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Economic Highlights
Terror Strikes Again:HYDERABAD RENEWED TARGET, by Insaf,30 August 2007 |
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ROUND THE STATES
New Delhi, 30 August 2007
Terror Strikes
Again
HYDERABAD RENEWED TARGET
By Insaf
Terror revisited cyber city Hyderabad gift wrapped in a black school bag
on Saturday last. Two explosions, barely
minutes and five km of each other, left 35 people dead and nearly 60 injured.
The bombs ripped through the famous amusement park Lumbini and a popular chaat joint in the old city. This attack
comes just three months after blasts in the city’s Mecca Masjid in May in which
10 persons were killed and 40 injured. According to police officials the
explosives used in the twin blasts were similar to the one used by terrorists
in the Masjid blast. Fingers are being pointed to the involvement of the
Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami. Preliminary police investigations
have revealed that the blasts might have been caused by improvised explosive
devices loaded with RDX.
Meanwhile, the Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, who
visited Hyderabad
after the blasts, has welcomed the Opposition suggestion for a federal crime
agency. He was replying to an NDA-backed adjournment motion on the Government’s
failure to contain terrorism in the Lok Sabha. Further, such an agency would be
set up only in the event of a Centre-States consensus and with the full
concurrence of Parliament. However, he ruled-out re-enactment of a POTA type
law, strongly demanded by the leader of the Opposition, L.K. Advani, on the
ground that it had failed to prevent Parliament from being attacked. Importantly,
the Hyderabad
blasts have once again brought to the fore the lacunae in handling terror. India has many
agencies, but little intelligence. Clearly, New Delhi has to work harder and rise above
partisan political considerations to win its war against mounting terror.
* * * *
Violence Grips Agra & Gohana
If terror stalked Hyderabad,
the spector of communal and caste conflict came back to haunt the Hindi
heartland --- Agra
in Uttar Pradesh and Gohana in Sonepat, Haryana. Both bore the brunt of mob
fury, leaving one dead and 50 injured in Agra
and a Dalit youth killed and scores injured in Gohana. Trouble started in Agra, home of India’s most famous monument of
love, the Taj Mahal, when four Muslim youths on their way to participate in the
Shab-e-Baraat procession, were crushed by a truck. Blinded by fury, the
Muslim community pelted stones, burnt 17 trucks, several police vans and looted
shops owned by the Hindus. Leading to pitched battles between the Hindus and
the Muslims --- and clamping of prohibitory orders in the city and curfew in
six sensitive districts. Schools and colleges were shut for three days.
In Gohana, the killing of a Dalit youth has revived
traditional hostilities between the Jats and the Dalits. The Dalit perceived
this as a revenge killing of a Jat boy two years ago. The Dalit retaliation was
followed by a day-long spectacle of the two communities fighting each other.
The Dalits, now seething with vengeance, have accused the Bhupinder Singh Hooda
Government of doing nothing to protect them. The present clash and tension between
the Valmikis and Jats in Haryana is part of the regional make-up. The Dalits
have clashed with the “dominant oppressor
class” across
the region --- recently in the Fatehgarh Sahib district where the rape of Dalit
girls by Jat landlords snowballed in to a major political issue. Clearly, the Dalit protest spells trouble for the
Congress and its Chief Minister,
Hooda.
* * * * *
JD-BJP Stand-Off In
Karnataka
If the Centre is plagued by the acrimony between the Congress and the Left, Karnataka is weighed down by the
widening rift between the ruling coalition partners in Karnataka --- the Janata
Dal (Secular) and the BJP. The friction came to the fore when the Chief
Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy cancelled a crucial coordination committee meeting
with the BJP on Saturday last. That too for the second time in a row.
Interestingly, the meeting had been called to iron out the differences between
the partners following the BJP’s boycott of a Cabinet meeting chaired by
Kumaraswamy earlier in the week. The BJP is upset over what it calls
“step-motherly treatment” being meted out to the Party. What is more it
suspects that the JD(S) is having second thoughts about handing over power to
it on 3 October.
