Okay, the Liberhan Omission of Inquiry, set up to unearth the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, about the Babri Masjid demolition of 1992, has just been given its 42nd extension and has already cost the government an estimated Rs 7.20 crore. Well, the Liberhan Omission was meant to make history, wasn’t it, and it is doing precisely this by the dint of delicate deliberation over the aeons. Its opinions — which should be out in the year 2102, in time, in fact, for the century commemoration of the demolition — should be most revealing.

There are some who find this delay in fixing blame and delivering justice unacceptable and wag angry fingers at the government for its deliberate attempt at postponing express action. I am not of that persuasion. I believe the whole point about setting up a big, fat, Indian omission of inquiry is that it should necessarily and completely miss the point. And do so after due deliberation. Which is also why I prefer to term these humongous confections of bureaucratic lard as ‘omissions’. Omissions are as intrinsic to us as dal-chawal, they are our unique weapons to address every issue of public significance or insignificance, public outrage or umbrage. Issues that are best addressed by being left unaddressed.

We do every kind of omission. We set up omissions to slow things down or to hasten things up in order to slow things down. We set up omissions when disasters strike or when pogroms play out. We set up omissions to cool things down or to heat things up. We set up omissions when large numbers of the public surge on to television screens instead of remaining out of sight and out of mind as they are required to do, or when a ruling functionary decides to accept wads of notes under the camera’s gaze.

... contd.