Month-in-Perspective October 2020

NEW DELHI:Minister of Home Affairs, Government of India, Amit Shah has been in the news, since some months, getting in and out of hospital at irregular intervals. Reportedly despite having been recently recovered from Covid-19, he has just been admitted to AIIMS for a complete medical check-up. There need not be much to make out from this routine news. He became news because he is the high profile minister of a high profile ministry. And AIIMS stands for All India Institute of Medical Sciences. We all know that AIIMS in Delhi is an institute of higher medical learning in Post Graduate studies with students and cream of medical professionals being the teachers and guides to these students. It’s a premier institute with large in-house hospital facilities. This news appeared in the first page of Times of India (14/09/2020). There was also another report on a high profile politician, in the same news paper on the same day. But strangely, the news was published in the 6th page, which said “Sonia, Rahul go abroad for her checkup”. The title is a bit misleading or wrongly worded. Congress President Sonia Gandhi reportedly left New Delhi on 12/09/2020, last Saturday for an overseas trip for her annual medical checkup. Her son, Rahul, was reportedly accompanying her. Both are Members of Parliament. Here too the report appears to be just as routine with apparently no significance. However this writer was a bit amused, why TOI had to make the former news on MoHA Amit Shah high profile and published it in the front page, just below the top news of the day on the first day of parliament session opening on 14/09/2020, Monday, while the news of Sonia Gandhi travelling for health check-up was consigned to 6th page! May be it is difficult, not to miss the design. With purpose TOI placed these two similar reports in different pages. Without any hassle, both reports could have appeared in the same page one after the other, either in the 1st page or in the 6th page, it wouldn’t have mattered at all. But there is one dimension of the news that went viral on social media. Union Minister Amit Shah has been admitted for health check up in All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), but Congress President Sonia Gandhi travels to New York for the same purpose of health check-up. Every time TOI decides the title of the report/news, at times with loaded design. This time it was bland. What if Amit Shah was to go to New York for a medical check-up and Sonia was to opt for AIIMS? How would our media including TOI and of course Rahul Gandhi and other Congress men would have reacted? NEW DELHI: On 22nd September, reportedly it was Police Reforms Day. Times of India carried a piece by Prakash Singh. At the bottom of the article it was printed “The writer is former Director General BSF (Border Security Force). Wikipedia informs, “He (Prakash Singh) is considered as one of the best police officer for his role as key architect for police reforms in India. Reportedly, he was also former DGP-Uttar Pradesh and former DGP-Assam. Clearly, he was a man who mattered during his active days. The article was titled “To ensure that police actions are seen to be fair and impartial, insulate it from external pressure”. Article generally spoke about the communal riot that happened in North East Delhi in February 2020, where some 53 died and over 500 were injured. Both Delhi police and SIT of the central Crime Branch are investigating. We all know that the issue of communal riot in North East Delhi has political overtones. The fact that it happened around the same time when Trump visited India, was it to cause international consternation! Was it to invite foreign attention on the so-called minority bashing! At least Julio Ribeiro seems to think so. That former super cop Ribeiro suffers from predilections is not unknown. What is true and what is not true will only come out after SIT has filed its report on the investigation. Hope truth comes out in all its clarity. The article by former senior police officer Prakash Singh while talking about police reform generally and in the context of North East Delhi riot refers to political pressure and how this external pressures can and will influence the course of police enquiry and therefore the possible miscarriage of justice etc. With police anywhere in the world, miscarriage of justice is a fact of life, not necessarily as a rule. Right or wrong, it did happen and unfortunately such miscarriage of justice was allowed to happen with no-police being made accountable for the apparent injustice to the victims of police actions. In his article of some 800 words, Prakash Singh nowhere referred to the continuing occurrence of custodial torture and even death of both criminals and innocents. Sadly, even the ‘decorated police officers like Julio Ribeiro, who keep raising questions about police actions and inactions in politically loaded situations did not find it worth his time to react to happening in Satamkulam-Tamil Nadu and other places where citizens arrested rightly or wrongly, were literally murdered. It is sad and rather strange, where helpless-powerless men, whether petty criminals or innocents were brutally tortured and have died inside the police station premises, these gentlemen, both Prakash Singh and Julio Ribeiro had nothing to say. Not even in the name of police reform on Police Reforms Day! For years on, Police Complaints Authority (PCA) in each state was discussed and debated, and some 13 states even had a modicum of a