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Tuesday,
May 6, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Amma’s tantrums Friendly fire Swadeshi craft, videshi wings |
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Bleak future for dynastic politics
Peace that will last!
Judges bearing six times the normal load Two lakh cases are pending
A new drug nightmare is unfolding
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Amma’s tantrums TAMIL NADU Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s conduct on Sunday when she boycotted the inauguration of Chennai's new international airport terminal was unbecoming to the high office she occupies. Her explanation on Monday dragging the Prime Minister’s Office into the controversy does not detract from the seriousness of her lapse. She was piqued by the presence of the DMK leader and Union Forest and Environment Minister, Mr T.R. Baalu, at the function. She forgot that Mr Baalu had every reason to be on the dais as the airport falls within his parliamentary constituency. Jayalalithaa thought she had done her duty by welcoming the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to the state with a customary shawl. However deferential she may have been to Mr Vajpayee, her boycott of the function clearly amounted to an insult to the Prime Minister. After all, as reports suggest, he had pleaded with her to stay on for the function, where she was billed as one of the chief guests. The level of sycophancy in the state is such that no minister would ever dare to attend a function, which the Amma has boycotted. As a result, there was no representation from the state government at the function. This speaks volumes for the kind of leadership that Ms Jayalalithaa provides to the state. There are protocol rules and the much-touted Warrant of Precedence, which those in power are expected to adhere to. But then, Jayalalithaa does not pay much heed to such niceties in public life. The way she treated the former Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, and the manner in which she has been trying to put a highly respected newspaper in the dock exposes the streak of ruthlessness in her. However, what is difficult to believe is that it is the same lady who had kicked up a shindy when she was allegedly not invited to the swearing-in ceremony of Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. At that time no less a person than the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, had to apologise to her. What is unfortunate is that she is able to get away with such behaviour. She has misused the Prevention of Terrorism Act against her political opponents and even journalists. The NDA Government has shown its utter helplessness in rescuing the leader of one of its own constituents from the clutches of POTA. Jayalalithaa knows how to manipulate every situation to her advantage. She is now the darling of a section of the Sangh Parivar because of her pro-Hindutva stance on many issues. They would consider her a natural ally than the anti-Brahmin, atheistic DMK. The recent by-election results have convinced the Chief Minister that she does not need the support of either the Congress or the BJP to retain her stranglehold on the state. So she can afford to insult the Prime Minister and get away with it. Imagine how the BJP would have reacted if Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi had behaved like the lady who resides in Poes Garden! That is the advantage of being Jayalalithaa. |
Friendly fire VHP leader Praveen Togadia’s continuing hectoring on the trishul issue and India’s ties with Pakistan shows that the recently concluded RSS conclave was not really aimed at “improving coordination” between the BJP and other Sangh Parivar affiliates in terms of working together and refraining from making personal attacks on any of their leaders. Within a couple of days of the “cordial” meeting, which left everyone, including Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, satisfied, Mr Togadia launched a thinly veiled attack on the Prime Minister. He said on Sunday: “Do I have to learn Hindutva from spineless people who can’t defend the country from jehadi terrorists?” But his renewed attack so soon after the meeting may have shocked only the politically naive. It is obvious that the Parivar is working in tandem. While people like Mr Togadia up the ante to fan the sentiment at the mass level, the government headed by Mr Vajpayee continues to do what it deems right given the political situation at home and abroad. It will, therefore, be a mistake to think that the Parivar is speaking in two voices and that these voices are at loggerheads with each other. Rather, the strategy to have more than one voice may have been calibrated at the recent RSS conclave as four crucial states are going to the polls in the next six months. So while Mr Vajpayee continues to be the “moderate and mature” face of the Parivar whose government exists on the basis of support lent to it by a clutch of allies, the side arms are being used to check the swift erosion of the BJP vote bank. The loud voices on Ram
