All posts tagged Congress

Karnataka – What women want – Open letter to Congress #Vaw #Womenrights


Vaishalli Chandra , oneindia one news : Friday, May 10, 2013,

Bangalore, May 9: With Congress getting a clear lead in the recently held Karnataka Assembly Elections 2013, they are busy deciding who will be the next CM. There is one issue that takes centre stage for women – that of their safety. An open letter to Congress – on what women expect out of the government: To Congress, Congratulations on your win. I am sure, it will feel good that finally you have come to power in a state that was beginning to turn saffron. Now, let me not beat around the bush and put forth my wish list (actually it is more of a demand, but I will try a polite approach, for now). Under the last government, I did not feel safe

Wish #1: NO moral policing, no deadlines, whatsoever. Yes. The last government, tried it and see where it is now. Do not judge me by the way I dress, speak, company I keep, places I visit (pubs et al), time of the day (or night). Do not make it a basis to refuse to help me in distress. It is my right to freedom, provided by the Indian Constitution (Article 19 (1) (a) Right to freedom of speech and expression). It doesn’t help if you curb my movement either. Therefore, even before you think of coming with any brilliant ‘deadline for women’ ideas, I’d humbly request you to put them away. Actually, throw that thought out completely, burn it, if possible. Let’s understand that a deadline is NOT a solution you can provide to make me feel secure. (Remember, most stats point at violence at home – so) Try instead to 1. Light up – dark alleys and by-lanes. 2. Public transportation – provide better last mile connectivity. 3. Police patrolling – presence of the cops can keep trouble-makers at bay.

 

 

Wish #2: Gender Sensitisation Top cops in the past have pointed fingers at women, saying it is there fault crimes happen to them. Therefore, you really need to get the police task force ‘gender sensitised’. What would really make me feel secure and safe is that when I approach a cop on the road, he listens to me and acts on my complaint, instead of making me feel guilty of my choice of clothes, company I keep, location I choose or the time of the hour (repetition of wishlist #1). Moral policing by the police is NOT acceptable. Really. No-lip service, put a feedback mechanism in place, so when you do spend money and time into the sensitisation of the police force, you know that it was spent well. Encourage feedback from the people to access how well your policemen behave. When you get scathing feedback from us, work on it feedback. Don’t get angry and/or get preachy. Incentivise (monetarily) the good behaviour of the policemen. You will be surprised how far that can take you. Also, since I commute by the public transport that the government provides, I’d really appreciate if there is a helpline number in all the buses that: (a. functions; (b. functions even past 6pm (life goes on after sunset, you know).

Wish #3: Fix the ‘headlessness’ of the Karnataka State Commission for Women (KSCW): Your manifesto under the section Women Welfare, reads very vague. Here’s what it reads: ‘Undertake programmes in schools, colleges and industries for gender sensitisation and prevention of sexual harassment by involving NGO’s and voluntary organisations and giving them financial incentives.’ Without a preamble then. You do have an uphill task when it comes to providing a sense of security to the women in the state. Your immediate job responsibility should be to fill the vacant post of Karnataka Women’s Commission’s post, that has been vacant ever since C Manjula resigned to join politics early this year. A report in an English daily, pointed out that even the counselling sessions that are held every Tuesday and Friday have become less frequent. That is sad. The counselling sessions were helpful because the chairperson could give oral instruction to the police to help the women in distress. Once a chairperson is appointed, ensure that the KSCW’s website is re-vamped. Look at it yourself. You will not find anything of use to women in distress, apart from brochures that date back to 2012. Wake up it is Mid-2013. As a web-savvy woman I can tell you this, this website is offering me no help. It doesn’t even tell me what the KWC is all about. The ‘About’ page describes the commission in Kannada only, what about an urban population that cannot read Kannada? Is the Commission selective, in who it will help? Shouldn’t the website have information in Kannada and English. The team has a table with names and numbers. With C Manjula still listed as the chairperson of the commission. Think it is time to update that too.

Wish #4: Implement the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Law: This law is still in a nascent stage. It will be up to you to direct the concerned department to ensure it is followed. Maybe, a good starting point would be to ensure that all organisations have an in-house committee. Without these committees in place the law is of no use to women. Do, you think you will be able to get these in place along with your ‘gender sensitisation’ programs in schools, colleges and the workplace? Undersigned, A woman, who loves this city to bits.

Read more at: http://news.oneindia.in/feature/2013/wish-list-to-congress-from-a-city-woman-1212783.html?google_editors_picks=true

 

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by kracktivist on May 13, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Advocacy, Announcements, Human Rights, Justice, Kractivism, Law, Violence against Women, Women Rights
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Posted by kracktivist on May 13, 2013

http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/karnataka-what-women-want-open-letter-to-congress-vaw-womenrights/

Gujarat – PUCL Report on Rajkot on SELF IMMOLATION INCIDENT


 

(Observations and findings of PUCL investigation team)

 

On 5th April, 2013, a team of Peoples’ union for Civil Liberties (PUCL – Gujarat) went to Rajkot for Fact Finding of the incident of Self immolation by five persons of a Nepali family in Rajkot. The incident took place at Municipal Corporation premises, in the presence of number of securities, officers and visitors of Rajkot municipal corporation. The whole episode was over within a span of less than 10 minutes as private visuals and RMC Close circuit TV footages shows.

 

On the third day of the incidence, the  PUCL team met varied sections of people including the family members of the deceased people, Municipal Commissioner and Deputy Municipal Commissioner of Rajkot Municipal corporation, Security personnels, Eye witnesses of the incident, journalists, residents of Chhotunagar society, Rajkot Police Commissioner, eminent citizens, etc. and questioned them on the basis of the information obtained from the media reports and other public sources

 

BACKGROUND

 

On 3rd April 2013, seven members of a family in Rajkot attempted self immolation in Rajkot Municipal Corporation. Out of these, three members, Sh. Bharatbhai Mansingh Vishwakarma(Age 40), Sh. Girishbhai Mansingh Vishwakarma( Age 25) and  Sh. Ashaben Bharatbhai Vishwakarma(Age 35) died almost by the time they were taken to the hospital. Sh. Basmatiben Mansinghbhai Vishwakarma(Age 60) and Sh. Rekhaben Mahendrabhai Vishwakarma(Age 30) struggled but died on 6th April in the Burns ward of Civil Hospital, Rajkot. While Sh. Gauriben Girishbhai Vishwakarma and Sh. Shantaben were saved.

 

Sh. Mansingbhai Vishwakarma, the father of  victims Bharatbhai and Girishbhai, used to stay with his family in the common plot of Chhotunagar Society, Nr. Amrapali Cinema, Rajkot, earlier than 1980. The Chhotunagar society had given this place to stay as he was providing security to the society. He built a hutment in the premises with the permission of society members, the electricity  and water connection was provided by the society, both the connections were in the name of society office bearers of that time. Mansinghbhai used to serve as the security of the society, he died three years back. While Sh. Basmatiben and other lady members of the family used to do household chores in the houses of the society members till the incidence took place.

