Howrah/Kolkata: The recent ongoing protest of Zomato employees at Howrah, West Bengal seems to have been led by protesters with political background as well as outsiders too, claimed Co-founder Alt News Mohammed Zubair.
On August 11, news agency ANI had released a story saying App-based delivery service company— Zomato’s Howrah district employees are protesting against the delivery of beef and pork products. They said that it hurt their sentiments, when a Hindu is being given beef products to deliver, and soon pork will be delivered by Muslim delivery boys.
While the agency quoted two protesting employees, the copy had only named one of the protesting employee, for another quote, it simply mentioned, ‘another employee claimed’. However, a video footage that has surfaced shows the same unanimous quote being stated by one Sanjiv Shukla, a Bengal BJP cadre. Shukla has also talked to India TV.
Screenshot of Alt News Co-founder tweets on the Zomato employees beef and pork delivery issue
And it is not only one BJP Karyakarta who has led the Zomato employee protest in Howrah for not delivering beef and pork items, but few more.
Bengal BJP Karyakarta Brijnath Varma has also led the protest and gave bites to electronic media organizations.
Another BJP cadre, Sujit Gupta, who is a resident of Varanasi, and recently started living in Howrah was also seen giving bites on the issue.
All the three BJP workers, revealed by Alt News’ Mohammed Zubair has photographs with senior BJP leaders including Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Minister Giriraj Singh and Bengal BJP leader Mukul Roy.
Screenshot of Twitteratis reactions on the issue
Interestingly, like previous time, in which a Hindu customer had cancelled the order, saying he will not take delivery from a Muslim rider, netizens are more in solidarity with Zomato company than the controversy creators.
Some Tweeted to company that it should terminate such employees and induct new ones, who have the zeal to perform. Few also made fun of the protest, saying, delivery boys have to deliver the food products and do not have to taste it.
Some also tagged BJP’s Bengal Twitter handle and questioned the party, as to why they are politicising a business issue?
Significantly, source said, the indefinite strike of Zomato employees in Howrah had started a week back and it was about getting more share in the payments per orders. It was not a beef and pork delivery issue.
Sirji, I am enthralled by the developments since your historic telecast to the nation on August 8 on abrogation of both article 370 and 35A of our constitution and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir state into two centrally ruled union territories four days earlier. Now that you have killed two birds with one stone; Kashmiri pride and Pakistani greed, our enemies, both external and internal are at their wit’s end. With the state itself stands abolished, there will be no more clamour for independence or maximum autonomy based on special status vide that silly article of faith of Nehru era. It’s a great feeling of wish fulfilment pervades the land that now Kashmir Ki Kali will blossom in my garden too and usher me into a pigment revolution. Moreover, we may inherit a chunk of ‘heaven on earth’ through in-law connections if we lag behind more resourceful compatriots.
Jiski Lathi Uski Bhains!
With Kashmir forced to be on silent mode, it’s fascinating to watch our homegrown 007 sharing snacks with commoners on the valley streets amid a standstill public life or counting the sale of sacrificial lambs on the eve of Id festival. The habitual dissenters may dismiss it as choreographed optics for propaganda to prove efficacy of the new normal pointing to the complete shutdown of all communications under a massive military-civil machine for more than a week. The foreign media and few of their Desi collaborators may try to tarnish your image by recording impromptu protests by few stone-pelter boys and their enraged sisters and mothers. But our forces’ quick dispersal of them under a cloud of tear gas and denial of the very existence of no-sayers by our professional media managers are really inspiring.
The anti-nationals here and there may have missed the surreal setting of your latest Man Ki Baat and called it a Kafkaesque horror. But who will deny that your regime has gone ahead of ‘Z’ years of Costa Gavras film in muting the voices of troublemakers without much wastage of bullets and payment to hired killers. So what most Kashmiris could not watch you live or exchange opinions about their changed fates? After all, It was not primarily meant for them but for us and the world outside.
