Veeresh Malik's Manual scavenging and Cartoon.

Hello Mr.Malik, we met on  board Enrica  Lexie and have been meeting on and off on these columns. To be frank, my English seems to be too poor and I find it difficult to understand you. I could not get any connection between the hapless night-soil careers and the cartoon Shankar Pillai had drawn some sixty odd years back in the prestigious ( you will not agree with it being prestigious) cartoon weekly of that time. I had not seen the cartoon then as our village library got only Malayalam news papers and magazines and I generally hurried from my college as soon as the classes were over back home. Only when I left my village for Bombay and later to other places I started to see the magazine and then I liked it much even though I am far from a 'sahib' but enjoyed a bit of fun when Shankar laughed at politicians. Even now I look at all cartoons. My favourite used to be Lakshman. Abu I could not understand much. Vijayan I liked. And like that many more. I would say Shankar's Weekly was to India what was Punch to England. I do no agree with your contention that it was the weekly for 'sahibs and memsahibs'. It was for any one with a liking for humour and laughter. Do you say that P.G.Wodehouse is  only for upper echelons of the literate people. I differ with you sir.
I have not seen the cartoon when it was published. Only now when Hindu news paper reproduced it I happen to see it. Have you looked at carefully? Is Nehru aiming his whip at the back of Ambedkar who is sitting on the snail? To me it looks that Nehru who is slightly bent forward is aiming his whip at the snail and not at Ambedkar. Ambedkar is riding the snail with a whip in his hand but looks as if he is having no intention of whipping the snail. On the snail it is written constitution. What I made out was that the work on constitution was not moving fast to the satisfaction of Nehru who was getting impatient. Seeing that Ambedkar was not urging the persons entrusted with drafting the constitution Nehru himself was urging them. There is absolutely anything which is derogatory at all. If at all it is laughing at Nehru's impatience in getting works done. The present day MPs have absolutely no sense of humour or capacity to understand when someone pokes fun at.
And why this nightsoil bearers? Long back in late fifties while I was in Ajmer I have seen those poor hapless ladies carrying night-soil on their head. Afterwards I have never seen it. I don't know how you came across the girl whose parents were night-soil bearers here in Bangalore. Was she telling of her past or of presents time? And you imply that  the system of carrying night soil on head is still existing, and question is how many are still doing. I have been in many cities after fifty eight. Bombay, Ajmer, Jaipur, Delhi and so on. Other than in Ajmer in the late fifties I have not seen any scavenger carrying night soil on head. For the last nineteen years I am here in Bangalore and have not seen any night soil careers. I don't know in which area of Bangalore you met that girl?

The Greatest Cartoon Show on Earth

I wonder how many have seen the cartoon Shankar had drawn some sixty years back. It was reproduced in Hindu news paper. There one can see Ambedkar sitting on a snail with constitution written on it's shell. Ambedkar sits on the snail with a whip. The whip is held as if he has no intention of using it on the snail. Behind Ambedkar and his carrier the snail Nehru is standing bent forward with the whip raised and it looks very much he is aiming the whip at the snail. Nehru is not aiming at Ambedkar. He wants the constitution or rather the committee writing the constitution to go faster. Probably he is not satisfied about the speed with which the committee is preparing the constitution and thinks that Ambedkar is not urging the people to finish it. In no way it is derogatory to Ambedkar. In fact it shows Nehru's impatience only. Shankar's weekly was one the foremost cartoon weekly of that time. It was our equivalent of Punch of England. Shankar Pillai was a close friend of Nehru and would he would have enjoyed the cartoon like anyone else. To bring it up at this time shows utter ignorance of the present day MPs and others who went on vandalizing the offices of NCERT officials. This came in NCERT text book in 2006 and nobody has objected. Why all of a sudden now. And to start cleansing of all text books by these intolerant fanatics is most foolish. If scholars have to have their books vetted by these morons why they should bother to write at all. Let these morons write as well. What is the difference between fanatical Taliban and these people? This is an imaginary insult to the Scheduled Caste icon Ambedkar. Now if censoring starts every religionists also will chip in. Some passage they will say affects Hindu sentiments. Another will say something else affects Muslim sentiments, or Sikh sentiments or Christian sentiments. There will be no end to this. We are celebrating the 60th anniversary of our Parliament with this 'Greatest Cartoon Show of Earth'. Indian news in world media will be put along with humour by news papers and other media of the world. We are the laughing stock of the whole outside world.

Enrica Lexie

It is not right to say that Italy has toned down its stand on sovereignty stand. That issue is still under SC and SC has clarified that this judgement has no bearing on any other issues under its consideration. If it is decided by Supreme Court that India has right to try this case then the marines will be produced as required before the court. If the decision is otherwise that question does not arise. As per PTI reported in Hindu "“In view of the clear position taken by the Kerala government that [the] vessel was not [the] object of [the] crime, nor [do the] circumstances create suspicion of offence by the vessel, the seizure of [the] vessel cannot legally stand." That means the holding of the ship by Kerala Government was illegal. Should not Kerala Government be pulled up for that? After the instant Kerala Government told the owners of Enrica Lexie that it is free to go once they give assurance of the presence of all on board including the Marines and assurance to the production of ship as and when required the responsibility of Kerala Government for keeping the vessel ceases. But from reports it looks that the Government was worried about tampering of any evidence. In fact as soon as the police went aboard and searched for evidences the ship could have been released. But Kerala Government was playing to the gallery for the sake of the by-election and was afraid of opposition taking the issue to malign it.

