Round The States
New
Delhi, 7 September 2019
Karnataka Catch
‘VENDETTA POLITICS’ ECHOS
By Insaf
Karnataka Congress,
till recently in power, is seething with anger. ‘Political vendetta’ by brute
BJP simply doesn’t seem to abate. The latest arrest by the ED is of its former
minister and trouble shooter D K Shivakumar over alleged money laundering. Expectedly,
the Congress needs to rally behind him. Not only because in the recent
political crisis of losing the coalition government in the State did Shivakumar
try to woo coalition dissidents and bring them back into the party fold, but
the targeting comes on the heels of the ED’s arrest of its tall national leader
and former Union Minister P Chidambaram. The protest in Karnataka by way of a
bandh call did manage some success. Protestors went on a rampage in the
leader’s Kanakapura constituency and few other parts of the State –staging
dharnas, pelting stones, damaging several buses, blocking movement on Bengaluru–Mysuru
highway leading to its closure etc. Schools and colleges were shut down on
Wednesday last across Ramanagara district, as a precautionary step. The common
refrain in the southern State and 10 Janpath being New Delhi was using government
agencies to target Opposition leaders.
The oft-heard charge of ‘vendetta politics” reverberates again. Will it
get louder with more “revengeful” arrests? Time, no days will tell.
* * * *
Hope-less Kashmir
The word ‘normalcy’
continues to dodge Kashmir. And thus three different groups of panchayat
members, representatives of J&K fruit growers and those displaced from PoK
met Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday last to share their concerns. Given the
nagging uncertainty, North Block did best what it does – give number of
assurances. These included, restoration of mobile and internet connectivity in
another 15-20 days; every panch/sarpanch (village head) vulnerable to terrorists’
threats to get police security and Rs 2 lakh insurance coverage each; their honorarium in the Valley to be raised;
nobody’s land would be taken away; government land to be used for setting up industries,
hospitals, educational institutions; recruitment for various government jobs to
start at the earliest with at least five jobs to go to youths from each village
on basis of merit; those relocated from PoK to be considered for inclusion in
scheme under which displaced families registered in J&K are given financial
assistance, etc. A long list alright, but with a month gone by and the Valley
remaining under siege, both sides would do well to remember the idiom: if
wishes were horses then beggars would ride!
* * * *
Assam’s NRC Conundrum
Assam’s NRC
Coordinator has ended up with more than what he bargained for. Not only is Prateek
Hajela on the firing line of the BJP and Congress for keeping out many Bengali
Hindus, but he now has to deal with two FIRs lodged against him. The final list
leaves a whopping over 19 lakh people, which is around 6% of the State’s entire
population, and come to think of it, twice of Nagaland’s population! While the
left-out need to appeal before the foreigners’ tribunals, the ruling BJP plans
to knock again on Supreme Court’s door for re-verification process in two
districts on a pilot basis to address the blunder. Till then, the Coordinator
needs to deal with the FIRs accusing him of “deliberately” excluding indigenous
people. One has been filed Asom Garia-Maria Yuba Chhatra Parishad and the other
by a member of the All India Legal Aid Foundation. They charge the process of
being “full of anomalies” such as three members of a family in and two out or one
son in and another out despite using the same legacy data, or armed forces
personnel excluded, etc. Unmistakably absurd! Relief, how and when is the big
question.
* * * *
Arunachal Bridge Bogey?
Ruling BJP in
Arunachal Pradesh should have South Block fretting. Its MP and State party
President Tapir Gao insists Chinese soldiers had built a “wooden bridge nearly
75 km inside Indian territory”. The Army rubbishes it with “no such incursion.”
Gao’s claim is based on a local villager, who had sighted the bridge when he
went to the woods to fish/hunt and sent him a video. As the area’s representative,
Gao says he can’t hide it and even spells out the location of the bridge. Incursion,
he adds is a regular phenomenon” and ‘PLA troops had entered in other areas,
too!” On the other hand, Army explains: the area referred to is called “Fish
Tail”; there is a differing perception of LoC alignment, as in many other areas;
patrolling is from either side; civilian hunters/herb collectors also frequent
there during summer months; there is no permanent presence of either Chinese
soldiers or civilians there and surveillance is maintained by our troops. The
MP counters insisting there are no nearby villages and local villagers know who
has built bridges. Whom to believe and will South Block step in to bridge the
gap?
* * * *
Rajasthan HRC Bizarre Order
The Rajasthan Human
Rights Commission needs to get real. It advices governments to prohibit women
from opting for live-in relationships! Reason: such women need protection
through a law as they could be treated as “concubines”. The two-member bench
order on Wednesday last, said governments’ duty is to protect women from “harms
of live-in relationship,” as “keeping a woman as a concubine is against her
dignity because this word is tantamount to character assassination.” Plus, “life
as a concubine is not right to life and such a woman cannot protect her
fundamental rights.” It suggested awareness campaigns against such
relationships, and even spelt out specifics for a law for cohabiting: “eligibility
of partners; how such relationships will be known to people at-large; procedure
of registration; and how these relationships can be ended after a mandatory
counseling,” It forgets, last year the Supreme Court approved adult couples’
right to live-in and such relationships were recognised by Protection of Women
from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Will State Chief Secretary (Home) adhere to
the order? It would be best to bury it under files or consider the
dustbin.
* * * *
Not Fine, Sir
Traffic police is
having a field day across the country. With the new Motor Vehicles Act in place
since September 1, hefty challans
(fines) are being imposed, raising questions about the justification of the
penalty. A few examples: A scooty driver fined Rs 16,000 in Haryana’s Kaithal
district for having ‘no documents’ and his scooty impounded; a two-wheeler in
Gurugram fined Rs 23,000 for ‘not wearing a helmet and no Registration
Certificate’, an auto-rickshaw driver in Bhubaneswar fined Rs 47,500 for
different violations--driving under influence of liquor, had no valid driving
licence, registration certification, permit, pollution under control
certificate and insurance. How would they pay up such hefty fines? The Odiya
auto driver provides an answer: “I can’t pay such huge penalty, let them seize
my vehicle (bought for Rs 25,000 a week ago) or send me to jail.” A re-think is
critical as there is bound to be over-crowding -- of impounded vehicles, in
courts and even jails. It can’t be fine, even if it is to instill road
discipline. Union Transport Minister Gadkari must see the signal. --- INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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