INDIAN OSCAR FOR SALE

INDIAN OSCAR FOR SALE


There is no Indian Oscar. Nowadays the trend is to feature Be- car. Any body can see it in news media, internet etc, etc. Initially I thought it is something like Os-car. Could it be a Ad name for a mobile ? No no, not Nokia or something. I mean the transport, car to say. Recently we have been talking of Nano… of course car. Then a well wisher reminded me that there is no company manufacturing a car which is being marketed under the brand name of OS but he was kind enough to agree with me that he can not guarantee me that in future no company would market a car under the brand name of OS.

How there can be Oscar from India? Yeah.. I also thought there is something wrong somewhere. We are still in the learning process of knowing the technical know-how of bagging a international award in the field of creative art. Any body would agree with me that we have proved ourselves to be a good learner and have already started showing the encouraging results. On my part I have observed that unless we have some international tags or appendices attached to a book or film, it does not qualify for considerations for international recognition. So very quickly we have been experimenting in the fusion technique like East meets West. Any student of chemistry will tell you that the fusion process releases more energy as compared to fission process.

Does it really matter to us if there is no Oscar constituted by us? We do have Oscar winning gems. In our country they are as good as Oscar itself. Otherwise also it has been a country where we are always inclined to idolatry; Be it politics, education, cinema, tv or anything else. We make out the personality bigger than the institution itself. We simple hearted Indians are ever- ready like the torch to light a personality so much so that the very footing granting legitimacy & recognition is forgotten. So in the same manner, the Oscar is forgotten but we do remember the personality concerned and cultivate a personality cult. Thats why today we are talking so much of Rubina Ali, a poor girl put up on sale by her poorly rich father aspiring to make himself rich and we do not talk of the contribution of Rubina Ali as Latika to the award winning film- SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.

This is a film on Dogs who live in a slum and will subsequently become millionaire after the film would bag something like known as Oscar. But I think I am getting rude here. Actually , in reality now these are the gods of slums who dream of their good days like Rubina Ali alias Latika. In this way a social regeneration would be brought in our society and living standard of an average Indian will improve. The inflation has already come down close to zero but the things are still as costly as they were ever been. These slum dwelling children will have satisfaction some day that they have done their lot to improve the miserable condition of their parents.

There is nothing surprising what Rubinas father has been doing. As per the logical conclusion, according to him he will not only secure the future of his prodigical child but will also secure a comfortable living for himself and his family. It is totally immaterial that Rubina is a minor child and do live with her step-mother and father. I wonder that things would have been totally different had she been living with her own mother. It is natural that Rubina will not understand all this. Anyway, nobody is asking her too.

This is what happens when a person gets rich and famous overnight. It becomes very difficult for him to digest all this. It is too much . We have been listening the story of a carpenter since our childhood who got insane when he tumbles down to a underground khazana in a jungle. Do you see a difference between a mother selling her new born child for 50 rupees alongwith a square meal in order to save the child and herself both though a doubt must be lurking in her psyche that the girl child may even land up in a brothel when grown up. But off course she would be alive to see the light of the day otherwise child will not survive. As compared to a situation when a father sells her child for two hundred thousand pound in the name of better future for herself and himself both.

Actually I see a difference which is marked with immorality, greed and killer instinct. After all in this country the farmers have been committing suicide to get rid off their loans so there is nothing unusual if by selling a poor girl the destiny of a complete family is secured. As usual the children are so innocent that they can not even sense the real motives behind the apparent motives. The pictures of a poor girl who was sitting against the wall comfortably in a room totally unaware of talks of two ladies to kill her because she was a kidnapped child and police was after them continues eating the given chocolates and sees towards them very innocently even when one of them approach her with a pillow in her hand to suffocate her,.. The poor girl dies swiftly without even knowing what has happened. The culprit lady was found to be a murderer of several children in Pune, was apprehended with her accomplice and sentenced the penality perhaps the death sentence to account for her sins.

