Recently, the topic of marital rapes and their criminalization has been discussed inside and outside of the courtroom. The Delhi High Court has recently initiated a discussion on marital rape in our country. The HC has asked the central government for views regarding the criminalization of marital rapes. We know that rapes in India are criminalised under the Indian Penal Code. However, marital rapes are not considered “rapes” in our legal system. There are many reasons given in defence for not criminalising marital rape. But rape is rape, and why is marital rape different?
History
When a woman is raped, she becomes a victim. It was her dignity and her honour that were attacked. However, in history, in many cultures, we read differently. When a woman was raped, it was considered a crime or theft of a man’s (father’s or husband’s) property. Even though it was a crime, women were not considered victims. The victims were men. And the crime was on their property. The rapist was punished because he committed a crime on a man’s property. Women as the property of men were the general views and understanding of the system back then. And, with that view, a husband could never rape his wife as she is his property. This view has remained stable throughout that world.
In every culture, there is a concept of marriage, and it is this marriage that gives conjugal rights like having sexual intimacy with one’s partner. And since societies were patriarchal, women’s roles became subordinate to men’s. The definition of a perfect wife was a woman who would submit herself to her husband. And thus, it became her duty to satisfy her husband, even if it meant sexually. Conjugal rights became solely men’s rights. Her “NO” was not a thing. However, in some African cultures, women had a partial choice of whether to say no to their spouse for sex. This was conditional, which means they could say “no” in some specific circumstances such as advanced pregnancy, death of close relatives, menstruation, etc.
In India, the definition of rape is codified in section 375 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code), the official criminal code of India. “Sexual intercourse with a woman against her will, without her consent, by coercion, misrepresentation, or fraud, or when she is intoxicated or duped, or is of unsound mental health, and in any case, if she is under 15 years of age, is a rape,” it states. However, it allows an exemption, according to which sexual intercourse by a man with his wife who is over 15 is not sexual assault. The IPC was drafted in the 1860s when the British were ruling over India. All the Indian laws enacted by the British at that time were influenced by English laws and their norms. English laws did not recognise men and women as equals. They did not allow married women to own property and thus merged the identities of husband and wife under the “Doctrine of Coverture.”
This doctrine says that upon marriage, a woman’s legal rights and obligations are subsumed by those of her husband. As a result, the woman was given a subordinate legal status. The patriarchal Victorian society did not allow equality for women. However, in the modern era, where equality is the right, Indian laws started changing. Many amendments, laws, and acts were passed, including “The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act” and “Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act,” among others. But even with that, we are still not fulfilling the aim of article 14 of our Constitution. Article 14 guarantees equality to all citizens, but the criminal laws discriminate against female victims who have been raped by their husbands.
Marriage and sexuality started to be challenged in western society in the 1960s and 70s by second-wave feminism. This led to self-determination as to the right of women to all matters related to their bodies.
The Current Scenario
According to a study cited by Gary F. Kelly in 2011, 9% of female rape victims were raped by their spouses. The prevalence of marital rape is there, but it’s not easy to find the actual data regarding it. As of 2019, marital rape has been criminalised in about 150 countries as of 2019. In some countries, it is explicitly criminalized, and in some, there is no distinction between marital rape and rape by anyone else, which means common law for everyone. India is one of the countries where marital rape is still not criminalized.
To bring equality, justice, and empowerment to women in the real sense, we must create an equal world for them. In a rape by someone else, a woman can never interact with her perpetrator. However, in marital rape, she has to live with her perpetrator, her husband. There are psychological impacts on these women, and the trauma is unthinkable.
With that being said, there are some concerns regarding false cases. For this, it is necessary to study the laws of other countries and take scholars on board. Yes, there will be some issues, but we cannot be blind and turn away from all the injustice happening to women in the form of marital rape. We need to criminalise marital rape and, along with the issues concerning it must be answered. And with that, we can bring equality and justice in a real sense.
एक पोशाक को लेकर इतनी उग्रता! सुप्रीम कोर्ट से लेकर विदेशों तक हंगामा! कौन है ये लोग? कहां से आते हैं?
आखिर इस सब का कारण क्या है? इसका कारण शायद वर्षों से चली आ रही तुष्टिकरण की नीति है। तुष्टीकरण की नीति के परिणामस्वरूप ही कुछ लोगों को यह भ्रम हो गया है कि वे इस देश के संविधान से ऊपर हैं। उन्हें कुछ विशेषाधिकार प्राप्त हैं। देश का कानून उन पर लागू नहीं होता। वह अपने नियम खुद बनाएं और उनके अनुसार चलें। इसी के चलते मुस्लिम पर्सनल लॉ बोर्ड जैसी संस्थाएं भी अस्तित्व में हैं। जबकि संविधान समान नागरिक संहिता की बात कहता है। तुष्टीकरण का कोई अंत नहीं, यह वर्षों से चला आ रहा है। शाहबानो प्रकरण में सुप्रीम कोर्ट के फैसले को पलटना हो, या राष्ट्रगीत वंदे मातरम में संशोधन, कभी सड़क पर नमाज, कभी विद्यालय में हिजाब, कभी गजवा ए हिंद, कभी भारत तेरे टुकड़े होंगे, कभी पाकिस्तान जिंदाबाद, यहां तक कि ये भी कहा गया कि इस देश के संसाधनों पर पहला हक अल्पसंख्यकों का है। ये सब लंबे समय से चलता रहा है। जिसके दुष्परिणाम हमारे सामने हैं।
हिजाब के विरोध में अन्य छात्र भी भगवा धारण कर विद्यालय पहुंच गए। किंतु यहां एक अंतर है। वे भगवा धारण कर विद्यालय आने की जिद नहीं कर रहे हैं। वे केवल प्रतीकात्मक विरोध स्वरूप भगवा धारण कर रहे हैं। हिजाब धारी छात्रा द्वारा नारा लगा कर उकसाने पर भी छात्रों ने अपना विरोध जारी रखा और कोई अमानवीय व्यवहार नहीं किया। क्योंकि ये भारत है। ये शिवाजी और महाराणा प्रताप की परंपरा का देश है। यह बाबर या अकबर की परंपरा का देश नहीं जिनके कारण जौहर जैसी घटनाएं होती रही हैं। यह चीन, पाकिस्तान या अफगानिस्तान भी नहीं है। यह भारत है। यहां सब को अपनी बात रखने और और विरोध करने का अधिकार है। विरोध छात्रा का नहीं बल्कि विचार का है। बात-बात पर मुंह उठाकर भारत की तुलना तालिबान से करने वाले जरा कल्पना करें, यदि कोई अल्पसंख्यक छात्रा पाकिस्तानी या तालिबानी भीड़ के सामने पाकिस्तान या अफगानिस्तान में यही उकसाने का कार्य करती तो उसका क्या हाल होता? शायद वही होता जो भेड़ियों के सामने बकरी का होता है? किंतु यहां तालिबानी या पाकिस्तानी भेड़िए नहीं बल्कि स्वस्थ परंपरा के नागरिक रहते हैं। इतनी स्वतंत्रता के बाद भी भारतीय धर्म और संस्कृति पर निरंतर प्रहार होते रहे हैं। विधर्मी देश की छवि को धूमिल करने का कोई अवसर नहीं चूकते आखिर क्यों?
