LARGE TREE

“When a large tree falls, the earth shakes beneath.” And the poor branches never count – in spring or in autumn.

Rajiv Gandhi is famously said to have made that remark on the genocide of the Sikhs in the wake of the assassination of his mother, Indira Gandhi. We do know that in every situation, all the time, it is the rich and the powerful that count, or count more. Here are some examples.

“Aarushi murder case”: Meghraj was murdered too. He doesn’t even count in the headlines, much less in justice-seeking

“Sukma District Collector kidnapped”: But two of his guards were killed at the instant and we did not even know this. Even the Naxals did not care for these foot soldiers for they had no ransom value.

The poor count only by proxy, for example, when the powerful are apprehended. For instance, the kin fo the Kerala fishermen killed by the Italian marines were paid Rupees 1 crore each.