Why Ms Kanimozhi is Fighting for English?

  Is it not ridiculous that Ms Kanimozhi, otherwise a very sensible and well-educated politician is fighting for an alien language like English, which is not understood even by two per cent people of Tamilnadu? English was not known even by her father, the late Karunanidhi, who was adept in exploiting the sentiments of the people against Hindi. But love for English and allergy with Hindi defies all logic.  She insists that all meetings of the central government officials should be conducted in English. Recently she walked out of a meeting of a ministry showing her tantrums against an officer because he was speaking in Hindi, which was understood by everyone including her. It is a well-known fact that Ms Kanimozhi possesses reasonably good knowledge of Hindi. She is credited to have translated the Hindi speeches of some of the politicians in Tamil. Then why does she make brouhaha against Hindi from time to time?

  It appears that her party DMK has gone completely bereft of any issues concerning the people, the state, or the country. The other day she created a spectacle at the airport over a CRPF personnel, who was speaking to her in Hindi. She should know that CRPF personnel are frequently transferred from one part of the country to other parts and they cannot be polyglot or multi-lingual. Today they are in Chennai, tomorrow they can be shifted to Bhubneshwar, Guwahati, Jammu, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, or any other place.  Nobody can expect them to be proficient in many languages, so normally they know or learn Hindi, which is understood to the entire length and breadth of the country. She should have felt pleasure in conversing to a CRPF personnel in Hindi to strike a better affinity with him or her but instead, she created a tamasha.

   Nobody can believe that a person like her, who has lived in a place like Delhi for years as a Member of Parliament does not understand even conversational Hindi. So, her insistence on speaking in English does not cover her with any glory. In fact, such persons, who pretend to be not knowing Hindi are either dimwitted or want to get publicity through their notoriety. Ms Kanimozhi certainly does not belong to the first category. Therefore, one can only have pity for her stunt to get cheap publicity.

   It is unfortunate that DMK leaders are living in their make-believe world of the fifties or sixties. Tamil boys and girls are raring to excel in every walk of life. They know it very well that they cannot afford to be a frog-in-the-well as they have to move out of Tamilnadu for trade, employment or other intercourse and in that case, Hindi will become indispensable. Tamilians cannot now be misled or exploited in the name of the imaginary imposition of Hindi. It may sound strange, but it is a fact that Hindi has become a symbol of Indianness throughout the world.

  Tamilians or other non-speaking Indians in foreign countries also feel happy and very satisfied with speaking in Hindi. Millions of workers in gulf countries and many other countries assert their identity through Hindi. It is not that Ms Kanimozhi and her party DMK is unaware of the changed realities and yet if they are fantasizing to get support in Tamilnadu to come to power in the name of anti-Hindi, then they are to free to live in their own paradise. Trying to ride on the horse of a non-issue usually leads to a steep fall.

In the Absence of Apology, SC has no choice but to Punish Prashant Bhushan

It is a well-known fact that once a man rebuked Lord Denning by calling him ‘an old, bald fool’. When he (Denning) came out of the court, he was surrounded by some newspersons who asked him whether he was contemplating to initiate contempt proceeding against that person. He replied in a cool and composed manner by telling the press persons that there was no question of hauling him for the contempt of court because ‘ old I am’, ‘bald-headed I am’ so, there is nothing wrong in it. As far as the ‘fool’ is concerned, it is his perception about me.’ The person who said so about the celebrated judge was no less than the renowned journalist Michael Foot, who later became the leader of opposition in the British Parliament.

Lord Atkin, another great judge had in one of his judgments that ‘justice is not a cloistered virtue. She must be allowed to suffer the scrutiny and respectful, even though outspoken comments of ordinary men’. There are some people, who want that contempt of court should be done away with but they forget that the fact if it is removed from the statute and from the Constitution (in the case of Supreme Court this power is vested in it under Article 129), then the judgments delivered by the courts will have no value. That is why no sane person will advocate for the annulling of this prerogative of the courts because that ensures the compliance of the judgments.

There have been many judges, who have expressed their resentment over the corruption in the judiciary. Talk to even any villager and he/she will narrate one or two instances of corruption in the judiciary. Retired Chief Justice Bharucha was on the record that a certain percentage of the higher judiciary was corrupt. Justice (retired) Markandey Katju had said in the open court that there was something rotten in the Allahabad High Court (paraphrasing William Shakespeare in the Hamlet). But it was a general observation and did pinpoint on any particular judge. For example, when one says or writes that politicians have become corrupt, it will not attract slander or libel but if it is said about any particular politician or the entire assembly or parliament, then it will certainly attract the defamation and contempt law.