Importantly, the cancellation of the crucial meet is viewed
by the BJP as an indication of the JD(S)’s change of mind in regard to the power
sharing deal between the two parties in January 2006. “Our leaders were ready
for the meeting but the JD(S) was reluctant. They seem to be afraid of facing
us,” stated BJP President D.V. Sadananda Gowda. Notwithstanding, Kumaraswamy’s
explanation that he was forced to cancel the meeting on account of an “official
tour” and his promises to hold the cancelled meet next week. More. The BJP’s
litany of complaints include: marginalisation of its ministers by Kumaraswamy
and appointment by the Chief Minister of a member to the State Public Service
Commission, a post that belonged to
the BJP’s quota. Equally objectionable for the BJP is the JD(S) assertion that its image had got dented by its
alignment with the saffron party.
* * * *
Madhya Pradesh Scores A First
Madhya Pradesh has scored a first in an otherwise minor
expansion of its State Cabinet. For the first time, a victim of the 1984
anti-Sikh riots, Harendrajit Singh ‘Babbu’, was sworn-in as a Minister in the country.
(His father was burnt alive by a mob in his village a day after the then Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi was shot dead) He was among the six new faces, three of
them in the Cabinet rank and three Ministers of State, inducted into the
Council of Ministers. Two Ministers of State were also promoted to the Cabinet
rank. Another surprise was the re-induction by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh
Chauhan of his bete noire, suspended MLA and Uma Bharti loyalist, Dr. Shejwar. Needless to say, with this induction Chauhan can now breathe
easy. He has another ace up his sleeve: three more ministerial vacancies to
fill within the Constitutional quota.
* * * * *
New Threat In J&K
If terror came to Hyderabad
gift-wrapped, a new ‘trigger’ threat looms large over Jammu and Kashmir. Militants there are
changing their tactics and now using mobile phone-triggered devices to set off
explosives. All it takes to set off this Improvised Explosive Device (IED) is
to dial the number or set the phone on alarm mode. This kills two birds with
one stone: minimum risk for the militant group and the device is cheap to assemble. The J&K stumbled on this latest device when
they discovered the IED packed with five kg deadly explosives, a detonator and
mobile phone in Rajouri district last week. So far five blasts have been
detected from different regions this summer. Even as the State Government is
contemplating ways to combat this new threat, the people at large are worried.
Will it deprive them the use of their cell phones, permitted only since August
2003?
* * * *
Nitish’s Bihar
Sets Trend
Bihar under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has done what has
been long needed in free India:
set a trend for office-wear for the Government Babus and enforce it. No flashy or casual clothes any more,
according to the dress code issued by the Chief Secretary to IAS officers and
other civil servants. All have been asked to dress
in sober colours—men in dhoti-kurta
or in shirts and trousers and women in saris or salwar kameez. For ceremonial occasions, a sherwani or bandgala is
to be allowed. No other exceptions are to be tolerated. The
order follows Patna High Court’s decision to fine two officers for appearing
before it in gaudy and non-formal clothes. While senior babus maintain there is nothing new about the code, first
prescribed in 1954, it remains to be seen whether they will fall in line or
continue to be trendy and fashionable!---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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Snap Poll Alert:CONGRESS CHURNING IN STATES, by Insaf,22 August 2007 |
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Round The States
New Delhi, 22 August 2007
Snap Poll Alert
CONGRESS CHURNING
IN STATES
By Insaf
With the possibility
of the country being pushed into a mid-term poll, the Congress has suddenly become conscious about getting its
act together. Party units are now on the alert as the Congress High Command starts turning its attention towards
revamping its organizations in the States.
Accordingly, some Pradesh Congress
Committee (PCC) Chiefs may be replaced in the reshuffle and PCCs reconstituted or
constituted where they are non-existent. Prominent among the States likely to
witness changes include Madhya
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. In Madhya Pradesh, the PCC chief Subhash
Yadav, whose stint has been marked by infighting, is likely to be replaced, and
a PCC constituted. Incredibly enough, the State has been without a PCC for more
than two years.
Those vying for the post are Leader of Opposition in the
State Assembly Jamuna Devi, Gwalior scion and MP Jyotiraditya
Scindia and Union Minister Suresh Pachauri as former Chief Minister Digvijay
Singh, presently AICC General Secretary, is not interested in going back to the
State. In UP, where the Congress had
to bite dust in the Assembly poll,
PCC Chief Salman Khursheed is likely to shift to Delhi. In Rajasthan, notwithstanding former
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s keenness
to become PCC Chief, chances are that a fresh face may replace BD Kalla as PCC
Chief. In the reckoning are former Chief Minister Jaganath Pahadia, PCC
spokesperson Param Navdeep Singh and Harinder Mirdha. Ultimately, caste
equations would be the deciding factor.
