Edits In Short: February 11
Didn’t get time to read the edit pages in today’s papers? Don’t worry. We’ve read them for you!
The Hindu, February 11, 2013
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ContributeConfronting cyberthieves – Editorial
The edit comments on the refusal of the Maharashtra State Banking Ombudsman to intervene in a case of net banking fraud that left a consumer poorer by 10 lakhs, calling it a blow to the confidence of consumers. “…the onus of security should lie with the system, and not the consumer.” Plastic money brings with it security concerns and Indians are often a target of identity thieves who skim off information from cards. Filing a complaint of cyber fraud is difficult, and insurance compensation for fraud is often capped in India. It’s time, the edit states, to strengthen systems against online fraud.
Erdogan should talk Turkey – Editorial
The edit states recent suicide bomb blast in Turkey should be a wake-up call to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to respond to the bitter resentment that Turkey’s domestic and international policies have generated in his country. Turkey has a leftist group that favours Syria’s Assad and is upset at Turkeys support for foreign intervention in Syria. The bombing was carried out by DHKP-C (a Turkish Marxist-Leninist group) responsible for murdering a former Prime Minister and carrying out suicide attacks. And so on and so forth. It’s time for Erdogan to sort out the problems at home before it’s too late.
Welcome to closet illiberalism – Editorial
Vidya Subramaniam writes that caste is pretty much set in stone judging from the way the dominant discourse gets conducted in India. She cites Ashis Nandy’s statement at the Jaipur Literature Festival that “the corrupt of today from the ‘Scheduled castes, OBCs and now the tribals’”, and his insistence that West Bengal was free from corruption because “in the last 100 years, nobody from the OBC’s SCs and STs has come to power there”, as inescapable inference that upper caste means no corruption regardless of the period of reference – today or a 100 years ago. She cites the example of Mayawati, who despite doing exactly what Sonia and other politicians do (carry bags, wear diamonds and name monuments after themselves) is the one everyone criticises. No matter how much hard work the BSP does or powerful it becomes. Robert Vadra’s huge business empire was left to its own devices, while cases against Mayawati get a lot of press and go ahead full steam. The government and bureaucracy in UP is also massively tilted toward the upper castes.
“Political empowerment of the backward castes is a dramatic reality today. But social attitudes have stayed frozen.”
The vanity of 13/12 ‘truth-telling’ – Main Article
Praveen Swami counters Arundhati Roy’s piece in The Hindu yesterday where she claimed the Afzal Guru is “a victim of torture, blackmail, extortion” and that political parties and the media “all colluded to do something terribly wrong”. Does this mean, he writes “that 13/12 was a macabre plot in which the criminal justice system and judiciary are implicated?” Hardly so he writes, while countering her seismic claims. Even though a few points she raised have merit in the sense that some rules were flouted, the only thing that Arundhati Roy is right about is this – “we are still far away from knowing the full truth of 13/12”. And “ground beneath Ms Roy’s seismic claims…is shaky – to say the least”.
Waiting now for Ms Roy’s response.
The Hindustan Times, February 11, 2013
Rich slogans, quiet secrets – Editorial
HT’s take on Afzal Guru’s secret hanging is that instead of having to answer uncomfortable questions on the timing and manner of the executions, the government should set a deadline on decisions of mercy pleas, and stick to the due process of informing the public and the accused person’s families of rejection of mercy petitions. If the government is sure that due process of law was followed in the conviction, then it should have a law that it follows to the letter in executing a prisoner. Right now, the BJP and other opposition parties think that the Congress executed him solely for electoral purposes. Actually, everyone thinks that.
To keep safe from harm – Editorial
The edit comments on one of the other issues that the Justice JS Verma Committee had dwelt on, which was the pitiable state of our juvenile homes. The Supreme Court recently accused the Center of “playing the fool with the court”, and threatened to issue non-bailable warrants if it didn’t receive a status report on missing children.
60,000 children go missing each year, and the committee had decided to, at its own cost, taken steps to rehabilitate and educate a missing girl who had been found, including making psychotherapy available to her. The edit feels that an inspection of the report makes it clear that for a safer society, we need to take steps to ensure that children (even those with criminal records) get proper care.
The Indian Express, February 11, 2013
After Saturday – Editorial
With Afzal Guru being hanged, the edit hopes that there is now some closure. It also states that now is the time for political parties to depoliticise terror. And the Parliament attack in particular. Interestingly, despite using the term “saffron terror” as often as any other media organisation, it now says “terror has no colour” and should get the toughest punishment regardless of the “ideology it claims to draw from”!
Song and dance – Editorial
The government has decided to ban item songs from movies being played on TV. The Censor Board also plans to discuss “mutually agreeable” cuts with filmmakers for content that suggests “direct or indirect violence against women”. The edit though argues that viewers don’t just passively take in content but are “discerning consumers of media”. It also ends with the very relevant question that if the government decides what we should or shouldn’t watch, where does it end?
Tumult in Tunis – Editorial
The Arab Spring has now become “so-called Arab Spring” now for this edit. After Tunisia’s main opposition leader was gunned down, the edit warns that it could all unravel if Tunisia doesn’t rein in its extremists. Given that Tunisia was the start of the Arab Spring, failure of the movement there could be a disaster for the rest of the movements too.
Politics beyond the noose – Main Article
Express columnist and president, Centre for Policy Research, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, also weighs in on the political scene post Afzal Guru’s hanging. With the crackdown in Kashmir after the incident, he says now the state needs to restore its credibility. And not just among Kashmiris. He talks about the “deeply entrenched suspicions among so many sections of the Indian society” and “loose-talking politicians and officials”. Obviously Digvijay Singh and Sushilkumar Shinde’s names figure in the article. He also mentions that not only must justice be done, it should be seen to be done, especially if the state cares for its legitimacy. Now that’s something we can agree on!
The Times Of India, February 11, 2013
No politics please – Editorial
The edit argues that the imposition of the death penalty in the “rarest of rare” cases, such as that of Afzal Guru, is necessary. It furthers parliamentarian Baijayant “Jay” Panda’s suggestion that to prevent the politicisation of such cases and ensure quick decision-making, the government needs to narrow the scope of discretion and have a time-out clause on mercy petitions.
Monopoly in Cricket- Editorial
Acting on a complaint of a cricket fan, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has decided to impose a fine of Rs. 52.24 crore on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for monopolistic practices. The edit states that the charges against the BBCI are a reflection of its very structure and that it cannot escape accountability. The BCCI’s double standards once again came to the fore when they opposed the National Sports Development Bill which would bring them under the purview of the RTI. Can’t escape forever!
All that glitters is not gold- Editorial
IAS officer, J S Deepak, begins his piece by quoting Malcolm Forbes, “there is no solution to inflation, bureaucracy and dandruff.” He then begins a rant on the induction of experts and how they are essentially people who “know almost everything about almost nothing” and perhaps is the reason why they have never excelled in governance. He balances it out by stating that they are people with wisdom and lustre, both of which can rub off on you if you spend enough time with them. The only crucial point he makes is the need to re-assess the perception of experts as “one-size-fits-all” and that “god clearly is in the implementation”.
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