These photos were haunting the conscience & psyche of every Indian household some 10-12 years back who were not able to sleep comfortably at night and all had taken a sigh of relief with sense of satisfaction when the ladies were booked under Indian Penal Code for their deeds. So the Rubina Ali is also as innocent as any 8 year old child enjoying the comfort of a five star hotel while her father finalises the deal of his lifetime and making a innocent comment that my house in which we all seven live is as large as toilet in hotel and continues drinking her strawberry milkshake & ice-cream as if nothing unusual is happening.


The Life has come to a complete circle when we compare this incident to the fact that Madonna, the star, intends to adopt a poor child from a poor Indian parents so as to give the child a better tomorrow.

AUR SHANOO CHALI GAYE

AUR SHANOO CHALI GAYE…… Have you heard? Yes, there was some news and the the news channel were screaming at their full throttle. You know since there has been proliferation of news channels they have mushroomed like anything. They just create hype about anything& then all of sudden forget everything about that issue as if all the substance has been extracted. Is this not a new brand of yellow journalism? This needs deliberations in our society, that in the name of freedom of speech and fourth state which form of journalism is to be encouraged.

But the point is that Shanoo chali gayeee. Who is she? Shanoo represents the section of society who has no face, no voice, underprivileged & deprived who can be found anywhere like wild grass- weeds, you know. Shanoo is one of the millions of children who are abused most in nowadays advanced society. Here the social engineering works and every child has more or less same tale to tell irrespective of their strata to which they belong in our highly fragmented society. Our society is trying to tune in multilayer system wherein every layer has lateral & longitudinal movement against each other. Thanks to our social engineers who are known by the name of politician. They owe a lot to this fate of achievement.

So who has the time to think about Shanoo but let me tell you that Shanoo is still alive. There are millons in our society awaiting their fate. Have you seen a young poor girlchild in a metropolitan city going on the streets in chilly winter morning along with her mother to work in a household to wash the dirty utensils, cloths? Yeah, now here you are – she is Shanno. It matters to whom that since 4 AM in the morning she is awake and has already walked 3 to 4 km to get to nearest public transport. And it does matter altogather to anybody that after work she has to rush back to her school at 7 30 AM where she studies in a govt school run by our government in seat and will have midday meal there which is distributed daily but most of the time on papers. Her parents cannt afford to send her to a public or private school. What to talk of this? They cannot send her to school even if Shanno does not earn her school fees by working as house maid.

I happen to pass daily to the nearby busstand after the office hours and stop for a cup of tea in the roadside dhaba. There I usually find Shanno washing the glasses, bringing the tea, taking orders of butter toast and frying it on the pane as if it would have been her life on the fryingpan itself. Anyway one day I ventured to ask her that when she would go to home? Prompt was the reply. Sahaeb- you mean that chawl which you call drainside slum. Sahaeb that is not our home, infact we do not have any home. We just go their to sleep. My father also comes in the late night very high in spirit, I do not know what he says to my mother. He drags her to a corner who is half asleep due to running around all along the day. Then they do something like wrestling . Sahaeb I do not have time to watch all that. After all I have to get up early, 4 AM to go to school. Why so early? The govt school opens up at 9 AM. Nahi sahaeb, Memsahaeb has to go to public school at 7 30 AM to teach , so I have to reach there at 5 AM for the kitchen cleaning. That is our school. If I do not go there then how will I go to Sarkari Pathshala. Sahaeb hum to school nahi jate hai, school jise public school kahte hai waha to memsahib jati hai .

I was thinking that till now this Shanno has told me a lot of stories but she has not replied my question. I could not restrain myself and asked Shanno how old are you? Very prompt was the reply- Sahaeb, in this winter I will be eight years old. OK, When is your birthday? Sahaeb , in my school it has been written as 1 July because school are opened after summer vacation that time but my mother says that it was in winter when I was birn but no one remembers the actual date. I was reminded in my mind the original question and asked hurriedly before I could miss my bus. Shanno, when will you go home? She replied today I have to go to pedestrian way near my chawl because abba has not paid hafta to that policewallah so today we will sleep on the roadside pedestrian way. My mother comes around 7 PM daily after completing the household works in the locality houses and then she picks me up. Shanno, you will be happy then that now you will sleep at your pathway in the open sky be watching stars. Yes, but one more thing is to be done, I have to cook the chapaties for dinner and which we will eat . If lucky then my mother will bring the sparable curry given by memsahaeb otherwise we have have lot of salt at our home. I preferred to take leave of Shanno otherwise I would miss the bus. While getting on the bus ,I was thinking that only people like Shanno do eat the salt of our country. Thanks God, at least somebody is there…

