Retribution

I've been looking through some of Tehelka's stuff on the post-Godhra riots. See The video of Babu Bajrangi is particularly chilling - and rightly put up as their feature. See here for it. Watching him calmly say - "kissi ko nahin chhode. Aadmi, aurat, bacche. Kaato, maaro, jala do" - is extremely disturbing, even for me, with my fascination for most things morbid.

There's a bit of shouting from the cynics about the timing of all this - implementation of the Srikrishna report, the 1984 riots stuff being dredged up and now Godhra. Most seem to say its a politically motivated thing - appearing bang on time for the elections. Well...maybe.... but who cares? If it's a system that has to be broken, what better way than from the inside? (Cf: Sir
Humphrey on the Brits joining the EEC: We joined it to break it up....make a pig's breakfast out of it - the Foreign Office are extremely pleased...)

The good part about politically motivated retribution for the ordinary man is the wonderful concept of the political cycle - and come 2009, maybe Khairlanji will get the attention it deserves as well...

I like politically motivated moves - they weaken the system internally and leave it open for external attack...