Round The States

New Delhi, 23 September 2010

All-Party Visit To J&K

A REALITY CHECK, WHAT NEXT?

By Insaf

A reality check, indeed. That is how one can best describe the two-day visit of the all-party Parliamentary delegation to Jammu and Kashmir last week. New Delhi gathered some idea of the agony of the aam Kashmiri as well as had its first interaction with the separatists in their home town. “Why are you firing bullets at us…Why are we being labelled Pakistanis…Give us our azaadi or kill us”, were some of the harsh barbs thrown at the MPs way by handpicked locals. As for the separatists, their line remained as before. Ali Shah Geelani insisted the Centre accept Kashmir as a “disputed territory”, withdraw the security forces and release political prisoners, if it wanted to restore normalcy. The moderate faction under Mirwaiz Umar Farooq suggested it was time for Parliament to take bold decisions and initiate a sustained dialogue for resolving the problem. Sadly, the Kashmiris too got an idea of New Delhi’s politics and one-upmanship. The 42-member delegation was divided on meeting the separatists. While one group claimed it had met them as part of a decision of the delegation, another said it had acted individually.  The big question before New Delhi is how to make this attempt successful in ushering in peace. What next?  

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Gujarat’s Message To Bihar

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP have a good case to quell Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s fears in regard to the former’s campaigning in the forthcoming Bihar Assembly polls. On Saturday last, Modi led his party to an impressive victory in the byelection in Kathlal, a traditional bastion of the Congress. His candidate won by a margin of over 21,000 votes, sending a strong message to his detractors: Gujarat’s development-oriented politics have takers even among the Muslims. Besides, the win gave the BJP ammunition against the Congress. The recent arrest of Modi’s close aide and former Home Minister Amit Shah by the CBI in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case has made no dent in its image. Modi has claimed that 65 per cent Muslims supported the BJP in this poll. Will this cut ice with Nitish?  Will the JD(U) still insist on stopping Modi from canvassing in the October Bihar Assembly elections fearing he would dent his Muslim vote bank?

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Naga Historic Peace Pact

The Naga underground movement for a sovereign State has received a major boost. For the first time, top leaders of the three rebel groups met on Saturday last in Dimapur. The trio-- the NSCN(IM) General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah, the NSCN (K) Prime Minister N Kitovi Zhimomi and Naga National Council Secretary Brig. (Retd.) S Singnya signed a historic “Covenant of Reconciliation”. They agreed to “reconcile” on the basis of the “historic and political rights of the Nagas” and thereby iron out their differences as well as cease all forms of hostilities, including territorial expansion. The historic meeting was facilitated by the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR), which has been struggling towards this goal for years. So far, it has successfully made the rebel groups understand that “all of them were part of the jig-saw puzzle of the Naga nation and everyone has a role to play.” These past years several Nagas have died in violent clashes especially in clashes between the NSCN (IM) and the NSCN (K).

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Delhi, Nation’s Shame?

Delhi, which is to host the Commonwealth Games eight days from now, is in a disgusting mess. If the mind-boggling corruption charges were not embarrassing enough for the Organising Committee, it is now faced with the threat of international athletes crying off. Lax security, unsafe construction, unlivable conditions etc stare the Games in the face in the last leg of preparation. On Sunday last, two Taiwanese tourists were injured in a firing incident in Jama Masjid area. On Tuesday last, the foot over-bridge in the main event venue, Jawaharlal Nehru stadium came crashing down, injuring 27 workers. A day later tiles of the false ceiling of the weightlifting arena fell off. The same day an Australian journalist was able to walk through security carrying a suitcase with explosives in a sting operation. The Games village, which is being touted as better than Beijing’s, has been denounced as “filthy” and “uninhabitable” by some teams already in. Till last week, Union Sports Minister MS Gill had maintained: “The honour of the country is at stake…We will have great games”. Hope he doesn’t end up eating his words!

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Karnataka Reshuffle Smooth

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yedyurappa can heave a sigh of relief. The reshuffle of his 28-month-old ministry turned out easier than expected. On Wednesday last, he inducted six ministers, including confidante Shobha Karandlaje, who was ousted following demands of the dissident Reddy brothers. In fact,  a day earlier Yeddyurappa finally took up the challenge of the Bellary mining magnates, Tourism Minister G Janardhana Reddy and Revenue Minister G Karunakara Reddy by sacking three ministers, who were their supporters. Instead of staging a revolt on grounds that the three ministers had helped the BJP government get a majority after the May 2008 elections, the Reddy brothers were left saying “We are happy with the party decision!” Not only has this increased the strength of the Government to 34, it has sent out a strong message to his detractors that he is in full command.

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West Bengal Lacks Courtesy?

West Bengal politics has sadly said goodbye to good manners and basic courtesies, thanks to the turf war between the Trinamool Congress and the ruling CPM which dipped to its lowest ebb on Wednesday last. At the end, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee chose not to attend the State banquet hosted by the Governor for President Pratibha Patil, raising many eyebrows both in Kolkata and New Delhi. Instead, he sent his Minister-in-Waiting for President, Taran Das to the banquet. The CM’s decision is being seen as a reaction to his being kept away by TMC chief and Union Railway, Minister Mamata Banerjee from the foundation stone-laying ceremony for a new Metro rail project in the city by President Patil. Apparently, it the first time that West Bengal or, for that matter any State, has witnessed such a situation. It is by and large being construed as a lack of courtesy, if not a breach of protocol. Not a few blame Mamata and her unpredictable histrionics for what came to pass unfortunately.---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)