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Is the BJP’s politics of language inclusive?

Venkat Goli
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Is the BJP’s politics of language inclusive?

On June 24th 2017, The Indian Express reported a speech of former Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, M Venkaiah Naidu, where he stressed the importance of Hindi as our “Rashtrabhasha” (National Language). Naidu was speaking at an event in Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad where he presented the Ashram with 100 volumes of collected works of Mahatma Gandhi in English. Naidu was emphasizing on the fact that these volumes needed to be translated into other Indian languages. Not surprisingly, Naidu’s statement created an uproar in some circles as they felt his “Rashtrabhasha” comment was an attempt to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speakers.

For the record, India does not have a “Rashtrabhasha” (National Language). Article 343 of the Indian Constitution identifies Hindi in Devanagiri script as the official language of the Union of India. The official language of the Union would translate to “Rajbhasha”. If one were to give Naidu the benefit of the doubt then one could probably ascribe this to poor translation. This is not implausible, given the fact that Naidu’s mother tongue is Telugu.

Cut to mid-February this year, in the run up to the Assembly election in Karnataka. Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde landed himself in a controversy on language purity. Hegde, while addressing a gathering at Polytechnic college in Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district, said that barring those in Shivamogga, Uttara Kannada and Dakshina Kannada districts, people from Karnataka cannot speak proper Kannada. Hegde was castigated by his party and forced to withdraw his remarks.

Considering these statements, many seem to have genuine questions on the BJP’s views on the language debate in India. What has been the party’s stance in Parliament? Does the BJP look at Hindi as the “first among equals” in Indian Languages? These are some questions that I try to address and for that we need to go back in time. We need to go back to Tuesday, 13th September 1949 during the constituent Assembly debates.

The Constituent Assembly debates

“India has been a country of many languages. If we dig into the, past, we will find that it has not been possible for anybody to force the acceptance of one language by all people in this country. Some of my friends spoke eloquently that a day ‘might come when India shall have one language and one language only’. Frankly speaking, I do not share that view ….”

This quote is a part of a speech made by Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. Dr. Mukherjee was one of the founding members of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and was the ideological precursor to today’s Bharatiya Janata Party. The assembly was debating a carefully crafted compromise that formed the basis for Article 343 of our Constitution. The compromise was between members of the Hindi bloc led by the likes of Purushottam Das Tandon and K.M Munshi and the non-Hindi bloc led by N Gopalaswami Ayyangar. As the constituent Assembly was packed with members of the Congress party it was more of a tussle within the party. Ayyangar, a Tanjore born Tamilian, served as the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and understood the complexities involved as he had experience in drafting the Constitution for the State of Jammu and Kashmir. When presenting the draft chapter on languages, Ayyangar remarked on the challenges in effecting a compromise:

“It is the result of a compromise in respect of which great sacrifices of opinion, of very greatly cherished views and interests, these have been sacrificed for the purpose of achieving this draft in a form that will be acceptable to the full House.”

The Munshi-Ayyangar compromise formula led to Article 343 being drafted which prescribes Hindi in Devanagiri script as the official language (“Rajbhasha”) of the Union of India and not the National Language (“Rashtrabhasha”). English was to be used for official purposes for an initial period of 15 years only.

Coming back to Dr. Mukherjee’s speech, where he went on to state:

“Why is it that many people belonging to non-Hindi speaking provinces have become a bit nervous about Hindi? If the protagonists of Hindi will pardon me for saying so, had they not been perhaps so aggressive in their demands and enforcement of Hindi, they would have got whatever they wanted, perhaps more than ‘what they expected, by spontaneous and willing co-operation of the entire population of India.”

During this time, it was the Congress that acted in a ham-handed manner of dealing with the language issue. The death of Potti Sriramulu in December 1952 led to widespread agitations in the Telugu speaking regions of Madras Presidency. Sriramulu had died while fasting for a separate state for Telugu people to be carved out of Madras Presidency. This further led to the formation of states on Linguistic lines. In the early 1960s, at the end of the 15-year period from the date of the Constitution coming into effect, English was to cease being used as the official language of the Union. The response of the Government of India, under Congress rule, caused widespread agitations in Tamil Nadu including a case of self-immolation. The Congress Party never returned to power in the southern state of TN after the 1967 election.

The Eighth Schedule – the BJP’s stellar role in including more languages

Languages spoken in India broadly belong to four groups or families (I use them interchangeably though the relationship is hierarchical): Indo-Aryan (Sanskrit and the associated languages that developed from it), Dravidian (Tamil and the languages originating from it), Munda (Tribal Languages such as Santhali that form a part of the Austroasiatic family of Languages), and Tibeto-Burman (Languages such as Nepali, Manipuri and Bodo).

The Indian Constitution currently has 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule. Languages in the Eighth schedule, apart from being used as official languages of the states, would also be developed and enriched independently. They would also contribute in developing Hindi. The initial constitution had 14 languages in the Eighth schedule that were to be included in the Committee of Parliament on Official Language. This included Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. The initial languages were either from the Indo-Aryan or Dravidian groups.

On June 22nd 1962, Jana Sangh’s U.M Trivedi brought in a Private member’s bill in the Lok Sabha to include Sindhi in the Eighth Schedule. On August 17th 1962, Atal Bihari Vajpayee introduced it in the Rajya Sabha. In a debate on the floor of the house, when asked if Sindhi were to be written in Urdu script, Vajpayee replied

“Question of script will be settled by Sindhi people. We should not interfere in this question. If they wish, they may retain their own script or adopt Devanagiri. But, for us, Hindi speaking people, it won’t be good to express our opinion in this matter …”

In April 1967, after sustained pressure, Sindhi was added to the Eight Schedule through the Twenty-first amendment of the Constitution. The bill was introduced by the Congress Party’s Yashwantrao Chavan, then Minister of Home Affairs.

The 1990s saw more pressure mounting on the Congress in the form of Private Member Bills. Dil Kumari Bhandari of the Sikkim Sangram Parishad moved a bill to include Meitei and Nepali.  In August 1992, Shankarrao Chavan introduced the Seventy-first Amendment of the Constitution to add Meitei (Manipuri), Nepali and Konkani. This led to the introduction of the Tibeto-Burman language group into our constitution.

Both the Twenty-first and Seventy-first amendments saw a push for adding new languages from outside government through Private Member bills.

In December 2003, the Ninety-second Amendment of the constitution was passed by the Parliament. It was shepherded by L.K. Advani. Through this amendment Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri were added into the Eighth schedule of the constitution. The party’s commitment to the country’s linguistic minorities saw the first Munda language, i.e. Santhali, being added to the list of scheduled languages.