toothless PCA, with not much seeing the light of the day. Even Prevention of Torture Bill 2017 by the parliament is still in a draft-form exposing the bankruptcy of the political class to act on such an important piece of law. What can be greater tragedy than this M/s Singh & Ribeiro! NEW DELHI: The three bills recently passed by the parliament, without much of a discussion, ostensibly for the emancipation of suffering farmers has rightly or wrongly has upset those for whom it was reportedly intended to be the savior and they are on the road protesting. The three bills are The Farmers Produce Trade & Commerce (Promotion & Facilitation) Bill 2020, supposedly APMC dilution ordinance, The Essential Commodities Amendment Bill 2020 and The Farmers Empowerment & Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance & Farm Services Bill 2020. These laws are enacted with the laudable objective to double the income of farmers by 2022. Clearly intention is good. But our honourable members of the opposition in parliament behaved in the most disgraceful manner. Reportedly some MPs charged towards the podium of the presiding officer, flung the rule book at him, Derek O Brien of TMC even tore the rule book and hackled him. Reportedly there was no discussion on these bills, which is not right. Opposition demanded the bills to be referred to a house panel even that was ruled out. In the absence of discussion due to the pandemic time restriction, at least reference to house panel with time limit should have been accepted. It is unfortunate that a culture of high handedness is being adopted by senior members of the ruling party which is not questioned by other members of the ruling combine. But then unruly and violent behavior is no way to express one’s displeasure. They should have complained to the president, if there is a provision in the absence of debate, what are the avenues available to opposition members to understand the law in all its import and suggest improvements/ amendments, if any. Although on the paper, the government seems to be on the right path, an opportunity to the opposition to have its say would have only helped matters. Besides, surely there could be room for improvement in the end result of the bill, since all aspects are not generally fully covered by any legislation in its first attempt. After all political parties, irrespective of ideologies, are there only to serve the general public which includes farmers. The attitude of the government certainly needs revisit for the larger good of all concerned. Would that happen?! NEW DELHI: "Congress urges PM, Rajnath to take nation into confidence on India - China border row ", was a news item on the 8th page of Sunday Times of India. Quite frankly, this could have been a front page news for its sheer relevance. But we know how TOI prioritizes its news. Among many 1st page - headline hogging- news items, there were "Late politician's son among 12 booked in drug scandal" "NCB to question Rhea along with brother in custody" & "B'looru cocaine transit point for south Asia". Of the 3 news mentioned above, 1st & 3rd were continued on page 3, implying how important TOI thinks them to be. The top billed news on Sunday TOI was " India won't give up an inch of territory: Rajnath to China ". In all fairness “Congress urges PM", which appeared on page 8, could have accompanied the top billed news on the front page. But then, most media members in the print always barked up the wrong tree. Be that as it may, the response of the Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala was like a round peg in a round hole, perfect to say the least. This was one of the best responses from the GOP (Grand Old Party) in recent times. Indeed the ruling NDA government is duty bound to take the nation along, in its management of 'face-off ' with our troubling neighbor People's Republic of China. And opposition parties along with ruling dispensation are true representatives of the VOX-POPULI. It’s only fair that the ruling NDA must take Congress and other opposition parties on board on everything that matters to the nation. That's being a responsible, responsive ruling combine. In fact it's not a matter of choice for the government to confabulate with other parties in the opposition. It is a must, not merely a matter of political decency but also it's a political expediency to have smooth running of state machinery. The recent epochal event of ' Temple Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony ' at Ayodhya went off without any hick-ups or media hyperbole, especially when most media ‘intellectuals’ were unhappy with the Apex court ruling in favor of temple construction in Ayodhya. It's only because Congress, of its own volition came on board, may be for political compulsions. Therefore it makes lot of political sense to take opposition parties into confidence, especially when it comes to high decibel happenings like the “standoff with Dragon". It pays rich socio-political dividend to all, especially the ruling combine to take the opposition more seriously. MAHARASHTRA:In Mumbai intellectuals, liberals, media jokers and of course award waapsee crowd have gone completely dumb. They have nothing to say when a retired navy officer Madan Sharma was assaulted by Shiv Sena gundaas for sharing a cartoon pic, a timely and very relevant at that. 6 goons of ruling Shiv Sena were arrested and strangely released on bail within six hours. Arrest was only after protest outside police station for assault of a retired 65 year old armed forces