Round The
States
New Delhi, 1 July, 2017
Mob Lynching
STOP: CITIZENS TO CENTRE
By Insaf
Enough is enough! This
is the terse message ordinary citizens across State capitals have sent to the
Centre. Thousands of people joined the ‘Not In My Name’ campaign started on
social media to protest against the growing culture of mob lynching in the garb
of nationalism and cow protection. In fact, the lynching of young Junaid Khan
in a train this week came as the latest shocker. Students, artists, activists were
among people from different walks of life who chose not to just put posts but
came on to the streets on Wednesday last for their voice to be heard. Be it the
national capital Delhi, or Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jaipur,
Lucknow et al the mood was of grave concern. “This is not the India we want”,
was the cry. What is significant is that the gathering across the capitals was
not Opposition-sponsored. Handful of political leaders joined the protest but
in their personal capacity, because this was no occasion to earn brownie
points. Importantly, the outrage against attacks on human dignity was peaceful
with no sloganeering. Those gathered let placards speak a thousand words and a
few others chose to make short speeches to drive home their claim as Indian
citizens. Time New Delhi hears the cry, lest it becomes a shrill.
* * * *
WB
Leads GST Rebuff
West Bengal’s Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee plays party pooper again. Her announcement of TMC
boycotting Parliament’s midnight session to rollout GST had other Opposition
parties following. The Congress, which could take credit of mooting the idea of
GST in its heydays, the Left, DMK, RJD, BSP and SP too boycotted, barring the
JD(U). While Didi was peeved over the “unnecessary hurry of the Centre” and
called it an ‘epic blunder’, the Congress called it “'grand
self-promoting tamasha”! In fact, it accused the Modi government of
‘insulting’ India's freedom struggle, as the previous three midnight
functions had to do with the country’s independence, which the BJP will have no
relevance as it played no role. On a
serious note though, the common refrain was that SMEs would be hit hard as
the preparation for the launch were shoddy and nation wasn’t prepared.
Incidentally, GST Council head Bengal Finance Minister Mitra, asserted his
requests to defer the rollout fell on deaf ears and the country is what his
party was concerned with. Expectedly, there was a quid-pro-quo, with Finance
Minister Jaitley’s plea of a rethink on participation finding no takers amongst
the Opposition. Wonder what lies ahead for GST, in its tryst with destiny.
* * * *
Bihar
Intrigues
Developments in Bihar
continue to shroud in mystery. On two counts: why Chief Minister Nitish Kumar chose
to back NDA Presidential candidate, and, two whether the JD(U)-RJD alliance
will remain intact? Reports emanating about the Centre resolving a dispute
between Patna and Ranchi since 2000 over who gets Bihar Niwas in Delhi has
raised eyebrows. The BJP-ruled Jharkhand government has now been convinced by
Union Home and Urban Development Ministries to give up its claim to the 32-room
Niwas in lieu of compensation. The timing is intriguing-- a week before he
announced support for Kovind. A quid-pro quo, is a question doing the rounds?
On the other front, while both Nitish and Lalu claim the presidential poll will
not impact ties, the two parties are again going in different directions. The
RJD has said it will not participate in the midnight GST rollout in Parliament,
the JD(U) will be present. Predictably, relations are far from hunky dory. Will
there be more nails in the mahagatbandhan
coffin?
* * * *
Chhattisgarh
Farm Woes
It is now the turn of
Chhattisgarh to face the heat on farmers’ suicides. With the toll rising to 11
in the past two weeks alone, the BJP government’s denial that these are not agrarian-related
has no takers. The Opposition Congress has challenged the Raman Singh
administration saying its investigation committee has come to the firm
conclusion that these were related to “excessive debt”. And, demanded Rs one crore
compensation to families, debts and electricity dues of farmers be waived and
they be given paddy bonus of past three years. Alongside, the Chhattisgarh
Kisan Mazdoor Sangh too has stepped in. On Tuesday last it served a week’s
ultimatum to State Agriculture Minister in Raipur to tour the villages where
the suicides have taken place to “find out whether the reasons were
non-agrarian” as he claims. Obviously, the pressure is building and the government
can ill-afford to simply ‘regret the untimely deaths’. Will it too have to go
Maharashtra, UP, Karnataka’s way or will it ride the wave?
* * * *
Delhi
Assembly Tamasha
Fisticuffs have sadly
become the rule in Delhi’s Legislative Assembly. Months after dissident leader
Kapil Mishra was manhandled by AAP MLAs and evicted from the House, two
visitors got a taste of the same medicine. On Wednesday, the two -- an AAP
candidate in 2013 and the other a party worker from Punjab, indulged in
‘contempt of the House’ by throwing pamphlets from the visitors’ gallery and
shouting slogans against Health Minister Satyendra Jain, who is being probed by
CBI for alleged corruption. While rightly they were evicted from the Assembly,
what followed is unacceptable. Some AAP MLAs went after the two, thrashed them,
with one eventually having to be taken out on a stretcher by the police. While
the Speaker has in a letter to Central prison at Tihar asked the two workers be
sentenced to 30-day rigorous imprisonment, following a motion being passed by
the House, the big question is how does he propose to deal with the angry,
unruly MLAs?
* * * *
Haryana
Mindset
Haryana restates that
some things never change. In today’s modern world, the Jat-dominated State
takes pleasure in its women being in ghoonghat
(veil)! Worse, it’s not just the men folk but the Government itself, which
seeks to stereotype its women and customs. Obviously, it should draw flak and
it does. A photo-caption “Ghooghat ki aan
baan mhara Haryana ki pehchaan” (pride of the veil is the identity of my
Haryana) in the State’s monthly magazine, has women and social activists up in
arms, after it went viral on the social media. They have demanded the photo be
removed and an apology tendered. Rightly so, as the women have carved a niche
for themselves — be it the Phogat sisters (of Dangal fame) or Manushi Chillar (wearing Femina Miss World crown).
Caught on the wrong foot, the Khattar government is ‘investigating’ the issue,
even as it says the ghoonghat tradition
is practised in many parts of the State. Be that as it may, it certainly cannot
be the State’s crowning glory. All eyes need to be on the magazine’s next
issue. ---INFA
(Copyright, India
News and Feature Alliance)
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