* * * * *
Kerala Adds to
Congress’s Problems
The UPA’s tie-up with the Left is causing more trouble than
it had anticipated. Grappling with the CPMs threat over the nuclear deal at the
Centre, the Union Government is now forced to cope with a turnaround by the
CPM-led Government in Kerala. The latter has refused to go along with the
toll-based Build Operate Transfer model for the construction of the national
highway in the State and has asked the Union Transport & Highways Ministry
to foot the bill for the 70-km stretch. With the Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh’s talks with Chief Minister Achutanandan making no headway, the Centre is
being left with no choice but to cough up Rs 400 crore! Consequently, all
remaining road projects in the State have been put on hold till the issue is resolved.
* * * *
Naga Encroachment In Assam
Assam’s cup of woes seems to be
over-flowing. On the one hand, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s Congress Government is busy grappling with the violence unleashed
by the outlawed ULFA to rid the State of Bihari
labourers. On the other hand, Assam’s border
dispute with neigbouring Nagaland has assumed
sinister proportions. So far, armed Naga depredations were limited to creating
havoc in Assam’s border
villages. But now they have the tacit support of their State Government in
surreptiously encroaching on Assamese
land through the rebels in “well coordinated and planned moves.” Not only that.
Schools, churches and police stations have allegedly been set-up in Assam’s
territory by the Government in Kohima.
Recall, Nagaland has been making calculated and persistent
attempts to acquire Assamese
territory in pursuance of its grand design of greater Nagalim --- comprising
major chunks of Assam and
Manipur’s territory. The Nagas continue to be goaded by the belief that Nagaland
got a raw deal when it was carved out of the then undivided Assam.
Kohima even cites ‘historical facts’ to buttress
its claim. Forgetting that the areas demanded by it were earlier hubs of the
Ahom kingdom of which the Nagas were never the inhabitants. Sadly, the laxity
by successive Assam
governments has resulted in Nagaland now controlling a sizeable area of Assam
as part of its territory.
* * * *
Punjab’s New Deal For
Farmers
The Punjab Chief Minister, Prakash Singh Badal, has unveiled
a new deal for the State’s poor. Whereby low-priced atta and daal will be provided to over 14 lakh families,
including eight lakh Scheduled Castes households, with an annual income of less than Rs 30,000. The scheme aims to provide wheat
at Rs 4 a kilo and daal at Rs 20
through fair-price shops. Even as the Opposition dismissed
this measure as a “stunt” and “unsustainable”, given Punjab’s
precarious fiscal health, an unstoppable Chief Minister went a step further. He
has also relaxed the Rs 7,200 per year national criterion to define families
living below the poverty line. It remains to be seen whether these measure will
decrease the indebtedness of 65 per
cent farmers in the State.
* * * *
Army To Blame For J&K
Ammo Fire?
Is the Army to blame for the biggest-ever fire at the
ammunition depot in J&K? Has the military’s callousness
also cost the country 23 precious lives --- of 18 Army personnel and 13 firemen?
It may well be so. Given the complaints by a fireman and a few others. The fire
at the 21 Field Ammunition Depot at Khundroo, in Kashmir
on 11 August last, has made Harjeet Singh, brother of one of the personnel
killed, recall his letters written in October 2005. Addressed
to the Chief of Army Staff, he had warned that inappropriate enrolment of
civilians at the depot was resulting in militants drafting their own men.
Shockingly, no action was taken. Had it been taken, the army may not have lost
its men and property and Singh his brother.
* * * * *
Tata Brews Another
Storm In TN
On the heels of the ruckus it created in Singrur West
Bengal, the Tatas have brewed up another storm in sleepy Tirunelveli in Tamil
Nadu. Teams from various political parties are crisscrossing Tirunelveli, venue of the Tata titanium
dioxide project, eliciting views from the public following a furore over the
company’s proposal to acquire 12,000 acres for its project. Worried about its
fallout on his Government, Chief Minister Karunanidhi has put the project on
hold, after giving his blessing to
the Rs 2,500 crore venture. The Tata’s are keeping their fingers crossed amidst the war of words between Karunanidhi and
his bete noire Jayalalitha. Both are accusing the other of ‘selling the farmers
interest’, as mute farmers watch the unseemly spectacle.
