MONTH-IN-PERSPECTIVE
NEW DELHI: Female genital mutilation among a section of Indians has been in the news since quite some time in the public space. It has been a practice in many countries of the world. However in the USA, the UK, Australia and some 27 African nations have reliably legally banned this practice. This practice remained prevalent due to religious dogma of its practitioners.
Supreme Court of India, seized of the matter, questioned the practice “Can violation of bodily integrity be part of religion & its practice?” The court was responding to a PIL by advocate Sunita Tiwari.
Reportedly senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the defendants of the practice wanted the matter referred to a constitution bench since it violates the religious right of its practitioner and this is an issue of essential practice of the religion which needed to be examined.
Clearly upset, the Apex Court demanded “why anybody else should have any control over the genitals of an individual”? Central government, represented by Attorney General K K Venugopal, reportedly reiterated that the practice violated various fundamental rights of the girl child, so also it has serious repercussion on their health.
Advocate Sunita Tiwari had requested the court to direct the central government to enact a law to declare the inhuman practice of female genital mutilation as an offence while demanding that the offence be made “non-compoundable and non-bailable” with provision for harsh punishment, while stressing “it caused permanent disfiguration to the body of girl child”. Besides, ‘since it is forced on minors, it amounts to a serious violation of the rights of children’, she averred.
Having made many state governments and centre as parties to the issue, the Supreme Court appears clearly in favour of banning it. Hope as and when all are heard, the highest court of the land will take the call and act affirmatively in favour of girl children, whenever they are affected within India.
NEW DELHI:Lynching is a terrible social aberration. There is no doubt. It has to be punished in all seriousness. In India in recent times, cow transporting men, either legally or illegally, especially Muslims were targeted violently by anti-socials calling themselves Gav Rakshaks. Somehow there appears to be less seriousness in recognizing this macabre happening as a grievous offence deserving stringent punishment. It is true, the governments concerned are acting to protect the vulnerable and punish the guilty. Hope in not too distant a future, an appropriate mechanism is put in place to deal with this menace.
However, there is a new development, surprisingly from two Muslim gentlemen Mohammad Faiz Khan from Raipur and Advocate Israr Ullah from Allahabad. Both call themselves as ‘Gav Rakshaks’. If Mohammad Faiz Khan has gone on a ‘Paadyaatra’ from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, a distance of some 12000 kms, to generate mass awareness about cow protection and medicinal quality of cow’s milk, Israr Ullah is engaged in legal actions against illegal meat trade and cow smuggling. These two gentlemen, according to a report datelined New Delhi have moved an urgent petition urging the bench headed by CJ Dipak Mishra not to impose blanket ban on the cow vigilantism as it will disrupt the work done by genuine Gav Rakshaks preventing illegal cow smuggling and illegal meat trade.
According to the duo, cow vigilantism is a legal act and lynching is an attempt to malign the real cow protectors, while pleading that activists across the country work within the frame work of the law to protect cows and everyone should not be painted with the same brush. And any attempt to ban genuine protests will only make cow smuggling and illegal trade in meat easy. They also insist that violence perpetuated by meat mafia is on far higher scale compared to the mob violence, describing it as an indiscriminate brutality by the armed meat mafia.
While this is a development that cannot be ignored, there is certainly an element of newer dimension, the legal eagles must address, if found justifiable. Hope the issue is addressed fair and square.
NEW DELHI:Running down a government of the ruling party by the opposition political party is pretty normal, probably everywhere, more so in India.
All governments in India or in states have always been attacked or negatively portrayed by opposition leaders. It is the done thing. But the attack on Modi led NDA II is generally unrelenting for many of its complexities.
Whether, it is Shashi Tharoor talking about the Hindu Pakistan because of the present government, or P. Chidambaram saying “Following demonetization, the faulty implementation of GST destroyed thousands of SMEs and millions of jobs. Ask any trader or business person and you will know the truth”, or even a more responsible and articulate Jairam Ramesh attacking PM Modi for his economic policies, the attack on NDA II has been on the rise in recent times. Now that the election 2019 is only some 8/9 months away, the criticism of NDA II has been continuous. Even Rahul Gandhi is on overdrive.
In the midst of this cacophony comes two very interesting news. Giving ‘thumps-up’, for Swachh Bharath initiative by the Modi led NDA II; World Health Organization (WHO) has recently reported that this initiative is likely to prevent three lakh deaths in rural area in the next 5 years. According to WHO, India’s rural sanitation coverage escalated to almost 90% in July 2018 from less than 20% 5 years ago.
And comes another report from International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to IMF head in India, Ranil Salgado, India’s economy can be a long term source of global growth, next only to China and US. India’s economy is picking up and growth prospects look bright-partly due to implementation of recent policies like nationwide GST.
Thus, despite opposition in general and Congress party in particular being harsh in portraying the NDA II of Modi in poor light, the positive certificates by international organizations shall buck-up the general public sentiments and keep them to form positive opinion of the incumbent government, like it or not.
