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Car turns truck Mantra of growth |
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Stink of callousness
To ban or not
Language of the lower lip
A new bridge across South Asia Mr Mac and Mr PC get together Inside Pakistan
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Car turns truck THE curious turn in the BMW case is a sad commentary on the state of the criminal justice system in the country. The television channel, NDTV, caught on tape the prosecution lawyer, Mr I.U. Khan, and the defence lawyer, Mr R.K. Anand, in cahoots trying to influence the prosecution witness, Mr Sunil Kulkarni, who saw a tipsy Sanjiv Nanda, at the wheels of his BMW running over and killing six innocent people sleeping on the pavement in South Delhi in 1999. The prosecution has tried to retrieve its honour by summarily replacing Mr Khan with another lawyer. Both the prosecution and defence lawyers have denied that they were trying to fix the case. Only a thorough probe by an independent agency will be able to unravel the truth and help punish them if they were indeed guilty of trying to sabotage the justice system for pecuniary gains. In the discussions that followed the shocking incident, it has been argued by some that it was the system which was at fault and not the lawyers concerned. This is unacceptable, as the criminal justice system has stood the test of time. In most cases, it is the practitioners of the system, who are at fault and not the system per se. It is true that the rich are sometimes able to circumvent the law by flaunting their wealth and connections as had happened in cases like the Jessica Lal murder case. However, allowance has to be made for the fact that strong public opinion against the acquittal of the accused in the case forced the court to order a retrial, which can ultimately end in the conviction of the accused. Even in the instant case, the goings-on in the court with witnesses turning hostile by claiming that what they saw mowing down the people was not the BMW car but a truck, show how money power can lead to miscarriage of justice. This can be defeated only if public opinion remains as sharp as in the Jessica Lal case and the officials appointed to help the court arrive at the truth discharge their duty exemplarily. It is true that in comparison to what a lawyer of Mr Anand’s eminence gets in return for his service to his clients, it may be small change that a prosecution lawyer gets. While there is a strong case for increasing the remuneration of the prosecution lawyers, it has to be borne in mind that there is no solution for greed. Equally important, it is time courts relied more on circumstantial and forensic evidence than eyewitnesses in criminal cases. |
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Mantra of growth THAT the economy grew at 9.4 per cent in 2006-07 is a matter of satisfaction, but nothing to rejoice or be complacent about. The savings rate is high at 32.4 per cent and so is the investment rate at 33.8 per cent of the GDP. So the growth rate is sustainable. Happily, inflation is on the retreat. Sufficient supplies of food items will have to be ensured to check price rise. The global oil prices have resisted a steep uptrend. Corporate India has reported good results and the stock markets are on the upswing. The global economic scenario, too, is encouraging. And there need not be any worries that the economy is overheating. But there is an unmistakable slowdown. The growth rate in the third and fourth quarters of 2006-07 was lower than that in the last two quarters of the previous year. The services sector seems to be losing momentum. And agriculture, as usual, disappoints with only 2.7 per cent growth. The Prime Minister’s Rs 25, 000 crore plan for the states with a focus on district-level growth models and the constitution of a food security mission to raise the production of wheat, rice and pulses may give some boost to agriculture, but its success depends on the states’ initiatives. If a growth rate of 9.4 can be achieved with the existing level of infrastructure, it does not seem too difficult to touch the double-digit figure if only part of the FDI reserves are diverted to infrastructure building. Companies can unearth black money if they are allowed to tap infrastructure bonds and no questions are asked about the sources of funds. The laggard power sector can catch up only if states make genuine efforts. The RBI has made capital too expensive by raising the interest rates. It is time to cut the rates to revive the boom in housing. Higher growth possibilities are immense and hindrances are not insurmountable. |
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Stink of callousness IN an astonishing display of callous disregard and arrogance that can only come with backing from the powers-that-be, various industries continue to pump their noxious discharge into the Budda Nallah. Even as kar sewaks led by Baba Jaspal Singh Baddowal struggle in the sludge in their clean-up efforts, many electro-plating and dyeing units, particularly in Ludhiana city, continue to release effluents — some brazenly, some clandestinely. Reports suggest that many of these units are supported by powerful politicians. Government and industry agencies are apparently pleading for more time, pointing to the fact that several units have come on board and that it would take a while for others to come around. A specious and pernicious thread of argument has however been voiced by a Pollution Control Board official that strict action such as closure of the units was difficult as many people were dependent on these industries for their livelihood. The harm caused to the environment, however, will affect the poor of these areas as much as the well-off. In fact, many reported cases of serious illnesses because of soil, ground water, and air pollution are to be found mainly among the poorer groups. Employers, too, use this as a convenient excuse. They must be forced to deploy the necessary treatment plants before discharge of effluents, and the only way they will do this is under the threat of severe penalties, both monetary and otherwise. All over the country, precious waterways, forests and soil, not to mention towns and cities, are being poisoned because of unregulated industrial activity. The technologies for pollution control are not complex or too costly and are readily available. If industries, big and small, do not want to cough up the money, which they can well afford to do, they have no right to exist. |
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Whom the gods wish to destroy they first call promising.