* * * *
Himachal Apple
Growers Woes
There seems no end to the miseries of the Himachal apple
growers. On the heels of the intemperate weather, the orchardists are faced
with an acute shortage of ‘specialised’ fruit pluckers – the fleet-footed and
determined Gurkhas. The apple belt is
dotted with ‘Wanted Gurkhas’
signboards. It isn’t as if there is a dearth of local labour, but plucking
apples requires mountaineering specialists, as orchards are located on great
heights. Gurkhas have the natural
ability to carry heavy loads on their backs and simultaneously maneouvre tricky
hill terrain. So desperate is the situation at ground zero that orchardists are
sponsoring tours to Nepal to get labour from there. ---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
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Assam’s Killing Fields:ULFA PLAYING BANGLADESHI GAME, by Insaf, 16 August 2007 |
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Round The States
New Delhi, 16 August 2007
Assam’s Killing Fields
ULFA PLAYING
BANGLADESHI GAME
By Insaf
Picturesque Assam is once
again in turmoil. Its plantations and rice fields are turning more and more red
with blood. The outlawed ULFA continues to play Dhaka’s
diabolical game and has killed over 70 Bihari workers during the past few
weeks. Thousands of Bihari labourers in the State have expectedly panicked and
started moving back. This suits Dhaka and Pakistan’s ISI eminently and is, in
fact, in accordance with their game plan. Exit of Bihari labourers from the
plantations of Assam clears space
for illegal Bangladeshi migrants to move in and change the State’s demographic
landscape. The North-East Students Organisation (NESO) already feels that the
continuing influx of illegal Bangladeshi migrants has become “critical” not
only for Assam but for the
entire North-East region.
In fact, both NESO and AAPSU (All Arunachal Pradesh Students
Union) have given notice to New Delhi
and Guwahati that they are “determined to throw the illegal migrants out.” They
want New Delhi
and Guwahati to adopt an effective mechanism to push out the illegal migrants
without further delay. Additionally, they want the entire region brought within
the Inner-Line Permit regime. This would oblige all outsiders to secure a
permit to enter the region. AAPSU has already got some 25,000 “suspected
nationals” (namely non-Indians) to leave Arunachal and move into Assam
by serving “quit notices” on them. NESO is livid that Guwahati has allowed them
to stay on in Assam and has
threatened to launch an aggressive
movement unless the Centre and the Assam Government act fast.
* * * *
Maharashtra To Set Up Special
Courts
The Maharashtra Government appears all ready to reopen old
wounds By setting up a special court to try “some select” 1992-93 riot cases,
uncovered by the Srikrishna Commission. The Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, under
pressure from his Party high
command, avowed to explore all options for the speedy implementation of the
recommendations. Deshmukh may have succeeded in buying time, but the moot point
is whether he will be able to assuage
the feelings of the minorities, especially in the wake of judgment in the bomb
blasts case. Or will he end up creating more bad blood amongst the majority
community and give the saffron BJP-Shiv Sena combine a political weapon to whip
up religious ferment.
* * * *
Trouble For Modi In
Gujarat
Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, is apt for
beleaguered Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Grappling with growing dissent against him, Modi received a rude Independence
Day shock when the former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel for the first time
publicly lambasted his successor and
arch-rival’s style of functioning at an I-Day function in Surat. Patel’s outspokenness has put a spanner in the wheel of the BJP’s
central leadership efforts to broker peace between Modi and Patel. Inarguably,
the most powerful leader of his community, Patel’s anti-Modi tirade holds out
ominous portends for the BJP’s chances of retaining power in the State which
goes to polls in November.
* * * *
Mayawati Blazes New
Trail
Amid a heated national debate on job reservations in the private
sector, the UP Chief Minister Mayawati has conjured up a nouvelle voluntary job
reservation policy. Riding on the coattails of her much acclaimed Dalit-Brahmin
social engineering, the State Government has proposed offering fiscal
incentives for private sector companies providing 30 per cent employment to the downtrodden comprising the SCs,
STs,OBCs and the poor among the upper caste. Some leading corporate bodies
have, no doubt, rejected the sops being offered. But a good few industrialists
have welcomed her proposal, describing it as “brilliant.” It now remains to be
seen whether Mayawati’s maya will score when the Centre has failed in pushing
quotas in higher education, following a stay by the Supreme Court.