NEW DELHI:AAP leader Ashutosh has left AAP for some ‘very very personal reasons’, so informs the media. It was expected since some time. Ever since the nomination to Rajya Sabha was denied to him, he has been sulking. But the nomination of money bag Sushil Gupta made things difficult for Ashutosh. Kejriwal wants no challenge to his leadership and none should question him. Ashutosh questioned business man Sushil Gupta being made Rajya Sabha MP. Now his MLA possibility is also appears scuttled apparently. Earlier it was Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan who were booted out because they questioned Kejriwal. All tall leaders of AAP have left including Kapil Mishra, a former minister in AAP Delhi government. This is Kejriwal legacy, whether his fans recognise this or not. Intellectuals with independent personality will not continue with AAP, take it or leave it. A founding member Kumar Biswas has completely distanced himself from AAP, inform reports. Reportedly Kejriwal, in his capacity as the national convener of AAP, has refused to accept the resignation of Ashutosh. There is an emerging sense of crisis within AAP. What Arvind Kejriwal, the poster boy of clean politics, do not seem to understand and realize is, when most people join party politics, they have ambition to become MLA/MP/Minister etc. Some want to serve the electorate, some want power, some want to make money, some want power to serve and some want both power & money. For sure they want to be somebody. Not for nothing they want to be in politics. Just like AK himself having vision of becoming a competitor to Narendra Modi with his routine harangue accusing Modi for all his perceived problems. Whether he recognizes this truth or not, Kejriwal represents Modi's negetives. He too is intolerant of critics within the party. Hence since there will be hangers on AAP will grow anyway, but very slowly, unlike earlier years. Thus sheen is certainly tapering off. Yes, the dream run is over. Sad but true.
NEW DELHI:While speaking at the 71st Independence Day celebration at Red Fort, Prime Minister Modi, had said “I am impatient about change, I am in great hurry for the progress of the country” etc.
Of course, the way NDA II has been working overtime under Modi’s leadership, there is no doubt that he is in a hurry with far too many initiatives, which as of now can be called WORK-IN-PROGRESS, since all of them need time to be complete.
However there were those like ‘Smart Cities’ and ‘Bullet Train’ are needed in an evolving economy like India, they need not be hurried. They could be planned in gingerly fashion, when country can be ready to spend on dream projects. Surely they have relevance. Both these projects will be essential in coming days. But what about Chandrayana, especially when we are talking about fiscal deficit? The unmanned space craft to land on Moon is grandiose, to say the least. It is an 800 crore lunar mission. It is planned to be in the orbit on January 3rd 2019, just 4 months before the general election in May 2019.
So what’s the purpose!? To boast about India’s prowess in the space craft, while electioneering to influence gullible public?!
We have huge problems on primary & high school education front, all across the government schools. AAP government in Delhi is experimenting to improve the schools, not sure about the quality of teachers and teaching, but at least they have made some beginning. PM Modi needs to visit these schools to have a firsthand knowledge of this change. Or at least make the HRD minister to visit them. So what AAP is an opposition party? There is nothing wrong in learning from anybody if it is good! This 800 crore for the lunar mission could have gone to HRD for this purpose. But then we are Indians, for the most part into muddled priorities. This has been our national malaise for all these 71 years.
BIHAR: Independence Day comes and goes. For all the 71 years of politically free India, on every 15th August, Indians all over India have celebrated the Independence Day with lot of fervor and emotion. But there is a place in India which celebrates this Red Letter Day for two consecutive days of both 15th August and 16th August.
Dumraon is a small town in the eastern Buxar district in Bihar. On 8th August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi had given a clarion call to ‘Do or Die’ in his Quit India speech in Mumbai. Inspired by the speech hundreds of youth had tried to hoist Indian tricolor on the administrative buildings controlled by the then colonial British government. On 16th August 1942, a band of youth succeeded in hoisting the Indian tricolor on top of the Dumraon police station. This daring act was led by Kapil Muni, who erected the flag on top of the Dumraon police station. Unfortunately cops in the station brutally attacked these youth. Police opened fire. Muni and other three of his associates were killed while seven others were badly injured. In memory of these four, - Kapil Muni, Gopal Kahar, Ramdas Sonar and Ramdas Lohar- the town of Dumraon has been holding memorial events since 16th August 1943 to commemorate the martyrdom of these foursome under the aegis of Dumraon Shahid Smarak Samiti. After 15th August 1947, the police station where these heroes were martyred was turned into a memorial. But it was only as late as 2015, the Bihar government has granted this celebration an official status as “Dumraon Shahid Smark Divas”, and sculptured statues of these four martyrs at the memorial. This was inaugurated by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in January 2017. This little known history needs to be celebrated so that even unsung heroes become part of the national folk lore.
MAHARASHTRA: If Dashrat Manji, the Mountain Man of Bihar, cut a mountain that prevented the transportation of his wife to the hospital where she died when she fell off a portion of the mountain, and made a road that reduced the distance of 60km to just 10 kms, comes the story of Dadarao Bilhore of Mumbai. Bilhore’s son Prakash died on July 28, 2015, after his bike fell into a deep pothole on rain water clogged Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) in North West Mumbai. Following his death, Bilhore started filling-up potholes in the city to avert such accidents. According to the report in the print media he has filled up close to 560 potholes so far, across Mumbai.
As Dashrat Manji had the vision that others in situations of distress and emergency should not suffer the long distance, he single handedly, for 22 long years, managed to cut the mountain to make a 25 feet wide 360 feet long motorable road, Dadarao Bilhore too is having similar loftier vision. Speaking to Associated News of India, he is reported to have said “I don’t want people to face the same fate as my son Prakash. I will keep working till India becomes pothole free. Our nation has a huge population. Even if one lakh people start filling potholes India will become pothole free”. Like cutting the road and making road connectivity is the job of the government of the day, even making the roads pothole free in Mumbai too is the duty of the Muncipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. But sadly, like the government in Bihar, even here in Mumbai there is a leadership crisis, both the bureaucracy and the politicians have neither commitment nor the sincerity to serve the people. Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMMC) is the richest civic body in the country and sadly, BMMC is immersed in arguing who should do this job, BMMC or Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). In the meanwhile likes of Prakash will continue to meet with their pothole grave and life for BMMC & MMRDA will go on as usual. They will continue to remain irrelevant, despite the fact that they are paid for by public money for what they are supposed to be doing during their terms in office. It is strange even civil society has not come forward to either help Dadarao Bilhore in his visionary task nor have any organization has come forward to recognize his dedication and determination to make a visible/discernible difference to the public space as well as public life. This is Yeh Mera India. Long live Dadarao Bilhore!