Mandir, trishul diksha and restoration of ties with Pakistan show desperation and are intended to serve the purpose of igniting a fervour that can be harvested as assembly seats in the four states. Moreover, such noise-making also takes the initiative away from the Opposition like the Congress. This will allow the agenda to be set by the rabble rousers. Small wonder that the issue right now in Rajasthan is not one of development or governance. Instead, it is “popular sentiment” on how right or wrong is trishul diksha and the government’s handling of it. The “popular” sentiment — or as Mr Togadia puts it, the “nationalistic” sentiment — is expected to override everything else and ensure a victory to the BJP at the
hustings. The strategy may or may not yield the desired results to the BJP in electoral terms, but the actions of its affiliates, especially the
VHP, will definitely impact the polity adversely. Moreover, Mr Togadia is personally doing no service to Hindutva or to the electoral designs of his senior BJP colleagues by indulging in strident posturing and by stirring the communal cauldron. The Parivar needs to realise its shortsightedness before it suffers political casualty on account of Mr Togadia’s “friendly fire.” |
Swadeshi craft, videshi wings INDIA will now have its Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), which the Prime Minister has named
Tejas, brilliance in Sanskrit. Innovation and integration of various international systems have proved to be a brilliant stroke that cut the Gordian knot of indigenisation efforts and a slew of delays, some avoidable, some not, which had bedevilled the much-needed LCA project, ever since it was conceived in 1983. Meant to replace the ageing fleet of MiG 21 aircraft, the LCA has taken a long time coming. Efforts to develop the indigenous engine,
Kaveri, have not borne the desired fruit and, in fact, a decision was made several years ago to import the engines. However, following the sanctions that were imposed by the US after the 1998 nuclear blasts, all military-related material stopped coming to India. Last year this barrier was lifted and the new Tejas was fitted with a US-made engine. The new aircraft is swadeshi in so far as its origin is concerned, though many of its critical components are
videshi. The wing has Italian carbon components, making it as much as 20 per cent lighter, and the avionics package is a mixture of Swedish, French and Israeli components, which have been made to mesh together by Indian ingenuity. More than five lakh lines of software code, especially written for the aircraft by Bangalore-based engineers, are considered comparable to, if not better, than those in European fighters. The heads-up display is from Chandigarh's own CSIO lab and is considered first class. While India is not in the league of nations like the US, Russia and France, which have the capability of producing aircraft entirely on their own, it has been building aircraft from the 1940s and has produced the highly-regarded Marut and Kiran aircraft after 1960. Kiran is scheduled to be replaced by another Hindustan Aeronautics Limited-plane, HJT-36, in the coming decade. While the naming ceremony is not quite an earthshaking event, it is an occasion to give a pat on the back to those involved in making the aircraft that will defend the nation from air aggression in future. However, it also needs to be kept in mind that it will be many years before this aircraft is inducted into the Indian Air Force. There has been grave concern at the rising number of aircrashes involving MiG aircraft, especially the ageing MiG 21s. This makes it imperative that replacements be found and inducted at the earliest. Also critical is the need for the Advanced Jet Trainer. At any time, India is short of hundreds of fighter pilots, and the nation can ill-afford to lose them. While we salute the achievement of producing
Tejas, its brilliance will only be useful when it passes all tests required for its induction into the
IAF. Only then will it find its rightful place among the fighter aircraft of the nation. |
Bleak future for dynastic politics THE three-time Chief Minister of Punjab and President of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, remarked recently, “If you are in a profession, your child follows the same line. A doctor’s child becomes a doctor. Mine came into politics. What is wrong with it?” This justification which was once used by the Congress party to defend dynastic politics of the Nehru-Gandhi family has become a common feature of most political parties in India today, reducing them from being mass political formations reflecting the needs and aspirations of people to personal fiefdoms. Mr Badal’s argument that a child follows the profession of his parent is not only pre-modern but also incorrect. Except for professions like law, performing arts like music, dance and cinema, where family pedigree still offers a headstart, most children do not follow the profession of their parents. This is because most professions have increasingly become so highly specialised, compartmentalised and competitive that it is virtually impossible for a child to step into or inherit his parents’ profession. Furthermore, with the proliferation of professions and the rise of new ones, it is an anachronism to expect a child to merely continue with what one’s parents do or did. But the fact remains that nepotism and patronage within the family are natural for anybody in power, or aspiring for it in order to fortify one’s support in a society like India where institutions are weak or non-existent, or that the existing institutions are destroyed by the power-seeker. Nepotism is a means of security and