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08 OPINION
Where’s our shadow PM?
THE TRIBUNE established in 1881
A prime ministerial candidate ought to head the organisation or lead the party in Parliament
At the crossroads
Cong impasse far from over even as it needs a boost
NOUS INDICA
F
OR the first time after he quit as the Congress president on May
25, Rahul Gandhi met chief ministers of the five Congress-ruled RAJESH RAMACHANDRAN
states on Monday but the roadmap to have emerged out of it still
R
remains unclear. Predictably, the Congress CMs asked him to recon- AHUL GANDHI must be a
sider his decision to step down as the party president and discussed terribly unhappy man. It is
what went wrong in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh not easy to suffer unsolicit-
where the Congress triumphed in state polls last year, but there is no ed advice from all around
indication that Rahul Gandhi is willing to change his mind. after a debacle, that too from people
The anguish and sense of responsibility that Rahul has shown in who have never fought the good
deciding to step aside and prod the party to look for an alternative to steer fight. Well, he doesn't need to be told
it at a time when the BJP seems to be riding the crest should be seen in what to do. But the voters, the partic-
perspective, but it remains unstated in which direction he wants the par- ipants of this great democracy, have
every right to know where the Con-
ty to head. Office-bearers have put in their papers in ‘honour and
gress party is headed. His actions
respect’ of Rahul Gandhi and a spate of resignations has taken place to
express solidarity and give him a chance to reorganise the party. The Con-
give no hint as to what he is up to.
And that is no way to do politics at the
gress has a precedent when under the Kamaraj Plan, senior leaders were highest level. What does his resigna-
expected to resign and devote their energy to inject vigour into the party. tion from the post of Congress presi-
But it also attracted criticism for it was felt that the move was aimed at sti- dent mean? Is it merely an admission
fling criticism of Nehru. The parallel ends here. The Congress is not in of defeat or a larger course correction
power and Rahul Gandhi is not yet the PM. But the aim of rejuvenating for the organisation, implying that it
the party cannot be denied with the saffron surge resulting in his defeat needs a better leader? Even today's
in the family pocket borough of Amethi, an early indication of which headlines scream at us with a lot of
made him contest from the relatively safe seat of Wayanad in Kerala. ambiguity about the five Congress
Rahul's decision will serve to buttress the claims of furthering inner par- chief ministers beseeching Rahul to
ty democracy but he has to remember two things. First, even Indira make a U-turn and to remain the Con-
gress President.
Gandhi tasted defeat from Rae Bareilly in the Janata wave of 1977 and
His second important action after
secondly, the example of Manmohan Singh, who despite being the PM,
his resignation was a bigger let-
was seen to have played second fiddle to party president Sonia Gandhi. down. In our parliamentary democ-
Indeed, Congressmen are unanimous when it comes to reposing trust in racy, the Leader of the Opposition is
the Nehru-Gandhi family. It seems unlikely, therefore, that an alternative the voice of the voiceless. The Oppo-
to Rahul will be able to break away from this tradition. sition makes parliament relevant.
Even in the early years of our young
Republic, when the Congress-led
governments refused to accord the
status of the Leader of the Opposi-
Peril on roads tion to the head of the single largest
party in Opposition, AK Gopalan,
the leader of the Communist Party
Spate of fatal bus accidents has no impact of India, remained a towering fig-
ure, who took on Prime Minister
U
NFORTUNATELY, the spate of fatal road accidents that come at Nehru and the government. The
the cost of life and limb has shown hardly any sign of improve- position of the leader of the party in
ment in the country. After the initial shock expressed — as at the Lok Sabha is not something that
two buses tragically rolling down the hills, one in Kishtwar and another in could be passed on to a retainer.
Shimla, on Monday — and some compensation announced for the victims Last time in 2014, Rahul Gandhi
or their kin, the general tendency is to forget and move on till another set refused to take up the responsibility
of unfortunate road users reaches homes in coffins. In a new undesirable of leading his party in Parliament;
trend, a mob took out its frustration by beating up a man present in the
ill-fated Shimla school bus that claimed the lives of two young girls.
Being with yourself...and in love
Rather, such mishaps should spur the stakeholders — the drivers, the pas-
sengers, even pedestrians, road safety officials as well as the government
agencies concerned — to concentrate on ensuring the making and
enforcement of rules so that the rate of accidents is brought down.
The hazard is multi-pronged. An innocent commuter’s life is vul- Anirudh Dhanda
