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Posted on 29 April, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
In the late 1980s and the early 1990s, the VHP would distribute stickers which became a launching pad for its slogan “गर्वसेकहोहमहिन्दूहैं”. Barring the BJP, a few other groups endorsed it, others denounced this slogan as symbol of communalism. I am sure those still active in the VHP from that era would have had the last laugh when the Congress leader and its candidate from Bhopal,Digvijay Singh,felt compelled to publicly announce “I too am a proud Hindu”. A fundamental disagreement with Nehruvian secularism, as practiced in the 1950s, was that Panditji believed that Hinduism was old fashioned, fundamentalist and obscurantist. He believed that it stood in the way of developing a scientific temperament.
This politics continued for decades. In a multi-cornered election, parties like the SP, the BSP, the RJD and, of late, even the TMC, went a step further of the Congress. They created fear in the minds of minorities and endeavoured to develop a vote combination of a specific caste or a group and that of the Muslim minority. They owed their survival to this polarisation. A significant attempt to dissent from this practice was undertaken by senior BJP leader, Shri L.K. Advani, in the 1980s and the 1990s. He strongly argued against a theocratic State, equality for minorities but his larger point was that secularism can no longer become a euphemism for majority bashing. He argued his case in modern vocabulary. A large part of India started seeing a rationale in this. The majority community was liberal, tolerant but no longer apologetic about its own religious credentials. The Congress never understood the power of this sleeping giant. Shah Bano legislation brought by Shri Rajiv Gandhi was a result of his inability to gauge the reaction. This mistake continued even through the UPA Government where instead of treating the poor as a class, the then Prime Minister,Dr. Manmohan Singh, announced that the minorities have a first right on the national exchequer.
Meanwhile, the socio-economic profile of India changed in slowly consolidating and enlarging India’s middle-class. The middle-class is aspirational. It has strong concern on national security. It is religiously inclined but not communal. At the same time, it will not accept majority bashing as the definition of secularism. The attitude of this class towards national security related issues such as terrorism and a special status of Jammu & Kashmir, is extremely strong. At the same time, its reaction on both Ayodhya and Sabarimala is self-evident. This has created fear of the backlash in the minds of those who conventionally indulged in majority bashing and were compromising on issues of national security. Let us analyse some of the recent episodes.
Rahul Gandhi
Without getting into the larger issue of whether a person can inherit his grandmother’s caste, the Congress has suddenly decided to proclaim its President as ‘Janeu-dhari Brahmin’. He has now been declared as ‘Shiv Bhakt’. He does not miss an opportunity to visit temples and makes an event out of each such programmes. His religious orientation was not visible in either 2004, 2009 or 2014.
Is he willing to clarify his stand on the statements that Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah are regularly making literally supporting soft-separatism? He gets away by saying “I had some other views but I went by my Party’s views on Sabarimala” but still not willing to spell out his stand on either Ram Temple in Ayodhya or Sabarimala.
On national security, his stand has been highly questionable. He wants the sedition laws to be withdrawn. He wants the AFSPA to be removed and the Army personnel in J&K to be diluted. He had the audacity to visit the Jawahar Lal Nehru University in support of those who raised the slogan “भारततेरेटुकड़ेहोंगे, इंशाअल्लाहइंशाअल्लाह” and “अफजलहमशर्मिंदाहैं, तेरेकातिलजिंदाहैं”.
He has, till date, not explained his presence at the JNU.
Digvijay Singh
The Congress candidate from Bhopal is a well-known majority basher. He claimed that the Batla House encounter during the UPA Government was a fake one. He carried on a campaign in support of the terrorists and against the security forces. He even visited Azamgarh to meet the relatives of the deceased or arrested terrorists. He holds the patent for manufacturing the theory of ‘Hindu Terror.’ He took it to illogical conclusion till the whole theory was busted. Today, realising the wrath of the electorate, he has become ‘proud’ of his Hindu credentials.
The AAP
The AAP has no answers. Its leaders supported those who raised the highly objectionable slogans in the Jawahar Lal Nehru University. The Party’s sympathy for the jehadis and separatists is apparent. Besides supporting slogans like ‘अफजलहमशर्मिंदाहै, तेरेकातिलजिंदाहै’, it has, for months together, held up the file at the Delhi Sachivalaya to grant sanction to the Delhi Police to prosecute those who raised these slogans. It’s heart is with the jehadis and separatists but it realised that the electorate in Delhi never accepts parties or candidates with credentials of this kind. The AAP has one simple question to answer “Why is sanction not being given for prosecuting those who raise these anti-national slogans?”
But the hypocrisy of the AAP climaxed when, in the last few days, its only lady candidate from Delhi, shed her family legacy of ultra-Left leaning parents, who were important interlocutors seeking a pardon for Afzal Guru, and started wearing not only her religion but her caste, her father’s caste and her husband’s caste on her sleeve. I was wondering as to why those brought up in atheist environment, for political convenience, start displaying their religion and caste publicly.