It’s nice to notice that you have learnt much from your buddy Netanyahu who has not only succeeded in swallowing the spoils of 1973 war but also in dividing and annexing residual Palestine. If our influx is planned meticulously, we may not need to wait for long for the suitable demographic change there as Jews are doing in the Cannan and Chinese Huns in Tibet and Xinjiang. We know you still can’t afford to be as blunt and revengeful as your Zionist friend. So you have dangled your carrot by promising return of statehood to J&K sans Ladakh in future. The Candy-flossing of your stick was admirable as you have assured a land of milk and honey to commoners and more cash to buy the loyalty of local policemen and sarkari babus. What more you can offer? They must believe in you despite those pathological cynics calling it another spell of Jumlas. Have not we enjoyed our Acche Din during your first coming?
It’s another matter that our Motabhai as well as the guardians of our great Parivar in Nagpur have always felt that that Kashmiris do not deserve any level of self-rule, at least, till their brains are sanitised properly and permanently. They deserve our boots and bullets, at least pellets since they have refused to buy our narrative of their history and our freedom as their freedom. Instead of appreciating the benevolence of Indian people and beauty of our democracy, these ungrateful have increasingly fallen prey to the canards spread by those ‘Muttibhar’ pro-Pak or pro-Azadi rabble-rousers.
Who cares for history?
So that the last King of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh, the Hindu Kultitak had wanted an Independent realm in 1947-48 and signed the instrument of accession only after Pakistani raiders had reached close to Srinagar? So What if Sheikh Abdullah, the leader of Kashmiri Muslims had refused to buy Jinnah’s two nation theory and opted to join India? How much matters now that both the Hindu king and his Muslim challenger were keen on maximum autonomy within India, albeit for different reasons? Are not these insignificant details of history that their bargaining with Mountbatten and Nehru-Patel ultimately led to the separate constituent assembly for the state and formulation of its special status later? Who cares whether Sarder Patel was reluctant about inclusion of Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir in India unlike Hindu-dominated kingdoms of Hyderabad and Junagarh? What matters now even as he ultimately supported Nehru on article 370 and stood by him on plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir since India had a huge support on the ground? Is not it a blasphemous act to believe that even Shyamaprasad Mookerjee, Nehru’s minister and Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader who became iconic martyr of RSS Parivar on Kashmir did not oppose the valley’s special status but asked for full integration of Jammu and Ladakh ? How much it is pertinent today that Mookerjee had agreed for unity of the state but demanded autonomy to non-valley regions before his unfortunate death in Kashmir? For that matter, the BJS, the precursor of BJP changed its tune following the frowns from RSS? Why the hell we need to understand the complex tug of war between Nehru’s composite Indian nationalism Vs Abdullah’s secular Kashmiri nationalism at one hand and between the regional aspirations of valley and Jammu? Why bother about the clashes between idealpolitik and realpolitik of the two leaders and their descendents who ruled India and Kashmir respectively for decades? Particularly, when a more familiar and simple communal narrative is handy for religious polarisation between the valley’s Muslims and Jammu’s Hindus who had always been instigated by BJS-Praja Parisad combine to deny the existence of all-faith Kashmiriyat based on its Hindu- Budhhist-Muslim-Sikh parampara?
Our Parivar Vs their Parivars
Have not our Parivar waited too long for the triumph of its vision of Hindu Rashtra; a majoritarian rule under a unitary state at the cost of all the pluralist traditions and regional aspirations that guided our constitutionally recognised federal principles, at least in theory? It’s a pity that the cry babies are mourning the death of federal and secular democracy. They have missed the bus long ago when they had hardly uttered murmurs of protest on the gradual erosion of J& K’s special status when they protested dismissal of elected state governments elsewhere by Nehru-Gandhi family.
