[Reader-list] Crime and No Punishment: Malegaon Blast Accused Get a Respite

[Murali V]

Dear Rakesh JI,

What do you think of having a common civil code?

Regards,
V Murali

On Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 5:17 PM, Rakesh Iyer <rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com> wrote:

> Kshamendra jee
>
> The question is not of not having bias. As a human being, it is certainly
> normal to have a bias. Shuddha jee is biased towards democracy, Pawan jee
> is
> biased towards justice to Pandits and punishment of Yasin Malik, the BJP is
> biased towards Hindutva way of life, and the Left is biased towards
> anti-Americanism. (And I am particularly biased towards right to food, and
> certainly Hindutva politics because of the ideology it espouses)
>
> What is important is whether such a bias is justifiable, as Sen says, in
> the
> promotion of freedoms and rights to people, which enhance their
> capabilities
> and help them to lead their lives as they value. This is where the Hindutva
> way of life must be condemned because it doesn't allow certain people to
> lead their lives as they want (and here I am taking out secularists and
> looking at the problem from the angle of minorities themselves). And this
> is
> against human rights, as much as are the activities of the Taliban and the
> terrorists who live in our own society, enjoy the very same rights as
> others
> do, and yet don't allow other to enjoy those rights.
>
> And to find out whether such a bias is justifiable or not, public
> discussion
> is necessary. This is what allows all of us to decide for our own selves
> what is justifiable and what is not. I condemn BJP and some of the harsh
> measures they like to implement in various forms (like anti-terror laws)
> specifically because they serve the objective of the terrorists themselves,
> which is to restrict the rights of citizens and make them feel harassed and
> deprived. That is not what we should give in to
>
> Moreover, biases can also change with public discussion. My own bias for
> pro-BJP was changed once I got to discuss about its policies with other
> people. Before that, I thought one should be always nationalistic
> (something
> like Vedavati jee is). Till I managed to discuss about the issues of
> course.
>
>
> So what I wish to say is that, if someone can prove that BJP's actions
> which
> I am suspicious of, are actually enhancing rights of citizens and their
> freedoms, please go ahead and we may think about it certainly.
>
> Regards
>
> Rakesh
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