Round The States

New Delhi, 22 October 2008

MNS’ Regional Terrorism

NATIONWIDE DEMAND FOR BAN

By Insaf

All State capitals are agitated over what is being termed as “regional terrorism” unleashed by Raj Thackeray and endorse a call by party leaders for a ban on his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). In fact, the drama of Raj being arrested in Ratnagiri in the wee hours of Tuesday last and released on bail by both the Bandra and Kalyan courts is only lending credence to the suggestion that he is a protégé of the Congress-NCP Government. Why? To slice into Shiv Sena supremo and uncle Bal Thackeray’s vote bank and help the combine to come back to power at the Mantralaya. It’s another matter that the MNS leader had to spend a night in the lock up, perhaps the first, notwithstanding the violence and havoc let loose by him and his men in the country’s financial capital over the past year against “North Indians”.

While Raj had been arrested in a case filed by the Kherwadi police station for “inciting his men to disrupt peace on grounds of regional divide, obstructing officials” and beating up students particularly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh during the Railway recruitment exams, the big question is will he be reigned in? So far, the MNS chief had warned that if he was arrested, the whole of Maharashtra would be set on fire. Well, the State hasn’t gone up in flames. But large parts of Mumbai were shut down, 45 buses set on fire and three persons killed and hundreds arrested in the violence and rioting that followed MNS strongholds. Reverberations of the “regional terrorism” were felt in Delhi too, with most parties in Parliament, barring the Congress demanding a ban on the MNS for spitting venom against north Indians and playing unacceptable divisive politics.

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Jammu & Kashmir Elections

Suspense over Jammu and Kashmir elections is finally over. The Election Commission has announced an election schedule of a seven-phase poll beginning on November 17 and ending on December 24. The results will be announced on December 28, bringing to an end Governor’s rule in the trouble-torn State. While the Commission’s decision to go along and hold the 87-member Assembly poll with five other States in the country is a calculated risk, both the Union Government and the State administration appear to be making the right moves to promote stability and strengthen the forces of peace. One such move was made on Tuesday last, when the Line of Control was converted into a ‘Line of Commerce’. The Peace Bridge on the LoC, which divides and connects the two parts of Kashmir, was thrown open to the people on either side for trade--60 years after Independence. Traders dispatched a 13-truck convoy each from Muzzafrabad and Srinagar, amidst loud cheers from the milling crowd.

While the opening of trade is clearly seen as a confidence building measure and should help change overall environment in the coming weeks, political parties are gearing up for the political battle. The National Conference, the Congress and the BJP have welcomed the Commission’s decision to hold the polls now instead of later. The PDP is so far silent and the separatists, under the banner of the Hurriyat Conference, have decided to boycott the elections yet again. The latter has said that the “elections are no solution to resolve the Kashmir problem. We first want a resolution, then elections.” Regrettably, the separatists forget that elections are only for the governance of the State. Importantly, the future of Kashmir was decided long ago, in the Constituent Assembly, during Sheikh Abdullah’s time, when the State decided to accede to India.

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Imphal Bomb Blast

Not only is militancy dangerously spreading across the country, but is assuming outrageous overtones. The latest incident being that of the bomb blast, the biggest-ever, in Manipur’s capital, Imphal on Tuesday last. It claimed 17 lives and left 30 injured. Initially, the police suspected the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) behind it, as it had claimed that the blast near the Chief Minister Iboi Singh’s fortified residence just two days ago was its handiwork. However, the Kangleipak Communist Party (Military Council), KCP-(MC), which is involved with the preservation of Meitei culture and has been seeking secession of Manipur, claimed responsibility a day later. In a signed press note by its leader, Lanheiba Metei, the outfit said it triggered the explosion “to end lagao, a form of gambling, which is alien to Meitei culture and needs to be stopped…it was corrupting the Manipuri society.” Thus, the bomb blast was close to the security Police Commandos Complex, on the outskirts of Imphal specifically targeting the place where security personnel and civilians would gamble just before Diwali. Surely, the KCP-(MC) could consider some other way of promoting its campaign, instead of this dastardly act.    

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BJP U-Turn In Uttarakhand 

Politics of survival in Uttarakhand under Chief Minister B C Khanduri has forced the BJP to do a U-turn on its election promise and clearly be no different from its rival, the Congress. The State Government recently removed 23 Government-run corporations, boards and councils from the purview of the office of profit to please its disgruntled MLAs, seeking Khanduri’s removal. In August last, some 24 BJP MLAs had gone to Delhi to urge the party high command to replace the CM on the ground of his being ‘inaccessible’. The reason, however, was completely different, according to Khanduri. MLAs were basically unhappy over his opposition to handing out plum posts in government bodies to the MLAs. However, the CM has been compelled to relent and make allowance for MLAs to chair various government bodies. Every one is now happy, even if it means going against the party’s solemn poll promises. 

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Punjab Farmers Buy Brides

Farmers in Punjab have an altogether different problem from the rest of the country. The State simply does not have enough women for them to marry. Brides are thus ‘bought’ from less developed States such as Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. Worse, they are expected to produce sons or else they would be either sent back or re-sold or simply abandoned. As per the 2001 census, Punjab has a dismal sex ratio of 793 girls for 1,100 boys and Fatehgarh district, the country’s worst -- 754 girls for 1,000 boys. According to the Centre for women Studies in Punjab University the scarcity of girls is a result of decades of sex-determination tests followed by female feoticide, despite a nationwide ban. Regrettably, the “bride trade” will continue to flourish in Punjab for three reasons: Sex ratio will not be corrected because sons are what the farmers want; education will not help as most of feoticide cases reported are of educated women and lastly for families from poor States the system of marrying their daughters provides a relief-- they receive money instead of paying a dowry!

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)