‘Amend laws to protect honour of Father of Nation’

[1.44]

STUNG BY Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s outburst against Mahatma Gandhi, Law Commission member Tahir Mahmood has suggested changes in the laws relating to protection of national honour and elections to prevent insult to the Father of the Nation.

The Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act 1971 must be amended to make a suitable provision to protect the fair name of the Father of the Nation, he said. “The honour of the man whom we owe our freedom and who spent a lifetime protecting the downtrodden he fondly called Harijans (Gods’ people) cannot be left to the idiosyncrasies of foul-mouthed critics.”

Those who have the cheek to call the Mahatma’s concern for the Harijans a “drama” deserve a more stringent punishment for such national sacrilege than the Act at present prescribes for insulting symbols of national honour, Mahmood told HT. He was reacting to Mayawati’s s statement that Gandhi’s love for Dalits was pretentious.

He suggested that the election law contained in Representation of the People Act 1951

should also be amended to disqualify those indulging in such vituperation against the Father of the Nation or in any activity that the 1971 Act at present penalizes.

He intends preparing a report for the Law Commission of India recommending these amendments to be made in the two Act, Mahmood said.

In its present form, the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act 1971

provides for penalties only for insulting the national flag or the Constitution

and for preventing singing of the National Anthem.

“To prevent insult to the great man who made it possible for us to have a National Constitution, a National Flag and a National Anthem is at least as important if not more as preventing insult to these symbols of national honour. It is high time a deterrent provision to this effect was made in the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act 1971,” Mahmood, a former Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities, said.

?Amend laws to protect honour of Father of Nation?

 

[Energon]

I'm not really a fan of emotionally inspired legislature aimed at protecting the honor of someone who is no longer around to defend him or herself.

Educated individuals, armed with the best tools to seek enlightenment have the ability to make a decision for themselves as to how they want to perceive Gandhi. Any person who has even bothered to look into this matter would be well aware of the fact that MK Gandhi was responsible for implementing one of the greatest social movements in the history of mankind in a society that was broken, destitute and devoid of all the requirements to think and act for itself. It is also very evident that he led the entire movement from the front and subsequently bore the brunt of the retaliatory efforts. Any human being with even a modicum of common sense after having reviewed the facts for themselves would figure out that this was hardly a case of "natakbaazi".

Which is why, instead of wasting time over emotive legislature it would be far, far better to ensure that all Indians particularly in the context of this issue (Mayawati's vote base) are availed the basic tools of literacy and education through a series of legislative, governmental and social/community initiatives so that they can examine all of these things for themselves in the future. This course of action albeit less "sexy" will produce better results in the long term than instituting laws to retroactively protect the honor of bapu-ji.

It should also be noted that despite all the superhuman achievements of MK Gandhi, he was still fallible human and a politician in his own right. Furthermore, Rahul Gandhi is no MK Gandhi and he's equally moronic for trying to ride the dhoti tails by exploiting his lineage.

 

[Antimony]

I agree with Energon.

I believe the honour of a giant like the father of the nation cannot be easliy belittled by an intellectual midget like Mayawati.

I do not feel the need to write anything more really, Energon has covered it beautifully.