Award Wapsi: Drone Terrorism; Rebel Extraordinary
Opinion Watch
Award Wapsi
The Telegraph in its Editorial has said that the parliamentary standing committing mandating that national awards be bestowed with condition that they are never returned is astonishing for putting political demands, while also being an attack on freedom of expression. The Kolkata-based daily linked the panel recommendations to 40 writers and artists returning their awards in 2015 in the wake of the murders of M. M. Kalburgi, a writer, and Mohammad Akhlaq, a commoner on suspicion that he had stored beef.
While the panel indeed seeks life-long bondage for favours taken from the government for taking awards, it’s more crucial to examine the functioning of the parliamentary standing committees. The panels which previously used to be places for blade of sword analysis of issue appear to have succumbed to executive assertions.
Drone Terrorism
The Tribune in its Editorial has dwelt upon the issue of the rising incidents of Pakistan-origin drones delivering drugs and weapons across the borders in the wake of Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, Special Assistant on Defence to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, admitting such operations during a TV interview. The Chandigarh-based daily quoted Khan saying on air that the victims of floods if deprived of timely help could join the smugglers who were using drones to push heroin into India via Kasur, close to the Line of Control.
Pakistan’s use of drones is not unknown, and reports that the US left weapons in Afghanistan have been seen in the Kashmir valley reveal the growing threat perceptions.
Rebel Extraordinary
The Indian Express has in its Editorial given glimpses of life events of Sinead O’Conner, 56, a Dublin-born singer, who tore a photo of Pope John Pail II on stage to protest against child sex abuses in churches, while she defied the business mangers by shaving off as a protest against objectification of women. The Noida-based daily paid rich tributes to singer who sung “I do not want what I have not Got”, saying that she was a voice against injustice and refused to become a commodity.
Contrast this to gutkha-selling stars of India! Humanity evolves from non-conformists, and it’s the people like O’Conner who keep hopes alive against miseries perpetuated by the brute power.
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