India is a land of patriotic people. The contrarians are merely a fringe. The fringe can be a disgruntled lot getting a disproportionate voice on electronic and social media, one cannot belong to the fringe can win elections. This is the power of democracy. Religiosity is suddenly being discovered. Majority bashing has been replaced by a self-proclaimed title of a ‘proud Hindu’ or even a ‘Punjabi Hindu Kshatriya’. Today, even atheist will wear their religion and caste on their sleeves. Elections, after all, are a convenient season for all the neo-converts.
Posted on 26 April, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
Voting for the first three rounds of the elections covering the 303 Parliamentary seats is over. Besides Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir and some seats of Uttar Pradesh, the first three rounds were restricted to Eastern and Southern parts of India. The electoral battle now enters the Hindi heartland. In other parts of India, such as, North-East, Bengal and Odisha, the contest was between the regional parties and the BJP. The BJP appears to be making significant gains in the East. In the Southern States, Karnataka appears to be going the BJP way. With the regional parties dominating Andhra and Telangana, the Congress in both the States, and the TDP are staring at a washout. Most of the States where elections are to be held in future rounds, it is a direct contest between the Congress and the BJP. The Congress obviously is in no position to effectively take on the regional parties or the BJP. Therefore, the only issue in the future rounds is the width of the margin of victory of the BJP. Will it be a repeat of 2014 in terms of votes or will it be more? The euphoric reaction at the ground suggests a mandate larger than 2014. A 65% to 70% approval rating for an incumbent Prime Minister is unprecedented in India. It is reflecting in the groundswell.
The Congress in 2019
If we look at the run up to the poll and analyse some of the recent developments, an interesting situation develops. Some feature which stare us are enumerated below:
- The Congress claims that it is now contesting in over 424 seats. This figure is likely to increase. Obviously, the Mahagathbandhan at a national level died before it was born.
- Rahul Gandhi, in the last one year, built up a fake narrative on Rafale and loan waiver to business houses, which was contrary to the truth. The fake issues evaporated and now strike no chord in the electorate.
- Having to apologise to the Supreme Court for false public narrative, significantly diminishes the credibility of a political leader. Rahul became a victim of his own falsehood.
- The desperation reached a peak when he, without realising that Arvind Kejriwal was playing games with him, offered him four seats contrary to the advice of the State unit. He displayed the desperation of a loser.
- Instead of sharing the nationalist mood in the country post Balakot, Rahul positioned his party against both the national interest and the national mood. He considered Balakot not a blow to Pakistan sponsored terrorism but to the Congress Party.
- When the Kashmir parties take a position of soft separatism, the Congress has been unable to reveal either its stand or any opposition to it.
- The desperation was at a climax when the Congress and the NCP had to outsource the job of attacking Prime Minister Modi to Raj Thackeray without realising the fallout of such a move in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other North Indian States.
- The Congress Party’s Manifesto on national security was completely against the nationalistic mood in the country.
- When Rahul had to seek cover at Wayanad and Priyanka had to skip Varanasi and feel satisfied not to contest because there was no Wayanad available to her.
The fatal blow
The ‘New India’ is a positive India. It does not accept the negativism of Rahul, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee and TDP. The ‘New India’ wants to look up rather than be cynical and critical about their own country.
The Congress Party and Rahul Gandhi are 48 years behind the times. 2019 and 1971 are 48 years apart. India’s social combination and economic profile has completely changed. The Congress is contesting the 2019 election on the 1971 agenda. It is not in tune with the times. The writing on the wall is loud and clear. Those who lived a life of entitlement all through, give up when office seems to be a distant dream.
Posted on 25 April, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
Today, two major political developments have taken place. The first was the huge roadshow of the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi at Varanasi from where he is contesting the 2019 election. The roadshow culminated in the customary Ganga Aarti. If the size of the support expressed at the roadshow is any indication, the Prime Minister is well on the way repeating or even increasing the 2014 victory margin. Even a casual visitor to Varanasi would tell you the difference which the Prime Minister has made in his constituency in the last five years. The new highways, the arterial roads, the Ghats, the railway station, the airport, the steamer in the Ganga and the modernisation of the electricity systems are only a few examples of the change that has happened in Varanasi. The proposed corridor connecting the Ganga Ghats with the Kashi Vishwanath Temple puts a new life into one of the world’s oldest cities.