Have you seen Vikash? No. He is Shanno brother younger by one year. The surprising fact is that they manage this gap very meticulously. Just one year gap. So the vikash has not started going to sarkari pathshala but has already been getting the lessons of life. Vikash father goes at 11 AM for work- a ragpicker. He cannt go earlier because it is difficult for him to get up early. He is a hardfast socialite, meets his friends daily in the Chameli bars and invariably gets delayed to get home. So Vikash father takes him along and leaves him near the traffic signal where he remains through out the day- cleaning the cars windows which stops there, showing them Shani Bhagwan Statue in the afternoon, selling 3 PM papers and begging in the evening hours till 9 PM when her mother will pick up him too. Where does VIkash take lunch? What is this? Yae kya hota a Sahaeb. Khana, Khana Kab Khate ho?. Oh Sahaeb ,we take khana in the night before going to sleep . If we do not take Khana then how do we work?

There is one more friend of Vikash who remains with him through out the day. His name is Tommy. This name sounds strange. Yes, he is Doggy , the best friend of Vikash. Vikash was happy to tell me the story when they both had befriended. Some two year back, Vikash used to live on the railway station with his mother. That time the father was not there. He does not know that where his father had gone that time but Vikash had noted that in those days Shanno too was not there with him. So the mother and son used to beg on the station. One day so happened that Vikash was asking for money from a traveller on train. That time that man had thrown the little basket containing left over puri and sabji. This was the golden opportunity for Vikash so he rushed towards that little basket to catch hold of it. That very moment Tommy was also nearby and tried to snatch the basket. Then there was little skirmish between them but after a moment Vikash thought not to fight with Tommy and they both happily & friendly had shared their booty. Since then both are good friend and there has been no let up on this account till today. Vikash remembers that then one man with a girl had come to his mother. And slowly they both became friendly like Tommy has been with him. That is how Vikash got a sister Shanno, father and friend Toomy . All five of them then had moved to railway station drainside chawl. Vikash has been happy since then.

But today Shanno has gone. Vikash is not able to understand that after coming from school, that’s too after two days –why she has been sleeping in impeccable white sheet? He will fight with her mother that this partiality in not good. He has been asking for a new bedsheet for last one year but it was not given to him but today she had given it to her instead to sleep. Vikash is confused also because his mother is constantly weeping and father is sitting in police station for last two days.

Shanno had all the desire to study, read and become a big sahaeb like Mensahaeb where she had been working but she has not returned from the school at all. Will she remain ther forever? This is not good, Vikash will fight with her that he also needs her company to play with her. How can she remain in school for forever? Will Vikash really be able to fight with Shanno?We all know the answer that no, now vikash cannot fight with Shanno. In fact now he wont be able to fight with Shanno ever. KAUKI SHANNO CHALI GAYE HAI.


We have to think that what sort of society we wish to leave for our future generations. The most deprived section of the society is CHILDREN. Nobody thinks of them .We do care for them , love them, pamper them but we never think to take their views. Ever we ask them that what opinion thay hold about a particular issue, happenings. What is their choice for a particular issue? We always assume on our own that he is a child and there is no need to ask him. We commit all sorts of violence to them not only physical but we do rape their emotions. While making them to study and obey some command, we thrash them too without any second thought.. Are they not citizens? Are they not entitled to basic fundamental rights like Right to living etc. When we cannot thrash a grown up person – how it is so that we thrash them very easily and get away with our crime. Even nobody notices.

