03.07.07
Pune’s Rave Party Unplugged
The Pune rave party that got 280 young people arrested received mixed reactions.
On one hand there was this puritanical section of society that was totally anti drugs … and wanted them hanged … and then there was this liberal section that was perfectly okay about it.
I was wondering what the fuss was all about. My roommates were people who smoked regularly. Once in a while they got some marijuana and mixed it with the tobacco and smoked that mix. This made them a little fuzzy, gave a slight kick … but that was that… nothing to write home about. So drugs for most people … the vast majority is just that … something that they indulge in … in extremely miniscule quantities… on extremely rare occasions.
Being a law abiding citizen I do understand that drugs are harmful and the law needs to take its course. So here I am … ambivalent as usual … and still a lot more on the side of the culprits. I wondered why this was? Why was I leaning towards the criminals and not towards the law? And then it struck me… that what was surprising here was not that young people were parting (normal), or were using drugs(normal in rave parties), but that the law had actually taken its course(extremely not normal).
I didn’t know that the cops had begun doing their job in earnest. I was never informed.
That was the strange part.
When I got admission in school, I had to pay a bribe.(They called it capitation. A lot of times in rape cases people try to get away saying it was sex. Same thing.)
When I got admission in engineering college, I had to pay a bribe again.
The drivers’ license, I got it through the driving school (same thing as a bribe, since the test was really a non-test and the driving school paid their bit towards the ‘License Instructor Fund’.)
My friends paid a bribe for the license, for the passport, for the ration card.
Going by AICTE(All India Council of Technical Education) rules, every engineering college needs to have ’so much’ square feet in terms of classrooms, labs, library. More than half the engineering colleges in Pune flout the rules.
A lot of construction in the city is flouting the FSI rules.
The redlight district … Budhwar Peth … bang in the middle of the city exists, in spite of prostitution being illegal.
Leaving all these issues .. the police team in Pune get together and spend 3 hours to locate the place of the party and arrest 280 soft targets, inspite of no citizen having complained?
People have complained before.
The rape in Khairlanji, it took a few days for the police to register the case.
In high profile cases like Jessica Lall and Priyadarshini Matoo, the court rapped the police for tampering with evidence.
For Rahul Mahajan’s case that was a clear drug overdose, the guy went scot free.
So did Fardeen Khan.
So given all of the above, I was surprised that the police had actually done their job.
So now the question is:
Why were none of us informed about it? If the Pune police were planning to do the job that they had so long, for all these years ignored, it was incumbent on them to inform all citizens that they were starting to work and give us their salary’s worth? They should have had a full page ad in the local newspapers, announced on television and radio. This would have ensured that all citizens who were used to breaking traffic rules, paying for all services that they were supposed to get and had broken the law on numerous occasions; could quickly cleanup and start being law abiding citizens.
I protest against the element of surprise.
A government department actually doing its job? Scandalous, sacrilege !!
Till now all these ‘RAVE’ and normal folks could easily get drugs. That was always illegal but now the cops were actually going to take action against this particular illegal activity or was this across the board for all illegal activities?
My friend could still get a quick fix today, so the people selling ‘drugs’ are still around. NDTV did a quick and dirty trip along bylanes and easily procured drugs. So it’s fine to sell, but not fine to use?
Fardeen can get away, Rahul can get away. But not you?
So how do the cops work?
They charge sheet the 3rd attempt at the crime?
Or they only look for crimes where the suspects have no political affinity and there is considerable media presence involved?
So what are we supposed to interpret from this?
Should I pay taxes on the cash stashed in my mattress or will I be getting a refund for my school, engineering college, drivers’ license bribes?
Please let me know right away. My neighbor kid is already practicing for his driver’s license because he believes that he shouldn’t be paying. And my other neighbors are ‘at work’ to produce a kid, since they believe that education will actually be legal and cheap. Let me know what the truth is so that these poor folk don’t lose faith in ‘the system’ and embrace new faiths.
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Sandeep said,
March 16, 2007 at 11:16 am
Is it right? to justify stand and victimise Police…
Why should Police print that we are catching law breakers and then hunt them down. Its a fair deal people taking drugs and doing offences should be punished no matter what. Fardeen and Rahul went scot free so did the ones who went to Rave party, only that you know Fardeen and Rahul the media highlighted and later media shifted its focus to some other Rape case instead of Rave case…you wouldnt know! The cases are still lying, coz even if the Police does the work the law has loop holes to come through clean.
Anyways be desciplined and get clean is the need of the hour. India is poised and to rise dont use drugs to get high. Have good morals and your good work and respect from the society and family will give you high which nothing else can match upto.
May India continue to shine and be where we all want it to be!
Sadashiv Punekar said,
March 28, 2007 at 2:18 pm
In any case no body should tout the drugs..
Infact support for it and casual consumption should be banned..
Be sensible my friend.. I dont care the way it has been caught with big clout and all, more worried about how those people got free..
More worryingly their families were supporting them..
so we need this kind of dirt in India, I dont think so..
I would go one more step ahead and just hang them.. So that any body who wants to consume drugs/ sell drugs/ trade drugs will get the lesson for ever..
Like in China or Middle east.. People dont even dare..
At least their drugs policy is good..
M said,
April 6, 2007 at 2:33 am
I’ve never used drugs myself but am perfectly non-ambivalent about this. Its a victim-less act guys, what a person does with her life is her business, period. Banning drugs or gambling or prostitution is nothing more than an extension of big bro’s flimsy moral politics.
I’m not advocating drugs here, but choice and nothing hones native intelligence like having to make your choices. You Puneites who the rest of India look upto as forward thinking can’t afford to be wishy-washy.
And hey to those who want to bring up the issue of what drugs do to people lives, by your standard most mother in laws would be incarcerated for life.
Love
Aparna Datar said,
April 7, 2007 at 5:08 am
You are welcome to do drugs….but do them in ……… Amsterdam!!NOT IN MY CITY!!!!!!!!!!!I think you have a problem with the basics ….U dont do drugs, U dont encourage its use, and U dont call people who use them , soft targets.If you do a drug , you should be in jail.Cut the demand, that will cut the supply….what am i saying??!!oifcourse you know it!!!hey author, do you even know what drugs do to people??!or are you trying to pass off condoning drug use as ohhh my dear god…some misplaced notion of liberalism??!!
Truth said,
April 8, 2007 at 8:45 am
Well Said! I agree with everything you wrote. Most people are just ignorant and the other comments support that belief of mine. This Aparna woman is real dump. Which world are you living in? Grow up and take a look around.
Suvarna Kulkarni said,
April 9, 2007 at 6:37 am
Hi Aparna .. Your question is really dumb “hey author, do you even know what drugs do to people??!”.
He does .. he mentioned that his roommates .. dis use drugs !!