Dear Justice Katju ,
I consider myself to be a part of the 90% so called “ idiots/fools” whom you “love” so much that you degrade and demean them , and all this because you “love” them, us. But of course Sire. That must be a mighty fine strategy to make people realize their mistakes.
It’s like telling a woman who is into prostitution that “ You are a whore and you have no respect because you sleep around with people for money”. And when faced with a need to justify, you say “ I only wanted her to feel bad and give up prostitution. I only said so out of love”. We idiots, sir, do not appreciate your concern. Our stupidity . We would rather act and try and pull her out of the dirty world, even if it means our hands get a little dirty themselves. That is simple and straight. But you would make her feel so bad that (you assume) she would give it up herself. That is like a hydraulic lift. Push from this side, results on the other. That is some social-mechanics!!!
So this is the voice of the idiot and the voice of the communal – another 80% of us.
Justice, We are idiots not out of choice. We are idiots because our father was not a judge. He was a poor farmer or an artisan or a worker. Nor do we enjoy the legacy of a grandfather who was a lawyer, then a Chief Minister, then a Governor, a Union Minister. Nor was our uncle a Chief Justice of a High Court. (That is a pretty grand line of kinship sir! That is what makes you believe that we , the idiots, are idiots.) It is not an excuse but reality. We are a reflection of what our fathers were. They were ignorant little duffers, we are a bit more aware, a bit more progressive, yet not as much as those whose ‘PAPA’s and ‘GRANDPA’s were educated liberals. Our children will be better than us, we hope. We and our generations will progress towards all that you want us to achieve today and now. Our only fault being, we are slow movers.
We are hurt. You called us idiots. You think you showed us the mirror. May be you did…or may be you painted the mirror all black. Any which way, does that take away our feelings? No. Yes we are sentimental people. We are emotional too. But we are embracing reason and blending it with emotions. Absolute belief in reason would make us all machines. Criticize us, but do not flog us naked.
As for your justifications –
1. I have been misquoted in the press reports, but it is true that I have said that 90% Indians (not all) are fools. My intention in saying so was not to hurt anyone but to awaken people to the realities, that is, the widespread casteism, communalism, superstitions, and other backward traits in the mindset of a large section of our people which is blocking our progress and keeping us poor.
Please explain how is your statement meant to “awaken” people. If statements could “awaken”, we have had enough armchair statement-makers to awaken the entire humanity ten times over. If you are so concerned, please get down from your pedestal, go to the villages, go to the riot-affected places, go to the rural interiors of Haryana to awaken people about honour killings, go wherever there is a need for awakening. But please spare us the ignominy of being awakened by your love-driven, awakening-rousing statements delivered at conferences and TV studios.
But if all you want is to stay in the headlines, there is a lot of scope out there to say a lot of things that are less demeaning. Feel free to do it. With your frequent preaching, the media is already too eager to lap up anything you say and put it on the front page. Justice Katju, the sage we had been waiting for!
And one more thing! If the Chairman of the Press Council is himself misquoted by the press, you better focus on your duty Chairman!
2.The figure 90% is not a mathematical figure, it simply means that in my opinion a large proportion of Indians (and again I repeat, not all) are fools.
What! 90% is so surely a mathematical figure. Even if you do not mean it to be so, it is so. Even if it means “a majority”- that is above 50% - your opinion is highly debatable and contestable. Problem is, you are now on a free run – no body can question you, you are not accountable, you can not be forced to accept that your comments carry a irresponsible tone.
And please don’t repeat “not all”. We understand. We are fools, you are not. “All” would of course include you and a lot many armchair commentators.
By the way , your opinion could be someone else’s offence. Freedom of your opinion ends where the nose of our self-respect begins, however miniscule be the degree of that self-respect.
3. I never named you, nor any community, caste, or sect, and I never said that you are in the category of 90%. Hence I do not see how you are defamed.
Sir we idiots take offence collectively. So you may have not defamed “me”, but you did defame “us” . Idiots we are afterall. But if I am not wrong, you did say “80% of Hindus and Muslims” are communal. You named two sects, or religions. Do not mislead.
Now, what do you make out of the word “ communal”, is not clear. You said –
“Today 80 percent Hindus are communal and 80 percent Muslims are communal. This is the harsh truth, bitter truth that I am telling you. How is it that in 150 years you have gone backwards instead of moving forward because the English kept injecting poison. The policy that emanated from London after the mutiny in 1857 that there is only one way to control this country that is to make Hindus and Muslims fight each other...Our ancestors also studied Urdu, but it is so easy to fool you. You are idiots, so how difficult is it to make an idiot out of you,".