MAHARASHTRA: That judiciary cannot go wrong is never the case. Judges too are human. To err is human and there are number of cases where judgments, in retrospect, were thought to have not served its purpose of justice. Indeed judgment and justice are not the same.
There was this news datelined Thane, in North East Mumbai, “Man who raped woman married and then murdered her”. That he was arrested and was awarded life imprisonment is not the issue. The question was how a rape accused can be set at liberty if he offers to marry the victim? What is the guarantee that the same victim can or will remain safe after the marriage to the criminal, who violently violated her persona? What is the rationale of judges that this is justice in all its fairness?
Questions are far too many and in the larger social canvass, how are they addressed?
Mukesh Bhandaree of Korigaon, Kalyan, north of Mumbai was arrested for the rape of one Amisha Mhatre of Kalyan. He was jailed and he managed his bail. While being on bail he managed to convince the court and married the victim on April 12, 2015. But within less than 2 months she went missing and her body was found in Yewari village in neighbouring district of Bhivandi.
It was very clear, the accused wanted the case against him closed and hence offered to marry the victim. But that the victim had complained against the accused and therefore was convicted, worked on his psyche. It is apparent he wanted to settle the score, once and for all. But he was smart by half. He was too impatient for his act of ‘tit for tat’ and probably didn’t think he could be caught.
This case clearly establishes that a rapist, who violates the persona of a girl or woman, is a person with criminal bent of mind. He cannot be trusted. This also brings to the fore the granting of bail to such criminals. What is the safety mechanism that is built into such bails? How that bail accused remains within the ambit of law and remains accountable to the original crime that he has committed? These are the questions, legal community and judiciary should ponder. Most of the time obtaining a bail is not difficult if you have the money to employ a lawyer whatever his fees is. It is the prosecution or the plaintiff who must insist on bail conditions, if the denial of bail is not possible.
Such cases of bailed criminals repeating crime are not infrequent. This is certainly a call for courts to take. Will they?
KARNATAKA: As if coalition government in Bengalooru is getting into regular controversies is not enough, comes this controversy of male nursing students denied entry due to their beard.
Reportedly four students from Kashmir, who had joined Adarsh College of Nursing on the outskirts of Bengalooru city, were told to shave off their beard by the principal of the college. The reason ostensibly is hygiene. Of course one of the student is a 2nd year student and other 3 being 1st year students. Obviously the college had no problem with their beard when they were admitted. But it was the new principal who joined a few weeks ago decided to bring the new rule.
Of course, each college can have its dress code, which should be made known while being admitted. After admission, it is highly improper to change the rules of the game. Or the college should facilitate their admission elsewhere including refund of their fees. The college simply has no right to unilaterally force the issue, without an alternative way out.
Fortunately, reportedly the parents of these four students from Kashmir have advised these students to shave off the beard and make peace with the college. That’s wisdom at its best.
However earlier these students had protested saying “the beard is a matter of our faith”. This is a bit taking it too far. There are any number of people who sport beard and those who are also clean shaven across the religious spectrum. It is nobody’s case that a bearded one is a better person in the practice of one’s faith than the one who does not keep the beard. In fact the practice of keeping beard has nothing to do with religiosity at all. This practice of many men of God sporting beard is always baffling, when there are equal number of these men of God of having no beard at all. I met a bearded English speaking God man in Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmadabad. While interacting I asked him why has he grown the beard? He was completely non-plussed at this unexpected ‘stupid’ question. He struggled for an answer. But I volunteered by saying “you are keeping beard because you are lazy to shave”. In no time he took to his heels. So truly speaking, ‘Beard being a matter of faith is all hogwash’.
KERALA: The unprecedented natural calamity that has hit Kerala has few parallels. Since almost 100 years, there hasn’t been anything like this. It is indeed extremely sad and bad that some 1,00,000 were rendered homeless, some 400 plus have lost their lives, some close to 10000 crores worth probably lost in properties. The rain that lashed the Kerala landscape, especially the central part, led to the opening of shutters of almost all of the 27 dams of the state.
To stall the force of wind, obstructions can be built. Devastating fire can be controlled with innovative methods. But the unrelenting gush of the water cannot be stopped by humans. Only nature can stop it. It was the rain of some 10 days that ruined good part of the God’s own country. There is a need of massive assistance and support of all kinds, money, material and management. The administration in the state is doing a good job under trying circumstances. But it needs huge assistance from all concerned, centre, other states and of course, general public. But the Malayalee diaspora has a huge responsibility. They have both numbers and resources to help the state administration. They must rise to the occasion.
Reportedly centre has released Rs.500 crores as against the demand of Rs.2000/- immediate help. Under the circumstances centre should at least release another 500 crores to make it 1000 crores, without delay. Hope it happens. Other sources are on its way, trickling in. Hope all of us within our, whatever, means reach out to make the life of suffering Malayaalis better like that B.Sc student Hanan Hamid set an example by donating Rs.150000/- that she received as help after she became a media sensation some weeks ago. Hope slowly and steadily things will revert back to normal in all of Kerala.
However, when all is said and done, the thought crossed, why this had to happen to Kerala landscape?