— Cyril Connolly |
To ban or not
STREET food, as we understand it today, may disappear from the national Capital if the Supreme Court has its way. It is part of the apex court’s overweening desire to make the city clean and prevent unhealthy food being sold and eaten by the people. In doing so, the court has taken a simplistic view, which does not take into account the needs of a large section of the population, forget nearly three lakh people who make a livelihood selling an assortment of dishes like samosa, parantha, puri and masala dosa, to name a few. The danger is all the more as other cities and towns in the country would emulate the Delhi model. The beauty of Delhi is that right next to a five-star hotel, where a three-course lunch for two would cost anything between Rs 2000 and Rs 5000 depending on the spirits chosen to wash it down, you can fill your belly by spending as little as Rs 15. To assume that five-star food is more hygienic than roadside food is to overlook a report that appeared in a Chandigarh newspaper about a customer finding live worms in a kebab served in a five-star hotel in the City Beautiful. A few years ago when some reporters in a city in Punjab were given an assignment to inspect the kitchens of some popular restaurants and write about the degrees of hygiene there, they all came back with the report that none of the restaurants gave them access to their kitchen. They had to think of inventive ways to get around the problem. Why were they secretive about their kitchen? Just last week, I dined at one of the most popular restaurants in Jalandhar, where I was seated near the kitchen. Every few seconds, I found the waiters either going into the kitchen or coming out of it through a spring-controlled door. If the door had to be opened and closed so frequently, why did not they get it removed? But such a commonsensical thought would never occur to the proprietor, who knows that everything is not so spick and span about the kitchen that it can be left open to prying eyes. Compare the secretiveness of the popular restaurants with the puri cholawallah at ITO in New Delhi. He makes the dough, makes balls of it, flattens them and fries them deep on a stove on his thela, all in the presence of his customers. Ditto for the chana that he cooks. Served hot, the customers know that it is hygienic and free from bacteria. Can the same be said about the food served in the executive class of the prestigious Shatabdi train? The napkins are new but what about the food? An enterprising reporter recently found out that the food is cooked in very unhygienic conditions in a dirty kitchen in a crowded basti. The passengers do not know that the food is stale because the train has food warmers to make it hot and appear oven-fresh. The court wants the street food seller to bring cooked food from, probably, his house and sell it. He is permitted to make only tea and coffee on the street. The customers would never know how old the food is and whether it is cooked in clean utensils. Whatever the court may think about it, street food is part of the culture of a city. The walled city in Delhi can boast of food vendors who have been in the business for generations. There has never been an instance when people complained of food poisoning after eating their food whereas the same cannot be said about many expensive restaurants in the city. In fact, roadside food is a major attraction for tourists, both domestic and foreign, visiting the Old Delhi area. The vada pau vendors in Mumbai’s Juhu beach are as much an attraction as the seashore. Needless to say, street food sellers serve the needs of a large section of the people, who cannot afford to go to dhabas, where four rotis and a simple dal will cost at least Rs 30. It is not just workers and visitors who patronise the hawkers. There are many people who live in the city in such conditions that they cannot hope to have facilities for cooking. They, too, find street food a blessing. The vendors are able to offer food at low cost because they save on rent, electricity and manpower. The food would have been even cheaper if they did not have to factor in the hafta they have to pay to the police and the municipal authorities who, despite the bribes they take, periodically conduct “surprise” raids, turn their carts upside down and take away their utensils. If the court’s plan to have proper kiosks built and allotted to them succeeds, it will make the food costlier and beyond the means of the poor. However, this is not to argue that there is no place for regulations. In fact, there can be regulations that they should keep their food covered at all times, use only potable water for cooking and keep the pavements free for pedestrians. A blanket ban would not serve any purpose other than pushing the vendors into unemployment with the attendant risks to society. There is a misconception that roadside food is a peculiarly Indian phenomenon. Anybody who has visited Lahore knows that the visit to that great city is not complete without a visit to the famous Food Street. It was a pleasant surprise to find people in large numbers partaking of the rich fare on offer at close to 3 a.m. A giant parantha, the like of which I had never eaten before, tasted heavenly when it was combined with mutton kebabs served hot. One may be tempted to dismiss the Food Street