Had 80% Hindus and Muslims been communal- whatever that means to you- the nation would be up in flames of religious violence. We would be an intolerant Hindu Rashtra without respect for religious minority. APJ Abdul Kalam , a muslim by religion, loved by Hindus equally. Had we been communal fanatics, India would not have sustained. We may have grievances towards each other, we may support a uniform civil code, we may be against religion-based minority appeasement, but to say we are communal is a bit too cynical an ‘opinion’. In a community, there will be ‘intra-‘ well as ‘inter-‘ conflicts and fights. It is inevitable because it is human nature. Where there is a fight over resources, there is bound to be some conflict. But the end result is not annihilation but survival. Not victory but compromise. And that is why we fight and we compromise and we survive and we sustain.
Come to our villages sometime , Justice. On Diwali, Muslim children go to Hindu homes to collect sweets and foodstuff. No Hindu lady turns them away empty handed. Do not paint us all black . We have shades of grey and we are ashamed enough of the same.
And if your love for India and Indians is so strong, why not use “us” instead of “you” in that speech. It would look and be more sincere that way. Get down from that position of vain finger pointing.
4. I made this comment not to humiliate or harm anyone but because I love the Indian people, they are my people, and I wish them to prosper and have decent lives, which is only possible if the Indian masses develop the scientific outlook and scientific temper and give up casteism, communalism, superstitions and other mental attitudes which a large part (not all) of them presently suffer from. I wish to see India in the front ranks of the advanced industrialized nations of the world, with our people having a high standard of living, instead of suffering from the present evils of massive poverty, unemployment, price rise, corruption, farmer’s suicides, child malnutrition, absence of health care and good education, casteism etc. So you see I made that statement not to harm the Indian people, whom I love, but to benefit them. The truth is sometimes bitter, but sometimes bitter medicine has to be given to an ailing person.
As for your justifications –
1. I have been misquoted in the press reports, but it is true that I have said that 90% Indians (not all) are fools. My intention in saying so was not to hurt anyone but to awaken people to the realities, that is, the widespread casteism, communalism, superstitions, and other backward traits in the mindset of a large section of our people which is blocking our progress and keeping us poor.
Please explain how is your statement meant to “awaken” people. If statements could “awaken”, we have had enough armchair statement-makers to awaken the entire humanity ten times over. If you are so concerned, please get down from your pedestal, go to the villages, go to the riot-affected places, go to the rural interiors of Haryana to awaken people about honour killings, go wherever there is a need for awakening. But please spare us the ignominy of being awakened by your love-driven, awakening-rousing statements delivered at conferences and TV studios.
But if all you want is to stay in the headlines, there is a lot of scope out there to say a lot of things that are less demeaning. Feel free to do it. With your frequent preaching, the media is already too eager to lap up anything you say and put it on the front page. Justice Katju, the sage we had been waiting for!
And one more thing! If the Chairman of the Press Council is himself misquoted by the press, you better focus on your duty Chairman!
2.The figure 90% is not a mathematical figure, it simply means that in my opinion a large proportion of Indians (and again I repeat, not all) are fools.
What! 90% is so surely a mathematical figure. Even if you do not mean it to be so, it is so. Even if it means “a majority”- that is above 50% - your opinion is highly debatable and contestable. Problem is, you are now on a free run – no body can question you, you are not accountable, you can not be forced to accept that your comments carry a irresponsible tone.
And please don’t repeat “not all”. We understand. We are fools, you are not. “All” would of course include you and a lot many armchair commentators.
By the way , your opinion could be someone else’s offence. Freedom of your opinion ends where the nose of our self-respect begins, however miniscule be the degree of that self-respect.
3. I never named you, nor any community, caste, or sect, and I never said that you are in the category of 90%. Hence I do not see how you are defamed.
Sir we idiots take offence collectively. So you may have not defamed “me”, but you did defame “us” . Idiots we are afterall. But if I am not wrong, you did say “80% of Hindus and Muslims” are communal. You named two sects, or religions. Do not mislead.
Now, what do you make out of the word “ communal”, is not clear. You said –
“Today 80 percent Hindus are communal and 80 percent Muslims are communal. This is the harsh truth, bitter truth that I am telling you. How is it that in 150 years you have gone backwards instead of moving forward because the English kept injecting poison. The policy that emanated from London after the mutiny in 1857 that there is only one way to control this country that is to make Hindus and Muslims fight each other...Our ancestors also studied Urdu, but it is so easy to fool you. You are idiots, so how difficult is it to make an idiot out of you,".