 

Three years back, Sh. Mansinghbhai died of heart attack. After his death, the remaining members of the family were allegedly pressurized by the society members to vacate the place. That resulted in bitterness in the relationship between the family and present office bearers of the society.

 

Meanwhile, some part of  old house of the family was broken and in its place, they started construction of new wall to support to old structure. Some of office bearers of the society and municipal councilors Mr. Rajbhai Zala and Mr. Mirani represented to the Rajkot Municipal Corporation to stop the construction of new wall. Rajkot Municipal Corporation gave notice to the family and with immediate  effect the water connection by RMC and electricity connection by Society were withdrawn since August 2012. Against the notice of  RMC the family moved to  Civil Court. As remaining members of family said that, they were being harassed  by many calls at very odd time like late night, at the time of lunch and dinner by RMC town planning staff, other RMC staff members and some unknown persons. Many a times they used to visit the place and male members of family using RMC vehicles and staff to threatened the family with abusive words. These were happening frequently while the case was going on in the court.

 

The Civil Court dismissed the plea of Nepali family on 23rd of March, and they were allegedly not only pressurized but also threatened in person and also by telephone by various people to vacant the land.  The family claims that these persons include society members, the staff of Municipal Corporation and Town Planning, Police Personnel as well as the local Corporators. The harassment level went to such an extent that the family came to the Municipal Corporation premises to complain against the harassment by the RMC staff , the municipal commissioner Mr. Bhadu was out of office,  the deputy commissioner Mr. Kotwal refused to hear them with insulting words. They felt that they have lost all hopes to get justice, then they self immolated themselves in front of the Municipal Commissioner office.

 

With this background, the team members of P.U.C.L.-Sh. Balendrabhai Vaghela, Sh. Kamleshbhai Bhavsar, Sh. Bhavik Raja and Sh. Rimmi Vaghela, interrogated some people and could get the following information:

 

 

Madhura (Daughter of Sh.Bharatbhai Nepali who died by Self immolation)

 

According to Madhura, her grandfather Sh. Mansinghbhai Nepali was serving as security of the Chhotunagar Society since approximately last 50 years. Three years back, he died by heart attack. From that time onwards, society residents have started their harassment. Among those who were harassing, she could name Lalitbhai, resident of ‘Ashirwad ‘, Rajyaguru, Dushyantbhai, etc.

She further said that they were harassed to vacate the place. No written notice has been served, but they were threatened time and again. They had water and electricity supply. Those connections were also cut since last six months. She said that some people used to call her father on his mobile even at midnight and threaten.

On asking she said that among those who called her father were Jhala and Mirani.  Her father and uncle’s mobiles are still missing after their death. They are two sisters and five brothers. She is eldest and studying in the 12th std. other brothers and sisters are also studying. Her grandmother Basmatiben, Age 55 and Aunt Rekhaben, Age 28 are still serious and admitted to Burns Ward of Rajkot Civil Hospital. (Both of them died while the report was being prepared). Congress has given them Rs.1 lakh each. They have many times registered complaint in Gandhigram, Amrapali, and other police stations. Once she herself has gone. But no action has been taken. Initially they exerted normal pressure. But the society people then started doing lot of pressure on us. My Uncle returned home just one month back and now he is dead. No tax bills but light bill used to come.

Elderly people used to send us out before they discuss within themselves. She says even if I die, I seek justice. I don’t need money, I need my parents and family members back.

 

Joshnaben Bhatti (volunteer of Nari suraksha, a women organisation)

 

According to Sh. Joshnaben’s claim, the 11 volunteers of their organisation are continuously standing with the victim family and helping them. she said that pressure on Doctors, Hospital staff, Police,  Family members,  volunteers of Naari Suraksha Samiti etc. was being exerted by higher authorities for signing. The volunteers are threatened to leave the place. The Police personnel are saying that if you don’t sign then we will declare the dead bodies unidentified. The third brother Mahendrabhai was missing yesterday evening.

When he returned, he said he was threatened on one hand and offered 20 lakh rupees on the other hand.

 

 

Gauriben (Wife of Girishbhai Vishwakarma)

 

I demand that we want justice. She said that last night before the incident somebody called on Bharatbhai’s mobile. The society residents always used to threaten them. That bookseller used to say, “Want to fight?” Even the Municipal Corporation Staff used to come and threaten in very abusive language like “Go away. Land is not your father’s.” Girishbhai used to do job and then left job. No notice used to come. One one car used to come. We had been complaining to Police many a times. They took complain, used to assure help but did not take any action. When our water and light connections were cut, that time also we along with Nepali Samaj people went to police. But they did not take action. Mahendrabhai, the youngest son is not having any job.  She said that they are staying at that place even before the society was constructed. She emphatically said that what has been published in newspaper as dying declaration is not truth. They doubt that they were not in the situation to talk so many things. They would have never said that police has not harassed them. Because even police was also harassing them time and again.

It came in the newspaper that all were frustrated by the harassment to such an extent, but that is not true. There is some game within it.  It was to such an extent that her mother in law Basmatiben and her husband Girishbhai had developed high blood pressure. No body came to save. It is shocking. She also claimed  that it is not self immolation. Somebody else has put them on fire. When she tried to save them, she was held and resisted. And somebody said that you don’t worry, we will save them. I could not see the face of my husband, could not even give a sip of water. Even I had kerosene and petrol. Kerosene alone cannot catch this much fire. Somebody might have put petrol in it. Corporation staff did not come for help and rather they closed the door.

 

 

 

 

Meenaben (Family relative from Bombay)

 

She supported Sh. Gauriben’s claim that it is not self immolation but they are being killed. She said that C.C.T.V. camera were kept off to conceal the facts. We want justice for the remaining people of family. If necessary, you please take representation even up to Delhi. One can do immolation, how all can do that. Rather if one has done immolation others will go to save.

 

Ajay Bhadu (Municipal Commissioner, Rajkot Municipal Corporation)

 

Sh. Ajay Bhadu said that on the day of incident he was not present in the office but was reported about the incident on his return. As he was not present, the family went to meet Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Mr Kotwal. Talking about the detail of the case he said that municipal corporation has regulating authority over private construction. Accoding to General Development and Control Rules, all society have to keep atleast 10% of their total area as common plot. Regarding common plot or any encroachment over it, it is society’s deal. Municipal Corporation can only give notice in the case of any construction over the common plot. And so in spite of repeated complaints by the residents of the society, Minicipal Corporation took the stand that it is internal matter of the society and Municipal Corporation cannot interfere. The residents of the society also represented to the Collector Office and other authorities from where the directions to act came. But yet the stand of Municipal Corporation did not change. He said that there is a provision for the Municipal Corporation in such cases only if the residents of the society hand over the common plot to Municipal Corporation.