insurance. The dominance of the Nehru-Gandhi family has given the country three generations of Prime Ministers and that perhaps is unprecedented in the world. It is rather ironical that leaders of most political parties today forget that for Mahatma Gandhi politics was a service and that he did not name or bring anyone from his family either to succeed him or carry on his movement. He identified his successors on the basis of merit, naming first Rajagopalachari and then Nehru. It is this bold initiative of the Mahatma that today’s politicians should emulate rather than feather their own nest and pursue narrow family interests. Nehru, the first Prime Minister, unlike his mentor Gandhi, did not name his successor. His democratic instincts, perhaps, deterred him from doing so, but this inaction inadvertently helped in establishing a political dynasty by his daughter, Indira Gandhi, who became Prime Minister twice. This was perpetuated by her elder son, Rajiv Gandhi, the seventh Prime Minister. The probability of this continuing into the next generation is not without hope with Rajiv’s children being projected as future leaders. For the past four decades the Congress has become a preserve of the Nehru-Gandhi family, not realising that dynastic and democratic politics do not mix well. It is immaterial whether by design or by accident the Congress allowed the rise of a political dynasty in the world’s largest democracy. This certainly reflects its bankruptcy and pre-modernity for it does not offer scope for young leaders from the grassroots to work their way up to the top position. As a consequence, the annual election of important office-holders, including the president, which was a regular practice under the stewardship of Gandhi, was totally discarded by Indira Gandhi by not holding any election for 17 long years, thus closing all avenues of advancement for better candidates. This practice has become the pattern in most of the other political parties as well. Political families not only depend on their male members but also turn to their women in times of need to safeguard the benefits that public office gives. These women do not have independent work or achievement to their credit, but enjoy prominence more as a result of being the daughter or wife of the person in high office. This has been the pattern in South Asian countries. It is interesting that when Rajiv and Sanjay Gandhi were alive their respective spouses did not seem to nourish any political ambition. Indira Gandhi also thought it natural for her sons to inherit her political office. She first groomed Sanjay and then the reluctant Rajiv after Sanjay’s untimely death. After Indira Gandhi’s assassination the Congress appointed Rajiv Gandhi as her successor. On Rajiv Gandhi’s brutal assassination the party turned to his widow, Sonia Gandhi, and requested her to assume her husband’s political mantle, which she did in 1998. In Sri Lanka, the first woman Prime Minister in the region, Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike, succeeded in 1960 after her husband’s assassination in 1959. Her daughter, Mrs Chandrika Kumaratunga, whose spouse was assassinated in 1988, is at present the President. In Pakistan, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto also came from a political family with her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, having been the Prime Minister. In Bangladesh, after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with most of his family members in 1975, his daughter, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, in England at that time, became the natural successor. Her political rival, Mrs Khaleda Zia, the present Prime Minister, assumed political office on the assassination of her husband in 1981. This is the case with the Philippines, Myanmar and Indonesia too. Mr Aquino, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi and Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri have assumed political roles on the assassination/deposition of their husband or father. A common pattern in all these cases barring Indira Gandhi’s has been that these women have assumed power as a result of an assassination case. The sympathy that they evoke as a result of the terrible personal loss gives them a temporary advantage over the rivals which again reflects the weakness of political parties in the developing world. Dynastic and aristocratic rule is, however, becoming a thing of the past. In a world of competing democratic systems, merit, competence and capability are emerging as important factors for judging leadership qualities. With the consolidation and spread of democracy coupled with the role of mass media and an educated and well-informed electorate, the high-profile political families will increasingly become irrelevant. This is clearly evident in the industrial and commercial world where the examples of Mr Bill Gates in the US and Mr Azim Premji and Mr Narayan Murthy in India have shown what appropriate leadership can do to win the race in a competitive business world. Similarly, what will increasingly count in politics is the performance and ability rather than birth and family ties. This is reflected by the fact that in India 70 per cent of the elected representatives fail to get re-elected. Analogically, their fate will resemble that of the princely rulers in the Indian political process where once they dominated in the immediate aftermath of Independence, but now their influence is relegated to a few pockets. The same fate waits dynastic politics, an anachronism in an age of mass democracy, which politicians like Mr Badal fail to perceive. Politics is of serious concern to all of us, and it will be extremely unfortunate if the leadership of such an important activity is restricted to a few political families alone. The writer teaches political science in Delhi University. |
