Round The States
New Delhi, 2 July 2007
Vote of Confidence
in Goa
A FRAUD ON THE
CONSTITUTION
By Insaf
Last week’s vote of confidence in the 40-member Goa Assembly
was indeed a blatant and scandalous fraud on the Constitution. The Speaker is supposed
to represent the dignity of the House and uphold democracy. Yet he made a mockery
of the system and the well-established rule that a Government must enjoy the
confidence of the House. Speaker Pratapsinh Rane bailed out the shaky
Congress-led Government of Digambar Kamat by brazenly disallowing three MLAs to
vote, before the floor test. Of these, two belonging to the Maharshtrawadi
Gomantak Party were well within their rights to withdraw support to the
Government. Worse, Rane went a step further and cast his vote in favour of the Government
even though the motion had already been passed by a voice vote in the absence
of the Opposition, which had walked out.
That is not all. The Speaker, obviously under heavy pressure
from his Congress bosses in New Delhi,
also went against the clear directions of the Governor, S C Jamir. The Governor
had informed the Goa Democratic Front, led by leader of the Opposition, Manohar
Parrikar that he had asked the Speaker to ensure that the floor test was conducted before any other business. He had
also appointed observers to oversee the voting. Yet Speaker Rane went his own
way, leading the Opposition to demand that Jamir should undo the constitutional
mess and dismiss the Kamat Government. The matter has now gone before the
Supreme Court which is due to take it up early next week. Clearly, the future
of India’s
young democracy is at stake!
* * * *
First Time In
Nagaland
There is fresh hope for durable peace in Nagaland. The latest
round of talks between the Centre and the National Socialist Council of
Nagaland (IM) earlier this week has taken a positive turn. For the first time
in its history of ten years of parleys, the two sides met across the table in Nagaland. Initially, the NSCN
leaders insisted on talks only on foreign soil – Amsterdam
or Bangkok. Last
year, they agreed to meet in New Delhi.
The visit this time to Dimapur by the NSCN (IM) leaders, headed by Isak Chishi
Swu and Muivah, has not only given peace a new thrust, but more importantly provided
the leaders and the local people an opportunity to interact and understand each
others feelings and outlook. Importantly, the ceasefire has been extended
“indefinitely.”
Information available shows that the Dimapur parleys were marked
by an encouraging outcome. The NSCN(IM) appears to have more or less, agreed to the Centre’s firm stand that its demand
for sovereignty is “unacceptable” and that a solution would have to be found within
the framework of the Constitution. The NSCN (IM) seems agreeable to remaining a
part of India
but insists that this would have to be on the basis of a “special federal
relationship”. This is not going to be easy for New Delhi
to accept in view of the basic fact that India, according to the Constitution,
is a Union of States and not a federation.
In fact, the word federation does not occur anywhere in the
Constitution. Moreover, conceding a “federal relationship” would open a
Pandora’s box for the Centre. More and more States are now demanding “federal
powers.”
* * * *
Falling Democratic
Norms
Recent events in Andhra Pradesh too smack of falling democratic
norms and standards. Time was when members of its State Assembly and the
Council observed the highest standards of decorum. Both the leader of the House
and the leader of the Opposition refrained from making personal allegations against
each other. But this lasted only till the Telugu Desam came to power. Chandrababu
Naidu as the TDP Chief Minister had spats with the present incumbent, Dr. Y.S.
Rajasekhar Reddy, then leader of the
Opposition. Last week Naidu once again found himself at the receiving end when Dr.
Reddy went to the extent of saying that Naidu’s mother would be sorry for
having given birth to him. Expectedly, this led to an upheaval. Fortunately,
good sense prevailed on all sides. Dr. Reddy tendered an unconditional apology
and Naidu accepted it -- and returned to the House. But the incident has left an
appalling mark on the Vidhan Soudha.
Land for the
Landless
Landless labourers across the States are now aggressively
beginning to assert their rights. After Nandigram in West
Bengal, big trouble is brewing in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
On Saturday last, eight persons were killed and six injured in police firing in
Mudigonda village, in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh, during a rally called
by the Left parties to “distribute land to the poor”. In Tamil Nadu, the
villagers in Sattankulam town, in Tututicorin District have decided to go on a
fast on August 10, to oppose the acquisition of about 11,000 acres by the Tata
group for its Rs 2,500-crore titanium-dioxide project. They plan to fight it
out. One common factor stands out in all these incidents: the protest is for
land, not money. While politicians in the three States are using the incidents
to gain political mileage, they appear to be missing the wood for the trees. A
new movement demanding land for the landless is taking shape.
Labourers & Tourists Flee Kashmir?
Tourism and development have been witnessing a revival in trouble-torn
Kashmir. Sadly, however both appear to be in
for fresh trouble. A blast in a tourist bus in the Valley on Sunday last, is
likely to see holiday goers packing their bags and leaving. A repeat of what
happened last summer after a similar attack, in which 16 people were killed.
Tourists from Gujarat, a major influx, and
other States simply cancelled their bookings, causing losses and heartburn
amongst hoteliers and houseboat owners.
Worse, Kashmir is
witnessing a massive exodus of workers thanks to the “Quit Kashmir” notice to migrant
labourers by the Hizbul Mujahadeen. The call that they must leave Kashmir within a week follows an incident in which a
schoolgirl was allegedly raped by two migrant labourers. The threat is bound to
affect construction activity in the Valley, which started picking up during the
Chief Ministership of Mufti Mohd. Sayeed. This should be a cause of serious
concern to the present successor Government of Ghulam Nabi Azad. With three-and-a-half
lakh migrant labourers sustaining the Valley’s “construction boom” of roads,
bridges and much else, the Government can ill-afford to let the Mujahadeen have
their way.
Monsoon Playing
Havoc
Incessant rains
across the north-eastern region
continue to play havoc in some States. The flood situation in Assam
and Bihar is getting from bad to worse, with
over 11 lakh and 28 lakh people getting affected respectively. Meghalaya and
Garwhal are trying to cope with landslides. Threat of flood looms large in
Uttar Pradesh, with already 25 people having died in rain-related incidents. Over
5000 pilgrims to Badrinath were stranded. Over 26,000 hectares of crop has got
submerged in Assam. The Army
has been put on alert in Bihar. Rivers in West
Bengal’s Cooch Behar
district are flowing above the danger mark. And, Kerala has suffered losses of Rs 15,000 crore. While the State Administration
is working round-the-clock viz rescue operations and disaster management, the
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has found a novel way to get relief.
Last Sunday he threatened to stage a dharna outside the Prime Minister’s House
at 7 Race Course Road
if the Centre continued to ignore his demand for monsoon disaster aid. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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