nerable to injury or death from all possible quarters: it could be an
H
illiterate driver who is unaware of traffic rules or one with a sense of ow I wish I have a farm with
entitlement violating the law with impunity. Another time, it could be sprawling greenery and
a potholed or unlit or badly engineered road. Then, there are umpteen some cheerful animals…
cases of rash or drunk driving; even passengers don’t realise the dan- cows, buffaloes and their young
ger as they jostle to find a foothold in overloaded vehicles. The use of ones whom I can distinguish by
mobile phone by drivers is fast joining the race to top the list of major their looks and they respond to
causes of accidents; we think nothing of stray animals perilously pop- being called by their names, chew-
ing the cud with satisfaction and
ulating our roads. Only stricter rules and their implementation will
mirth on their faces. And there go a
lead to a U-turn of the notorious safety standards of Indian roads.
couple of fawns, joyously jumping
However, the government seems to be more interested in appeasing and playing in the open — fearless,
a certain section as it recently mooted an amendment in the Motor Vehi- free, agile and happy. And dogs
cles Act that is geared towards disaster. In the name of boosting employ- laze on the grass, attentive to
ment, it has decided to do away with the eligibility criterion of having every little sound and eager to
attended class VIII for transport vehicle drivers. Haryana, too, has respond to a call from me. One of
sought the education qualification waiver for drivers in Mewat. them crawls to put its chin on my
knee. I tenderly move my fingers
on its head and ears. The glow of
❝ ❞
thought for the day
The world does not belong to leaders. The world
Keep core values alive
belongs to all humanity. — Dalai Lama Refer to 'Dodging US sermons' (July
2). Observations made by US Secre-
tary of State Mike Pompeo and for-
mer President Barack Obama regard-
on this day...50 years ago ing the contraction of religious
freedom and space to the minorities
and frequent lynching of their mem-
bers may not be appreciated by the
Indian government that may view it
as unwarranted interference by the
Ambala,Thursday, July 3, 1969
US in the internal affairs of the coun-
try. But the observations are not out
SACHAR FORMULA SCRAPPED of context. When this era of globaliza-
CHANDIGARH, July 2-The Punjab Cabinet today decided to supersede the tion, malnutrition, hunger, poverty,
Sachar Formula and the PEPSU Formula with the three-language formula environmental pollution, famine,
which will apply to 8,000 Government schools in the State with immediate effect. floods and wars invites the concern
Under the decision, Punjabi would be the first compulsory language and the and worry of almost all countries, why
medium of instruction at all stages in Government schools. Hindi would be the can't religious intolerance, bigotry
second compulsory language from the fourth class, while English would be the and persecution be a matter to be
third compulsory language from the sixth class. addressed and criticised, even if it
An official spokesman told reporters that the issue of medium of instruction in comes from the US? Keeping the cen-
the privately-run primary and other schools of the State, over which there are turies-old core Indian values of toler-
sharp differences between the Akali Dal and the Jan Sangh (the two ruling ance and accommodation alive and
parties in Punjab), did not come up for consideration of the Cabinet. pulsating will keep us proud of our
cultural heritage.
4 UAR MIGs Downed, Claims Israel CHAMAN ARORA, FEROZEPUR CITY
TEL AVIV, July 2 (AP & AFP)-Isreali lest should down four Soviet-built MIG-21
fighters in a dogfight over the Gulf of Suez today, the Army announced. The
Army said the Israeli aircraft encountered the MIGs while on patrol. Care and concern
The Israeli jets pursued the MIGs and four of the Egyptian planes were seen to APROPOS, ‘Dodging US sermons’
fall in Egyptian territory, the Army announcement said. The Israelis now claim by Vivek Katju, India's much glori-
to have shot down 25 Egyptian warplanes since the 1967 war. The Israelis claimed fied and talked about secular cre-
they shot down two MIG-21s on June 26 and downed another two days before. In dentials is under a planned strate-
all, they now claim to have downed 13 of the Soviet-made fighters. The Israelis gic threat. The sole agenda of the
confirmed yesterday that some of their jets flew over Cairo last June 17 in an BJP, the unofficial political wing of
audacious move that was followed the firing of the UAR Air Chief.
Letters to the Editor, typed in double space, should not exceed the 200-word limit. These should be cogently written and can be sent by e-mail to: Letters@tribunemail.com
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TRANSFORMATIONAL POLITICS? It is an opportunity to rebuild a party and be an
effective parliamentarian, not just ride a three-month wave in 2024.
He owes it to the crores of voters of the Congress to
explain what his party’s destiny is.
