VOX POPULI
by
AAM ADMI
Issue No. : N 015
Issue Date: 16 Jan 2023
Contents:
1. Vande Bharat Trains Are Like The India Shining Slogan Which Came A Cropper
2. The Governor vs. Chief Minister Confrontation In The States
3. The Shankar Mishra In-Flight Peeing Incident
Vande Bharat Trains Are Like The India Shining Slogan Which Came A Cropper
Prime Minister Modi is on a binge to flag off Vande Bharat trains in different States. After Kolkata, he was in Bangalore and now in Hyderabad to inaugurate the Vande Bharat train to Vizag. All in the span of a few weeks. One would believe that with elections on his mind the Prime Minister wants to be in the news as also signal that he is pushing progress and development. But this seems to be in line with the earlier BJP program promoted by the Late Arun Jaitley of - India Shining. That did not work and in the ensuing elections the BJP lost. This should not happen once again. The reason this is being stated is that the Railways should put out statistics on the occupancy of Vande Bharat trains since the Bengaluru - Mysuru train is running at below 50% occupancy. The travelling public seems to feel that the fares are not competitive and too high compared to luxury buses plying between the two cities. This may be the situation across the country where the Vande Bharat trains are running. The problem with the BJP is that once they are in government for a few years they become very elitist and want to hold their meetings in 5-star hotels and cannot live without air conditioning even for party conclaves held in tents set up in the open. Thus the Vande Bharat trains being equated to air travel is a similar initiative. It will serve the rich but not the Aam Admi who will have to suffer rickety coaches, dirty toilets, unhygienic food and then delays in train schedules because a Vande Bharat or Rajdhani train has to be given priority on the rail track. The Vande Bharat trains when first started on the Mumbai - Ahmedabad route killed some cattle mostly in Gujarat in its initial runs. Thus our Gau Mata Bhakts should recognise the bad omens of the trains being Gau Mauts. The government therefore has to re-orient itself and improve the standards of basic services before they introduce fancy services for which there will be few takers and justifying the economics of which is difficult. Moreover these services take away resources from much needed essential services.
The Governor vs. Chief Minister Confrontation In The States
The Governors of Tamil Nadu & Delhi are yet again at loggerheads with their respective Chief Ministers. While R N Ravi in Tamil Nadu seems to be disregarding all conventions that are required to be followed by the Governor like in the instance of delivering a speech in line with the government’s draft which is supposed to have been pre-approved by him and then walking out of a convened Assembly session. In another instance he has gone and suggested that Tamil Nadu's name be changed to Tamizhagam and even used it in the Governor's invitation for the Pongal function. Now this is an overreach. No one person can decide the State's name even if he is the Governor. It has to come from the people and get approved by the State Legislature and also the Centre. Thus one would be compelled to say that Governor Ravi does not know what he is doing. In a similar manner at Delhi, the Lt Governor does not give quickly an appointment to the Chief Minister for a meeting with him. How will matters of State progress or get decided if the two most important persons in the State do not meet? There was also a news report a few days ago that said that the Delhi Lt Governor had refused permission for some teachers who had been sponsored for training to Finland. Then almost a day later there was a denial from the Lt Governor that he had not refused this program. Thus it is felt that senior and educated people holding high office should not fight like children. Governors should understand that they hold a titular position while the Chief Ministers are elected representatives of the people and thus should get precedence on matters unless they are found to be deliberately flouting government or Constitutional guidelines.
The Shankar Mishra In-Flight Peeing Incident
The Shankar Mishra peeing episode on a lady senior citizen on an Air India flight is getting curiouser and curiouser. What happened was unfortunate for the lady who was just returning from New York and this sad incident occurs for no fault of hers, catapulting her in an instant into a media circus. She must be cursing the day she boarded the flight. She has become the focus of attention not only within her family and social circle but also the larger public. It is a matter of grace that her name has not been released which would have added to her embarrassment and discomfort. Not only that Shankar Mishra's family has been contacting her to add to her miseries.
Her tormentor, one needs to call Shankar Mishra just that, had firstly no business to drink to excess since a person needs to be clearly aware of his capacity to hold liquor. This too when he is drinking on a flight which is a relatively public place and not in the privacy of his home. To keep changing his story as it has appeared in the newspapers that he admitted to having pee'd on the lady first, apologised to her while weeping and pleading her to think about his family, as reported of a wife and daughter. Offering to settle the case by requesting the Air India crew to set up a meeting with the victim and also paying up the victim's air fare, as said in the newspapers. Mishra is also understood to have said that what he did was revolting but it is not amounting to outraging the modesty of the woman. These acts and statements are clear admissions of guilt. Not only that the perpetrator of an offence cannot comment on what charges should be brought against him. Depending on the crime, the law will set out the charges against the accused as per established jurisprudence. After doing all this, Mishra has the temerity to claim that after having a few drinks on the flight and getting drunk, he does not remember anything and what he did after the incident as recounted earlier was out of the pressure of anticipated consequences of his actions. He has now gone beyond this and said that he never pee'd on the lady and she must have pee'd herself. Now in such matters he should limit comment only as to his actions and not hypothesise on the action of the victim. This is first implied denial followed by outright denial which is a shame, further compounded by his clear intent to obfuscate the issue. The next thing that Shankar Mishra and his lawyer would possibly claim is that since the incident happened in flight, the law of the country that the plane was overflying at that time would apply! That the man is completely confused is clearly established and that he is not even thinking of his and his family position in the social circle and society that he moves in. How will his daughter, if she is school-going, show her face to her classmates in school? How will his wife, if she is working, show her face at her workplace? The first thing that Shankar Mishra should have done is to cover his face and not have his full photos appearing in newspapers. The second thing is to take this issue off the media and not feed the gossip mills as is being done now. What purpose Shankar Mishra is pursuing is completely baffling and that too after having held a senior position in a large US Co.
If you analyse this incident the larger blame is with the airline, Air India. Immediately the incident happened they should have put it under wraps. Initially they should have been sympathetic to the victim, crew break or no break, seat available or not, they with the pilot, the leader of the crew, should have provided relief to the lady senior citizen. Isolated her from Shankar Mishra and refused his overtures to have a meeting with the victim clearly stating that the law would apply and that he needs to wait for that. This would have protected the country's name and that of the Indian flyers who are right now on social media carrying the tag of being the worst flyers. Air India has therefore failed miserably in their handling of this incident. The old Air India work ethic seems to be prevailing and the Tata culture does not seem to have permeated into the Air India staff as yet.
As for resolving this issue it is best that Shankar Mishra keeps shut and takes his punishment quietly and as dictated by law and as for Air India the de-rostering of the crew is an over-reaction. They had nothing directly to do with the incident and it was only their handling of it after occurrence in which they are at fault and therefore just a warning would have sufficed.
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If you have any issues with the contents of this blog, you can respond to:
S Kamat
Mob: 0 7218698906
Email: kamatsrinivas@hotmail.com
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