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p>The recent verdict in a scandalous Delhi killing argues the well-connected can still literally get away with murder. Our Most Favored Flatulation Guy Trebay summarized the case in the Village Voice in ’99:
A man refused a late-night drink at a tony hot spot pulls out a gun and fires it twice… the alleged killer was the son of a former cabinet minister, his victim was a onetime model, the bar was in the most stylish shopping complex in the city, and the murderer waltzed away in front of hundreds…Demanding whiskey, Sharma was told by Malini Ramani that he could have a sip of her drink for 1000 rupees, or about $35, her sister claims. “It was a normal remark, and I guess only a madman would react in such a violent way,” Malini would later say. Sharma apparently approached Lal next and, when she told him the bar was closed, pulled out a .22 and fired. It was the second bullet that caught Lal in the forehead. Sharma then walked to the courtyard and smiled his way out through the crowd. [Link]
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p>Seven years on, it’s not that the tabloids beat the broadsheets, it’s that every broadsheet has turned into a tabloid:What India lacked until lately: a headless body in a topless bar
Since liberalizing its trade policies in the early ’90s, the vast subcontinent has become a kind of dumping ground for Western culture. It’s a phenomenon observable in everything from the upper-class vogue for New Age anodynes (reiki and Viennese voodoo are currently the rage) to the more obvious glut of MTV.What India lacked until lately… was Amy Fisher-Joey Buttafuoco-style saturation coverage. It lacked a headless body in a topless bar. In the weeks since Lal’s shooting, the capital’s major papers have printed dozens of stories daily under headlines that wouldn’t be out of place in the Post… In a country where Hindu newspapers still print pages of ads for traditionally arranged marriages, and where such stop-the-presses headlines as “Pachyderm Tramples Tigress” are commonplace, there’s an unfulfilled hunger for the Dynasty-style dross of the West. Not since the days of serial killer Charles Sobhraj has a crime so deliciously fit the bill. [Link]
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p>The case just ended in the usual way:
Manu Sharma, son of a Congress party leader and minister in Haryana state, Vinod Sharma, was the main accused in the case along with eight others. On Tuesday the court acquitted all nine citing insufficient evidence. [Link]… the man suspected of pulling the trigger surrenders to the authories… he makes a full confession admitting to the murder… The case seems to be watertight. Then, seven years later, every one of these people is acquitted… Is it any wonder that we are a nation outraged? …
The sad truth is that the delays in the legal system make it impossible for anybody to get a fair trial in this country. This case took seven years — in any Western country, it would have taken a few weeks — and during that period, judges were moved, cops were transferred, evidence was tampered with and witnesses changed their stories. [Link]
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p>Yet perhaps things are changing with a recent string of legal victories on the side of Good. In Delhi, nine people have just been jailed in a high-profile case arising out of the Gujarat riots:
Twelve Muslims and two others were burned to death when the Best Bakery was attacked by a Hindu mob… A special court conducting a retrial found the nine guilty of killing 14 people during the arson attack on the bakery. They had been acquitted in an earlier trial… the Best Bakery [had] come to symbolise the failure of the Indian justice system following the Gujarat riots in 2002. [Link]
All that changed in 2004 when the country’s Supreme Court, faced with mounting public pressure from human rights groups and riot victims, hauled up the Gujarat state government for doing little to punish the guilty… “… the state did not discharge its function…” [Link]
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p>Chic buildings constructed without the proper permits are being demolished with bulldozers. Building code enforcement? In India?
Several top fashion designers… have showrooms in malls on Delhi’s upscale Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, which have been declared illegal. At least one big shopping mall has already been completely demolished… Ten high profile private schools in the city’s posh Vasant Kunj area have also received notices from [the Municipal Corporation of Delhi], Indian media reports say. [Link]
And the Shirtless Wonder has been convicted of poaching. The blackbuck he killed has apologized to the Pectoral President for causing him bad publicity.
