The Great Debate (India)

Who should open the 2010 Commonwealth Games?

The latest controversy to hit the Delhi Commonwealth Games is the question of who is going to inaugurate it.

The opening ceremony for the two-week sporting event, held every four years for former British colonies, is on Oct 3.

Some media reports said there had been a row between India and Britain over whether India’s president, Pratibha Singh Patil, or Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne who is standing in for Queen Elizabeth at the ceremony, would open the Games.

A spokesman for the British embassy, however, said Prince Charles would open the Games and denied there was any controversy. Some media reports said a compromise was reached between the Indian president and Prince Charles.

Who do you think should open the 2010 Commonwealth Games?

Who should inaugurate the 2010 Commonwealth Games?customer surveys

A relook at moral policing: Khushboo’s case

(Pinky Anand is a Supreme Court lawyer who fought the case on behalf of Khushboo. The views expressed here are her own)

The recent Supreme Court judgement in Khushboo’s case addresses interesting questions with far-reaching impact. In a short span, we have witnessed various episodes of moral policing ranging from violent physical attacks, to criminal complaints, to Public Interest Litigation (PILs) in courts.

In January 2009, the incident in Mangalore where young women were thrashed by Ram Sena workers merely because they chose to sit in a pub, spoke volumes about the intimidation and misuse of power by anti-social workers.

Similarly, the display of outrage by some sections of society because Richard Gere kissed Shilpa Shetty in public in April 2007 during an AIDS awareness event, indicates our intolerance as a society towards the expression and display of emotion by different people.

M.F. Husain has been targeted for obscene paintings. It is another story that the debate as to what would qualify as ‘obscene’ is yet to be resolved. The pertinent question is whether the citizens of India have a right to live in the country without fear and intimidation?

In 2007, Chandramohan, an art student from Maharaja Sayajirao University at Baroda was held in police custody for six days for painting allegedly obscene works as part of an examination.

People of the society who consider themselves to be the ‘protectors’ of Indian culture and tradition and set out to morally police the public tend to forget that society is a dynamic institution.

Has the Bharatiya Janata Party lost its political plot?

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday expelled former finance minister Jaswant Singh from its primary membership for praising Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in a book.

The decision to expel Singh came after the release of his book “Jinnah – India, Partition, Independence” which the BJP said went against the party ideology.

As a visibly upset Singh, a founding member of the party, questioned the decision, the latest controversy to hit the BJP seems to have brought its internal conflicts out in the open.

Many pressing issues haunt the party as it begins its ‘Chintan Baithak’ – an annual brainstorming session.

The BJP was drubbed at the 2009 general election and faced a leadership crisis. Its elderly leaders are perceived as being out of sync with a young vote base and it has had an ideological falling out with its Hindu right-wing parent.

The BJP may need to take a hard look at these issues if it hopes to reinvent itself.

Singh’s book and its fallout have led some liberal thinkers in politics to question the wisdom of meting out punishment to an individual for expressing a personal opinion especially since larger issues like revamping the organizational structure of the party and its revival need to be addressed.