and/or www.mantra.com/jai (Dr. Jai Maharaj)
2011-06-22 16:27:54 UTC
Forwarded message from A. C.
A Grim Reminder To Mumbai
By M. J. Akbar
India Today
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Intro: Dey murder: Should we assume that it is currently legal to
shoot journalists in Mumbai?
The besetting sin of the Indian ruling class might prove to be
exceptional stupidity rather than pervasive corruption. Successful
politicians are clever, or they would not be successful. But they can
become foolish enough to believe that the rest of us are stupid.
The subtle lie is a fine art, and a crisis rouses veterans to their
slipperiest best. The murder of crime-busting reporter Jyotirmoy Dey
in Mumbai by a posse of motorbike gunmen, in the soggy daylight of a
monsoon afternoon, was a public relations catastrophe for the
Maharashtra government. The crocodile tears of ministers began to
compete with the monsoon instantly. Carried away by excessive piety,
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Home Minister R.R. Patil and all-
purpose busybody Chhagan Bhujbal even promised a majestic law to
protect journalists.
Since this law has not been passed, should we assume that it is
currently legal to shoot journalists in Mumbai?
There is no shortage of laws in India. There is a terrifying shortage
of legal order. The order of the day in Mumbai is determined by a
politician-police-criminal coalition that deploys private armies to
send a periodic message to pests who interfere with their lucrative
control of the economic sinews of the black economy. They do not kill
journalists, or whistleblowers, every day. Discretion is the better
part of their valour. Their purpose is just to let everyone know
whose finger is more effective on the trigger. Dey's death was one
such reminder to the media.
The litany of alibis, including a few pompous ones like the proposed
legislation, trotted out by politicians is designed to cajole,
flatter, fudge or even buy the Mumbai establishment's way out of a
crisis that threatens the stability of the cops-criminal-minister
nexus.
I often wonder why we keep calling Mumbai's criminal gangs the
underworld. They live in, and dominate, the overworld. 'Underworld'
tends to give them a shadowy, even ethereal presence, as if they
float in dark corners of the city like phantoms on the prowl.
They are masters of the day, not vampires of the night. They are in
league with, if not colleagues of, high officials who shield them
from those suicidal enough to challenge their kingdom.
Within 48 hours of Dey's murder, an Assistant Commissioner of Police,
Anil Mahabole, in charge of the Azad Maidan precinct, had been
downgraded. His ranking senior, police commissioner Arup Patnaik said
that he was "neither denying nor confirming Mahabole's role" in the
incident. Such equivocation suggests guilt, at the very least. Simple
question: how long does it take an assistant commissioner of police
to get corrupt? 24 hours, or 24 years? If Mahabole's reputation was
common knowledge, why was he in control of Azad Maidan police
station? On one side, Azad Maidan runs along a green lung to Bombay
Gymkhana. Turn 180 degrees, and life shifts: just beyond the great
railway terminus lie the congested lanes where Dawood Ibrahim used to
live, and from where his brother and sister still control their
prolific business. A few weeks ago, a motorbike squad tried to kill
Dawood's brother in one of these lanes, and got his driver instead.
You do not have to be as brilliant as a chief minister or a police
commissioner to guess what the Mumbai police's brief is: promise just
about enough to appease journalists, but do nothing to destroy the
enriching partnership that rules Mumbai. Round up scapegoats.
Sacrifice one or two, strictly if necessary. Photograph the applause.
Limit this to a media issue, not a citizens' cause. Circumstances are
on your side: the culture of an ambitious metropolis is determined by
the self-interest of anonymous survival, not the generosity of
community consciousness. Mumbai knows that the "bhai", the gangster,
is an ineradicable part of the city's ecology. Take your time.
Reporters will return to their grind, with another tiny germ of fear
etched into their hearts. A reporter's death is a statistic. Mumbai
is not sentimental about statistics.
The ruling class will rule, until the phlegm at the base finally
rises, and boils over into rage.
End of forwarded message from A. C.
