Fairness and Justice in Australia mean very little by way of National Interest to India and Indians.
Abhishek Singhvi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh need to introspect on their perverse celebration of the same
This hit the wires shortly after Australia dropped all charges against Haneef and set him free.
Dubbing Mohd Haneef’s release from custody in Australia as a “resounding political slap” on the face of BJP, Congress today demanded an apology from L K Advani for accusing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of appeasing terrorism.
Shortly after the Australian government dropped terror charges against Haneef, the ruling party came out all guns blazing as it targetted Advani for the “slanderous campaign” by him and his party and for using the whole episode as part of a “political vote-bank game”.
Party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi accused the saffron party and the Leader of the Opposition of launching “hysterical histrionics” on the issue as he expressed happiness over the release of the Indian doctor.
“We are happy that the rule of law has prevailed as the Australian government has decided to release Mohd Haneef unconditionally and with honour. Congress always stood for fair, non-discriminatory, transparent and judicious conduct in dealing with cases where emotion cannot be allowed to displace sobriety,” he added.
Complementing the Prime Minister, he appreciated the work done by the government and Singh for making untiring efforts within the norms of international relations for the release of the Bangalore doctor.
Lampooning the BJP, he said they think of conscience only when it comes to conscience vote. “They cannot lay claim to be called a responsible opposition,” he added.
Once again the verbal gymnastics of Abhishek Singhvi have obscured the real questions of the day.
Where exactly does National Interest lie in the Congress view of the world ?
Is National Interest about celebrating the prevailing of the rule law in a foreign country ?
OR
Is National Interest about delivering justice for Indians by securing freedom in India and upholding the rule of law in India ?
If the Congress has always stood for
fair, non-discriminatory, transparent and judicious conduct in dealing with cases where emotion cannot be allowed to displace sobriety
Where is the the judicious conduct in the Home Minister claiming a day after 7-11 that the Government had enough evidence and then going mute ever after ?
Where is the transparency in announcing in statement after statement from the Prime Minister to the Foreign Secretary that the evidence against Pakistan would be acted upon via the Joint Terrorism Mechanism and never actually doing so ?
Where is the fairness in Prime Ministerial intervention to secure justice for a non-terrorist when compared to the Executive Delinquency from the Prime Minister down to the Local Police in securing justice for 185 dead Indians who suffered real terrorism ?
Offstumped Bottomline: The excitable Abhishek Singhvi has handed himself a slap in the face by allowing his emotions to displace sobriety to celebrate the the prevailing of the rule of law in a foreign land.
That Australia was able to demonstrate the intellectual clarity and moral certitude in acting on suspicions of terrorism and was able to deliver justice in a timely manner should have been a moment for sober introspection for the Indian Government.
Coming especially on a day when it took 17 years to award death sentence to the accused in the 1993 Mumbai Blasts, one would have expected the Congress to have performed some honest introspection on its Executive Delinquency rather than jump on the opportunity to score a few political points.
Fairness and Justice in Australia mean very little by way of National Interest to India and Indians.
Abhishek Singhvi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would do well to introspect on their perverse celebration of the same.
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Well said. And where is the rule of law and justice when Mohd. Afzal is still around when the rule of law clearly gave him death punishment for attacking the parliment? It surely is in Congress I’s national interest to appease people by losing sleep over one person in Australia but not over hundreds dead in multiple attacks once every few months.
Yossarin – Are’nt you ashamed of yourself after the Pratibha Patil episode, now that that you have picked up another cooked-up “beating stick” to lampoon the Congress and glorify the BJP ?
We should be against all forms of terrorism including islamic terrorism which has spread like cancer all over the world – and we sould not support any terror suspects at any cost, but that does not mean that an individual should not get his due legal rights to plead his innocence. Give me break!.. this site has become a BJP glorifying blog site – which is not serving any purpose for creating the right political balance in the country.
We need a Uniform Civil Code in a Secular Indian State but not a Hindu Rashtra. There are quite a few views of BJP and its leaders which are commendable ! But please avoid a hate blog site… Present a more balanced view more often.
