Govt. should deliver justice, not boosters

By: Subhadeep Bhattacharjee

One country, one law but it seems to take different course from time to time. Dhananjay Chatterjee is sent to the gallows for raping and killing a girl but for the same offence Santosh Kumar Singh is still doing rounds of the Supreme Court. This after Santosh was given a 'benefit of doubt' by lower court until the media virtually pressurised the government, the courts and the police to take up the case. But it has been three years since he was awarded the death sentence but the case still looms in the corridors of the magnificent structure of the the Supreme Court of India.

Similar has been the case of Ruchika Girhotra where the media blow up has meant that the Home Ministry, the Law Ministry, the Police and the Courts all have swung into action. Decisions and judgements are being pronounced in advance and former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore has been be stripped off his medals and awards. This is what the system has done to console the family and friends of Ruchika who have been victimised for 19 long years by it. Does stripping medals and awards give peace to Ruchika's soul? The government might have an answer after having delivered such a booster.

Now a bigger question arises, thousands of cops in this country await their trial for molestation, rape, murder, corruption etc., what does the government do with them? Former Punjab DGP KPS Gill who is a role model for policeman in this country might have to be stripped off his medals too. He too is convicted of misbehaving with IAS officer Rupan Deol Bajaj in 1996. So will the Government strip the most decorated police officer of all his medals? Will it do same to the thousands of other cops and armed force personnels charged with cases? If not why such a cosmetic cover-up to the administrative failure?

The argument here is not for Rathore to be not stripped of his medials but the the grossly shady act of the government. Rathore deserves the harshest of punishment possible for not only having molested Ruchika but having molested every level of the administration. From having harassed Ruckhia's family, delivering faulty electricity bills, ouster her from the school and finally forcing her to commit suicide, Rathore has to be tried for all his offence. He deserves to be sent to the gallows for having molested the entire system.

The government should stop give judgement like in reality shows. When it had slept for 19 long years why is it setting precedents like stripping him of his medals knowing very well it will not be able to do the same to other men in khaki people convicted of crimes. The government should act and not enact what public sentiments in the country want it to. It has to ensure that justice is delivered rather than trying to deliver such cosmetic boosters.

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Bihar's growth should inspire Bengal

By: Subhadeep Bhattacharjee

Once termed as the king of 'cow belt' and the 'bimru state' of India, Bihar after decades of being in the news for wrong reasons has something to cheer about. What seems more out of a Bollywood script than reality, the state once regarded as the most backward in the country has grown at an average of 11.03% in the five-year period between 2004-05 and 2008-09 against a national average of 8.49%. It is second only to one of India's most developed states Gujarat, which recorded a growth-rate of 11.05%. Now that's what is called resurgence.

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav might not agree but Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who assumed power in 2005 finally has figures to prove his success. Nitish has successfully countered the 'Jungle Raj' which was going on during his predecessor's era. Not only the crime rate in the state has come down during his rule but the state has started taking giant steps towards economic development. What's more remarkable is that the 11.03% growth comes after a negative 5.15 % growth in 2003-04 during the Lalu-Rabri era.

Bihar's story has the potential to inspire other states in its proximity. One such is its eastern neighbour West Bengal. Once the glittering jewel of Indian industrialisation, West Bengal has also had the same sad story to tell which Bihar was telling five years ago. A wind of political change is blowing across Bengal similar to the one in Bihar five years ago. Three decades of the Left Rule has hampered the image of the state in terms of industrialisation. The once flourishing state has been pushed to the dark ages by a bunch of politicians whose policies were too narrow in thought and did not take into account the fast changing global environment.

Although the Left Front government might have done wonderful deeds with their Land Reforms moment in the earlier part of their rule but on most other indicators they have miserably failed. It is quite a shame for the West Bengal government who calls itself pro-poor pro-farmer to have fared miserably when it came to NREGA. Their trade unionism meant that West Bengal did not figure in the investment map of India. Post the LPG (Liberalisation Privatisation Globalisation) era when the country too giant steps in economic reforms, Bengal Government seemed to have only snored.

Even though West Bengal's law and order situation hasn't been as bad as Lalu's Bihar but it is no better either. In the last three decades Left had made sure that in rural Bengal, police and administration was replaced by its party cadres. Nandigram and Singur showed us the ugly face of the Left hooliganism. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee might have tried his best to revive the image of the state but Bengal's grave was dug long back by the Left Front.

The people of the State have to leave the pessimism behind and look forward to growth and development. If Bihar can do it under the leadership of Nitish Kumar why cannot Bengal do the same when change finally comes in 2011? Left has been in the power for too long to be trusted any more. Mamata Banerjee and Pranab Mukherjee might just do the turn around story in Bengal. After all if Nitish had to counter 'Jungle Raj' Mamata and Pranab will have to encounter 'Andhera Raj' that's what the current regime can be defined as.

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