Round The States

New Delhi, 30 April 2022

Silencing Loudspeakers

YOGI ACTS, UDDHAV DITHERS

By Insaf

There is to be no blaring noise in Uttar Pradesh. Following Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s orders to remove loudspeakers from religious sites and a compliance report be submitted from districts by Saturday, the authorities have got cracking. Nearly 21,000 loudspeakers had been removed so far from mosques and temples and volume of 42500 loudspeakers lowered as per parameters. Yogi explains that while ‘everyone has the freedom to follow his/her method of worship according to his/her religious ideology and that microphones can be used, the sound doesn’t come out of any premises. Other people should not face any problem.’ Besides, no permission is to be given to install loudspeakers at new sites. Importantly, the urgency being shown may have to do with Eid and Akshaya Tritiya likely to fallon the same day and that there should no repeat incident as in Delhi during Hanuman Jayanthi. Indeed, Yogi’s claim of the State excelling in law and order cannot have a jarring note. What better way than silencing the loudspeakers.

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However, unlike UP, Maharashtra is dithering, despite the MVA government being egged on by MNS chief Raj Thackeray who has given an ultimatum that if loudspeakers from places of worship, especially mosques, are not removed in the State before May 3, his cadres will ‘read out Hanuman Chalisa outside the mosques.’ In the background of the trio of SS-NCP-Congress having their own coalition political compulsions, the government has put the ball in the Centre’s court. After an all-party meeting on Monday last, to discuss and evolve a ‘consensus’ on the issue, it has sought New Delhi come up with a law and rules for the use of loudspeakers at religious places across the country in light of Supreme Court’s 2005 guidelines. A delegation will also go and place this demand. Till then, it reasons no action to be taken for there is no provision for the State government ‘to either install or remove loudspeakers’ and that ‘right wing BJP, MNS are clearly targeting the mosques’ loudspeakers.’ And even though Shiv Sena has its own hindutva agenda, it can’t upset alliance partners. The Supreme Court order can be ignored.

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Nagging Suspense

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant is bracing for a political storm which could unseat him. Governor Ramesh Bais meeting Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday last has sent out ominous signs. Though he is in a denial mode viz alleged cases of corruption against him, the Election Commission could at the end disqualify him as an elected candidate of the Assembly on grounds of holding office for profit. More so, after Bais had sent a communication to Nirvachan Sadan to examine the matter under Article 192 of Constitution. The casesare: One, wherein Soren allotted himself a ‘mining lease’while in charge of mining department and even got environment clearance while holding charge of environment and forest department. Two, allotting an 11 acre plot to his wife while holding the Industries portfolio. The mining case is in the High Court, which was informed during a hearing that the lease has since been ‘surrendered.’This doesn’t get him out of the woods. All eyes are now on how the EC interprets documents submitted by Chief Secretary and how soon. Nagging uncertainty for Soren.

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Coal Shortage, Power Cuts

Several States are going through blackouts in the backdrop of a record demand for electricity due to unprecedented heat wave and an acute coal shortage. According to reports, consumers are facing power cuts ranging from two to eight hours across the country and factories are the ‘worst hit’ as it’s the industrial sector which is the first port of call for regulating electricity supplies. Thermal plants across are grappling with coal shortages, indicating a looming power crisis in the country, says the All India Power Engineers Federation. The estimated electricity shortage is 623 m units. Reports reveal that UP has started load shedding in rural areas and smaller towns; Kashmir valley is facing unscheduled and prolonged power cuts; industry in Tamil Nadu is particularly hit; Andhra Pradesh is trying to ensure power supply to agriculture to save standing crops; in parts of Punjab, farmers are protesting against irregular electricity supply; Bihar is witnessing frequent power cuts in rural and urban areas; Rajasthan is having power cuts of 5-7 hours a day...the list is long. But the Centre is in a denial mode and claims there’s enough coal to meet the demand. In the same breath it has asked States to step up coal imports for the next three years to build inventories.

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Tribal Politics

Tripura’s tribal politics is hotting up. The demand for statehood,‘Greater Tipraland’by The Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) Motha is slowly picking up steam.So says its chief and royal Pradyot Debbarman. On Wednesday last,he declared plans the party shallfight Dhanpur seat, having a high tribal population and once held by former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, in 2023 Assembly polls. He also appealed to The Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) and Left leaders to join in. In fact, a poaching tug-of-war between BJP and Motha has begun--the former says over a thousand of the latter’s supporters have joined, whereas Motha claims 4 BJP leaders have left and joined it. Denying practising ‘ethnic politics’ as accused, Debbarman urges tribal leaders“not to think about their positions (joining other political parties) but Tiprasa interest” and that Motha is ‘open to all people.. more important people from different parties will join…Our women and youth groups are active in the field…We need a full and final solution from the Centre.” Will small (as his party is called by BJP) turn big? 

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Renaming of Villages

Change their names rather than develop the villages, is sadly a priority with the Delhi unit of the BJP. On Thursday last, it asked the Kejriwal government to rename 40 villages with “Mughal era names” after ‘names of freedom-fighters, brave-hearts of armed forces, those who won laurels for the country in fields of sports, art, music, and culture.’ Noting that the  villages have names such as Jia Sarai, Zamroodpur, Masoodpur, Jafarpur Kalan, Tajpur, Najafgarh, Neb Sarai, its President Adesh Gupta said “Delhi is no longer a sarai (inn). It’s the national capital. The villagers, including youths, don’t want their villages to be identified with any symbol of slavery. They want to know who was Captain Vikram Batra, Bismillah Khan, Ashfaqullah, and Mohan Chandra Sharma who was martyred in Batla House encounter!” The unit claimed it was not its idea but of villagers who have approached it. In fact, on Wednesday, the unit chose to rename South Delhi’s ‘Muhammadpur’ village to ‘Madhavpuram’,on its own after the AAP government didn’t ‘clear the proposal”. The latter counters saying the BJP doesn’t want the government to function and was just looking for opportunities to start ‘hooliganism’. Predictably, it won’t end here. ---- INFA

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