Jammu and Kashmir
Can they deny that loyalty to the government in New Delhi and Indian nation have been made coterminous for all people at the margins of the nation-state, especially in J&K? The intermittent use of coercive police-military force and temporary concessions to regional sentiments have become an accepted paradigm of our polity before your rise on the Raisina Hills. You have only nailed the coffin. The opportunism of Abdullah and Mufti dynasts and others in between who played musical chairs for long made room not only for explosion of pro-Azadi sentiments but also for Pakistan’s proxy war through sectarian and Jihadi forces in the valley. The consequent expulsion of Pundits and killings of minorities have only legitimised and popularised our Sangh’s position. It’s another matter that you had slept with these regional dynasts in turn to keep away the national dynasts. Now that you have outfoxed both kinds of dynasts and promised a new Kashmir free from Pak-sponsored Aatankwad, Algavad and Parivarbad, we can not wait for similar surgical strike at the heart of India against those who still focus on social-political diversity as the guarantee for unity.
Gandhi will be buried finally
Dear Motabhai, I can’t adore you more for your telecast on the 77th anniversary of another historic speech by a fellow Gujarati,incidentally known as father of the nation, launching Quit India movement against the British Raj. Now that you have renewed our second freedom struggle by achieving almost a Congress-mukt Bharat with microscopic red and green tinges across the saffronised map, I am sure soon you will replace that Ramdhun-loving, lanky old man who fell to the befitting bullets from one of our Parivar’s heroes and paid the price for his crime of appeasement of Muslims and Pakistan. We were forced to paying lip-service to his values, particularly the obnoxious idea of non-violence at the cost of our martial glory. Thank God, we will finally get rid of his legacy. I can’t conclude my words of admiration without hailing your Chotabhai who is poised to replace another no-nonsense Gujarati whom you have already cast in huge stone. I am looking forward to the fulfilment of his vow to wipe out all termites and parasites which are eating up the vitals of our state and society.
Opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not of eNewsroom. This is an open forum and we try
to give space to every school of thought.
In his broadcast to the nation on August 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a facetious attempt to justify his Government’s chesty decision to abrogate the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. It was done in a military-like operation by detaining all political leaders of the State, keeping the entire population of the Valley virtually captive in their homes with the deployment of lakhs of security forces personnel and by snapping all communication channels between the State and the rest of India/world. By scrapping Article 370, the Modi Government has created a Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (with Assembly) and a Union Territory of Ladakh (without Assembly).
In his broadcast, the Prime Minister described Article 370 as the sole cause of all the imaginable problems — from cross-border terrorism to unemployment — in the border State. Some of the problems created by Article 370 as listed by Modi are: increase in nepotism and corruption; discrimination among citizens; denial of equal rights to girls and women; loss of lives of almost 42,000 innocent people in the last three decades; no special benefits to the members of the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Communities (OBCs) as applicable in other parts of the country.
Then the Prime Minister announced financial benefits like LTC and HRA to Central government employees posted in Jammu and Kashmir at par with their counterparts elsewhere. Besides, he said now that the Article 370 has been made inoperative, the vacant posts in Jammu and Kashmir will be filled. J-K and Ladakh will be developed as major tourist attractions, film industry will be invited to shoot their films in the two Union Territories.
Most of Article 370 has, for all practical purposes, been eroded. Now hardly five per cent of the original Article remains. (With the approval of the State Assembly, the Centre is authorised to make any changes in its provisions). When Article 370 became operative in 1954, Jammu and Kashmir was a fully autonomous State with only Defence, External Affairs and Communications being under the control of Government of India.
It had its own Prime Minister, its president called Sadr-e Riyasat, its own Supreme Court, its separate Information and Broadcasting Ministry, its independent Radio Kashmir and so on. All that has changed over the decades. Chief Minister replaced Prime Minister and Governor appointed by the President of India took the place of Sadr-e Riyasat. Radio Kashmir retained its name but it was like any other radio station in the country being under the control of I and B Ministry. The Supreme Court of India has superintending powers over the State’s High Court. Major remnants of Article 370 were the State’s own Constitution, its separate flag, its law discriminating against women, denial of permanent presidentship to refugees who had migrated to Jammu from Punjab State of Pakistan and, of course, the law prohibiting outsiders to purchase land in the State.