आइए समझें, कुछ वर्षों पहले क्रिकेट जगत में ऑस्ट्रेलिया ने एक रणनीति खूब अपनाई, जिसे अंग्रेजी में ‘स्लेजिंग’ कहते हैं। जब बल्लेबाजों की कोई जोड़ी टिककर खेल रही होती थी और रन भी अच्छे बन रहे होते थे, तो खिलाड़ियों का ध्यान भटकाने के उद्देश्य से ऑस्ट्रेलियाई टीम उनका मजाक उड़ाना, गाली देना और कभी-कभी तो बॉल मार कर विवाद उत्पन्न करने जैसी हरकतें करना शुरू कर देती थी। बहुत बार वे इसमें सफल भी होते थे। किंतु ऐसे समय में धैर्य आवश्यक है। ठीक उसी रणनीति पर कुछ ताकतें चल रही हैैं।
भारतीय धर्म और संस्कृति पर निरंतर प्रहार हो रहे हैं। कोई हिंदू और हिंदुत्व में अंतर बता रहा है। कोई पुराने हिंदुत्व को अच्छा और नए हिंदुत्व को खराब बता रहा है। कोई कह रहा है कि भारत एक राष्ट्र ही नहीं है। गाय-गोबर, शंख-झालर, ताली-थाली, मंदिर-दीपक, आदि का मजाक बनाया जा रहा है। कोई कह रहा है बिकिनी पहनकर भी स्कूल जा सकते हैं। कोई पाकिस्तान जिंदाबाद जैसे शब्दों का प्रयोग करके उकसाने की कोशिश कर रहा है। इस सब छटपटाहट का क्या अर्थ है? इसका सीधा अर्थ है, कि आपकी टीम के दोनों सलामी बल्लेबाज विरोधी टीम की धुआंधार ठुकाई कर रहे हैं। और आने वाला बल्लेबाज और भी ज्यादा खतरनाक है। इसलिए धैर्य बनाए रखिए और अच्छी टीम का चयन करते रहिए। जिस अनुपात में भारत पर चारों ओर से मनोवैज्ञानिक और सांस्कृतिक आक्रमण हो रहे हैं, उसके अनुसार दो मैच जीतने से कुछ नहीं होगा, बल्कि पूरी सीरीज क्लीनस्वीप करनी होगी। लक्ष्य सम्मुख है।
“उठो! जागो और लक्ष्य प्राप्ति तक मत रुको” – स्वामी विवेकानंद। लेकिन लक्ष्य क्या है? लक्ष्य बिल्कुल स्पष्ट है- “परंवैभवन्नेतुमेतत् स्वराष्ट्रम्” अपने राष्ट्र को परम वैभव पर पहुंचाना ही लक्ष्य है। समय परिवर्तनकारी है। लक्ष्य निकट है। प्रयास करते रहिए। “इदम् राष्ट्राय इदं न मम्।”
इस भाव से लोकतंत्र के यज्ञ में अपने वोट की आहूतियां देते रहिए। वातावरण शुद्ध हो जाएगा। विघटनकारी बादल छंट जाएंगे। आसुरी अट्ठाहास करने वाली शक्तियां स्वयमेव भस्म हो जाएंगी। चरैवेति-चरैवेति। और अंत में संघ गीत (सिर्फ 4 लाइन लिखना चाहता था किंतु गीत के शब्द इतने अच्छे थे कि दो अंतरे लिखने पड़े।)
संस्कृति सबकी एक चिरंतन, खून रगों में हिंदू है। विराट सागर समाज अपना, हम सब इसके बिंदु हैं। रामकृष्ण गौतम की धरती, महावीर का ज्ञान जहां। वाणी खंडन मंडन करती, शंकर चारों धाम यहां। जितने दर्शन राहें उतनी, चिंतन का चैतन्य भरा। पंथ खालसा गुरूपुत्रों की, बलिदानी यह पुण्य धरा। अक्षय वट, अगणित शाखाएं, जड़ में जीवन हिंदू है। विराट सागर….. हरिजन गिरिजनवासी वन के, नगर ग्राम सब साथ चलें। ऊंच-नीच का भाव घटाकर, समता के सद्भाव बढ़ें। ऊपर दिखते भेद भले हों, जैसे वन में फूल खिले। रंग बिरंगी मुस्कानों से, जीवन रस पर एक मिले। एक बड़ा परिवार हमारा, पुरखे सबके हिंदू हैं। विराट सागर समाज अपना हम सब इसके बिंदु हैं।
The tussle between Eagle, Dragon, Tiger and Bear known as world diplomacy. And the new world order establishing with time.
Anaconda is the world’s largest snake, But it isn’t venomous. It kills its prey by curbing it slowly sine death. It seems like Dragon is adapting the methods of Anaconda. Not only adapting, but achieving expertise. China gives out hefty loans, then demands repayment with even hefty interest. The Dragon targets small countries, which are unable to repay loans. Then it cleverly curbs the ports, mines, rail projects, dams, bridges and military bases of these countries as a mortgage.
With 1.4 billion people, China is the most populous nation worldwide. Thus they’ve got a large workforce to work in factories. There is no doubt that China is a success story, in terms of economics. According to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook of October 2021, the Per Capita Income of China in 1952 was 54 USD. Today it stands at 12552 USD. This change heavily attributes to the industrial policy of China which made it the production house of the whole world. But one thing is certain, China is a golden cage, with a lot of money and no liberty. Money costs liberty in China.
In December 2021, the worldwide Chinese export surplus rose to 676 billion USD. The Dragon has got a lot of money, but now he is thirsty for becoming a superpower. China wants to replace the United States as the new world leader. They want to trigger a new round of economic colonialism. And for that, they are using a money trap. There are plenty of examples already – Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan, Malaysia, Angola, Ethiopia and many more. As termed by Indian academic Brahma Chellaney, this is Dragon’s “Debt – trap Diplomacy”.
The United States of America, the land of the free, has been the world’s superpower for the last century. But the throne is shaking now. Russia and China are coming closer and that’s an alarm for the US. China is an economic monster and Russia is a military superpower. Communism acts as a common ground for both nations. This creates a deadly combination. The US is trailing with Dragon to defend its economic might. On another front, they are engaged in a tussle with Kremlin over Ukraine and Crimea.
Once Steve Maraboli said – “Sometimes problems don’t require a solution to solve them; Instead they require maturity to outgrow them.” That’s the solution for the rising China problem. We don’t have to shorten China’s line and lead to the third world war. Instead, we have to draw a line bigger than China so it outgrows Dragon. There is definitely a hope. There is definitely a land of hope. And it is not in the west, it lies in the east, right at the doorstep of Dragon – India. World’s 2nd most populous country, 6th largest economy and the largest democracy of the whole world. No land has so much potential as India has.
After the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic and the mayhem between Sino – Indian armies in the Himalayas, a strong sense of opposition towards the Chinese have developed in India. This skirmish was a setback for the Chinese government as they were not hoping for such a strong response from the Indian side. According to the Australian newspaper The Klaxon, there were at least 41 fatalities on the Chinese side. After that Indian government launched the” Aatmnirbhar Bharat” initiative to minimise the Chinese profits from Indian markets.
India isn’t perfect, but it has the ability to change history. The scars of the 1962 Sino – Indian War aren’t gone yet. India is the nation that for a long time accounted for a fourth of the whole world trade. If the US wants to tackle China, then India is their best resort. India is the world’s largest democracy and the United States of America is the oldest democracy. By joining hands they can change the course of history and move ahead to a more free world.
John F. Kennedy said, “Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past and present are certain to miss the future.”
Past week saw the eruption of a new controversy in Karnataka, when some girls, wearing hijab, were denied entry in classrooms. On one hand this fueled the hijab girl to protest & approach the court, while on the other it fueled backlash by protesting Hindu students.
This also led to several unwanted skirmishes & rifts between 2 communities, not just in Karnataka, but even in different patches of our country.
Supporters of RSS-BJP, taking stand against hijab in secular classroom, might have also felt a bit betrayed, as a member of RSS Muslim wing comes out in support of hijab girls, and condemn those protesting and taking stand against them. Although, RSS Muslim wing was quick enough to disown this statement of his member.