Peace that will last! OUR family astrologer, Pandit Asatya Dev, came to us with an unusual request. He had an urgent message for Pradhanmantri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The stars had guided him to us for carrying it to the most over-guarded address in India. The request had the effect of being hit by a sledgehammer. Panditji left us with no choice but to do his bidding. If we refused, we would burn in the fire of “nark”. We have heard many good things about the final resting place of the evil ones. But we are loners by choice. Panditji’s mission promised to lead us straight to the paradise on earth and the one hereafter. The only concession we could extract from Asatya Devji Maharaj was the permission to make public the contents of his letter to the Pradhanmantriji. This is what it said:- Respected Pradhanmantriji, pranam. I am glad that you chose Srinagar for extending the hand of friendship to Pakistan on behalf of India. You have said that this is going to be your third and last attempt for normalising relations between brothers. You are a poet and a visionary. You will understand why you should look for an appropriate place or deal for ensuring lasting peace in the subcontinent. You should not call it a last chance for peace, but a chance for restoring peace that will last. You know the difference. Ask Murli Manohar Joshiji. He will tell you the significance of your visit to Lahore — the first step by you for making brothers meet. It lies in the first letter of the name of that historic city. L is for Lahore. And your second step too was the result of divine guidance. You could have invited Gen Pervez Musharraf to Delhi for talks. He would have been happy visiting his lost haveli in Chandni Chowk and enjoying the usual warmth of sub-continental hospitality. But the stars know better. You were made to choose Agra — visited publicly for the Taj Mahal and secretly for the lunatic asylum. The kind of politics you are playing have elements of romance and madness woven into it. Besides the name of the city made immortal by Shahjahan begins with the letter A. Yes, A is for Agra. Last month you surprised yourself and everyone else by deciding to visit Srinagar. Your media managers did not forget to emphasise the fact that it was the first visit to the Lost Paradise on earth in 15 years by an Indian Prime Minister. You sprung a second surprise by extending the hand of friendship to Pakistan from the territory that Musharraf wants to add to the piece of Kashmiri real estate under his illegal occupation. You were led to Srinagar by your stars. Yes, S is also for Srinagar. L is for Lahore. A is for Agra. S is for Srinagar. If you place them in the order in which the events associated with the three cities unfolded, they read — LAS. You don’t need to consult Joshiji to understand the importance of the missing T to lend meaning to what you have said on your return from Srinagar. The missing T cannot certainly be Tirupati. Unless you want to blow it all up in a single move of poor diplomacy! I can’t think of a place in Pakistan that begins with that all-important letter — the letter that stands between lasting peace and everlasting bitterness between India and Pakistan. In the context of the proposed gas pipeline from Iran to India through Pakistan I see not one but two Ts helping you complete the process that you began with the L of Lahore. The final peace settlement could be signed in Teheran. Restoration of trade links between the two countries too could provide the missing T for completing the word that may bring peace that will “last” and not what you have been quoted as having said. Think positive Pradhanmantriji. You are about to make history with the divine help of the letters that spell LAST but mean PEACE. |
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Judges bearing six times the normal load “IF sufficient number of Judges are not appointed, justice would not be available to the people, thereby undermining the basic structure. It is well known that justice delayed is justice denied”, tells the Supreme Court to various states, including the states of Punjab and Haryana. Still it seems that justice is of no importance to the two states. Many times the cases are decided after the death of the litigant — sometimes his grand-children face the judgement. This is because every Judge has to bear six times the normal load. As per the Law Commission report, there should not be more than 400 to 500 cases pending in a court at a time. But in both the states, an average of 3000 cases remain pending in each subordinate court. In some instances year-long dates for hearing are given. Even then the cases are not taken up for hearing. These are postponed for another year. “Under the circumstances, the Supreme Court further observed, “we feel it is our constitutional obligation to ensure that the backlog of the cases is decreased and efforts are made to increase the disposal of