Under the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, the State Assembly is competent to deal with all these matters. BJP was part of the alliance government (along with PDP) from March 2015 to June 2019 barring a three-month period when Governor’s Rule was imposed after Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s death as the BJP was renegotiating the alliance terms with the late Mufti’s daughter Mehbooba mufti.
As for the infiltration of terrorists, how can Article 370 be held responsible for that? The borders are controlled by the BSF and there has been a heavy deployment of security forces within the State. If the Central Government employees including security forces posted in Jammu and Kashmir were not getting financial benefits like their counterparts elsewhere, it was clearly a lapse on the part of the Central Government and not the “fault” of Article 370.
It appears the Modi government is dominated by the gun-loving lobby which does not want any issue settled amicably. Modi himself is a confused man, torn between his natural instinct of utter hatred against a certain section of people and the reaction of the foreign countries which he had come to face after he became Prime Minister in 2014. In his 2017 Independence Day speech, Modi had observed that the Kashmir problem could not be resolved either by bullets or by abuses and that a solution could be found only by embracing them (Kashmiris).
On October 23, the Modi government appointed former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Dineshwar Sharma as a Special Representative to start a dialogue with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in a bid to find a solution to the persisting problem. However, two days after his appointment, Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat announced that the Army’s operations in Kashmir would continue “unabated” in spite of the Government’s attempt to have a dialogue with the stakeholders of the strife-torn State. Gen Rawat also said that the appointment of dineshwar Sharma would have no impact on the Army’s activities in the Valley.
Eventually the gun lobby won. Dineshwar Sharma was not even allowed to continue with its work. And what could have been a peaceful resolution of the problems was turned into an ugly military operation.
Opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not of eNewsroom. This is an open forum and we try
to give space to every school of thought.
Kolkata: Gabrielle Bertrand in her book ‘Secret Lands Where Women Reign’, wrote, “Recalling my first contacts with that Garos community which has preserved its way of life and remained loyal to its traditions, I remember that the shock was so sharp that what I wrote at the time now seems to lack realism”.
The author interacted with the tribe in Garo Hills in undivided Assam more than five decades ago. The reality now is indeed in stark contrast with what the author experienced and wrote, especially in West Bengal.
A section of the tribe, of the Indo-Mongoloid stock lineage, dwells in North Bengal. They had migrated to Bengal from Mymensingh district in Bangladesh in the 1930s.
Now, the Garos population, which is mainly concentrated in Alipurduar and Cooch Behar districts of Bengal, is only a few thousands. Living among other communities for decades now, the matrilinial tribe is losing its “identity”.
In Alipurduar, Garos can be found in Garam Basti, a village off the highway.
The black-topped road with forests on both sides branches to a graveled path leading to Garam Basti. There are around 125 Garo households in the village living along with Nepali, Rajbongshi, adivasi and Bengali families. They are much different from their counterparts in Meghalaya and speak fluent Bengali.
A garo family at Garam Basti in Alipurduar
Fifty-two-year-old Banikanta Marak, a member of the local panchayat, shares that the early settlement of the Garos was in Athiabari. “Later, the British asked them to move out because of plantations. It was then that my ancestors came and settled here in Cooch Behar. Athiabari still has a locality called Garo para (neighbourhood),” said Marak.
However, the population of the Garos has dropped from 3,673 in 1991 to 2,039 in 2011 (Tribal Bengal by Krishnopriyo Bhattacharya).
A major change that this tribe in Bengal has undergone over the years is the decline of matriliny. Unlike the Garos in Meghalaya, those living in Bengal, especially in Garam Basti, take their fathers’ surnames “to avoid confusion”.
“Most of the people in our neighbourhood and in the state follow patriliny. Taking mother’s surname often creates confusion. So to be on the safe side, Garos here too follow patriliny,” said 47-year-old Subodini D Sangma.
For her children, however, it was not a problem as she and her husband have the same surname.
But Marak said he has followed matriliny and his children have taken their mother’s surname. “Matriliny is our tradition, our identity and we cannot give that up. I keep telling people whenever a clan meeting is organised. I have even told this during several village meetings,” he added.