Next in the row comes the statement of PM Modi, (who looks unwilling to gamble upon the Muslim women’s vote bank & go safe) in which he termed it as a “newly constructed way to block the rights of Muslim women”. He added” Yogi led govt is necessary to ensure that women aren’t oppressed in U.P”. Some peoples might have hard time finding any concrete condemnation of this new Islamic frenzy to practice their religion with a great zeal in public spaces (preceded by the Namaj row in Gurgaon) in this statement.
The elite (otherwise progressive), pro-hijab lobby, finds them sailing a tough upstream, as they go against their previous policies to not appreciate (if not ban) any religious tradition or custom which is oppressing for women (be it ghoongat, dowry, marriage law, inheritance law, polygamy, maintenance law). Although they have been extremely virtuous & consistent while following their “vow to stand against oppression”, with Hindu community; but unfortunately, have failed miserably with Muslim community as they feel shy to interfere in religious matters of “not so ready” community. Obviously enough, this has led to a great rift between the ways in which law is interpreted for Muslim and other communities. The same act of 2 different peoples may land them in them different places as evident from table given below.
polygamy
maintenance laws
marriage laws
Inheritance-e laws
For Hindus.
Punishable under Hindu marriage acts
Lifetime maintenance for wife
21 yrs. for both boys and girls
Daughters are equally entitled
For Muslims.
1937 law allows 4 women
Maintenance within specific period
After puberty around 15 yrs.
Daughters share only half of son’s
For Christians.
Prohibited under religious laws
Wife can apply for alimony in court
18 for girls,21yrs for boys
Variable for different communities
In addition to this cover fire by a lobby, the pro hijab stand was also appreciated by different peoples from Muslim community who appeared in scenes with gifts like iPhone & 5 lakh cash prize. Even the Taliban, jumped into the matter, to back wearing hijab and links it to ‘defending religious value’. This makes it even more clear that what kind of peoples would cherish hijab to be a matter of choice (if not compulsory).
Something better than nothing; many eminent Muslim voices like Arif Mohammed khan, Rubika Liaquat, Taslima Nasreen etc. takes a stand against pro-hijab movement. So here is a lesson for everyone, be it Hindu or Muslim, pro-hijab or anti hijab, one must understand that even in Hitler’s Germany, everyone wasn’t pro-Nazi, may be majority of them isn’t pro-Nazi, but undoubtedly opponent voices (against pro-Nazi) was so feeble, that they couldn’t stop the course of events.
So on one hand it would have been faulty of allied powers to paint all Germans as Nazi, and also on the other hand, it would have been faulty of those opponent voices to act as a human shield (knowingly or unknowingly) against anyone who aims to take action against Nazis.
If everything goes well, and courts denied entry of girls with hijab in classroom; this might undoubtedly led some chest thumping, naive characters to believe it as their win over mischievous anti-India (or Hindu) elements, trying to increase the footprint of radical Islam and assert their religious dominance in different spheres of society. But I think “allowing hijab into classrooms” is a too big and strange (as even some extremist Muslim nations seems to make relaxation on the compulsion for hijab) demand to full fill, even for the biggest appeaser of them. This fact becomes even more evident when non-BJP states like Rajasthan, Maharastra, and even Kerala (which is known for being most inclined to such radicals than most of the other states) don’t entertain this demand much. This lack of interest in demand for hijab might be due to 2 reasons- 1. It resembles Namaj row in Gurugram, in its zeal to practice their religion in public spaces. Allowing such demands may also led to uncontrolled chain reactions of similar demands (for ex-performing 5 times Nawaz, no matter whether they are in college, schools, or offices) 2. Even if someone wishes to accept these demands, he will refrain himself from doing so because of the possible backlash by Hindu students.
I assume that by making demands of this nature, extremist elements (like PFI, CFI & many more) might be willing to shoot for the moon, so even if they miss, they could easily land into the stars.
Even though they were kept deprived of much success in convincing state or judiciary; Undoubtedly they will have surely cherished the multiple communal rifts & Islamic frenzy on display across the country (as reported from Devangere, Murshidabad, Noida etc.). It is a win-win situation for them.
Also the continuous Wahab-isation of Indian Muslim also speaks volume of the ongoing radicalization.
Obviously enough, the hijab row also made international audience like self-appointed global preacher “America” and (victim of its own nurtured radicalism & self-appointed defender of Muslims around the world) “Pakistan”, crave to monetize from the events. Thankfully, The Indian MEA was quick to slam these unwanted Comments and to term them as motivated. Although it will be a risky game for Pakistan to comment on the state of minorities in India, as it will be too easy game for India, as far as Pakistan is concerned.
Even the otherwise progressive, Malala Yousufzai seems immature to comment in the favor of pro-hijab stand, especially because, in her biography she has compared walking in burqa to “walking inside a big fabric shuttlecock with only a grille to see through” and feels himself to be fortunate enough to not wear one. Although, peoples who are aware of Malala’s comments, given by him in past, on issues like Kashmir and Indian Muslims might not have felt surprised.
‘Expenditure Tax’ in place of Income Tax : Indeed a Blockbuster Reform
Like myself, many other tax payers may be getting Bronze, Silver or even Gold Certificate issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) every year towards payment of Personal Income Tax (PIT). But getting that Certificate is not free of any hassles. One has to be very meticulous in paying the requisite income tax as also file the returns called the Income Tax Returns (ITRs). Now, given to understand that there is a blockbuster reform in the offing whereby stakeholders’ suggestions are sought in the run-up to finalise the annual budget for 2022-23 by the Finance Ministry to bring about a shift in income tax to tax payable based on expenditure don. It is believed such a shift in tax base might definitely reduce the extravagant consumption and also contribute to increase in savings. It is indeed high time to think of an out-of-the-box initiative on this front which will prove a blockbuster reform. There are many countries such as the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Brunei Darussalam, etc. to name a few, where the people of those countries are not required to pay Income Tax but instead only contribute towards the social security. In India, while majority of the people are paying minuscule amount as tax owing to their income but are still coerced into filing their respective ITRs.
Most of the income tax paying class is the salaried middle class and for whom the taxes are deducted as TDS meaning, Tax Deducted at Source and hence such people cannot even think of evading paying tax for obvious reasons. The salaried class pays the tax on the income earned and after compulsory deduction of TDS, spends the net income for their livelihood, whereas the non-salaried classes spend money under various other heads of expenditure and thus reduce their overall tax liability. As per statistics, there are around four lakh people with annual income more than Rs. 20 lakh and which constitutes one per cent of the tax base and account for 63% of the income taxes collected with a tax paying base of about 1.5 crore people. Basically, there are around 4 Crore such pay payers and lakhs of them may be from Dwarka sub city even. This proposed initiative should be a ‘welcome step’ in the sense that tax should obviously be payable on the expenditure made by individuals instead of grossly taxing purely based on one’s income or pension amount which seems rather unjustified.
It is a common sense that an individual who is capable of spending more should naturally be taxed on his expenditure front, rather than an individual who believes in savings and no way both categories should be treated at par as far as payment of income tax is concerned. For the ordinary tax payer, there is in fact a sort of multiple taxation, as he/she is paying income tax as well as tax on his/her savings, apart from the Goods and Services Tax on every purchases, tax on utilities, other municipal taxes, etc. The rates of such proposed tax based on expenditure front called the Expenditure Tax should be made steeply progressive to tax the rich heavily as also compel one to go for savings and thereby curtail unnecessary or extravagant expenditure.
If Personal Income Tax (PIT) is done away with, not only more than 6 Crore people will have freedom from the burden of submitting the annual ITRs for which now the last date has further been extended from 31st December 2021 till 31st March 2022 but even the organizations complying with the TDS will also be free from the burden of collecting, remitting and submitting various returns if PIT is shelved. The option of replacing income tax with expenditure tax that is shift from the income base to expenditure base for tax purposes will be a blockbuster reform with immense potential to provide a fillip to the economy.