Interestingly, the Andhra Pradesh Government too is planning to follow suit.
* * * *
Hyderabad Muslims Bear Fangs
The Congress-led
Andhra Pradesh Government’s much touted minority appeasement policy seems to
have come unstuck. Following attacks by its ally Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen’s
(MIM) MLAs on the exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen. At a function
where Taslima had gone to release the Telugu version of her controversial book
the MIM MLAs began hurling flowers pots, books, chairs et al at her. Worse, the
MIM President Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi defended his MLAs and called for the
expulsion of Taslima from India.
Even as Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy denounced attack as barbaric and said the attackers would be
punished, the police have registered a case against Taslima and the MLAs but
nothing seems to have come out of it. India’s commitment to secularism
and a liberal open society is on test.
* * * *
Goa SEZs Face Land Trouble
The Goa Chief Minister may have won a reprieve for his Government
by engineering crucial defection from the Opposition ranks in the State’s
political roller coaster, but his plans to develop special economic zones
(SEZs), face landing trouble. His Government does not know how to acquire land
for them. The tiny coastal State, which wants to emulate the success of Bangalore and Hyderabad in IT, has
sought permission to establish 15
economic zones, mainly catering to IT and ITES sectors. No doubt, the Centre
has given in-principle approval for seven of them, but the State has to answer
the crucial question: who will acquire land for the SEZs? Against the backdrop
that nearly 40 per cent of the State’s land fall under forest zones.
Unwittingly, the State Government now finds itself caught in a crossfire, between the industries and locals who fear
losing their livelihood.
* * * *
Anti-Hindi Stir In
TN
Signs of a revival of the anti-Hindi agitation have appeared
in Tamil Nadu, thanks to a job advertisement by a nationalized bank last week.
According to the ad, candidates applying for the post of probationary clerks
and officers in the State should have
compulsory knowledge of Hindi. This is unacceptable to the Tamils, who
do not learn Hindi as a language in schools. A stir by the All India Bank
Employees Association (AIBE)
launched against the clause is threatening to take an ugly turn, even as the
Bank has clarified that the standardized format does not strictly apply to the
States like Tamil Nadu. The AIBE has been joined by the Dalit Party of India and the
Chief Minister’s office for withdrawal of the “offensive” clause. Is the
Finance Ministry listening?
* * * *
Red Alert Along Ganga
A red alert has been sounded all along the banks of the
mighty Ganga in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar.
The flood situation in the three States is likely to worsen in the coming days.
Uttarakhand which has been receiving incessant
rains since the past four days, sounded the alarm as the river was flowing near
the danger mark at the holy cities of Rishikesh and Hardwar earlier this week. According to
officials, the warning has been issued
for all towns and cities situated on the banks of the Ganga.
In Bihar, already reeling under the onslaught of floods, all flood control
centres up to Patna have been put on high alert by the Central Water Commission (CWC).---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
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Unprecedented Flood Havoc:GOVERNMENT’S CAUGHT NAPPING AGAIN, by Insaf,8 August 2007 |
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Round The States
New Delhi, 8 August 2007
Unprecedented Flood
Havoc
GOVERNMENT’S CAUGHT
NAPPING AGAIN
By Insaf
Unprecedented floods are playing havoc in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Orissa and West Bengal.
Worst ever in 30 years, this year’s floods across
the country have already taken a toll of 1,258 lives. Three crores of people
had been displaced across 20 States
at the time of writing. Property worth 1.3 crore has been destroyed. More than
68,000 heads of cattle have perished.
Top leaders have been making their customary visits to the flood-hit
States. The State Governments have set up shelters and have been air dropping
food and medicines. However, these measures leave a great deal to be desired.
They are hardly enough to meet the desperate need of the millions now suffering
silently---and helplessly.
Most sadly, the annual floods are not receiving the
attention they deserve from both the Central and State Governments even after
60 years of freedom. Floods across
the country are an annual visitation, differing only in intensity. Yet little
has been done so far either by the Centre or by the States to plan ahead
proactively and not merely react to disasters year after year. It is high time that India’s politicians and administrators start
learning to live and even dance, with the floods, as once advocated by Assam’s
late Chief Minister Sarat Chandra Sinha in his talk with Insaf in Guwahati years
ago. He added, “If the Europeans, Russians and others have learnt to play and dance with
the snow, why can’t we with the floods?”
