Terror and Entertainment

Hello citizens. Apologies for the delay in posting this article. In these past 25 days, a lot of incidents have transpired, which makes me question our legislative and judiciary. First to one of the most recent topic of conversation- Sanjay Dutt's sentencing. Sanjay Dutt was convicted and sentenced to 5 years jail for possession of illegal firearms. He had weapons which had been procured from one of the most dangerous dons in Mumbai, at the time of the 1993 serial bombings. He served 18 months in jail, and is out on parole since 2007. Now that he has been told to complete the rest of his time in jail i.e. three and a half years, there is a huge outcry asking for him to be pardoned. Bollywood actors, his fans, Congress' Digvijay Singh, and also former CJI Markandey Katju (?!) have come out in his support. Though Sanjay Dutt has certainly done good films and tried to reform himself, he should not be spared prison only because of his status and political clout. That Markandey Katju should even contemplate an official pardon for a proven criminal is a shame for the country. If people who commit such serious crimes are let off the hook for such frivolous reasons, then we will lose hope in the judiciary, one of the least corrupt organs of the State. It is a great shame that the courts took 20 years to deal justice. One of the accused died in that period. And people in high posts support Sanjay Dutt - that is nothing if not preferential treatment. Any other guy in his shoes would be on the death row right now.

Please, don't mix terror, crime, entertainment and acting talent. That mash-up even Bollywood won't try. If it had happened, who knows, the terror organisations we know might have become the FBI (Filmi Bombs of India) and Bollywood might have become Bollyboom. Picture this - An actor blows up a real building with real people, and some terror organisation calls it tasteful film-making. That wouldn't be fun, would it?

Next thing we know, Salman Khan gets married and has kids in order to impress Justice Katju. At least he would get away from the hassle of the hit-and-run and blackbuck-poaching cases. (Note: This joke is stolen from 'The Unreal Times' satire website. I hope I don't get arrested for defaming the aforementioned actor.)

And finally -

Justice Katju, you have disappointed me.

The Non-Resident Indian

Non-Resident Indian - Today, when I was reading the newspaper, I saw the word NRI mentioned 28 times. 28 times, and that was it different articles. One of them mentioned that the government was receiving an amount that ran into millions from people who did not live in their homeland. This amount was sent in order to help their families staying in India. And the government encouraged this and thanked them.
I see this as a failure of the system, where the government itself cannot take care of its people, and the citizens have to go abroad for job opportunity. India has one of the world's largest population in the age of 20 to 30, meaning it has a large labour force and human resources. But why are our people forced to emigrate. Why do they then hesitate to return to their own country? This again is food for thought.

We, in childhood are told that if we study well and sincerely, we can go abroad like our cousins and other relatives. Why is it that we are never told that we'll grow up to make a better country? The idea that other countries are the ideal countries for living is drilled into our heads.

All I have to say is, by encouraging our young and talented minds to go abroad, we are, as the Hindi phrase goes, 'hitting our own foot with a hammer'. India needs its bright minds, today more than ever. We need intelligent politicians who work for the country.

Please, don't encourage your children to go abroad. We need them. Our generation will bring change. Whether good or bad, that depends on the availability of talent.