अमित शाह ने कहा कि भाजपा के एजेंडे में पार्टी की बात नहीं, बल्कि यूपी के भविष्य का रोडमैप है और सपा, बसपा व कांग्रेस का शासन नीतियों के आधार पर नहीं, एक परिवार के लिए चलता था और चलता है।
भाजपा का एजेंडा उत्तर प्रदेश को एक बार फिर गौरवशाली प्रदेश बनाना है- अमित शाह
‘यूपी को एक बार फिर सबसे समृद्ध, सुरक्षित और शिक्षित राज्यों की सूची में शीर्ष पर ले जाना है’
‘बसपा व कांग्रेस का शासन नीतियों के आधार पर नहीं, एक परिवार के लिए चलता था और चलता है’
केंद्रीय गृह मंत्री व भारतीय जनता पार्टी के पूर्व अध्यक्ष अमित शाह ने शनिवार को कहा कि भाजपा का एजेंडा उत्तर प्रदेश को एक बार फिर गौरवशाली प्रदेश बनाना है। लखनऊ में भाजपा के राज्यसभा सदस्य संजय सेठ द्वारा आयोजित प्रबुद्ध वर्ग सम्मेलन को संबोधित करते हुए शाह ने कहा कि भाजपा का एजेंडा यूपी को एक बार फिर सबसे समृद्ध, सुरक्षित और शिक्षित राज्यों की सूची में शीर्ष पर ले जाना है।
उन्होंने कहा कि भाजपा के एजेंडे में पार्टी की बात नहीं, बल्कि यूपी के भविष्य का रोडमैप है और सपा, बसपा व कांग्रेस का शासन नीतियों के आधार पर नहीं, एक परिवार के लिए चलता था और चलता है। शाह ने आरोप लगाया कि सपा, बसपा और कांग्रेस की सरकारों की संस्कृति सिर्फ फीता काटने की थी, क्योंकि किसी योजना पर काम ही शुरू नहीं होता था तो उद्घाटन की बात ही क्या की जाए।
उन्होंने कहा कि भाजपा सरकार ने एक करोड़ गरीबों का भला किया है और अगर लोग सोच-समझकर वोट करेंगे तो गरीब देश की विकास यात्रा में जुड़ जाएंगे। शाह ने आगाह किया कि जातिवाद, परिवारवाद और तुष्टिकरण के आधार पर चलने वाली सरकारें कभी यूपी का भला नहीं कर सकतीं। 2014, 2017 और 2019 में हमने विजय प्राप्त की और उसमें हमारा कुछ नहीं था, आपका ही आशीर्वाद और समर्थन था।
शाह ने प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी और यूपी के मुख्यमंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ के काम की तारीफ करते हुए कहा कि हर जिले में जाता हूं तो पूछता हूं कि कोई बाहुबली और कोई माफिया है क्या और जवाब मिलता है नहीं। भाजपा ने यूपी में कानून व्यवस्था की स्थिति में सुधार किया है। यूपी की राजनीति का अपराधीकरण हुआ था और हमने राजनीति का अपराधीकरण और प्रशासन का जो राजनीतिकरण हुआ था, दोनों को समाप्त किया है। राज्य में आज कोई भी अधिकारी संविधान, कानून और नियमों के हिसाब से फैसला लेता है, जिस कारण कई चीजें ठीक हुई हैं।
उत्तर प्रदेश के भविष्य और खुशहाली का वास्ता देते हुए शाह ने कहा कि हमने पांच साल में यूपी में बदलाव किया और अब हमें पांच साल नहीं, सिर्फ दो साल चाहिए, आप सरकार बना दीजिए और दो साल में यूपी पूरे देश में नंबर वन अर्थव्यवस्था बन जाएगा। केंद्र सरकार के वित्तीय सहयोग से स्वास्थ्य, शिक्षा और बुनियादी ढांचे में जो निवेश हुआ, उसके आधार पर यूपी का विकास हुआ। यूपी में तीन बड़े मसले थे-राम जन्मभूमि, काशी विश्वनाथ मंदिर और मां विंध्यवासिनी मंदिर, तीनों मसलों का समाधान मोदी जी के नेतृत्व में पांच साल में ही भाजपा की सरकार ने कर दिया। राम मंदिर भी बनेगा, काशी विश्वनाथ धाम कॉरिडोर बन चुका है और मां विंध्यवासिनी का धाम बनने जा रहा है।
अमेरिका के न्यूयॉर्क में करीब 50 प्रतिशत मामले कम हुए हैं। वैज्ञानिकों की मानें तो कोरोना के मामले कम होने के पीछे मुख्य कारण है कि ओमिक्रॉन का प्रभाव अब कम होता जा रहा है। यही वजह है कि इससे संक्रमित होने वाले लोग भी कम होते जा रहे हैं।
कोविड-19 के मामले भारत समेत दुनिया के अन्य देशों में भी तेजी से कम हो रहे हैं। अमेरिका में भी कुछ ऐसा ही हाल है जब कोरोना के मामले में तेजी से गिरावट आई है। जॉन हॉप्किंस यूनिवर्सिटी के डेटा के मुताबिक, शनिवार को अमेरिका में करीब 1 लाख कोरोना के नए मामले सामने आए जबकि पांच हफ्ते कोरोना के रेज़ाना 8 लाख 850 नए मामलों की पुष्टि हुई थी।
अमेरिका के न्यूयॉर्क में करीब 50 प्रतिशत मामले कम हुए हैं। वैज्ञानिकों की मानें तो कोरोना के मामले कम होने के पीछे मुख्य कारण है कि ओमिक्रॉन का प्रभाव अब कम होता जा रहा है। यही वजह है कि इससे संक्रमित होने वाले लोग भी कम होते जा रहे हैं। पहले अमेरिका में एक हफ्ते में करीब 1 लाख 46 हजार 534 मरीज अस्पताल में भर्ती हो रहे थे। जबकि 13 फरवरी को सिर्फ 80 हजार 185 मरीज ही हफ्तेभर में भर्ती हुए हैं।
वैक्सीनेशन पर जताई चिंता-
स्वास्थ्य विशेषज्ञों ने अनुमान लगाया है कि आने वाले समय में अस्पातल में भर्ती होने वाले मरीजों की संख्या में गिरावट आएगी। कुछ समय बाद देश पैंडेमिक से एंडेमिक की तरफ आगे बढ़ने लगेगी। जबकि कुछ विशेषज्ञों ने वैक्सीनेशन को लेकर चिंता भी जाहिर की है। उनका मानना है कि अमेरिका में अभी भी उम्मीद से बहुत कम वैक्सीनेशन किया जा रहा है।
एक अन्य हेल्थ एक्सपर्ट का कहना है, ‘ओमिक्रॉन वायरस के दो पहलू हैं। पहला ये है कि ये बहुत तेजी से फैलता है और लोगों को हल्का बीमार करता है। दूसरा पहलू है कि ये अच्छी बात भी है कि ये बहुत तेजी से फैलता है और उन्हें हल्का बीमार करता है। इससे मरीजों की मौतें कम होती हैं। इससे लोगों में नैचुरल इम्युनिटी भी बहुत तेजी से बनती है।
“It has been far safer to steal large sums with a pen than small sums with a gun.”- Warren Buffet. The saying signifies how the intellectual minds exploit the corrupt system to facilitate money robbery and easily get away with it while the petite thefts in tattered pockets fall swiftly to brisk detection and strict punishment.
FINANCIAL FRAUDS
In the past decade or so, a rampant spurt of significant banking frauds has greeted the public eyes with the potential of causing detrimental effects to the Indian economy. This shows how the commingling of the RBI guidelines, strict regulations and preventive measures adopted by the banks, both in public and private sectors still fails to rebut the audacious tricks of scamsters who draw whooping amount of loans and escape narrowly from the country. Be it Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi or the PNB swindle’s infamous golden boy Nirav Modi, all have flooded the media headlines gathering criticism and mistrust on the ability of reputed banks to protect the deposited money that belongs to the very people of India.
