<b>Letters:</b> Crime and farce

This refers to Shubhashis Gangopadhyay's article "Crimes, punishment, tragedy and farce" (March 23). The writer is correct in finding fault with those who are pleading for forgiveness for Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, despite the fact that his crime is connected with terrorist attacks. (However, his hesitation at mentioning Dutt's name is not clear). Those people are ignoring the agony of the victims' families (257 dead and several injured in Bombay blasts of 1993. They, too, had been waiting for long to a befitting punishment for the accused). Dutt was lucky to escape being tried under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act and charges of criminal conspiracy. Actually, the swell of support from the film industry behind Dutt's pardon is for fiscal reasons - his under-production films cost over Rs 250 crore. Dutt's track record has little to speak for him. He was a wayward son and a drug addict and he kept dubious company, causing much pain to his noble parents. If he has changed now after the crime, it is of little solace to the victims. As for the other case cited by the writer, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI's) raid against M K Stalin, the son of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M Karunanidhi, was a farce not because CBI was halted in its tracks immediately thereafter by the government, but because of its timing. It came within days of the DMK's withdrawal of support to the United Progressive Alliance regime. The incident smacked of victimisation and coercion. The latter's "course correction" was under widespread criticism. In this light, CBI has to do much more to establish its credibility.

Y G Chouksey Pune

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