Ex-Press Council chief Katju feels totally isolated a month after he termed Gandhi British, Bose Japanese agent
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| Katju |
Markandey Katju, former chairman of the Press Council of India, known for his penchant for controversial remarks, is a dejected man. In a statement he has posted on Facebook a month after he was criticized by Parliament for calling Mahatma Gandhi a British agent and Subhas Chandra Bose a Japanese agent, Katju has admitted he is totally isolated, with no support from any quarter of India.
Titled “Condemned undefended and unheard”, Katju said in his post that both Houses of Parliament took exception to his statements on Mahatma Gandhi and Subhas Chandra Bose without giving him “a hearing and an opportunity” to defend himself. He added, “The rules of natural justice, and elementary decency, require that no one should be condemned unheard. But I suppose that I did not deserve even that.”
Currently in US, Katju said, when he came to know of the resolutions against him, he sent emails to three of the top lawyers of India, who are practicing in the Supreme Court, requesting them to file writ petitions in the Supreme Court on his behalf, challenging these resolutions on the ground that they violated his “fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution.”
He said, “They violate Article 14 because it has been held by the Supreme Court in Maneka Gandhi vs.Union of India,A.I.R. 1978 SC 597 that violation of natural justice is violation of Article 14. They violate Article 19(1)(a) because that provision gives me freedom of speech. And they violate Article 21 because Article 21 has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to include the right to one's reputation.”
Despite this, he said, all three lawyers refused to stand by him. Without naming them, he said, “The first of these three lawyers sent this reply to me: 'I am sorry I cannot file this case as I am strongly of the view that you were totally wrong in saying what you said about Mahatma Gandhi. He rightly felt that Indians could not fight the mighty British through armed revolutionaries as they could be easily crushed by the British Army'.”
Katju further quotes the lawyer as saying, “He therefore developed the novel technique of Satyagraha which would by its force create a world opinion in favour of Indian independence.I have never accepted to argue a case in which my client was morally very wrong.Though I have always held you in high esteem as a crusader against corruption I am sorry I shall not be able to help you in this case."
Then, said Katju, “the second lawyer replied by refusing my request without giving any reason. The third did not even reply to my email. There was a fourth top lawyer of India whom i did not approach as he had already condemned me by tweeting against me on the issue.”
Totally isolated, Katju said, he has decided to defend himself, seeking a “post-decisional hearing from Parliament”. For this, he has obtained the email ids of the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Hamid Ansari, and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Sumitra Mahajan, and sent them emails requesting for a hearing by both Houses.” Despite this, he said, none of the two showed him "the courtesy of a reply."
“Will no one defend me? And will I not even be allowed to defend myself?”, he wondered.
"I submit that Gandhi was objectively a British agent who did great harm to India," Justice Katju had said in his blog a month ago, adding, "By constantly injecting religion into politics continuously for several decades, Gandhi furthered the British policy of divide and rule."
Katju also described Netaji as a "Japanese agent" and said, "In fact Bose was being used by the Japanese, and they would have bumped him off the moment his utility for them was over. He was no doubt a brave and personally honest man, but he had become an agent of Japanese fascism."
One who is known for comments landing him into controversies, recently he said he would defy cow slaughter ban in Maharashtra by eating beef.. In January was criticized on the social media as a sexist for his tweet that the BJP should have made Shazia Ilmi its chief ministerial candidate for the Delhi as she is "more beautiful."
"I submit that Gandhi was objectively a British agent who did great harm to India," Justice Katju had said in his blog a month ago, adding, "By constantly injecting religion into politics continuously for several decades, Gandhi furthered the British policy of divide and rule."
Katju also described Netaji as a "Japanese agent" and said, "In fact Bose was being used by the Japanese, and they would have bumped him off the moment his utility for them was over. He was no doubt a brave and personally honest man, but he had become an agent of Japanese fascism."
One who is known for comments landing him into controversies, recently he said he would defy cow slaughter ban in Maharashtra by eating beef.. In January was criticized on the social media as a sexist for his tweet that the BJP should have made Shazia Ilmi its chief ministerial candidate for the Delhi as she is "more beautiful."
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