My deep sympathy for criminals
June 7, 2006: It seems to me that there are two standards of moral judgement within all of us: one that applies to us and ours (ie. apnon ke liye ) and another that applies to others (ie. gairon ke liye ). None of us can claim to be above this sort of double-standard. The double-standard is exemplified by Vajpayeeji’s rather indulgent statements about being saddened by l’affaire Rahul Mahajan, and urging introspection. Would the honourable Past Prime Minister have been just “saddened”, and asked for introspection all around if the person concerned were, say, Rahul Gandhi instead? Or would he have been indignant instead, pointed to the poor moral fibre of the family and the political party involved, and asked for punishment to be meted out to those who committed the crime and those who sought to hush it up? There is some merit in thinking of Rahul Mahajan, Sahil Zaroo and others as unfortunate victims of their families’ lives in the fast lane. There wou...