The Drunken Judge... and other creeps

"The hanging judge was sober, he hadn't had a drink," sang Dylan - but this Supreme Court judge must have been punch drunk, on some cheap hooch, that too, for a sonofabitch who ought to have been hanged, along with all his accomplices, got let off. I am speaking of Dara Singh who, in 1999, more than a decade ago, murdered the Christian missionary Graham Staines and his two little boys in the most grisly manner - by burning them alive. 

The lower court had sentenced him to death, but appeals to higher courts went to judges who were high as well - on hooch.

Dara Singh and his gang are part of the Bajrang Dal - an off-shoot of the BJP. This dastardly crime is "political."

The judgment is political as well - for the news contains the following extract from the verdict:

Dara Singh's intention was to teach a lesson to Graham Staines about his religious activities, namely, converting poor tribals to Christianity.

And what about the two little boys, both under the age of ten. Burnt alive?

Thus, there is a "lesson" in this creepy judgment: Hindoo goon-squads are free to kill Christian missionaries.

There are other creepy stories about the creepy BJP as well - like how their Chief Minister in Karnataka is facing prosecution on serious charges of corruption and nepotism. The Governor has sanctioned prosecution - and the creeps have resorted to rioting and arson in protest!

There is another creepy story about how the BJP "youth wing" are planning a march to Srinagar, Kashmir, to hoist the national flag in the centre of town on Republic Day. The locals don't like this flag - and the BJP cadres are all outsiders, wanting to force the flag upon them. The flag, anyway, is the flag of the CONgress. In tiny Switzerland, every canton flies its own flag. There are 26 cantons - and 26 flags. The BJP claims its flag-hoisting is about "patriotism." I think patriotism by force is as creepy as creepy can get.

There is creepy news about the CONgress too today - and this is about the Youth Congress. The story reveals how most of their leaders are criminals, or involved in criminal activities. As the proverb goes, "A fish rots from the head." At the head is the Great Educator.

While creeps abound in the system, so do cronies - none greater than Rahul Bajaj. He is one of India's richest men - and now a Rajya Sabha MP. He is also chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), a club of protectionist manufacturers. Today, he has contributed the lead article in the ToI. Titled "Just Path to Development," the article concludes in favour of continued rule by the creeps:

In the final analysis, India's growth process under a democratic government is a sustainable, humane and just path to development.

Bajaj the billionaire businessman and industry body head doesn't say that the only path to economic development lies in an economic institution - The Market. He believes that this path lies in a political agency - The State - an agency over which he wields considerable influence, an influence that has made him very rich. But I must insist that this State cannot be called "sustainable, humane and just." The Budget is certainly not "economically sustainable"; there is nothing "humane" about Army rule in Manipur and Kashmir, or State Police raj in Chattisgarh; and as for "just," we just spoke of the drunken judge who let the murderer Dara Singh off.

Rahul Bajaj lives in Poona (Pune), where his factories are also located. I have been visiting this city for many decades now, and have witnessed, with deep sorrow, its rapid deterioration with every visit. What was once a quaint little town where retirees built their little bungalows, Poona is now a hell-hole. The leading citizens of this city couldn't care less - and the long-time CONgress MP from Poona is none other than Suresh Kalmadi of CWG mega-corruption fame. Bajaj himself sits in Parliament in Nude Elly - cultivating political influence. It is noteworthy that in his article praising India's centralised democracy, he says not a word about civic freedom, about local self-government in cities and towns. Instead, he devotes an entire paragraph to praising panchayati raj in villages:

Participatory governance is most evident in local self-government at the village level, termed 'panchayat'. Across the country, several hundred thousand panchayats represent local voters, develop plans for social and economic development, manage funds and undertake projects. As per the Constitution of India, they are able to directly work in 29 demarcated areas. A key feature is that the government has mandated one-third of panchayat members to be women, with the result that one million women have been thus empowered. Initially viewed with suspicion, women panchayat members have taken up the development agenda in a committed manner, relevant to their own particular electorates.

Perhaps Bajaj should be asked to quit city living and migrate to a village. And become a panchayat pradhan. Poona - like all the other devastated cities and towns throughout this vast sub-continent - needs a good Mayor, that's for sure.

Do read the entire article by Bajaj, CII boss, and laugh out loud at all the bull it contains. It is nothing but pure bull - from beginning to end.

There is more bull from ultra-rich Indian businessmen in the news today. Fourteen of them have penned an "Open letter to India's leaders" - on which Shekhar Gupta, editor of the Express, has devoted his weekly column. It seems, quite predictably, that the Open Letter lacks guts. Gupta says:

Of course you could fault the signatories of this open letter for being unwilling to wound and petrified (perish the thought, actually) to strike. That is why the letter, signed by some of our most respected and powerful citizens, is so unspecific in what it is complaining about, or the actions they want taken in redress. It is full of platitudes...

This cannot be called Capitalism. But then, we remain a socialist country - and India's super rich like it that way. Another super-rich Poona businessperson is named as signatory to this Open Letter in this news report: Anu Aga of Thermax. Interestingly, she is also involved in CONgress politics in Nude Elly, as a member of the National Advisory Council that advises Sonia Gandhi to spend billions funding a "right to food." She too is not bothered about the deterioration of her own city. Does anyone in Poona, however poor, require food from The State in Nude Elly? Or do they manage just fine? But Aga's mind is on some remote village in the boondocks. Or maybe she too is cultivating political influence like all the others.

Among the signatories to the Open Letter is a former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Bimal Jalan, who was a Rajya Sabha MP as well. The report concludes with these remarks attributed to him:

Take inflation. We have been told for several months that it will come down but hasn’t. Then we were told that the government is not responsible for inflation. So, it is difficult to find out which is the cause and which is the effect.

Bimal Jalan has served two full terms as Governor of RBI. He received his "education" at Oxford and Cambridge - and has authored half-a-dozen books on the problems and prospects facing the Indian economy. He has not heard of the "quantity theory of money"! Or he is bullshitting. Interestingly, Wikipedia mentions that the 1000 rupee note was introduced during his term - and that is a sign of inflation. The RBI caused it. It is for this very reason that coins below 1 rupee have been recently withdrawn. There will soon be a 10,000 rupee note, I bet, and a 100 rupee coin too - while RBI governors will mouth "platitudes" like the one above.

The creepy thing about the inflation being perpetrated is that it creeps along slowly and steadily - 8 per cent, 10 per cent, 12 per cent - and is not noticed. It is "creeping inflation." Creeps are perpetrating this. As Ludwig von Mises pointed out:

The most important thing to remember is that inflation is not an act of God, that inflation is not a catastrophe of the elements or a disease that comes like the plague. Inflation is a policy.

That is, inflationISM is going on - deliberately. It is sneaky, immoral, cruel and anti-democratic. I have an earlier post on this that I recommend.

The news report on the Open Letter that Bimal Jalan, Anu Aga, and others have signed, addressed to "India's Leaders," is titled "India Inc. for Tough Governance." But the signatories are all weak! They want cha(m)cha manmohan s gandhi to take "tough decisions"! Like what? Hang a bunch of murderers, maybe? Give the hangman some "work," eh, chacha? We can't have hangmen hanging around, can we?

Get real, dudes. Forget about Nude Elly. Fix your own cities and towns. And fight for freedom - not "tough governance," whatever that means.

"If I were a rich man," sang the street-sweeper Alfred Dolittle - and a happy song it was, too. I'm glad I am not rich. Better to be poor and kicking ass than one of these super-rich ass-kissers.