Special Directives – Article 351

As Karnataka goes to polls, there have been allegations that the BJP led Union Government is further alienating non-Hindi speakers by imposing Hindi. This was based on the signages in Bangalore Metro carrying Hindi along with Kannada and English. It is here that one needs to look at Article 351 of the constitution. The Union Government cannot shy away from the Special Directive of Article 351 that entrusts the responsibility of the Union to promote the spread of Hindi and to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression and to secure its enrichment. To aid in this, the Department of Official Language was set up in June 1975 as an independent Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Given this background, one would need to ask if the Hindi signages were installed at the expense of Kannada or English or if they were meant to co-exist with these two languages. The primary angst would be if Hindi is being promoted at the expense of other Indian languages. Surely, Hindi can exist in signages along with Kannada and English.

Ideally, in today’s world, Article 351 should be repealed and each Indian language (at a minimum the languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule) should be promoted equally and considered as official languages of the Union. However, Governments of the day need to balance pressures from various stakeholders around such emotive issues. It would be difficult for any national party to consider correcting the skew towards Hindi. However, it would also be hypocritical to paint the BJP as Hindi chauvinists considering their past record in promoting other linguistic minority languages.

होली विशेषांक 2018: वीर्य का गुब्बारा

Ashish
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होली विशेषांक 2018: वीर्य का गुब्बारा

भारत के बुद्धिजीवी वर्ग को प्रत्येक वर्ष हिन्दुओं के एक बड़े त्यौहार होली की बहुत ही अधीरता से प्रतीक्षा रहती है. क्यूंकि यही वह समय होता है जब वे लोग अपने पिछले वर्षों के होली विरोधी और हिन्दू विरोधी लेखों को निकालते हैं झाड़ते पोंछते हैं और नये नाम, नये पात्र और नए कलेवर के साथ बड़े ही चाव से छापते हैं. दीपावली के अतिरिक्त यही वह समय होता है जब हिन्दुओं को उनकी औकात बताई जाती है और सारा बुद्धिजीवी सेक्युलर वर्ग एक सुर में यह घोषणा कर देता है कि भारत 80% हिन्दुओं का नहीं बल्कि अल्पसंख्यकों का है (सिख जैन और पारसी अल्पसंख्यकों को छोड़ कर).

पिछले वर्षों में होली के आते ही पर्यावरण की रक्षा के नाम पर होलिका दहन का विरोध हुआ तो बेचारे हिन्दुओं ने सहिष्णुता दिखाते हुए चुपचाप लकड़ी की जगह कचरा बटोरकर जलाना प्रारम्भ कर दिया ताकि होली का त्यौहार भी मनाया जाये और साथ साथ पर्यावरण की रक्षा भी की जा सके. बुद्धिजीवी वर्ग इतने से संतुष्ट नहीं हुआ तो इसके बाद पानी की बर्बादी पर भाषण शुरू हुए तो बेचारे हिन्दुओं ने एक बार फिर सहिष्णुता दिखाते हुए सूखी गुलाल की होली खेलना प्रारम्भ कर दिया ताकि साहब लोगों की गाड़ियां धोने के लिए पानी कम न पड़ जाए. यहां यह बात विशेष ध्यान देने योग्य है कि धर्मनिरपेक्षता की प्रथम शर्त यही है कि भले ही देश के संसाधनों पर पहला अधिकार एक विशेष अल्पसंख्यक समुदाय का है किन्तु पर्यावरण की रक्षा, साफ सफाई, न्याय व्यवस्था का पालन, संविधान का सम्मान इत्यादि का पहला उत्तरदायित्व हिन्दुओं का ही होगा.

इस वर्ष भी होली परंपरा का पालन करते हुए भारत के धर्मनिरपेक्ष बुद्धिजीवी वर्ग ने होली को विशेष बनाने के लिए कुछ नया प्रयोग किया और वह प्रयोग था वीर्य से भरा हुआ गुब्बारा.

जो लोग अब तक अन्धकार में जी रहे हैं और नहीं जानते कि वीर्य के गुब्बारे से होली कैसे खेली गई है उनको पहले संक्षेप में जानकारी देना आवश्यक है:
दिल्ली में किसी भीड़ भरे बाजार में किसी लड़की पर कहीं से एक पानी का गुब्बारा आकर लगता है. लड़की छू कर देखती है तो कुछ चिपचिपा सा पदार्थ प्रतीत होता है जो कुछ समय बाद सूख जाता है और सफेद निशान बचा रह जाता है. लड़की इसी अवस्था में अपने हॉस्टल पहुँचती है जिधर कुछ लड़कियां आपस में बात कर रही होती हैं कि आज बाजार में किसी लड़की पर वीर्य से भरा गुब्बारा फेंका गया है. पीड़ित लड़की तुरंत इंस्टाग्राम पर इस घटना की जानकारी देती है जिधर से उसके किसी रिश्तेदार को भी इस घटना का पता चलता है. वह रिश्तेदार तुरंत इस घटना को फेसबुक पर शेयर करता है और कुछ ही पलों में यह समाचार जंगल की आग कि तरह देश भर में फ़ैल जाता है. प्रत्येक समाचार इसी पंक्ति के साथ प्रारम्भ होता है कि इस होली पर पुरुषवादी क्षुद्र मानसिकता वाले जाहिल गंवार हिन्दू पुरुषों के द्वारा महिलाओं पर वीर्य के गुब्बारे फेंके जा रहे हैं.

हर बार की तरह हिन्दुओं ने मूर्खतापूर्ण आदर्शवाद का प्रदर्शन करते हुए बिना गलती किये ही सर झुका लिया है और ऐसे मुंह लटकाए बैठे हैं जैसे गुब्बारे में उन्हीं का वीर्य भरा था. किसी भी घटना पर प्रतिकार न करना और आरोप लगाए जाने के पहले ही आरोपों का उड़ता हुआ तीर पिछवाड़े में लेकर बैठ जाना हिन्दुओं की सदियों पुरानी आदत रही है जो कि अब परंपरा का रूप ले चुकी है. इन बेचारों ने तो तब भी मुंह नहीं खोला जब कांग्रेस सरकार के जांच दल ने बताया था कि गोधरा में ट्रेन के डब्बे को भीतर से बंद करके हिन्दुओं ने स्वेच्छा से सामूहिक आत्मदाह कर लिया था. ये बेचारे तो तब भी मुंह नहीं खोलते जब हर दूसरी फिल्म में पादरी या मौलवी कोई सम्मानित ज्ञानी व्यक्ति होता है लेकिन पूजा पाठ करने वाला हिन्दू भांड या मुर्ख विदूषक होता है.

