Round The State
New Delhi, 20
November 2021
Farm Laws
&Sikh Pilgrims
WOOING
PUNJAB ELECTORATE
By Insaf
Will protesting
farmers in Punjab take the bait or send a strong message they aren’t fools? The
timing of decisions by both Centre and State governments apparently don’t hide
the real intent—of wooing one of the biggest vote banks before the ensuing Assembly
polls. On Friday last, Prime Minister Modi ‘apologised’ and announced the
decision to repeal the three contentious laws, formalities for which will be
completed during the Parliament session beginning month-end. A victory for the
farmers alright! Earlier on Tuesday last, the Centre announced reopening of the
Kartarpur corridor to ‘benefit large numbers of Sikh pilgrims’. A day later,
the ruling Congress announced its decision to cancel FIRs against farmers --
protesting against the farm laws and
involved in stubble burning, despite the air quality reaching dangerous
levels.
For the BJP, the two
decisions reveal it had to do something drastic to make ground in Punjab,
particularly with farmers and that too Sikhs, who were seething with anger.
Chief Minister Channi’s decision appears to be aimed at trying to halt farmers
from leaning towards his predecessor Amarinder Singh, who is said to have been
working on the Modi government on withdrawal of the laws. While it’s too early
to say which way the wind will eventually blow, political parties’ delegations
are making a beeline for paying obeisance at Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib.
Channi led a Jatha of his Cabinet on Thursday and a 21-member team of local BJP
leaders did so before him. However, AAP sees politics being played as its team
was denied permission on Friday. More will follow. Whose prayers will Baba
Nanak heed to, time will tell.
* * * * * * *
Kashmir Admin Rattled
A rattled Kashmir
administration yields. On Thursday evening, bodies of two civilians, who
were killed in an encounter in Srinagar’s Hyderpora were exhumed by the
authorities and returned to the families, to give them a dignified burial at
least. Equally important is that J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha
ordered a magisterial inquiry tweeting the ‘admin reiterates commitment of
protecting lives of innocent civilians & it will ensure there is no
injustice.” However, the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) has demanded
a judicial probe saying the LG’s inquiry “cannot be fair”… and that ‘people and
leadership of the country rise in defence of democratic rights of citizens of
India from J&K as well as there is a need to share this pain of Kashmir
before it is too late. The inquiry into the Hyderpora encounter follows amidst
protests by family members of three of the four persons killed on Monday last,
as they insist it was cold-blooded murder of innocent civilians, they were not “terror
associates”, as police claim, who used them as ‘human shields’. Political
parties too joined in the protest, demanding justice. The Centre needs to keep
its promise of ‘winning hearts of people,’and it can do so only if it gives it
an honest shot.
* * * * * * *
Chinese Checkers In Arunachal
Is Arunachal
Pradesh’s boundary being undermined, is a big question which begs an honest
answer from New Delhi. In fact, the north eastern State needs to knock hard on
the doors of both North and South Blocks as a report by NDTV on Thursday
last reveals new satellite images of a second Chinese settlement consisting of
60-odd buildings within its territory! The enclave, in Shi Yomi district, lies
6 km within India, between the LAC and international boundary which each
country claims as its own territory. Satellite images of the same area from
March 2019, says the news channel, don’t show any such settlement, thus
suggesting it was constructed within the past year. The NDTV report confirms
the coordinates of the new enclave ‘fall within Indian territory as recorded by
Union government’s official map service, Bharatmaps as well as official data
from the Survey of India website.’ However, the Army is in denial mode and
claims the enclave “lies to the North of LAC in Chinese territory.” Is it yet
again choosing to look the other way? For the existence of a first such
settlement, 93 km of the latest one, as revealed in January, was confirmed by a
Pentagon report, making explicit reference to a 100-home civilian village
constructed in AP in 2020. The government then had reacted sharply to that
report, stating “China has undertaken construction activities in the past
several years along the border areas, including in the areas that it has
illegally occupied over the decades. India has neither accepted such illegal
occupation of our territory, nor has it accepted the unjustified Chinese
claims.” Not accepting, is like behaving like an ostrich. Time both Home and
External Affairs Ministries stop burying their head in the sand! It like
Beijing must “resolutely safeguard national integrity,” the Indian turf.
* * * * * * *
WB Slams Centre
West Bengal has yet
again slammed the Centre for interfering in the country’s federal structure. On
Tuesday last, the Assembly passed a resolution against New Delhi’s decision to
extend BSF jurisdiction from 15 km stretch to 50 km, becoming the second State
to do so after Punjab.The resolution said ‘the House believed that increasing
the BSF’s jurisdiction was against the country’s federal structure, as law and
order is a State subject…the notification exceeded the provision of the BSF Act
and it would lead to coordination issues between the State police and BSF.’ Demanding
the decision be withdrawn immediately, State Parliamentary Affairs Minister
Partha Chatterjee said “We have nothing against the BSF as a force, there are
many good officers, but at the same time, there are others who torture people
residing near the border. This is an attempt by the Centre to control a portion
of the state.” Plus, he wondered if the BSF ‘is unable to control infiltration
and illegal activities within 15 km, how is it possible it will succeed in
doing it within 50 km!’ Be that as it may, a TMC MLA’s accusation that the BSF
personnel touched women inappropriately in garb of frisking led to a furore
with BJP MLAs accusing the TMC of insulting the security forces and wanted the
remark be expunged. Predictably, it wasn’t as the tu tu mein mein
between the TMC and BJP shall be a never-ending story. What comes of the
resolution eventually needs to be watched.
* * * * * * *
Good & Bad of Policing
Nothing changes in
Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The two States have scored the lowest in overall
policing, as per a nationwide survey by independent think-tank, Indian Police
Foundation. The survey which reached out to over 1.61 lakh people over past 5
months, both online and offline, reveals that southern and some Northeast States
fared better on most policing indices --IPF Smart Policing Index 2021,compared
to the north. The top five States with the highest score on overall policing: Telangana,
Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Assam and Sikkim, whereas Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Punjabare from bottom upwards. Interestingly, the survey,
an assessment on PM’s Smart Policing initiative, showed a national average of
satisfaction at 69% on issues such as police sensitivity, accessibility,
responsiveness and technology adoption among others. But Bihar and UP are
disappointing. On a scale of 10, Bihar scored the lowest in five categories:
5.98 in ‘Public Trust in Policing’, 4.97 in ‘Integrity & Corruption-Free
Service’, 5.81 in ‘Technology Adoption’, 5.84 in ‘Police Responsiveness’ and
5.75 in ‘Police Sensitivity’, whereas UP scored the lowest in three categories:
5.59 in ‘Helpful and Friendly Policing’, 5.27 in ‘Fair &Unbiased Policing’
and 5.80 in ‘Police Accountability’.State governments and its police
departments would do well to study the survey and not scoff at it, for ‘Trust
takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair.’ ---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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