Is the rule of law being restored? Is the Indian justice system, so dysfunctional that gangsters do humming trade in debt collection, finally going straight?
Twelve Muslims and two others were burned to death when the Best Bakery was attacked by a Hindu mobÂ… A special court conducting a retrial found the nine guilty of killing 14 people during the arson attack on the bakery. They had been acquitted in an earlier trial.
I am glad that India is on its way to becoming a liberal democracy. It took almost 175 years for a Southern Court to convict a white man (majority) for killing a black man (minority) in the United States. India has only taken 55 years for sending Hindus(majority)to jail for killing Muslims(minority). The Indian democracy is finally maturing and thats good news for the minorities. Lets hope the trend continues. I am surprised though that India doesnt have double jeopardy laws as it has the English Common Law tradition.
Manish,
“Is the rule of law being restored? Is the Indian justice system, so dysfunctional that gangsters do humming trade in debt collection, finally going straight?”
Unfortunately no.
“India has only taken 55 years for sending Hindus(majority)to jail for killing Muslims(minority). The Indian democracy is finally maturing and thats good news for the minorities.”
Mujahid, Hindu and Muslim riots are not like black lynching, because both the sides are responsible.
Regards
This is a direct result of the congress rule. First the Quatrocchi unfreezing of account, then the acquittal of Manu Sharma. Its shameless how politicians bend rules for themselves.
Please sign up for a petition to reopen Jessica Lal’s case at the link at http://www.twentyonwards.blogs.com
Huuuuh?!
Anyway, if you want a better Indian newspaper than TOI, try DNA (Daily news and analysis). It’s a new paper owned by the Zee network and was being aggressively promoted when I was traveling in India. It’s definitely a whole lot better than TOI.
Mujahid, Hindu and Muslim riots are not like black lynching, because both the sides are responsible.
I am not comparing them to lynching. You missed my point completely.
This is a direct result of the congress rule. First the Quatrocchi unfreezing of account, then the acquittal of Manu Sharma. Its shameless how politicians bend rules for themselves.
Really? What about the acquittal of RSS people in the Tehelka defence purchases scam? and the persecution of Tehelka journalists not to mention the acquital of Bal Thacarey’s son in the Ramesh Kini murder case?
This case comes on the heels of many such cases out of India. Politicians in ALL countries wield power including the United States (how else does a VP pretty much get away with shotting someone during hunting?) and some countries depending on the level of corruption are worse than others. It’s triple worse in the African nations. Lets not get into the minutiae of which party is more responsible and derail the focus on this particular case by talking about who is better RSS or Congress. Is there such a thing as a honest political party in India? If it is, it’s news to me and probably most Indians probably.
as pointed out in an earlier comment on a related topic, it is the aggressive pursuit of consumption that is a little scary… trying desperately not to sound holier than thou – to me the tipping point is seeing the celebrities aggressively endorse consumerism – surely these guys make enough money – why go about plugging soft drinks – the danger is the replacement of the traditional societal support mechanisms with the consumer gods. life goes on.. per capita spend is up. everyone must be happy.
Indeed… in the newspaper the other day was a discussion on gruesome culinary practices around teh globe. A noted french delicacy is the ortolan, a canary that is overfed in captivity so it grows several times its original size that is then drowned in armagnac and roasted over a sharp heat for a few minutes before serving. the innards of the bird are sucked piping hot from its anus and the bird is consumed whole, bones, tendons and all. the guest is expected to eat the bird with a napkin on his/her head to cover his sputtering shame from god. this dish has been outlawed in france. The ex-President Mitterand, on discovering his cancer and his imminent death, invited his friends ot a meal of the same for new year’s day. He was still president then and I guess it was his dying wish so everyone turned a blind eye.
the discusion was an excerpt from a recent book called Dine with the devil … out in hardcover now.