Having said so, there is no gainsaying that in our country some people have made justice as their own handmaids. Prashant Bhushan is one of them. He thinks that he can defame, denounce, and decry the judges if they show the courage to go against him or deliver any judgment which is not liked by him or his coterie. He and his company never find legal or factual loopholes in the judgments, but they start the campaign to impeach the authority of the concerned judge(s). This provides him and his company the opportunity to blackmail and browbeat the entire judicial system.

Justice from the Supreme Court and its officers - judges and advocates both - are two different entities, although both are interdependent. But there are some people like Prashant Bhushan, who think that they are the Supreme Court and that is the reason that he and his ilk has been treating the Supreme Court and other advocates with censorious contempt. Now when he has been found guilty of the contempt of the court, he and his gang have started maligning the judges, which is highly deplorable. If one dissects his views, statements and tweets, one will certainly come to an inescapable conclusion that all of them were scurrilous and aimed at making the fun of the judges and thereby creating the crisis of confidence in the Supreme Court and its judges.

Despite having been found guilty of the contempt of the court, the general feeling across the board is that he should not be punished. Look at the temerity of this gentleman that he wants to become a Gandhi by quoting Mahatma Gandhi. It is like a devil quoting the scriptures. My friend Advocate Asok Pande, who has himself faced many contempt proceedings says that once a person has been found guilty of the contempt of the court, he/she can escape punishment only tendering an unqualified apology. He is also of the opinion that the Attorney General should not have entreated the Supreme Court to let off Prashant Bhushan.

Now, therefore, there are only two choices left for the Supreme Court. One is to let him go free, provided he tenders unconditional apology as was very recently done by Rahul Gandhi in Rafael case or to punish him. Since Prashant Bhushan has adopted the high moral ground of a crusader and refused to apologize to the Court, then the only discretion left for the Court is to sentence him, which may be even the token punishment as was done in the case of Kalyan Singh and Arundhati Roy or punish him as was done in the case Justice (now retired) Karnan of Calcutta High Court.

let us see what sentence is awarded to him.

Media's Role for Justice Must be Hailed

 Today (19.08.2020) we have seen an example of the real power of the media, which relentlessly campaigned for the handing over of the Sushant Singh Rajput’s case to the CBI to unravel the truth of his death. Hopefully, the CBI investigation will pave the way for the further and much-needed catharsis of the film industry. Earlier the media was so weak that it was always ready to play the second fiddle to the goondas of Bollywood as they could easily bump off anybody anytime at any place.

Indian Penal Code (IPC) is very clear in this regard that FIR will be lodged where the cause of action has arisen and if has been lodged at any other place for certain reasons, it will be transferred to the police of the place where the main cause of action has arisen.

The SSRs case was of the Mumbai police but when no FIR was lodged for more than a month, doubts started swelling up across the country. Fed up with the inaction and the dilly-dallying tactics of the Mumbai Police, the father SSR filed an FIR in Patna, where the partial cause of action arose as he happened to be his son’s inheritor. As a matter of fact, this case could not have been investigated by the Bihar police because of the lack of territorial jurisdiction and the Mumbai Police was out to botch up the case, therefore the only way out was to hand it over to CBI, which has been done by the Supreme Court. As sentiments have no place in the justice delivery system, the Supreme Court has decided from the legal point of view.

Needless to say, that the sentiments and emotions ran high in this matter mainly due to the pusillanimity of the Maharashtra government, which failed to rise to the occasion. It was obviously under the pressure of the bad and ugly Mafiosi of the Bollywood, which has practically become the cesspool of corruption. Some don actors, producers, and directors have become so powerful that they care two hoots for others. With open complicit and connivance of some politicians and police personnel, they can make or mar the life of anyone in the filmdom.

This issue was boldly and persistently taken up, day after day, by two news Channels namely, Republic India and Times Now. These channels converted it into a hurricane of the campaign. The guts of ‘Laxmibai’ Kangana Ranaut and the indomitable Subramaniam Swami must be lauded by one and all. Let the media become more powerful and responsible. While blackmailers and fake news peddlers cause incalculable damage to society, the accountable media does immense good to it. If the media had not relentlessly worked, the case of SSR would have buried very deep. It is time to hail the media.