The second important development is the surreptitious announcement by the Congress Party, fielding a political lightweight, against the Prime Minister. The build-up of the last two weeks had been that Priyanka Gandhi would be fielded against the Prime Minister. She rejoiced in giving daily bytes to the media that she was ready to take on the Prime Minister. Her brother claimed that the Party was building up the suspense for an eventual thriller. Obviously, she quietly chickened out of the contest. I am deeply disappointed with the Congress Party’s decision of not fielding Priyanka Gandhi from Varanasi. The last two months that she has been in the public life has driven home the point – “India has changed, dynasties don’t matter”. The myths of Priyanka Gandhi stand eroded. India’s conventional wisdom has been ‘बंद मुट्ठी लाख की, खुल गयी तो ख़ाक की’. The myth of ‘Priyanka will make a difference’ was worth a lakh. Today, the myth has lost its value. The cards are out in the open for public scrutiny. The Gandhis must introspect the plight of Amethi and Rae Bareli in the last forty years and compare it to what the Prime Minister has done in Varanasi in the past five years.
I had only hoped that Varanasi will give the new India an opportunity to decide the fate of a tried, tested and successful leader as against a new political dynast. Just repeating the same five sentences several times a day and not getting out of the obsession of ‘हमारा परिवार’ does not impress ‘New India’ any more. I am sad that new India has been denied the opportunity to establish that it does not accept inexperienced dynasts with no other credentials. India is not a banana republic. It is the world’s largest democracy. There is one additional point that this episode established. It is only juvenile politics, where a family lives under an illusion that people will accept it irrespective of credentials, which persuades you to build a climax of Priyanka taking on the Prime Minister and then suffer the wrath of the anti-climax.
Posted on 21 April, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
The pivotal position of the Chief Justice of India
The incident of a junior ex-lady employee of the Supreme Court making harassment charges against the Chief Justice of India has acquired a disproportionate magnitude. Such complaints, when they are made in the ordinary course of any administrative functioning, are referred to the appropriate Committee. However, when the complainant distributes copies of her representation to other Judges of the Supreme Court and the media in order to sensationalise her allegations, it ceases to be routine. When four digital media organisations with an unparalleled track record of ‘institutional disruption’ send similar questionnaires to the Chief Justice of India, there is obviously something more than what meets the eye.
India has always taken pride in its independent judiciary. Judges decide cases which deal with life of the common man as also the most powerful commercial and political interests. A judge is not in a popularity race. He owes his commitment only to law, Justice and fairness. A Judge is neither to follow the ballot box nor is he to be swayed by the times. His judgement pleases us at times and leaves us unhappy on many occasions. But that is the reality of the system which we have learned to live with. The Chief Justice of India is the first amongst the equals in the Supreme Court. He is the head of the judicial institutions. He is both the ‘Master of the Roster’ and the ‘Head of the Collegium’ which makes binding recommendations for the appointment of judges. His integrity, ethics, scholarship and fairness reflect the image of India’s judiciary. He lives by example. For both the Chief Justice and the judicial institutions, credibility and respect are essential. Once the ‘Iqbal’ of judiciary is destroyed, the institution itself will crumble.
The assault on the institution
It was in the decade of 1970s that we witnessed supersession of judges, intimidation of courts and transfer of High Court Judges. This was coupled with appointment of politically and ideologically inclined judges in courts. Post the 1982 judgement in the first judges case, the appointment of politically affiliated judges continued in several High Courts. This process substantially stopped after the 1993 judgement in the second judges case.
The last few years have witnessed the consolidation of ‘institution destabilizers’ in a major way. Many of these destabilizers represent Left or ultra-Left views. They have no electoral base or popular support. However, they still have a disproportionate presence in the media and the academia. When ousted for mainstream media, they have taken refuge in the digital and social media. They continue to believe in the old Marxian philosophy of ‘wrecking the system from within.’ They use free speech to destroy the judicial institution.
This section has found a convenient ally in a small but vocal section of the Bar. This section exploits the judicial refrain of excessively using the power of contempt. However, they themselves have no hesitation in contemptuous behaviour themselves. They go public against individual judges, including the Chief Justice, when they fail to get a favourable order. They carry on social media campaigns against judges who write judgements adverse to them. They have little regard for truth but masquerade as protectors of public interest. Their behaviour in courts is offensive both to the Bench and their opponents. They threaten walkouts if judges are in disagreement.
Even though most of them subscribe to fringe ideologies and ideas, it is regrettable that a section of the Members of the Bar affiliated to the Congress Party tend to join them. Frequent attempts are made to get some Parliamentarians to sign Motion of Impeachment against judges and even the Chief Justice on unsustainable grounds. What has always puzzled me is the Congress lending support to such fringe campaigns.
The power of contempt
The power of contempt is intended to protect the dignity of the Court. However, the power of contempt is rarely and sparingly used. Ordinarily, courts tend to ignore contemptuous criticism. Courts are willing to accept a criticism of judgements because that aids the process of legal evolution. The liberal attitude of the Courts has emboldened the ‘institution disruptors.’ At the end of the day, they get away because of the magnanimity and the compassion of judges.
