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Showing posts from February, 2013

Church meddled in Suryanelli probe

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Admitting a lack of co-ordination among various women’s groups in Kerala in dealing with the sensational Suryanelli sex scandal case, a leading social activist said on Monday that an impartial probe by a sincere police officer could easily ensure justice to the victim. K. Ajitha, who blamed lack of sensitivity of the judiciary in denying justice to the victim, alleged that the then investigating officer, Sibi Mathews, tried to absolve former central minister and the current deputy chairman of upper house of parliament, PJ Kurien, from the case under pressure from the Church, and not from political circles. “Sibi Mathews did not try to save other accused, but he was influenced by the Church authorities as he was a believer,” she said. “We have strong laws to deal any criminal offence, but the political pressure on implementing bodies become a hindrance in providing justice to victims,” she said, dismissing politicisation of the 1996 case that involved around a 16-year-old girl

Will Sonia provide justice to this daughter?

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India lost a ‘beloved’ daughter. That was how grief-stricken Sonia Gandhi, the leading lady of India’s ruling Congress reacted to the death of the Delhi gangrape victim. Her televised speech to the entire nation on that occasion still reverberates in every Indian’s ears. How can anyone forget her broken voice and the promise she made that day -“Nation’s beloved daughter will get justice.” Yet another girl, a living victim of 42 days of continuous rape that involved men from all walks of life – from rickshaw driver to politician –expects a similar assurance from Sonia. The safety measures announced by the government for women after the brutal Delhi gangrape-murder were more or less capital-oriented. As a consolation to other victims of sexual abuses, the Supreme Court took up all the pending abuse cases and ordered the setting up of fasttrack courts to deal with them. One among thousands of such cases was the sensational Suryanelli sex scandal case that has hogged the headlines in K

Varun heats up poll mood

W ith Indian elections just a month away and last day of filing nominations getting nearer, political parties busy allotting seats to their members and allies. A hurdle difficult to pass, all the major seven political parties are still passing this nerve-racking exercise. The biggest democratic process in India is turning hot and spicy day-by-day. The latest recipe is from Gandhi scion Varun Gandhi. Born to late prime minister Indira Gandhi’s son Sanjay Gandhi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Nehru family daughter-in-law Maneka Gandhi, the young politician tried to impress his party leadership with Muslim bashing. Knowing that his mother party is rooted in Hindu ideology, he shot rhetoric against Muslims in the country at a public function telling “if any Muslim tries to attack a Hindu, he will cut the culprit’s arm.” Poor guy, lack of experience and discipline in an election atmosphere made him talk against a religious minority. May be BJP has ne

Region awaits a Gandhi

A fter days of unjustifiable silence, leaders across the world are now feeling the heat of pitched battle in the Gaza Strip. Calls for truce are coming up from every corner. Meetings, dialogues, discussions, proposals- revealed and unrevealed- etc float on the air. Major global establishments like European Union, United Nations Security Council are holding emergency meetings and trips. But consensus on the overgrowing crisis over Gaza is unheard of. And none is ready to blame Israel for its most inhumane attack in the history of battles the world has seen so far. Just take a look at Israel’s justification of one-sided war in Gaza: “We are not trying to occupy Gaza. We just want to teach Hamas a lesson. We want to stop their rocket attack to ensure the safety of our people.” So is Israel having fun in killing more than 560 innocent people and injuring about 3000 people for reasons Hamas fighters is solely responsible? If so, by killing women and children who are