Justice Karnan, a Dravidian like me but also a Dalit and thus entitled to protection under POA act (which the present Government has strengthened after the Bench tried to dilute it into nothingness)- was sentenced to 6 months in jail for contempt of court.
No doubt, in a state of extreme exasperation, he had, in his judicial capacity, done some silly things. But the timeline clearly shows that he had first tried to gain redress through the mandated channels. I believe he was pushed over the edge by a climate of such hostility and menace as even an African American living under Jim Crow would not have experienced. The crime of Black slavery and subjugation existed for two or three centuries in a land which, in any case, witnessed the genocide of the indigenous inhabitants and the brutal suppression of Working Class Movements. But what Dalits have experienced in India is quantitatively and qualitatively different. Even where people like Justice Karnan have risen by their merit and mingle with avowed anti-casteists, they feel they are walking on eggshells. At any moment the 'savarna' mob may turn against them. They may wear a well cut suit and polished shoes. They may- like Bodhhisattva Ambedkar- have Doctorates from Columbia and London- but, at a given sign, beggars in the street will spit at them for they are literally lower than the lowest, pariahs among pariahs but pariahs who can never alter their status.
Karna, in the Mahabharata, was believed to be of lower birth. That was his tragedy. He was as noble and generous as the Sun, but God himself ensured he was ignominiously and unfairly slain. Why? The Age of the Hero was ending. That of the thrifty merchant and the talented metic and the pedantic school master and the portly magistrate was beginning. It may be that this was the moment when arranged marriages within endogamous 'jatis' so successfully solved the 'stable marriage problem' that to this day they constitute 95 percent of all types of child-bearing unions in India. DNA studies suggest this happened 2000 years ago. Now, we do know that a lot of us belong to jatis which rose up or fell quite recently. Ambedkar or Mayawati's own 'jatis' have certainly risen greatly in prestige in living memory. Still, the fact remains, Caste has been politically instrumentalized. Justice Karnan, like the Warrior Karna, appears to have been punished for his supposedly lower birth. By contrast the 'Kula Bhushan' (or pride of the lineage) of the savarna, hereditary high price lawyer tribe, Prashant Bhushan is glorified no matter what he does. If he goes to jail- as perhaps he hopes- he can challenge the bounder Kejriwal. If he doesn't, the Bench has licked his boots- as is right and proper because his daddy was a Minister. Shitheads like these magnified the Bench and permitted it to set up a self-selecting Collegium so as to perpetuate corruption, incompetence and...Casteism.
To be frank, the Judiciary is not as corrupt as some other branches of Government. But that reflects the low esteem in which it is held. Its problem is incompetence. It does not know the Law. A few years ago it said that a diplomat can waive his immunity. This is not true. Only his Government can waive his immunity. The Indian Bench betrayed the comity of nations and became a laughing stock. Why did it intervene in the Italian Marines case? Simply to show the world that India is a shithole populated by cretins.
Dalit politicians did protest the SC's dilution of the POA and the Government immediately provided a legislative remedy. Why did they not stand up for Karnan? The answer is now clear. This is a problem for the rich savarnas. Let them understand that it is in their own interest to reform the Judiciary. If the Collegium is abolished- indeed if the Judiciary loses independence- then the Executive has to answer for its failings. Voters, not shitheads named Bhushan or Bhatia, will be able to exercise a countervailing power over savarna corruption, casteism and cretinism. Meanwhile the Ford or Rockerfeller foundation is welcome to fund 'Lawyers Collectives' to talk shite. The NGOs get to say they are fighting Fascism and Nazism and the Spanish Inquisition. But who gives a fuck about them? Wasting other people's money is nice work- if you can get it.
When, his son, Karna was slain, the Sun's fury was such that...what? It went on strike or retired to sulk? No. Its fury was such that it continued to burn. Dalit fury at Bhushan gloating over Justice Karnan's incarceration has that quality. Let all Indians see what needs to be done by that shadowless noon-tide light.
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