Month-in-Perspective for October 2022

New Delhi : All living beings are in transit through this sorry world. The day our mandate is over we just have to vacate the space, doesn’t matter even if it’s Buckingham Palace. So, the reigning Queen of England left her mortal self to rest in her eternal space. She is no more. Elizabeth Alexander Mary, born on 21st April 1926, was anointed Queen of England on 6th Feb 1952 ended on 8th Sept 2022, uninterrupted and unquestioned for all the 70 years. Born Princess Elizabeth of York, in Mayfair, a suburb of London she was coroneted on 2nd June 1953, born to King George the VI and Queen Elizabeth. Indians by and large need not be interested in knowing more of the queen, either as a monarch or as a person of English origin. Our interest is only with reference to India in general and Jalianwala Baag in particular. 13th April 1919 was some 7 years before Queen Elizabeth was even born. It was on that day a crowd of non-violent protestors along with Baisakhi pilgrims had gathered in Jalianwala Baag in Punjab’s Amritsar was fired upon at close range with no-exit route. Some 350 to 1000 died. The level of casual brutality and lack of any accountability stunned the whole of India. Although, Winston Churchill, then Secretary of State for War, condemned it as “unutterably monstrous”, nothing serious happened to the perpetrator of the heinous crime Brig Reginald Dyer. In fact, English men and women collected money to reward Dyer. Despite the horrendous nature of the crime the colonial masters of India up to 1947 did not formally apologize for this crime on humanity. Queen Elizabeth visited India 3 times, 1961, 1983 and in 1997. Although she visited most places in India, she did not visit Jalianwala Baag during her visits in 1961 and 1983. It was only in 1997, when she visited along with her husband Prince Phillip, ostensibly to pay homage to those who were killed in the firing ordered by Brig Dyer. According to the reliable sources, media person at the event asked Queen Elizabeth directly, ‘now that you have visited Jalianwala Baag, massacre site, wouldn’t you like to apologize?’ Queen remained quiet all through the visit without responding to the question. Sadly her consort Prince Philip enquired without any concern “how many did die?”. Interaction that followed left a bad taste in the mouth, as if the lives of Indians were dispensable. So, it’s a pity that Queen of England died without truly regretting the darkest episode in the colonial history of UK, probably anywhere in the world. She owed an apology that never came. However, it was at least in part soothing that a visit by Archbishop of Canterburry in 2019, that is exactly 100 years after the Jalianwala Baag butchery. Sometime in Sept 2019, Justin Portal Welby, the Archbishop of Canterburry, the temporal head of Church of England, probably bitten by the pangs of conscience, representing the civil society, came calling to reach out to India and Indians. On 11th Sept 2019, accompanied by his wife Caroline, Archbishop visited the site of 1919 April 13, massacre. “I feel a deep sense of grief, humility and profound shame of having visited the site of horrific massacre today”, he remarked after the visit. In a Facebook post Welby said “I could not speak for the British government, but personally very sorry for the terrible atrocity”. Clearly all that meant was an expression of deep regret for the massacre but still stopped short of a formal apology. Now that the Queen of England, who could have truly rose to say ‘we are truly sorry for this horrendously senseless killings of innocents’, has gone into astral world never to come back. May her soul REST IN PEACE. New Delhi: It’s about a month ago that India celebrated Aazadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. But what does this Mahotsav truly means to the poor and vulnerable sections of our society? In one of the editions of a print media English newspaper had 3 reports, in the same page. One was about the death of 2 minor Dalit girls in police custody. The 2nd report was about the death of a tribal in shooting by Forest Patrol Team in M.P. The 3rd was the suicide by a 45 year old Dalit after he was abused and beaten by police in public, in Agra. In 2017, two minor girls had reportedly committed suicide following torture by the police in Walayar in Kerala. The local police and the CBI concluded that it was a suicide. But the family of these girls had alleged that they were murdered by those who had exploited them for days on. According to the girls’ mother, even the post mortem report had indicated that the girls were murdered. Reportedly, the Palakkad first additional district sessions court (POCSO) rejected the CBI conclusion and ordered re-probe of the deaths of these two minor Dalit girls, a month ago in Aug 2022. On August 9th 2022, a Forest Patrol Team, had shot dead a tribal and had injured few of them in Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh. Forest Department as expected, has maintained that they fired in self-defense. The incident reportedly happened at 10pm in the Kathiyapura forest area some 80kms from Vidisha district head quarters. Sadly it happened on the World Tribal Day. According to injured survivors, they were shot from behind