officer. None in the media nor any of those liberal intellectuals came to the defense of the retired navy officer in the name of FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION! DOESN'T THIS EXPOSES THIS CROWD COMPREHENSIVELY! Now that these goons are free and roaming how would you guarantee the safety of even a retired defense officer let alone an ordinary citizen! Do you hearken Uddhav Thackeray! And mind you the report " 6 Sainiks held for attacking naval officer on bail " appeared on page 7 in the Sunday Times of India (13.09.2020).Had it been a BJP ruled state the report would be on the 1st page and crocodile tears of intellectuals on the attack on freedom of expression etc. would have accompanied. This is YEH MERA INDIA. MAHARASHTRA: Julio Ribeiro is a decorated police officer whose integrity is beyond question, very respected among his contemporaries and those who came into Mumbai Police later. But, strangely, he commented on the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, (SSR) the bollywood actor. Lot of men and women, high and mighty including celebrities die unnaturally, either by suicide or some other reasons which are not natural. Then it becomes news for some time and life goes on. SSR was a promising young man, died under questionable circumstances. Emotion did run high for varieties of reasons on his untimely death. Both state governments, Bihar from where SSR hailed and Maharashtra got involved. Maharashtra police had to be involved because it happened in Mumbai. Bihar police forced itself into it, because, they suspected foul play. So it became a free for all. And the former top cop Ribeiro came on record saying “It’s a straight forward suicide case”. It appeared as if he was trying to give Maharashtra police a clean chit, was it needed? was the question started making rounds. As luck would have it, the death of Sushant Singh Rajput has opened a can of worms – drugs, politicians- bollywood nexus, pedophiles, prostitution etc. It appeared very nasty. Be that as it may, comes this editorial of TOI on 14/09/2020, titled “Listen to Ribeiro” Editor of TOI was generally commenting on the on-going investigation of Delhi riots and was suspicious of Delhi police being partisan and not fair. Editor of TOI and there are many in the Indian 4th estate, who are not paragon of virtues needed to be objective and truthful in presenting non-partisan and fair pictures of happenings around the country. These newspapers too have their own agenda. The editor of TOI has invoked senior policeman Ribeiro, how he made the difference in militancy infested Punjab. He was effective in Punjab, since it was an assignment from the then government of the day at the centre. Unfortunately, the present management of police is under the central government led by BJP. He has reportedly remarked “Delhi police has taken action against peaceful protesters but, deliberately failed to register cognizable offences against those who made hate speeches that triggered riots in North East Delhi”. Clearly Ribeiro is either not updated or not seeing the whole truth. Hate speeches were made by both sections of society, including the ‘so-called peaceful protesters’. Anti CAA meets were not peaceful at all. The book DELHI RIOTS-THE UNTOLD STORY, was strangely withdrawn by the publishers. Why? Are there details TOI would have been unhappy to know! KARNATAKA: In Urdu there is a saying "Duniya mein chu....ki(idiots) kamee nahee hai. Dhoondo ek tho miley lakh. Nagad maango tho udhaar milthein hein". No wonder comes along a ' gentleman ' from the most dignified profession, the teaching. We all know Teacher’s Day was just observed across the country. This gentleman, an Assistant Professor to boot-in Mangalore University- has gone on record in a FaceBook post "I am proud to be a teacher, because drawing good salary without work ". It is another matter that he apologised to the Vice Chancellor for his extremely tasteless and boorish post. In all fairness he should be asked to resign. He is a Sociology professor. He is duty bound to be sensitive to what he talks and does. He has to be a model to his students. His act is incomprehensible and unpardonable. It is clearly insulting to the teaching profession, per se. In his own interest he should quit from his present assignment since he will have difficulty facing his colleagues as well as his students. Hope wisdom dawns on him and acts accordingly. KARNATAKAKARNATAKA<: With Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s questionable death becoming a kind of football to all and sundry in the media and politics, the drug peddling has suddenly become a hot issue in the media and in police circles. So everywhere drug has become a staple of debate all around. Bengalooru, too as a big city, has emerged not merely as a peddling/consumption point but also as a transit point. Western Ghat forest range in Chikmagalur & Kodagu has been a fertile ground for cultivating ganja, as an alternative crop, side by side normal regular crop, since it is good money for both cultivators & brokers as middle men. Thus, no wonder, a peddler Chandrakant Chauhan was caught with some 1200 kgs of ganja in far away Kalaburagi. But what made the news was more politics and less drug haul. Times of India, the usual beite noire of the ruling combine, both at centre and state, had this “BJP on defensive as peddler turns out to be party worker”, report in its today’s edition (12/09/2020). For the TOI, the catch of 1200 kg of ganja was news enough to be published, but the