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India Indians Vote Like Cattle: Markandey Katju

Jan 6, 2005
3,450
3,762
Metro-Vancouver, B.C., Canada

Indians vote like cattle: Markandey Katju

IANS - Mar 30, 2013, 06.33 PM IST


NEW DELHI: India is not a full-fledged democracy as 90 percent of its people vote like sheep and cattle, Press Council of India chairman Justice Markandey Katju said here Saturday.

Speaking to TV channel Headlines Today, Katju said: "Ninety per cent Indians vote in droves like sheep and cattle. They are like a herd of cattle voting along caste and religious lines."

"Because Indians vote like livestock, there are so many criminals in parliament," he added.

The former Supreme Court judge said that he would not vote as India was being run by leaders elected on the basis of their caste, which is not the true form of democracy.

"I won't vote because my vote is meaningless. Votes are cast in the name of Jats, Muslims, Yadavs or Harijans. Democracy is not meant to be run like this. Why should I waste my time in joining the cattle queue?" he said.

Boasting of his secular credentials, Katju said that he was against communal forces and "by being secular, if I am branded a Congressman, you are entitled to your view".

Katju has been in news for seeking a pardon for actor Sanjay Dutt and Zaibunnisa Kazi, charged with illegal possession of arms in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case by the Supreme Court.

Katju has argued that Dutt stacked the weapons for self defence and to protect his family from the threats that they were getting in the aftermath of the Babri demolition.

"Sanjay Dutt is a shattered man. He has suffered enough but he has reformed," he said.

Katju said that he was prepared to seek pardons for other stars, Saif Ali Khan and Salman Khan, who have been charged for killing endangered blackbucks in Jodhpur.

"I will study their cases and if I am satisfied that I should speak out, I will surely plead their case," he said.

Accused of being hungry for publicity, the former judge said that "seeking publicity is a form of vulgarity". He added that he never chases controversy but what can he do if controversy chases him.

He also mocked Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal and his former associate Anna Hazare, saying that corruption was a "malaise which cannot be eradicated in the next 20 years".

"This campaign is like the tale told by an idiot signifying nothing. There's no morality code in the country, so corruption cannot be wiped out," Katju said.

source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ttle-Markandey-Katju/articleshow/19294380.cms
 

arshdeep88

SPNer
Mar 13, 2013
312
642
35
i was on my way to bathinda in train in my college days ,i was sitting next to one Guy from local village there who told how local leaders influence poor people with money ,Whiskey, Whine ,meat to get votes
and he told how sometimes police too played its part in this deal
Corruption i think now its in our blood and no one can blame others in this aspect till we are ready to look inside to eradicate it

we all do for example
when we are got caught by police for some driving nuisance, we prefer paying them some bribe to get off
We don't want to stand in ques for work we ll contact broker for work Like in post office etc..
there are many examples ,
 

spnadmin

1947-2014 (Archived)
SPNer
Jun 17, 2004
14,500
19,219
I am not making excuses for what is reported here. Just offering a little different perspective. India is a democracy. What the judge is saying is true on one level but demoralizing on another level. He has to say what he says. Someone also has to point out that India is a new democracy, a toddler just beginning to learn to walk and talk like a democracy.

There are 1,241,491,960 people. Most of them living in rural locations, most of them living in poverty. No nation that has been a democracy for more than 200 years can imagine what that is like. Her history is that of colonization from 1000 AD just about. Every conceivable horde that could suck her dry of her wealth and prevent her masses from being educated did just that. Suddenly, overnight, she is no longer a colony but a democratic republic. What do you expect? When you are enslaved by foreign tyrants taking risks is a really bad idea. Playing stupid is a survival skill.

100 years ago most living in the US lived on farms, never finished grade school and were illiterate, or were immigrants from impoverished parts of the world, ready to be exploited by immigration agents and industrial tycoons who were crooks. The same thing was going on. Fear, iilliteracy and poverty breed a herd instinct.

Votes were bought. Entire groups of people could not vote or had to pass through political hoops for the right to vote. They starved right through the Great Depression of 1929. The only refuge of most were the deras of America, the churches, whose clergy told them how to vote. Police were on the take and political jobs were handed out according to influence not ability.

And this still happens though not as much! It takes a few generations, and a lot of push to educate the masses, before there are laws in place that make political corruption and paid-for elections a bad idea, punishable by huge fines and long prison terms. And the "herd" always has to keep at it.

When more of India has the resources to share in the middle-class boom that we are always reading about on The Hindu and The New York Times, that is when the critical mass needed to disband the existing political class will act. It is even happening now in India, but like any journey, it is done only by persisting on the path. Our best instincts are realized when there is genuine support for equity, an equal chance. In my opinion bombastic speeches are useless. Advocacy for causes that make a real difference is better.
 
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itsmaneet

SPNer
Jun 13, 2012
216
159
39
Nagpur, India
Well.... Katju said it right & i dont feel trend will ever change till the present political structure exists in this country. Am not blaming my country but just the political structure. Change in political structure can do wonders in India... i hope someone - someday do it ...
 

GSingh1984

SPNer
Mar 28, 2013
69
31
40
i was on my way to bathinda in train in my college days ,i was sitting next to one Guy from local village there who told how local leaders influence poor people with money ,Whiskey, Whine ,meat to get votes
and he told how sometimes police too played its part in this deal
Corruption i think now its in our blood and no one can blame others in this aspect till we are ready to look inside to eradicate it

we all do for example
when we are got caught by police for some driving nuisance, we prefer paying them some bribe to get off
We don't want to stand in ques for work we ll contact broker for work Like in post office etc..
there are many examples ,
It is right to protest being told how to use property you pay for i.e roads.
Also, India is not like those other nations; until the caste system, which is not part of hind dharam , eliminated this will continue to happen.
 
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