Monsoon is a normal yearly happening during June/September, in India. Some get more rain and some get less rain. Some place even gets flooded for different reasons like, lack of drainages, lack of infrastructure to manage flowing rain water. Then of course, the destruction of forest cover in different places in the name of development has been the greater causa proxima for this massive flooding & inundation due to heavy rain with most escape routes having been closed for surging rain water. Apparently lessons to be learnt, is written on the wall. Like an editorial of a paper puts it, “Tinkering with ecologically fragile regions in the name of development must stop. And two key departments, water resources and power, must work in tandem. Hydel power can be viable only if water as a resource is handled with utmost sensitivity in Kerala”. There is this post doing its round in the WhatsApp. It is reproduced here for the information of our readers. Quote,
“It’s not LORD AYYAPPAN, neither Bishop Franco
Kerala is suffering the curse of Respected Madhav gadgil. Professor Madhav Gadgil, the environment scientist.....does the name ring a bell? He was called in, by the social forestry department by the then government to study the impact of deforestation, in western ghats.....the illegal quarrying, the illegal occupation of forest lands, sand mining from rivers, the filling of paddy lands....he cited all these and said Kerala in the long run will see devastation of unimaginable proportions....landslides will be there in every hilly region....the rivers will flood since there is no sand in its bed and the riversides have illegal constructions.....this gentleman professor gave 2000 plus page report and urged the government to take action.....he had to leave in disgrace....the left, the right...all in unison....called him names and conducted marches in all the hilly districts.....he left silently.....and now the state is gasping for air.....looking for help from every possible agency and from the centre. Shame on you....ignorant and arrogant political opportunists. Sorry sir..But we call ourselves 100%literate”. Unquote.
WORLD: We always thought that western World is more charitable and more concerned about the World in general. They are, as if more serious minded, do spend on African, Asian and Latin American societies. However, there is always a commercial dimension to what they do. More often their charities are strings attached.
As it happens, National Health Service (NHS) in the UK had declared Graseby Syringe drivers as unsafe and therefore they were banned to be used in the state funded NHS. The unsafety of these Syringe drivers was alerted as far back as 1995.
Reportedly between 1988 and 2000, there have been fatalities. However it remained in use in the NHS until 2015, although there appeared a notice issued by the Isle of Wight NHS Trust in December 2011 which advised staff that in order to comply with a department of health alert all Graseby Syringe drivers would be replaced, while adding “They will be donated to a 3rd World charity”.
That was how in 2011 Rotary Clubs in the UK had sent more than 100 Graseby Syringe drivers to South Africa as part of its “Abundant Life Programme”.
Thus clearly, there is a visible dirtier side to this western charity, which involves even the respected service organizations like Rotary.
The London datelined report also informed about a nurse from Somerset in England was allowed to take several Graseby drivers, when she travelled to India in 2014 to work as a volunteer at a hospice in some interior parts of India. Reportedly, it has gone to Nepal as well as part of medical charity.
This dimension of western charity is clearly racially driven. It is a sad but blunt truth, especially when it involves Rotary Clubs, take it or leave it.
WORLD: There was this report “Kohli irked by questions on Dhoni’s finishing skills”, datelined London. But when is he not irked? This is his second nature. He is a top cricketer alright, but bad sport. He not only cannot take criticism he behaved rather badly many a time. The most famous was when Australian’s asked the Indian team to join for a beer after the test despite Australia having lost the series Kohli just brushed it off as not interested. And there is any number of occasions he has behaved poorly. One of the reasons why Rahul Dravid refused to take up the post of Chief Coach of Indian Team under Kohli, is because of this attitudinal problem of Kohli.
Going back to London, where Indians were playing England, struggle with bat for MS Dhoni had continued. If the first one dayer was bad, the second one was worst for MSD. He scored a painstaking 37 off 58 balls. That’s very much unlike Dhoni. But then time is a great leveler. He is not as young as he was. He is growing old. How Tendulkar pushed himself hard, with the help of all concerned. But came cropper towards the end of his career. He was literally forced out of Indian cricket. Similarly for Kohli, MSD, the captain’s blue eyed boy, ‘can do no wrong’. He was clearly upset when former England skipper Nasser Hussain queried “what happened to Dhoni?” .When you don’t have an answer, you get irked. It’s human. But a sportsman has to be better than that, especially a captain. He has to acknowledge ‘may be time is catching up with MSD’, with a smile. But that kind of response is impossible from Virat kohli, the Indian Cricket Captain. He cannot face difficult question, hence he could never answer what failed between him and his former India coach Anil Kumble?! Besides there is no dearth of cricket talent among young Indians who are waiting in the wings to be called to the National Team!
WORLD: Separatist elements among Sikhs in the UK had a rally in London’s Trafalgar Square under the banner of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). SFJ is a group of fringe elements out to create disquiet in Punjab India. When SFJ announced that they wanted to hold the rally in London, New Delhi had requested that this rally should not be allowed. But citing the freedom of expression within the legal permissiveness, the authorities in London, overruled India’s objection and gave permission to have the rally. Authorities in London also disallowed an Indian rally to celebrate the ensuing 71st Independence Day of India. So, it was double whammy for India.
Reportedly it turned out to be a ‘damp squib’, informs Captn. Amarinder Singh, the Chief Minister of Punjab in India. According to him, there were Pakistanis in the crowd in the SFJ rally in London and hence it was ‘an out and out ISI plot’ to destabilize India. Captain feels that ‘this SFJ in association with ISI has not only failed in this London rally to muster support, but will continue to fail in their nefarious design’.
While we do hope that such attempt will not succeed in its design to destabilize India, ISI seems to forget that there is another part of Punjab which is now in Pakistan, which can also become a target of this Sikh separatist movement led by SFJ. If SFJ is looking for Khalistan, it would be for Akhand Punjab or Whole Punjab, not just the Indian side. Then it will be too hot to handle for both ISI and Pakistan. In their own interest, Pakistan should desist from fishing in Punjab’s troubled waters.
While we are about it, it is pertinent to mention here what happened in Muscat Oman. Decades ago, when Babri Masjid was demolished, some groups in Muscat took to the streets to protest the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya. The police referred the matter to the Royal court. His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, understood to have ordered the police to disperse the crowd without delay and to protect law and order with a stern statement ‘Not to import politics of other countries into Oman’. Wish the leadership in the UK, which included its London Mayor Sajid Khan, a Pakistani by birth, have been more circumspect and could have taken Indian concerns more seriously. Unfortunately this did not happen.