instead he anointed Mallikarjun
Kharge as head of the Congress par-
ty in Lok Sabha. Kharge could not
retain his seat this time, so a five-
time MP and a Congress strongman
from Bahrampur in West Bengal —
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury — sud-
denly became the lucky substitute.
The LoP is the shadow Prime Minis-
ter. Technically, the Congress with just
52 seats may not qualify for that posi-
tion, but for all practical purposes, the
leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha is
indeed now the leader of the Opposi-
tion, who has a big role to play in the
appointment of the chiefs of CBI, CVC,
CIC and Lokpal, even as an invitee. The
senior most and the best parliamentari-
ans ought to adorn this position. By ask-
ing Chowdhury, a virtual nobody out-
side Bengal, to stand in for him, Rahul
is shirking his responsibility and limit-
ing his role to that of a performer instead
of becoming a patient planner, guide,
philosopher and mentor of his party.
Forget about the ennui of the
unending meetings during the ses-
sions, Rahul by nominating Chowd-
hury is exhibiting a certain disdain
for the institution of Parliament. The
prime ministerial candidate ought to
lead the party’s charge in Lok Sabha.
love permeates the whole.
I get up and gingerly walk the nar-
row pebbled pathway to my small
dwelling amidst the crawling and
climbing vines, their delicate nascent
tendrils knocking at my window
panes. The place is drenched in a
heady mix of fragrance of flowers.
There are four mango trees on my
left. Many other fruit-bearing trees
dot the boundary and the grapevines
flow freely from one to the other. The
fruit primarily belongs to the birds
and squirrels. It is a joy watching
them taste the fruit and throw it down
half eaten, if not to their liking. Their
chirping and elated calls form a dif-
ferent musical composition.
I open the door and can smell home.
My room is on the extreme left with a
letters to the editor
the RSS, is to create a 'Hindu Rash-
tra', and it is trying to inch towards
this goal. The BJP is attached to the
RSS by an umbilical cord and they
are inseparable. The success story
at the hustings should be seen in
this light. US Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo and earlier President
Barack Obama warned the present
dispensation not to tinker with the
existing social fabric which may
prove to be disadvantageous for the
minorities. Encouraging hard-core
Hindu activists may send a wrong
signal to the discerning mind.
Unless the RSS and the BJP come
forward to show concern and care
towards the minorities, we shall be
losing face at international forums
and in the Muslim world.
BM SINGH, AMRITSAR
Let history judge Nehru
Reference to ‘Article 370 temporary:
Shah’ (June 28); during the 2019 Lok
Sabha election campaign, the BJP
president had promised that if the
NDA returns to power, Article 370 and
35A will be done away. But even after
the massive mandate, he seems to be
wriggling out of his promise of scrap-
ping Article 370 and has started call-
ing it as temporary. Probably, Shah is
again eying an alliance with the PDP
that under Mehbooba Mufti had
CHANDIGARH | WEDNESDAY | 3 JULY 2019
Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao
became leaders of Opposition after
they demitted the office of the Prime
Minister. AB Vajpayee was LoP before
he became Prime Minister and so was
Manmohan Singh, the leader of the
Opposition in Rajya Sabha before his
party chose him to become the Prime
Minister. Sonia Gandhi too was LoP
for five years. YB Chavan, Jagjivan
Ram, Sharad Pawar, LK Advani and
Sushma Swaraj were all stalwarts,
who occupied this position. Kharge or
Chowdhury cannot be counted
among them, though their light-
weight status seems to be their quali-
fication to lead their party in the Lok
Sabha. If that is so, this attitude
towards our democratic traditions
smacks of insecurity.
Largely, there are three aspects of
activism that determine a political
career. One, grassroots level transfor-
mational politics of nurturing a con-
stituency — electoral and ideological;
some might even add caste and com-
munity also while defining con-
stituencies. Two, an ability to create
an organisation as a theoretician or a
practitioner setting up smaller units
to build them into a large structure —
there could be demagogues and shy
huge window facing the west. From
here, I watch the slow slide of the
dying sun. It makes my heart twinge.
The day's job is finished and now is
the time for some much earned rest. I
sit in a thickly cushioned chair and
pull out a book. But I am not in a
mood to read. I can smell the aroma of
coffee being brewed from freshly
ground beans. I start preparing for
the ritual of choosing cookies. There
is a row of jars just beneath the book
rack. I put the book back.
A mild drizzle has started again.
Shy jasmine flowers giggle as if hav-
ing a face wash. And water trickles
down their stems on to the soft grass.
Coffee finished, I climb up to the ter-
race. The sound tells me the rain has
grown in intensity. I open the side win-
threatened to sever ties with India if
these special Articles were to be
