The sad part is that the blame game between the two top officers of the CBI despite being played out in the public arena for months, the government refused to take cognisance of the issue and act in the matter. And when it did, in the scenario of a 'bull in a china shop' it went in for a midnight coup attracting widespread criticism of the action. For all its claims of being a decisive government, this incident with the CBI shows that the Narendra Modi led government seems to be overstretched in its ability to perform and prevarication in decision making is the order of the day. As for undermining the democratic institutions in the country, it started with the RBI running its course through the CEC, CVC, CIC and even the Supreme Court in the last few years. At this rate on the altar of the 'Gujarat model' of development and centralised decision making, Indian democracy is being eroded if not uprooted from its roots. This does not augur well for the country. What more can you expect when lumpen elements occupy the seats of governance whose perspectives are more to do with protecting themselves and surrounding themselves with a coterie of yes-men withnary a concern for the welfare of the people.
Nirmala Sitharaman Should 'Lead' The Nation On The Rafael Issue
By Putting Out A White Paper On It
Our Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman seems to be hand over fist into an acute attack of foot-in-the-mouth disease. Her last comment as reported in the papers is that the Congress and Rahul Gandhi are 'misleading' the nation in the Rafael deal. Now if the people in the know and who have all the access to the information on the deal prefer to act coy and obtuse about it, and in that sense refuse to take the 'lead' on the issue, is it not but natural that their opponents should 'mislead' the nation and try to seek political advantage from it. It is time therefore that the Defence Minister and her government come clean on the Rafael deal and put out a White Paper on how a 126 aircraft deal was reduced to 36 whatever compelling circumstances there may have been, whether proper procedures were followed in the decision making of this reduced need and the 'on-runway' price per plane decided originally and in the revised fly-away or fully built up new requirement of 36 planes. There is nothing confidential in this price and matters of national security are in no way compromised since no technical parameters are divulged including the weaponry on board which will come with each plane. Thus Nirmala Sitharaman without beating about the bush should put out a White Paper and 'lead' the nation on the Rafael issue.
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