Abhi wrote:
It isn’t that the Lal issue (which I still don’t even know is about as I haven’t heard of it) isn’t important. It just probably isn’t as relevant to the majority of this audience.
and then he said: We usually leave Indian stories for Indian bloggers to tackle
how else does a VP pretty much get away with shotting someone during hunting?
He gets away because it was an accident.
I think you are missing the larger point here. Dick needs a whole team of Whitehouse PR to keep the nonsense that keeps engulfing him from igniting the Whitehouse. He’s a VP, the WH tried to be funny about it then tried to dismiss it like it was nothing! It was not funny nor worthy of dismissal!! That was the whole point of “powerful politicians”. If I’d shot someone during hunting I’d bet $100 I’d be a breath away from Guantanamo Bay and I’m a citizen.
. If I’d shot someone during hunting I’d bet $100 I’d be a breath away from Guantanamo Bay and I’m a citizen.
Really? You make me laugh! Do you know of any of your brown ( as you like to call them ) acquaintances who were nearly sent to Gitmo for a similar infraction? lady it was just an accident. Why don’t you admit it : you just hate Bush , Cheney and the Republicans because they are evil, racist e.t.c e.t.c. Behind every big or petty crime in the world lurks an old White man, no matter how obvious to the eyes the real perpetrator is. how else does a VP pretty much get away with shotting someone during hunting?
No offense but I think your above observation is plain stupid. It’s the same as when you and your ilk find Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell just as dangerous as Bin Laden and other hard core Mullahs.
also, Muslims were the “RULING” group a mere 225 years back in India, while African American were NEVER a ruling group in America. So the “minority” analogy in the US terms is FALSE.
Muj, I am assuming you were being complimentary when you wrote this.
Perhaps what Gaurav (comment #2) is suggesting is that the erstwhile White and Black scenario of USA is not parallel to Hindu and Muslim scenario of past and present. Muslims in India have equal (and them some) rights as people of other religious persuasions. You may know about the contentious issue of Muslim Personal law which accords certain rights to Muslims only.
Wow – comparisons come thick and fast – but I have to say that the attempt to show how terrible politicians are around the world reaches a height of complex hilarity when dhavaak relates the way that a dying French president dined on a forbidden delicacy whilst his guests looked the other way (presumably just as they looked away when the anus sucking of the bird took place)
Yeah! India isnt that bad! Mitterand dined on a forbidden bird dish! I know our politicians kill thousands of people in pogroms, facilitate genocide, and shoot bar girls in the face and get away with it all – FREE TO MURDER – but the French politicians eat rare birds – the bastards. So what’s the big deal?
Rabid Sam. I happen to be a Republican and I think you are an idiot for making such assumptions. Yes I do happen to know examples of “brown” folks that did come close to Gitmo including a friends father being deported because he wasn’t a citizen because of ignorant and racist beliefs in the government. I’ll refrain from going further. You don’t know me and my ilk so spare me your ranting and raving.
Pat Robertson is an idiot! When he speaks millions of Americans listen. When he makes racist, sexist and utterly irresonsible statements some imbred fuck listens and believes it and practices it. Thats the future of America. Apparently your kind believes it’s all OK to do that.
this case is really grievous. such impunity corrodes society. her family should have justice. if any story becomes a rallying cry for ending such events in the future in india, this should be one. such a confluence of injustice in this story
Sahej
Well, this kind of injustice happens amongst the poor in India thousands of times a day. But the nature of the crime – the interface between power, sheer unbridled arrogance, and the upper class glamourous lifestyle of the social milieu give it a certain prominence. So I agree with you, if it becomes an issue around which people can rally, some good may have come out of this terrible event.
Ohhh! that will be the day. I hope they will let you blog from gitmo, THAT will be interesting.
I’m sorry that’s awfully condescending. Indian minorities are the most prosperous of all communities to be found anywhere on this planet. Sikhs, Parsees and Jains are good examples of this. As for Muslims, it is incidental that they are a minority. They had the same minority status when they held ruthless sway over hindus.
