Intrepid Katju

Justice Markandey Katju never fails to create a stir or for that matter stay away from the news for long; but he does manage to kick up a meaningful debate. Though his provocative remarks often contain a kernel of truth, not many seem to get a sense of it and quibble over the form. When Bal Thackeray died Katju was one of those honourable exceptions, who chose to call a spade a spade and did not resort to singing his praises out of fear.

His recent remark that "ninety per cent of Indians are idiots and can be easily taken for ride" has not gone down well with many. He himself said it was to provoke people into thinking and not fall to the guiles of politicians and religious mobsters.

He said that a communal riot could be set off in Delhi for a paltry sum of Rs 2,000 as all somebody has to do is disrespect a place of worship and people will start fighting. "You mad people will start fighting amongst yourself not realising that some agent provocateur is behind this," he said.

One can hardly disagree with him as numerous inquiry commissions held after riots have time and again proved it. But sadly little action is taken against the guilty or hardly any lessons are learnt. Hence these riots happen with alarming regularity. Katju then remarked that “80% of Hindus and Muslims were communal.”

All these comments did not go down well with the Internet Hindus, who were more than eager to brand him a Congress agent. The comment boards in Hindustan Times and Times of India, which are never moderated, were replete with trolls against him. However, unlike other occasions, this time they did not have a free run as there were many Katju supporters vociferously defending him.

The very next day two students from Lucknow filed a case saying that Katju's remarks denigrate Indians. To the credit of these students, it needs to be said that they took a far more civilized route than say burning effigy or hitting the press council's chairman’s photo with chappals; usually the norm in our country.

In his rebuttal he said, "The figure 90% is not a mathematical figure, it simply means that in my opinion a large proportion of Indians (and again I repeat, not all) are fools."He then goes on to say the he wants Indians to prosper and have decent lives, "which is only possible if the Indian masses develop the scientific outlook and scientific temper and give up casteism, communalism, superstitions and other mental attitudes which a large part (not all) of them presently suffer from." The Press Council chairman added that, "Truth is sometimes bitter, but sometimes bitter medicine has to be given to an ailing person."

Katju then recounted some of the scientific developments that happened in the ancient history of the country and felt that down the line we gave up the scientific temper and lost out to Europe in the race to civilization.

Tracing the origin of communal divide within various communities, Katju said they began after 1857 revolt, thanks to the divide and rule policy of the British. This explanation to me sounds a bit simplistic. The divisions along caste and communal lines was in fact more pronounced during those periods, but somehow each community used to live in isolated enclaves and was at peace with others. What the British did succeed was in fomenting tensions and violence among them.

After Independence initially some of our leaders tried to build bridges among different communities. But somehow all that was undone by later leaders, who began treating each community as vote banks. Regarding this he said, "When most of our people go to vote they cast their votes on the basis of caste or religion, not the merit of the candidate. What else is the meaning of vote banks? And this is exploited by some unscrupulous politicians who know how to manipulate and manage these vote banks. That is why many persons with criminal backgrounds get elected."

He also laments about the rampant superstition in the country and describes astrology is 'humbug' and says that even the so called educated people are hooked to it. In a recent survey at software firms across the country, it was found that superstitious practices were rampant, especially in companies based in Bangalore and Delhi. The high pressure dog-eat-dog atmosphere in these offices is making them do whatever it takes, even superstition, to succeed.

It was found that employers were resorting to Feng Shui and Vastu Shastra, while employees were using lucky charms such as stones, rudrakshas and bamboo shoots to boost their careers. Superstitious practices were more prevalent among top management officials.

Lastly he does not spare his bugbear - the media. "A large section of the media, taking advantage of the backwardness of a large section of our people, dishes out lives of filmstars, cricket, etc as if these are the real issues before the people, when the real issues are socio-economic."

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