J. Shriyan
Supreme Court of India, seized of the matter, questioned the practice “Can violation of bodily integrity be part of religion & its practice?” The court was responding to a PIL by advocate Sunita Tiwari.
Reportedly senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the defendants of the practice wanted the matter referred to a constitution bench since it violates the religious right of its practitioner and this is an issue of essential practice of the religion which needed to be examined.
Clearly upset, the Apex Court demanded “why anybody else should have any control over the genitals of an individual”? Central government, represented by Attorney General K K Venugopal, reportedly reiterated that the practice violated various fundamental rights of the girl child, so also it has serious repercussion on their health.
Advocate Sunita Tiwari had requested the court to direct the central government to enact a law to declare the inhuman practice of female genital mutilation as an offence while demanding that the offence be made “non-compoundable and non-bailable” with provision for harsh punishment, while stressing “it caused permanent disfiguration to the body of girl child”. Besides, ‘since it is forced on minors, it amounts to a serious violation of the rights of children’, she averred.
Having made many state governments and centre as parties to the issue, the Supreme Court appears clearly in favour of banning it. Hope as and when all are heard, the highest court of the land will take the call and act affirmatively in favour of girl children, whenever they are affected within India.
NEW DELHI:Lynching is a terrible social aberration. There is no doubt. It has to be punished in all seriousness. In India in recent times, cow transporting men, either legally or illegally, especially Muslims were targeted violently by anti-socials calling themselves Gav Rakshaks. Somehow there appears to be less seriousness in recognizing this macabre happening as a grievous offence deserving stringent punishment. It is true, the governments concerned are acting to protect the vulnerable and punish the guilty. Hope in not too distant a future, an appropriate mechanism is put in place to deal with this menace.
However, there is a new development, surprisingly from two Muslim gentlemen Mohammad Faiz Khan from Raipur and Advocate Israr Ullah from Allahabad. Both call themselves as ‘Gav Rakshaks’. If Mohammad Faiz Khan has gone on a ‘Paadyaatra’ from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, a distance of some 12000 kms, to generate mass awareness about cow protection and medicinal quality of cow’s milk, Israr Ullah is engaged in legal actions against illegal meat trade and cow smuggling. These two gentlemen, according to a report datelined New Delhi have moved an urgent petition urging the bench headed by CJ Dipak Mishra not to impose blanket ban on the cow vigilantism as it will disrupt the work done by genuine Gav Rakshaks preventing illegal cow smuggling and illegal meat trade.
According to the duo, cow vigilantism is a legal act and lynching is an attempt to malign the real cow protectors, while pleading that activists across the country work within the frame work of the law to protect cows and everyone should not be painted with the same brush. And any attempt to ban genuine protests will only make cow smuggling and illegal trade in meat easy. They also insist that violence perpetuated by meat mafia is on far higher scale compared to the mob violence, describing it as an indiscriminate brutality by the armed meat mafia.
While this is a development that cannot be ignored, there is certainly an element of newer dimension, the legal eagles must address, if found justifiable. Hope the issue is addressed fair and square.
NEW DELHI:Running down a government of the ruling party by the opposition political party is pretty normal, probably everywhere, more so in India.
All governments in India or in states have always been attacked or negatively portrayed by opposition leaders. It is the done thing. But the attack on Modi led NDA II is generally unrelenting for many of its complexities.
Whether, it is Shashi Tharoor talking about the Hindu Pakistan because of the present government, or P. Chidambaram saying “Following demonetization, the faulty implementation of GST destroyed thousands of SMEs and millions of jobs. Ask any trader or business person and you will know the truth”, or even a more responsible and articulate Jairam Ramesh attacking PM Modi for his economic policies, the attack on NDA II has been on the rise in recent times. Now that the election 2019 is only some 8/9 months away, the criticism of NDA II has been continuous. Even Rahul Gandhi is on overdrive.
In the midst of this cacophony comes two very interesting news. Giving ‘thumps-up’, for Swachh Bharath initiative by the Modi led NDA II; World Health Organization (WHO) has recently reported that this initiative is likely to prevent three lakh deaths in rural area in the next 5 years. According to WHO, India’s rural sanitation coverage escalated to almost 90% in July 2018 from less than 20% 5 years ago.
And comes another report from International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to IMF head in India, Ranil Salgado, India’s economy can be a long term source of global growth, next only to China and US. India’s economy is picking up and growth prospects look bright-partly due to implementation of recent policies like nationwide GST.
Thus, despite opposition in general and Congress party in particular being harsh in portraying the NDA II of Modi in poor light, the positive certificates by international organizations shall buck-up the general public sentiments and keep them to form positive opinion of the incumbent government, like it or not.
NEW DELHI:AAP leader Ashutosh has left AAP for some ‘very very personal reasons’, so informs the media. It was expected since some time. Ever since the nomination to Rajya Sabha was denied to him, he has been sulking. But the nomination of money bag Sushil Gupta made things difficult for Ashutosh. Kejriwal wants no challenge to his leadership and none should question him. Ashutosh questioned business man Sushil Gupta being made Rajya Sabha MP. Now his MLA possibility is also appears scuttled apparently. Earlier it was Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan who were booted out because they questioned Kejriwal. All tall leaders of AAP have left including Kapil Mishra, a former minister in AAP Delhi government. This is Kejriwal legacy, whether his fans recognise this or not. Intellectuals with independent personality will not continue with AAP, take it or leave it. A founding member Kumar Biswas has completely distanced himself from AAP, inform reports. Reportedly Kejriwal, in his capacity as the national convener of AAP, has refused to accept the resignation of Ashutosh. There is an emerging sense of crisis within AAP. What Arvind Kejriwal, the poster boy of clean politics, do not seem to understand and realize is, when most people join party politics, they have ambition to become MLA/MP/Minister etc. Some want to serve the electorate, some want power, some want to make money, some want power to serve and some want both power & money. For sure they want to be somebody. Not for nothing they want to be in politics. Just like AK himself having vision of becoming a competitor to Narendra Modi with his routine harangue accusing Modi for all his perceived problems. Whether he recognizes this truth or not, Kejriwal represents Modi's negetives. He too is intolerant of critics within the party. Hence since there will be hangers on AAP will grow anyway, but very slowly, unlike earlier years. Thus sheen is certainly tapering off. Yes, the dream run is over. Sad but true.