scrapped. Also, Shah's blaming
Nehru for the partition is historically
correct. Special status for Jammu and
Kashmir, if not agreed to by Nehru,
would have merged the state in the
mainstream. But the BJP should
refrain from denigrating Nehru just to
garner political points. Let history
judge him as the first prime minister
of of independent India.
PRAKASH HANSPAUL, VIA EMAIL
Kashmir’s special status
Apropos the editorial ‘Contentious
Article 370’ (July 1), Union Home
Minister Amit Shah, has made no
secret of the fact that Article 370 is a
temporary provision and needs to be
done away with. This was also the
promise made by the BJP in its
manifesto. It seems there is an
impression in the ruling party that
doing away with Article 370 and 35A
will resolve the lingering Kashmir
problem once and for all. It should
not be forgotten that doing away
with this article may result in break-
ing a bridge between Kashmir and
the rest of India of which J&K is an
integral part. The moderates among
Hurriyat have expressed their readi-
ness for a dialogue and rejecting
that to pursue a divisive agenda in
THE TRIBUNE
talent-spotters among this category.
And of course, the third variety is the
erudite parliamentarian who knows
the ins and outs of parliamentary
practice and can become an asset to
the party in government.
Rahul has not defined his area of
expertise yet. He has resigned from
the organisational position without a
replacement, something unthinkable
for an organisation-builder. India for
long was led by the Congress, whose
organisational core was the Nehru-
Gandhi family. If the transition from
this arrangement is cosmetic, the ide-
al candidate for the Congress presi-
dency is the universally acceptable
scholar Manmohan Singh. Instead, if
Rahul wants a younger, energetic per-
son, who will revive the organisation
and make it fighting fit for the next
general elections five years hence,
then he should understand that this
successor ought to be the Prime Min-
isterial candidate as well.
A person who is not the leader of
the party in Lok Sabha and is not the
Congress president does not have the
moral authority to be the party's
prime ministerial candidate. Politics
cannot get reduced to performance
during poll time. A three-month long
campaign at times can bring in
regime change. It has happened in
2004 and later during many assembly
polls, shorter campaigns have creat-
ed shock results as in Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattis-
garh recently. But YS Jagan Mohan
Reddy's two-year long campaign or
more, aptly the BJP's idea of being in
a perpetual campaign mode, is what
would fetch real political power. In
this context Rahul's actions do not
make sense. And he owes it to the
crores of voters of Congress to
explain what his party's destiny is. In
one-to-one meetings, Rahul comes
across as a well-meaning, well-read
man who talks about transformation-
al politics. This is an opportunity to
rebuild a party, to transform Amethi
and Wayanad and to be an effective
parliamentarian. Instead, if he
believes that he can ride a wave in a
three-month campaign in 2024, he
might be in for a greater shock.
dow. Cool breeze mixed with the spray
of rain drops sends a shiver down my
spine. The effect is magical. I pull a
cane chair and carry it out to the terrace
and sit facing thick dark clouds from
far off lands. I am getting drenched
with heavy drops of clean fresh god-
sent water. It's heavenly to be. To just
exist, to only feel and think no more.
'Love' that the Masters talk about must
be this. The bliss is unparalleled. The
ecstasy has no comparables. It is blank.
How we go on thinking that we are 'we'
as we perceive ourselves to be, or that
what the world sees us to be. Foolishly,
we forget that we are 'that within' and
not that as observed without. The
whole existence is related to each oth-
er and we are nothing but pure souls
originating from the same source.
J&K may yield some political divi-
dends for the BJP, but it will not
serve national interests.
PS KAUR, VIA EMAIL
Death in water tank
In the incident in which four workers
died while cleaning a pump in
Rohtak, an FIR was registered against
the XEN, SDO, superintendent engi-
neer and a junior engineer of the Pub-
lic Health and Engineering Depart-
ment. The incident could have been
avoided had precautions been taken
before cleaning the tank like use of
proper safety devices by the cleaners.
The Punjab government should
ensure that accident cover is taken for
each cleaner which hardly costs Rs
120 tentatively against a coverage of
Rs 2 lakh for accidental death.
KK MITTAL, BATHINDA
Saffron tinge to cricket?
Our cricket team sported a strikingly
saffron attire, particularly while play-
ing against England. Needless to say,
this may end up raising more queries
than the game's administrators would
like to answer. That the Men in Blue,
who won the earlier matches, lost the
one against England wearing a saf-
fron outfit, could be a case in point.
THARCIUS S FERNANDO, CHENNAI
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THE TRIBUNE
CHANDIGARH | WEDNESDAY | 3 JULY 2019 OPED 09

