झालो असतो न्यूटन आम्हीही ...

झालो असतो न्यूटन आम्हीही,
पण आमच्या इथे सफरचंदाचे झाडच नाही

हे असले झाड कुणीतरी लावावे लागते
लावून त्याला खत-पाणी घालावे लागते
नंतर मग ते झाड फळ देऊ लागते
भुकेल्याना अन्न, थकलेल्याना निवारा
आणि विचारवंतांना विचार देऊ लागते

ह्या झाडाचे बीज असते उत्सुकतेचे
त्याला पाणी लागते खुल्या विचारांचे
खत लागते प्रयोगांचे
आणि ऊन लागते विश्लेषणाचे

आमच्या इथे पुर्वी असली झाडे होती
सफरचंदाची नव्हे तर चांगली आंब्याची होती
आता मात्रा अशी झाडे उरली नाहीत
सफरचंदाची लावली नाहीत आणि आंब्याची टिकवली नाहीत

आमच्या झाडांना कीड लागली पूर्वग्रहदुषित विचारांची,
अंधळ्या भक्तीची, अर्थशून्य अभिमानाची
आणि दुसर्‍याच्या अंधानुकरणाची

आता असल्या झाडांऐवजी धार्माभिमानाची इमारत बंधतात
त्या खाली विचारवांतांच्या डोक्यात, वरुन फक्त धोंडे पडतात

आंब्याची कोय सोडा, पण सफरचंदाचे बीजही आमच्याकडे नाही
झालो असतो न्यूटन आम्हीही,
पण आमच्या इथे सफरचंदाचे झाडच नाही

कवी: आदित्य तळवलकर


Zalo asto Newton Amhihi by Aditya Talwalkar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License

Shambhar Koti Maaybaap ..

On Bal Thackeray and Kasabs right to have a defense counsel

Read Bal Thackeray's interview in Saamna. The statement that attracted me was Bal Thackeray speaking about murder of democracy. :)

Anyway the interview was about Bal Thackeray expressing his views on Anjali Waghmare taking the role of defense lawyer of the terrorist who caused havoc in Mumbai. In the interview he also ridiculed the role of Human Rights Activists.

I salute the heroes who laid their lives for the country. I sympathize with the innocent victims who lost their lives in the episode. And I am as angry as Mr. Thackeray on Kasab and his team who are responsible for the attack. But I am not against Mrs. Anjali Waghmare or anyone else representing Kasab in the courts of India.

The role of defense lawyer is to represent the accused. His job is not to accquit the accused but to make sure that he gets the punishment that he deserves and nothing more. This role is highly important because it brings out a lot of facts of the case which the public prosecutor may not highlight or for which the public prosecutor may not have any incentive to highlight. The facts and arguments which are brought forward by defense lawyer will make the case complete. Denying Kasab the right to defend himself is not only against the pillars of our constitution but also rejects the right of nation to know "complete" facts of the case. Who knows why kasab did what he did .. who knows he might have some history which may point finger to some of our own system which might be responsible for what he did. If we have to avoid more kasabs and more attacks the nation has to address those systems.

I hope Mr. Thackeray and those who oppose the right of Kasab to have a defense counsel understand this before they agitate.