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Worrying Internal Security:STATES STERNLY TICKED OFF, by Insaf, 17 Sept, 09 Print E-mail

Round The States

New Delhi, 17 September 2009

Worrying Internal Security

STATES STERNLY TICKED OFF

By Insaf

 
The States have been sternly ticked off by the Centre as never before for not doing enough to tackle the country’s internal security. Little has been done by way of reforms, despite repeated reminders. Nothing has, for instance, been done to set up police establishment boards to decide transfers and postings of police personnel. Some States have even reduced cops to “a football to be kicked from one post to another.” Worse, most State governments have failed to provide adequate funds for the police, whereas security should be the first charge on the State exchequer! Importantly, the Centre’s despair was first spelt out candidly by the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram while inaugurating a three-day Conference of Directors General of Police and Inspectors General of Police on internal security in the Capital on Monday last. At the same time, he offered a solution to the top cops: “Why do you remain silent when arbitrary postings and transfers are made by the State Governments?...Is it not your duty, as heads of State police to raise your voice not only on behalf of your officers but also on behalf of the people that you are duty-bound to protect.” The big question is: When will mindsets and old habits change?

Strong criticism came the next day from the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, who lamented that little success has been achieved in dealing with Left-wing extremism, the “most serious” internal security threat. Latest statistics reveal that the Naxalites have their pockets of influence in 20 States. More than 20,000 police station areas in 223 districts in these States had been affected. Of these, the CPI (Marxists) remains the most potent of the Naxal group with presence in 17 States and a 90 per cent share in Naxal violence. Violence has been consistently witnessed in about 400 police stations areas of about 90 districts in 13 of these States. Last year 1,591 incidents of Naxalite violence, resulting in 721 killings, were reported from 399 police stations areas of 87 districts of 13 States. This year’s figures are not far behind. There were 1,405 incidents of Naxal violence resulting in 580 killings already from 355 police stations in 78 districts of 11 States

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Mamata Scores Again

Winds of change continue to blow in West Bengal with the Trinamool Congress giving the ruling CPM yet another crushing blow. This time in Siliguri, the nerve centre of North Bengal politics and the State’s second most important commercial hub after Kolkata. The formidable TMC-Congress combine got a clear majority on Tuesday last bagging 29 of the 47 seats in the Municipal Corporation elections, demolishing the Left Front’s three-decade rule. The CPM managed to win only 17 seats against its strength of 36 in 2004. This, despite Siliguri being one of the few corporations which has a good track record, with the State’s Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharjee, who hails from here and is its MLA. Besides, not only did the minister campaign actively, but so did Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. In sharp contrast, the TMC chief, Mamata Banerjee, did not go there even once. Indeed, it is a decisive victory for Didi, who joyously proclaimed that they had captured the “Red Fort.”  

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Gujarat Booster For BJP

Gujarat’s Narendra Modi has given the demoralized BJP a much-needed morale booster. After a string of defeats since the Lok Sabha polls, the party wrested five Assembly seats from the Congress in the State’s byelections held for seven seats. The Congress retained one and managed to take one from the BJP. With this recent victory, the strength of the saffron party in the 182-member Assembly has gone up to 122, the Congress trailing with just 54 and the rest six others. Clearly, the bypoll has provided Modi a breather too after his party’s defeat in the Junagadh municipal elections this June. Addressing a rally on Monday last, the Chief Minister felt emboldened enough to warn “that the people of Gujarat support us strongly.” Meanwhile, the BJP has added a seat each to its kitty in Madhya Pradesh and Uttaranchal bypolls. The Congress has to find solace in retaining one seat each in Madhya Pradesh and the Andhra Pradesh bypolls.   

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Bundelkhand Wins Lottery

In the struggle for one upmanship between Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, the poverty-stricken Bundelkhand region has won a big lottery. On Monday last, the Prime Minister’s Office approved a Rs 30,000-crore special development plan for the region, notorious for dacoities, drought and starvation deaths. In fact, the package is a lot more than what Rahul asked for, Rs 8000 crore. However, his demand for a Bundelkhand Authority covering both UP and Madhya Pradesh is on hold. But this should not be a damper as all proposals for the region, covering parts of the two States will be directly implemented by the Centre. For starters, while the National Thermal Power Corporation will build a Rs 20,000 crore 4,000 MW power plant at Lalitpur in MP, the Water Resources Ministry has been asked to prepare the Ken-Betwa river linking project between the two States. In addition, the Agriculture Ministry is to plan a Central University to provide research inputs to farmers on alternative crops requiring small quantities of water. Interestingly, political warfare has its plus points!   

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Student Trouble In Sikkim

Is Sikkim going the Maharashtra way? Last week the N-E State’s Chief Minister Pawan K Chamling found his counterparts in Bihar, Nitish Kumar and Assam’s Tarun Gogoi complaining. The reason: Sikkim students had “abused and beaten up” non-local students at the Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology (SMIT) and the North Eastern Hills University (NEHU) respectively. While the SMIT’s director was forced to close down the college last week for 10 days, the police had to beef up security at NEHU. Trouble started at the SMIT, after a Bhutia student abused some non-Sikkim students and later a few Sikkim students beat up non-locals during a volleyball match, forcing over 600 of them to take refuge on the sixth floor of the hostel. The next day saw non-locals catching trains back to Bihar. Of the 2,000 students in the SMIT hostel, 1400 are non-locals with 800 from Bihar alone. At NEHU, Assamese students were attacked by local students. Is regionalism raising its ugly head in the North-East? 

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Rajasthan Rewriting History

History continues to be written and rewritten in Rajasthan with the change of rulers. Congress Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has got his Government to issue instructions to the State Education Boards to scrap controversial references from books that promote right-wing propaganda and also blame the Congress for encouraging insurgency in Jammu & Kashmir. The books were introduced during the BJP’s Vasundhra Raje’s Government in 2003 and are said to be written by academics who were sympathizers of the Hindu organizations such as the RSS, VHP and the Bajrang Dal. The Gehlot Government set up a three-member committee to look into the matter. This committee recommended that objectionable portions be deleted. Must politicians play duck and drakes with history, ignoring truth and age-old values? ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

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