Attari exposes scale of Punjab drug market

ROMESH BHATTACHARJI
FORMER COMMISSIONER, CUSTOMS,
AMRITSAR, & NARCOTICS COMMISSIONER
■ Most common opioid drug — Heroin whopping duty increase would contin- toms. This superb seizure was made
(53.35 per cent) ue to be imported and not show a pro- by Customs but what is significant is
■ Using drugs through injecting route portional price rise. That is why it is that opinion of all other departments
— 33.35 per cent logical to assume that the real profits is being taken except that of Customs!
■ Most common reason for starting were being made by smuggling hero- No reliance on the United Nations
opioid use — Peer influence (75.35 per in. Look at the opportunity. On an Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC)
cent) average, about three or four trucks efficiency as a cure-all agency should
■ Ever tried to quit? — 80.35 per cent each with 1,600 bags of rock salt come be placed. It has not been successful in
■ Ever received any help for quitting? to Attari. Further, in a move helpful to reducing illicit cultivation and produc-
— 35 per cent smugglers, the rock salt traders of tion of drugs, and of trafficking and
As soon as this enormous and Amritsar had objected to thorough drug use anywhere in the world. The
unprecedented 532-kg seizure was checking of their consignments. UNODC has supported Pakistan with

A
CCORDING to the Punjab
Drug Dependence Survey
done in 2015 by the All-India
Institute of Medical Sci-
ences, New Delhi, and supported by the
Department of Health, Punjab, there
were 2,32,856 dependent (i.e. serious
and regular) users in Punjab. On page
4 of this report is a portentous com-
ment: “....the estimates for opioid users
in Punjab could be around 8.6 lakh….”
There are not enough de-addiction
centres in Punjab to help these users
to recover. And there are plenty of sup-
pliers to keep these users hooked.
Instead of addressing the health
needs of users, the government is
unleashing brute force to impose a law
that has not reduced demand or con-
sumption. This can diminish only if
proper and long treatment is given
and future users are kept away from
drugs by the many means that the
bureaucracy already has devised but
not implemented.
On page 2 of this report is an inter-
esting box showing the drug-use pro-
file of Opioid Dependent individuals
in Punjab:
made, prophets of doom — from the
police to the Punjab Government and
newspapers — started worrying
about Pak narco terror. As if drug
addiction in India, and especially in
Punjab, had been cultivated and pro-
moted by Pakistan.
If there is demand, there is bound to
be supply. On January 17, 2014 at the
Trade Facilitation Centre, Uri, Kashmir,
114 kg of brown sugar was seized from
a consignment of almonds headed for
Amritsar. Brown sugar use is common
in Punjab. After the seizure of 114 kg of
brown sugar in Uri, it seemed likely
that in some opium-growing areas of
Pakistan, brown sugar was being made
especially for India's Punjab.
This enormous and shocking seizure
of 532 kg also has an Amritsar connec-
tion. Investigation of both cases
should be worked on for common
links, which are bound to exist.
Smuggling of heroin is always to be
expected, considering the rising
demand in Punjab and north India. But
this record-breaking impudent and
defiant attempt must have been based
on the assumption of a chance of at
UNPRECEDENTED: 532 kg consignment of drugs was seized by Customs at Attari.
The enormous and shocking
seizure of 532 kg also has
an Amritsar connection.
After the Pulwama blast,
India imposed a duty of 200
per cent on all imports from
Pakistan. Only black salt
continues to be imported,
which is baffling. That is why
it is logical to assume that
the real profits were being
made by smuggling heroin.
least 50 per cent success. The brazen-
ness and size of this operation suggests
that this could not have been the first
large consignment. Before such mas-
sive consignments start, many test
runs of increasing amounts are done.
Trade across Attari is since March
restricted to only black salt from Pak-
istan and dry fruits from Afghanistan.
After the Pulwama blast, India
imposed a duty of 200 per cent on all
imports from Pakistan. Only black salt
continues to be imported, which is baf-
fling. The retail cost of black salt in
Amritsar was about Rs 7 per kg till Feb-
ruary when there was no duty on it.
After the imposition of 200 per cent
duty, it is only Rs 16.
It's against all business logic that a
product even after suffering such a
In the three months of the duty
being increased to 200 per cent, smug-
glers must have had several success-
es. As rock salt from the Khera mines
of Pakistan was the only import from
Pakistan, astute traffickers — on both
sides of the border — used its cover for
their profit. The heroin and black salt
were all in one kg packets.
The off-white colour of the seized
heroin indicates that it could be brown
sugar, though purity results will take
time. The rock salt and heroin were all
in 1 kg packs and then kept in sacks.
There could not be a more convenient
camouflage than rock salt. The heroin
would merge with the powdered rock
salt and would not be detected by the
X-Ray that the Pakistani Customs
have at Wagah. X-Ray machines are
useless if heroin in powder form is car-
ried along with other granular sub-
stance — like this one of rock salt.
To blame Pak Customs of laxity, col-
lusion or inefficiency is not right.
Many times, heroin has been seized
down the road from Attari in Punjab
and even in Delhi, but no one had
doubted the integrity of Attari Cus-
infinitely much more investment and
expertise than it has India, which is not
keen on such expertise. The UNODC
has been a failure in Pakistan which
has more addicts than ever before. Not
only has illicit opium production in
that country increased, but so have
facilities for converting it into heroin
and brown sugar, and the UNODC has
nothing to say except enter it as a sta-
tistic in its latest world drug report.
In 2012, under the RTI Act, I had
asked the Punjab Police for details of
arrests and seizures from 2001 to 2011.
I was informed that 25,003 people
were jailed in that period under the
NDPS Act of 1985. Nearly all of them
were users or users-cum-peddlers. A
few couriers, but no traffickers. And
the problem is worse now.
It is high time to change the focus of
this severe Act by which only the low-
est in the chain are being punished.
There are several countries which,
despite objections from the UNODC,
have decriminalised drug use and
have been quite successful in reduc-
ing drug-related problems, including
use and arrests.

