A camera phone video showing an election official in India requiring a subordinate to perform half-squats for arguing with him has resulted in the removal of the official, reports The Times of India.
The subordinate told the official about a procedural requirement and, as a result, was required “to do 10 half-squats holding his hands to his ears,” the article says. The incident was recorded on a camera phone and other election employees protested the incident.
This certainly highlights Juvenal’s writing of “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes” that literally means, “Who will guard the guards themselves?” The literal translation certainly is appropriate in this case. That question has been colloquially translated as: “Who will watch the watchers?”
There are at least two answers: Historically, it has been the media that watches over the government. But with increasing frequency, it is now consumers with camera phones who record photos and videos. As I’ve written many times in my weblogs, we — the people — have become the watchers.
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