It was just a momentary lapse of reason, but many in the city have taken exception to the Union forest and environment minister, Jairam Ramesh’s outburst against an activist-physiotherapist at Saturday’s public hearing on Bt brinjal.
Ramesh lost his cool when Santhosh Min sought to forcefully argue his stand against Bt brinjal at the public hearing at Jnana Jyothi Auditorium.
As words were traded, tempers hotted up and Ramesh shouted back at Santosh and said that he should be admitted to Nimhans, since he seemed to be in dire need of psychiatric help.
In a letter to Ramesh on February 8, Transparency International India chairman (Karnataka chapter), justice MF Saldanha, said that the minister behaved in an extremely offensive and insulting manner against Santosh.
“It is essential that we remind the hon’ble minister that he is a public servant and that he has absolutely no right or justification to use such defamatory language in public, that, too, making an open imputation of insanity,” he said.
“Santosh is a person who has done research in this field and (during the debate) tried to put across to you (Ramesh) the fact that the introduction of Bt brinjal will not only ruin, but devastate the Indian agricultural system and, through it, the Indian population and the economy,” he said.
Justice Saldanha also reminded Ramesh that a minister had no immunity from being prosecuted under the provisions of IPC. “Not only is it in bad taste, but it betrays total arbitrariness, a dogmatic approach and complete intolerance, and if this is the attitude, then all these so-called public hearings are a complete eye-wash and are meaningless,” he said and added that the incidentleft everybody disappointed and horrified.
“It is essential that you undertake an immediate damage-control operation. It is not an ego issue but a legitimate requirement and, above all, a matter of propriety that an apology be tendered to the young man in question.”
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