The Reserve Bank Of India(RBI) has, per se, not defined the term ‘fraud’ in its guidelines on Frauds. A definition of fraud was, however, suggested in the context of electronic banking in the Report of RBI Working Group on Information Security, Electronic Banking, Technology Risk Management and Cyber Frauds, which reads as-
‘A deliberate act of omission or commission by any person, carried out in the course of a banking transaction or in the books of accounts maintained manually or under computer system in banks, resulting into wrongful gain to any person for a temporary period or otherwise, with or without any monetary loss to the bank.’
NON-PERFORMING ASSETS
The modern banks are regarded as the departmental stores since they offer a variety of services to their customers. A vast proportion of money stored in these commercial banks comprises of savings deposited by the public for the sake of convenience, safety or for earning interest. Using these deposits, banks issue loans to individuals, traders and business institutions and charge interests from the borrowers which is more than the interest they pay to their depositors. They earn profits out of these loans. However, if the borrowers do not return the sum with interest, it turns into Non-Performing Assets (NPA) to the banks. Banks with high NPAs may become resistant to offer big loans needed for funding investment projects which will cost negative consequences on the economy. According to RBI, State Bank of India topped the list of highest NPA with Rs.1.21 lakh crores in September 2021 from Rs.74,482 crore in June 2014.
A believed misconception equates the amount of bank frauds with the bank’s inability to allow withdrawal of deposited money by public. This is a lie because people do not realize that NPA’s do not have potential to disrupt the entire systematic structure of a particular bank, especially the famous ones. The real treasury of these banks is the people’s money and when a big fraud gets leaked in the masses, all of them simultaneously start withdrawing huge sum of money from a particular bank which in turn reduces the bank’s deposited money and therefore paralyzes its power to advance loans to borrowers. Only the people’s money has the potential to create or destroy the stretching arms of a bank.
After the PMC Bank Scam, the bank informed their customers that for the next six months, only Rs.1000 could be withdrawn from their accounts, the limit was further stretched by RBI to Rs.25,000 for the same. So, now can you guess what was the reason behind imposing restrictions on withdrawal of large sums amidst the ongoing crisis?
STATISTICS RELATED TO BANKING FRAUDS
According to Statista 2022, the total number of reported banking frauds across India between from fiscal year 2009 to 2021 were 69793. In fiscal year 2021, the RBI reported a total of around 7,400 bank fraud cases across India. This was a decrease compared to the previous year and turned around the trend of the last decade. The total value of bank frauds decreased as well, from 1.85 trillion Indian rupees to 1.4 trillion rupees
UNDERREPORTING OF FRAUDS
Delay in reporting frauds to RBI is a not a destined happenstance, it is a deliberate act by banks. Their reluctance stems from fear of maligned reputations, loss of public faith, decreased market value, mistrust on effective corporate governance, interference of probe agencies and for reasons better known to them. According to RBI, at times frauds are detected in banks long after their perpetration. On some occasions, RBI comes to know about frauds involving substantial amounts only through press reports.
“The average lag time of large frauds, say 100 crores or more was about 57 months,” said Nirmala Sitharaman in a press conference of 2021.
1) Noncompliance to Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines– KYC is a verification process that allows financial institutions to verify the identity and address of all customers who are to carry out any kind of financial transactions with them. It also enquires details about the business conducted by the customer and the nature of their employment. This helps to verify the authenticity of the individual/ company. RBI recently imposed Rs.25 lakh penalty on Axis Bank for violating provisions of KYC norms.
2) Misuse of delegated authority- Due to increasing work pressure, the top management delegates authority to the middle management who in turn may give parts of their job to the line staff. The Staff may indulge in unethical methods to achieve their respective targets.
3) Lack of tools to identify potential red flags: Despite having educated, trained and sound managers, some banks lack suitable systems to detect potential risks of a bad deal.
4) Poor internal control system- An inadequate control system in banks includes lack of segregation of duties, lack of physical safeguards, lack of independent checks, lack of proper authorizations, lack of proper documents and records, overlapping of existing controls and an inadequate accounting system.
5) Conflict between employees and external parties: Insider fraud stemming from coercion, collusion, etc. are regarded as one of the serious frauds faced by banks.
4 R’s OF FRAUD MANAGEMENT
In a brilliant strategic move by the central government, a fraud management framework of 4 R’s namely Recognition, Resolution, Recapitalization and Reforms were framed to resolve the expanding tract of NPAs.
“In the last six fiscal years, banks have recovered Rs 5,01,479; of which Rs.3.1 lakh crores have been recovered alone in March 2018,” said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on September 16, 2021.
RECOGNITION- It includes the quantification and recovery of NPA in a planned manner. After the Asset Quality Review of 2015, a high incidence of non-performing assets was indicated.
RESOLUTION– It includes careful drafting a solution for the recovery of NPA. Wilful defaulters were not sanctioned at additional benefits but from debarred from accessing capital markets to raise funds.
RECAPITALIZATION– Government of India is the largest shareholder in the public sector banks (PSBs). So, in case of capital crisis faced by them, the government adopts certain measures including recapitalization which involves a new capital to be infused into PSBs. This is to ensure the fulfilment of minimum capital requirements by banks as laid down by RBI as per Basel norms. The finance minister proposed a recapitalization of ₹ 20,000 crore for Public Sector Banks (PSBs) in union Budget 2021.
REFORMS– Multiple reforms were suggested to improve the NPAs such as Bank Mergers, Managerial Reforms, Bringing Cooperative Banks under the RBI, etc. Among these the Fugitive Economic Offender Act of 2018 “is showing a lot of result in getting people from outside.” This law empowers the Indian courts to confiscate all properties and assets of economic offenders with over INR 100 crores who have fled the country.
CENTRE FORMS ‘BAD BANK’ TO RESOLVE NPA
To reduce the non-performing assets of public sector banks a National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited and the India Debt Resolution Company Limited would be set up.
A National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL) also referred as the ‘bad bank’ would ensure transparency in bank’s balance sheets. The public sector banks will have a 51% ownership in it. “NARCL will pay up to 15% of the agreed value for the loans in cash and the remaining 85% would be government-guaranteed security receipts.”
In the India Depth Resolution Company, public sector banks and public financial institutions will hold a minimum of 49% stake and private sector lenders will also participate in it
LOOKING AHEAD
In a speech by Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor, RBI he said, “our financial system faces both challenging times and new opportunities as the Indian economy returns to full vitality. With the exponential growth of digitization and online commerce in India, the Reserve Bank has also directed its policy efforts to put to ensure a safe, secure, efficient, cost-effective, and robust payments ecosystem.”
The society expects transparency, reliability, accountability and effective discharge of duties and responsibilities by the banks. Depositors of a bank put their hard-earned salaries and life savings in the banks which should by protected before lending huge loans to fraudsters masquerading as borrowers.
Impact of Indira Gandhi’s rule over Indian democracy with respect to power consolidation
If we make a list of the worst characteristics of a human being, then lust for power will surely top the list. It was Duryodhana’s lust for power that he refused to give 5-villages to Pandavas and therefore invited his doom. The decisions taken by both father-daughter have many things in common. The policies of Nehru and his way of ruling India became an inspiration for Indira. If we grade Nehru’s lust for power on a scale of 1-10, Nehru would have scored 5/10 and his daughter 10/10.
Whatever decisions were taken by Nehru seven decades ago through the First Amendment to the Constitution of India became a source of inspiration for Indira to bring the deadliest amendments during the Emergency. Going down the lanes of Indian history, Nehru and Indira seem to enjoy clamping down on the critical voices of the Government—starting with Nehru, who decided to clamp down on the Organiser (an English weekly by RSS), which was very critical of Nehru. A pre-censorship order was issued under the East Punjab Public Safety Act. It was made mandatory for the editor and publisher to get approval from the Government if the content is related to communal issues or Pakistan.