Let me tell you that the children are the most vulnerable to physical and sexual harrasement. The childrens sexual abuse is a very burning problem with large enormity. The children are mostly abused sexually by there own so called uncle, aunti, bhayai and so on. They are susceptible to this type of abuse because they do not understand it and are easily intimated or induced into some form of allurement like choclate or toys or anything like that.

Our society do have a moral responsibility to check child abuse and this problem has to be effectively tackled if we want to see a better tomorrow. The children should be granted elementary fundamental rights for free secondary& tertiary education, free healthcare, protection against hunger , protection from domestic violence & sexual abuse.

Let us see that Shanno lives in our society like we are living and no more a Shanno is subject to that gruesome fate whish one of them has met.

NOTE- THE ABOVE NARRATION IS BASED ON REALTY AND NOT FICTION. SO THINK…

ATTRIBUTES OF BIAS

PRESENT REFERENCE- B-5/f/14 april SERIES- B-5/07 FEB
BACK REFERENCE B-5/e/25 Feb



ATTRIBUTES OF BIAS

CONTINUED

A judge or tribunal may be disqualified in a variety of circumstances where there actions or behaviour or other factors may suggest their inability to discharge their duties impartially.The question is whether the likelihood of bias is serious enough for the Law to take account of it. For example, a judge who believes that drinking alcohol is not good for health and who is himself teetotaler can not be disqualified to sit on the panel disposing licensing application.

A judge whose words or actions show that he has preconceived opinions on the merits of the parties is disqualified by bias. For example- a magistrate who in the course of proceedings relating to access by wife to the children who were in the custody of the husband commented that the husbands conduct was callous and he didi not have spark of manhood in him. The wife shortly thereafter filed a application before the magistrates for custody of children. The order made in her favour was quashed by the supreme court.

The three cases which might be thought to present a special risk of bias are- a judge sitting on appeal from an earlier judgement of his own; a judge hearing a case in which he had earlier been involved as counsel; a judge excersing his power to imprison for contempt committed in the face of the court.

So far so the first case is concerned in the modern law it is not considered objectionable for a judge to sit in appeal against his own previous judgement for the reason that it is now accepted that by virtue of judges training , regimentation and maturity it is accepted that he is not going to be impartial for the mere fact that it his own earlier judgement. But it is also opined that because laymen rarely appreciate the degree of mental detachment of which members of judiciary are capable in relation to their own opinions it is highly desirable that this praxctise should acted upon as rarely as possible.

The second cstegory of case where a judge sits in hearing of a case in which he was earlier a counsel may be regarded as a special instance of the rule forbidding a judge to be simultaneously accuser or party in the litigation before him, at any rate a closely analogous situation but there seems to be no absolute rule. In Shore v Wilson L ord Campbell decline to give judgement having argued the case at the Bar of the House and been elevated to the Bench before the litigation was completed.

The third special case is the jurisdiction of judges to punish for contempt of court. In a general sense it may be argued that all judges have an interest in extending their power and privileges by extending the law of contempt. The question of bias is particularly acute however where a judge punishes a person for contempt in the face of the court,e.g. where a litigant abuses a judge personally or hurls furniture into the well of the court. There is no doubt that a judge has jurisdiction to deal with such cases although it would be a rough justice.. Therefore the law provides for at least appeal from any order or decision of a court punishing for contempt.
concluded

ATTRIBUTES OF BIAS

PRESENT REFERENCE- B-5/e/13 aprilSERIES- B-5/07 FEB
BACK REFERENCE B-5/d/25 Feb

ATTRIBUTES OF BIAS

The interests and favour are two essential elements of bias- to judge its presence and as well as its degree which are elementry to decide disqualification of a judge on the ground of bias. The interests has prima-facie connection with financial interests whereas the favour is concerned with relationship to a party or witness. Any pecuniary interests however small it may be, is sufficient to qualify a person as biased and disqualify a judge on the ground of bias. The relationship to a party or witness is to be judged in the light of the facts of the case and does not disqualify a person on the ground of bias.

