The best way to know the self is feeling oneself at the moments of reckoning. The feeling of being alone, just with your senses, may lead you to think more consciously. More and more of such moments may sensitize ‘you towards you’, towards others. We become regular with introspection and retrospection. We get ‘the’ gradual connect to the higher self we may name Spirituality or God or just a Humane Conscious. We tend to get a rhythm again in life. We need to learn the art of being lonely in crowd while being part of the crowd. A multitude of loneliness in mosaic of relations! One needs to feel it severally, with conscience, before making it a way of life. One needs to live several such lonely moments. One needs to live severallyalone.

Tuesday, 16 April 2019

WHY SUPREME COURT QUESTIONED ELECTION COMMISSION?


The Supreme Court questioned the Election Commission (EC) if it had powers to implement the model code of conduct. While hearing a plea, the top court went by the run of hate speeches being given by leaders in this electoral season and asked why the Election Commission was not able to take action against them.

When the lawyer of the EC said that the election body was toothless and powerless against hate speeches, Chief Justice of India retorted back saying wasn’t the Election Commission aware of its powers?

Asking either the Chief Election Commissioner or a representative conversant with the matter to be present in the court during next hearing today, the CJ of India said he would like to examine the matter further.

The top court objected on the EC practice of issuing just a notice on the violation of model code of conduct using hate speech followed by an advisory if violation was still continued emphasizing that EC needed more to do.

After the SC’s caustic remarks yesterday, the EC suddenly came into action and banned Yogi Adityanath, Maneka Gandhi, Mayawati and Azam Khan for delivering proactive speeches that violated model code of conduct. The ban that is from today, though, is only for two days for Maneka Gandhi and Mayawati and for three days for Yogi Adityanath and Azam Khan.

If we go back to the previous Lok Sabha elections in 2014, the EC ban for inflammatory speeches on Amit Shah was on for one week while Azam Khan and Giriraj Singh were banned for the whole campaign phase. The ban on Amit Shah was lifted after after a week after he vowed not to use abusive or derogatory language again. Election Commissioner HS Brahma had said 2014 poll campaign was worst in 30 years.

Going by that standard, the EC decision this time looks tampered as social media has added another extension to derogatory and abusive language though the top court is happy that at least EC is doing something.

But why the country’s top court has to call the EC to get up, to wake from the deep slumber it is in to realize the powers it has?

Why can’t it take decisions like it did in past when it had banned and disenfranchised Shiv Sena’s Bal Thackeray and Ramesh Prabhoo for 6 years for corrupt electoral practices, or comparatively tougher decisions to back to ban Amit Shah, Azam Khan and Giriraj Singh in 2014?

Will the EC follow the suit now? If we can’t expect to see a replica of it, can we a stronger institutional body?

©SantoshChaubey