Manu Sharma is the son of a heavy-weight Congress "leader" in Haryana. One of his aunts is ex-President Shankar Dayal Sharma's daughter. He's also Jessica Lall's murderer. Who admitted to killing the lady in a deadpan confession. He's also a free citizen of India. He's in fact, thriving.
If all goes well, Mohammed Afzal Guru will be hanged on October 20, 2006, for masterminding the attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001. If at all Guru should be hanged, it should be for the security men who gave up their lives so that the rats inside Parliament can continue to live and prosper. Mohammed Afzal Guru did not actually kill anyone - painful as it may be for the security personnel's families to hear people protest his death penalty, the fact remains that Guru didn't pull the trigger on anyone.
Afzal Guru in fact did us a great service. He tried to cleanse the rot in our Parliament. For that, he needs to go into our history books as the greatest patriot that ever lived. He's a hero. He had the guts to do what any of us would've loved to do if we had his guts. We don't, so we vote - and in some cases, like mine, we don't do even that. (Of course, we blog which helps our great democracy a great deal).
As things stand today, India's only hope is to bomb Parliament when it's in full session (which it never will be unless MPs are hiking their pay). What can you say of elected representatives who will harbour and protect murders within their own families? There are numerous cases of high profile brats literally getting away with murder, but Manu Sharma's case beats them all hands down. Here we have a scumbag who goes on tape to admit that he pulled the trigger on a woman simply because she refused to serve him a drink after the bar was closed - she got killed for doing her job and this despicable apology for a human being roams free today - he's doing much more than that - he's thriving. Because his father happens to be in the right place at the right time. Life has finally caught up with him - hopefully (the confession tape was on air today and if he's not sent to the gallows even after this, the rest of us should hang).
If Guru can be hanged even though he did not actually pull the trigger on anyone, why can't Manu Sharma be hanged when he not only pulled the trigger without provocation but also admitted to doing it with a cockiness that comes from knowing he's above the law?
"Elected representatives" in our state legislatures all over the country are thugs. Many of them are illiterate. Some of them have been charged with murder and they make laws, pass bills, and "rule" us. Why shouldn't they be hanged? Everyone is incensed about the attack on the symbol of our democracy - what about letting murderers sit in Parliament? Isn't that an attack on the symbol of our democracy? Politicians of all hues are frothing at the mouth because Parliament was attacked - none of them died, remember? But millions of innocent people have lost their lives in this country to senseless violence in every single state, most of them "masterminded" by politicians. Why is justice never done in those cases? Why doesn't anyone ever hang? Why not hang Dawood? Narendra Modi? Manu Sharma? Santosh Singh? (Priyadarshini Matto's murderer) Vikas Yadav? (Nitish Katara's murderer who confessed to the crime and also makes a guest appearance in the Jessica Lall murder) The killers of the young IAS officer (I've forgotten his name - public memory, you see) who paid with his life because he stood up to the UP/Bihiar mafia - because he did his job? Why not hang VP Singh whose Mandal politics killed so many young students? Why not hang HKL Bhagat (I think he's already dead, does anyone remember?) and Buta Singh and all those who watched the massacare of Sikhs when Indira Gandhi was assassinated?
Arun Jaitley calls this "the most gruesome attack on India." In what sense? He doesn't breathe a word about the security men who gave up their lives to protect him - he's talking about the attempt on his life (which unfortunately for all of us, remains just an attempt). What kind of a democracy are we? If I sit in Parliament, my life is more precious than yours if you're standing behind a bar counter. Even if you're doing your job behind the bar counter while I'm bleeding the nation dry sitting in Parliament.
Oh, forget it. Let's celebrate "Gandhi Jayanti." Sanjay Dutt is preaching about Gandhian values to us - it can't get more ridiculous than this even in the theatre of the absurd. Thank God Gandhi is dead.