phenomenon as part of the larger Indian culture but wait for a moment. Even the most modern cities of the world have areas where people frequent to have food at affordable rates. I remember attending the daily briefing at the State Department in Washington. After the briefing, our host Davik Aikman, who covered the fall of the Berlin Wall and Tiananmen massacre for Time magazine, took us to a wooded area just a furlong away, where Chinese, Italian and Mexican dishes were sold from the equivalents of the food carts at ITO in New Delhi. He also let out the secret that many journalists on the State Department beat ate regularly there. Again, on a fortnight-long tour of Europe on a shoestring budget, my wife and I depended almost wholly on wholesome street food, which kept us on the go without making a deep hole in our pockets. As someone pointed out, there are three eateries in the Eiffel Tower itself and dozens of others around it, all within the reach of the common tourist. They are similar to our street food. Health is wealth and it can be protected well by ensuring that roadside food remains healthy and within the reach of the common man. Any other step, even if it has the sanction of the Supreme Court, will be detrimental to the interests of urban
India.
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Language of the lower lip
I
am not an expert in lip reading. Honestly I do not know what Tony Blair told media persons the other day. Or for that matter, I really do not know what the Bengal Tiger blurted having removed his shirt and waving it to the crowd some time back. I even haven’t gone beyond mere flipping through Desmond Morris’s “Man Watching”. However, I am not impressed with the ‘stiff upper lip’ displayed or exhibited, consciously or otherwise, by the emotionless Commanders, Kings and Queens, seeking to show up their ‘erect and unruffled posture’, either in the face of a tragedy or turmoil of another sort. Still I can say with some sense of responsibility, since I have seen many Hindi movies of an era gone by, that the lower lip does convey a thousand unsaid emotions and feelings, ranging from pain to pleasure and to even lust as also disapproval, dejection and deftness. While the first category belongs quite endearingly to the female protagonists, the second is claimed by the male of the species. Remember Sharmila Tagore’s ability to express agony and angst with a quivering lower lip in many a movie. Whenever it was a situation when unbearable suffering was to be expressed as enacted, she employed her lower lip, eliciting an overwhelming sympathy for the character she played. Not to be left behind, Nutan and Mala Sinha also created a similar impact adding their equally trembling voice to the effort. Meena Kumari was of course adeptest of them all at the manoeuvres of the arty lower lip, and for many an emotion, howsoever hidden, or explicit with thin concealments. And remember Madhu Bala playing Anarkali in Mughl-e-Azam, who sought to entice Prince Saleem played by Dilip Kumar, in the all-time great number, Pyar kiya to darna kya, by repeatedly tucking and releasing one side of the lower lip between her teeth. This (obviously! God knows for what!) lusty and lecherous expression on the face of an actress, never inviting the Censor’s scissors comimg to play, was surely a double take on the solicitous overtures of the women of easy virtue of those times, on whose predicament Guru Dutt made the magnum opus Pyasa. Sadhna in Inteqam, while singing Kaisay rahun chup ke maine pee he kya hai, avails herself of the protruded lower lip with a rounded upper one uttering “tch-tch, tch-tch” to tease Rehman who had wronged her in the past. A protruded and flattened lower lip, always suggests disapproval while the slightly projected upward one is associated with making fun of the subject. I remember another string from the movie Arpan made in black and white, on Gautama Buddha. Here it is a dance sequence when the female protagonist tries to entice a meditating disciple of Buddha. In the scene he remains seated ‘unseduced’ till the time step-tapping and drums make him bite his lower lip. Blood then trickles from there thus completing the display of a tenacious hold in his character yet laying bare the effect of enticement on a man by a woman. The dancer also then gives up her effort. What do you say of the lower lip now? Lose, placid, ludicrous or
lustful! |
A new bridge across South Asia First
the vision, then the concept and now the blueprint of the action plan. This, in short, is the exciting story of the last three years, when the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) chose to add a new dimension to its bridge-building mission in the SAARC countries – involving the parliamentarians. This is the theme of the conference of MPs from the region, to be inaugurated by the Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr Somnath Chatterjee, at Shimla today. Parliament members have a dual role. They, on the one hand, represent the people’s aspirations, concerns, and sentiments – and on the other, they seek to prompt the governments to formulate policies to serve the best interests of their electors. The coming together of the MPs, thus, conveys a message - that they are acting in accordance with the people’s desire for strengthening cooperation in the region. It represents the