NEW DELHI:While speaking at the 71st Independence Day celebration at Red Fort, Prime Minister Modi, had said “I am impatient about change, I am in great hurry for the progress of the country” etc.
Of course, the way NDA II has been working overtime under Modi’s leadership, there is no doubt that he is in a hurry with far too many initiatives, which as of now can be called WORK-IN-PROGRESS, since all of them need time to be complete.
However there were those like ‘Smart Cities’ and ‘Bullet Train’ are needed in an evolving economy like India, they need not be hurried. They could be planned in gingerly fashion, when country can be ready to spend on dream projects. Surely they have relevance. Both these projects will be essential in coming days. But what about Chandrayana, especially when we are talking about fiscal deficit? The unmanned space craft to land on Moon is grandiose, to say the least. It is an 800 crore lunar mission. It is planned to be in the orbit on January 3rd 2019, just 4 months before the general election in May 2019.
So what’s the purpose!? To boast about India’s prowess in the space craft, while electioneering to influence gullible public?!
We have huge problems on primary & high school education front, all across the government schools. AAP government in Delhi is experimenting to improve the schools, not sure about the quality of teachers and teaching, but at least they have made some beginning. PM Modi needs to visit these schools to have a firsthand knowledge of this change. Or at least make the HRD minister to visit them. So what AAP is an opposition party? There is nothing wrong in learning from anybody if it is good! This 800 crore for the lunar mission could have gone to HRD for this purpose. But then we are Indians, for the most part into muddled priorities. This has been our national malaise for all these 71 years.
BIHAR: Independence Day comes and goes. For all the 71 years of politically free India, on every 15th August, Indians all over India have celebrated the Independence Day with lot of fervor and emotion. But there is a place in India which celebrates this Red Letter Day for two consecutive days of both 15th August and 16th August.
Dumraon is a small town in the eastern Buxar district in Bihar. On 8th August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi had given a clarion call to ‘Do or Die’ in his Quit India speech in Mumbai. Inspired by the speech hundreds of youth had tried to hoist Indian tricolor on the administrative buildings controlled by the then colonial British government. On 16th August 1942, a band of youth succeeded in hoisting the Indian tricolor on top of the Dumraon police station. This daring act was led by Kapil Muni, who erected the flag on top of the Dumraon police station. Unfortunately cops in the station brutally attacked these youth. Police opened fire. Muni and other three of his associates were killed while seven others were badly injured. In memory of these four, - Kapil Muni, Gopal Kahar, Ramdas Sonar and Ramdas Lohar- the town of Dumraon has been holding memorial events since 16th August 1943 to commemorate the martyrdom of these foursome under the aegis of Dumraon Shahid Smarak Samiti. After 15th August 1947, the police station where these heroes were martyred was turned into a memorial. But it was only as late as 2015, the Bihar government has granted this celebration an official status as “Dumraon Shahid Smark Divas”, and sculptured statues of these four martyrs at the memorial. This was inaugurated by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in January 2017. This little known history needs to be celebrated so that even unsung heroes become part of the national folk lore.
MAHARASHTRA: If Dashrat Manji, the Mountain Man of Bihar, cut a mountain that prevented the transportation of his wife to the hospital where she died when she fell off a portion of the mountain, and made a road that reduced the distance of 60km to just 10 kms, comes the story of Dadarao Bilhore of Mumbai. Bilhore’s son Prakash died on July 28, 2015, after his bike fell into a deep pothole on rain water clogged Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) in North West Mumbai. Following his death, Bilhore started filling-up potholes in the city to avert such accidents. According to the report in the print media he has filled up close to 560 potholes so far, across Mumbai.
As Dashrat Manji had the vision that others in situations of distress and emergency should not suffer the long distance, he single handedly, for 22 long years, managed to cut the mountain to make a 25 feet wide 360 feet long motorable road, Dadarao Bilhore too is having similar loftier vision. Speaking to Associated News of India, he is reported to have said “I don’t want people to face the same fate as my son Prakash. I will keep working till India becomes pothole free. Our nation has a huge population. Even if one lakh people start filling potholes India will become pothole free”. Like cutting the road and making road connectivity is the job of the government of the day, even making the roads pothole free in Mumbai too is the duty of the Muncipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. But sadly, like the government in Bihar, even here in Mumbai there is a leadership crisis, both the bureaucracy and the politicians have neither commitment nor the sincerity to serve the people. Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMMC) is the richest civic body in the country and sadly, BMMC is immersed in arguing who should do this job, BMMC or Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). In the meanwhile likes of Prakash will continue to meet with their pothole grave and life for BMMC & MMRDA will go on as usual. They will continue to remain irrelevant, despite the fact that they are paid for by public money for what they are supposed to be doing during their terms in office. It is strange even civil society has not come forward to either help Dadarao Bilhore in his visionary task nor have any organization has come forward to recognize his dedication and determination to make a visible/discernible difference to the public space as well as public life. This is Yeh Mera India. Long live Dadarao Bilhore!