अब इस घटना का थोड़ा विस्तार से विश्लेषण करते हैं.
सबसे पहले घटना के समय ध्यान दीजिए तो समझ आएगा कि होली का त्यौहार बस आने को ही है लेकिन वातावरण में एक विचित्र सी शांति है, होली सर पर है लेकिन बुद्धिजीवी और धर्मनिरपेक्ष समुदाय ने अभी तक होलिका दहन को लेकर या पानी की बचत को लेकर न ही तो हिन्दुओं की छीछालेदर शुरू की है न ही कोर्ट में कोई याचिका लगाईं है. हिन्दू भी हैरान परेशान बैठा सोच रहा है कि क्या इस बार का त्यौहार बिना गाली खाए सूखा सूखा ही बीत जायेगा..! लेकिन भयावह सी लगने वाली यह शांति असल में तूफ़ान के पहले वाली शांति थी…. अचानक एक वीर्य से भरा गुब्बारा कहीं से आता है और इस शांति को भंग करते हुए होली के प्रारम्भ कि घोषणा कर देता है.

हिन्दुओं का प्रत्येक त्यौहार इसी तरह से प्रारम्भ होता है. दिवाली के दस दिन पहले अचानक पटाखों पर प्रतिबंध लग जाता है, जलीकटू के दस दिन पहले अचानक जानवरों के उपयोग पर प्रतिबंध लग जाता है, दहीहंडी के दस दिन पहले ही अचानक हांड़ी की ऊंचाई पर प्रतिबंध लग जाता है. यह सब करते समय याचिकाकर्ता और न्यायलय के द्वारा समय का विशेष ध्यान रखा जाता है और निर्णय ऐसे समय पर दिया जाता है कि बौखलाए हिन्दुओं को ना तो प्रतिक्रिया देने का अवसर मिले ना ही अपील करने का समय मिले. और यदि पुनर्विचार के लिए अपील कर भी दी तो आजतक न्यायालय ने हिन्दुओं के पक्ष में कभी भी आसानी से अपना निर्णय नहीं बदला है. हिन्दुओं का कोई भी त्यौहार बिना अपमानित हुए पूरा नहीं होता.

अब घटना के पात्रों पर गौर करते हैं… पीड़ित लड़की नार्थ ईस्ट की है क्यूंकि यदि लड़की उत्तर भारत कि होती या साड़ी पहने हुए होती तो सहानुभूति कुछ कम हो सकती थी. लड़की के समर्थन में नारे लगाते लोग जेएनयू और दिल्ली यूनिवर्सिटी के वो लोग हैं जिनका जन्मजात कर्त्तव्य है हिन्दुओं के त्यौहारों परम्पराओं के साथ चीरफाड़ करने का, हिन्दुओं के प्रत्येक त्यौहार के पहले हिन्दूविरोधी माहौल खड़ा करना. लेख छापने वाला मीडिया बुद्धिजीवी सेक्युलर खेमे का है जो कभी कभी समय काटने के लिए भी हिन्दुओं को गाली दे लेता है. सबसे महत्वपूर्ण पात्र वीर्य का गुब्बारा है क्यूंकि पानी का गुब्बारा इस घटना को इतना महत्वपूर्ण नहीं बना पाता.

मीडिया से प्राप्त जानकारी के अनुसार लड़की बहुत ही डरी हुई है इसलिए पुलिस के पास भी नहीं जा सकी और इतनी अधिक घबराई हुई है कि उसने अपनी सहेलियों से भी इस घटना कि चर्चा नहीं की फिर भी लड़की इंस्टाग्राम पर घटना की सारी जानकारी विस्तार से डाल देती है. लड़की का रिश्तेदार इस घटना को फेसबुक पर शेयर करता है (संभवतः इस डरी हुई लड़की की अनुमति के बिना ही) और आश्चर्यजनक रूप से मात्र एक घंटे में सारे मीडिया तक यह समाचार पहुँच जाता है. इस स्थिति में यह स्पष्ट हो जाता है कि लड़की अकेली नहीं थी बल्कि संभवतः मीडिया के बहुत से लोगों को पहले ही इस घटना के होने का पता था. यहाँ तक कि अलग अलग लोगों के द्वारा इस घटना पर लिखे गए लेखों की भाषा तक बहुत हद तक समान थी.

लड़की की पोस्ट को ध्यान से पढ़ें तो समझ आता है कि बहुत ही चतुराई से इन लोगों ने स्वयं को किसी भी संभावित न्यायिक कार्यवाही से बचा लिया है. लड़की पोस्ट में कहीं भी सीधे सीधे यह नहीं कह रही है कि उसके ऊपर वीर्य का ही गुब्बारा फेंका गया है बल्कि उसने कुछ लड़कियों कि आपस कि बातों को सुनकर अनुमान लगाया कि संभवतः उसके बारे में ही बात हो रही है. ऐसी स्थिति में यदि लड़की पर धार्मिक भावनाओं को भड़काने का या हिन्दुओं के विरुद्ध द्वेषपूर्ण षड्यंत्र का आरोप लगा भी दिया जाये तो वह साफ बच निकलेगी. दूसरी और मीडिया भी यह कह कर बच निकलेगा कि पोस्ट से यह स्पष्ट नहीं है कि लड़की के ऊपर फेंके गए गुब्बारे में वीर्य नहीं था.

यदि तथ्यों की बात करें तो पहले तो गुब्बारे में वीर्य भरना आसान काम नहीं है. होली का गुब्बारा लगभग वयस्क हथेली के आकार का होता है और इसको ठीक से फोड़ने के लिए कम से कम ९०% पानी से भरा जाना आवश्यक है. ऐसे में वीर्य भरने के लिए कम से कम १२-१५ लोगों से वीर्य एकत्र करना पड़ेगा और ऐसा करने से गोपनीयता भंग होने का खतरा है. यदि १-२ लोगों के वीर्य को पानी में मिलाकर भरा गया है तो इस स्थिति में वीर्य पानी में घुल जाएगा और फेंके जाने पर चिपचिपा नहीं लगेगा. यह भी संभव है कि गुब्बारे में उस बैल का वीर्य था जिसकी गाय को भोजन की आजादी के नाम पर काट डाला गया. इसमें से किसी भी स्थिति में वीर्य सफेद निशान नहीं छोड़ता बल्कि पानी सूखने के बाद रंगहीन, गंधहीन सूखी पपड़ी के रूप में जम जाता है. इसलिए वीर्य के गुब्बारे वाली सारी की सारी थ्योरी ही झूठी लगती है.

लेकिन जो भी हो, मीडिया ने अपना काम कर लिया है, बुद्धिजीवियों और धर्मनिरपेक्षों ने भी पिछले ३-४ दिनों में जम कर कीचड़ की होली खेल डाली है और हिन्दुओं को उस कीचड़ में पटक पटक कर उनकी औकात बता दी गई है. सड़कों पर तो हंसी खुशी का वातावरण था किन्तु दलाल मीडिया यही चिल्लाता रहा कि लोग डरे हुए हैं और होली नहीं खेल रहे हैं. अब यदि पुलिस जांच में वीर्य का गुब्बारा झूठा निकलता है तो भी जेएनयू वाले कौन सा माफ़ी मांगने वाले हैं, और कौन सा मीडिया से कोई प्रश्न किया जायेगा.