Indira Gandhi did the same thing by imposing an emergency and making it mandatory for media houses not to publish anything against the Government. The difference between the above two incidents is that the order issued by Nehru was challenged in the Apex court and was quashed by the Court as a violation of Article 19 of the Constitution. However, the order by Indira could not be challenged as the atmosphere in the nation was that of fear. Therefore, in terms of power consolidation, I think Indira’s rule has a much more significant impact on Indian Democracy and our lives at large.
‘Hitler is Germany and Germany is Hitler’ and ‘Indira is India and India is Indira’, the two slogans are synonymous. The darkest phase of Indian Democracy was during 1975 when an ‘internal emergency was declared, media was censored, and opposition imprisoned.
The situation resembled the same in 1930 in Germany when Adolf Hitler used the provisions of the German Constitution to proclaim a state of Emergency. After detaining 1,10,000 citizens of the nation, Madam Prime Minister brought the 42nd Amendment Act to the Constitution, which was against Article 83(2) of the Indian Constitution. She also amended the Representation of People Act, 1951 with retrospective effect to save her. Nevertheless, was the Emergency all about unconstitutional amendments and detentions? No, the strings and effects of the Emergency are connected with India’s socio-political and economic aspects too!
The Kesavananda Bharati case and its impact today on Indian Democracy
In March 1970, Kesavananda Bharati, the founder of “Edneer Mutt,” decided to challenge the decision of the Kerala Government to impose restrictions on the management of its property. In order to keep the judicial system of India under her control, Madam PM delivered a chain of Constitutional amendments along with the twenty-fourth Amendment, twenty-fifth Amendment, and twenty-ninth Amendment. Using the identical amendments, the Kerala Government delivered the Land Reforms Amendment Act, 1969, through which they attempted to accumulate a specific sect’s land of “Edneer Mutt .”Senior Advocate Nani Palkhivala was representing Swami Ji (Kesavananda Bharati), and through this case, he decided to challenge all the unconstitutional amendments done by Indira Gandhi.
The 703-page judgment Kesavananda Bharati Vs. State of Kerala & Others [1973] led to the formation of the basic structure or essential features of the Indian Constitution, which is today used to test the constitutionality of the acts passed by the Parliament. Be it striking down the NJAC Bill or the provisions of the recently passed Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021, the Supreme Court cited the Basic Structure as the principle while giving the final judgment. In India, the issue as to whether the Court can strike down legislation for violating the “basic structure” or “unwritten constitution principles” is still not settled.
The JP Movement and its impact on Indian Democracy
On June 25, 1975, JP recited Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s poem, ‘Singhasan khaali karo ke Janata Aati hai .’On the night of June 25, the historic Ram Lila ground was covered with lakhs of people and leaders like Morarji Desai, Chimanbhai Patel, Raj Narain, Nanaji Deshmukh, and Madan Lal Khurana. Though the rally is said to be the starting point of Emergency, the seeds had been planted much earlier. It all started from Gujarat in 1973 when the protestors had hit the streets to speak against the price of grains shooting up along with the price of meat, edible oil, butter, and kerosene. At this hour, the then Chief Minister Chimanbhai Patel was busy colluding with the state’s leading groundnut oil barons, pushing prices up even higher. After a huge protest by 160,000 university students, Chimanbhai Patel was expelled from the party, and then Morarji Desai went on a hunger strike. The Gujarat protest ended after this, but the effect was seen 1500 kilometers to the east, where the protest started with the slogan ‘Bihar Bhi Gujarat Banega.’
The economic recession, unemployment, price rise, rampant inflation, and scarcity of goods led to widespread strikes and protests in the country during 1972-73. The anger of the common public fuelled higher when the younger son of Indira, Sanjay Gandhi, was given a license to manufacture 50,000 Maruti cars a year, spreading a general message that corruption under Indira has gone up!
Protests in Bihar started on March 18, 1974, when the students started a gherao of the Bihar assembly, leading to the death of twenty-seven people within a week. The most special element of the protest was its leader, Jayaprakash Narayan. ‘JP then toured the entire nation and drew large crowds in Delhi with the help of Jan Sangh. Jan Sangh, ABVP, the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsha Vahini formed the backbone of the JPs protest. The protest quickly was a political battlefield whilst JP regularly occurring Indira’s undertaking to allow the following well-known elections determine the destiny of his movement’s demands.
All those student leaders, be it Arun Jaitely, Lalu Prasad Yadav, or senior leaders like Vajpayee, Advani, etc. of them, became the future of Indian politics during the ’90s, and some of them became the Prime Minister, Chief Minister and Cabinet Ministers as well. A similar relevance can be seen in the last decade of Indian politics. It was in April 2011 when Anna Hazare went on a Hunger strike against the rising corruption in the country. The main faces of India Against Corruption Movement were Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, and Baba Ram Dev. After the protest ended, Kejriwal went on to establish his own political party, AAP, which is the fastest-growing party in the last decade, along with BJP got the biggest advantage of the IAC movement and won the 2014 elections.
Similarly, today in 2022, when the farmer’s protest has just ended, one can easily observe that those who actively participated in the protest are now going to contest in the Punjab and UP elections of 2022. Therefore, protests in India always start with a reason, whether it is against inflation, or corruption, or against any policy of the Government, and from the movement, many people become the new face of Indian politics. Needless to say that all these protests have similarities with the JPs movement that led to the Emergency.
The Fall of Judiciary during the Indira Gandhi Government and its Impact Today
Judges are trained in such a way that they can “sniff the approach of tyranny in every political breeze,” said Edmund Burke, a political thinker. The political stir was at its height during the 1971 general elections when Raj Narain, the leader of the Janta party, fought against Mrs. Indira Gandhi of the Congress. The streets of Rae Bareilly were echoed with two slogans “Indira Hatao, Desh Bachao” by the Janata Party and “Gareebi Hatao” by the Congress Party. On March 10, 1971, Indira Gandhi was declared the winner of the election, winning with a margin of 1 Lakh votes and her party securing 352 seats out of 518. As soon as the results were announced, Raj Narain filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court stating that Indira used government machinery for her election campaigns which are unconstitutional. It changed into the primary time withinside the records of India that a Prime Minister changed into going to wait for the courtroom docket proceedings, and that too changed into primarily based totally on corrupt and unlawful practices.
Indira Gandhi Caught by the Court
It was finally proved in the Court that in order to arrange rostrums, loudspeakers, and barricades for her rallies and campaigns, she took the help of Yashpal Kapur (her election agent), the DM of Rae Bareli, the Superintendent of Police of Rae Bareli and the Home Secretary of Uttar Pradesh government. All this was termed as ‘Corrupt Practices’ under Section 123(7) of the Representation of the People Act.
Yashpal Kapur, who was the OSD in the PM’s secretariat (a gazetted officer), resigned from his post on January 13, 1971, and became the election agent for Indira Gandhi on February 4, 1971. But it was proved in the Court that Yashpal delivered election speeches on January 7, 1971, at MunshiGanj and on January 19, 1971, at Kalan. This act, too, was in violation of Section 123(7) of the RPA.
Indira Gandhi Imposed Emergency
Indira’s ego was shattered, pride beaten, and she was declared corrupt publicly. The High Court disqualified her from holding public office for six years. Infuriated by this event, Indira immediately appealed to the Supreme Court. Luckily, the Supreme Court was on vacation at that time and therefore granted a conditional stay on the matter on June 24, 1975. The matter was decided to be heard on August 11, 1975, and till then, Indira was allowed to act like a Prime Minister, but her voting rights in the Parliament were snatched away. On the next day, i.e., June 25, 1975, an Emergency was declared in the nation by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, citing internal disturbance. Using the Defence of India Rules and MISA, all the opposition leaders, party workers, youth activists, and protestors were jailed. The media was censored.