He claimed that the Municipal Corporation came into the picture only when the Nepali family started construction in that plot. The residents of the society gave written complain one year back and so on the bases of that Municipal Corporation gave a primary notice to the Nepali family in May-2012 to which the family replied. Again in August-2012, final notice was given which was to be mandatorily replied within one week. Against this notice the family went to civil court. Meanwhile in spite of continued complains of the residents, Municipal Corporation took the stand to wait for the civil court judgment. The civil court dismissed the application on 22nd March.2013. Yet Municipal Corporation decided to wait for getting the written judgment in their hands. Ironically they got this written judgment in the evening of 3rd April.

He accepted that the local Corporators accompanied with the residents of the society once or twice during their representation to the Municipal Corporation. Now that civil court had dismissed the appeal, it might have created frustration for the family. Further, the residents of the society gave it in media. Due to condition created, the family might have felt depressed and have taken the recourse to such extreme step. When we questioned him that as builders get chance to regularize their illegal construction by paying impact fee cannot this be applicable to this poor family? He replied that technically it could have been applicable if their construction would have been done before March-2011. We asked him that the family had water connection as well as electricity connection, are they not sufficient to prove their legal possession. He replied that water connection was taken in the name of society and not in the personal name of the family. Further even if the family gets tax bill on their name yet that does not prove their possession. He said that the 5 lakh rupees each as compensation to the family is being announced by the Municipal Corporation on humanitarian ground. He also assured that as long as the family is in the stage of distress, the Status Quo will be maintained.

He said that the family entered the Municipal corporation premises from the back side-from unofficial door. So our security personnel could not notice them.

 

Mr M.M. Kotwal (deputy Municipal Commissioner, Rajkot Municipal Corporation)

 

Mr M.M. Kotwal claimed that on the day of incident no one had come to make representation before him from Chhotunagar society. At the time of incident he was in the meeting in his own office with Tax Officers Sh. Kagathara. Sh. Rupareliya Sh. Prajapati and Account Officer Sh Nandani. On hearing some noise he came out of his to find out what is happening but one of his staff member closed the common glass door for his security. Peeping through the glass he could see nothing else but lot of smoke. He opened the door to inquire further but as lot of smoke started entering the office he was compelled to close the door. He returned to his office and called 108 ambulance as well as fire brigade. The other officer of Municipal Corporation sitting with him during our visit informed us that 108 ambulance always remained ready in our own premises and fire brigade is just adjacent to their office.

We further inquired with the security personnel,  the visitors of the Municipal Corporation Office as well as Sh. Naranbhai Madhubhai who tried to save the victims on the day of incident with the help of his own shirt. While the security personnel claimed that the victims brought cans of Kerosene. Naranbhai claimed that they brought fuel in the pouch. All of them could not say clearly whether the fuel  used was Kerosene or Petrol or any other object.

 

 

 

 

Sh. Ranchhodbhai Dobariya (Resident of Chhotunagar Society)

 

According to Sh. Ranchhodbhai Dobariya’s claim he was the first person to construct house even before the society was set up. Few years after some rooms were there outside the peripheri of society  where Sh. Masingbhai were taken shelter. He used to remain very sick and so residents of society decided to give him shelter in the common plot of the society and in this manner ten years after he came to the society Sh. Mansingbhai started staying in a small hutment with his family approximately in the year of 1990. He used to work as security of the society. We used to help his family by providing grains, oils etc. Society has decided to give him a fix amount of salary. We had very intimate relationship with the family. And the family was very dissent and there was no nuisance. Only the youngest of the son Mahendrabhai was liquar addict and used to drink liquar with his circle sometimes. But otherwise no other nuisance was created by them. When a skim was announced for housing on Sadhu Vaswani Road, the society members helped all three sons of Mansinghbhai to get a house each by draw system. There had been no pressure or threate from society members on the family. But only when they started new construction, all the problems occurred. but still then no one used to enter their premises only the people whose name they have given used to take photographs of the progress of the new construction. But that too from outside the premises. If they have not demolished their old structure and started construction of newer one, there were no controversy at all. And yet society has never said them to vacat the place. They have only objected the new construction. Ranchhodbhai strongly feels that they have taken such extreme step only dye to somebody’s instigation otherwise no other such factors were present.

 

 

Nizamuddinbhai Ansari(Resident of Adjacent Society of Chhotunagar, his house is just opposite to the desputed land)

 

Nizamuddinbhai claims that he started saying in the society since 1983 that is about 32 years back. At that time Mansinghbhai was already staying with his family and doing security of the Chhotunagar Society. He did not know much detail of the despute but he feels that they would have taken such extreme steps because of harassment only.

We could not contact Sh. Ghanshyambhai Pandya, executive member of the committee of the society.

 

Mansukhbhai Joshi (Educanionist, First appointed Mayor of Rajkot Municipal Corporation and eminent citizen)

 

Mansukhbhai said the citizens of Rajkot are very much disturbed by the incident. As the Municipal Corporation is not paying any heed to a common people’s cause, the people are very much frustrated. This incident is the highest expression of such frustration. He also repented that the people are becoming so selfish that while making housing skims, they do not make any provisions for their service class like security, scavengers, domestic workers, etc. He also felt  regretted that in such condition we are not being able to do anything actively to check such incidents. But he assured that we will provide as much financial help as possible to the remaining family members and try to ensure that the education of all the children do not suffer.

 

 

H.P.Singh (Police Commissioner, Rajkot)

 

Sh.H.P.Singh said that the investigation is going on. We are trying to gather the evidence. Media and other people give stress on arrest but our focus is on gathering the evidances. He accepted that in the past written complains were done in different police station from both the sides and necessary actions were taken by the police. He said that even if the lost mobile of Sh. Bharatbhai and Sh. Baratbhai, we will opting call details from the company.

 

SOME MISSING LINKS

 