अभी तक तो बाटला हॉउस एनकाउंटर को फर्जी बोलने के लिए और इंस्पेक्टर शर्मा की मृत्यु का मजाक उड़ाने के लिए भी बुद्धिजीवी और धर्मनिरपेक्ष समुदाय ने (आतंकवादी अरीज़ खान के गिरफ्तार होने के बाद भी) क्षमा नहीं मांगी है. अभी तक तो जुनैद और इकलाख के लिए छाती कूटने वालों ने अंकित और चन्दन के लिए भी क्षमा नहीं मांगी है.

इतना सब होने के बाद पुलिस के द्वारा त्वरित जांच किया जाना और दोषियों की पहचान किया जाना अत्यंत आवश्यक है क्यूंकि यदि यह घटना सत्य है तो फिर अपराध अक्षम्य है और दोषी को दंड मिलना ही चाहिए और यदि यह घटना चर्च पर हमले की तरह फर्जी है तो इस स्थिति में दोषियों का पकड़ा जाना और भी आवश्यक हो जाता है क्यूंकि जब चर्च पर लगातार हमले हो रहे थे और हिन्दुओं को कठघरे में खड़ा किया जा रहा था तो सारे मामलों में जांच के बाद अपराधी कोई मुस्लमान या ईसाई ही निकला. जब दलितों को बड़ी मूंछ रखने के लिए पीटा जा रहा था तो जांच में भीमवादियों का हाथ निकला. इस कारण से आम जनमानस में यह धारणा बन चुकी है कि हिन्दुओं के विरुद्ध कोई भी षड्यंत्र होने पर उसमें मुस्लिम ईसाई या भीमवादियों का ही हाथ होगा और इसका परिणाम यह होता है कि हिन्दुओं का गुस्सा किसी ना किसी निर्दोष व्यक्ति पर ही निकल जाता है.

देश कि न्याय व्यवस्था में हिन्दुओं का टूटता हुआ विश्वास फिर से बनाने के लिए यह अत्यंत आवश्यक है कि ना केवल दोषियों कि पहचान शीघ्र से शीघ्र की जाए बल्कि ऐसे तथाकथित बुद्धिजीवी, धर्मनिरपेक्ष तत्वों पर भी अंकुश लगाया जाए जो अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता का दुरूपयोग करते हुए हिन्दुओं को भड़काने में लगे रहते हैं.

जब तक दोषियों को पहचान कर दण्डित नहीं किया जायेगा तब तक हिन्दुओं के मन में यह प्रश्न उठा रहेगा कि आखिर यह सब करके इन लोगों को क्या मिलता है? हर त्यौहार पर हिन्दुओं को गाली दे देना और उनके विरुद्ध विषवमन करना क्यों आवश्यक है? किसी भी छोटी बड़ी सांप्रदायिक घटना पर यदि मुसलमान मरे तो छाती कूटना, हिन्दू मरे तो मजाक उड़ाना क्यों आवश्यक है? चन्दन गुप्ता मरे तो भी हिन्दू को दोष देना, जुनैद मरे तो भी हिन्दू को दोष देना क्यों आवश्यक है? पुलिसवाला मरे तो मुंह ढांप कर सो जाना, आतंकवादी मरे तो भारत कि बर्बादी के नारे लगाना आखिर क्यों आवश्यक है? कब तक न्यायालय हिन्दुओं के त्यौहारों परम्पराओं पर हास्यास्पद आदेश थोपते रहेंगे? कब तक असामाजिक तत्व बुद्धिजीवी और धर्मनिरपेक्ष मुखौटे लगाकर हिन्दुओं को प्रताड़ित करते रहेंगे और कब तक अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता के नाम पर ऐसे असामाजिक तत्वों को सरकारी संरक्षण मिलता रहेगा? कब तक इस देश की ८०% जनता को दलाल मीडिया, बुद्धिजीवी और धर्मनिरपेक्षों की गुलामी में जीना होगा?

Media vultures and a tale of two disturbing deaths

theangryindian
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Media vultures and a tale of two disturbing deaths

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

-Dylan Thomas

Last week was morbidly eventful, with two deaths at the opposite end of the prosperity spectrum, catching the outrage flying on Social Media. The mainstream media in both cases either dodged the really pertinent questions or went overboard.

Now, a week has gone by and the embers of rage fanned by the social media is almost dying. But, before we slip back into our state of constant numbness or constant fragmented outrage, I thought of elaborating on why we must not forget either!

In the year 1862, fresh from a bloody French Revolution and indeed waiting for the promised utopia to unfold, Victor Hugo (born on 26th February incidentally) –  a soon to be famous French author published his masterpiece Les Miserables or The Miserables. The book details the life and struggles of a man imprisoned for stealing a Loaf of Bread. He spends 19 long years incarcerated for the crime of stealing to feed a starving family. In fact, the trail of his crimes continues to punish the man even after his release and throughout his life! The loaf of bread in 19th century France was elevated to the status of God and a man’s life is traded for the crime of desecrating that God!

Juxtapose that 19th century stark story to this 21st century reality. Compare it to the brutal killing of a tribal man in “100% literate Kerala” for stealing a plate of rice. Kerala is a state that prides itself on its literacy and hosts a Marxist government, supposedly for the poor, and yet it is Kerala where a starving, mentally unstable man is forced to and then lynched by a mob of 16 people, for stealing a plate of rice to feed himself! One wonders what sort of bestiality is being mollycoddled under the great leftist government of Pinyari Vijayan and why is it that such a well-endowed state cannot afford to gift a plate of rice to a starving man!

To top it all the tragedy does not end there. If under a Marxist government a man is lynched for stealing a plate of rice, then under the gaze of the secular media that news is quietly buried. Mainstream media which in this case should constantly be questioning the ruling dispensation is trying to hide the crime behind the diverse religious identities of the murderers. Remember the long-lasting outcry against the Akhlaq lynching or the Gauri Lankesh murder? Yes, this was a secular crime committed by Marxists. Does it make it any less brutal or pathetic? Thank God for the comfort of secularism where one can find solace for all brutal crimes committed by leftist, left-leaning governments! Thank God for that wonder word that does not even recognize poverty, starvation unless it belongs to the right religion!

Moving on to the second death. The death of Sridevi. A death that poured into and continues to pour into our living room. That Sridevi was a most beloved star, a diva and that she died under mysterious circumstances does not justify the media circus unfolding on all channels on today’s date. News channels are in a race of irreverence and idiocy with sundry news anchors jumping into random bathtubs, bubble bath and all, in an effort to recreate the events leading to her death. By doing so they hope to solve the mystery before the investigative agencies can! It would be hilarious if it weren’t so disrespectful and morbid! The least one would expect from mainstream media in this case is a modicum of sensitivity and respect for the dead. Yet the media caravan rolls on, never mind who gets crushed under its churning wheels!