collective expression of the people’s preferences. Equally important, this will cast a beneficial influence on the governments. The policy-makers will feel assured that they have the support from the eight quarters as they undertake cooperative endeavours in various fields. Besides, it will be a giant step towards emotional integration. SAFMA could take pride in this initiative, especially because there has been no worthwhile attempt, so far, to bring the parliamentarians of the region on one forum. SAFMA could only act as a trigger: it is for the elected representatives to devise self-sustaining mechanisms to carry forward the mission. Shimla, hopefully, would take concrete steps in this context. There is, however, no case for euphoria, as the journey ahead is long and there will be no escape from hard work. In a parliamentary system, divergence of opinion among the political parties is natural, even necessary, though there has to be a Lakshmanrekha and mutual wrangles are not to be allowed to weaken the system. At the first conference of parliamentarians, under SAFMA’s auspices at Bhurban near Islamabad some two year ago, we witnessed a remarkable unanimity among the participants on the goal, set by SAFMA. Internally, at that point of time, inter-party relations were far from cordial. In India, a major party had boycotted the parliamentary proceedings to dramatise its protest, but that did not prevent its representatives from joining the all-party delegation to Bhurban. Its members, like their colleagues from other parties, made constructive suggestions and all of them enthusiastically endorsed each other’s position. It was a heart-warming spectacle indeed. A good augury for the future. We, in SAFMA, are, at times, derided by our detractors for claiming credit for positive developments, in which our contribution, in their opinion, is minimal. We have no intention of arrogating to ourselves what is due to others. At the same time, we are entitled to derive satisfaction from the success of our efforts – and this includes SAFMA’s role in mobilising the parliamentarians of the region. Let me cite a parallel from our efforts for normalcy in India-Pakistan relations. In August 2003, SAFMA organised a conference of parliamentarians from the two countries. The mere fact of the Indian MPs’ visit to Islamabad in the wake of a freeze in bilateral relations became a major event, with the present railway minister and then an opposition leader, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav, proving a big hit. In some way, this initiative contributed to the peace process, that first found a dramatic expression in the cease fire three months later – all along the line of control, Siachen and the international border – and then the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee’s visit to Pakistan in January 2004 and his historic joint statement with the Pakistan President, General Pervez Musharraf, taking into account each other’s concerns. This, as is known, paved the way for the composite dialogue and the series of the meetings of the heads of the two countries in the following years. It is hard to quantify the influence of SAFMA’s initiative on this process but, in one case, there was clear evidence of our role producing concrete results. As the preparations for the 2003 Islamabad conference were on, we found that the Indian contingent – MPs, journalists and experts – could not travel to Pakistan as one group. While MPs under the SAARC dispensation could cross the Wagah border, others could not because of the embargo on crossing by land. At our request – and in the face of stiff opposition by the foreign office bureaucrats – the External Affairs Minister of the day, Mr Yashwant Sinha, agreed to work for removing this anomaly. His effort – and the positive response by Pakistan – opened the land border for crossing by others besides the MPs. Today, the Wagah-Attari border wears a busy look, with hundreds of people moving from one side to the other. Could one measure the mutual confidence thus generated? The Bhurban conference, likewise, was no small initiative. Considerable research and analytical work involving the top brains of the region, and networking, was undertaken before we were able to bring together 83 parliamentarians and 68 journalists and experts, representing all shades of opinion. It may be utopian to talk of a South Asian Parliament, with a legislative role. As such, SAFMA favours a cautious, pragmatic approach, while keeping the gaze fixed on the ultimate goal. Here are various elements of the Bhurban Declaration on the subject. “The participants overwhelmingly endorsed the view to initiate a process of moving towards the creation of an institutional interactive mechanism for parliamentarians of the region, keeping in mind the concept of a South Asian Parliament. A full-fledged SAP may take a decade or two, but it is time to initiate moves in this direction”. To begin with, it proposed (a) creation of an intra-Parliamentary Union in South Asia (b) a call on SAARC to agree, in principle, to create a South Asian Parliament, (c) to activate the SAARC Speakers Forum and (d) to make a start with deliberative and consultative body in order to build public opinion in favour of a formal arrangement. Lest these moves should be misunderstood or be used by critics to spread