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Special NIC Meeting:INTEGRATION OR DISINTEGRATION?, by Insaf, 15 October 2008 Print E-mail

Round The States

New Delhi, 15 October 2008

Special NIC Meeting

INTEGRATION OR DISINTEGRATION?

By Insaf

The National Integration Council’s much-hyped meeting in Delhi is over. The Chief Ministers are back in their respective States. None is, however, any the wiser than they were on the basic issue before the meet. How could they? Beginning with the Prime Minister, each CM simply said his piece, laced with the same old rhetoric veering around communalism vs secularism. There was no debate or interaction. Not even on the crucial issue of terrorism. Instead, many UPA leaders sought to score brownie points over their deep concern for the minorities. They wanted their identity preserved and promoted and institutional follow-up provided. In simple words, they bent over backwards to further promote their vote bank politics. Few talked of us as Indians? No one paused to think that you cannot talk of national integration and promote minorityism in the same breath. The truth is that the Congress-led UPA, like the Indira Gandhi Congress is pursuing the colonial British policy of divide and rule.       

Monday last also saw the BJP Chief Ministers charging the UPA with lack of will to tackle terrorism and the latter hitting out at them for instigating communal violence and demanding a ban on the Bajrang Dal. (Surprisingly, “terrorism” was not on the agenda.) Each side seemed more interested in setting out its campaign focus for the ensuing State elections and the general election next year. Consequently, the meeting proved to be of little help in carving out a national agenda to combat the growing disharmony and disunity in the country. For starters, the venue, of Balayogi auditorium in Parliament House was a bad choice. The ‘creamy layer’ of leaders such as Prime Minister, Sonia Gandhi, Shivraj Patil, Lalu Yadav, Ramvilas Paswan sat on the stage while the rest of the hoi polloi were in the hall below. As in the past, the NIC should have been held round a table in the Vigyan Bhavan, encouraging meaningful discussion and debate in an informal atmosphere of give and take. It’s a different matter of course if our leaders simply want to play politics and are not genuinely interested in integration.

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Mini General Election

All the State capitals are buzzing with poll excitement now that the Election Commission has announced its curtain raiser for the general elections next year. Though the three-member body has declared dates for five States, barring Jammu and Kashmir, the Assembly polls are a mini general election for the political parties vying to capture power at the Centre---individually and in like-minded coalitions. Chhattisgarh will open the innings with a two-day poll on November 14 and 20 because of the Maoists threat.  Madhya Pradesh (November 25), Delhi and Mizoram (November 29) and Rajasthan (December 4) will follow with a one-day poll. The results will be announced on a single day, December 8, after all the polls are complete. Importantly, this time there will be no exit polls, which tend to influence voters, according to a decision of the Union government. Opinion on the J&K poll was divided in the Election Commission on whether the poll should be held now or later. Its decision is expected at an early date.

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Pak Flag In Assam District?

Illegal migration in Assam is now assuming sinister aggressive designs. A Pakistani flag is reported to have been hoisted in a village in Udalguri district of the State recently. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who had earlier rubbished local media reports about the flag, has been forced to order a CBI inquiry into the incident. The probe, surprisingly, does not come in the wake of last week’s violent clashes between migrant Muslims and the Bodos, which claimed 55 lives and displaced about two lakh people, but on an article in a Pakistani news portal. The piece entitled “Pakistan’s flag is a symbol of freedom in India,” reads: “This should come as news for Pakistani defeatists. After Kashmir, the rest of the dozen or so freedom movements in India see Pakistan as a symbol of liberty and freedom. Pakistan media and intelligence should project this incident and gather support inside these Indian States as retaliation for Indian terrorism inside Pakistan Baluchistan, tribal belt and other cities.” Clearly, it is time for the Centre to act. Why even await the CBI inquiry report.

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First-ever Train in Kashmir

The Centre has finally made a beginning in keeping a promise it made two decades ago to the people of Kashmir. The trouble-torn Valley now has a train service, the first service of which was flagged off by none less than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself on Saturday last from Nowgam station. Initially the train will run from Budgam district in central Kashmir down south to Anantnag -- a distance of 66 km to be covered in about an hour and a half and at a cost of just Rs 15.  Later it will connect the Valley to the other parts of the country. A distant dream, which if fulfilled will be the Indian Railway’s biggest project since Independence -- of constructing a 345 km-long railway line between Srinagar and Jammu at an estimated  cost of Rs 11,270 crore. More importantly, the train service would not only help in the overall development in the State but perhaps peace may finally take a ride. The question is how soon?

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Mayawati Takes On Sonia

UP Chief Minister Mayawati has done it again. This time she has left Mulayam Singh alone and instead trained her guns on Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi. But in doing so, the BSP leader unexpectedly finds herself upstaged. The Congress President not only  defied prohibitory orders virtually barring her entry into Rae Bareli on Tuesday last but vowed  to battle it out with the State government, even if it meant “going to jail.” The battle royale began when the UP Government cancelled the allotment of land for a rail coach factory at Lalganj in Sonia’s Rae Bareli constituency on the ground that “the farmers were against it.” This was followed by the Rae Bareli DM denying Sonia permission to hold a public rally in the district on Tuesday by imposing Section 144. Lady luck, however, seems to be on Sonia’s side. Not only has the Allahabad High Court stayed the government’s order, but the farmers, impressed by the job potential of the coach factory are openly protesting against Mayawati’s decision and even burning her effigy. The war for the political turf of UP is clearly between the country’s two most powerful women.  

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China Town In Vellore

Believe it or not, we now have a China Town in Vellore --- as of today. Until three months ago, the only Chinese connection Vellore had was the “Hunan Chicken”, its eateries were able to stir up. Now, with 450 Chinese students training at the Vellore Institute of Technology, the town known for its unrivalled medical facilities has a distinct Chinese flavour. The Chinese students are at VIT to learn computer science, software development, communication skills and even management courses. Said one student: “We have the hardware; you have the software skills.” Every Chinese student at VIT has to undergo a two-month training in English, prior to their arrival in India. But this does not help instantly. Said another student: “A lot of Indians speak English. But we are not able to follow them. So, we have now learnt Indian English!” Most students are looking forward to returning to China. But some may stay back if there are “good opportunities in India.---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

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