MONTH-IN-PERSPECTIVE

NEW DELHI: A sessions judge of Mehsana in Gujarat had created a history, back in Jan. 2005, by disposing a dowry death case in 9 days. While he acted with alacrity to deliver judgement which should be the objective of all fast-track courts, he appears to have disposed off himself for a meaner cause with cavelier fashion. Or else there is absolutely no reason for not taking the issue of death very seriously due to alleged dowry harassment of a young mother of a girl child.

According to case details, kerosene was poured on Renukaben, the wife of Mahesh Patel in Panchot village of Mehsana district. She died of burns on 16, December 1997. Although the accused, the husband, and his parents, were arrested and were detained in Jail for three days before letting them off on bail, it took 7 years for the charges to be framed. Prosecution reportedly produced a list of 12 witnesses on 1st Jan 2005. 3 days after the charges were framed. However, they produced only 5 witnesses on 7th Jan. The same day, they were all cross examined, so also the accused. Arguments were heard and judgement delivered. "On examination of all witnesses, under the circumstances, 3 days imprisonment undergone by the accused is fair and therefore they are discharged herewith," judgement was pronounced. No question was asked for the delay, no questions were asked about the other 7 names in the list of witnesses. Apparently the judge was only interested in disposing the case in the shortest possible time, probably for a price.

Family of the victim knocked the door of Gujarat High Court, which reversed the judgement and sentenced all accused for 7 years rigorous imprisonment. Money bag of Mahesh Patel family went to Supreme Court for their demand for justice. Right enough it dismissed the appeal and cancelled the bail of all three, upholding H.C judgement. A shocked Apex court observed “prime duty of the trial court to appreciate the evidence for search of truth is abandoned and in a hurry to dispose of the case or for some other reason the sessions judge had disposed off the trial and acquitted the accused”. It was obvious that court was referring to ‘some other reasons’, as the 'causa proxima' of sessions judge’s hurry. It was indeed a sad day for the judiciary.

“Non-essential drugs are out of drug price control”, is an order, Narendra Modi government could have lived without. If the opposition Congress or other parties are accusing the present union government of ‘succumbing to pressure’ they are not wrong at all. In a global scenario, with WTO sword hanging over your head, it is but necessary that every country should commit itself to the welfare of its people. Most drug companies in critical medicinal preparations are all owned and managed by MNCs.

These MNCs are simply not in love with developing or under developed countries. They are only interested in their bottom-line. The order to withdraw the power of National Pharma Pricing Authority to cap the prices of non-essential drugs for patients of Cancer, HIV and other listed ailments in India, is indeed a bad decision. Notwithstanding the stand of the government that NPPA’s power has not been withdrawn but only the guideline to regulate the prices of these non-essential drugs has been rolled back, the issue persists. For the record, there is nothing which will make NPPA accountable for price control, and is up to its discretion, is a logic without legs. Once the guidelines for caping the price is rolled back, NPPA is free to change its price caping policies. This is clearly some way of making the MNCs happy. Mr.Modi and his government cannot subordinate the interest of Indians to please American multinational companies in his quest for US acceptability. This is just not done.   

