Of militants, and tackling militancy
It's the kind of news item that tends to get buried under others of heavier national importance; for it hardly has any news value that any journalist worth one's salt would ascribe to it. This particular news item one read was about 36 former militants being appointed on Saturday as constables in the Jammu and Kashmir police. No big deal, that. In any case, nothing new about such a measure either.
It is not the news item in itself that is a cause for worry – reading between its lines is, and also by going beyond the straightjacket, desultory headline.
Case and tale
The Best Bakery and Jessica Lall court rulings are now being seen in conjunction. It is natural that they would be. Not only did one judgment follow close on the heels of the other, they also provided an interesting study of contrasts. That of the consectaneous deduction that witnesses will gush forth with the truth in a conducive environment.
[Henceforth, BB – Best bakery, and JL – Jessica Lall, for the sake of convenience]
The court ruling in the JL case left everyone despondent. Disenchanted with the system. The ruling in the BB case seemed to underpin the argument about the necessity of witness protection programmes, about botched-up police investigations, about perjury penalisation for hostile winesses, and others. The problem, we are being told over and over again, is with the system. About the law being an ass.
Of folk tales, love stories, and blue mountains
With curtains of mist on its blue-green mountains, the land is home to a haunted cliff, a demonic lake and a skully cave. You will actually feel the thrill in your bones as you learn of the ancient lores the tiny landlocked state, Mizoram, is steeped in.
They are grandmother’s tales taking you back in time and place. And as you wind your way up the steep and rolling inclines, the zestful gasps of the clean, fresh mountain air remind you of the once pristine earth. But, to reach the loftiest peak in the state, barely 2,157 metres high, one has to travel down to the southernmost tip of Chhimtuipui district, close to the Burma border.
The sacred peak is believed to be the abode of the gods and Mizos call it the Phawngpui or the Blue Mountain. The Phawngpui commands a majestic view of the surrounding hills and valleys. There is a semi-circular cliff, supposedly haunted, on the western side called Thlazuang Khamm.
