Making Mountain of a Mole

Death of a teenager in a shooting incident is unfortunate. Let us mourn the dead and the departed and pray to Parmatma to give spiritual strength to the bereaved family to bear the loss of a promising son.

PROBE CIRCUMSTANCES

Having condoled the untimely demise of a teenager in a military area, I must hasten to add that we must not let anyone make mountain of a mole. If the govt or other agencies issue statements and the army spokesman issues denial of knowledge about the suspected killer, the controversy will snowball. It may take an ugly turn and damage the fragile civil-military relationship.

Chennai, former Madras, has an ancient army tradition. The East India Company had started here not only business but also dabbled in local politics to gain a foothold as a military power to reckon with and browbeat the local Raja or Nawab in the Tamil speaking areas.

Lord Clive, a former writer of despatches, made a name for himself and the Company bahadur in Arcot, a nearby principality.

While Madras flourished as a cantonment, not many local bigwigs were attracted by the uniform or sword fights. The civilian Tambi kept aloof. The army Tambi, in small numbers, excelled. The army, however, was not a popular vocation for an average Tamil young man. The idea of narrating this is to emphasise that most of the civilian population view the life inside the fenced cantonment area with a degree of suspicion. Sometimes there is curiosity to find out what is going on over there. The grass on the other side of the hedge looks greener.

The teenager in the present story was perhaps unduly attracted by the goodies and wished to partake of what was not his. Be it almond or mango or any other fruit, shooting down a teenager for a case of simple theft would naturally attract attention and draw sympathy for the dead and the departed.

WHO KILLED THE THIEF

It is indeed a million dollar question now. The local Army formation, through its Brigadier Administration has issued a statement categorically denying that an army guard shot dead a young boy in the army premises. As a matter of fact he went on record to say that there are no armed guards in the vicinity to patrol the premises. If that be the case, we will need a Sherlock Holmes to investigate the case in depth and find out who the shooter was. Dr Watson may come up with some solutions which may be termed by the boss man as Simple. However, the present case from the Island Grounds in Chennai is getting curiouser and curiouser.

Chief Minister Jaylalitha jumped into the fray by announcing an amount of Rs five lacs to the family of the dead. Was the amount a large one to gain the sympathy of the near and dear ones of the deceased? Is it an election gimmick to wean away the minority community to which the teenager, Dilshan belonged? Apparently the political persons of high stature have chosen to play a political game over the dead body of the teenager.

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. How true the saying is in the present scenario. Let there be a thorough enquiry and find out who the culprit is. There should be transparency. A lack of transparency in preliminary investigation may lead to social tension stoked by power hungry politicians and the army may be painted in bad light. That would not be in the national interest. Unfortunately, small time political persons do not care for the nation or for the country. They care for self, for own political party and never for the nation.

The Army, on the other hand, still plays the ball as per the book. In the bargain the Army loses truth and the civilian players stage a win in a dishonest manner. It would be in the national interest not to condemn the Army or reject its version of the incident until a fair and impartial court of inquiry arrives at a conclusion. It is premature at this stage for the Chief Secretary to ask for custody of the killer. It is not yet known who the killer is. There were no armed Jawans patrolling that residential area because Chennai is considered to be comparatively safe. It would be immoral to shoot down the Army version without making an endeavour to fathom the truth.

One wonders why some bureaucrats specialize in shooting the messenger before reading the message. It would be appropriate for all concerned to be patient and wait for the institution of an impartial enquiry, facilitate adducing of evidence in impartial manner and then go by the findings of the enquiry committee. In a democracy that we are, we must act democratically and never be a rabble rouser. Let all Indian citizens beware of foreign agents fomenting trouble in our country and not let them have a chance to cast a slur on the fair name of our Army.

By Chitranjan Sawant