MAHARASHTRA: Suddenly life has come full circle to Marathi Maanoos political party Shiv Sena. At the height of over-confidence they broke the relationship with BJP. It did them in. Their latest ally -turned-adversary beat them hollow at electoral number game at the recent Assembly poll. It was 123 of BJP to the Shiv Sena’s 63. Just before 48 hours of filing nominations talks on seat sharing had broken down. Shiv Sena, let its mouth -piece – Saamnaa, do all its talking. Starting with calling BJP – Crows of ‘Pitra paksh’, to 'Afzal Khan', to 'betrayer and enemy of Maharashtra', to 'if chaiwala can become the prime minister, why not a Thackeray a Chief Minister'. Shiv Sena, under Uddhav Thackeray, has been attacking Modi and BJP in unkindest terms, never expected from an associate of yesteryears. Compared to Uddhav Thackeray, Narendra Modi has been gracious in saying that he will not attack Shiv Sena, out of respect for Bal Thackeray and steadfastly refrained from being verbose in competitive bad mouthing. Of course, the D-day had to come some day. To the utter discomfiture of Uddhav Thackeray, his party could only manage 1/2 of what BJP could win. To make matters worse for Shiv Sena, NCP offered outside support to BJP. Now that BJP is firmly in driver’s seat, all bad mouthing and conditions to join the BJP led government, all  flew out of window. Although no media would want to really comment on Shiv Sena position –vis-à-vis – BJP and election results, all know the unenviable position of Udhav & company as Shiv Sena is making all kinds of overtures to BJP. It clearly brings us to the time tested adage, that in politics there is no permanent friend or permanent enemy, but only permanent interest. So keep smiling!

This time round, it’s a full blown controversy that DoorDarshan, the union government owned channel, has telecast live, the annual Dassehera or Vijayadashami address of RSS chief from its headquarters in Nagpur.

Was it right for the Doordarshan to broadcast this RSS programme live? Was a question made interminable rounds in the TV channels for a couple of days, especially with the Non BJP parties aligned with opposition making lots of noise. They are partly right and partly wrong. It is very true that Doordarshan wouldn’t have decided on its own to telecast the sarsangh chaalak’s annual address to the nation. But then it is OK to have telecast the said address. By any stretch RSS is an organisation deeply patriotic and is truly concerned with the issues plaguing the nation although some of its ideology is bit divisive. It may be that the present union government has most of its cabinet members who are RSS members and therefore, what it’s chief says matters. Of course, the fact that RSS is the organisation that gave birth to BJP, but that does not disqualify it from being covered by the government channel, for its sheer numerical strength. It may be having some ideology which is somewhat sectarian in the Indian context, but since its members are involved in the governance of the country for the most part, it is only normal and proper that television channels, both private and government owned, covers it. And that’s what has happened. Besides, RSS chief, as a paper put it, was 'far from being partisan, calling for a national consensus against unremitting cheap Chinese imports, against illegal migration, for nation building etc. Truth be told, the problem of critics is not with the message. It is with the messenger'. That is probably right. 

Latest elections to the Assembly in Maharashtra has been a kind of lesson in politics. For 66 years, except one term Congress and National Congress Party of Sharad Pawar, between them, had ruled the state. Sharad Pawar after breaking away from Congress had his own power centre, which helped him do well. He ruled the cash rich BCCI and controlled the cricket scene. Of course power corrupted Pawar and thought he is invincible. He promoted his family members and friends. Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule are his gift to the state. Ajit Pawar was deeply involved in the irrigation scam. Supriya Sule was share holder in  Lawasa City Project of Khilachand group, courtesy Pawar. She also had the issue of dual nationality, which came into public space with the news of her property buying in Singapore. Neither politicians exposed it, nor the media went after it, due to Pawar’s connection in right places. Now Sule  is complaining ‘Stop defaming Maharashtra’, was her take on Narendra Modi. Modi had only called NCP as National Corruption Party and did not say anything against Maharashtra. 

This election has proved powerful can be humbled, if they are not above board. Same will happen to Narendra Modi & Company if he does what Pawar & Co. did. Fortunately unlike Pawar &family, he has no personal interest anywhere. That is his trump card. In this respect he is unmatched and that is his USP. Ms. Sule represent her family interest and not of India.  That is the difference.

WEST BENGAL: Mamata Didi had it coming since some time now. There appears to be around a dozen case in the court against leaders of Trinamool Congress. It seem almost unending and continuous that the Writers Building is constantly in the eye of the storm.