* * * *
Interestingly, floods have been playing havoc among our
neighbours too. In Bangladesh,
nearly 9 million people have either been displaced or marooned in 39 out of 64
affected districts. Over 3,00,000 flood-hit victims have so far taken shelter
in 1412 flood centres and 156 lives were lost until August 6. In Nepal, death
toll due to floods and landslides since June stands at 93. Floods have affected
33 districts and damaged property worth 12.5 million. China, too, has been hit hard by
the worst rains of the year. Ironically, however, the country is also facing
widespread and prolonged drought in its northern North-Eastern and Southern
region of the country. By the last weekend
it had left 7.5 million people and 5 million head of cattle short of drinking
water. Sustained drought has affected 11 million hectares of arable land, 1.7
million more than the same period, last year.
* * * *
Freedom of Religion
in Gujarat & MP?
Freedom of religion has become a major issue in Gujarat and
Madhya Pradesh. The BJP governments’ bid to curb fraudulent religious
conversions in their States has run into rough weather. While Gujarat Governor
N K Sharma declined has declined to give his consent to the Freedom of Religion
(Amendment) Bill 2006, his counterpart in MP, Balram Jakhar has sent a similar
Bill to the President for consideration, after returning it to the State
government. The two Congress
veterans have justified their actions on ground that the amendments are
unconstitutional. In particular, Sharma
has found classifying of Jains and
Buddhists with Hindus objectionable, and Jhakhar considers provisions such as
submitting prior notice for conversion as draconian. While President Pratibha
Patil is to decide the fate of the MP Bill, Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra
Modi, is trying to take forward his hindutva agenda through the backdoor. He
proposes to revive a four-year-old law, with a similar aim, passed by the Assembly
and approved by the then BJP Governor, S.S. Bhandari, but not implemented!
Remember, he goes to the Assembly
poll later this year.
* * * *
Bizarre Wooing In
South
Kerala and Tamil Nadu are witnessing
something at once incredible and bizarre. Chief Ministers of both the States, V.S.
Achuthanandan of the Left and DMK’s Karunanidhi respectively are busy wooing
the new poster boy of appeasement, Abdul Naseer Mahdani, leader of the Peoples
Democratic Party. This follows the radical cleric’s release from prison
following his acquittal in the sensational Coimbatore blast case in 1998 allegedly aimed
at senior BJP leader L.K. Advani. Recall, Mahdani, a fiery orator, who founded
the banned Islamic Sevak Sangh, reportedly played a decisive role in the
minority vote calculus to garner Muslim votes in the 2001 and 2006 Assembly elections in Kerala and the 2004 polls in
Tamil Nadu. State leaders believe that Mahdani,
still wanted in 22 other cases, can conjure up minority magic in the next poll
for them.
* * * *
Jharkhand Honeymoon Over
Jharkhand, which was once touted as jewel in the crown of
small States, has today earned the ignominious distinction of a land of rising
crime, nervous officers, a paralysed State Government and an absentee Chief
Minister. Over 700 people are estimated to have been murdered this year; 547 in
just the first four months. More. The DGP has been given the marching orders
and replaced by a new DGP. Making matter worse, SPs in 22 districts of the
State are reportedly corrupt. Not only
that. Instead of a sanctioned strength of 143 officers, there are only 98
officers assigned to the State.
Increasing political interference is now forcing a lot of officers to opt out
the State. It is alleged that no file moves in a Government office without
money changing hands.
Clearly, the honeymoon is over, leaving the State in a suspended
limbo.
* * * *
Bangladeshi
Infiltrators
Assam’s travail over the influx of
migrants from Bangladesh
continues. Two years after Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi promised to update the
National Register of Citizens (NRC) 1951, and weed out suspected infiltrators
from across the border, it has still
to become a reality. Recall, in 2005 the Supreme Court had struck down the
controversial Illegal Migrants (Determination Act by Tribunals) Act and
directed that every person whose citizenship was under a cloud should be
brought under the purview of the Foreigners Act, 1946. Gogoi set up a Cabinet
sub-committee to study the issue in
its entirety quite some time back. But nothing concrete has come out so far.