  • In the conversation with most of the people, we felt that all of them did not believe it to be natural incident. They felt that somebody might have instigated them to do so. The family has not given any such ultimatum to any concerned people family member, relatives or authorities of taking such step.
  • The people in large number were present. Police personnel and media persons were also present. The full shots have been taken of the entire incident. The timing of the incident is near about 12.00 noon, the busiest hour in any of the offices. It doesn’t seem natural that no one came to save them.
  • According to Gauriben’s claim, when she tried to go instinctively to rescue her husband, she was stopped and someone assured her that we will save them, you don’t worry. But no attempts of saving can be seen from the footage of the media coverage. Then who and why would have assured her so?
  • The disputed land was the common plot. It is road touch. The land of the society is said to be worth crores of rupees. Is there any role of land mafias in the whole episode to grab the land?
  • According to the family, they have done police complaints repeated number of times, even sometimes in written. The police assured them to take action. But no actions have been taken to check the threat. Why? Was there any pressure on Police?
  • Family members strongly feel that it is not self immolation. According to them, “ a big Game” has been played with them in this incident. What is the root of such belief? What can that probable “Game” be?
  • The fire extinguisher was very near to the place of incident. Even ladies toilet was nearby, where one of the lady went after being immolated. Why no one tried to use the fire extinguisher or water from the bathroom.
  • Even the offices of Standing Committee Chairman, Opposition leader, etc. were nearby the incident. What was the status of those offices? What actions were taken by them?
  • When some people are self immolating, how can Deputy Municipal Commissioner close the door of his office from inside?
  • No one is yet clear whether it was kerosene or Petrol that was used?
  • How so many people(7 in number) with inflammable thing like Kerosene could enter the premises where the security companies are so large in number that even Municipal Commissioner doesn’t know the number?
  • The fire brigade is just adjacent to the premises. Yet it took long time to reach. And reached only to find that owing to lower level pillars at the entrance of the Municipal Corporation office, it is not possible for their vehicle to enter.
  • The video footage shows that even when ambulance arrived, the staff of ambulance is not taking the victims in stretchers. They are waiting for them to use all their energy to reach the ambulance. The staff is waiting down. And they take them to the stretcher only after they collapse. Is this the emergency service?!
  • Up till now, the names of two local Municipal Corporators have come-Sh. Kamleshbhai Mirani and Sh. Rajbha Jhala in the dying declaration of the victims. Police has neither arrested them, nor even interrogated them. What can be the reason?
  • Today(11 April, 2013), C.C.T.V. footage of the Municipal Corporation office revealed the suspicious presence of the B.J.P. Councillor Sh. Narendrabhai Solanki during the time of the incident. It was also found from the mobile call details of Sh. Bharatbhai Vishwakarma that on the previous night, i.e. on 2ndApril and even on the day of the incident i.e. on 3rd April, before the incident, number of phone calls have been done by Sh. Narendrabhai and from the office of Standing Committee Chairman. Why did police not make any arrest and only interrogated even after such substantial evidence?
  • If so many conversations happened before the incident, why the victims did not mention them in their dying declarations?
  • Were dying declarations of the other two victims who died on 6th April taken or not?
  • The members of the ruling BJP were so sure of the innocence of their Corporators, that they took out procession in their support. Then why is it that the Chief Minister did not make any statement in the incident? Why the Chief Minister, Speaker or even the Governor not even said a word of condolence to the victim family?

 

These are the questions that are yet to be answered. It is very difficult to conclude in such situation. May be follow up interrogation, if possible, might help us to conclude. In any manner, our conclusion lies in the answer of the above mentioned questions.

Looking to the Seriousness of the problem, we demand a high power committee headed by retired high court judge should be formed to investigate whole episode thouroughly to find out some missing links as mentioned above.

 

Balendra Vaghela                                             Kamlesh Bhavsar                                Saurashtra – Kuttchh Lokhit                           Advocate (Ahmedabad)

     Sangharsh Samiti (Rajkot)   

 

    

     Bhavik Raja                                            Rimmi Vaghela

     Democratic Student Organization            All India Mahila Sanskritik Sangathan

     Ahmedabad                                             Ahmedabad

 

 

MEMBERS OF PUCL INVESTIGATION TEAM

 

————————————————————————————————————Report Released by

Gautam Thaker – General Secretary – PUCL (Gujarat) M.09825382556

Related articles

 

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by kracktivist on May 10, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Advocacy, Announcements, Human Rights, Justice, Kractivism, Law, Minority Rights, Press Release, Violence against Women, Women Rights
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Posted by kracktivist on May 10, 2013

http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/gujarat-pucl-report-on-rajkot-on-self-immolation-incident/