The only thing that stands out like a sore thumb, for a bystander looking at these two deaths together is the blatant insensitivity of media! They chose to ignore asking the questions which deserve to be asked and refuse to stop asking those that should not be. In their haste to gain viewership and TRPs, the great media act reduces us all to carrions and nothing more. Indian mainstream media is almost like a scavenger sifting through the refuse of other people’s misery, selecting those that suit their religion, power, money narrative and discarding those that don’t. The vultures have company!

A tale of “morale” victories

nehasinghjazz
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A tale of “morale” victories

The election results of three states on 3rd March 2017 smell of “morale” victories for BJP. The demolition of the left in its long held bastion of Tripura has a very important underlying hint to take away as well. The sweep in tribal areas is the major takeaway. The party which is majorly considered to be an “Urban” party, has made inroads in the tribal areas and this must worry the Congress.

A day is a very long time in politics but it seems that Rahul Gandhi is letting days pass by while he is enjoying his honeymoon period with this Presidency. His complete ignorance of the mandate must be frustrating the party members but the utter silence for the sake of unity is lethal. The lack of ideology is the major roadblock for Congress and in a democracy it is necessary to have competition. The regional parties of different ideologies and Congress trying to form a “Mahagathbandhan” reminds of the fate that the Janata Party met in 1979-80.

It is long overdue for the Congress party to smell the sulfur or else it will vanish and Gandhi’s wish of dissolving the Congress will come true.

Afghan President offered recognition to Taliban

GAURAV SURIYAL
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Afghan President offered recognition to Taliban

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani inaugurated on Wednesday the second Kabul Process with the theme Peace and Security Cooperation at Kabul, Afghanistan.

Ghani made a strong pitch to bring back the Taliban on negotiating table to ‘save the country’. He reiterated his government’s commitment to end 16-year-old long war that resulted in blood-bath. He announced to free up some Taliban prisoners as a welcome gesture to start dialogue but stressed that Taliban must shun violence. The remarks are significant as President Ghani himself has referred to Taliban as ‘terrorists’. He also said his government is working in the direction to give visa facilities to family members of Taliban leaders and to lift sanctions imposed on them.

Taliban’s Response
Just a day before the peace conference, Taliban held behind the door meetings with USA in Doha, Qatar. Taliban is in favor of direct talks with the USA as it thinks the elected government in Afghanistan runs from Washington. Taliban had demanded withdrawal of US security forces and NATO as a precondition to peace talks. Al-Jazeera reported that a Taliban official said:

“Our struggle is for the liberation of the country. It is not a power struggle. How can a liberation struggle be deemed complete without foreign forces pulling out?”

USA earlier on two occasions rejected a similar offer as withdrawal of its forces could plunge the war-torn country into civil-war.

USA’s Strategy
USA has earlier announced its new policy in Afghanistan policy which is outcome based and not time bound. The change came in the backdrop of Chinese moves in the region. Chinese presence in Pakistan and a massive infrastructure project in the form of a ‘great wall’ has made the Pentagon worry. Also to check Pakistan’s activities and to give security to the nascent state of Afghanistan USA’s presence is indispensable.

Warning Bell for India
The recent announcement to have dialogue with Taliban leadership and its recognition as a political force will seriously jeopardize India’s stake in Afghanistan. India has consistently opposed the role of terror outfits and fundamentalists to run the government. India had no diplomatic relations with the earlier Taliban govt formed in 1996. Also Pakistan had long used Afghan Taliban to wage proxy war against India and to serve its interest in Afghanistan. India has invested heavily in building massive infrastructure and has shown a new ray of hope to the Afghan people. A new Taliban govt in Kabul will defeat all the gains made by India so far.

Representatives of 25 countries and organizations including NATO and UN attended the Kabul Process held on 28th February, 2018.

Indian Cricket needs politicians and here’s why

Ashish Shukla
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Indian Cricket needs politicians and here’s why

Some solutions are worse than problems.

A thief with a criminal backlog was sentenced to seven years in prison for a $3.99 bag in California and it costed the taxpayers upwards of $50,000 to keep him there.

In Vietnam, the French colonial rulers decided cash rewards in exchange for rat tails. Only, the rat population multiplied as rat-catchers took the tails but freed the rats to procreate and produce more off-springs, and thus more tails.

Once during the British Raj, so big was the number of cobras in the Capital Delhi that a reward was offered for every one dead cobra. All it did was that people began breeding cobras in bigger numbers for bigger rewards. When a wiser British government woke up to the situation and scrapped the rewards, the cobra-owners released the venomous creatures and the Capital had double of its numbers.

The Odd-Even scheme to reduce air pollution is similarly unlikely to work for people in cities won’t bat an eyelid in buying another car and you would have more four-wheelers on the streets and thus more poison in the air than before.

Quick fixes don’t work and can go horribly wrong. One such mess has been created by Supreme Court through its appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) to govern cricket in India.

We have a situation where those entrusted with administering the game have no experience of it and who, in turn, are reliant on those who can administer but are better served by a delayed solution.

We thus have game’s ownership without answerability in the hands of a few—the very crisis of transparency and accountability, checks and balances which Supreme Court sought to address in its landmark judgment last year.

In these columns, you have read enough about the blunders and double standards of CoA but do dread the hyenas who are moving in now that the lion has a mouth-clap and his claws are in wraps.

You have the instance of International Cricket Council (ICC), not long ago a stooge of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), vowing to take away the 2021 Champions’ Trophy from India, and possibly 2023 World Cup, if it can’t secure tax-free events from the Indian government. No less, it also wants the deducted tax of 2016 World Cup restored in its coffers!!!

Supreme Court has opened the sluice gates for official break-up of the game in this country. The Law Commission has moved in with its recommendations that BCCI be made a “public body”, open to questions from the public under the Right to Information Act (RTI).

Bravo! So you could thus soon question why Virat Kohli  chose to bat first in the recent Wanderers’ Test. Or why the combine of Ganguly-Tendulkar-Laxman chose Kumble over Shastri when the latter was delivering gold by tons as India coach.

Once the BCCI’s status as private entity—under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act—goes, BCCI would be subject to harassment and blackmail from all quarters.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 52.25 crores on BCCI for its anti-competitive conduct of denying access to the market for organization of professional domestic cricket leagues. The standard contract with any broadcaster, to protect its investment, has turned into a penalty for the BCCI.

Supreme Court had intervened after match-fixing scandal hit the IPL fields three seasons ago. The new administrators seem singularly ill-equipped to prevent a repeat—its’ anti-corruption unit chief Neeraj Kumar, former Delhi Police commissioner, doubts his bosses’ resolve to root out corruption. Neeraj Kumar is now set to retire on March 31, 2018 just a week before IPL gets going. All it seems is an invitation to scandals.