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed
by forgery by one or more net terrorists,
this post may be reposted several times.
A Grim Reminder To Mumbai
By M. J. Akbar
India Today
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Intro: Dey murder: Should we assume that it is currently legal to
shoot journalists in Mumbai?
The besetting sin of the Indian ruling class might prove to be
exceptional stupidity rather than pervasive corruption. Successful
politicians are clever, or they would not be successful. But they can
become foolish enough to believe that the rest of us are stupid.
The subtle lie is a fine art, and a crisis rouses veterans to their
slipperiest best. The murder of crime-busting reporter Jyotirmoy Dey
in Mumbai by a posse of motorbike gunmen, in the soggy daylight of a
monsoon afternoon, was a public relations catastrophe for the
Maharashtra government. The crocodile tears of ministers began to
compete with the monsoon instantly. Carried away by excessive piety,
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Home Minister R.R. Patil and all-
purpose busybody Chhagan Bhujbal even promised a majestic law to
protect journalists.
Since this law has not been passed, should we assume that it is
currently legal to shoot journalists in Mumbai?
There is no shortage of laws in India. There is a terrifying shortage
of legal order. The order of the day in Mumbai is determined by a
politician-police-criminal coalition that deploys private armies to
send a periodic message to pests who interfere with their lucrative
control of the economic sinews of the black economy. They do not kill
journalists, or whistleblowers, every day. Discretion is the better
part of their valour. Their purpose is just to let everyone know
whose finger is more effective on the trigger. Dey's death was one
such reminder to the media.
The litany of alibis, including a few pompous ones like the proposed
legislation, trotted out by politicians is designed to cajole,
flatter, fudge or even buy the Mumbai establishment's way out of a
crisis that threatens the stability of the cops-criminal-minister
nexus.
I often wonder why we keep calling Mumbai's criminal gangs the
underworld. They live in, and dominate, the overworld. 'Underworld'
tends to give them a shadowy, even ethereal presence, as if they
float in dark corners of the city like phantoms on the prowl.
They are masters of the day, not vampires of the night. They are in
league with, if not colleagues of, high officials who shield them
from those suicidal enough to challenge their kingdom.
Within 48 hours of Dey's murder, an Assistant Commissioner of Police,
Anil Mahabole, in charge of the Azad Maidan precinct, had been
downgraded. His ranking senior, police commissioner Arup Patnaik said
that he was "neither denying nor confirming Mahabole's role" in the
incident. Such equivocation suggests guilt, at the very least. Simple
question: how long does it take an assistant commissioner of police
to get corrupt? 24 hours, or 24 years? If Mahabole's reputation was
common knowledge, why was he in control of Azad Maidan police
station? On one side, Azad Maidan runs along a green lung to Bombay
Gymkhana. Turn 180 degrees, and life shifts: just beyond the great
railway terminus lie the congested lanes where Dawood Ibrahim used to
live, and from where his brother and sister still control their
prolific business. A few weeks ago, a motorbike squad tried to kill
Dawood's brother in one of these lanes, and got his driver instead.
You do not have to be as brilliant as a chief minister or a police
commissioner to guess what the Mumbai police's brief is: promise just
about enough to appease journalists, but do nothing to destroy the
enriching partnership that rules Mumbai. Round up scapegoats.
Sacrifice one or two, strictly if necessary. Photograph the applause.
Limit this to a media issue, not a citizens' cause. Circumstances are
on your side: the culture of an ambitious metropolis is determined by
the self-interest of anonymous survival, not the generosity of
community consciousness. Mumbai knows that the "bhai", the gangster,
is an ineradicable part of the city's ecology. Take your time.
Reporters will return to their grind, with another tiny germ of fear
etched into their hearts. A reporter's death is a statistic. Mumbai
is not sentimental about statistics.
The ruling class will rule, until the phlegm at the base finally
rises, and boils over into rage.
End of forwarded message from A. C.
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed
by forgery by one or more net terrorists,
this post may be reposted several times.