The Language of Narendra Modi


MODI1

Vol – XLVIII No. 18, May 04, 2013 | Nonica Datta

Narendra Modi‘s oratory captivates his audience. A demagogue’s agenda is facilitated via language, which becomes a site of power and violence in the political public sphere. This article looks at Modi’s emotionally-charged speeches which are emblematic of his larger political language.
Nonica Datta (nonica.datta@gmail.com) teaches history at Miranda House, University of Delhi. Her latest publication is Violence, Martyrdom and Partition: A Daughter’s Testimony (OUP, 2009)
Narendra Modi has been speaking a lot these days. His willingness to speak is striking, especially as he acquires centre-stage in BJP. In modern politics, Modi’s language has multiple meanings that shape his relationship with the public. The metaphors that he uses are often the same in all his speeches. But the sameness in his language has a structure to it which needs unpacking.
I try to listen carefully to what Narendra Modi has been saying? Recently, I listened to Modi’s speeches at the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) crucial two-day National Council meeting in New Delhi and at other influential public forums. And I found that his speech at the BJP’s National Council meeting, in particular, conveys his vocabulary and rhetoric and unfolds his political language, its intentions and the implicit agenda. It connects with his other speeches, a miscellany of ideas and declarations, presenting a cycle of repetitive speech.
The Theatre and the Language
Like on that day and many other days, Modi began his speech with a patriotic trope, “Bharat Mata ki Jai”. A captive audience chanted in unison. Moving his hands, lowering his voice, and then raising it to the right effect, Modi was all set to perform. He spoke in Hindi, sometimes using English words. His voice had a nasal tinge. It was both low and high pitched, soft and harsh. The Gujarati accent was unmistakably evident. His speech was not just words. It was also his tone, gestures, movements of his hands, eyes and body. His pauses were short to suit his words. There were gaps in between.
Tellingly, Modi’s speech is emblematic of his larger political language. If you sort through his rhetoric, you will find nothing new. Modi’s language evokes his big project – dreaming of a new India. A critique of the Congress’ flawed idea of India is central to his language. So, point by point, he always targets the dynastic Congress. It is a party that has “sacrificed the interests of the nation” for the “interests of the one family”, he says. “To take the country forward is not in the nature of the Congress, it is in not in their blood”, he adds. “When we got freedom from the British we got swarajya, when we free ourselves from the Congress we will get surajya”, he goes on. Unlikely words to be combined: swarajya (self-rule) and surajya (good governance), but here they are combined to make eternal continuities and affinities between British and Congress rule.
Modi says that we got swarajya, self-rule, once the British left. And we will gain surajya, good governance, once we get rid of the Congress. He likens the Congress to a termite. He urges his karyakartas (party workers) to work “with a determination to help the people uproot the Congress”. How? He says, “The sweat of BJP karyakartas is the best medicine to do so”.
Modi celebrates the role of his karyakartas, and their purusharth (hard work): “BJP’s win in Gujarat is not a victory of one person but the victory of lakhs of karyakartas, a victory of BJP’s ideology, the faith of the people in the party’s political culture, the guidance of senior leaders and the victory of the people”. Like a cricket commentary, the news of BJP’s success has spread far and wide, he says.
The karyakartas are critical subjects in Modi’s language. He expresses his continuing debt to them. They are the committed workers of his political project. They are his political collective. The karyakartas, as a mobilising force, are urged to take on the task of translating his ideology into action.
Modi says, “Whenever we have got a chance to serve, we have given something to the nation”. Though not totally linear, his speech focuses on development in Gujarat. The Gujarat that Modi invokes is a Gujarat of “asha” (hope). If there’s hope, there’s trust (vishvas), he emphasises. That’s not enough. He asks his “people” to nurture an aspiration (armaan). Using a popular idiom, Modi asks them to think big, and to move forward. The notion of aspiration and good governance shapes his vision of India. But his idiom is local.
Modi’s language tries to forge a connection with “people”, and he sees himself as a “facilitator”, a “catalytic agent” to help them imagine a new and clean India. Almost enacting a commercial Hindi film dialogue, he says, “BJP is with a mission, [pause] Congress is for commission”.
Stereotypes and Repetitions
Modi speaks of the need to develop India on the model of jan bhagidari, that is through people’s participation. His commitment to “development in Gujarat” is conveyed via his different programmes. He says that when he became the chief minister in 2001, the state had a revenue deficit of Rs 6,700 crore, while today the state has a surplus of Rs. 400 crore. He says that both ends have been met: power companies are making profits and people are getting electricity.
The trope of darkness replaced by light is an essential component of Modi’s emotionally-charged narrative, a trope which ensures deliverance from the Congress rule and a march towards development. Raat itni lambi hogi, andhera itna kada hoga (the night would be so long, darkness would be so harsh). Remembering two of his heroes, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and Vivekananda, Modi says, “Even if darkness is all around, what prevents us from lighting the lamp? Come, let us set forth from here and light the lamp with the lotus, spreading the brightness of development”.
Modi applauds Vajpayee government’s nuclear tests. But he unsettles his own language by invoking Lal Bahadur Shastri, the somewhat forgotten political leader of the 1960s.
Modi’s language shapes a new political public sphere of power and domination to manufacture consent among his karyakartas. His rhetoric against the Congress, his model of a “grand state and nation”, his confidence in the “mass base” of his karyakartas, his stubborn faith in development and progress are the recurring themes in his vocabulary. Listening to him one notices that though his script is almost stereotypically repetitive, his repertoire carries a new gesture each time he speaks. His language is interspersed with humour and sarcasm; but no ironies. With the approaching 2014 general elections, his speech at his premier political organisation is full of contradictions, ambiguities, inconsistencies, silences.
Modi’s language, this may be noticed in almost all his recent speeches, camouflages much than reveals. Incorporating his karyakartas in his “nation”, he is mainly thinking of a masculinised India. Who are excluded: Muslims, women, Dalits, Adivasis and other marginalised sections. Isn’t Modi addressing a primarily urban, elite, technocratic Hindu nation? And of course, the karyakartas he talks of have been perpetrators of his political agenda of violence. When Modi says, “We have given something to the nation”, what does he exactly mean? What about the Gujarat genocide of 2002? Is this his project of erasure at work?
Compelling Speech
Modi’s manipulative communication conveniently hides his larger agenda. This has parallels with demagogues in world history. Like in other histories of fascism, in other parts of the world, the Fascist project is realised via securing people’s vote and their active political participation. Fascism develops through the popular and catalytic language of a leader in the political public sphere, which manoeuvres consensus of the ordinary people. Germans’ support for Hitler during the Third Reich testifies to the enormous and widespread appeal of the fascist language among people.
Historically, dictatorships have been committed to the project of development, progress and growth. Stalin was most appreciated for the level of economic development that was achieved under his rule. Stalin’s Russia was a model of a great industrial nation. But his act of mass killings makes him a mass murderer. Russians are still struggling to cope with that moment of their violent past, and the contradiction of whether Stalin was a “villain” or a “hero”.
A demagogues’ agenda is facilitated via language, which becomes a site of power and violence in the political public sphere. The crimes of Fascism and Stalinism were founded on language. Fascism, Roland Barthes says, does not prevent speech, it compels speech. Demagogues combine the language of development with that of exclusive nationalism and patriotism. They often talk of the poor and poverty. They have many things to hide. They silence alternatives, plurality, and difference.
Modi graphically talks of inflation and the poor man reeling under price rise. “Chulha nahin jalta” — “the hearth is not lit”. He only appears to address social conflicts. His idea of development is elitist and hollow. The metaphor of light that he invokes signifies a lamp of development that foments a consumerist ideology and culture. The unmistakably spiritual tone of his language, borrowed from Vivekananda, is a way to legitimise his prejudicial idea of development and a global India mixed with patriotism, which he defines via blood, sacrifice, sweat. Does Modi’s idea of development address inequities in society? It does not appear to. To resurrect Shastri is Modi’s way of moderating his political rhetoric through the symbol of the kisan (peasant), which is framed to work towards his popular image as a mass leader.
Modi’s silences are dangerously telling. So are his utterances. His language has many shades of grey. Might it not be better to see and declare that Modi’s language has been instrumental in sanctioning the practice of violence and development? As Hannah Arendt writes, “The practice of violence, like all action, changes the world, but the most probable change is to a more violent world”.

 

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Narendra Modi visits drought-affected Amreli, but no word on relief


Gujarat EDN

DNA  20APR2013

dna correspondent @dnaahmedabad

Ahmedabad: It was Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to Amreli district after the state government declared it drought-affected, but the people heard little about the government’s initiatives on relief. Instead, the CM linked unseasonal rain in Amreli on Thursday and Friday with divine intervention.
Modi was in Amreli on Friday to attend the annual function of Shantaben Haribhai Gajera Education Complex and to dedicate MCA College for Women to the society. His talks encompassed everything, including good wishes on Ram Navami, Gujarat’s progress in the last 12 years and development in education sector. He urged women to join Mission Mangalam project and take up sea-weed farming on the coast.
Protesting against the government’s alleged apathy towards farmers and scarcity of water, Congress workers staged a demonstration. They were led by former Amreli MP Virji Thumar and MLA Paresh Dhanani.
Initially, the opposition party had chosen a different venue for the protest, but opted for Nagnath Circle in the town at the last minute to avoid police and security forces. Protesters waved black flags and shouted slogans against Modi while marching for a few hundred metres, where they were detained by police. Their leaders, however, presented a memorandum to the mamlatdar on farmers’ plight, not getting relief on crop insurance, water scarcity and other issues.
“We had gone to give a memorandum to the CM about the scarcity situation in the district and request him for aid but we were detained by the police and not allowed to meet him,” said Dhanani. “Being in opposition, we are not bothered much about such practice, but it was a pity that CM didn’t utter a word about drought or announce any relief for Amreli district,” the MLA added.
“If he would have announced some relief, we would have welcomed him. But it has not happened. Today, Amreli district, which also has two MLAs from BJP, is facing acute shortage of water, fodder and financial aid to farmers,” said Dhanani.

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#India – ‘What we are seeing is the Modi-isation of Congress’


Book: AZADI’S DAUGHTER : JOURNEY OF A LIBERAL MUSLIM

Author: Seema Mustafa

Publisher: ImprintOne

Pages: 199

Price: Rs.395

Year: 2012

Eminent journalist Seema Mustafa speaks about her new book and the Rightwing-communal shift in Indian politics

Sadiq Naqvi and Souzeina Mushtaq  Delhi

In your recent book, Azadi’s Daughter, you describe yourself as a liberal Muslim. What constitutes a liberal Muslim in today’s India?

