Discretion is the need of the hour

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has courted controversy after a purported video showing him ordering a police official to “shoot mercilessly” those who killed a JD(S) worker in Maddur went viral. Kumaraswamy should not have forgotten the fact that he is the chief minister of a state while issuing the statement like the one which had put him in the soup.

Fortunately, he regretted and repented at his statement later, but it must teach him a lesson. Also, this is a case of warning to all the people’s representatives that they should not act under impulsion but to act under sagacity. Chief Minister of a state is the protector of the accused and the acquitted, the cruel and the innocent, and the vanquished and the defeated. In a sense, he has lost the moral authority to continue in power, but since he has repented over his statement, no further criticism or grouse may be harboured against him henceforth.

- T K Nandanan, Kochi