Independent judiciary and free media are both essential for a vibrant democracy. Both have to live with each other. In order to co-exist, both must respect the respective rights of each of these institutions. One cannot take upon itself the task of destroying the other. Ever since 1950, every judgement of the Supreme Court relating to Article 19(1)(a) has favoured the strengthening of free speech. The reverse is not true. Mainstream print media conventionally had greater editorial control. The ability to dissect facts and take a balanced view was much higher. But of late, the rat race for grabbing eyeballs or viewership has begun. For the ‘institutional disruptors’ there are no red lines.
The history of the last several year shows that cases after cases have witnessed facts being manufactured and twisted. This falsehood found support in a section in the media. Upon deeper analysis most of them were found to be factually incorrect. Facts were manufactured. The same ‘gang’ was behind this campaign.
The present case
A Judge is continuously judged every day by the Bar and the stakeholders in the course of his personal and judicial conduct. Every time he makes a comment or writes a judgement, every word is scrutinised. In terms of personal decency, values, ethics and integrity, the present Chief Justice of India is extremely well regarded. Even when critics disagree with his judicial view, his value system has never been questioned. Lending shoulder to completely unverified allegations coming from a disgruntled person with a not-so-glorious track record is aiding the process of destabilisation of the institution of the Chief Justice of India.
India has witnessed a series of attacks by the ‘institution disruptors’ against judges who are unwilling to agree with them. It may not be an exaggeration to say that today both in Court and by creating an environment outside, a mass-intimidation of Judges is on. Some lawyers have used intimadatory behaviour as a tactic to expand their practise. Intimidation and discrediting are important weapons in the hands of these people. Reputation is an integral part of a person’s fundamental right to live with dignity. An intimidated judge can fear consequences of a possible view that he is taking. It is, therefore, essential that all well-meaning persons stand with the judicial institution when destabilizers get ready for an assault.
Since the case relating to this is pending in judicial side before the Bench of a Court, we should leave it to the wisdom of the Court as to how they intend to deal with it. But let it be remembered that this is not the first case of the ‘institutional destabilizers’ nor will it be the last. If those who peddle falsehood to destroy the institution are not dealt with in an exemplary manner, this trend will only accelerate.
Posted on 20 April, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
The first two rounds of the voting for the 2019 General Elections are over. What are the early trends? What are the initial lessons?
A comparison of three campaigns
The BJP/ NDA campaign is focussed. It sets the agenda. There is clarity about the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi. There appears to be a strong groundswell in his favour. The campaign focusses on major achievements of the past five years, particularly relating to strengthening the poor and the middle-class, a clean Government and a special emphasis on national security. The alliance is coherent and the issues being projected are focussed.
Based on fake issues, the key thrust of what the Congress was building up in the last one year, has cracked up. They are now concentrating on a new scheme declared in their manifesto which is cutting no ice with people. The entire reliance on the members of the first family to deliver a sustainable campaign is proving to be a non-starter. Wherever the contest is primarily between the BJP and the Congress, the BJP is comfortably placed.
The regional parties in West Bengal and Odisha may be in for a major surprise. The Left parties did badly in 2014. If at all, their parliamentary strength will weaken further. The regional parties will do well only in regions where the BJP still lacks major strength.
However, a major factor for a large part of the electorate, Prime Minister Modi appears to be the obvious choice. This is particularly true in the case of voters below 35 years of age. ‘My vote is for Modi’ is the general refrain from the ground.
The NDA is running a positive campaign. It looks at an India without poverty and which gives a much better quality of life to its people. The Congress and the regional parties concentrate on only removing one man – Narendra Modi. Where the incumbent’s acceptability is at 70%, they are whipping up a non-existent anti-incumbency.
The state of some caste based and dynastic parties
The Congress is seeing some of its traditional bright faces deserting the party. Are these desertions only because of particular incident or do they reflect a larger disillusionment with the leadership? When mindsets are feudal, dynasties survive. Dynasties also survive when they are charismatic and have an ability to deliver. A lot of supporters accept subjugation because of the ability of the dynasty to put them in positons. What happens to dynasties when the feudal mindsets change and nations become more aspirational? The socio-economic profile of India is moving up the growth ladder. It may be difficult for a country with this socio-economic profile to accept dynasties. If the Congress’s dynast has only an ability to deliver 44 seats or 60 seats in Parliament, what then is the incentive for conventional Congressmen to bear humiliation of subjecting themselves to a dynast? Ultimately, in dynastic parties one has to accept political slavery. These Congressmen today look at a party like the BJP where men and women of talent have a huge opportunity to move up, both in Party, legislatures and Governments. The two Prime Ministers which BJP gave to India, namely, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Shri Narendra Modi, were by a mile the tallest politicians of their generation. Today, this can happen in merit based parties, not in dynastic parties. A relevant question with this changing socio-economic profile of India is – “Are dynasties an asset for a party or are they a liability?” Unquestionably, the present generation of dynast has become a liability rather than an asset for the Congress Party.