I think it has changed a lot. Liberal is not a very good word but for want of another description, we have used it. There is some hesitancy about using the word. Some people say either you are a Muslim or you are not. The liberal acquires a meaning which means that probably you are not accepting religiosity in the conventional sense, you are not letting your worldviews be dictated by a certain belief, you are questioning the interpretation of that belief, you believe in rights of human beings, including rights of women. You take progressive positions rather than radical reactions. So, all sorts of coming together become liberal. 

Have perceptions changed?

Communalism, instead of becoming less in society, has grown. In my early years in journalism, I was never conscious that I had a Muslim name. As I moved further into journalism, I felt that my identity as a Muslim often became the first identity and journalism second, and that was very difficult to get used to. That change began after the demolition of the Babri Mosque when the communal forces of this country got a new impetus and the State’s will to fight them became weaker, and weaker, and weaker.

So you believe that the State has moved to a communal trajectory?

Yes. The Congress, under Gandhi and Nehru, had a left of centre progressive ideas. It moved towards the centre. Now, it is very distinctively right of centre.

Why did this happen?

The fact is that political parties and political capability have become so weak; the politician himself is being drawn from society which is ignorant, prejudiced, without a vision. The stature of the politician becomes smaller and smaller. The ability to counter communal violence requires a vision, a resolve, political will, which the politician of today doesn’t have.

Real consciousness in the Congress that there is something like consolidation of the Hindu vote became a reality in the 1984 elections after Indira Gandhi’s assassination when thousands of Sikhs were butchered. The RSS and Congress worked in tandem — the leadership was Congress, RSS provided the cadres. They worked across the country to consolidate Hindu votes.

In UP — I covered the first election after the Babri Masjid demolition — we found this consolidation taking place. The RSS decided that they are not going to vote for the BJP; they will work for the Congress and help consolidate them. The whole character of the Congress changed because it too started looking for the consolidation of the majority vote. Every position it takes, it looks for that consolidation. It has got worried that if it doesn’t the BJP will do it.

At the moment, what we are seeing is the Modi-isation of the Congress. The media is projecting Narendra Modi as larger than life; the Congress, because it is made of low-calibre politicians, feels that this might be the truth and perhaps that will happen.

Basically, they are not ready for a head-on confrontation with him.

Confrontation in politics does not have to be head-on. It has to be continuous, constant, in the form of a campaign. He should have been challenged at his own home ground. Before the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, before thousands of Muslims were killed, Modi was on the verge of losing the elections. It is such a tragedy that you kill 2/3,000 people and you become a big man, and then, on that bigness, you talk about development. The Congress should have challenged him there and then. It is unfortunate that Rahul Gandhi or Congress leaders, none of them were campaigning in Gujarat. If they really want Rahul to lead this country, then the campaign against communalism should have begun from the streets of Ahmedabad. This has not happened.

You have discussed in your book how Muslims are under-represented…

There is a huge bias. There was a time when this bias, if it would show itself, could have been challenged. The Sachar Committee report was a manifestation. It speaks volumes that the Congress government has not implemented its recommendations. This shows an institutional bias.

What is your opinion about the political positions of the CPI(M) and parliamentary Left parties?

 

Parliamentary Left parties have some problem with identity politics. They are finding it difficult to resolve that problem in their minds. That confusion is still visible in their reactions to larger issues. There is turmoil, a churning; my fear is that, despite that churning, they will again go back to their old position which is not going to answer the challenges we are facing. You cannot secularise everything to a point that you do not mention that most of the people who are being arrested today are Muslims. It is a religion that is under attack now — how do you deal with it? It is alright as long as it is caste, you can deal with it. Dalits are attacked, ostracised, persecuted. But the minute it moves into religion, there is a difficulty. And that difficulty has to be resolved because that is the truth. Indian Muslims, particularly boys, are being targetted in the name of terrorists in different states; that has to be faced head-on. This is the communal response of the State. We can’t brush it off. 

We have a State and society which is not tolerating any dissent. So how does one deal with this growing intolerance?

When this girl in Delhi was raped, everybody started talking about mindsets. They are talking of a mindset where you beat your girls, wives, discriminate against your women, where you have female foeticide, dowry deaths. My thinking is from a political perspective. There is nothing like the goodness of man. We all are good because there are laws and social norms governing us. The decline happens when the State becomes weak and the implementation of law becomes faulty — I mean gender laws, I am not talking of POTA, TADA, and so on.

Progressive laws…

Yes. The State has to crack down, there has to be better policing, it has to make sure that laws are implemented… So when you have a State which doesn’t act against communal forces or the perpetrators of communal crimes, when you have a State which looks the other way and makes a difference between Owaisi and Togadia, then, obviously, the basic communal instincts of man are going to come out as legitimate…

The media doesn’t listen to the secularist. Even when there is a debate, they bring one extremist from the Hindu community, another extremist from the Muslim community, sometimes they bring a secularist who they shut down, and then get these two voices speaking. So the secular liberal discourse is gradually being shifted out of society completely. This is dangerous. 

Do you think this is fuelling fundamentalists on this side? Are Muslims getting radicalised?

I don’t think Muslims are getting radicalised, but fundamentalists, yes. There is fundamentalism but I don’t think it has increased among Muslims. The Jamaat-e-Islami used to be a stronger force in the 1980s than it is today. I am not talking about Kashmir, but about the rest of India.  So I don’t know if Muslims have got more radicalised. You have the Owaisis but then the Owaisis always exist in society. Earlier, there was an aggression. Now, they are not aggressive. In the communal violence that got covered at that time, you had Jamaat and RSS working in tandem to consolidate their constituencies. Today you have Gujarat — without the Jamaat.

From the print issue of Hardnews :

MARCH 2013

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Narendra Modi’s strange bedfellows in Washington DC


March 29, 2013

Guest post by ZAHIR JANMOHAMED, kafila.org

PTI photoPTI photo

The headline on Zee News at 5:09pm today read: “America opens its gates for ‘very dynamic’ Narendra Modi.”

The Business Standard in an article posted a few minutes earlier, at 4:57pm, wrote: “After UK, now US softens stand on Modi.”
Indeed three members of the US Congress, along with a few US business leaders, did meet with the Gujarat Chief Minister today in Gujarat. But should we infer any shift in US policy towards Narendra Modi?

In short, no.

From 2009 to 2011, I worked in the US House of Representatives as a senior foreign policy aide where I often organized the overseas trips for a member of Congress. The Congressional calendar is divided broadly in two categories: days when there are votes on the House floor and recess days—which members of Congress can spend in their home districts, or at political fundraisers in other parts of the US, or in countries they deem relevant to their legislative work and/or constituents. Each of these trips have to be approved by the House, especially where public funds are used.

When a member of the US Congress travels abroad, he/she travels as an official of the United States and carries a US diplomatic passport. But does this person represent the views of the United States? Most often not.