Two of the cases are for making hate speeches. Can you believe it!  In 2011, when Mamata Bannerji romped home and dislodged the 26 years old government of Leftist political parties, she was a darling of the West Bengal electorates. Over 3 years down the line, just about most political parties have distanced themselves from Trinamool Congress and it may not be a wrong guess that, she too may be losing her pristine ground with bad mouthing of all kinds.

Two Leaders, Anubrata Mondal and Tapas Pal are already under the CBI radar with later facing possible arrest for threatening to rape and kill opposition political activists. Mondal’s inflammatory speech is reportedly blamed for the murder of an independent pachayat member. While ordering the CBI probe into the murder of panchayat member Sagar Ghosh, a High Court bench came down hard on the TMC government’s inaction in arresting the culprits and said its confidence in the state police chief GMP Reddy has been shattered.

Sharada Scam is another multibillion rupees scam in which many of TMC leaders have been arrested. Mamata Bannerji and her Trinamool could be beneficieries of the Sharada loot. In all probability this scam can truly undermine TMC if culpability of Mamata and her friends in Trinamool are proved. It is the hard earned money of ordinary Bengalees that is at stake. That indeed is the crux. No wonder the state government had earlier attempted to prevent the CBI probe which was eventually ordered by the apex court.

Of course there have been few legislations made by the government in the Writer’s Building which have been, kind of, thrown out by the court, including the law to return the land acquired for industries in Hoogli district. The court had termed it unconstitutional and void.

Thus, the honeymoon of Poriborton days was soon over, and now government is spending state's scares resources to pay lawyers to fight its indefensible cases.

KARNATAKA: Competence of primary school teachers has always been much to be desired. It is a Pan-Indian phenomena. It’s a shame that these government appointed teachers getting regular government scaled salaries never tried to improve themselves despite good payment packages. For a good number of them, if not most of them, it is a 9 to 4 job, that’s all. Neither they have commitment for the noble profession that they are into nor they have the welfare of children under their care. If mother is the first teacher for a child, a teacher is the parent in the school. The term 'Loco-parentis' is used in this context. Of course, it is also true that there are very many committed teachers who truly save the day of teachers and their wards.

However, there are those who are there only for their selfish ends. One of them is asking for transfer to the school nearest to their homes. Many times, it may be a genuine demand, but there are those who desire without a deserving case. Thus it is always tricky for the department to act fairly. Of course there are bureaucrats and politicians making money in millions in this business of teacher transfers. Fortunately, the minister in charge of primary education, being honest and sincere he had lot of requests coming to him for transfers, since he was genuinely trying to be of help. However it is not always possible to be nice and be helpful. So, he thought of checking the competence of a teacher who approached him with the request. Some of them he asked simple arithmetic calculation and general knowledge about the geography, history and details like who is the governor of Karnataka and similar questions. He was apparently not prepared for the bloomers from these teachers and some even failed to give any answers. Since then no teacher has approached the minister, for transfer lest the teacher be exposed. If only the minister or the concerned official had thought of asking these questions before their appointment? May be the educational scene among these government school children would have been better than what it is. Of course here too allegedly money changes hands before the appointment and after the appointment, for the school of appointee's choice.This is Yeh Mera India.  

A Bangalore date lined news informed “ State won’t part with even an inch of land to Maharashtra: Chief Minister”. Reportedly talking to media at a press conference after a meeting with legal expert and Kannada organizations in the state,  Siddaramaiah made the above statement. 

Ofcourse since the full text of Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s speech is not available, it is difficult to verify the veracity or otherwise of the published material. In any case, it is highly provocative. If the CM has made such a remark, he is a poor diplomat and therefore not a leader. Even if CM has made such a remark, for a matured reportage, expected of India’s National Newspaper since 1878, it is a poor certificate. This outburst is similar to Uddhav Thackeray’s competitive bad mouthing.