A similar situation arises with regard to the caste based parties. This INLD has cracked up. BSP got zero in the Lok Sabha Elections in 2014 and 19 seats in the Assembly Elections. The SP could only retain seats for its family members in the 2014 elections. The RJD was down to two seats. Thus, the changing socio-economic profile of India is no longer conducive to caste based parties perpetuating indefinitely. The sun will slowly but surely come down on that era. Another important trend which is visible is that wherever national parties lack strength, the vacuum was filled up by strong regional parties. The BJP, which was a Party of the North, expanded to Central and Western India, and has now captured a large part of the political space in the East. To that extent, it has already consumed some of the space which was occupied by the regional parties of Bengal, Odisha, Assam and North-East. It is already lead player in the South in Karnataka. This election will witness BJP as a co-equal in Kerala. The unprecedented turnout at the Prime Minister’s Thiruvananthapuram rally on the 18th of April, would leave many scratching their heads for a reanalysis. The BJP has the ability to fight and occupy more political space from the regional parties is already visible. The Congress inherently lacks that instinct.
The direction of 2019
The direction of 2019 General Election is clear. The centre-stage is occupied by the BJP. Both in terms of agenda setting and leadership, the Congress is failing to make any impact. Regional parties are putting up a fight. Their agenda is mostly State based. The national vision in their leaders is lacking. The country doesn’t trust them to form a coherent, stable and long-lasting coalition. Can a federal front be trusted with an effective management of national security?
How does this election convert it into Parliamentary seats?
The momentum is clearly with the BJP and the Prime Minister Modi. In terms of national leadership contest for a Prime Ministerial election, it is almost becoming a one horse race. There is nobody else measuring up to Prime Minister Modi’s level of capacity and acceptability.
Is history going to witness something wholly unprecedented? Are we going to witness the rejection of caste based and dynastic parties? And will aspirational India make a harsh judgement on electing a merit based leadership? This may well be the case.
Posted on 15 April, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
During the course of election campaign, whenever issues relating to the terror attack at Pulwama and the Air Strikes at Balakot are raised, India’s Opposition is on the back-foot. Why are national security and terrorism related issues being made into subject matters of electoral debate? This is a question they raise.
India’s opposition argues that elections have to be fought on the ‘real issues’ and not on the issues of national security. It is my endeavour to argue that national security and terrorism are the most important issues which concern India in the long run. All other challenges are capable of early resolution.
The conventional election issues
Conventional election issues in India related to poverty alleviation, employment generation, improving growth rates, the quality of life of Indians, provision for quality healthcare and education, besides creating a world class infrastructure, and improving the quality of rural infrastructure. There are also additional areas which related to the quality of leadership and probity in public life and preservation and strengthening of democratic institutions. With India, for the past five years, maintaining the global ‘bright spot’ position as the fastest growing major economy, there is a lot more revenue available to the State year after year, to complete these unfinished tasks.
Compared to a very slow poverty depletion till 1991, the period subsequent to that has seen faster depletion of poverty. The 2011 Census mentioned the BPL figure of 21.9 per cent. By 2021, this figure should be comfortably below 15 per cent and in the decade thereafter we will probably see poverty substantially depleted to negligible levels. Urbanisation will increase, the size of the middle-class will grow and the economy will expand manifolds. These will add to the number of jobs and as the experience of past three decades have shown in the liberalised economy, every section of citizens will benefit. These are all challenges that India is capable of capturing and resolving over the next decade or two. The India of 2030 and the India of 2040 will present a completely different look with the socio-economic profile of the population having substantially changed. In this changed India, there will be a lesser role of caste in politics, the quality of elected representatives will improve and obviously the standards of probity will be much tighter.
Terrorism and national security
While the other above mentioned issues are all capable of resolution, where does India stand on the issue of national security and terror? Punjab, North-East and in the South, peace has been established. There is Maoist terror in the central parts of India. The region where it operates is restricted, its appeal is narrow. As the economic profile of India move upwards, it will become extremely difficult for the Maoists to sustain their violent movement to overthrow democracy. The security ‘might’ of the State is far superior to handle this movement.
The same, however, can’t be said of what is happening in the State of Jammu and Kashmir and terrorism emanating from region.
Kashmir and terrorism
The most important issue which, thus, confronts India in the short, medium and even the long terms, is how do we handle the State of Jammu and Kashmir and terrorism emanating from Pakistan and from within?