MAHARASHTRA: That judiciary cannot go wrong is never the case. Judges too are human. To err is human and there are number of cases where judgments, in retrospect, were thought to have not served its purpose of justice. Indeed judgment and justice are not the same.
There was this news datelined Thane, in North East Mumbai, “Man who raped woman married and then murdered her”. That he was arrested and was awarded life imprisonment is not the issue. The question was how a rape accused can be set at liberty if he offers to marry the victim? What is the guarantee that the same victim can or will remain safe after the marriage to the criminal, who violently violated her persona? What is the rationale of judges that this is justice in all its fairness?
Questions are far too many and in the larger social canvass, how are they addressed?
Mukesh Bhandaree of Korigaon, Kalyan, north of Mumbai was arrested for the rape of one Amisha Mhatre of Kalyan. He was jailed and he managed his bail. While being on bail he managed to convince the court and married the victim on April 12, 2015. But within less than 2 months she went missing and her body was found in Yewari village in neighbouring district of Bhivandi.
It was very clear, the accused wanted the case against him closed and hence offered to marry the victim. But that the victim had complained against the accused and therefore was convicted, worked on his psyche. It is apparent he wanted to settle the score, once and for all. But he was smart by half. He was too impatient for his act of ‘tit for tat’ and probably didn’t think he could be caught.
This case clearly establishes that a rapist, who violates the persona of a girl or woman, is a person with criminal bent of mind. He cannot be trusted. This also brings to the fore the granting of bail to such criminals. What is the safety mechanism that is built into such bails? How that bail accused remains within the ambit of law and remains accountable to the original crime that he has committed? These are the questions, legal community and judiciary should ponder. Most of the time obtaining a bail is not difficult if you have the money to employ a lawyer whatever his fees is. It is the prosecution or the plaintiff who must insist on bail conditions, if the denial of bail is not possible.
Such cases of bailed criminals repeating crime are not infrequent. This is certainly a call for courts to take. Will they?
KARNATAKA: As if coalition government in Bengalooru is getting into regular controversies is not enough, comes this controversy of male nursing students denied entry due to their beard.
Reportedly four students from Kashmir, who had joined Adarsh College of Nursing on the outskirts of Bengalooru city, were told to shave off their beard by the principal of the college. The reason ostensibly is hygiene. Of course one of the student is a 2nd year student and other 3 being 1st year students. Obviously the college had no problem with their beard when they were admitted. But it was the new principal who joined a few weeks ago decided to bring the new rule.
Of course, each college can have its dress code, which should be made known while being admitted. After admission, it is highly improper to change the rules of the game. Or the college should facilitate their admission elsewhere including refund of their fees. The college simply has no right to unilaterally force the issue, without an alternative way out.
Fortunately, reportedly the parents of these four students from Kashmir have advised these students to shave off the beard and make peace with the college. That’s wisdom at its best.
However earlier these students had protested saying “the beard is a matter of our faith”. This is a bit taking it too far. There are any number of people who sport beard and those who are also clean shaven across the religious spectrum. It is nobody’s case that a bearded one is a better person in the practice of one’s faith than the one who does not keep the beard. In fact the practice of keeping beard has nothing to do with religiosity at all. This practice of many men of God sporting beard is always baffling, when there are equal number of these men of God of having no beard at all. I met a bearded English speaking God man in Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmadabad. While interacting I asked him why has he grown the beard? He was completely non-plussed at this unexpected ‘stupid’ question. He struggled for an answer. But I volunteered by saying “you are keeping beard because you are lazy to shave”. In no time he took to his heels. So truly speaking, ‘Beard being a matter of faith is all hogwash’.
KERALA: The unprecedented natural calamity that has hit Kerala has few parallels. Since almost 100 years, there hasn’t been anything like this. It is indeed extremely sad and bad that some 1,00,000 were rendered homeless, some 400 plus have lost their lives, some close to 10000 crores worth probably lost in properties. The rain that lashed the Kerala landscape, especially the central part, led to the opening of shutters of almost all of the 27 dams of the state.
To stall the force of wind, obstructions can be built. Devastating fire can be controlled with innovative methods. But the unrelenting gush of the water cannot be stopped by humans. Only nature can stop it. It was the rain of some 10 days that ruined good part of the God’s own country. There is a need of massive assistance and support of all kinds, money, material and management. The administration in the state is doing a good job under trying circumstances. But it needs huge assistance from all concerned, centre, other states and of course, general public. But the Malayalee diaspora has a huge responsibility. They have both numbers and resources to help the state administration. They must rise to the occasion.
Reportedly centre has released Rs.500 crores as against the demand of Rs.2000/- immediate help. Under the circumstances centre should at least release another 500 crores to make it 1000 crores, without delay. Hope it happens. Other sources are on its way, trickling in. Hope all of us within our, whatever, means reach out to make the life of suffering Malayaalis better like that B.Sc student Hanan Hamid set an example by donating Rs.150000/- that she received as help after she became a media sensation some weeks ago. Hope slowly and steadily things will revert back to normal in all of Kerala.
However, when all is said and done, the thought crossed, why this had to happen to Kerala landscape?