Consider this: in June 2011, (now former) Congressman Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat, made a highly controversial and criticized trip to Syria where he met with met with disgraced Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. The US State Department distanced itself from Kucinich by saying that “(Kucinich) did not ask to be accompanied on his meetings, nor has he given us a debrief, nor was he carrying any administration messages.”

The State Department was, in effect, re-iterating a point that both Democratic and Republic administrations have long held: we the State Department set foreign policy, not members of the US House of Representatives.

In fact members of the US Congress do not even have to follow US policy while traveling broad. In 2009, for example, two members of the US Congress visited war torn Gaza to survey the damage caused by the US funded Israeli blockade. Their visit went against the US government’s policy of not sending any of its officials to Hamas ruled Gaza.

But here again is the point: members of Congress are free to do as they like, within the House Ethics parameters and US law, because they do not represent the ruling administration.

Let us then examine the delegation who met Modi, led by Congressman Aaron Schock (Republic-Illinois), Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis(Republican—Wyoming) and Congresswoman Cathy M Rodgers (Republican—Washington state).

If the US is signaling a change in its policy towards Modi, it would send a representative of the Obama administration—likely a State Department official—to meet with Modi, not three junior Republican members of the House of Representatives, a body that plays third fiddle in the hierarchy of US foreign policy behind the Administration and the US Senate.

The visit by the junior lawmakers should not be read for something it is not: a sign that the US government has changed its views on Modi. Ultimately if the US is to grant a visa to Modi, this policy shift would have to come from the White House itself, in accordance with a rethinking of how theInternational Religious Freedom Act of 1998 can be re-examined to permit Modi’s entry. As of yet, the White House has not given any indication of a shift in its policy.

That said, the visit and Schock and his group remains significant because it shows that more US lawmakers are willing to meet with Modi, despite the US State Department’s ban on Modi for his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots. Schock’s visit is also interesting for another reason: it shows the strange bedfellows Modi supporters are making in the US, many of whom are far right of centre.

When Modi won a third term, it was Schock who stood up on the House Floor to praise Modi. But today Modi might not want to be seen too close to him: Schock faces a House Ethics Investigation for misuse of funds. According to his home state paper, the Chicago Tribune, a Congressional investigatory panel voted 6-0 to investigate Schock on the grounds that “there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Schock violated federal law, House rules and standards of conduct.” At the heart of the issue is whether Schock solicited donations of over $5,000 for his political action committee in violation of US campaign laws.

Schock is not the only scandal prone member of Congress to support Modi. In the last Congress, the most vocal supporter of Modi was disgraced Congressman Joe Walsh (Republican—Illinois).

Walsh’s two years in Congress were marked by revelations that he owes $117,000 USD in child support. Likewise his policy positions earned him criticism from even his own support base. Walsh is skeptical of global warming, for example, and has said the science on the issue is “not definitive.” When asked about securing America’s borders, Walsh said the US should install medieval style moats with alligators at the US-Mexico border. When a Chicago mosque was shot at in August 2012 with a pellet gun, Walsh stood at a spot just 15 miles away from the mosque and said radical Muslims are “trying to kill Americans every week.”

Last year, Walsh wrote a letter to then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to grant Modi a visa for his work in “establishing Gujarat as the most business-friendly state in India.” He added in the letter that “(Modi) is widely believed to be a serious contender for the 2014 election for Indian Prime Minister.” (The State Department responded by saying there was no change in official US policy towards Modi.)

Supporting Walsh was the Indian Americans For Freedom, a group whose goal is “individual liberty, free enterprise, freedom from bureaucrat ‘babus.’” On the top of the website the IAFF lists its two inspirations as Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy and the website includes a collection of videos, including one entitled “Joe Walsh will always tell you the Truth. Radical Islam is a threat to All!!” One of the videos on their website makes an allegation that Tammy Duckworth, a disabled US war veteran who eventually defeated Walsh in the election, is a supporter of the US terror listed group HAMAS.

But those who think Walsh was defeated because of his support of Modi are being too generous to Modi’s opponents. It was Walsh’s own incompetence, coupled with the videos of him yelling at his own female voters, that convinced his own base to turn on him.

Indeed after Walsh’s loss, even supporters of Walsh tried to save face. Dr. Bharat Berai (who recently met with Modi as part of a Jewish delegation)said, “Walsh’s opposition was against radicals in the Islamic community. His loss in the election has nothing to do with his stand on Chief Minister Modi’s visa.”

What is fascinating about today’s meeting with Modi is that the Congressional delegation was joined by the National Indian American Public Policy Institute, a group whose founder’s page is a direct copy and paste from the Indian Americans for Freedom (IAFF). The National Indian American Public Policy Institute might be different from the IAFF, the group that accused Walsh’s challenger of being a HAMAS supporter, but from the looks of the two websites, there appears to be overlap in the organizations’ leadership.

Either way, neither of these groups seemed skilled in policy advocacy or effective messaging.

So what then does today’s meeting with Modi mean? It is too early to tell. Will other, more respected (and more ranking) members of Congress also follow suit, especially from Obama’s Democratic party? If so, then perhaps we could be witnessing a strong push on the US State Department to lift the US visa ban on Modi.

As of now, Modi’s supporter in the US have attracted mostly fringe elements of the US political establishment.

Which begs the question: if Modi’s supporters in the US want to reshape Modi’s image, why then align with a candidate like Walsh who represents all the qualities—intolerance, misogyny, fiscal irresponsibility—that Modi is trying to distance himself from?

(Zahir Janmohamed is a writer in Ahmedabad. He is @ZahirJ on Twitter.)

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Open letter to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi #Rape #Vaw


English: Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson, United Pro...

Dear Mrs. Gandhi,

On behalf of more than 9,000 people that have called for Mr. P J Kurien, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha to lose his prestigious post, we urge you to act for the rights of women and force him to step down until a full and fair inquiry has been conducted into the gang rape charges against him.

The text of the petition addressed to Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi, now signed by over 9,048 people from across India reads:

“Right now, political leaders have a vital task to end India’s rape epidemic. But too many politicians are compromised because they themselves face ongoing rape and sexual assault investigations. We demand you act on the Verma Committee’s recommendations and remove your party support from all politicians and candidates who face rape or sexual assault charges. As an immediate first step, please remove P J Kurien, suspect in the Suryanelli gang rape, from the Deputy Chairmanship of the Rajya Sabha before the start of the coming session of Parliament.”

You can see our campaign here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_chairs_for_rape_suspect_kurien_/

This petition demonstrates that a mass of ordinary citizens, with no political vested interests, are very concerned that Parliamentarians who face outstanding rape and sexual assault allegations are the wrong people to lead on crafting anti-rape laws. At the heart of lawmaking on rape should be a burning commitment to ending the rape epidemic, not the same sort of anti-women, anti-victim thinking that results in a woman being raped every 22 minutes in India. If Mr. Kurien is truly innocent, instead of allowing his allies to blame the rape survivor, he should welcome a full investigation.