The Congress Party is identified with the creation of the problem itself. When Pakistan did not reconcile to Kashmir being a part of India, the Congress Party wished the issue away. It was its historical blunder on account of which we lost one-third of our territory. Instead of working for total integration, the party wanted a loose and liberal constitutional connect between rest of the nation and the State under an erroneous impression that such an arrangement would further the cause of integration. Article 370 was disastrously thought out as a constitutional connect between rest of the country and the State. Article 35A was surreptitiously introduced in 1954. It catered to a separatist psyche and legitimised discrimination. The NC-Congress relationship was a paradox. From total trust in Sheikh Sahab to his arrest in 1953, from his reinstallation in 1976 to the dismissal of the Farooq Government in 1984 and installing a Government headed by Ghulam Mohammad Shah were amongst the many pitfalls. The 1957, 1962 and 1967 and even 1988 were rigged elections thereby leading to further alienation of the people. All warnings were ignored and the separatists virtually took-over the State in 1989-90 leading to a violent civil disobedience. Atrocities were practiced on the minorities, including the Kashmiri Pandits, the Sikhs and others and an ethnic cleansing of the minorities was undertaken. The UPA wasted its 10 years with a set of sham policies while the Jamaat-e-Islami and other fundamentalist organisations were busy transforming the liberal Islam of ‘Sufism’ in the Valley to a more fundamentalist form of ‘Wahhabism’. The NDA experimented supporting a regime of the regional mainstream party in the State. Obviously, the experiment did not succeed since the PDP could not come out of the clutches of the Jamaat-e-Islami agenda. Thereafter, Central Government, for the last few months, has sent a clear message that terrorism will not be acceptable in the valley. Terrorists in large numbers are being liquidated by our security forces. Their modules are being cracked up. The rule of law is effectively being imposed. The activities of the separatists have been curtailed. Terrorism from across the border is attacked at the point of origin. Our historical view on Article 370 and Article 35A continues to guide our vision.
Who is best suited to eliminate terror?
To an emerging economy the cost of fighting terror and its perpetrators across the border is huge. Civilian lives are lost. Our security personnel are martyred. The security apparatus interferes in the lives of ordinary citizens. The aftermath of terror and all preventive action creates social tensions and even a strife. Development in the State of Jammu and Kashmir has suffered due to terror. Tourism has been adversely impacted. Both democracy and secularism have been a casualty in the Valley. The cost of maintaining a large security force and equipment amounts to money meant for development and poverty alleviation is spent on fighting terror or its handlers.
How can Jammu and Kashmir, the attitude of Pakistan and terrorism not be important issues in India?
An important question before the country is – who is best suited to handle the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and terrorism? It obviously can’t be solved by those whose policies created the problem and are no longer willing to change their track. It can’t be solved by those who linked battle against terror with the vote bank politics of their political parties. It can’t be solved by those who believe that a loose constitutional connect will lead to integration even though the experience of seven decades is to the contrary. This failed obsolete thought has to be rejected. The people of Jammu and Kashmir have to be at the centre point in our strategy. They deserve a special relationship with India; they deserve opportunities, peace and security of life; they need freedom from terror. A State free from terror itself will imply much lessor security presence.
Terror supported from across the border can’t be fought either with velvet gloves or a policy of appeasement. The two regional parties have played a disappointing role. Of late, they are more strident in advocating secession of the State if firm measures are taken. The soft measures have not worked. The current leadership of the Opposition parties has hardly a roadmap except to tread on the path to disaster.
This challenge can obviously be resolved with a fresh approach which is uncompromising on terror, uncompromising in its determination to enforce the rule of law and committed to total integration. A strong Government and a leader with clarity alone is capable of resolving the Kashmir issue. This will necessarily require reversal of the historical blunders of the past.
The issue of Jammu and Kashmir and terror continues to remain the biggest challenge before India. It relates to our sovereignty, integrity and security.
Posted on 13 April, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
The First Phase of voting is over. The “Modi” factor was writ large across the country. Amit Shah’s challenge to the BJP workers to prepare for a 50% voting target in the BJP stronghold states even where there are opposition alliances seems coming through.
The opposition is in a disarray in many States, alliances having not worked out. Multi-cornered contest obviously favours the BJP. Verbal battles between the Left, Trinamool and the Congress and now AAP and the Congress are increasingly visible. On the leadership issue, the situation looks gloomier than what I had thought. The BSP leader Mayawati, the Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee leave no stone unturned in running down the Congress President.
To oust a popular Government, an extremely popular Prime Minister, you need some real issues, not fictional issues. The Opposition wasted the past two years in a run-up to the polls “manufacturing issues” which didn’t exist. The false campaign on Rafale didn’t carry much weight. Loan waiver to industrialists was a lie, the EVM as an instrument of rigging was a bigger lie. Now that they are in the midst of the campaign for over a month what is the issue which they are able to focus on?
“The Signature Campaign Propaganda”
One important tactic is being to get some critics of the Government in different sections to sign memorandums against the BJP. Even in the 2014 campaign such desperate memorandums were signed. You will always find enough people on either side of the political divide in various disciplines who are willing to sign the memorandum one way or the other. These groups include ‘academics’, ‘economists’, ‘artistes’, ‘ex-civil servants’ and now even some former ‘soldiers’ – many of those whose signature appear have not consented to their signatures been put.