and naturally without provocation, clearly indicating the trigger-happy mindset of the Forest Department Team. Government at Bhopal has ordered judicial probe and suspended forest employees. Reportedly, they face murder charges. Some days before 10th Aug 2022, Dasrath Singh Katheriya, a 45 year old Dalit committed suicide in UP’s Manipuri district. According to the family of the victim he took the extreme step as he was humiliated and assaulted by two policemen for his inability to pay Rs 2000 they demanded. Action/reaction from authorities, the report by Deepak Lavanis, an Agra based reporter, is silent. And comes this report from UP, about a Dalit boy being beaten on 8th Aug and died in the hospital for non-payment of Rs 250/- fees. A 15 year old Dalit boy, Nikhil Kumar from Auraiya district in U.P., was beaten on 7th September by rod and sticks by his teacher Ashwini Singh for spelling a word wrong in his social studies paper. He was admitted to hospital and died, the other day, on 26th Sept. It was clearly an upper caste atrocity on a Dalit teen. Authorities sadly did not arrest the perpetrator of the brutality and now on death of the boy Ashwini Singh, the perpetrator is absconding. Only last month, there was this report from Rajasthan of a Dalit boy Indra being trashed for touching the water pot of upper caste teacher Chhail Singh. The boy died in the hospital after two weeks. Then a Dalit girl was reportedly thrashed for not wearing her uniform and was thrown out of school by the head of Bhadohi village in U.P. A report on the survey of 24 districts in Tamil Nadu informs that many kinds of discriminatory behavior against Dalit Panchayat Presidents, denied access to their office, not provided with documents they need, stopped from sitting on chairs and disallowed from hoisting the tricolour. These are modern day aberrations of civil society in Tamil Nadu. Sab-ka-Saath- Sab-ka-vikaas, where is it Mr. Prime Minister! In our India, wanting to be a global leader, these victims of time and circumstances continue to suffer unimaginable societal violence even after 75 years since Britishers have left us. A sad truth of the year of Aazadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. Maharashtra: Inefficiency can truly make some innocent people suffer inordinately. A report datelined Mumbai informed “Typing error keeps foreigner in jail for 18 months”. Reportedly, a Nigerian national was arrested following a raid by Anti-Terrorism Squad in Powai on Oct 23, 2020, when they found in his possession what looked like cocaine and some heart shaped pills besides Ecstasy tablets. Kalina based Forensic Laboratory reported these drugs as Lidocaine and Tapentadol and that they fell under NDPS Act or Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. Taking cognizance of the laboratory report, Thane session court rejected the bail application of Nigerian national. Through his advocate Ashwini Achari, the Nigerian approached Bombay High Court in August 2021, stating that the substance found in his possession did not fall under NDPS Act. Things being as they were the matter came up in Bombay High Court after one year. And the Nigerian national continued to languish in jail since Oct 2020. However, shockingly, Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) issued a corrigendum on August 8, 2022, that’s after a full year, through its Assistant Director that there has been a typographical mistake in reporting the substance as falling under NDPS Act and apologized to the public prosecutor. On learning that there was indeed a mistake by the FSL, Justice Bharti Dangre was reported to have stated ‘In view of the corrigendum, it was clear that the substance alleged to be contraband and recovered from the applicant did not fall under NDPS Act. The applicant deserves to be released on bail forthwith and he should be compensated for the trauma he has undergone, being in jail, due to the blatant mistake admitted by FSL. For being in jail for over 23 months, Justice Dangre asked the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra government to compensate the victim, a Nigerian national with Rs 2,00,000/-. While stating, if there is no provision to pay compensation to foreigners as claimed by the Public Prosecutor, Justice Dangre asked the government to make all those responsible for the faux pass to be made accountable for the payment of compensation. ‘After all freedom is same for all, whether native or foreigner’, Justice Dangre averred. Karnataka: A Mandya datelined report informed “Hindi Diwas comes under attack across state”. Hindi is our official language, so says the article 343(1) of the Indian Constitution. There was a time it was floated as national language. But southern states, especially Tamil Nadu have been at the forefront to oppose Hindi as the national language. However over a period, Union government has not been forcing the issue of Hindi being the national language. But the truth remains, that it is the most spoken language all over India. It is indeed a link language. Except Tamil Nadu, no other state has opposed Hindi so vehemently. However Karnataka is slowly emerging as another southern state opposing the so called imposition of Hindi. Bangalore, being probably the most cosmopolitan