- Since times immemorial, the subject adage has proved unambiguously that parents irrespective of their status in society would go to any extent to ensure their children are not only provided with everything to make them happy but also go the distance to protect them unabashedly during crisis. History is replete with innumerable examples of how parents have extended whatever possible assistance under their remit and beyond to provide a good life for their wards. Of course, society has never failed to point fingers at blatant favouritism, nepotism, and biased treatment extended to family cutting across verticals and fields prevalent from time to time. Whatever the status of an individual in society, the soft corner for one’s own progenies is an inalienable fact.
PC:Anadolu Ajansı
- Yes, we have witnessed emperors, kings, administrators, politicians, officials, and people in power go out of their way whilst treating their children differently. The debate continues to this day. As reported recently, US President Joe Biden has granted a full pardon to his son Hunter despite claiming to the contrary right throughout his presidency. Pardon survives as an act of grace, despite all the taints put on it by the powerful down history. Note that motivated presidential pardons are not at all new to the US. Next up, president-elect Donald Trump is likely to pardon those convicted in relation to the Jan 06 attack. Only if he also does a self-pardon will it be a first. And you cannot be surprised if Trump does that too. Such is his legendary unpredictability.
PC:India Today
- How does India stand on this front, especially pardons in modern times? Presidents make news for how indulgent they have been with pardons, not how self-seeking. For the uninitiated, Pranab Mukherjee rejected 30 mercy petitions and pardoned four convicts while Pratibha Patil commuted 34 mercy pleas and rejected only five. A look around the world shows that the pardon is not only a common part of constitutional schemes, but also entanglement in political and business interests is widespread. Since its democratic reforms of 1987, South Korea has seen as many as four presidents pardoned. In Brazil presidential pardons are a Christman tradition, rescuing an eclectic array, from prisoners in poor health to military personnel convicted of negligent excess.
PC:Medium
- Of course, critics have come to see the power to pardon as archaic, arbitrary, and inequitable rather than an act of grace. Its philosophical roots are deep and powerful. Forgiveness is a key political and legal aid for moving ahead after massive moral injury. The issue is not innocence, but allowing all concerned to begin again. The naysayers will raise concerns drawing our attention to the taint of corruption that has been in practice since millennia. That the concept lives on in the present should not only be seen from a cynical perspective. After all, the idea of mercy will never lose all its human and public purpose. Thus, Biden granting full pardon will go in the history books as yet another act of humane response though nepotism will remain at the back of every mind.