Support for Local Languages by the CJI is Welcome but His Disapproval to Address the Courts' as ‘Your Honour' is Inexplicable

 

In the week just gone by, Chief Justice of India made two observations during hearings of the two unrelated cases. One of them deserves unqualified praise from all section of the society, which underscores the importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI), he has said that that hearings of the Courts can be conducted in any language because  the technology for the translations from one language to the other is now available. It will, indubitably, break the hegemony of the English (which was once considered to be the language of barbarians). The emphasis on the use of English in India has led to the stunted growth of mental faculties of the people including that of the lawyering. A very minuscule number of advocates and judges have mastered English but for the majority, it is still ‘will-o- wisp’. However, this will need the Constitutional amendment by the Parliament of India.

Justice Bobde’s second observation relates to the addressing of the court by the lawyers. He frowned on an advocate, who addressed the bench headed by him as ‘Your Honour’. His displeasure was not only inexplicable but also unacceptable. Addressing the court as ‘My Lord(s) is a despicable colonial mindset. It smacks of the sycophancy and slavery. It sounds demeaning and depicts the fawning mentality of the advocates.  Even the Bar Council Rules are very clear in this regard.

Let me quote  Rule under section 49(1)(j) of the Advocates Act, 1961) that says: ‘Consistent with the obligation of the Bar to show a respectful attitude towards the Court and bearing in mind the dignity of Judicial office, the form of address to be adopted whether in the Supreme Court, High Courts or Subordinate Courts should be as follows:-‘Your Honour’ or ‘Hon'ble Court’ in the Supreme Court and High Courts and in the Subordinate Courts and Tribunals it is open to the Lawyers to address the Court as ‘Sir’ or the equivalent word in respective regional languages.

Explanation. -As the words ‘My Lord’ and ‘Your Lordship’ are relics of colonial past, it is proposed to incorporate the above rule showing respectful attitude to the Court.

In this context, reference must be made of the Justice Muralidhar, presently the judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, who  as the judge of the Delhi High Court had made it clear that no lawyer would address him as ‘ My Lord’.  The note for not addressing him as ‘My Lord’ or ‘Your Lordship’ used to be given with the cause list and he has continued to maintain this practice in the P& H High Court also.  It is a matter of huge satisfaction  for one and all, not only the lawyers, that another Justice TBN Radhakrishnan of the Calcutta High Court has directed the  Registrar General to get it notified that he should not be addressed as  ‘ My Lord’.

Only a year back the full bench of the Rajasthan High Court passed the path-breaking resolution and asked all the lawyers and litigants to do away the practice of addressing the judges as ‘My Lord ‘or ‘Your Lordship’.  The full bench meeting was presided over by Justice Ravindra Bhatt, who is now the judge of the Supreme Court. Earlier he was with Delhi High Court.  The High Court Registrar issued a notification and requested to the lawyers and litigants to address the judges them simply as ‘Sir’ or ‘Srimanji'.

Incidentally, some six years the bench presided over HL Datu (who later became the Chief Justice), which included the present Chief Justice SA Bobde also had said that ‘Judges should be addressed in courts in a respectful and dignified manner and it is not compulsory to call them ‘my lord’, ‘your lordship’ .  We only want to be addressed respectfully. You call (judges) ‘Sir’, it is accepted. You call it ‘Your honour’, it is accepted. You call ‘Lordship’, it is accepted. These are some of the appropriate ways of expression which is accepted’. This obiter dicta observation was made while hearing the PIL filed by 75-year-old advocate Shiv Sagar Tiwari. The bench had said ‘Don't address us as ‘Lordship’. We don't say anything. We only say that address us respectfully. It is for you to say ‘Sir’, ‘Your Lordship’ or ‘Your Honour’. We can't direct as to how you have to address the court.’ Shri Tiwari had sought the apex court's direction to strictly prohibit the use of 'my lord' and 'your lordship' in courts alleging that ‘it is against the dignity of the country. Using the words 'My Lord' and 'Your Lordship' are symbols of slavery and they should be strictly prohibited to be used in the courts throughout India.

That is why the sudden outburst of the CJI Bobde for addressing the bench as ‘Your Honour’ is not understandable. Therefore, it will be in the fitness of the occasion that Justice Bobde immediately clarify that he was against the judges to be addressed as ‘My Lords’ and the earlier this practice is abandoned, the better.