Democracy is not a new concept for India. Moreover, it is well established that all sorts of different creeds flourished side by side in India way before the west dreamt up the concept of secularism. Where was this peaceful co-existence coming from? It certainly was not handed down to Indians by the west since they developed the idea much later. It is easy to drum up a few examples and keep harping on them, but in a 5,000 year old history these form the exception and not the rule. Naturally a confrontation with religions that are inherently intolerant will result in disastrous events for among the most peaceloving of people.
Al Mujahid, you seem to have caused some indigestion with your innocuous remarks! 😉
I happen to be a Republican and I think you are an idiot for making such assumptions
Big chuckle! You really beat me to it. That is for using the ‘ idiotic ‘ adjective to describe both of your posts. I won’t though call you an idiot, notwithstanding evidence to the contrary. So you are a Republican? Give me just a couple of affirmations that make you one because I really doubt you know your Republicans from your Democrats. Yes I do happen to know examples of “brown” folks that did come close to Gitmo including a friends father being deported because he wasn’t a citizen because of ignorant and racist beliefs in the government. I’ll refrain from going further.
So being deported for not having proper papers is like almost being sent to Gitmo? We all know of the unfortunate excesses in the aftermath of 9/11. We also know that if this were for example India there would have been riots and killings not just a few deportations. But yes, we should hold America to America’s standards not any other country’s.
ignorant and racist beliefs in the government
The head of this government went to a Mosque the day after 9/11 and has ever since been proclaiming that Islam is a great religion of peace just to preempt any violent backlash. The government has laid out an ambitious plan to win the hearts and minds of Muslims all over the world. And executed it too. What other American government gave a deserving Black woman the chance to be one of the most powerful women in the world? I could go on and on. You are the one who is sadly ignorant. I’ll refrain from going further.
Of course you’ll because you don’t know much. Do you?
When he speaks millions of Americans listen. When he makes racist, sexist and utterly irresonsible statements some imbred fuck listens and believes it and practices it. Thats the future of America.
No they don’t. There are many more Americans who make fun of Robertson than those who take his word and go around lynching your brown/black/non Christian friends. Racist, sexist? Roberston is in the business of evangelism. He can’t afford to alienate any prospective customers by being either racist or sexist. Can you cite evidence? No, I don’t think so. Thats the future of America . Start packing your bags. Enough of your alarmist bullshit already.
Oh btw don’t type too fast and furious there are many typos which belie your high intellect!!
divya – two things.. i dont think the original poster disputed the prosperity of the minorities… his grouse was, and this is shared by many among us, is that law is not impartial and its favors are skewed towards the favored few… that being said, regarding the hindu as a ‘majority’ is taking a western point of view in which everyone has to fit a construct… to me, the hindu is an inchoate mass, the backdrop against which the minorities stand out by virtue of their social-religious practices… needless to say, this inchoate mass, by virtue of its size and weight is very capable of crushing the minority element… wherein lies the dilemma for those like i who are not sure whether to feel guilty or not for something on which one has no control… this point of course is a helpful perspective when giving vent to the patent racism in the US and Canada, wherein the tables seem to be turned… and the best amongst us seem to be cryin’ out for lawd have mercy and to scrounge some crumbs off yer table… becuz we’s poor folk whipped for centuries under the foreign yok-yok.
No they are not. The only groups that can be called “minority” the way its spoken for here in the US, are the so called Scheduled Class and Tribal groups of India. They are not the most prosperous of all communities by any stretch of imagination. South Asian Indians, a minority in the US, are somewhat an example of a “prosperous minority”.
Wow you are ignorant. Being a greencard holder is not having proper papers? And he was detained for 3 months in a jail cell like a criminal. He’d lived and worked hard in this country for 17 years. WTF. What you call “unfortunate excesses” in the aftermath of 9/11 is a pathetic excuse. Some jackasses still can’t tell the difference between a sikh man and a muslim man and people like you think it’s ok for them to be collateral damage. And typical to bring the lowest common denominator to dilute the actual problem at hand. Why are we talking about India and it’s standards or lack thereoff when judging the United States?
