Round The States

New Delhi, 16 September 2023

Anantnag Terrorist Strike

PEACE FRAGILE IN J&K!

By Insaf 

The temporary lull in terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir has been broken, putting a big question mark on the Centre’s claim that normalcy has more or less returned. On Wednesday last, an Army Colonel Manpreet Singh, commanding officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Ashish Dhonack, and Deputy Superintendent Humayun Bhat were killed in a gunfight with terrorists in Garol area of Anantnag district. And though the Home Ministry data says there has been a 32% reduction in acts of terror between 2019 and 2022, recently there have been other renewed attacks on security targets south of the Pri Panjal range in Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch. National Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said, ‘such incidents will continue if there is no dialogue…India and Pakistan will have to come to the dialogue table if they want to end bloodshed and find lasting peace in J&K’. Indeed, peace is fragile in the Union Territory and the Centre will need to ensure that it can’t let down the guard, even as it boasted of a successful meeting of the G-20 in Kashmir. There is need for continuing vigilance and a better vigilance network.    

At the same time, the Opposition should be more responsible. Unfortunately, in today’s charged political atmosphere, the INDIA bloc has sought to score brownie points and hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of ‘silence’ over the incident and instead being felicitated at the BJP headquarters over the G20 Summit success and was campaigning in Madhya Pradesh. No healing touch for the families. The Congress said, ‘Modi can’t postpone receiving accolades no matter what happens’; the AAP said Modi was “celebrating the G20” while the families of the four soldiers who died in J&K were in “shock”. It also recalled that Modi was busy shooting a show with a television host Bear Grylls at the time of the Pulwama attack. Sharing the video of the rousing welcome accorded to Modi at party headquarters, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Thackeray faction said ‘this could have been postponed, expected more sensitivity, especially on a day when our security forces have fought a fierce fight with militants in Kashmir’; RJD leader Manoj Jha slammed the BJP saying the ruling party held ‘celebrations at its headquarters even as three soldiers and a police officer were killed in a gunbattle with terrorists.’ Playing politics over the tragic killings in Anantnag should have been be a no-go.

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AP High Drama

The high-pitched political drama unfolding in Andhra Pradesh promises to be a suspense-filled blockbuster, with former Chief Minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu in Rajahmundry Jail. His arrest has got actor-turned politician Pawan Kalyan to announce on Thursday last the much-awaited tie-up between his Jan Sena and TDP “for future of AP’. For him the villain of the piece is Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and the State ‘can’t afford YSRCP’ in the Assembly polls next year as the arrest is ‘purely political vendetta’. On Sunday, Naidu was sent to judicial custody for two weeks in a ₹371 crore scam case related to a ₹ 3,300 crore project of clusters of centres of excellence (CoE); on Tuesday an anti-corruption court rejected a house custody plea by his wife given ‘security concerns’; on Wednesday, the CID insisted Naidu is primary accused as he ‘orchestrated the scheme’ though initially he was listed as Accused Number 37; TDP leaders have appealed to Governor Abdul Nazeer saying ‘Naidu was being framed’, the CID had ‘no evidence or testimonies’, and ‘it has been acting as a private army to take revenge on Opposition parties.’ Will the tie-up turn out to be a game changer, the climax?   

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Naga No To UCC

Nagaland says a big no to Uniform Civil Code. On Tuesday last, the Assembly, which includes 12 BJP MLAs of whom five are Cabinet ministers, unanimously adopted a resolution urging the State be completely exempted from the proposed Code’s purview. The resolution moved by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio says the apparent objective of a UCC “is to have a single law on personal matters such as marriage and divorce, custody and guardianship, adoption and maintenance, succession and inheritance”, which would pose a threat to ‘Naga customary laws’ and social and religious practices “that will be in danger of encroachment in the event of imposition of UCC”. In July, the government through a Cabinet decision had also conveyed its opposition to the Commission in the backdrop of the State’s ‘unique history’ since pre-Independent British era, the assurance of non-interference policy starting since pre-Independence times and continued by the Centre in the social and religious practices and customary laws of the people and the constitutional guarantees given under Article 371A. Given that the State has over 86% of the population from Scheduled Tribes, expectedly both tribal and civil society organisations have spelt out their strong objections. While Mizoram and Meghalaya have too objected to the Code, all eyes will be on how vocal Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura will be. Clearly, few takers.  

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Assam Corruption Case

A political storm is brewing in BJP-ruled Assam. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is on the backfoot refuting charges that his wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma’s firm Pride East Entertainments Pvt Ltd had received Rs 10 crore as part of credit linked subsidy from the Central government. The opposition Congress have upped the ante in the Assembly demanding an adjournment motion as well as Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi is having a running brawl on ‘X’ insisting on the charges, quoting Ministry of Food Processing website. Sarma on Thursday last replied on X “…neither my wife, nor the company she’s associated with, has received or claimed any amount from the GoI. If anyone can provide evidence, I am willing to accept any punishment including retirement from public life.” And threatened legal action against Gogoi, who is revealing more documents. The spat has turned ugly and the battle is going to be closely watched.  

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Relief for Lakshadweep Admn

The Lakshadweep administration can heave a sigh of relief. It’s order to exclude meat products, including chicken, from midday meal menu for school kids is no longer under threat, with the Supreme Court saying it cannot decide on what food should be eaten. On Thursday last, it dismissed the PIL saying it was the UT’s ‘policy decision’ which could not come within the scope of ‘judicial review’ as there’s no legal breach. The PIL finally stands junked as the advocate petitioner was persistent. He had first approached the Kerala High Court in June 2021 pleading the order on midday meals was issued with mala fide intent to change food habits of the island people and alleged that another decision to shut down government-run dairy farms was meant to promote marketing of dairy products from Gujarat, the administrator Praful Khoda Patel’s home state! The case had hit headlines. The HC then had temporarily stayed the two orders. However, in September 2021 a two-judge bench dismissed the PIL, and apex court has ruled there was no error in judgement. Guess, a lesson for petitioners to be wary of not having to eat their own words!---INFA

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