cases”. Time and again the inadequacy in the number of Judges has adversely been commented upon. Not only has the Law Commission and the Standing Committee of Parliament made observations in this regard, even the Chief Justice of India has done so on more than one occasion. The Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1997, in Ved Pal Gupta’s case, observed, “..justice cannot continue to be low priority. After all, it is a perambulatory promise to the people.” The court directed the states to create more posts and fill these at the earliest. The Law Commission has also recommended that there should be at least 50 judges per 10 lakh people. The Supreme Court observed: “...we are of the opinion that time has now come for protecting one of the pillars of the Constitution, namely the judicial system, by directing increase, in the first instance, in the Judge strength from the existing ratio of 10.5 or 13 per 10 lakh people to 50 Judges per 10 lakh people.” What to say of an increase in the sanctioned strength of the judges, the two states are not even filling the vacancies. More than one-third of the posts of subordinate Judge are lying vacant. In Haryana, the total sanctioned strength of subordinate Judges is 178. Out of them, 68 are unfilled. In Punjab, 84 out of total 213 subordinate courts are not functioning properly for want of officers. The available infrastructure, including courtrooms, buildings and staff attached to these courts, is being wasted. The High Court made all efforts to get the existing posts filled. But all in vain. When the states took no steps to fill the posts of Judicial Officers, the High Court of its own motion in the year 1998, instituted a writ petition against the two states in the public interest. After hearing the two states, the High Court directed them to advertise the posts each year in the month of September and complete the selection process before December 31 each year. But yearly selections and appointments are not being made. In March 2002, the Supreme Court directed the states to fill all the existing vacancies in the subordinate courts by March 31, 2003. Further, the Supreme Court directed, “the increase in the Judge strength to 50 Judges per 10 lakh people should be effected and implemented with the filling of the posts in a phased manner to be determined and directed by the Union Ministry of Law, but this process should be completed and the increased vacancies and posts filled within a period of five years from today. Perhaps increasing the Judge strength by 10 per 10 lakh people every year could be one of the methods which may be adopted, thereby completing the first stage within five years before embarking on further increase if necessary.” March 2003 has passed by and the unfilled vacancies are swelling day by day and more than one-third of sanctioned posts are laying vacant. It is mainly the judiciary which, by and large, enjoyed high prestige and commanded great respect. The people have confidence in the role of the courts to do justice between the powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor, without any fear and favour. Such faith and confidence in the judiciary is a must for liberty and democracy. It is the most important indices of a free and civilised society. Otherwise there will be jungle raj. The liberty and democracy cannot survive without the rule of law. Now the feeling has started to develop that except for dates, you get nothing from the courts. This is because justice is being delayed and denied due to heavy pendency and workload in the courts. The only solution to this alarming situation is more independent judiciary which can provide an efficient judicial system. The Punjab and Haryana High Court, like the Delhi High Court, should take up the task of holding examination for making selections and appointments of the subordinate judges. The writer has a doctorate in law and practices in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. |
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Two lakh cases are pending THE shortage of Judges continues in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. There are just 28 Judges against the sanctioned strength of 40. Worse, two are scheduled to retire in the near future. The names of three advocates were recently recommended for appointment. But no one can say for certain when the process would be finalised. The problem is not just limited to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. At present, there are just 13,000 judicial officers in the country, including the Chief Justice of India. On an average, there are 10 to 12 officers per one million citizens. In the USA, the number is 125 per million. In the UK it is 100 per million. The result of the shortage is there for all to see. The demand on Judges is growing faster than their number. Already, the problem is straining the legal system and the Judges that staff it. They are forced to work till late in the afternoon. Sometimes till late in the evening for delivering verdict on anticipatory bail applications. Still, the pendency of cases is increasing. High Court Chief Justice B.K. Roy’s statement to the media at Kurukshetra is, perhaps, a testimony to this effect. Talking to the reporters last month, Mr Justice Roy had stated that the delay in Judges’ appointment was creating a backlog. Even though the Judges here are now taking up the “old cases” on