Who cares that he went to a Mosque? You make it sound like it’s such a huge deal. He’s the leader of a country filled with people of all religions. I don’t find it such a massive accomplishment. There was no violent backlash. Americans are more civilized than some of the animals across the world. Yes it took 300+ years to get here. And Condi ain’t gonna make it. The very same guys that support the current administration would not want to see a Black woman who supports the right to choose make it to the highest post in the land.
And I stand by my original statement. I think you are an idiot for getting rabid on me instead of having a civilized discussion. Something must have rubbed you the wrong way in a personal way to spew so much hate.
If you have any ounce of intelligence you’d at the least google Robertson if not find a huge page devoted him to Wikipedia nevermind a ton of blogs and articles out there dedicated to him and I wouldn’t be surprised if you dismissed them all as “liberal bullshit”. You seem like the type.
I won’t be contributing to your education. You owe that to yourself. I have no interest in arguing with a total ass. You need to learn debate etiquette on a message board. Have a nice day.
once again… depends… prosperity transcends casteism… a very good example would be the dead-disposal community along the holy rivers… they have a virtual monopoly on the cremations … it isnt a pleasant task, but they’ve done well. there are other examples within other professional monopolies – skin traders, weavers etc – but y’know this is an endless debate on who’s happy or who’s not… – at the end of the day nobody wants equality, they all want to ream the others’ ass-collective – and that my fine frabjous friend is the fundamental foolishness ‘fflicting us all, forthwith. fffggh
And I stand by my original statement. I think you are an idiot for getting rabid on me instead of having a civilized discussion. Something must have rubbed you the wrong way in a personal way to spew so much hate.
If you have any ounce of intelligence you’d at the least google Robertson if not find a huge page devoted him to Wikipedia nevermind a ton of blogs and articles out there dedicated to him and I wouldn’t be surprised if you dismissed them all as “liberal bullshit”. You seem like the type.
I won’t be contributing to your education. You owe that to yourself. I have no interest in arguing with a total ass. You need to learn debate etiquette on a message board. Have a nice day.
I say : judge for yourself.
Oh I meant to boldtype ‘ass‘ as well.
Dhaavak – I agree the western concept of minority doesn’t hold with respect to India. Unless each blogger or commenter decides to define such words at the start of each post we just have to work with the generally accepted meaning of these words. My point was that it is inaccurate to claim that Indians are finally catching up with democracy.
Restructuring of judicial system in India is certainly needed, says a law professor:
“Our system is such that while dealing with an influential person, the law is applied differently, as compared to the common man, be it at the time of arrest, investigation or trial.” Prolonged trials make witnesses to lose interest or turn hostile. “People get fed up running around in courts and waiting for justice,” he says. “The longer a trial, the greater the chances of witnesses failing to recall the incident. They then get exposed during cross-examination. This is an outcome of procedural delays caused by our system,” says a senior advocate”
“As streamlining the criminal justice system will not fetch votes and on the contrary may prove detrimental for tainted politicians, reforming the system is not a priority with the political class”
Interesting comments. I was not trying to be either condescending or patronizing towards India. I was merely commending the Indian Judicial System for protecting the rights of the minority.
You may know about the contentious issue of Muslim Personal law which accords certain rights to Muslims only I thought the Hindus and Christians also had the option of being governed by their own personal laws. I might be wrong.
There have been no convictions for the Godhara train burning act (as far as I am aware) As far as I know the whole train incident has been swept under the rug as an “accident”.
Unsolved crime is not always a problem especially in the absence of a lack of motive. I am not sure if the Modi led state police in Gujarat had a motive to not persecute the Ghodra perpetrators. One sin they cant be accused of is coddling the Muslims. The problem arises when Congress Parliamentarians commit acts of wanton violence against a minority like Sikhs in Delhi or the Bakery case in Gujarat where the perpetrators were caught/in public eye and still no justice is served. I hope the Congress Parliamentarians are also put on trial like the Bakery case perpetrators.
