Instant injustice
Madan B Lokur | Retired justice of the Supreme Court
The Indian Express
In view of the encounter in the Hyderabad rape and murder case, Lokur raises a question, “Can we be brutally frank today and admit that the criminal justice system (not the entire judicial system) has collapsed, or is it still on the precipice?” Lokur writes that Indians must not forget that “our society is governed by the rule of law and a progressive Constitution where everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty through a fair trial”.
In order to “resurrect our criminal justice system”, we need to “appreciate the problem” first. “If the law is an ass, the legislature must change it to make it more effective,” he writes. Further, “what is essential is a study of each pending case as also a study of the requirements of each court before any realistic solution is proffered”, he adds.
Lokur maintains that “we need to set the alarm clock to wake us up now and cancel the snooze button, otherwise we will continue to witness the sufferings of women followed by examples of instant justice”.
The wisdom in CJI Bobde’s words
Gopalkrishna Gandhi | Distinguished professor of history and politics, Ashoka University
Hindustan Times
Gandhi writes that “when a statement is made from the depths of knowing, it acquires the pith and form of a saying – it becomes an aphorism”. He claims that Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde’s “observation on Saturday that ‘justice should not be revenge’ belongs to that category of statements”.
We have “traditionally been enamoured by the imagined gutsiness in eent ka javab pathhar se (to a brick hurled I will return a flying stone)”. But, “the surface density of these flying missiles in our society, in our politics and, in fact, in all departments of life, has now broken all previous records of retaliation”.
Gandhi argues that the “danger in this is not just an erosion of coda, of canons of law in the world of crime and punishment alone, but the valorisation of ‘fixing’ over due process, of the specious claim of ‘quick action’ over sound working”. He states that “our legislatures have little time to ponder issues”.
Today, “in popularity ratings, diligence is out, dramatics are in; veracity is out, velocity is in”. This leads to the “character of justice” being “imperiled”, concludes Gandhi.
The road to nowhere
Riyaz Wani | Journalist
The Telegraph
Wani writes that if one were to “flip through the pages of the local dailies in the Kashmir Valley, their pro-government tilt would stare you in the face”. The “growing political vacuum in the absence of bona fide representatives from politics and civil society” is “loud and clear”.
However, the “government does not appear to be any better off” since the “more positive coverage of its functionaries, the more removed they appear from the people”. New Delhi “expects an extended incarceration to soften the stance of the local leaders to a point where they are willing to reconcile to the altered political reality”.
The Union government is left with two options: “co-opt existing political and social agencies willing to toe its line or wait for the situation to normalise before jailed leaders can be let out”. Sooner or later, “New Delhi will realise it has no option but to give ground to the anti-Article 370 politics and run its course”. The challenge for mainstream politicians in Kashmir “would be to forge a politics that seeks restoration of Kashmir’s constitutional rights without letting it lapse into separatism”.
Finally, Wani states that the “present situation in Kashmir is likely to prevail, with citizens sullen because of the denial of their rights and the government largely impervious to their grievances”.
Back to square one on trade strategy
Rahul Khullar | Former commerce secretary, Government of India
Business Standard
Khullar criticises the Modi government for its lack of strategy in external trade and “unconscionable neglect of exports” which has impacted competitiveness, productivity and GDP growth.
During 2004-14, India made efforts in economically integrating with the rest of the world but since then, only “mealy-mouthed statements and renaming of export promotion schemes” have been undertaken, writes Khullar. The government has said this is because of the “adverse” external environment but looking at Asian export growth over the last five years, this is not entirely true, he adds.
“The real exchange rate appreciated and exports plateaued without eliciting any policy response”, he writes. Also, trade balance deteriorated by 70 per cent in just two years and initiatives like ‘Make in India’ did little to help.
The July Budget which “increased tariffs on 75 items including gold” is another example of protectionist policy, he adds. India’s refusal to join the RCEP was also concerning and the “government seems to be making a virtue of what was a necessity”, writes Khullar.
Reimagining the future of the consumer in India
Leon Pieters | Consumer products sector leader, Deloitte Global
The Hindu Business Line
Pieters maps out the new era that “awaits for the future of the [Indian] consumer”. Tech trends have transformed the retail scenario around the world and India is no different, he writes.
The trends include “innovative solutions”, “technologically advanced start-ups”, digital marketing and consumers themselves are becoming more tech-savvy, he explains. Also, internet users are gravitating towards “vernacular content” which has been driven by the “digitisation of rural India and a vast majority of Indian population speaking local languages”, he adds. Social commerce and online shopping have made leaps too but “traditional retail” is still going strong, observes Pieters. He also suggests retail giants help ‘kirana’ stores become more tech-enabled — only 3 per cent are currently, but the rest seem willing too.
With an “increasingly favourable macroeconomic environment in India and the government’s consistent focus on making the business environment more conducive”, much is in store for the Indian consumer, writes Pieters.
Macroeconomics may not have the answers we are looking for
R. Jagannathan | Editorial director, ‘Swarajya’ magazine
Mint
Jagannathan questions “our touching faith in macroeconomics” which is especially “shaky” in today’s world, where advanced technology has changed trends in the global economy.
Macroeconomics was popular in the 20th century because of Keynesian policies and the mathematical modelling during the US’s post-war industrial boom, Jagannathan explains. However, macroeconomics policymaking has not “delivered even in a highly monetized economy”. Take former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan’s comments on the economy ahead of the 2008 financial crisis or even Raghuram Rajan’s on India’s current economic slowdown, he writes. None “have a better crystal ball” than the other, he adds.
Macroeconomics becomes less reliable in today’s world where digitisation and technology have led to “huge leaps of productivity”, he writes. This has “drastically driven prices down” and could be affecting GDP in ways that are “often left uncaptured by the financial economy”, he adds.