Violence as a tool of justice delivery

M
OB violence carrying politi-
cal message has started mir-
roring the State violence.
Recently, the Delhi Police
attacked a middle-aged Sikh driver of a
three-wheeler taxi in full public view over
'payment' dispute in the National Capital.
Same week, the Eastern state of Jhark-
VIKASH NARAIN RAI
hand witnessed the latest occurrence of
FORMER DIRECTOR, NATIONAL POLICE mob lynching of one Tabrez Ansari, a
ACADEMY, HYDERABAD
Muslim youth apprehended in the act of
stealing, amidst the forced chanting of
The brazen advent of 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Jai Hanuman' by him,
thus once again confirming an inevitable
violent mobs dispensing build-up around politically tinted reli-
gious logo. The periodical crowd killings
'political' justice assumes with political overtones have seeped into
an unfathomable the profiling of the state, quite like the
long patronised police violence. Both pat-
dimension; it has actually terns follow a common characteristic fea-
ture of the Indian state, ie impunity.
left the stakeholders The Delhi Police were alarmed by the
clueless, most tragically. A fury of the resultant community protests
but only to the extent to order an internal
democratic society does enquiry against three suspended police-
men, a time-tested routine in order to set-
not deserve a situation tle down in the old groove. Tabrez was
where law would be a tool kept tied to an electric pole for hours with
no police intervention; he was brutally
of violence and not justice. beaten and the sequence was video-
graphed for propaganda purposes. The
injured was escorted to the police station
by the same mob, where a criminal case
was registered against Tabrez only, before
producing him to the jurisdiction of a
magistrate and transporting him to the
hospital for medical attention. The mag-
istrate was legally bound to enquire into
the circumstances of his injuries but did
not. Tabrez succumbed after four days.
Earlier instances have shown that in
the absence of a deterrent penal law to
effectively deal with the phenomenon of
mob justice, the jurisprudential void
could not be filled later by invoking the
MOB JUSTICE: There is no deterrent penal law to deal with it effectively.
writ jurisdiction of higher constitutional
courts. In another much-publicised case
of lynching of members of Muslim com-
munity in Jharkhand itself, the trial court
had swiftly sentenced the culprits to life
imprisonment.
However, the intimidatory impact was
negated as they were set free on bail pend-
ing disposal of their appeal, and a junior
minister in the Modi cabinet facilitated
them under full media glare. In a UP case
(Hapur, June, 2018), the gory communal
killing with Hindutva overtones was
deliberately registered by the police of the
BJP-governed state as a road accident, fac-
ing eventually intervention by the
Supreme Court, leading to further inves-
tigation under proper penal sections of
the law, but the process has lingered on.
The violence of 'mob justice' is not new
to the Indian society. Nor the issues per-
meating the violent 'police justice'. Their
prevalence in popular perception as a
tool of justice delivery in social, criminal
and communal practices is too well
known to the Indian legal system, which
has often failed to impose salutary deter-
rence. While the concern for justice has
normally remained at the root of coun-
try's criminal justice system, the mob
justice and the police justice get their
nourishment from a turf that would not
support emphatic channelisation of
'access to justice' for targeted sections. In
this scenario, the brazen advent of vio-