The Parliament was convened on July 21, 1975, and the 38th Constitution Amendment Act was passed. Through the 39th Constitutional Amendment Act, the elections of the Prime Minister, Vice President, and Speaker could not be questioned before any court.
The validity of this AmendmentAmendment was tested in the Court on November 7, 1971. The judgment held that the impugned Amendment Act violated the simple shape of the Indian Constitution (taking reference from Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala case). A healthful democracy can handiest feature whilst there’s the opportunity of loose and honest elections. The impugned Amendment Act destroyed that opportunity and consequently violated the primary shape of the Constitution,” stated Mathew J.
Judicial Appointments Under Indira Gandhi
The practiced convention of appointing the judges was that the most senior-most Judge was appointed as the Chief Justice of India. But two days after the Kesavananda Judgement, Indira Gandhi superseded Justice Hegde and appointed Justice A.N Ray (a Junior Judge) as CJI. It was believed that Justice Ray was pro-government and always spoke in their favor, and appointing him as CJI would probably end the confrontation between the Judiciary and the Government. This shameful act was repeated again by Indira Gandhi in 1975 when Justice Khanna was superseded by Justice M.H Beg. The reason was the case of ADM Jabalpur V. Shivkant Shukla (1976), when the right to approach the courts was suspended.
It seems that Indira inherited this habit of breaking the rules from her father as Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. Post-independence, Pt. Nehru wanted to supersede Justice Shastri and appoint Attorney General MC Setalvad or Justice M.C Chagla or Justice BK Mukherjee as CJI. For the second time, in 1954, he wanted to supersede Justice M.C Mahajan, and then in 1957, Nehru wanted to supersede Justice AC Shah.
The Economic Aspect of Emergency
Today in 2021, we talk about privatization, but it was in 1975 when the private sector was hard to find, all thanks to Command Economy and Licence-Quota-Permit Raj. The classical dictatorship led to increased efficiency in the functioning of various machinery of the Government. The Gross National Product during 1970-71 grew at the rate of 8.9%, the agricultural production at 15.6%, food grain production at 21%, industrial production at 6.1%, and exports were flying high at 21.4%. The very next year, this bubble of economic growth burst when the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) rose by 11.9% (26.03.1977), which had earlier declined by 11.6% between 28.09.1975 and 20.03.1976. This was because of the shortfall in the production of a few basic commodities and the re-emergence of a substantial imbalance between aggregate supply and demand in the economy (Source: Economic Survey 1976-77).
Indira’s Love for Soviet Model of Political Centralization and Planned Economy
Indira was exposed to the radical ideas in England and inherited the idea of a socialist state from her father. This led to the implementation of the liberalization trend in many East and South-East Asian countries. Two Wars and Successive years of drought proved to be the worst regarding the food situation of India. The US Government, the World Bank, and IMF forced Indira Gandhi to accept the proposal of a 35% devaluation of the Indian rupee. All this, along with the poor performance of Congress in the 1967 elections, forced Congress to take help from their leftist friends.
This led to the nationalization of the coal sector and bank sector. The gareebi hatao plan of Indira was a complete failure. This was followed by monsoon failure in 1972 and a rise in oil prices in 1973 due to the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur War. As early as May 1967, after her electoral setback, she had the Congress Working Committee adopt a Ten-Point Programme, a wish list of socialist desiderata. While her Twenty-Point Programme suggested her leftist inclinations, very few progressive reforms were, in fact, implemented. The parts of the program that were followed through, the disciplining of labor and liberalization of the economy, were the bits intended to please India’s capitalists. In this respect, the Emergency shows affinities with a particular type of social organization: corporatism.
With the decision of nationalization, Indira became a hero instantly. The results were that per-capita income increased from 775 /month in 1969-70 to just 815/month in 1976-77 at 1999-2000 prices. There was no reduction in poverty, and therefore India lost an entire decade.
The impact of Indira’s economic policies was that the successive Congress and NDA governments in State and Centre kept the poor at the core of their agenda.
The Abysmal State of Economy Under Indira
General rhetoric used by the NDA government whenever asked about their mistakes is “Yeh Congress Sarkar Ke 70 Saal Ki Vajah Se Hai” (All this is because of the 70-year rule of Congress). The question arises, did India’s growth really suffer because of the policies of the Congress, especially during the Nehru-Indira Gandhi rule?
Note: Annual percentage growth rate averaged over the relevant period. Low & Middle refers to Low and Middle-income countries according to the World Bank Definition. Source: World Bank
The above data clearly shows how the economic policies of Nehru and Indira Gandhi, especially their socialist approach along with license-control Raj, were the biggest hurdle in India’s growth.
India started lagging behind China and South-East Asia in terms of per capita incomes when Indira Gandhi was in office. Our nation also started to fall behind the rest of newly independent Asia during the Indira Gandhi era. The information additionally debunks Indira’s slogans of Gareebi Hatao because the poverty estimates display that poverty declined at a far quicker price withinside the post-Indira Gandhi era.
We should look at things in either black or white. Looking at the policies of Indira Gandhi – I, one might paint her as black, but there are shades of grey during her second term. It was in 1982 when Mrs. Gandhi took the historic decision of de-regulating the cement industry. The immediate result was the disappearance of the black market, a bump in production, and a drop in actual market prices. This started the beginning of liberal economic policies.
The Rise of Naxalism Under Indira Gandhi and its Impact Today
On June 13, 1967, the then Home Minister Y B Chavan addressing the Lok Sabha, termed the armed clash in Naxalbari as mere lawlessness. The reality of the unrest is already known today, that the central and state governments neglected the landlessness and indebtedness of millions of peasants.
The governments let them deliberately suffer at the hands of landowners and the correlated issue of debt bondage. This was further aggravated by the food crisis in several parts of the country, the Bihar Food Famine and Food riots in Bengal. While Congress will always term it as agrarian unrest to hide their failure, the movement had two special features. Firstly, the agrarian movement soon transformed into a political one, and secondly, the rebellion proved to flame the countryside. Former Bengal Chief Minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray is credited with taming the Naxal violence in Bengal, where over 1,600 lives were reportedly lost during the 1972-77 Congress rule.
There were allegations galore of extra-judicial killings during this period. Indira Gandhi launched Operation Steeplechase in 1971, under which 8400 Naxals were arrested. Indira silenced the voice of Naxals with this operation. Sumantra Banerjee provides that “if the motion continues to be surviving, the credit score is due now no longer a lot to the prescience of its leaders, as to the Indian nation which, with its abysmal disasters in socio-financial areas, persists in nourishing the soil for the continuation of the Naxalite motion.”After analyzing the Naxal movement and the incidents that happened recently, it can be observed that the movement is still alive because of the dissatisfaction of the marginalized and the alienation of the population. Until the Government implements employment, poverty alleviation, and land reform programs, counterinsurgency measures can not gain much. Social justice and inclusive boom are the planks on which the Government ought to construct its program. Only with consolidated efforts at the part of the criminal and political framework can socio-financial reforms be applied and the trouble of Naxalism tackled.
Conclusion
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, in his poem ‘Krishna Ki Chetavni,’ quotes a very beautiful ‘Jab Naash Manuj Par Chhaata Hai, Pehle Vivek Mar Jaata Hai.’ The line was used for Duryodhana but seemed to be applicable to Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Indira Gandhi’s rule was the darkest phase in the history of Indian Democracy. India surely suffered a lot under Nehru’s rule, but under Indira, India suffered twice. An attack on India’s Judiciary, Constitution, economy, fundamental rights, and people in general, history will never forget the decision of Indira Nehru Gandhi.
As one of the vast numbers of citizens who want elections in the country to be free and fair I am taking the liberty to draw your attention to the ongoing polls in the state of Uttar Pradesh and about a few critical issues relating thereto..