Uddhav is a family politician. On his own he would never have become a leader. Whereas Siddaramaiah has a proven track record of political vertical mobility. What The Hindu published could be OK for tabloids. Assuming you want to disagree with all that Maharashtra politicians have said there are ways to disagree. Like CM said about Parliament’s role, Supreme Court role etc; we must have such contentious issue to be addressed by august national functionaries rather than indulge in political one-upmanship. Such behaviour of downplaying will in the long run win us friends and influence people. After all Maharashtra and Karnataka are part of India, we all must make sincere effort to coexist with all our differences. This calls for a matured behavior both from politicians and media operating in both states. We are responsible for the growth of Mother India, not just Karnataka or Maharashtra. We must see larger picture without being parochial. Don’t we all love India!

       

TAMIL NADU: Indeed it was a ‘mighty fall from grace’. The first Chief Minister of any state in India to be sent to jail in a graft case. And a hefty Rs: 100 crore fine for the “Disproportionate Assets” to the known source of income. For Jayaram Jayalalitha, it was the culmination of 18 years saga. What appeared to be an innocuous wedding celebration became a kind of Kurukshetra to the most powerful lady of Tamil politics. For 18 long years it was persued by the maverick Subramaniam Swami with persistence of a crusader. Of course it was dubbed “Mother of all Weddings” for the brazenly vulgar display of money and power of money with the groom, her ‘foster son’, astride a horse, wearing shoes made of gold, a golden belt studded with glittering diamond, thick gold chains and diamond rings, with she herself, as the Chief Minister and her close aide Sasikala Natarajan walking on the streets of Chennai decked with dazzling Jewellary under police protection. It was indeed a open display of abuse of power and wealth. Surely she had not bargained for what could happen 18 years down the line, when she countered the widespread criticism that “the wedding was in tune with that of a Chief Ministers status.” This singular statement would haunt her for the rest of her life as she was taken to the high security. Parappana Agrahara jail in Bangalore when she was holding the position of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Irony couldn’t have been more telling. While, this whole development deserves a long and articulated representation in print for the benefit of posterity, what is pertinent is there are hundreds, across the Indian political spectrum, who have amassed wealth as politicians, as ministers and even as Chief Ministers, who have escaped such exposure on the public space. There has to be more Subramaniam Swamis who have the where-withal to fix and pursue other such cases of absolute misuse of power. Gary Azavedo from Goa is already on the job. “How about convicting Goa’s corrupt?” He asked the other day in his write up in the ‘Herald’ of 13th Oct., a daily from Goa. Hope this is only a beginning, and more exposures and conviction of corrupt rich and powerful shall follow.

KERALA: The news that “Kerala becomes first state to provide free cancer treatment” has once against proved that unlike any state in the Indian Union, the government in Kerala, of all hues, have always been people centric in terms Human Development Index.

When Indian HDI as allotted by UNDP is rather pretty low, the HDI in respect of states Kerala always stood head and shoulder above other states. Be it education, health, gender equality, sanitation and just about all parameters, Kerala has done better than national figures. 

Hence the latest initiative of providing succour to poor cancer patients is indeed laudable. We are all privy to the knowledge that medical expense these days, is exhorbitant and without any regulation, partly due to the greed of pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and medical practitioners.  In such a seenario, the action of Kerala govt. need to be deeply appreciated. Hope other states too take the lead from Kerala to reach out to its section who is in need. Two cheers to Oommen Chandy & Co. 

WORLD: Nobel Peace Prize for 2014, shall be remembered for a long time, for its sheer novelty, in not just giving it jointly to two historical adversaries, India and Pakistan, or a man and a girl, or the champions of the same cause, of empowering and liberating childhood in the sub continent. But its message is very loud & clear. By giving the Nobel to Child Rights Activists Kailash Sathyarthi and the Pakistani campaigner for girls literacy. Malala Yousufzai the authorities in Oslo has only made a very valid statement. “India and Pakistan are neighbours for good. They have little choice, except to live as a good neighbours, if they have to have peace and progress. Their problems of are same for its teeming millions – lack of education, lack of health programmes and malnutrition – By giving the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize jointly to these two warring neighbours, it has forced the leadership of these two traditional rivals to ponder and make sincere effort to address the issue of empowering children in both countries by eradicating child labour, educate them with nutritional support to help them grow as healthy citizens. Hope the power that be in both countries recognise the harshness and bitterness that is a stumbling block to the creation of  a more responsible, meaningful and matured relationship and emerge as an influential block in the comity of nations.