lent mobs dispensing 'political' justice
assumes an unfathomable dimension; it
has actually left the stakeholders clue-
less, most tragically.
A democratic society does not deserve
a situation where law would be a tool of
violence and not justice. The Constitu-
tion was consciously drafted to a fault,
safeguarding against state violence by
those who had closely encountered the
repressive British Raj policing. Now, it
is vulnerable to assaults in towns and
villages and needs to be defended there.
The Delhi episode presented a regular
scenario the law enforcement machin-
ery enacted against the very people it
was supposed to defend, and the Jhark-
hand one unveiled a picture, again not
too uncommon, of a typical indulgence
of the police in the denial of access to
justice to the victim.
In the remedial context, one debate in
jurisprudential academics is to prioritise
between institutional reforms and state
accountability. The Prime Minister
seemed to be addressing a political
dilemma only when he, after a long
prodding, chose to condemn the Tabrez
lynching in Parliament but preferred to
sidestep the issue of accountability of
his party-run state government. The
crux is that the strong expression of jus-
tice has not been matched by the
required access to justice mechanism.
The violence in the state set-up hits the
society consistently; and the usual apa-
thy hidden under many social, adminis-
trative and political layers can cause hav-
oc, irrespective of communal politics too.
A suppressed gang-rape, for instance,
would prove to be as much devastating in
perpetuating violent submission of the
target section in particular and society in
general, as any publicised mob lynching
with political overtones. These days the
CAW (crime against women) tops any law
and order monitoring chart and yet the
'one stop crisis centres', the most show-
cased vehicle of 'access to justice' for
CAW victims, are proving of little value to
them. It is the nature of the state playing
a key role here, even though funds are
overflowing via the Nirbhaya coffers.
This June, I met a minor victim of gang-
rape in a theatre therapy workshop at a
far-flung makeshift shelter home within
a renowned library premises in an east-
ern UP village. Awaiting filing of the
chargesheet against the named culprits,
she had already undertaken half a dozen
journeys to panchayats, police offices,
hospitals, courts, dharna sites and, ironi-
cally, the officially designated one-stop
crisis centre for the area. That is the
'State' for her!
Any amount of chanting of 'one-stop'
access to justice is a meaningless sound.
The case had a political mix also. She
belonged to the weak Chamar communi-
ty and the culprits came from the power-
ful Muslim landlord families of her vil-
lage. It was March 2019 and the SP
(backed by Muslims) and BSP (backed by
Chamar community) had entered into an
electoral alliance for coming Lok Sabha
elections. However, the Muslim
Sarpanch, even though accountable
under POCSO Act, pressured against
approaching police and to go for a mone-
tary settlement to preserve family hon-
our. The political alliance kept mum. The
police too watched from a distance before
she was lodged in the library by a public-
spirited initiative; and only aggressive
protests forced the crime to be registered
after a gap of one month.
Not only is the violence multi-layered, it
is also well entrenched in the state set-up
as a crooked tool of justice delivery. What
the unleashing of political mobs on this
scenario must underline is the urgency to
look at the structure of the state and not
just limiting to questioning the legal
treatment meted out in the context of
individual violations.

