Round The States

New Delhi, 6 March 2008

Sons Of Soil Issue

TURNING INTO A HOT POTATO

By Insaf

The ‘sons of soil’ issue in Maharashtra refuses to die down. With the Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray firing the latest salvo by targeting the Biharis asserting that they were an 'unwanted lot' in all parts of the country. “Not only Maharashtra, they are not wanted in southern India, Assam, Punjab and Chandigarh,” he thundered. Challenging RJD Chief Lallu to perform Chhat Puja in Mumbai, the Sena leader added for good measure, “Those who have turned Bihar into hell should not try teach nationalism to Maharashtra.” Predictably, Thackeray’s comments reverberated in both Houses of Parliament with Lalu’s RJD MPs giving a notice of breach of privilege against Thackeray, accusing him of "lowering the dignity of MPs as also Parliament” And the Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee stating that such references amounted to contempt of the House.

In fact, the issue is fast turning into a hot potato for both the State and Central Government. Notwithstanding, the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil statement in the Lok Sabha on Monday that Mumbai is built by people of all regions and belongs to all. Making plain that the Centre would not allow any Party to target migrants anywhere in the country he added, “No one can be stopped or restricted from going to any place of work.” Taking a cue from this, the Maharashtra police served a show cause notice to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray asking him to explain why the gag order enforced on him following his anti-North Indian agitation should not be extended. Clearly with the Shiv Sena supremo trying to recapture his Party’s 'Marathi sons' plank, hijacked by nephew Raj the last word has still to be said!

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No Arms To Fight Naxals In Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh’s best known secret has now got the official seal. No less that the Chief Minister Raman Singh confessed that “some 50-odd police stations located in the Dandkarenya forests running through its inter-state borders of Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Maharashtra have to fight the AK-47 and SLR-wielding Naxalite guerrillas with just batons.”  Adding that the police were denied arms and ammunition because of fear that they may be snatched or looted by the Naxals. Shockingly, the decision not to give arms to certain police stations in the “orange” and “green” zones was justified on two counts. One, it was to ensure fire power availability for the arms-strapped Central forces and the police to take on the Naxalites. Two, the risk of the innocent villager being caught in the crossfire between Naxals and the police was minimised.  Never mind, that the State’s ‘no-arms’ policy has cost the State dearly with scores of policemen and innocent villagers being killed by the militants. Even as the State prepares for what could be its biggest counter-operation against Left-wing extremists.

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The Telangana Statehood issue is hotting up again with Parties gearing up for General elections next year, if not earlier. All four Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MPs resigned from the Lok Sabha on Monday and 16 of its 26 MLAs and 3 MLCs followed suit the next day. The reason: Sonia Gandhi and UPA Government’s “betrayal of promises made to the people of the Telangana region. In the 2004 Assembly elections the TRS President K Chandrasekhara Rao had formed an alliance with the Congress and joined the Government both in the State and at the Centre. In 2006 it withdrew its support to the UPA on the grounds of being cheated and set 6 March as the deadline for the Centre to

start the process of carving out a separate Telangana. Will the resignations help the cause? While their numbers may not rock the boat at the Centre and State, it could affect the vote banks in the coming polls. Moreover, it could help the TRS to carve out an alliance with the BJP, which is supporting their demand for Statehood.

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Home Coming For Pandits 

Winds of change are blowing in the Kashmir Valley. After 18-long years, displaced Pandits are finally getting a roof over their heads they can call their own again. On Monday last, 26 non-migrant Kashmiri Pandit families moved into the Valley’s first exclusive “safe zone” Pandit’s colony in Sheikhpora, on the outskirts of Srinagar. About 200 families would shift into the colony, with 16-feet high walls and guarded, in the first phase of the rehabilitation package of the J&K Government. With terrorism taking roots in 1989 in the State, the minority Pandits were forced to flee their homes and live in wretched dwellings. Migrants in their own country, the Pandits may never get what they lost, but if their Kashmiri Muslim neighbours so desire, their return could be a major step forward towards normalcy. 

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Nagaland Goes To Polls

Not only has Nagaland had a record polling of over 85 per cent, but it has been the “most peaceful” election for the 60-member Assembly. The two underground factions of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim had asked its cadres to keep away from the poll process. The troubled North-Eastern State is poised to have a popular Government again after President’s rule was imposed this January. Whether a new Government will help the peace talks between the Centre and the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-I-M) is to be seen. Much however, depends on whether the Congress yields on its election promise of integrating all the Naga-inhabited areas or it turns out to be just another poll gimmick? Specially against the backdrop of the Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s assertion that there was enough space in the Indian Constitution to find an amicable solution. Rebutting this, the NSCN-I-M argues, “It is the very Constitution which has divided the Naga people,” and 10 years of ceasefire has passed “simply like that” without any significant progress. 

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Mob Fury In Bihar

Mob fury is ever-increasing in Bihar. Two boys were beaten and shot dead by villagers as they tried to flee after killing a man in Teka Bigha, in Patna district and a man was lynched by villagers in Munger district after he shot dead a school boy in a drunken state on Monday last. Shockingly, the two boys were lynched just 4 km away from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s backyard Bakhtiarpur. Recall, in September last 10 suspected thieves were lynched by villagers in Vaishali, another person was lynched ten days later in Gopalganj and yet one more in October. Needless Police enforcements have been sent and patrolling has been intensified, says the Patna Police. The horrific incidents once again underscore that there is no rule of law in the State despite intensification of police patrolling and more forces.

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 “Dirty” Delhi

It’s bad news for Delhi. The country’s Capital has been tagged as one of the dirtiest cities in the world. The rating comes from none other than the Forbes magazine. In its report dated 22 February 2008, the renowned magazine rates Delhi as the “24^th dirtiest city.” Obviously, the “filthy waters of the Yamuna and its unhealthy surroundings” haven’t gone unnoticed by the magazine. The report consults Mercer’s Health and Sanitation rankings Quality of Life report, 2007 in which Delhi scores a sad 46.6 on health and sanitation index while the most polluted city Baku in Azerbaijan scored 27.6. With Delhi to play host to the Commonwealth Games 2010, its time the municipal authorities clean up their act.  ---- INFA

(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)