The guiding principle is that if a person or judge has any interest legal or illegal in the outcome of the case then he qualifies to be termed as biased. Here the law does not reckon the amount of interest. In order to understand this it will be worthwhile to know that in the 19th century the ground of disqualification of magistrates was their interest in the outcome of litigation as ratepayers who would ultimately bear the cost of unsuccessful proceedings. The rudimentary element of financial interests to be disabling has to be direct. The indirect or remotely linked pecuniary interest does not qualify for bias. It is now a accepted principle.

The fear of bias arising out of acquaintance or kinship with the disputants can be seen in the early statute which forbade a judge from sitting in court of the country of his birth. These principles were applicable as late as 1739 as far as criminal cases were concerned and as late as 1809 where civil litigation were concerned. But in modern times more than mere acquaintanceship or distant relationship would be needed before a judge were disqualified though there is no hard and fast rule. Here comes the question of degree. In cases where a advocate practices in a court of sitting judge of his father,there is a established likelihood of bias but a advocate who practices in a HIGH COURT where a judge who is friend of his father who himself is also a sitting judge of the same HIGH COURT, the likelihood of bias does not arise. However it wont be improper for a advocate to practice in a court where his father is one of sitting judges amongst others who are listening the case.

The decision of a judge or a person or a tribunal would be vitiated if it could be established that the same person is working as accuser as well as judge. This principle is applied steadfastily. It is not necessary that the prosecutor should himself be a judge, his mere presence among the adjudicators is sufficient to invalidate a decision.



TO BE CONTINUED

WHAT DOES BIAS MEAN?

PRESENT REFERENCE- B-5/d/07 aprilSERIES- B-5/07 FEBBACK REFERENCE B-5/b/25 Feb

WHIT DOES BIAS MEANS?

The dictum that no man should be a judge in his own case has arisen from the need that the judge hearing dispute between men should be impartial. Though we know that persons occupying positions as judges in judiciary are not inclined to influence their decisions based on their personal knowledge by virtue of their training but there are wider ramifications stressing this requirements for judges.
There are two types of bias-1) individual bias 2) general bias. There is no doubt that a judge who has dealt with a case earlier himself as a advocate will not sit on the chair to hear it or a judge who has himself delivered the decision in lower court will not himself review the same case in higher courts on his elevation or similarly if a judge has some personal involvement/interest in a case ,may be pecuniary or otherwise ,will not sit in the hearing. And if he does so then he qualifies to be debarred from sitting in the hearing. It is not difficult to see that the individual bias is more serious to disqualify a judge to hear a case than the general bias.
The prejudice is different from bias, sometimes it contributes to bias and sometimes not. For example- the expressed opinion of a judge that wherever there is contradictions between the evidence rendered by a public and the policeman on duty, he will accept the evidence of policeman. Generally this concept is perfectly allright because it accepts the versions of a govt official on duty and rejects the versions of a commoner. But it is abundantly clear that this may lead to bias depending upon the circumstances of the case. Therefore though generally speaking the judge holding this opinion is impartial in his own right but this opinion may make him fit to be prejudiced leading to bias.
We should not forget that judges are also a part of the society and do carry with them the opinions, views generally accepted in their society or I can say that their judgements are based on the generally accepted norms of the society in which they live. A matter or opinion is biased or not is also judged based on social values and norms. It is believed to be of fundamental importance that judges and tribunals are free from bias or at least , from those biases which a society regards as undesirable in a judge.
It is also true that society demands that its judges be biased in certain directions no less insistently than it demands that they shall be unbiased in others. However ,in times when the views of society are changing very rapidly then question may arise as to which biases society wishes its judges to have.Here comes the third type of bias which may be termed as prejudice either, partially or wholly unconscious views against particular section of society or religion or race. This sort of bias which has tacit sanction of society or dominant class has more dangerous connotation than the individual bias or general bias. It may be based on gender issue also which demands gender equality in the society. It is very hard to think of probable judgements in society involving different genders on gender issues if the society harbours the discriminations based on gender. The need of establishing various commissions for women rights to address their sufferings is a testimony to this stark and naked truth.