misunderstandings, it emphasised that there would be no compromise on national identity and sovereignty. The Bhurban meet backed SAFMA’s stand on people-to-people contacts. The prevailing barriers to cross-border movements, it said in a colourful phrase, made neither commercial nor logistical sense and originated in the pathologies of inter-state as well as domestic politics. The contours of the concept were clearly delineated. The vision was transformed into a tangible form. At some stage, sooner than later, SAFMA would withdraw from the leading role, entrusting the job of next-stage development to the parliamentarians themselves. Considering the enthusiasm shown by them so far, optimism about the future is not misplaced. Shimla may begin formulation of policies, with experts taking an active role. The description in technical jargon of the subjects and areas to be covered by them may make prosaic reading but the crucial importance of the issues is not to be minimised. Energy cooperation, water management, increased investment for economic growth, poverty eradication, unhindered connectivity. Compared to other regions, South Asia lags behind in many ways. But it has several advantages which could be exploited. It is a contiguous region and, as Dr. Manmohan Singh notes in his message, not only shares a common past but is united by shared destiny. True, it is mired in serious problems, but it has fewer baggage to shed than the European Union or ASEAN. The writer is President of the South Asian Free Media Association |
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Mr Mac and Mr PC get together They
didn’t introduce themselves by saying “Hello, I’m a Mac”, “and I’m a PC” – but the cheeky Apple adverts ribbing Microsoft were never far from the surface as the tech companies’ founders, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, appeared on stage together for the first time in a decade. The ads have been needling Microsoft and prompted Gates earlier this year to say Apple was spreading lies. The atmosphere was more cordial as the two agreed to a historic joint interview at a tech conference in Carlsbad, California. Steve Jobs sat relaxed in his trademark black polo neck and jeans, while Gates had gone for a business casual striped white shirt. And Gates wasn’t joking when he answered a question about his rival by saying, “I would give a lot to have Steve’s taste”. He added that while he may see a software problem as an “engineering issue”, Jobs “has an intuitive taste both for people and products that is very hard for me even to explain. It’s magical.” With Apple enjoying a resurgence in cool thanks to the success of its iPod, and with Microsoft’s new operating system Vista being panned by users, the TV ads are the latest chapter in a stormy relationship punctuated by break-ups and kiss-and-make-ups. It is one of the technology industry’s great stories over 30 years, from the time in the mid-Seventies when, within a few years of each other, they formed computer companies that would go on to change the world. Attendees at the All Things Digital conference were treated to footage from an Apple event in 1983 when a long-haired Steve Jobs hosted a “Blind Date” style event with software executives including Gates, who were vying to design software for the new Macintosh computers. (He picked all three.) And there was also a reminder of the last time the two appeared together, officially burying the hatchet after Steve Jobs returned to rescue Apple from oblivion in 1997. The 90-minute conversation that followed was definitely in the kiss-and-make-up mould. “Bill built the first software company in the industry. And I think he built the first software company before anybody in our industry knew what a software company was,” said Jobs. They did trade a few jabs, of course, not least about the iPod, which Microsoft is trying to replicate with a product called Zune. The Zune developers love Apple for having created the mass-market for digital music, Gates said, trying to play nice; Apple loves Zune developers because, like everyone else, they all have iPods. But mainly they joined forces to defend the home computer, Mac or PC, which is under threat from a host of other devices such as internet-linked TVs and smart phones. “The death of the personal computer has been predicted every few years,” Jobs said. “PCs are going to continue as a general purpose device, whether in a tablet form or a notebook or a big curved desktop you have in the house, it will continue to be with us and to morph with us.” With Google and other upstart rivals snapping at their heels in the hierarchy of tech companies, the men said it was an innovative period in Silicon Valley and they looked back ruefully at their long histories. “When Bill and I first worked together,” Jobs said, “we were both the youngest guys in the room. Now I am the oldest person.” And while Gates is winding down his involvement at Microsoft so he can concentrate on the philanthropic foundation that is giving away his $53 billion fortune, the world’s largest, he showed himself as prone to geeky flights of fancy as ever. He predicted a home where “every horizontal and vertical surface will have a projector for information” and a network of cameras connected to “video recognition” computers that you can operate by waving your arms around. Steve Jobs, exuding cool, took a long pause before giving his unwavering answer to questions of futurology. “I don’t know. And that’s what makes it exciting to go into work every day.” By arrangement with
