Election Fever; New Parliament; Consenting Age
Opinion Watch
Election Fever
Five states will hit the poll buttons in two months, and it be known that Mizoram too will vote along with Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Rajasthan. The Asian Age has opined that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already grabbed the “early mover’s advantage” by heralding the election fever. The New Delhi-based daily hailed Modi’s women reservation poll plank, arguing that the legislation brought early festivity. The newspaper, owned by Hyderabad-based Deccan Chronicle, heaped copious praise on Modi, likening his leading the BJP’s poll charge to M.S. Dhoni’s Indian cricket team of the past.
The women quota bill indeed provided the BJP with a convenient plank to unleash Modi in the poll-bound states. But, it must not be forgotten, Assembly elections are fought to the last men in the battlefield, and the BJP may be in a spot by solely riding the Modi juggernaut.
New Parliament
The inauguration of the new parliament building was delayed by almost a year, and yet the Opposition lawmakers, some have lamented the architecture, had no idea of what was coming up even while they attended the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha sessions, suggested The Telegraph in its Editorial. The Kolkata-based daily has rued that the new parliament building is without the charm of the old parliament, stating that “public architecture for democracy gives a feeling of freedom, with spaces for collective engagement and a variety of activities…the legislators themselves are dwarfed and silenced by distance within”.
The access of press is also now arduous, and now there is no freedom for a journalist to open the door of a chamber and hear L. K. Advani asking, what can I do for you?
Consenting Age
In 1964, Bob Dylan belted out — Come mothers and fathers; Throughout the land; And don’t criticize; What you can’t understand; Your sons and your daughters; Are beyond your command; Your old road is rapidly agin’; Please get out of the new one; If you can’t lend your hand; For the times they are a-changin’. Now, India debates the consenting age, and The Tribune has chronicled the moral dilemma of fixing the age of consent at 18 years in the backdrop of the Law Commission now arguing for “guided judicial discretion”. The Chandigarh-based daily has underlined that majority of the girls are refusing to testify the accused in cases criminalizing the sexual relations among couples in 16-18 years range.
Moralising the youngsters is indeed the right of the elders, and they should be exercised with moderations to avoid the risk of audiences turning deaf. Yet, guardrails to protect the children from predators must never be lowered.
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