REPUBLIC DAY: Our country’s 2017 Republic Day function was special. UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was the honoured guest. Soldiers from UAE presidential guards marched in India with typical folded fists and short steps.
The contingent was followed by 35 musicians playing pipes and drums with the marching tune, Kaptien. President Pranab Mukherjee’s Republic Day address, which could well be his final R-Day message, was par excellence.
He emphasised that the well being of the nation was dependent on upholding the pluralism and diversity of the social fabric as enshrined in our Constitution. He said, “it was his firm conviction that India’s pluralism and her social, cultural, linguistic and religious diversity are our greatest strength.
Our tradition has always celebrated the argumentative Indian, not the intolerant Indian.” The President exhorted the younger generation, born after Independence, not to take freedom for granted or to forget that the tree of freedom needs constant care and nourishment.
He said that the values India holds dear will take the country further ahead, but “we will have to learn to adjust our sails, quickly and deftly, to the winds of change”. He stressed that education will have to keep pace with technology and that in the race between man and machine, the winner will have to be job generation. Ahead of the budget session, the President urged MPs to focus on debate and discussion, not disruption.
J&K Governor N N Vohra in his R-Day address rightly cautioned against adopting confrontational approach to resolve the problems in the state as that could lead to serious consequences.
He stated that the time has come for the leaders of various movements in the society and all those who follow them, to accept that the continuation of hartals and violent protestations will result in the state and its people to slip further. There were lighter moments also when Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was observed sleeping during the function. No big deal. Perhaps, he was concentrating on every word of the President’s speech.
Courageous Asma
Jahangir: It is not easy for a woman in Pakistan to play a prominent public role, especially in controversial issues. Pakistani human rights lawyer and activist Asma Jahangir is a remarkable exception. Delivering the 2017 Amartya Sen lecture at the London School of Economics on religious intolerance and its impact on democracy, Jahangir, who has faced several threats and challenges in Pakistan, referred to religious intolerance as an infection capable of crossing borders. She said that several wrong and dangerous lessons were learnt after the terror attacks on September 11, 2001.
Some of them involved going for a regime change in favour of a rigid government, painting all Muslims with the same brush of terrorism and religious extremism, and responding to brutality with an equal measure of intolerance.
She bemoaned, “Once you start politicising religion, you play with fire and get burnt as well”. She warned that one should be careful while bringing religion into legislation because the law itself can become an instrument of persecution. Well said, Asma. We need more women in Pakistan and in India to emulate brave Asma Jahangir.
UK’s Supreme Court and Brexit: The UK Supreme Court ruled that the prime minister cannot trigger the process of taking Britain out of the European Union unilaterally, and must seek the Parliament’s consent over it. The government had argued that it had executive powers to trigger Article 50, but the Supreme Court rejected the argument by a majority of eight to three.
It ruled that the government cannot trigger Article 50 without an Act of Parliament authorising it to do so. UK Attorney General Jeremy Wright said the government was disappointed, but it would comply and do all that is necessary to implement the court’s judgment.
Downing Street stressed that the ruling will not derail Prime Minister Theresa May’s timetable to trigger Article 50 by the end of March. It is reported that Downing Street has been preparing for the result for weeks and is understood to have drafted a short bill to seek parliamentary approval to trigger Article 50. This is a fine example of the UK’s deference to its Supreme Court’s ruling.
solisorabjee@gmail.com