Yossarin – Please do not get me wrong, but if you had attacked the Congress for protecting Mohd. Afzal from death sentence for attacking the Partliament – then I would completely support you…
I would appreciate if you also raise the wrongs of the BJP & its leaders – which they commit so often these days – to generate a debate for course-correction that is so badly needed !!
As Chandra rightly points out about Afzal’s case, the rule of law is clearly the last thing on the mind of the Congress. If not for the Congress party and its habit of subverting the rule of law, all commentaries on the Indian Constitution would have been 1/10 th their size for lack of judicial decisions.
As TOI rightly points out that though Dr. Singh lost his sleep over this case, has anyone cared about thousands of under trials languishing in Indian jails for no good reason ?
Perhaps their release will not have a direct impact on the Congress’ favourite vote-bank.
Right or Wrong:
1. Nothing is cooked up in this post.
2. There is no glorification of the BJP in this post.
3. Not writing about something doesn’t say anything about it – do not assume implicit support.
4. Hence, request that you comment on what is written about, not what is not written about.
Yossarin:
Good post!
Woww.. now offstumped is a hate blog site..
Yossarin-
It just proves that if you talk about the national interests even without mentioning Hindu once, you are a communal fundamentalist.. All hail India, the epitome of secularism..
wow, even uneducated people comment on blogs these days. excuse me, the blog calls itself ‘all things right of center’. so expect the ‘right’ side of the story. if you want a pseudo secular spin on the story, read Hindustan Times or The Hindu!
and in anycase this blog is abt national interest. the conduct of the day’s government affects the national interest much more than the internal issues of the main opposition party. incidentally that opposition party despite problems at home, doesn’t seem to have fail to highlight any issue that directly involves national interest.
Chandra – looks like the disease is spreading to BJP in Karnataka as well
Right or Wrong – facts please, everything is open to challenge on offstumped but you need to susbtantiate your charges with facts
Ninad – Good point on undertrials its a shame, I have had personal experiences with a teacher of mine falsely implicated using TADA and undertrial for over a decade
Mahendra – thanks for the words of encouragement
Shadows – political correctness has now become part of our DNA it looks like
Balaji – fair point but the conduct of the BJP JD-S in karnataka is disappointing to say the least
Yossarin – “Some BJP Facts for You” -
BJP calls job offer to Haneef ‘healing touch’. With its ally, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy offering a job to Mohammad Haneef after his release from Australia, the BJP today jumped on the bandwagon, calling the move a “healing touch” on the doctor who has been absolved of all terror charges.
“It’s a healing touch,” BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said in his reaction to the Chief Minister’s job offer to Haneef.
In his remarks, BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar too endorsed the job offer to the doctor from Bangalore. “We oppose victimisation of innocent people and stand for stern action against those involved in terrorism. He is a good doctor and the Karnataka Government’s move is a good gesture,” he said
DO YOU GUYS NEED MORE FACTS TO BE ASHAMED OF BLINDLY SUPPORTING THE BJP & ITS LEADERS ??
The celebration is indeed perverse, but even moreso is the BJP has joined it. Well, as usual, all politico’s across the board would rather look at this from an emotional perspective instead of that which is logical: The major differences between the mechanisms of the Australian and Indian justice systems…and indeed, I am talking about the two-way street. Not only those who are innocent being properly investigated, tried and released, but vice-versa, but also that those who are guilty are investigated, tried and punished accordingly (and in a timely manner). I guess the government is blind to the own glass house in which it finds itself.
well, whats wrong with the Karnataka govt offering a job to Haneef? After what looks like appalling negligence on the part of the Indian govt to protect the civil liberties of one of its citizens, offering a job is the least India can do to him.
This is not even tokenism. There is nothing to suggest that he is not a qualified doctor. I wud rather have him work for the govt than find a job in a Muslim run hospital. In anycase he himself wants to go back and fight for his work in Australia.
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