True justice is yet to be done. The survivor of the Suryanelli gang rape case has said repeatedly that the police were under pressure during this investigation to suppress evidence against Mr. Kurien because of his political power. The same Supreme Court that Mr. Kurien uses in his defence as having cleared him has now quashed the lower court order in this case.

The Congress Party cannot really claim to stand for the rights of women when their own partymen are accused of such serious crimes against women. This is the moment to stand with rape survivors across the country and show that the Congress Party is serious about protecting all women.That’s why we urge you to do the right thing and use all your leadership of the Congress Party to take the Deputy Chairmanship away from accused rapist Mr. P J Kurien.

With hope and determination,

 

Avaaz members in India

 

 

 

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High court issues notice to Congress, BJP on taking donations from #Vedanta


IANS | Feb 4, 2013, 03.42 PM IST

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court issued notice to the Congress and the BJP on Monday on a plea seeking directive for a CBI or SIT probe for allegedly taking donations from subsidiaries of Britain-based Vedanta Group.

A division bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Indermeet Kaur sought response from both political parties within three weeks and posted the matter for March 19.

The court earlier sought response from the home ministry and the Election Commission saying it will go through their responses before asking the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to respond

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Lokayukta’s appointment in Gujarat-beyond BJP versus Congress


Garga Chatterjee | Agency: DNA |

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a memorial event of the inimitable and now forgotten Rajnarain. It was socialists like him, communists and a whole plethora of ‘regional’ political formations, whose opposition to the Indira Congress led to the suspended animation of Article 356. This draconian Act was used primarily by the Congress (I) to dismiss insubordinate state governments. Just when you thought that conspiratorial centres in governor houses across state capitals had folded up, filling empty time cutting ribbons and enjoying largely undeserved chancellorships of universities, the old disease has found a new victim. This time it is Gujarat.

Gujarat governor Kamla Beniwal appointed RA Mehta as the Lokayukta of Gujarat, despite protests from the state government. The appointment was challenged in court. On January 2, the Supreme Court upheld the appointment. Predictably, the BJP has reacted strongly to the verdict. Kamla Beniwal is a former Rajasthan unit leader of the Congress (I). The relationship between governors and opposition-ruled states has never been rosy. But, beyond the obvious Congress (I)-BJP rivalry, this appointment and its subsequent legitimisation by the Supreme Court has far-reaching implications.

The problem is not whether RA Mehta is actually fit for the position. He possibly is. Neither is it about the embarrassment that an upright Lokayukta may cause to the Gujarat state government. The question is: Who will decide this fitness? In effect, an unelected person who is a former member of the party in power in Delhi (a party not famous for incorruptibility) has unilaterally chosen who would be the chief anti-corruption ombudsman in Gujarat, ignoring the popularly elected state government. Another unelected institution, the Supreme Court, has upheld this decision. So, an essentially political dispute has been brought into the purview of the judiciary. This is an insidious encroachment into the powers of the legislature. This cannot be a happy development for democracy.

There has been another encroachment. Neutrality and independence should be important characteristics of any Lokayukta. But, where did we get the ridiculous idea that anything that is ‘central’ is also neutral? Who says the government in Delhi can select better specimens of humanity than Gujarat?

As I said, in this case, an unelected body is endorsing the unilateralism of another unelected person over a whole elected assembly. More importantly, for all practical purposes, the governor is the thekadar of Delhi to keep opposition-ruled states in check. This thekadari system has colonial roots – an extractive colonial system that wanted to retain the right to meddle into democratic political expression of people. In the post-partition subcontinent, governors represent just that – a person who is answerable to Delhi over the heads of the people in a state. During the heyday of the Congress (I), the dismissal ofelected state governments using Article 356 happened through the connivance of the Delhi agent in a state — the governor. Now, due to the demise of the ‘Congress system’, the usage of this undemocratic tool has become politically unviable. However, the ideological framework in which the states are considered fiefs of the Centre has not died. It has, in fact, strengthened as the Centre launches frequent schemes to encroach on the few rights the states have – the NCTC scheme and the recent plans to make water a central subject — are of this nature. The present impasse in Gujarat is yet another attack on the federal structure of the Indian Union.

Going back to the Rajnarain memorial event, there I saw that giant, the former Supreme Court judge Rajinder Sachar. People of this generation, whose baptism happened in politics before they became judges, had an intimate understanding and respect for democracy. They have also seen Delhi usurp powers from the provinces over the decades. In contrast, latter generations (and judges are not outside it) have increasingly grown up with an ‘idea of India’ that is same as a Delhi lording over the states. This ‘new normal’ no doubt makes people less sensitive to violation of states’ rights. All institutions that are dominated by the elite come with a certain ideology about nationhood, development, future, the ‘idea of India’ and other such things. This results in larger problems, especially when judiciary starts arbitrating political disputes.

The BJP has been livid over this issue and it should be. However, its sensitivity on the curbing of federal structure should go beyond Gujarat. If it comes to power in Delhi, it owes to the people, steps on the implementation of the Sarkaria commission’s recommendations that sought to strengthen India’s federal structure. Otherwise, the BJP’s should not subject people to opportunist theatrics on federalism. People deserve action, not actors.

Garga Chatterjee is a postdoctoral scholar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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by kracktivist on January 30, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Advocacy, Announcements, Health Care, Human Rights, Justice, Kractivism, Law, Minority Rights
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Posted by kracktivist on January 30, 2013

http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/lokayuktas-appointment-in-gujarat-beyond-bjp-versus-congress/

Rajasthan: Accused of rape, MLA’s husband roaming free #Vaw #Justice


RAJASTHAN, Posted on Jan 18, 2013 at 02:05pm IST

Jaipur: The husband of Congress MLA Jahida Khan, who was accused of raping a woman two years ago in Bharatpur, has been declared absconder by a court in Rajasthan. The victim has been fighting for justice for over two years. Now, she claims that the accused Jaleesh Khan is threatening her and her family and has also offered Rs 50 lakh to change her statement. Following the threats the victim has appealed to the district magistrate to provide her security.

Accused Jaleesh Khan is the head of Kama panchayat and his wife Jahida is a MLA from same place. Khan has been accused of abducting and taking the victim to Haryana and then raping her.

According to the victim the police did not register her complaint as the accused is a powerful person. Then the victim moved the court which directed the police to register the case and investigate it. Even though the police registered the case after the court’s intervention, but till now the accused has not been arrested.

The court has declared the accused as absconder. But the accused is allegedly roaming free and threatening the victim. The victim and her family have sent a written complaint to the District Magistrate and IG Bharatpur asking for security.

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by kracktivist on January 18, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Advocacy, Announcements, Health Care, Human Rights, Justice, Kractivism, Law, Violence against Women, Women Rights
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Posted by kracktivist on January 18, 2013

http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2013/01/18/rajasthan-accused-of-rape-mlas-husband-roaming-free-vaw-justice/

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