Had 80% Hindus and Muslims been communal- whatever that means to you- the nation would be up in flames of religious violence. We would be an intolerant Hindu Rashtra without respect for religious minority. APJ Abdul Kalam , a muslim by religion, loved by Hindus equally. Had we been communal fanatics, India would not have sustained. We may have grievances towards each other, we may support a uniform civil code, we may be against religion-based minority appeasement, but to say we are communal is a bit too cynical an ‘opinion’. In a community, there will be ‘intra-‘ well as ‘inter-‘ conflicts and fights. It is inevitable because it is human nature. Where there is a fight over resources, there is bound to be some conflict. But the end result is not annihilation but survival. Not victory but compromise. And that is why we fight and we compromise and we survive and we sustain.
Come to our villages sometime , Justice. On Diwali, Muslim children go to Hindu homes to collect sweets and foodstuff. No Hindu lady turns them away empty handed. Do not paint us all black . We have shades of grey and we are ashamed enough of the same.
And if your love for India and Indians is so strong, why not use “us” instead of “you” in that speech. It would look and be more sincere that way. Get down from that position of vain finger pointing.
4. I made this comment not to humiliate or harm anyone but because I love the Indian people, they are my people, and I wish them to prosper and have decent lives, which is only possible if the Indian masses develop the scientific outlook and scientific temper and give up casteism, communalism, superstitions and other mental attitudes which a large part (not all) of them presently suffer from. I wish to see India in the front ranks of the advanced industrialized nations of the world, with our people having a high standard of living, instead of suffering from the present evils of massive poverty, unemployment, price rise, corruption, farmer’s suicides, child malnutrition, absence of health care and good education, casteism etc. So you see I made that statement not to harm the Indian people, whom I love, but to benefit them. The truth is sometimes bitter, but sometimes bitter medicine has to be given to an ailing person.
Casteism – We are giving it up slowly sir. Not at the pace we would like to but we definitely are giving it up. Thousands of years of history and historical traditions and customs can not be given up in a mere 60 years. Especially, if the education system is as dysfunctional as ours . You have enough wealth sir, why don’t you start some schools for the poor? Why don’t you conduct some sort of social awareness campaign in which instead of preaching at conferences, you speak to the bhukkha-nanga India at the nukkads and the slums. Take that blazer off and work it out. We idiots need your guidance. Hold our hand and lead us up the right path. But if you stand at the top, while we struggle to trek upwards, and scowl at us “ Rascals, come up”, it demoralizes us. Idiots we are. Come down, give us a helping hand.
Communalism – The only wave of fanaticism – the late 1980s and early 90s – lost its sheen as fast as it gathered it. We need roads not temples. And we know it and we demand it. So calm down with your accusations.
Superstitions – Today’s rites and rituals are tomorrow’s superstitions. The instrument of change is education. We are progressing in proportion to our education. No educated person does a “sati” today. Yes there are blind beliefs. It will take time to get rid of them in toto.
Ignorance – We may not fight for our rights. That is so because the question of survival is so primary to us that rights take a back seat. The more fortunate ones among us do the fighting for us. We need to fight for ourselves too. But till such time as we are busy managing two square meals a day , we request you to kindly take up that fight on our behalf.
“ Truth Is Bitter” – Yes it actually is. But truth is also not absolute. It is relative. Thank you for your gospel of absolute truth. We don’t need it but.
Finally-
Most astounding is your complete disregard of the ways of society, and its functioning. Society can not jump from one stage to another. It crawls. Because there is a continuous interplay of dialectic currents and what results from these currents is a mix of progressive and regressive tendencies. The progressive tendencies, in our case, have not been strong enough to herald fast paced social change. It is our duty to strengthen them. Through education, through awareness. But not through sweeping generalizations made at conferences and seminars. When Karl Marx said that capitalism is a monster and it will die its own death, he confessed that it will not die because he said so. It will die ONLY IF the workers unite and ACT. So by saying that “you are idiots” you will not improve our lot. You will do so only by ACTION.
Having been a prolific judge, people expect you to be careful in your choice of words. Words like “idots”, “fools” would have been just fine in your written judgements. Now that you have retired and speak to the media, you should be even more careful. You speak to the nation through the media. Tell us what we should do and how should we do it. Do not call us names.
In our opinion, you have become addicted to news headlines and limelight.This is your bitter truth, IN OUR OPINION. Not that you really need it after such a bright career in the judiciary. It is weird and inexplicable but you do seem to throw up dust only for people to notice you , not the dust. There have been retired judges who have done a lot of good for the society, WITHOUT EVER RESORTING TO PREACHING AND PROFESSING. Justice Iyer, Justice Hegde are fine men working for a better society.
You are now retired from the high chair, Justice. Shed your high-nosed disdain for us, and come, be a part of us The Idiots. And lead us to light.
We,
The Idiots ( And The Communal)
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