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N-Deal & Arushi Case:IS THIS ALL THAT MATTERS?, by Dr. Syed Ali Mujtaba,15 July 2008 Print E-mail

Events & Issues

New Delhi, 15 July 2008

N-Deal & Arushi Case

IS THIS ALL THAT MATTERS? 

By Dr. Syed Ali Mujtaba

In New Delhi there are two dramas that are currently being staged. One is the nuclear deal and the second is the twin murder mystery that rocked the neighbourhood of the national capital recently. Thanks to the national media, the entire country is forced to follow the two dramas, scene by scene, frame by frame. It seems both the media and the Government are consciously engaged in diverting the people’s attention from the prices of essential commodities, hitting the roof.

As far as the nuke deal is concerned it is plain and simple politics. The ruling Congress which is piloting the nuclear civil deal with the US is at loggerheads with its own allies; the Left, who are oppose to the deal. By pulling out of the government, the Left has reduced the ruling alliance into a minority. The Congress, the dominant partner in the UPA, instead of seeking truce with its Left allies, is hobnobbing with other political parties to muster political majority. It is resorting to horse trading to reach the magical figure of 272 to pass the floor test in the Lok Sabha.

There seems to be a sense of desperation in the current dispensation, which is keen to override the domestic agenda for foreign policy considerations. This political wisdom is logic of a rare kind. There are so many issues that are left out hanging due to lack of consensus and instead the Government is going ahead with other issues. However, the desperation to clear the N-deal is something unprecedented -- as if the national existence would fall into jeopardy if the deal doesn’t go through at the stipulated time. This is simply intriguing and as rightly commented “what‘s the deal behind the deal?” 

However, more than the nuke-deal, it’s the Arushi-Hemraj murder mystery case that’s gathering a huge TRP rating on the TV channels. Even though it doesn't concern the common man, the TV channels have been selling this story like a hot potato for two months now. The entire country is forced to solve the murder mystery of a minor girl Arushi Talwar and a domestic help Hemraj, committed at home in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.  

The TV channels sought to force down throats a story that when Arushi’s father, Talwar found his daughter in objectionable situation with Hemraj, he killed the two in a fit of rage. A simple honour killing case which leaves many a question unanswered. Can a father kill his own daughter? If the father is the killer, could the mother remain silent? Is she a mother first or a wife first?

The channels, conducting a media trial on the TV screen have shown no respect to the parents, the mental agony they might have been undergoing due the murder of their daughter. Imagine, had the murder suspect been some political bigwig, could the same channels have been able to sell this story for two months uninterrupted? Can one even think how many TV channels would have been up in flames by now? Poor Mr Talwar, who is neither a Ram Sevak nor a Shiv Sainik, is in no position to gather a mob to silence the canard on the TV and thus has little option but to quietly suffer the humiliation.

The big question is who has given a license to the TV channels to conduct such media trials and play with the sentiments of an individual? Can channels be pulled up for such crimes? Or will this become an order of the day, carried forward in the name of providing entertainment? 

If the TV channels are going overboard, the investigating agencies have been equally callous in handling this case. Willy-nilly the premier investigative agency, the CBI too fell prey to the concocted story of honour killings. Talwar was kept in confinement for 50 days to be released on bail when no evidence could be mustered against him. The father was innocent and the crime committed by his staff.   

However, this case brings out some very hard questions to which the people of the country may like to have answers.  Is every Indian guilty till the police exonerate him/ her of the charges? Can the investigative agencies have such sweeping powers that it can detain a person for indefinite time on mere grounds of suspicion? Can it retrieve its action without any accountability? Who will compensate the person for the harrowing and tarnished moments that comes with such arrest?

I am aware of a case where a person was picked up and had to languish in jail for 12 years till he was proven innocent. This case is of Kolkata, where a bomb blast had taken place some time in the 70s. The guy in question who was in his 20’s then was having his hair cut in a barber’s shop when the blast took place. The police who came looking for the suspect, found the identity of this guy (wearing a sleeveless singlet and a technicolor lungi) similar to what they had imagined and so simply picked him up.

His mother, who lived in a remote village in Bihar could hardly afford any money to travel to Kolkatta to fight his son’s case. Unfortunately, there were not many human rights’ activists then who may have taken up this case. The man spent 12 years in jail for a crime that he never committed. His name is Bharati, and I know him well. 

To cut a long story short, Union Minister Renuka Choowdhary, who has spoken on the Arushi Talwar murder case and has advised the father to sue the Uttar Pradesh police for tarnishing his image. Why not the honourable minister herself files a public interest litigation case against the UP police, the CBI and the TV channels for misrepresentation of facts in this case? Where are the professional PIL petitioners, who at the slightest pretext are ready to file one more plea, adding to the court’s litigations? Why don’t they come out and fight against such injustices? Well, to give advice is easy but to fight for a cause very difficult. Time, we all made a contribution to change things around. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

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