The Independent |
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Inside Pakistan General
Pervez Musharraf could have never thought that his policy of appeasement of the US in the wake of 9/11 would start working against his own political interests in the course of time. As part of this policy, the General had ordered his intelligence agencies to pick up as many “trouble-makers” as possible so that some of them could be handed over to the Americans to ease pressure on his government. The whereabouts of many of these people are not known till date. But the case of these “missing” persons has led to a powerful anti-Musharraf drive, adding to the strength of his political opponents. As reported by Daily Times, families of missing persons held a big demonstration on May 21 in front of the Peshawar High Court and then took out a march to the Peshawar Press Club, demanding early release of their relatives, numbering over 2,500. They displayed banners and photographs of their dear ones. Such protests have been held on a regular basis to highlight the plight of the “missing” and their families, but the government has never taken as serious a view of the situation as it does now. Business Recorder in a May 26 editorial says: “The issue of people being picked up by agencies had been simmering for quite some time, but it came to a head early this year when the Supreme Court took suo moto notice of demonstrations by the families of the missing in front of parliament and near the GHQ. The government was initially indifferent to the plight of these people, but civil society joined their families bringing the issue under sharper focus.” The Supreme Court of Pakistan has been informed by the government that 98 “missing” persons have been released. The court, hearing the case relating to 254 such persons, has asked for the details of their detention and release, and expediting the efforts to find out the remaining ones. According to the Asian Centre for Human Rights, the victims include “political opponents, Baloch nationalists arrested on charges of being members of the Baloch Liberation Army, Pashtun tribesmen for allegedly helping the Taliban, Sindhi nationalists and the journalists who report on sensitive issues”. As a report in Asia Times Online says, the Army-controlled regime began to see a serious threat to its survival with Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry summoning the chiefs of various intelligence agencies to the court. “They included serving Generals. Subsequently in March, Chaudhry was suspended by a ‘presidential reference’ over the accusations of abuse of power and later made ‘non-functionable’. This sparked off countrywide protests”, the report points out. The rise of the Lal Masjid maulanas as a force to be reckoned with is also connected with the “missing” persons. One of such Pakistanis, Saud Memon, taken in custody by intelligence agencies after the murder of US reporter Daniel Pearl, died after his release in a shabby condition. Coming out openly in defence of the “missing”, the maulanas announced under the banner of the Islamic Centre for the Defence of Human Rights that “if the government continued to detain people unlawfully, the mosque would do the same with security officials.” Interestingly, during the hearings at the Supreme Court, the main respondent in the case, the Interior Ministry, has not been getting full cooperation from the intelligence agencies. That is why the apex court asserted some time ago that “if they (the security agencies) are not answerable to any ministry, they are certainly and surely answerable to this court”.
Same-sex affair The Lahore High Court was faced with a tricky situation when a newly married couple of the same sex (reportedly females) approached it for protection against harassment by the “groom’s” relatives. The judge handling the case, however, sentenced both to three years in jail for lying before the court. Reports say there is no law in Pakistan’s statute to punish those indulging in a same-sex marriage. The marriage between Shumail Raj and Shahzina Tariq, the first case of its kind in Pakistan’s history, got wide media publicity. If many people criticised them for what they did, there were also some who sympathised with them. The News commented on May 30: “One can only hope that our (Pakistani) society, which is swift to punish those who transgress its norms or break its codes, will act just as swiftly to punish those who commit terrible acts such as karo-kari, gang-rape or acid-throwing on the grounds of upholding family, clan or tribal honour.” Daily Times said: “In fact, the honourable court has decided to send the two to jail for three years while the real nature of their crime is still to be determined. It has ordered the Medical Superintendent of Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, to constitute a board of doctors to investigate Shumail’s (groom’s) true sex and file a report on the findings. It also ordered the police to file a case against the doctor who allegedly removed Shumail’s breasts. Is this a case of revenge rather than justice?” |
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