Cricket in India could only be run with a powerful figure as its head. Or the horses would bolt. You need close to 50 permissions to host a public event. You have situations where linesmen could hold up a day-night game with power cuts if extorted free passes don’t reach them.

We have our noses screwed on politicians in the game. But they have been great helmsmen in steering the ship at various dangerous bends in the river.  In 2011 World Cup, Sharad Pawar could clear the decks for the Wankhede Stadium when it was battling against a PIL and many such impediments.

Ditto his intervention in tax-cuts for the same event. Under him, BCCI once contributed Rs 50 crores to the Olympic fund. And Rs 12.5 crores to the football federation.

But for NKP Salve, the 1987 World Cup would’ve been a non-starter. Jagmohan Dalmiya and Inderjit Singh Bindra are credited with commercializing cricket in India but the real driving force was Madhavrao Scindia.

Dharmashala today is known more for its cricket stadium than for Dalai Lama. Private airlines (Spice Jet) have more daily flights than Air India for the destination. It’s firmly now on tourism’s map. In 2000, when Anurag Thakur took control of Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) all it had was a room, a table and a steel almirah. In a dozen and half years, the state now has four state-of-the-art cricket stadiums. The beauty of stadium in Bilaspur, running alongside a lake, would take your breath away. It’s the only association which has a five-star hotel (“The Pavillion”) of its own.

Another BJP MP Gokaraju Ganga Raju, and his services to Andhra cricket, could run into pages. In order to ensure that girls are encouraged to take up the game by their parents, hostels and scholarships are provided to them.  In every district of the state!

It’s all very well to suggest that the game must be run as a corporate, professional entity but it’s not produced by a mere wave of hands. Whereas a professional would retire for the day at 5 p.m, countless those—like one Bhatia in Nadaun Stadium, Hamirpur—work round the clock out of loyalty to their politician-lords.

Mere rubbishing the politicians is to deny them their dues. The fanciful corporate structure of an England or Australia is immeasurably more difficult in a bigger and more complex India.

As said, some solutions are worse than problems. Indian cricket, presently on auto mode, is hanging by the edge of a cliff. Everybody seems to have a say, nobody appears in control. Supreme Court would do well to reinstate those men behind the steering wheels who could reverse the mistake and drive Indian cricket to safety.

Cook Book on Tripura Elections

HARISHANKAR NAGARAJAN
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Cook Book on Tripura Elections

After a long time, the politics of India has become very interesting with each passing day. All the elections whether it is for local bodies or by polls, it is being watched very closely by people across the entire landscape of our country. We are evolving into more mature democracy and as more people are participating in the political scenario of the country India is going to become one of the best examples of People oriented democratic experiment and soon it might become a guiding force for entire world in teaching them how a democracy of this scale can be emulated on the ground by reaching even remotest of the last person in the country.

Now coming to Tripura lets us first understand few points on why this state election has become so important

1.It is one of the last bastion of the Communist party – not only In India but for the entire world

2.It has been ruled for a quarter century by Communists and specifically most of the time by Manik Sarkar – The poorest CM of India

3.Never ever India has witnessed such a direct fight between the ideology of Left and Right after transforming itself into a democratic country

4.Massive Unemployment among Youths of the state i.e one of the state with highest degree unemployment but also has the highest literacy among people

5. Implementation of rural infrastructure is very bad even after ruled by Communist for so long

6.Implementation of 7th pay commission for the govt employees – Govt is the main job provider for the entire state. Literally, there is not even 0.1% of any private investment in the state

Last but not least Northeastern states provide us with an opportunity to fulfil the idea of development since the ratio of population is very manageable when compared to any other states.In this sense with a population of fewer than 50 lakhs, the Communist government could have easily converted it into a model state for their development policies. They have missed an opportunity for so long but still was able to maintain their hold on Govt which has made communist workers very complacent and arrogant. This has not been covered by any media houses.

Now let’s see where each part stands and what are all their Big Strengths and Weakness

CPI(M):

One of the last bastion for CPI(M).They have ruled for so long that they have never imagined themselves in the opposition.

Strengths:

1. Manik Sarkar- One man who has more personal following than for the ideology of the left,

2.Party Ecosystem- If CPI(M) has to be defeated one has to defeat its ecosystem comprising party workers in booths till all govt departments including election commission.One of the states where Chief election commissioner does not have his own building.He works out of secretariat along with CM

3.Peace in the state- To people who have lived through previous Cong govt in 1988 – 1993 knows the current scenario of how the entire state is living peacefully without any insurgency.

Weakness:

1.Anti Incumbency- Anti incumbency of a quarter century has fallen into the heads of Manik Sarkar.It has increased to such an extent that it became difficult for Chief minister to gather even 5000 people for rallies.So to overcome that CM has changed his style by campaigning in each and every constituency at a very local level involving street meetings carefully avoiding big rallies.

2.Party ecosystem- The same party ecosystem which helped communist party has now become more complacent and arrogant that people started hating them.There is a big undercurrent against the party ecosystem.

3.Lack of leaders: Apart from Manik Sarkar virtually there is not even one leader who can campaign and influence voters.When there is under current against workers it becomes extremely important for the party leadership to involve hands-on for gathering each and every vote.One best example in the recent times we have seen is in Gujarat where there was great undercurrent against BJP workers but with a lot of involvement of senior leaders, they are able to overcome it. Such a kind of leadership is missing from the current CPI(M) political hierarchy.

4.7th pay commission, Rural infrastructure and Recent Supreme court order quashing the appointment of around 10000 school teachers.

These are all the Strength and Weakness for CPI(M).Now let us see about BJP

BJP:

BJP is the new kid on the block for entire Northeast. It generally gives a big advantage as it has not be tried and also the image of national leadership with PM Modi gives added a bonus to the party

Strength:

1.Organically Party has grown in the Northeastern states.Within a short span of time they able to cover most of the booths with booth workers and page managers to reach out to voters

2.Robust National and Northeastern leadership: About national leadership, everybody knows it.Nothing more to add to it.But the efficiency of Northeastern leadership including the CMs of NE states(Sarabananda Sonowal,Biren singh,Prema Khandu) and party managers including NEDA Leaders and General secretaries like Himata biswa sarma,Ram madhav,Sunil Deodhar, Kirren Raju is a big strength to the party.

One of the key advantages of NE Leadership is they have grown party organically within less span of time.Party can use them now in other states like West Bengal, Odisha and surely they might change the political situation in each of these states

3.Sangh Parivar family: The groundwork done by RSS and its affiliates like Vanavasi Kalyan is surely a game changer in the states

4.Hope around party which rules Delhi: Usually, NE people like to involve themselves with party in power in centre.They know the value of being in power in Delhi than any other landscape in the country

Weakness:

1.Match with the Communist ecosystem: The main fear of people in Tripura is whether even after losing this battle will BJP leadership stick themselves in Tripura or not.So they don’t want to antagonize the communist party which ruled for over 25 years.

