Round The States

New Delhi, 14 January 2010

Ladakh Stuns New Delhi

INDIA LOSES LAND TO CHINA

By Insaf

Ladakh has made New Delhi sit up as never before. At a meeting held last week in Leh of senior officials of the Jammu and Kashmir Government, Union Home Ministry and the Army it was confirmed that India had lost a “substantial” area of land in the past 20-25 years, thanks to repeated incursions by China and an unclear border map. The area along the Line of Actual Control with China had “shrunk” over the years, and India was clearly ‘withdrawing”, according to the consensus reached at the meeting, chaired by Commissioner (Leh) A K Sahu. It was also agreed that the maps drawn up by various agencies were all different and that there was a lack of proper mapping of the area. In fact, the minutes added: “There is a lack of institutional memory in various agencies as well as clear policy on this issue, which in the long run has resulted in loss of territory by India in favour of China.” 

The disclosure has prompted former Chief Minister of J&K and Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah to urge the Centre to take up the matter with Beijing at the earliest. “This seems to be happening for the last 25 years. One cannot be absolved of the responsibility by merely saying that the LAC has not been demarcated,” he said at a conference in Delhi. The boundary dispute cannot hang in balance for eternity. “It should be resolved—earlier the better”. Likewise, the BJP has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to clarify the truth about the incursions. It said; “The government had denied such incursions by China in Arunachal Pradesh and now the same thing is happening in Ladakh. It is most shocking…” Will the Centre come clean on the issue?         

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Sikkim Getting Alienated

The Gorkhaland agitation in West Bengal is playing havoc with adjoining Sikkim. The State is like a time-bomb waiting to explode and its Chief Minister Pawan Chamling feels like a “hostage in his own country.” The exasperation is a fallout of the frequent blockades of NH-31A—the only road connecting Sikkim to the rest of the country—by protestors seeking a separate State of Gorkhaland. The exasperation was spelt out by Chamling in a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week in the Capital. In his record fourth term in office, Chamling warned that the blockades were hurting the State’s economy with a huge reduction in the tourist inflow and worse the discontent amongst the locals could be exploited by miscreants to disturb peace in the sensitive State. “People are at the complete mercy of these so-called agitators… a sense of frustration and alienation is slowly creeping in”, he said and urged the Centre to “establish governance” in the region and see to it that the National Highway was kept open by force. Else, his hard work of over 15 years of emotionally integrating the Sikkimese people with India could get washed out!       

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Bihar Congress Goes Casteist 

The Bihar Congress has raked a most unfortunate controversy in post-Independent India. In its jumbo list of PCC office-bearers, the Party has specified caste names against all 562 office-bearers, in utter disregard of the Constitution and the laws against use of caste names under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) act. Worse, it has named Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as its Permanent Invitee, violating the basic norm that Constitutional authorities cannot hold any Party post. Additionally, it has put her caste name (she belongs to the Dalit community) in the list issued last week. While the AICC denies her name being on the list, it justifies the use of caste names. AICC in-charge of Bihar, Jagdish Tytler explains: “We had to name the castes because out of 45 castes (in the State), barely four have been dominating the PCC so far. We did it to ensure representation of all castes.” So much for General Secretary Rahul Gandhi’s much-touted advocacy of politics of development rather than caste and religion.  

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SP Bites Dust In UP

Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh’s woes seem never ending. His party is on the brink of being whitewashed in Uttar Pradesh. In  the Legislative Council polls held last week, the party got an incredible drubbing. It barely managed to win just one out of the 33 seats. As against this, his bete noire and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s BSP won 31 seats. The Congress too won just one seat, namely that of Rae Barelli. But it lost the Sultanpur seat which includes Rahul Gandhi’s constituency, Amethi. The BJP drew a blank.  Though the Council polls traditionally favour ruling parties, the SP’s defeat has become important in the wake of his General Secretary Amar Singh’s resignation from the post. Shockingly, the SP could not even win the seats in Maulayam’s home turf of Ballia, Deoria and Etawah. Important for Mayawati, the strength of the BSP has gone up to 53 in the 100-member Legislative council. The ruling party can now push through whatever legislation it wants without the fear of rejection by the Council!

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Manipur Schools Finally Open

Normalcy has finally returned to educational institutions in Manipur. Students, parents and teachers have heaved a sigh of relief, following the re-opening of schools and colleges, shut since September last. This follows a Memorandum of Understanding between the State government and Apunba Lup, an umbrella body of 23 organizations on Friday last. Accordingly, board and annual exams will be held as per the regular schedule and the losses to be made up through special classes. The Apunba Lup had given a call for the boycott of educational institutions as part of its agitation to protest an alleged fake encounter in which a reformed militant and a pregnant woman were killed in the BT Road locality of Imphal on July 23. The State government has agreed to release all 15 persons arrested during the agitation and adequately compensate for the losses to the family of killed woman.

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Maha Kumbh In Haridwar

A sea of humanity has flooded Haridwar, the pilgrim town of Uttarakhand. On Thursday last, the Maha Kumbh, the biggest congregation of Hindus once every 12 years began, with an estimated five lakh devotees taking a dip in the Ganga and ‘washing away their sins’. The ritual began at midnight sharp at Brahma Kund, a large pond at the ancient Har ki Pauri, on the banks of the Ganga. The Kumbh has 11 bathing dates, will end on April 28 and by then would have drawn six crore devotees—a crore more than the last Kumbh in 1998. The State has earmarked a budgetary allocation of Rs 525 crores for the festivities, which will be held amidst tight security as the Maha Kumbh has been on the terror list for long. The town has been divided into 32 sectors. Over 4,000 policemen from several States, paramilitary forces, crack intelligence and anti-terror units have been deployed. Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” too has sent a much-needed advisory to all States: “No one should come to the Kumbh as a VIP for it would weaken the security. Please come as commoners and enjoy the bliss of god.” ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)