While the country bears sense of deep gratitude to you, the other two commissioners, high level officials and your other staff for carrying out the onerous task of conducting successive elections in states, your establishment does not seem to be adequately cognizant of a newly emerging trend. It is about some political parties trying in calculated manner to subvert the electoral process to their advantage in unfair and unconstitutional manners.
The chief instrument for gaining this end seems to be creating fear psychosis in voters. They are seen using threat, intimidation and violence against the voters of their rival parties with a view to scare and coerce them to vote in their favour or face consequences if they come to power. These processes mostly happen in subterranean levels to avoid attention of the EC officials. If unchecked, these assume overt form.
Though your officials have control over the state bureaucracy during the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) phase, they are often ignorant of the local dynamics and they fail to understand how this ‘psychology of fear’ demoralises voters and influence their voting behaviour. They are dependent on media to track these evils and the organs of the state bureaucracy to tackle them. If these assistance are not available, no steps are taken. This gives a ‘toothless image’ of the EC officials in voters’ mind and aggravates their sense of insecurity. This is precisely the new challenge that your establishment is faced with today. Its viciousness grows due to politicisation of both the media and sections of bureaucracy.
EC’s actions against errant political parties have mostly been benign and superficial like issue of show cause notices, warning, stay over one or two rallies or banning a leader from taking part in meetings for few days. Needless to say that such measures are small price to pay for these parties compared to the huge illegitimate electoral benefits they can potentially reap by scaring and coercing voters.
Let us take an example of a bomb attack on the home of a rival party worker or supporter causing grievous physical injury to him or his family members. It is important to recognize that one single incident of this type can demoralise voters in the whole constituency, scare them and influence their voting behaviour. A FIR, or even arrest of few persons cannot return their confidence in full. Therefore you must pre-empt such happenings at the first place if you want to ensure a proper environment for free and fair voting.
The elections for the state assembly of West Bengal May last year deserve special mention in this context. Going by spates of social media reports a large part of the election process after the state was brought under MCC was marked by violence which continued for days together even after poll results were declared. These were directed against supporters of the main opposition party in the state. As you are aware, these allegations were vindicated by series of tweets of the Guv of the state and also the orders of the Hon High Court of Calcutta ordering CBI and SIT to investigate into hundreds of cases relating to post poll violence in the state. What may be of particular concern to you is the fact that many instances of violence occurred during the MCC period before the elected government took oath.
The common citizens of India do not know if you have done a post mortem of what had gone wrong with the handling of assembly polls in that state. But it will be very sad to see a somewhat similar template spanning out in UP and trying to interfere with the process of a completely free and fair election in the state.
The reason for writing this open letter to your esteemed office is to draw your urgent attention to some worrying developments in UP after the onset of the MCC. Unlike West Bengal the ruling party in UP seems to be the victim of the machinations by its rivals. We never urge you to protect members of this or that party but the voters of Uttar Pradesh in general and thereby the larger cause of democracy. No party, whether ruling or opposition, should be given the leeway to scare the voters!
What adds to citizens’ concern in UP is the role of media. A perception is growing amongst the public that the media covering the state polls has been working overtime to spread misinformation to sway voter opinion. It is seemingly misusing the liberty available in democracy. As part of that design it is trying to hide the all-round progress that happened in the state over last 5 years from the public gaze and degrade this election on communal and caste lines. Few of them are consciously projecting dubious opinion polls to create a doubt in public mind about the return of the ruling party. As if in a nexus, riding piggyback on such media speculation, some political parties in the opposition are trying to infuse fear and confusion in voters’ mind.
It is disconcerting that series of incidents of threat, intimidation and violence have been happening in Uttar Pradesh after the state was brought under the Model Code of Conduct directives on January 8, 2022. Violence has been increasingly gripping the state particularly over last few weeks. It seems as if a hell has been let loose over the state! This is in stark contrast to the pre-MCC period under Yogi government when law and order was impeccable and unruly elements never dared to show up their faces.
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While most of these violent activities are taking place at subterranean level, some incidents are still making headlines. Few specific instances as reported in media are brought to your kind attention.
Sri Ramveer Singh, the proposer of the ruling party candidate L N Chaudhary in the Chhata, Mathura constituency was shot dead on January 29th. On February 5, the convoy of BJP star campaigner Babita Phogat was allegedly attacked by SP-RLD worker. On February 8, the convoy of BJP candidate viz, Sahendra Ramala was attacked near RLD office at Chhaprauii, Baghpat. On February 11, five youths in GB Nagar (NOIDA) were brutally assaulted for sharing a social media post in favour of the ruling party BJP. On February 13, Harendra Kumar, the BJP candidate contesting from the Asmoli constituency, Sambhal was allegedly attacked by SP workers near Kherni police outpost. Stones were pelted on the car of Geeta Sakya, the president of the ruling party’s Mahila Morcha in Kotwali area of Mainpuri on February 14. Two days later on February 16, the convoy of S P S Baghel, an Union Minster, who is contesting against Akhilesh Yadav at Karhal constituency, was attacked in Mainpuri area. Even as such violent incidents keep happening, the leaders of main opposition party have been threatening on several occasions the voters and even the administration about consequences they will face after they come to power following the polls. In a twitter post, the SP candidate in Shahjahanpur was heard threatening that Brahmin and Thakur would be lynched (dauda daudakar marenge) if his party came to power!
These are sending ominous signal. Time is ticking away. Unless you urgently deal with the situation with iron hands, voters will be unduly influenced in their participation in the voting process and impact this extremely important election.
We had earlier brought to your notice how tasks for the EC have changed in recent years. In this connection it becomes useful to compare challenges facing the Election Commission of India under TN Seshan’s leadership with those over the last few years. In his era, besides administrative loopholes the major challenges mostly centred around the large scale malpractices resorted to by some political parties in or around the days of voting. Those included use of muscle power, intimidating voters from reaching booth, booth capturing, and so on. TN Seshan had used the powers that were already available to ECI in ways none of his predecessors did to break the nexus between unholy political elements and criminals. He became a legend!
The challenges in recent years as already pointed out are subtler and more vicious. This is so because of suspected role played by the media in many cases through their silence or political bias. The malpractices usually unfold few months ahead of the election by attempting to overpower the voters psychologically. The instruments are intimidation, threat, and violence- covert or overt or both. This process reaches a peak during the MCC period. Therefore even though the election verdict becomes questionable, the whole process is socially legitimised by media through their typical headlines such as ‘voting was peaceful but for a few scattered incidents’. In rare cases, the EC orders repolling in few booths. There lies the end of the matter. While some unholy political parties lifts the victory trophy, the soul of democracy is left in the ICU struggling for life.
If we want democracy to survive in the country, this nexus needs to be broken urgently. To the evil-intentioned political forces the rewards for winning election are huge. It gives them almost unbridled access to power over every section of the society in addition to country’s vast resources including money and wealth. If the EC does not apply strong deterrents on their diabolical strategies to psychologically weaken the voters, the contesting of election can potentially degenerate to the level of ‘organized crime’.
Time has given you another historic responsibility to tackle the new challenges and we Indians fervently wish you to engage with that task without losing time. It is to your great advantage that you can count on the government at the centre and the vast resources of the country, whether human or material, to your avail. By the way India is fifth largest economy and also fifth largest military power in the world. Of what use are the country’s resources if the electoral process is not protected in full measure against every possible form of attacks by vested interests. After all, protecting the electoral process from the internal enemies of democracy is as important as protecting the country’s borders against external enemies!
To conclude, may we draw your preferred attention back to UP polls. You have spread the poll schedule over seven phases considering the sensitive nature of the situation. By the time this letter reaches you the third phase would be over. Clearly those have been vitiated by threats, intimidation and violence as already described. The nation will be grateful if the next phases are handled with iron fists so that the voters can cast their votes with a completely free and unbiased mind.