juicier news was the involvement of an alleged BJP man. So, how can they let go an opportunity to ‘expose’ BJP! According to its own report, BJP seniors had claimed this Chandrakant Chauhan to be a small fry, may be ambitious, but denied if he is anybody to be counted in the party. The TOI tried to paint BJP as infested with drug peddlers, which it may be or may not be, but certainly not in this specific case. Of course, it is incumbent upon the party leadership to keep such characters at arm’s length from party politics to save itself from media blues. WORLD: In a world waiting to make news globally, to think Sudan could be an unlikely one, it’s an incredible development. In most parts of the world, there is conflict & unrest, driven mainly by one-up-manship of one over the other or of the one over many. And what is Sudan after all? It is one of those 55 countries of African continent with a Human Development Index (HDI) of 165, among 190 countries, in the low development group. Its population consist of 91% Muslims with some 9% Christian & others with 76% literacy. So what is so great about Sudan, that suddenly it is a news making country! Being 91% Muslims, it’s an Islamic Republic. Although the country is known as Republic of Sudan, it has an Islamic constitution. Like all Muslim countries with Sharia as the law of the land, Islamic tenets are the final words in precept and practice. Therefore leaving Islam for a Muslim is punishable by death. In 2014, a Sudanese Muslim woman was sentenced to death for converting to Christianity. An international outcry led to quashing the sentence and she escaped to the US. And comes Sudan’s new Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. He has been reportedly undoing what Islamist dictator Omar-al-Bashir had done for close to 3 decades. PM Hamdok’s, Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdelbari reportedly told the nation in an interview that “Sudan has scrapped laws that made leaving Islam punishable by death and that converting from Islam to another religion would be decriminalized”. That’s a huge relief for an ordinary Sudanese citizen to feel free to pursue the faith of his choice without the fear of being accused of blasphemy and subsequent punishment. For an Islamic country this reform is unparalleled and revolutionary by any stretch of imagination. Hence Sudan fully deserved a global recognition. What is also heartening is that the present government led by Abdalla Hamdok also criminalized the painful female genital mutilation. Global women’s group shall surely welcome this executive fiat of the Sudanese government. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and his government must be congratulated for its bold and historic reforms in its polity. Another happy development is from now on Non-Muslims will be allowed to drink alcohol provided they do not disturb the peace and that they do not drink in public. Certainly in a world where fundamentalists are holding the sway, these path breaking reforms can be a new dawn in an otherwise moribund atmosphere of intolerance. It may not be earth shattering news, but certainly Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch should have come up with some public response to commend the Sudanese initiative. It may not be out of place for even United Nations Organisation (UNO) to recognise this development as epochal. WORLD<:Détente is a word that came to be in vogue, after the 2nd world war. This word, informs Google, means “the easing of hostility between countries”. Roget’s Thesaurus, among other interpretation, tells ‘détente to be non-violence, moderation, reasonableness, mutual concession, shock absorber etc’. In a world, wanting to have an ideal of co-operative co-existence, the term ‘Détente’ plays a seminal role like no other word. Its implication has a tendency of extensive multiplier effect. The recent, historic agreement between Israel and UAE to establish diplomatic mission between these countries have sent expected tremors among those who are opposed to this development. That Kingdom of Bahrain has followed the suite confirms the validity of this historic event. Long ago it has been publicly stated and even attempted to practice that ‘future of humanity is in co-operation not in absolutism’. UAE, an Islamic country, has accepted the reality of Israel. This is a very pragmatic step on the part of UAE. Israel, the nation of Jews, had no friend in Arab world. But for reasons best known to them, Arabs were not united when it came to the issue of Palestine that was one reason, why Israel survived despite completely surrounded by adversaries. Of course the innate strength of Israel has manifested itself in making the country technologically very advanced and economically self sufficient. Besides, the support of United States of America has always been the source of strength for Israel. And come to think of it, in the Human Development Index, (HDI) as developed by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Israel is in highly developed group at 22 among 189 countries. That’s a huge tribute to the socio/political class of Israel, who in just 70 years completely transformed a landscape bereft of any significant resources. Compared to them, with all the resources at their command UAE is at 32 and the hydrocarbon giant in the region, Saudi Arabia, is still further down at 39. This is a clear indication, that it is not the economic power that decides the development of the quality of Human Resources, but the commitment of its leaders, both in