As for Muslims, it is incidental that they are a minority. They had the same minority status when they held ruthless sway over hindus.
Thats true. Being a minority is not always the test. In South Africa the white minority was pretty ruthless and in Syria the Shitte Alawi minority are pretty ruthless too. I was referring not to the minority versus majority status as in numerosity per se but more in the sense of balance of power.
Moreover, it is well established that all sorts of different creeds flourished side by side in India way before the west dreamt up the concept of secularism. Where was this peaceful co-existence coming from? It certainly was not handed down to Indians by the west since they developed the idea much later
I do believe that India can learn a thing or two from contemporary West on treatment of minorities.
You are probably right. I was just trying to imply that the unlike the institutionalized subjugation of blacks (years after the emancipation proclamation), India and her constitution does not impose the will of a majority on a minority.
This is true. But IMHO, westerners, in past or in present, have never had the opportunity to interact with a significant “minority”.
Also, during the second world war Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps. I would not call that a particularly sophisticated treatment of a minority by an Administration (Roosevelt).
Like learning to pay better lip service to minority rights perhaps?
But seriously the west has even more to learn from the Indian model. The western model, while it tries very hard to make amends, basically ends up effacing all differences and forces people to conform to what is basically the Protestant model of what is right and proper. You see this happening with feminism and gays, as much as it has in the past with catholics and jews. The Indian model, before it took on this colonial garb, truly allowed minorities to exist in whichever way they wanted. But it just may be too late to revive the languishing indian model even in india let alone anywhere else.
Slightly off topic I guess.
But when it comes to lynching America was “influenced” a tiny tiny little bit by India and other countries. I recall a documentary on the civil rights movement (on PRI maybe) a couple of years ago. Most if not all of the documentary was pieced together from archival audio-tape. And there was this snippet in which some politician says (quoting from memory) “Oh god we (America) have to do something we are even getting bashed in papers in India”. Or something to that effect. I want to say the speaker was Pres. Johnson, but it may have been someone else.
Well my jaw dropped I never even knew about this angle to the civil rights movement.
CanÂ’t find the documentary via google but I found this
Mujahid,
I agree, your analogy was not intentional neverthless it was a bit overstretched. Also I think while person laws are there only for christians and muslims, there are different laws as regarding adoption and inheritance for all communities. Main point(s) of contention is that according to Muslim Personal Law, Polygamy and Triple Talaq are allowed. I think it is highly discrimanatory. (Here I remember there used to be some laws even for Hindus which were slightly discrimantory, but fortunately most of them are amended or scrapped).
Lastly India can learn many things from west (Idea of free speech, Free market etc),interaction between different communities is however not one of them. Historically west has not been very good to its “minorities”, and as far as contemperory west goes it till recently did not have any significant “minority” populations.
Regards
Anyway, if you want a better Indian newspaper than TOI, try DNA (Daily news and analysis). It’s a new paper owned by the Zee network and was being aggressively promoted when I was traveling in India. It’s definitely a whole lot better than TOI.
Thanks for the link. While people often take off Times of India out here, and deservedly so, I would definitely recommend switching to “The Hindu”. Thoughtful analysis in the center pages, excellent editorials, and despite its name, secular. My only complaint is that it is a tad bit too left wing for my taste, but I think that is merely an editorial choice.
And I did a quick Google to retrieve the link for “The Hindu” for you lovely folks and wince!
News results for The Hindu – View today’s top stories Hindu priest didn’t recognise Spears – Hindustan Times – 3 hours ago Hundreds puff marijuana in Nepal to mark Hindu festival – INQ7.net – 27 Feb 2006 Two-way channel for The Hindu readers – Hindu – 26 Feb 2006
Yeah I agree. Something needs to jolt people to these kinds of issues