Wednesdays, High Court sources claim over two lakh cases are pending. They assert that regular second appeals dating back to early 80s are pending, while accident cases involving compensation are pending since mid 80s. Though exact data is not available, criminal appeals against acquittals are pending since late 90s. In fact, some of the “old cases” are found to be infructuous by the time they are taken up for hearing. This is not all. As per a report released by the Press Information Bureau in 2001, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had the second highest number of dowry death cases in the country. As many as 842 such cases were awaiting disposal when the report was released. The Rajasthan High Court, with 926 cases, had topped the list. In an attempt to solve the problem of shortage of Judges and the pendency, the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs had written a letter to the states of Punjab, Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh asking them to initiate the process of appointing Judges at least six months before the retirement of the sitting ones. This, the High Court authorities insist, is done regularly. The High Court had also recommended the constitution of a special cell for chalking out a programme to list old cases on a priority basis. A committee of three Judges had suggested that “two officers of Punjab and Haryana Superior Judicial Service may be appointed for the purpose”. The committee had further suggested that the cases pending before the subordinate courts, in which the High Court had issued stay orders, “may be listed for hearing on a priority basis before all Benches on Fridays”. Two Benches could be left out of the process for deciding urgent bail matters after hearing the arguments, the committee had further suggested. It had also requested the Judges “not to give fresh dates for Fridays so that the old cases could be taken up for hearing”. The authorities had also been directed to prepare “a consolidated list of cases in which proceedings had been stayed by the High Court, but cases were still pending before the subordinate courts.” |
A new drug nightmare is unfolding SIMON, 14, is a hit with the girls. At most afternoon breaks, he can be found surrounded by a posse near the netball court at their comprehensive school in northern England. They want his drugs, but not to get high. They want Ritalin to suppress their appetite and help preserve their wafer-thin frames. Simon is popular with the boys, too. However, they want only to get high, crushing the tablets and snorting a substance chemically similar to cocaine for a cheap buzz. Ritalin is prescribed by doctors to calm tens of thousands of children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). But it also serves as a potent amphetamine increasingly craved by children. Simon steals Ritalin from his hyperactive brother's supply at home, selling scores of pills to friends in the playground and to drug dealers in the town centre for one pound each. His parents have no idea the government-approved drug can be abused. “Quite a few have tried it. Most of the lads `bomb' it by smoking it, some mix it up with glucose and snort it. It makes them laugh,” said Simon. This is the alarming reality in an increasing number of British schools, where children as young as six are becoming hooked on a psychoactive stimulant sold illegally by child dealers. Parents, teachers and pupils said last week that Britain was on the brink of an explosion of amphetamine abuse among children and they warned of a generation dependent on the “prescription pad”. Our investigation has uncovered glaring lapses in the way the drug is dispensed to children and stored throughout schools. Ritalin is being left in unlocked drawers in schools, while dinner ladies and secretaries dispense it. Already thousands of children may have used Ritalin as a recreational drug, according to the Overload Network which investigates the over-prescription of drugs. Demand has become so intense in areas that children prescribed Ritalin are routinely bullied for their drugs. One pupil in a Middlesbrough secondary was recently found hanged from a clothing peg by his vest. His daily dose of Ritalin had been stolen. Mounting concern over the ease with which pupils not suffering from ADHD are able to obtain Ritalin has prompted the Home Office (interior ministry) to approve a pilot scheme in Darlington, educating schools in the dangers of failing to store the drug securely. Yet the government continues to resist calls for an inquiry. So far the Durham police has taken the lead in investigating the scale of Ritalin abuse in schools. Officers investigated a comprehensive in County Durham. Out of 300 pupils in one year, 30 were using the drug. Some had paid as little as 50 pence. It followed the arrest of three girls under 14 for dealing Ritalin in a secondary school in the area. Evidence of Ritalin abuse has also been uncovered in schools in London, Sussex. Kent, Hampshire, Yorkshire and Scotland.
THE GUARDIAN |
Charity is a plant whose roots are evergreen. —Sanskrit proverb O God! Protect me from myself. — Bahai saying Every ambitious man is a captive and every covetous man a pauper. —Arabic proverb There is no pillow as soft as a clear conscience. —Anon And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. —Matthew10: 28 |
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