The BJP and its allies are speaking directly to the people. They speak through mass rallies, media and social media. Crores of campaigners are carrying the message of the party and the Government to the people. Not having built up a single major issue against the Government in the past five years, the strategy is to pick up an issue for a daily tweet or a press-briefing. This is the plight of the opposition campaign.
“A New cause on the daily basis”
One day Pulwama was questioned as self-engineered. The next day Balakot was questioned as a non-existent operation. The anti-satellite missile was passed off as a Nehruvian contribution even though Panditji’s correspondence with Dr. Homi Bhabha established to the contrary. One day BJP is accused of whipping up war hysteria, the other day it is dubbed as pro Pakistan.
One day the focus would be on the BJP candidate’s educational qualification, fully forgetting that a public audit of Rahul Gandhi’s academic credentials may leave a lot to be answered. After all, he got an M.Phil without a Masters degree! There is no running thread in the campaign which connects which is being said today or what has been said over the last several months.
There is no leader, no Gathbandhan, no Common Minimum Programme and no real issue. Not surprisingly there are not many takers for a “failed campaign”. It is ‘Rent a Cause’ Campaign.
Posted on 10 April, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
It has become a routine practice to call any action against corruption as political vendetta. Claim of vendetta has never been a legitimate defence in corruption. Those who commit such large acts of corruption have to be judged on the merits of the action itself.
- In all States large amounts sanctioned by the Central and State Governments for public works, roads, housing, schools, dispensaries, panchayat facilities and several other public infrastructure, are created by Public Works Departments. These works are carried out by the PWD through contractors. Similarly, large amounts are sanctioned for the mid-day meal scheme which encourages poor children to attend schools and towards other schemes intended to provide a composite diet to pregnant women. In the public space evidence has come in relation to Karnataka where allocations made for public welfare to the Public Works Departments were being round-tripped by engineers for a political purpose. In Madhya Pradesh, an institutional mechanism has been created where money that is meant for development and social welfare of the weaker sections are now being channeled into politics.
- Regrettably, none of the two State Governments have replied to the allegations on merits. An argument is being given by them as to why they are being singled out and their political rivals are not being searched. Is there a Right to Equality that no action can be taken till the opponents are charged? Revenue Departments act objectively on the basis of material available and take action when they are satisfied that a case of search operation is made out.
- The fact that money is meant for the most vulnerable section of the society, namely, poor children or pregnant women belonging to the economically weaker sections are siphoned out, shows the mind-frame of those indulging in such an act. They do not even spare those who live in destitution. This is the hypocrisy of Indian politics. After inflicting such injustice they have the audacity to speak of Nyay.
Posted on 07 April, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
The past few days have witnessed several cases where the Election Commission and the revenue authorities, both separately and acting jointly, trying to curb the use of blackmoney in elections. These actions have been particularly significant in States like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, North-East and Madhya Pradesh. The Election Commission and the Income-tax authorities work in close tandem during elections. In many cases, monies have been coming from Government contractors and beneficiaries. In one State, contractors passed on monies to engineers who were to distribute it to the candidates. In another State, which only four months ago elected a new Government, fifty thousand Government transfers became a revenue generating exercise. Reports have also indicated that an amount of about Rs.1500 crore has already been seized.
The disinformation of the NGOs
NGOs always claim to be well meaning. They have a tendency to either exaggerate or misrepresent. Those dealing with elections and electoral reforms have come out with two categories of reports. The first one says that since in its balance sheet the BJP declares much larger income, it should be assumed that it gets more donations than other parties. The second report says that BJP gets the lion’s share of the electoral bonds.
Both display a lack of understanding of how parties function. All parties need, on a pro-rata basis, the same amount of money depending on the number of seats they are contesting. The only question is ‘What is their fund collection culture?’ Do they still prefer the old obsolete style of only blackmoney being collected or do they prefer to collect it by legitimate methods like crowd sourcing, cheque and electoral bonds? Obviously, the BJP prefers the latter. It declares larger income and gullible friends in the NGOs believe that they get more. Do they honestly believe the balance sheets of the BSP and the SP, the TDP or several other parties? They obviously don’t disclose the income that they get because most of these donations are in cash. This has significantly reduced the credibility of the reports of these NGOs.
The journey of funding reforms
I have been associated with the entire journey of political funding reforms. As Law Minister in the Vajpayee Government, I had moved a Bill legitimising donation of cheque provided the same are declared to income-tax and the Election Commission. To incentivise these donations we provided that the amount donated to political parties would be deductible expenditure.