Thus, providing fresh ammunition to the Opposition parties both in the State
and at the Centre. An embattled Gogoi has given a new twist to the foreigners’
imbroglio. He accused neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland of having
expelled 3000 “Indians”!
* * * *
Clean Land Deals A
Pipedream
Clean realty deals continue to be a pipedream in Maharashtra. The Vilas Rao Deshmukh Congress Government continues to drag its feet on adopting
the Housing Policy and repealing the Urban Land Ceiling (Regulation) Act
(ULCRA) --- both crucial for making affordable housing a reality in the State.
In India’s
commercial capital Mumbai, where 60 per cent of the population lives in slums, the
people will now have to wait a while before their dreams turn into realty. Also
the grand plan to decongest Mumbai by turning the focus on satellite townships
seems to have been put in cold storage. It is a moot point of how the State
Government’s goal of providing affordable housing is met without boosting the
supply of land or increasing the space index and making Mumbai slum free.
* * * *
Haryana’s New First
Haryana has a new first to its credit. It has launched a
mobile court-- bringing the judiciary to the people’s doorstep. The court, set
up in a bus, was inaugurated on Sunday last in the most backward district of
the State, Mewat, having an abysmal literacy rate. Staffed like a regular
court, it would move from one location to another as per a well-prepared
schedule-- sit on four days a week at different centres and function as a
regular court for the remaining next two days. Interestingly, the concept was
the brainchild of former President APJ Kalam, who wanted to take civil and
criminal justice closer to the people living in remote areas without their
having to incur expenses of traveling. Pleased with the privilege extended to
Haryana, Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda hoped there would be more such
advancements in the judiciary to take India forward. To Chief Justice of
India K G Balakrishnan the mobile court was a “revolutionary occasion for the
judiciary” and hoped that other States would too follow. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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Vote of Confidence in Goa:A FRAUD ON THE CONSTITUTION, by Insaf,2 July 2007 |
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Round The States
New Delhi, 2 July 2007
Vote of Confidence
in Goa
A FRAUD ON THE
CONSTITUTION
By Insaf
Last week’s vote of confidence in the 40-member Goa Assembly
was indeed a blatant and scandalous fraud on the Constitution. The Speaker is supposed
to represent the dignity of the House and uphold democracy. Yet he made a mockery
of the system and the well-established rule that a Government must enjoy the
confidence of the House. Speaker Pratapsinh Rane bailed out the shaky
Congress-led Government of Digambar Kamat by brazenly disallowing three MLAs to
vote, before the floor test. Of these, two belonging to the Maharshtrawadi
Gomantak Party were well within their rights to withdraw support to the
Government. Worse, Rane went a step further and cast his vote in favour of the Government
even though the motion had already been passed by a voice vote in the absence
of the Opposition, which had walked out.
That is not all. The Speaker, obviously under heavy pressure
from his Congress bosses in New Delhi,
also went against the clear directions of the Governor, S C Jamir. The Governor
had informed the Goa Democratic Front, led by leader of the Opposition, Manohar
Parrikar that he had asked the Speaker to ensure that the floor test was conducted before any other business. He had
also appointed observers to oversee the voting. Yet Speaker Rane went his own
way, leading the Opposition to demand that Jamir should undo the constitutional
mess and dismiss the Kamat Government. The matter has now gone before the
Supreme Court which is due to take it up early next week. Clearly, the future
of India’s
young democracy is at stake!
* * * *
First Time In
Nagaland
There is fresh hope for durable peace in Nagaland. The latest
round of talks between the Centre and the National Socialist Council of
Nagaland (IM) earlier this week has taken a positive turn. For the first time
in its history of ten years of parleys, the two sides met across the table in Nagaland. Initially, the NSCN
leaders insisted on talks only on foreign soil – Amsterdam
or Bangkok. Last
year, they agreed to meet in New Delhi.
The visit this time to Dimapur by the NSCN (IM) leaders, headed by Isak Chishi
Swu and Muivah, has not only given peace a new thrust, but more importantly provided
the leaders and the local people an opportunity to interact and understand each
others feelings and outlook. Importantly, the ceasefire has been extended
“indefinitely.”
