Unnecessary controversy
28th April 2022 was a very significant day for Assam. On that very day Prime Minister Modi and Ratan Tata came to Assam on a one-day visit to inaugurate seven cancer hospitals in the State. The seven cancer institutions which PM Modi inaugurated are one of the best in the nation, equipped with the latest gadgets. We all know that incidence of cancer is very high in North-East India and people suffering from this fatal disease have to go outside Assam for better treatment. BBCI was the only institution which catered the needs of entire NE India with its limited capacity. As usual, there were some ripples around the State and the nation about the expenditures incurred by the State for PM's visit and resentment for the difficulties faced by the commuters on that particular day for paucity of public and government buses which were requisitioned by the State machinery to ferry people willing to attend the PM's rally, which was no doubt a very big success. The grumblings by the opposition over this issue almost became national, as expected. It is up to the people of Assam to deliver a final verdict on this issue, not some power brokers like Prashant Kishor and Co. Modi and Tata came, saw and uplifted. Before parting, I on behalf of the people of Assam salute Hon'ble Ratan Tata for his yet another largess towards humanity. He deserves the Bharat Ratna.
Dr Ashim Chowdhury,
Guwahati.
Neo Patriots!
We all know that we had many heroes who gallantly fought against the Mughal invaders in the past. They are Lachit Barphukan from Assam, Rana Pratap Singh from Rajasthan, Ranjit Singh from Punjab, Chhatrapati Shivaji from Maharashtra. We still feel proud of their gallantry and patriotism. But very recently to my utter disgust I came across a news item published in your esteemed daily about a free-for-all clash with open swords between Shiv Sena, the so-called followers of great Sivaji and the Nihangs, the so-called followers of great Ranjit Singh and supporter of Khalistan in Patiala, a leading city of Punjab, a State newly occupied by AAP politically. The Mughals sitting across our border must be very amused at this development and great Shivaji and Ranjit Singh must be turning in their graves.
Is this the fall out of our multi-party secular democracy? Shame!
Lanu Dutt Chowdhury,
Guwahati.
Can Musk guarantee 'free speech'?
After taking the command of micro blogging site Twitter, in exchange of 44 billion USD, Elon Musk said that the platform will uphold free speech that matches the law. In recent times many users of Twitter got banned for posting controversial tweets. Troll armies of political parties use the site to troll those who speak against them. On the other hand, many users who use the site to express their thoughts, which were later found to offend some people, have been charged with different sections of the law and put behind bars. In the recent arrest of Gujarat's independent MLA Jignesh Mewani, he posted a tweet terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a disciple of Godse and appealing to the PM to call for peace and harmony, opposing the communal incidents that happened in Gujarat few days ago. Getting offended by the tweet, a BJP worker from Assam filled an FIR against Mewani and the Assam Police arrested him from Gujarat and brought him to Assam. If this has to be the consequences of tweeting, how 'free speech' - that Musk advocates – can be exercised on Twitter?
Dhrubajyoti Malakar,
Gauhati University.
CJI's plain talk
Speaking at the inauguration of the 11th Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana castigated "illegal arrests", custody torture and biased investigations by police while spelling out why Governments deserved most of the blame for the backlog of 4 crore court cases in the country. In very strong words he told an audience that included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, "If police investigations are fair, if illegal arrests and custodial torture come to an end, then no victim will have to approach the courts." This has come a day after a sessions court in BJP-ruled Assam said the Northeastern State was becoming a "police state". It was referring to Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani being subjected to repeated arrests by Assam police, the latest in a case the sessions court found "manufactured". Justice Ramana's bitter truth is that deliberate inaction by Governments despite judicial pronouncements is not good for the health of democracy. Whereas Prime Minister Modi gave his path-finding suggestion that encouraging local languages in courts "will not only increase the confidence of common citizens in the justice system, but they will feel more connected to it". Earlier, CJI Ramana had highlighted the need for some courts to conduct business in local languages. PM Modi endorsed the idea but said it will be a while before it actually happens. Moreover, Prime Minister Modi appealed to the Chief Ministers to repeal "outdated laws" to make the delivery of justice easier. "In 2015, we identified about 1,800 laws which had become irrelevant. Out of these, 1,450 such laws of the Centre were abolished. But, only 75 such laws have been abolished by the States." Incidentally, to improve access to justice, CJI emphasized the need for dedicated, systemic and infrastructural development at the Courts. Judges know the Judiciary's requirements best and must be allowed to play a key role in its development. There are many suggestions and ifs and buts in the conference, but the big questions are: will the misuse of public interest litigation (PIL) be stopped, will government accept the court verdict for smooth work, and how many years will it take for all the suggestions in the conference from both the sides to see daylight?
Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,
Faridabad 121005