society and in politics. Clearly there is lesson for Indians and Indian political class when UNDP has put India in low developed group at 130. It’s not the lack of resources that matter it is the lack of will among all sections of Indian society especially its political class and politically driven bureaucracy responsible for the distribution of national pie. Clearly in India, both have failed as compared to Israel. So, it’s advantage UAE & Bahrain, with this new association with Israel. It’s a win-win-alliance. Two cheers for all parties to the alliance. WORLD<: So, there is a possibility that United States of America may at last have the first woman as Vice President, if elected in the coming election to the White House in November 2020. Kamala Harris, with an Indian mother Shyamala Gopalan from Chennai and Donald Harris, a Jamaican father, would be the first coloured high profile lady having a pot-shot at US Vice Presidency. It was Hillary Clinton, who tried to enter the White House four years ago. But Donald Trump was a surprise selection. This time round, it’s Donald Trump, the Republican against Joe Biden, the democratic nominee. As of now, Joe Biden, or Joseph Robinette Bidden, who was Vice President for two terms (2009/2017) with Barack Obama as President, reportedly has greater chance of getting elected as compared to Donald Trump, the incumbent living in the White House. Of course, the dice is evenly poised. For all you know Donald Trump may even come back. It is true that there are lots of negatives at a personal level, but there is a large chunk who want America first on the election manifesto, would plump for this macabre but unique personality, whom Barack Obama, called ‘incompetent as US President’ charging that ‘Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t’. Be that as it may, coming to Kamala Harris, she appeared more Jamaican, than Indian, during her years as a senator, although most Indians are enthusiastic at her prospect. Joe Biden, who is already 77, has projected himself as a transition president, meaning, the road, 4 years down the line, is open for Kamala to have a pot-shot at US Presidency. That’s a huge prospect for a lady who is of a Jamaican connection or of an Indian descent. This possibility can truly ‘up the ante’ for Joe/Kamala Democratic combination. However looking from the Indian perspective, Democrats have been difficult with India, whether it was the abrogation of article 370, leading to the scrapping of Kashmiri special status, or enactment of CAA. As compared to that, Donald Trump administration has been more pro-active towards Indian interest. He is also tough with China. Thus purely as a matter of India’s national interest as of now, Trump administration is good for India. Besides, there are accusations that Kamala Harris wants to be seen more Jamaican than Indian. She wants to identify herself as black rather than brown. Of course once the election is ever, and if Joe/Kamala combination wins, things can always change. Everywhere, opposition parties, more often than not take the opposing stand to the ruling party. Once they come to power, similarly they take the same stand which the earlier ruling party had taken. So let’s hope it works for India, whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden. WORLD<: TIME magazine has gone bonkers! Or at least, it looks like. They have just published a list of those according to the TIME-100 most influential Global Personalities of 2020 and believe it or not, list includes one Bilkis Bano, an 82 years old, who in her own words has not gone to school but has claimed to have read Quran Sharif. Reportedly she participated in the anti CAA protest in Shahin Bagh. And mind you, this is the only claim to her ‘fame & immortality’ and the TIME, a magazine published from New York city with editions in different parts of the world, including India, thought it fit to pick this unlettered woman from Uttar Pradesh, India as one of the 100 Most Influential Global Personalities. What could be the purpose, if not to spite the Indian leadership! CAA, Citizenship Amendment Act, is a legislation meant to protect and give citizenship to those persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It was passed by both houses of Indian parliament after due deliberation. But outside the parliament opposition parties tried to join hands to embarrass the government. Muslims were told that they may lose their citizenship due to this CAA which was patently a blatant lie. Clearly not only this TIME magazine has failed to understand the legislation or decided not to understand CAA as enacted by the Indian parliament but funnily decided to select and anoint an illiterate woman who surely could neither read this CAA nor could understand its implications, but was brought to participate in a protest by vested interest, who actually paid every participant in the protest a daily allowance of Rs.500/-, funded by unlawful sources. This was the same TIME which carried a story on its cover INDIA’s DIVIDER- IN-CHIEF, with the photograph of Indian Prime Minister Modi by one Aatish Taseer, who happened to be an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI), born to his columnist mother Tavleen Singh and a Pakistani politician Salman Taseer. It was an article generally misrepresentative of the ground conditions and presented mostly a Pakistani view. This inclusion of Bilkis Bano in the hallowed list appeared to have been influenced by Aatish Taseer and his mother Tavleen Singh. What a fall for the TIME!