Information available shows that the Dimapur parleys were marked
by an encouraging outcome. The NSCN(IM) appears to have more or less, agreed to the Centre’s firm stand that its demand
for sovereignty is “unacceptable” and that a solution would have to be found within
the framework of the Constitution. The NSCN (IM) seems agreeable to remaining a
part of India
but insists that this would have to be on the basis of a “special federal
relationship”. This is not going to be easy for New Delhi
to accept in view of the basic fact that India, according to the Constitution,
is a Union of States and not a federation.
In fact, the word federation does not occur anywhere in the
Constitution. Moreover, conceding a “federal relationship” would open a
Pandora’s box for the Centre. More and more States are now demanding “federal
powers.”
* * * *
Falling Democratic
Norms
Recent events in Andhra Pradesh too smack of falling democratic
norms and standards. Time was when members of its State Assembly and the
Council observed the highest standards of decorum. Both the leader of the House
and the leader of the Opposition refrained from making personal allegations against
each other. But this lasted only till the Telugu Desam came to power. Chandrababu
Naidu as the TDP Chief Minister had spats with the present incumbent, Dr. Y.S.
Rajasekhar Reddy, then leader of the
Opposition. Last week Naidu once again found himself at the receiving end when Dr.
Reddy went to the extent of saying that Naidu’s mother would be sorry for
having given birth to him. Expectedly, this led to an upheaval. Fortunately,
good sense prevailed on all sides. Dr. Reddy tendered an unconditional apology
and Naidu accepted it -- and returned to the House. But the incident has left an
appalling mark on the Vidhan Soudha.
Land for the
Landless
Landless labourers across the States are now aggressively
beginning to assert their rights. After Nandigram in West
Bengal, big trouble is brewing in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
On Saturday last, eight persons were killed and six injured in police firing in
Mudigonda village, in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh, during a rally called
by the Left parties to “distribute land to the poor”. In Tamil Nadu, the
villagers in Sattankulam town, in Tututicorin District have decided to go on a
fast on August 10, to oppose the acquisition of about 11,000 acres by the Tata
group for its Rs 2,500-crore titanium-dioxide project. They plan to fight it
out. One common factor stands out in all these incidents: the protest is for
land, not money. While politicians in the three States are using the incidents
to gain political mileage, they appear to be missing the wood for the trees. A
new movement demanding land for the landless is taking shape.
Labourers & Tourists Flee Kashmir?
Tourism and development have been witnessing a revival in trouble-torn
Kashmir. Sadly, however both appear to be in
for fresh trouble. A blast in a tourist bus in the Valley on Sunday last, is
likely to see holiday goers packing their bags and leaving. A repeat of what
happened last summer after a similar attack, in which 16 people were killed.
Tourists from Gujarat, a major influx, and
other States simply cancelled their bookings, causing losses and heartburn
amongst hoteliers and houseboat owners.
Worse, Kashmir is
witnessing a massive exodus of workers thanks to the “Quit Kashmir” notice to migrant
labourers by the Hizbul Mujahadeen. The call that they must leave Kashmir within a week follows an incident in which a
schoolgirl was allegedly raped by two migrant labourers. The threat is bound to
affect construction activity in the Valley, which started picking up during the
Chief Ministership of Mufti Mohd. Sayeed. This should be a cause of serious
concern to the present successor Government of Ghulam Nabi Azad. With three-and-a-half
lakh migrant labourers sustaining the Valley’s “construction boom” of roads,
bridges and much else, the Government can ill-afford to let the Mujahadeen have
their way.
Monsoon Playing
Havoc
Incessant rains
across the north-eastern region
continue to play havoc in some States. The flood situation in Assam
and Bihar is getting from bad to worse, with
over 11 lakh and 28 lakh people getting affected respectively. Meghalaya and
Garwhal are trying to cope with landslides. Threat of flood looms large in
Uttar Pradesh, with already 25 people having died in rain-related incidents. Over
5000 pilgrims to Badrinath were stranded. Over 26,000 hectares of crop has got
submerged in Assam. The Army
has been put on alert in Bihar. Rivers in West
Bengal’s Cooch Behar
district are flowing above the danger mark. And, Kerala has suffered losses of Rs 15,000 crore. While the State Administration
is working round-the-clock viz rescue operations and disaster management, the
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has found a novel way to get relief.
Last Sunday he threatened to stage a dharna outside the Prime Minister’s House
at 7 Race Course Road
if the Centre continued to ignore his demand for monsoon disaster aid. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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