quick crossword su do ku calendar forecast

ACROSS JULY 3, 2019, WEDNESDAY SUNSET: WEDNESDAY 19:29 HRS
1 Serious attempt (6)
4 Horse-drawn cab (6) 5 1 9 2 7 ■ Vikrami Samvat 2076
SUNRISE: THURSDAY 05:24 HRS

9 Flattering publicity (5-2) ■ Shaka Samvat 1941

10 Establish (5)
11 Roam freely (5)
3 5 2 ■ Aashadh Shaka

■ Aashadh Parvishte
12
19
Sunny Partly Cloudy Cloudy
CITY MAX
Rainy
MIN
Foggy

12 Malice (3,4) Chandigarh 41 30

■ Hijari 1440
13 Engage in dispute (5,6)
18 Prudent (7)
2 7 3 4 Shukla Paksh Tithi 1, up to 10:05 pm New Delhi
PUNJAB
38 30

20 Keep in reserve (5) Dhruv Yoga up to 11.42 am

Amritsar 43 27
22 Hard particle (5)
23 Apprehensive (7)
2 8 7 1 Ardra Nakshatra up to 6:36 am
Punar Nakshatra up to 4:39 am
Bathinda
Jalandhar
44
42
25
27
24 Being (6) Moon enters Cancer sign 11:09 pm Ludhiana 41 27
25 Off course (6) HARYANA
Gupt Navratre start
Bhiwani 43 29
DOWN
YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION Hisar 44 27
1 Go on board a ship (6)
2 Pretend (5) 7 4 5 3 1 3 9 4 8 6 2 5 7
Sirsa
HIMACHAL PRADESH
44 26
3 To set right (7)
8 4 6 7 2 5 3 1 9 Dharamsala 33 21
5 Very bad (5)
6 Carefully thought out (7) 5 3 4 8 2 5 7 3 9 1 4 8 6 Manali
Shimla
28
27
12
18
7 Interfere officiously (6) 3 7 4 6 5 9 1 2 8 JAMMU & KASHMIR
8 Made in an instant (5-6)
14 Dependent (7) 2 1 3 5 1 8 2 3 7 6 9 4 Jammu
Leh
43
26
26
13
9 6 2 1 4 8 7 3 5
YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION 15 Inferior (2,5) Srinagar 31 15
Across: 1 Risible, 5 Chaos, 8 Dyed-in-the-wool, 9 Rapid, 10 Replete, 11 Cohere, 12 Lament,
15 Sabbath, 17 Verge, 19 On a small scale, 20 Sedan, 21 Earshot.
16 Culmination (6)
17 A knitted fabric (6) 3 9 2 6 4 4
6
8
2
3
5
9
8
7
1
2
4
5
9
6
7
1
3
UTTARAKHAND
Dehradun 34 22
Down: 1 Rider, 2 Sweep the board, 3 Builder, 4 Entire, 5 Cheep, 6 Above reproach, 7 19 Principle (5) Mussoorie 24 14
7 9 1 5 6 3 8 4 2
Salient, 11 Customs, 13 Adviser, 14 Shelve, 16 Amman, 18 Event. 21 Smell (5) EASY TEMPERATURE IN OC

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