2.Local leadership: BJP has to grow more local leaders in Tripura as most of the leadership has been moved out from either Congress or TMC

3.Tribal party alliance: BJP has boldly made alliance with Tribal parties, so it creates a sense of divide between Bengalis and tribal people.Most of these tribal parties are fighting for separate statehood , so naturally other communities still did not have much hope with BJP.

These are the main strength and weakness of BJP,but the way Sunil deodhar is explaining the strategy which BJP has followed it seems BJP has specifically addressed the weakness above by engaging with each community like using Uttar Pradesh CM to reach out to Nath Mutt followers who are 35% of entire OBC population in the state.So it creates kind of big hope for all the BJP workers.

Now the last big player in the state in Congress.Let’s see its strength and weakness

Congress:

Congress has got more than 35% of votes in each of the elections till now.So they have assumed the role of opposition as like in Gujrat but without much ambition of capturing power

Strengths:

1.Local leadership: Congress has good leadership with Pradyot Debbarma as its president.Pradyot Debbarma is the grandson of last Tripura king and still, they have a sense of sway over the people of Tripura.

2.Opposition space: Congress has till now been a major player in NE states either in the form being in govt or in opposition.So it has a loyal vote base which they can depend on at any cost.

Weakness:

1.Having an alliance with Left ideology in Centre: People now believe that Congress for its national ambitions intentionally does not want to dislodge Communist in Tripura and to prove that point correct national leaders did not even care about Northeastern states especially Tripura.Rahul Gandhi has addressed only one rally in Tripura for this election.

2.No involvement of National leadership

3.The internal factional fight between Pradyot Debbarma and other state Congress leaders virtually stalled the entire campaign

4.Raising costs of participating in elections: After 2014 Congress was decimated from each and every state because of that Party is unable to get funds so they are not spending it much on smaller states.They want to utilize their full throttle in Karnataka.

5.All the MLAs switched over to BJP which has crippled the local power centres at constituency level

Knowing this weakness fully, BJP leadership has completely decimated the Congress and put itself in the pole position of Tripura.

Apart from these, there are many small tribal parties who fight mainly in 20 Tribal seats.Out of which more powerful party IPFT is in alliance with BJP and is fighting 9 seats as part of NDA.

After analyzing all these points one can clearly say the BJP is the only party which is going to increase its base in Tripura.If BJP wins this election it will be a kind of record of sorts from 0 to gaining power that too against the robust communist system.Then this same strategy can be used in other states where there is good and strong regional players

With respect to Communist, if CPI(M) is able to win in the election then it will increase the stature of Manik Sarkar and we can say for sure it will increase the power of Bengalis against the Malayalis in the Communist national political hierarchy.And the only one person who is responsible for victory will be Manik Sarkar and he will become a legendary figure like Jyoti Basu of West Bengal.

Whatever the result is let us hope the next govt which is going to form on March 3rd fulfil the ambitions of people and gives them hope on the democratic process of our motherland.

FATF Watch List, Will Pakistan Budge ?

GAURAV SURIYAL
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FATF Watch List, Will Pakistan Budge ?

Pakistan is on the spotlight and once again for all bad reasons. FATF had reviewed Pakistan’s counterterrorism and anti-money laundering initiatives and placed it under its watchlist.

What is FATF

Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is a ‘policy-making body’ founded in 1989 initially with the aim to combat money laundering but its role expanded with the inclusion of terrorist financing. The recommendations are non-binding in nature but the report prepared by thirty-seven members and around twenty-two observer organizations comprising India, EU, GCC and UN, cannot be ignored.

USA’s Move

The USA and UK jointly moved the resolution co-sponsored by its allies France and Germany. President Trump is taking punitive action against Pakistan, as a growing concern in Washington that its ‘ally’ is working against its interest. This action came in the backdrop of Donald Trump’s new year tweet in which he reprimanded Pakistan for its role in Afghanistan.

India’s Role

It is being widely perceived in Pakistani establishment that India is behind the game plan to push the resolution and used the USA as a front to unleash its anti-Pakistan policy. However, India has a principled stand and had been consistently supporting the international community in its fight against terrorism.

There was a dramatic turn of events took place when Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif in his tweet divulged details about the FATF plenary meet and breached its confidentiality.

China, GCC (led by Saudi Arabia) and Turkey opposed the motion. But after intense lobbying, China withdrew its stance on assurance by USA and India to support its vice-presidentship candidature at FATF. Similarly, Saudi Arabia retreated on the promise of full ‘member‘ status.

Ministry of External Affairs of India spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said Pakistan got recommended for the greylist as it has not complied with its commitment to implement the UNSCR 1267 Sanction in its letter and spirit and thereby failed to keep up with the standards of FATF.

According to UNSCR 1267 Sanction list Hafiz Saeed (founder of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba & 26/11 Mumbai mastermind) is a designated terrorist. But what perturbed India and USA is the open support by Pakistan establishment in mainstreaming him through the electoral process.

WILL PAKISTAN BUDGE?

Pakistan remained on the greylist between 2012-15 but nothing changed. It continued to actively support and harbour UN designated terrorists providing safe sanctuaries to Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network. However to bamboozle the international community it issued an ordinance to freeze all the assets of Hafiz Saeed and its organization Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation.

Pakistan economy is in shatters for decades but Pakistan establishment has mastered the art to hang it in the balance. Apart from China, there is no other country investing so heavily in Pakistan. Though Pakistan got a reprieve of three months to fulfil the FATF guidelines before the scheduled meet in June 2018, the expectation on any drastic change is negligible. If Pakistan remained defiant and pursued the old same policy that day is not far from a ‘state sponsor of terrorism‘ tag on it.

The North East can become the model of democracy

Rohit Dhyani
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The North East can become the model of democracy

The northeast states of India are often mentioned in the context of separatist movements and insurgency. But these states are also examples of faith and political awareness in the democracy.

On the one hand, separatist movement, demand for sovereignty and on the other side expressing faith in the Constitution of the country, increased participation in the elections. It may seem contradictory to hear both of these things. But this is the ground reality in the North-Eastern states. Voters in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya have once again proved this. The awareness of political rights in the governing states of the Left Front is not new. This awareness has been observed on the occasion of elections in West Bengal and Kerala. Left in power in the Northeastern state of Tripura is in power for some two and a half decades. As a result, this state has always been in heavy voting.

In the Vidhan Sabha elections of the year 2008, 91 percent voting was registered in the state. Next time, in 2013, it increased to 91.8 percent. But in the upcoming Assembly elections, about 92 percent of people voted for a new record. Tripura’s chief election officer Shriram Taranikanti says, “89.8 percent of the votes for the state’s 59 seats were cast. But after adding the postal ballot, the figure will reach 92 percent.”