city, Hindi is clearly a link language. But politicians, bereft of issues of relevance have taken the opposition to Hindi to keep them occupied, especially the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S). JD(S) is a family outfit of Gowdas. Devegowda and family are without any political power at present, and are angling to create jobs for themselves and their cadres. Election is due in early 2023 for Karnataka Assembly. So Gowdas are looking for issues. But Hindi opposition is not going to work politically at least in Karnataka. Their demand to stop Hindi Diwas celebration is not going to benefit JD(S). And we have CM Basavaraj Bommai talking about making Kannada compulsory in government offices. This is probably sensible. Kannada must protect its primacy in government dealings in Karnataka. Or else, like in Bengalooru, Kannada may become irrelevant. In Bengalooru, Kannada has lost its stature as state language. Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam along with Hindi has overtaken the usage of Kannada. Hence, a measure of compulsion is needed to see that at least in government offices Kannada is kept alive and kicking. Hope it does. Karnataka: We have heard of Ministers not clearing files, we have heard of bureaucrats not clearing files of people, the general public. But never heard of IAS officer Secretaries not clearing files of Ministers’ private interest applications and then Minister publicly stating it on the floor of the assembly. But sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction. Murugesh Nirani, Commerce & Industries minister of Karnataka reportedly expressed helplessness on the floor of the assembly while accusing senior IAS officer Pankaj Kumar Pandey of not clearing two files relating to his sugar factory and mining company. “I am not sure, if I am making this statement as a minister. But I am compelled to. There is a secretary named Pankaj Kumar Pandey in the department of Sugar and he is present here in the house today. It’s been two years since our company Nirani Sugars took over Pandavapura Co-operative Sugar Factory on lease. Till date, there has not been an official lease agreement signed as the secretary is not clearing the file. This is despite clear instructions from the Chief Minister” the minister is reported to have stated on the floor of the assembly while saying that his firm has invested over Rs 50 crores in the factory. Reportedly the IAS officer Pankaj Kumar Pandey who is the secretary in the department of sugar has written to the Chief Secretary stating that he is going by the rules of the government on the issue. Of course the opposition benches were left shocked at the revelation by the Minister. Having got an issue to raise, they wanted to protest against the government, although it had absolutely no concern, but just to embarrass the government stating “What can happen to commoners if minister himself cannot get the file cleared!” Some even demanded the suspension of Pandey, the Secretary of Department of Sugar. While it is clearly an issue that can be discussed by both the treasury benches and opposition, none seem to have bothered to know the details of the case. Sources in the Sugar department reveal that the matter is pending due to the issue of unresolved stamp duty of Rs 26 crores, which Nirani Sugars have pressured the government to waive the stamp duty. The government on its part has still not taken the call, except that a section of the government wanted it to be paid by the state treasury and recover later in installments from Nirani Sugars. That is prima facie, a hugely misplaced favour. But interestingly Nirani’s did not play the ball, wanting still the waiver of the stamp duty of Rs 26 crores, as if it’s peanuts. Clearly, the government should defend the secretary, who did not buckle under the pressure from Nirani, the minister. This kind of pressure tactics from minister should be exposed in the larger interest of fair play. First of all, a rich man like Nirani, who could invest over Rs 50 crores in his business interest, should not be there in the cabinet. Clearly he is in the government to protect and promote his interest, and not for public service. BJP, the party with a difference, presently running the government in Bengalooru, want to pay it and wait for the minister to pay it back in installments. What if he does not pay back? What is the measure government going to adopt in case of non-payment? Write off like NPA of a bank!? This matter should have been pressured by the opposition benches and argued on the floor of the assembly, instead they want a diligent officer suspended! This is clearly irresponsibility on the part of opposition members, who lost an opportunity to fix the government. This is Yeh Mera India. Karnataka: A Kalaburgi datelined report in the print media “Cop critical after smugglers attack” made a very disturbing reading. Rural Circle Inspector Shrimanth Illal had gone to raid a ganja growing field in Taruri village on the Karnataka Maharashtra border. Actually the village is in the Omerga taluk of Osmanabad district in Maharashtra. The inspector had gone to the village across the border with 10 policemen around 7pm on Friday night. But he sent 5 of them to the Omerga police station