Ramayana and the Voyage of Enrica Lexie

Ramayana and tumultuous voyage of Enrica Lexie. There is a good similarity between our sacred epic Ramayana and this episode of the Italian ship Enrica Lexie. My patriotic fellow citizens need not jump to the conclusion that then Ravana has to be the two Italian Marines. Far from it. It is the Government of Kerala who  abducted our modern Sita the charming Enrica Lexie. Like Lakshmana disfigured Ravana's sister Shoorpanakha, the two marines killed the two Kerala fishermen. Like Ravana tricked Sita to come out of the boundary Lakshman Rekha drawn by Lakshman, Kerala Government tricked the ship Enrica Lexie our Sita to come to Kochi port. Like Rama or Sita had no part in the vile act of Lakshman disfiguring Shoorpanakha, neither the Dolphin Tankers , who is our Rama nor Enrica Lexie Sita had any part in the shooting of fishermen by the Marines. But like Sita was put under Ashoka tree, Enrica Lexie was forced to berth in Kochi port. It is bit complicated logic. Those interested are advised to read this few more times to understand it. Yours Bin Tuglaq

Last Voyage of Enrica Lexie OR Once Bitten Twice Shy

The Last Voyage of Enrica Lexie.  OR  Once Bitten Twice Shy.
It is sure that Dolphin Tankers will think twice before sending any of their merchant ships to the Arabian Sea.  Any ship entering from Red sea has law on port side and outlaw on starboard side. It is always better for any ship to avoid both. The difference between law and outlaw is only in the apparel. While law is attired in uniform the outlaws are uniformly attired just in an underwear.  Once you get into the clutches of either your fate is more or less sealed. Unless you pay ransom there is no way of escape. When outlaws demand ransom bluntly law demand it in words couched in legal jargon.  Of course if in the captivity of outlaws one can at least dream of US Marines landing  where ever you are and rescuing you. But if in the clutches of other no such hopes.  Only hope is paying up the ransom which is normally equal to the cost of the ship. That is you buy your own ship from the law. In short you will be sailing between Schylla and Charribdis.
Considering all these it was decided to take the age old route via Cape of Good Hope when one want to go from Europe to far east. After all Vasco De Gama and many illustrious people have taken that route. Even Saint Thomas.

Mohammad and the Mountain

Supreme Court in its order has asked the Italian Government and the owners of the ship Enrica Lexie that the crew, Marines and the ship should be brought to the presence of legal authorities if asked. As far as the human beings it is alright. In fairness the prosecution should pay the airfare to them to come from Italy to Kochi. Why the ship? What purpose it will serve. It is a mute inanimate object which cannot speak anything on the witness stand. The relevant areas should have been photographed and those photographs can presented during trial. If a murder happens in a building, is the owner of the building asked to bring the building to the court for trial? Just because the ship can move is it proper to ask its owners to bring the ship to the legal authorities for the trial? If an elephant gores to death someone during the trial is the elephant asked to take stand in witness stand? In fact the elephant is a murderer. The ship is just the place from which the shots were fired or rather alleged to have been fired and it plays no other role. Probably that clause of asking the ship owner to bring the ship is just the usual legal jargon to absolve any responsibility in case a dispute arises. Incidentally I would have liked to see an elephant  on the witness stand. Recently an elephant ran amuck in Thrissur during the Pooram festival. It injured some sixty odd people. I hope the police will file a case against the elephant and arrest it. Also it should be brought to court for trial and take stand in the witness stand after taking oaths and what not.

Enrica Lexie- Some basic doubts

Mr.Veeresh Malik, I am writing this just for the sake of discussing this case from an independent position. Like a man from Mars looking at it.

You said that the boat was Indian and persons killed were Indians and so India has full right to try the Italian Marines as per Indian laws. Now let me ask you one doubt. First let us assume the geographical position is beyond the 200 nautical limits and hence it is undoubtedly international waters. There are two ships. Ship A from country A and ship B from country B. Someone from ship A shoots at ship B and kills a citizen of country B. Reason for shooting is not relevant for my hypothetical case. In mid sea cases we assume that Ship is a floating piece of country A and ship B is a floating piece of Country B. Which country should try the case. It is a citizen of B on the territory of country B who has been killed. So is it country B which should try the case? Now take another hypothetical case. Let us assume that a soldier posted at India- Pakistan border see someone moving suspiciously in the Pakistan side. Suspecting him to be a terrorist trying to infiltrate he shoots and kills him. Whether the soldier challenged him or such things are not relevant to this hypothetical situation. Who should try the case? India or Pakistan? It is a Pakistani citizen who was killed in Pakistani soil. So is it not Pakistan which should try the case? Will that soldier handed over to Pakistan for trial?
So is there not merit in this Enrica Lexie case when Italy says that the shooting happened in international waters and hence it is Italy which should try the case? So first the exact location of the incident should be ascertained. If it was within 12 nautical miles there is no ambiguity. The problem is if it was in the Contiguous Zone or EEZ. So in my opinion is Supreme Court should first call for records to establish the place of incidence. And then decide as per the United Nations Maritime Laws to which India is also a party.
I have an idea to find how far the place of shooting from the shore if the time of incidence is clearly known. The boat St.Antony reached the police station on shore well past night 10 o'clock. The exact time is available. The boat should have come at maximum speed it can as there were two dead bodies in it and the owner will be in a hurry to report the case.  If the incidence has taken at 4 pm and it reached say 10 pm it has taken 6 hrs. So at a speed of 9 knots it should have covered a distance of 54 nautical miles. Leaving margin to any error due to the fact that the place of incidence need not be perpendicular to the spot where the boat landed on shore it can be safely assumed to have happened some 40 nautical miles off the Indian shore. Or am I wrong?
All these are for the sake of argument.       Yours,   Guptan Veemboor