In addition to Tripura, in addition to the activism of all militant organizations in Nagaland, apart from the decades-old demands of different states, appeals of election boycott and adverse conditions, over 80 percent of the voting has been conducted. Earlier this time, all the parties including BJP had announced not to participate in the elections. They demanded that elections for the decades-old Naga problem be resolved, only after elections. But later all the parties agreed to participate in the electoral process. The Naga organization is very powerful in the state and the guidelines of the election are decided only on the instructions. In spite of this, if it is so heavily polled, it can be considered as a people’s faith in democracy. 90 percent of the votes were cast in the last assembly elections. In the Meghalaya, which is called the North-east of Scotland, the voting percentage of ABC has crossed 70 percent. Despite all the problems, unemployment and backwardness, people’s involvement in elections is remarkable.

In the last Lok Sabha elections, the voting percentage in most of the North-Eastern states was around 80 percent. In states like Nagaland (87.82 percent) and Tripura (85 percent), it surpassed the national average of 66.4 percent of the vote.

After all, why is there such contradiction in democracy and society? On the one hand, in the demand for a different state, on the other hand, the biggest festival of democracy, in the elections, increased participation in the elections in comparison to the other states of the country. Political observers say that its roots are hidden in the literacy rates in the area and socio-political awareness towards their rights. All the regions of the state are young compared to the other states of the country and the generation born after getting a separate state status is still young. People have better literacy rates and they are conscious of their rights.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar says, “With the increase of literacy in the people of the state, awareness of their rights has also increased, they know that using franchise is a positive change in society and politics, which is why always in the state The average of the voting is higher than the other parts of the country. ”

“The decades-old Naga problem and adverse conditions, people are quite aware of their democratic and constitutional rights,” says Naghey, the former chief minister of Nagaland and the foremost in the race to form a new government. Rio, who combines BJP with a new organization named National Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), says that people know that their problems can only be solved by staying within the constitutional boundaries. But is this photo not contradictory? On this question, RIO says, “It is not that movement and extremism are in its place, but the confidence of the people in the area has not diminished for democracy like in the rest of the country, there is no indifference towards elections in the state.”

Supervisors say that the North Eastern states have consistently multiplied in the biggest festival of democracy and have once again transformed the saying of unity in diversity. People from other parts of the country can also learn lessons from this mindset of the people of the area. It would be correct to say that in this case, the North East can show a new path to the rest of the country.

 

Has Haj Subsidy resurfaced in another format?

Bhimashankar Sanga
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Has Haj Subsidy resurfaced in another format?

The Government of India tried to festoon itself with secular fabric by announcing a significant reduction in airfares for those going on the Haj. This reduction is an appeasement canard to woo Muslim votes. Modi government has jettisoned Haj subsidies a month back following a Supreme Court order of 2012.

The Haj subsidy was unremittingly proffered by all successive Indian governments since 1954 and the scrapping of such a long-term practice by all odds infuriates Muslim community. To compensate that, Modi government has donned the secular garb and announced reduction in airfares to pacify enraged Muslim community.

BJP has stultified itself by saying that this move is not about pandering to of minorities. The phoniness of BJP is exposed when it ended the subsidy four years ahead of that deadline set by Supreme Court. In May 2008, a bench of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai had passed a judgment [pdf] ordering the then government to phase out subsidies given to haj pilgrims in a timely manner and had set a deadline of 10 years.

Prima facie, it appears that Government in a hurry to appease Hindus ended the subsidy four years ahead of that deadline. The BJP smelt roses in the entire episode and vauntingly claimed that the move was a symbolic blow to the appeasement politics.

Successive  governments have been obligating Indians Muslims to travel by the state-run Air India. Currently, the flight to Jeddah and Medina is possible only through Air India, Saudi Airlines and Flynas and other cheap flight carriers are not allowed. If the government’s intention is help the pilgrims, then it should create incentives for them by permitting them to fly through different airlines.

Any airline would like to tap on unprecedented demand and would not like to lose its elephantine passenger base over price competition. Intense competition within the airline industry would trigger a price war and compels airlines to lower their prices and increase quality of service. The actual benefit, or subsidy if you will, will be much higher, benefitting the Haj pilgrims. The Haj Subsidy which was long sold as “financial aid” is a misnomer which did not significantly benefit Muslims, but in fact helped cash-strapped, ailing Air-India to survive.

Travelling of Haj Pilgrims via sea route was stopped after 1995 and air travel was made mandatory. Now, Saudi Arabian government has agreed in principle to allow the Haj journey from India by ships. The Indian government by now, should have chalked out the logistics of permitting Hajis via sea route to Mecca which would remarkably shrink the travel cost.

The air fares to Jeddah and Madina are substantially higher owing to the regulations imposed by the Saudi Arabian Authorities during the Haj period. The airfare for Haj per pilgrim was Rs. 47,675/- in 2010 and Rs. 54,800/- in 2011. This was almost double the airfare for the same route during non-Haj period. The normal air fare to and from Jeddah should have been around Rs. 25,000/ during non-haj period. The restriction imposed by Saudi Arabia was that the Airline should carry pilgrims to Jeddah and return with zero load and vice versa, thus forcing the Airlines to spike the fares.

During the Haj of 2011, each pilgrim was charged Rs. 16,000/-  towards airfare which is slightly less than 2/3rd of the otherwise normal fare. The additional fare of Rs.38,000/- per Haji is what is termed  “subsidy” is paid by the Government to  the airline, as the government did not want to burden the additional amount charged by the airline on the pilgrims. In reality the amount spent on subsidy is the amount paid to Air India to supplement the losses suffered due to rules imposed by Saudi Arabia.

The Haj pilgrims used to deposit a certain amount with Haj Committee of India (HCoI) towards airfare and the remaining airfare was paid by Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to airlines as subsidy. The subsidy given by the Government during last three years and the amount deposited to HCoI by each pilgrim towards airfare is as under:

Currently, Saudi Arabia permits 1,75,025 Indian Muslims for Haj. With the reduction in airfares, the  round fare this year from Ahmedabad will be around Rs. 65,015/- as against Rs. 98,750/- in 2013-2014.

The  prices of airfares will be reduced to Rs. 57,857/- from Rs. 98,750/- in 2013-14, if the flight is from Mumbai. The reduction will be applicable to passages on Air India, Saudi Airlines and Flynas to Jeddah and Medina from 21 embarkation Points across the country. Considering there is a price reduction of approximately Rs. 35,000/person in airfares, this reduction in airfares amounts to 612.58 crore which is more than the Haj subsidy given in the past three years.

Subsidy is gone but resurfaces in another format i.e. reduction in prices of airfares?

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