The following is how I saw it: http://www.outlookindia.com/rantsmag.asp?fodname=20021104&fname=Column+Prem+%28F %29&sid=1
Daily Letters | 17 Dec, 2002 I was quite apalled by the comments posted against Jha and OutlookIndia for coming the defense of a man who could very well be executed on possibly flimsy or no grounds at all. The dysfunctionality of the institutions of democracy in India in general and of the system of justice in this case, bodes ill for the country, in more ways than one. While the comments here might be too small a sample to come to a generalized conclusion about the state of mind of the entire country, they lay bare the ignorance of what democracy is all about, even of the supposedly educated segments of society. What is worse is that every miscarriage of justice, particularly in cases of politically volatile issues such as Kashmir or the NE, carries with it the inevitability of generating more support for insurgents, seccessionists or even terrorists. If the country's intelligentsia is either ignorant or oblivious or indifferent to it, there is little hope for positive change. CHANDAN MAHANTA ST. LOUIS USA