Shri Pranab Mukherjee, as a Finance Minister during the UPA-II, brought out a second reform in the year 2010. Blessed with great wisdom and depth, he realised that merely providing for cheque donations won’t bring a change. Donors fear the consequences of their revealed identities being linked to a political party to whom they donated. He very wisely masked the identity by creating a pass-through electoral trust in 2010. A donor could donate to a registered electoral trust which in turn would donate to a political party. The disclosure will only be of the name of the electoral trust and the link between the identity of a donor and the party would be snapped. This practice legislated by UPA-II, is still in progress and utilized by some.
In 2017, based on the principle of masking the identity link between the party and the donor, the NDA created the instrument of electoral bonds. This instrument provides for a complete white money donation. The bond as a banking instrument of State Bank of India, a Party had to deposit it in a single declared account by the political party. Both at the hands of the receiver and the donor, it is white money through a declared channel. As far as the transparency is concerned, as against the original system of cash which was non-transparent throughout, there is an improved transparency in the electoral bonds. The donor declares in his balance sheet the quantum of bonds that he has bought. The State Bank of India has a record of the donors. The recipient party declares the amount of bonds it has received. The link between the donor and the identity of the party is masked in the same way as is done in the case of electoral trust. Thus, both the electoral trust of 2010 and the electoral bonds of 2017 assured a total white money and improved transparency but masking the identity of the link between the donor and the party. This obviously has been done to encourage donors to donate white money without fear of consequences. Surprisingly the attack is against the bonds and not the electoral trusts because the earlier was brought by the NDA and the latter was by UPA. The underlying principle of both is the same. If the bonds don’t exist, the consequence will be that donors will have no option but to donate only by cash after siphoning monies from their businesses. The recent Election Commission and IT raids have shown that it is taxpayers/ Government’s money, which, through PWD and other Departments of the Government, is being siphoned out and round-tripping into politics. Is that a better option or the reformed system of all white money and improved, if not a perfect transparency? NGOs and commentators must look beyond their nose.
Posted on 05 April, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
Rahul Gandhi talks on several subjects with which he does not even have a nodding acquaintance. He makes wild and unsubstantiated allegations against all and sundry. The only subject he refused to speak about or respond is the one on which he alone knows the truth – his own accounts.
When reports have indicated that his own personal ‘capital creation’ programme was on the strength of ‘Sweetheart Deals’ with ‘fly-by-night operators’, he imposed censorship on himself and also on otherwise an outspoken Media Cell of the Congress Party.
My conclusion: When no reply or explanation is given for such a probity related issue, the country is entitled to assume that no reply or explanation could ever have been given. Silence in this case speaks more than any fake explanation.
The AugustaWestland chargesheet disclosures
The chargesheet in the AugustaWestland case has clearly mentioned that in the documents which were recovered by the Swiss Police from the house of the mother of Guido Haschke in Lugano, Switzerland, carried a reference in the English alphabets which identifies the name of certain political leaders/ entities who had influence with the UPA Government. It is relevant that when the Chairman and CEO of AugustaWestland was arrested in February, 2013 in Italy the CBI had registered the initial PE in 2013 itself. It is only after the Government of India succeeded in getting Christian James Michel on 4th December, 2018 and Rajiv Saxena on 30th January, 2019 that investigations made a significant headway. The chargesheet is based on oral and documentary evidence. To whom is the reference of ‘RG’, ‘AP’ and ‘FAM’ being made? Investigators have quoted in the chargesheet the statements of the concerned persons. The documents recovered in Italy corroborate with the oral and documentary evidence collected in India.
Diary as evidence
There is an erroneous belief among Indian politicians that a diary, as in the Jain Hawala Case, is never admissible as an evidence. A diary constitutes an admission in writing and is admissible against the maker of that admission. It is admissible against the other co-conspirators if it is made when the conspiracy was still being executed and there is other evidence that corroborates the contents of the diary. That is the law laid down by the Privy Council in ‘Mirza Akbar’s’ case and has held grounds throughout. In the Jain’s case, there was no corroboration of the Diary. This legal argument is, however, relevant for the purposes of the legal case.
Probity debate
Arguments of probity in the public space demand more answers. Are ‘RG’, ‘AP’ and ‘FAM’ fictional characters or were they in a position to influence the deal? How come every time there is a controversial defence deal and evidence is collected, names close to the Congress Party’s first family start appearing?
When the alphabet ‘Q’ appeared in Martin Ardbo’s diary in the Bofors Case with a comment that ‘Q’ must be protected at all cost, the Party was in denial even then. It is only when the Swiss authorities in 1993 disclosed the names of one of the beneficiaries of the kickbacks of Bofors being paid as Ottavio Quattrocchi, the Narasimha Rao Government facilitated his escape from India in less than 24 hours. This did not wash away the ghost of ‘Q’ which had scarred the face of the Congress Party nor will ‘RG’, ‘AP’ and ‘FAM’.
Public neither forgets nor forgives the corrupt. Silence is never an answer to documentary evidence of corruption.
The Right to Silence is available to an accused, not to a Prime Ministerial aspirant.