Monsoon is a normal yearly happening during June/September, in India. Some get more rain and some get less rain. Some place even gets flooded for different reasons like, lack of drainages, lack of infrastructure to manage flowing rain water. Then of course, the destruction of forest cover in different places in the name of development has been the greater causa proxima for this massive flooding & inundation due to heavy rain with most escape routes having been closed for surging rain water. Apparently lessons to be learnt, is written on the wall. Like an editorial of a paper puts it, “Tinkering with ecologically fragile regions in the name of development must stop. And two key departments, water resources and power, must work in tandem. Hydel power can be viable only if water as a resource is handled with utmost sensitivity in Kerala”. There is this post doing its round in the WhatsApp. It is reproduced here for the information of our readers. Quote,
“It’s not LORD AYYAPPAN, neither Bishop Franco
Kerala is suffering the curse of Respected Madhav gadgil. Professor Madhav Gadgil, the environment scientist.....does the name ring a bell? He was called in, by the social forestry department by the then government to study the impact of deforestation, in western ghats.....the illegal quarrying, the illegal occupation of forest lands, sand mining from rivers, the filling of paddy lands....he cited all these and said Kerala in the long run will see devastation of unimaginable proportions....landslides will be there in every hilly region....the rivers will flood since there is no sand in its bed and the riversides have illegal constructions.....this gentleman professor gave 2000 plus page report and urged the government to take action.....he had to leave in disgrace....the left, the right...all in unison....called him names and conducted marches in all the hilly districts.....he left silently.....and now the state is gasping for air.....looking for help from every possible agency and from the centre. Shame on you....ignorant and arrogant political opportunists. Sorry sir..But we call ourselves 100%literate”. Unquote.
WORLD: We always thought that western World is more charitable and more concerned about the World in general. They are, as if more serious minded, do spend on African, Asian and Latin American societies. However, there is always a commercial dimension to what they do. More often their charities are strings attached.
As it happens, National Health Service (NHS) in the UK had declared Graseby Syringe drivers as unsafe and therefore they were banned to be used in the state funded NHS. The unsafety of these Syringe drivers was alerted as far back as 1995.
Reportedly between 1988 and 2000, there have been fatalities. However it remained in use in the NHS until 2015, although there appeared a notice issued by the Isle of Wight NHS Trust in December 2011 which advised staff that in order to comply with a department of health alert all Graseby Syringe drivers would be replaced, while adding “They will be donated to a 3rd World charity”.
That was how in 2011 Rotary Clubs in the UK had sent more than 100 Graseby Syringe drivers to South Africa as part of its “Abundant Life Programme”.
Thus clearly, there is a visible dirtier side to this western charity, which involves even the respected service organizations like Rotary.
The London datelined report also informed about a nurse from Somerset in England was allowed to take several Graseby drivers, when she travelled to India in 2014 to work as a volunteer at a hospice in some interior parts of India. Reportedly, it has gone to Nepal as well as part of medical charity.
This dimension of western charity is clearly racially driven. It is a sad but blunt truth, especially when it involves Rotary Clubs, take it or leave it.
WORLD: There was this report “Kohli irked by questions on Dhoni’s finishing skills”, datelined London. But when is he not irked? This is his second nature. He is a top cricketer alright, but bad sport. He not only cannot take criticism he behaved rather badly many a time. The most famous was when Australian’s asked the Indian team to join for a beer after the test despite Australia having lost the series Kohli just brushed it off as not interested. And there is any number of occasions he has behaved poorly. One of the reasons why Rahul Dravid refused to take up the post of Chief Coach of Indian Team under Kohli, is because of this attitudinal problem of Kohli.
Going back to London, where Indians were playing England, struggle with bat for MS Dhoni had continued. If the first one dayer was bad, the second one was worst for MSD. He scored a painstaking 37 off 58 balls. That’s very much unlike Dhoni. But then time is a great leveler. He is not as young as he was. He is growing old. How Tendulkar pushed himself hard, with the help of all concerned. But came cropper towards the end of his career. He was literally forced out of Indian cricket. Similarly for Kohli, MSD, the captain’s blue eyed boy, ‘can do no wrong’. He was clearly upset when former England skipper Nasser Hussain queried “what happened to Dhoni?” .When you don’t have an answer, you get irked. It’s human. But a sportsman has to be better than that, especially a captain. He has to acknowledge ‘may be time is catching up with MSD’, with a smile. But that kind of response is impossible from Virat kohli, the Indian Cricket Captain. He cannot face difficult question, hence he could never answer what failed between him and his former India coach Anil Kumble?! Besides there is no dearth of cricket talent among young Indians who are waiting in the wings to be called to the National Team!
WORLD: Separatist elements among Sikhs in the UK had a rally in London’s Trafalgar Square under the banner of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). SFJ is a group of fringe elements out to create disquiet in Punjab India. When SFJ announced that they wanted to hold the rally in London, New Delhi had requested that this rally should not be allowed. But citing the freedom of expression within the legal permissiveness, the authorities in London, overruled India’s objection and gave permission to have the rally. Authorities in London also disallowed an Indian rally to celebrate the ensuing 71st Independence Day of India. So, it was double whammy for India.
Reportedly it turned out to be a ‘damp squib’, informs Captn. Amarinder Singh, the Chief Minister of Punjab in India. According to him, there were Pakistanis in the crowd in the SFJ rally in London and hence it was ‘an out and out ISI plot’ to destabilize India. Captain feels that ‘this SFJ in association with ISI has not only failed in this London rally to muster support, but will continue to fail in their nefarious design’.
While we do hope that such attempt will not succeed in its design to destabilize India, ISI seems to forget that there is another part of Punjab which is now in Pakistan, which can also become a target of this Sikh separatist movement led by SFJ. If SFJ is looking for Khalistan, it would be for Akhand Punjab or Whole Punjab, not just the Indian side. Then it will be too hot to handle for both ISI and Pakistan. In their own interest, Pakistan should desist from fishing in Punjab’s troubled waters.
While we are about it, it is pertinent to mention here what happened in Muscat Oman. Decades ago, when Babri Masjid was demolished, some groups in Muscat took to the streets to protest the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya. The police referred the matter to the Royal court. His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, understood to have ordered the police to disperse the crowd without delay and to protect law and order with a stern statement ‘Not to import politics of other countries into Oman’. Wish the leadership in the UK, which included its London Mayor Sajid Khan, a Pakistani by birth, have been more circumspect and could have taken Indian concerns more seriously. Unfortunately this did not happen.
J. Shriyan
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