It is a very sad spectacle in the Muslim world. With never ending violence of every conceivable kind, bombing, killing, beheading and what not, comes the news “Suicide Bombing kills 30 kids in Syria”.

A school in the government controlled city of Homs was the target of this bombing. Some 40 were killed which included 30 children-9 and 6 years of age. So many children dying in one incident, this was the highest.

Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam are the residents of this city of Homs, where Assads, the Father and Son, past and present president of Syria belong.

Whatever be your objectives, right or wrong, how can children- as young as 6 to 9- be your target, is a question no sane Muslim can answer.

Why is there so much bloodshed? To what purpose? To what victory? To what heaven your scripture is talking about? When will sanity prevail on the perpetrators of this crime in the name of Bismillah-ir-Rehman ir Raheem? If in Aug. 2013, rebels killed dozens of children, a year earlier some 50 children were reportedly killed in the Haula ‘massacre’ in Homs. How horrendous, life can be for those who remained alive to endure the pain and suffering of this senseless barbaric meyhem of most diabolic kind?!  

So, you may have a Prime Minister of Indian descent in Portugal. If that happens, he will be reversing for the first time the colonial yoke in India which began with Portugese countries ago.

Luis Afonso Maria da Costa was Goa born. He was the descendant of Hindu Gaud Saraswat Brahmin family, which was converted to Catholicism during the Portugese colonial era. His son, Orlando da Costa, was born in Mozambique – another Portugese Colony in Africa, but spent most of his youth in Goa and migrated to Portugal before Portugal lost Goa to India. 

His son, Antonio Luis Santos da Costa, now 52 years old, is the popular Mayor of Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal. That’s great!

But the news is, the youngest of the above Costa tree, was chosen as Portugal’s PM candidate by Portugal’s main opposition Socialist Party for the next year’s poll. Costa had earlier served as Justice and Interior Minister in the previous socialist governments. He was also the European Parliament Deputy before being elected as Mayor of Lisbon. Reportedly he won 70% of vote in his favour for nomination as PM candidate. Mr.Costa is also known as Gandhi of Lisbon for his frugal life style. According to opinion polls, he stands better chance since Socialists are reportedly ahead of Social Democratic Party of incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Passo Coelho. Hope Mr. Antonio Luis Santos da Costa romps home and become the Chief Executive of the country which ruled his ancestors. The victory, as and when it comes, shall be the sweetest.  

Food wastage globally is a big problem. The western world is certainly the villain when it comes to wastage of food, both cooked and uncooked. Listening to idioms like ‘Don’t talk rubbish recycle it’, a group of campaigners have started SKIPCHEN, the newest eatery in the English city of Bristol. The cafe opened sometime early October and is providing meals made from thrown away supermarket food recovered from waste skips so also discarded food from some of the city’s restaurants. Surely these raw materials must be passing through some cooking or heating process, to see that there are no harmful bacteria in the recovered raw food. The report informs there are varieties of eaters from different socio-economic groups-from businessmen to homeless persons-are to pay only after eating. After having the meal, customers will decide, how much to pay or not to pay. Reportedly, SKIPCHEN is a non-profit effort at eliminating food wastage. Even if they are in a position to cover the cost of operation, it is a very commendable effort. It’s report card, may be a month after, should be available for those who put their efforts together to see  “Waste not want not” for the larger good. Hope the experiment succeeds. All the best to SKIPCHEN.         

J.SHRIYAN