to alert the local police and to get additional reinforcement. But for some inexplicable reasons, neither the 5 returned nor any reinforcement arrived. So the police inspector Shrimanth decided to go ahead with the operation and raid the ganja farm. He was clearly ill prepared. One police inspector and his 5 constables were no match to the 40 strong mob arrived with sticks, lathis and stones. They beat up the police inspector so badly that he is battling for life, while the five policemen escaped with minor injuries. Probably they ran away, seeing the armed mob, leaving Shrinath solo to fight 40 of them. Home Minister, in his usual political style said that Shrinath will be airlifted to Hyderabad for treatment while adding “Our department will ensure that he has the best treatment”. There are two serious dimensions to the issue, which neither the minister queried nor the reporter of TOI Monneshwar Sonnad bothered to find out. Why there was delay in getting help from Omerga police? What is the feedback from 5 policemen who went looking for help? Did the police in Omerga delayed intentionally to help the ganja grower smugglers to mobilize the men at their end? Secondly, how there were 40 men at night in the farm and they were armed to the teeth with sticks, lathis and stones? These questions were neither raised by the Kalaburgi SP Isha Pant, nor the home minister, so also the reporter of TOI. It is a serious failure. There should be inquiry as to what went wrong where not only the mission has failed but also the leader of the raiding party was so brutally thrashed that he is battling for life. Something is amiss! . World: On 11th August 2022, the print media had carried a news item. A New Delhi datelined report had reported “Mexican President wants Modi in the Peace Panel”. This could have been a hugely positive news for us Indians to be recognized as the lone voice of peace in a hugely polarized world. According to the Times News Network (TNN), Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has stated that he will propose to the United Nations to set up a Peace Commission which will include as Members, Pope Francis, United Nation’s Secretary General Antonio Guterras and believe it or not, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, for ensuring a five year Global Truce. According to Mexican media, Obrador made the remark last week during a Press Conference in Mexico City, while stating that three men will work to stop wars around the world and that Russia, China and U.S must accept their mediation. “It is necessary that the three governments of the three great powers – Russia, China and the U.S, hopefully listen to the mediation and accept an intermediation like the one we are proposing, that the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Pope Francis, the three of them get together and present a proposal soon to stop the war everywhere”, he is reported to have said, while adding “we must stop the military confrontation, we must opt for dialogue, not the use of force, confrontation must be avoided and it is evident innocent lives are being lost, because bombing is being carried out and there are deaths, the same as in Ukraine, so we will have to make effort to achieve peace. The proposed truce would facilitate reaching agreements in the case of Taiwan, Israel and Palestine and not be promoting, provoking more confrontation”. At the outset it’s a huge honour for the very concept of India, that a president of a far off land could think that the Indian Prime Minister, who is a political appointee, can fit into an UN Peace Mission. And comes PM Modi speaking to President Putin of Russia on the sidelines of SCO meet in Uzbekistan, after over a month of the Mexican Presidents proposal. On Sept 16, reportedly PM Modi told Vladmir Putin that ‘it is not an era of war with food, fertilizer and fuel scarcity being among the major concerns of the world today’ while adding democracy, diplomacy and dialogue keep the world together. Although India has not denounced the Russian invasion, it has been calling for diplomatic resolution of the crisis. The astute diplomatic offensive of PM Modi, instantly caught the attention of power that be. Not only the Russian strongman accepted the stand of India and its concerns, U.S. came on board with Secretary of State Blinken going overboard saying “we could not agree more”, besides US media praise for PM Modi's remarks. It was like “Laathi bhi maara and lakdi bhi nahi toota”. Thus, the idea of peace has been paramount on our bilateral and multilateral dealings. India has a history of being the ambassador of peace everywhere. Unilaterally India has never attacked or encroached any country and that is an unblemised record. India, the land of Gandhi has only confirmed what Mahatma had reiterated all through his life, ‘There is no way to peace, peace is the way. If peace is the goal, how can war be the way! With the kind of credentials that India is geopolitically known for, its no wonder that Mexican President had proposed Indian leader as the global spokesperson on peace. What PM Narendra Modi remarked “To-day’s era is not of war” was truly an icing on the case. It is currently hoped that the vision of President Obrador becomes a reality sooner than later.