Round The
States
New Delhi, 28
November 2020
Farmers Vs State Power
EMPATHY, NOT AUTHORITY CRUCIAL
By Insaf
All eyes are on the farmers
versus State power battle. The two-day “Delhi Chalo’ protests against the new
farm bills have caught the attention of the country, with social media
channelling the determination and grit of the sons of the soil to brave the
wrath of State governments. In particular, the Haryana government and its
police used every trick to stop thousands of the marchers-- cement and steel
barricades, parked trucks on the road, water cannon and teargas shells, trenches,
boulders etc. But the wave is unstoppable as the angry farmer from Haryana and
Punjab in thousands is prepared to take on the mighty and is coming prepared with
his ration of food, water to lay siege on Delhi. In Uttar Pradesh, separate
rallies from Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand were also stopped, but national
capital has finally bowed down. With the farmers’ rubbishing the Union
Agriculture Minister’s appeal for talks on December 3 and Delhi Chief Minister
Kejriwal refusing to give permission to the police to convert nine stadiums
into makeshift prisons for the protesting farmers, the Centre has buckled down
and allowed the farmers to protest at Nirankari grounds, Burari, north-west
Delhi. The Centre has also said it is open for dialogue, but the AIKSCC demands
action and withdrawal/amendments in the bills. Mere words and verbal
commitments will not suffice. Is Modi government willing to eat crow?
* * * *
Targeting
‘Love Jihad’
Three BJP-ruled
States have upped the ante against ‘love jihad’. Madhya Pradesh and Haryana are
not far behind Uttar Pradesh, where Yogi Adityanath’s Cabinet on Tuesday last,
approved the draft ordinance of a stringent law to deal with religious
conversion for sake of marriage. It’s no secret it boosts the Sangh parivar’s
ego and targets a community on make believe grounds that ‘Hindu women have been
converted forcibly by Muslim men on pretext of marriage’. While it entails a
1-5 year jail for violators, Madhya Pradesh wants to get more aggressive. Its
proposed Dharm Swatantrya (Religious Freedom) Bill 2020, entails a 10-year jail
term, parties concerned will have to submit an application to the DM before
conversion for marriage,” a five-year jail term for gurus, priests, maulvis and
kazis who will conduct such marriages, and that registration of organisations
conducting such marriages will be cancelled. The draft bill is expected to be
placed in Assembly session beginning December 28. The Khattar government in
Haryana has set up a 3-member committee to draft a law on similar lines. Guess
it won’t be difficult as Himachal Pradesh, MP and UP will provide ready
ammunition for the controversial toxic law.
* * * *
Bihar’s
Political Rumble
Signs of rumble
tumble in Bihar following the close fought election are already emerging. The
Speaker’s election witnessed high decibel commotion. Opposition mahagathbandhan not only raised a hue
and cry over Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s presence in the House (he’s a member
of Legislative Council), but demanded a secret ballot. The demands were shot
down by Pro-tem Speaker on grounds these were unfounded. BJP’s VK Sinha emerged
victorious defeating RJD candidate AB Choudhary. But there’s more than meets
the eye. The RJD was hoping that ‘conscience voting’ may tilt the scales in its
favour. However, the ‘Lalu tapes’ have muddied the waters. On Wednesday last,
Sushil Modi posted an audio tape of an alleged conversation between RJD supremo
Lalu Prasad Yadav, lodged in Ranchi jail and MLA Lalan Paswan, wherein Lalu is
“luring the NDA MLA to go missing for the voting, so that the Grand Alliance has its Speaker, then
topple the government and return he is promised a ministerial berth”. The tapes have gone viral and the IGP,
Jharkhand has sought an inquiry into the tapes. Be that as it may, guess this
is only a beginning. More dirt is expected to fly.
* * * *
BJP
Eyes Telangana ‘Gully Poll’
Baffling—an
expression to explain the line-up of BJP national leaders campaigning for Greater
Hyderabad Municipal Council poll! Not just the voter or observer, even ruling
TRS is intrigued at the length the BJP is going to in these ‘gully elections.’ Other
than himself, National President Nadda has Home Minister Amit Shah, Prakash
Javdekar, Smriti Irani, Yogi Adityanth, Devendra Fadnavis among others to
canvass and at stage even PM Modi’s charm was being considered. Plus, a list of
freebies: free tabs to poor families’ kids with free Wi-Fi facility for online studies,
free drinking water supply to all households; property tax waiver in all SC
colonies and slum areas, free metro and bus travel for women, free power supply
to those consuming less than 100 units of power etc are promised. Expectedly,
the TRS is neither leaving any stone unturned to retain power. It not only is
campaigning hard but has a big billed rally planned by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar
Rao. What needs attention, however, is Rao holding an emergency meeting with
top police officers on Wednesday last, alerting about a possible ‘conspiracy by
certain political elements to foment communal violence so that these polls are
deferred’! Should one read it as signs of weakness? The fear of BJP juggernaut
rolling here too is not ruled out.
* * * *
End
of Era In Assam
An era has ended. Assam
bid an emotional farewell to former three-term Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in a
25-km-long procession route and with full State hours on Thursday last in
capital Guwahati. Gogoi had not only a long innings as Chief Minister from 2001
to 2016 but was the State’s longest serving CM, who importantly was
instrumental in ushering peace and stability in the State after two decades of
insurgency. Considered a ‘secular leader in theory and practice’, his mortal
remains were taken to a church, namghar, mosque, temple and a Bihu function
field, as per his last wish. BJP Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal described
him as a ‘father figure’ and tributes from President to PM to various Chief
Ministers have poured in to the family. However, there hangs a question mark
over the future of the Congress in the State. Will son and MP Gaurav Gogoi be
able to fill the void?
* * * *
Gangsters’
Safe Haven
Looking for a safe
haven, eye Uttarakhand. It emerges gangsters are making the authorities
uncomfortable in this northern hill State. Recent cases of arrests suggest that
‘wanted’ men by the police in Delhi-NCR, Punjab and Haryana were hiding in some
of its cities, till they ran out of luck. These include three shooters wanted
in Haryana, a wanted gangster by Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi police, a dreaded
gangster from Punjab and some others, and all of whom carried a bounty ranging
from Rs 50000 to Rs 2 lakhs. Is it a result of poor vigilance by the police
force, is a question raised. No say the top brass. Criminals after committing a
crime in their State or wanted, normally escape to another State, is an
explanation. But the fact that arrests happened is a sign of the police’
efficiency and if one is to make a comparison of numbers nabbed in other
northern States, then Uttarakhand would have far less cases. Well argued, but a
close watch needs to be kept if the trend continues. Perhaps it may wane given
the ‘safe haven’ theory is given away.---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
|