Rioters and Criminals Must be Made to Pay Damages for the Properties Destroyed

 

  As the age-old saying goes 'take the sting of deterrence from the law and the order will go haywire'. That is what has happened in Bengaluru on 11th of August, a day before the Janmashtami when an unruly and violent crowd of nearly two thousand persons destroyed the property worth crores of Rupees and three persons lost their lives. Criminals always think many steps ahead of the law enforcing agencies and therefore they will need to have modernized with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to effectively deal with them. In this context the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Aditya Nath must be thanked for his novelty to recover the damages from the criminals. If the criminals have the fear that they will have to pay through the nose for the damages they have done to the properties, in addition to facing criminal charges of rioting under the IPC, then they will think many times before taking the law into their hands.  If there is no provision for recovery of damages, it can be introduced immediately by the Ordinance later enacted by the Assembly because Law and Order is the state subject.

    Bengaluru riot was, without doubt, a pre-planned one otherwise, how could thousands of determined rioters assemble in less than an hour and broke all the hell loose? These rioters had made many groups and allotted the task among themselves. One group was tasked to block the arterial roads to prevent the movement of police, security forces, firefighters, and ambulances etc. Another group was given the responsibility of breaking and disabling the CCTV cameras and other electronic monitoring devices. The third group went for killing, burning of the properties and creating blood-curdling mayhem. The fourth group came with reinforcement of petrol, diesel, and other incendiary materials. Women and children were also engaged to create a human firewall, as it was done in Kashmir while pelting stones on security forces. So, if they got injured then they could be used as a victim card to garner the sympathy of the people. Photographers were kept ready to shoot such snaps to feed the obedient and anti-national media, which obliged them with their usual echo system. 

  The biggest smokescreen of deception was created by another group of rioters, who made a human chain to show to the whole world that saner among them worked for the restoration of peace at the risk of losing their lives.  

   This is very shocking and speaks volumes of the pathetic condition of the police that it is often caught napping on such occasions and starts for locking the stable doors after the horse is stolen. This cries not only for the modernization of the security forces so that the criminals of all hues and shades can be smoked out (to borrow the famous phrase of George Bush) and severely punished. But more important is that after identifying the criminals they must be made to pay at least two times more damages than the value of the properties they have destroyed.

 

Doing Away of English in the New Educational Policy at the Primary Level is a Welcome Step

The elite class and elitist schools in India are most rattled with new education policy, which lays emphasis on the medium of instruction of all subjects through mother tongue, local or national language up to 5th standard. English will only be taught as one of the subjects. Now the lobby of the perverts says that the standard of education will go down if the English do not remain the foundational language from the very inception of the education. There is no end to the imbecility of such persons. Their entire logic is often reduced to absurdity, what existentialist philosophers have termed ‘reductio ad absurdum’.
All the great leaders of this country have had their primary education through mother tongues. Those who have gone to different fields and studied through mother language have far excelled in their chosen areas in comparison to parasites, who have studied through English medium right from the first standard.
There is no doubt that English is the language of exploitation of the students as well as of their parents. Surprise of all surprises is that most of the parents gleefully allow themselves to be exploited. Most of the parents make a mad rush to the English medium schools to get their wards admitted. They not only give huge fees but hefty donations to the School managements; so, the education of such children starts with the alphabets of corruption. These children know nothing except snobbery and arrogance. They lack the spirit of the service, probity, honesty, and uprightness. Therefore, the New Education Policy must be applauded that it has proposed to do away with English at least up to the primary level. There is enough empirical evidence to suggest that the children who have studied through mother tongues at the primary and secondary level have a better understanding and grasp of the subjects for higher education.
I have been listening for the last so many decades that our boys and girls have been doing well in foreign countries because of their command over the English language. Nobody could be bigger fools than such persons who believe that it is only the knowledge of English which has made them important. As a matter of fact, they have become almost indispensable because of their hard work, that too, for lesser remuneration. It can be an eye-opener for the supporters of English that most of the countries, which have made a significant contribution to the science, medicine or technology have been imparting education to their children in the language of their country. Be it China, Russia, France, Germany, or Japan.
These Johnnies raise another irrelevant and ludicrous objection that what will happen to the education of those children, whose parents work on the transferable posts. Firstly, the number of such persons is and will always be minuscule and secondly, if such a problem arises, the government can provide some incentives to such servants so that they can keep their wards at the place of their choice or they may request for not to be transferred till their wards have studied up to 5th or 8th standards.
The NEP will also help promote the three-language formula which will, without doubt, be a formidable achievement to be reckoned with.