Sitting inside a highway dhaba run by Marak, a Bengali-speaking Garo looked upset at his tribe’s losing identity. He narrated a story to explain the cause of this identity crisis. “I was summoned before my daughter’s school-leaving exam. The officer concerned did not know about matriliny and questioned my daughter about the ambiguity in the surname. I explained it to him,” he said.
Garos
Two women of Garo tribe, in their village Garam Basti in Alipurduar
Vinod M Sangma, a resident of Garam Basti, said not all government officers who are posted here know about the custom of the tribe and people had to face problems in the past.
He looked tired. A farmer like Vinod in this part of the state has many problems to worry about. He and many others are part of the man-elephant conflict and often lose crops to pachyderm attacks. When earning a livelihood is the primary concern, fighting for identity becomes a secondary one.
Garos and Khasis are the two main tribes which follow matriliny. Women in these tribes are the custodians of property. With change in matrilineal practice, the special power to women also vanishes. Marak insisted that the tribe in Bengal should not forget its identity and strive to save it.
Unlike in Meghalaya where land belongs to tribals, the Garos in West Bengal have no such advantage. Marak informed that since Alipurduar is a forested area it was not till recently that they received land pattas. “We had fought a lot for getting our rights. A bill was passed (in the state Assembly) in 2006 to accord recognition to our land. But the Left government did nothing to take it forward. It was after the Trinamool Congress came to power that we got the land patta in 2013-14 and other compensations around 2016,” he added.
The Garos, most of whom follow Christianity, still have the mahari system. The mahari is a family council and is considered the special guardian of customary laws. However, the system is not that strong as most of the customary laws are not followed.
While Christmas is the biggest festival for the Garos in the village, not many have seen an elaborate Wangala dance, which is their traditional harvesting festival. “I have heard that Wangala is a big affair in Meghalaya where some of our relatives stay. But we have never been there or seen it,” said Anukompa Sangma, Subodini’s teenaged daughter.
Bhattacharya, who is originally from Alipurduar and has done extensive research on the tribes of North Bengal including the Garos, said those living in Kalkut near Assam border have tried to revive their culture and tradition. “They had invited one person from Tura and propagated traditional music and dance form. The Garos in Kalkut have also formed a troupe and they perform indigenous dance and music. So they are trying to revive Garo culture which is not the case in Garam Basti. However, Garos here are small in number and it becomes difficult for them to retain their identity,” added Bhattacharya.
मेलबर्न/कोलकाता: 8 अगस्त को, मेलबर्न के इंडियन फिल्म फेस्टिवल ने अपने दसवें साल के जश्न की शुरुआत एक ग्रैंड ओपनिंग प्रेस कॉन्फ्रेंस के साथ की, जो आज सुबह मेलबर्न के सेंट्रल बिजनेस डिस्ट्रिक्ट में हुई। यह अवार्ड विनिंग फिल्म फेस्टिवल, जिसे विश्व के सबसे बड़े फेस्टिवल्स में गिना जाता है, बॉलीवुड के जानी मानी हस्तियों की मौजूदगी में हर्षोल्लास व धूमधाम के साथ मनाया जाता है।
आयोजन का चार्ज लेते हुए, महोत्सव के निदेशक मितु भौमिक लांगे ने उत्सव के कार्यक्रमों की शुरुआत की। चूंकि सूची में एसआरके, केजो और तब्बू जैसे नाम शामिल हैं, जिनमें से किसी को भी परिचय की आवश्यकता नहीं है, वातावरण में इसके प्रति उत्साह स्पष्ट था। विक्टोरियन विधान सभा की तरफ से क्रिएटिव इंडस्ट्री के मंत्री, मार्टिन फोले इस मौके पर उपस्थित थे।
सुपरस्टार शाहरुख खान मेलबर्न के इंडियन फिल्म फेस्टिवल में
समारोह में गेस्ट ऑफ आनर खान का दर्शकों ने तहेदिल से स्वागत किया। सुपरस्टार, जिन्होंने यहां चक दे इंडिया (अपने करियर की सबसे यादगार फिल्मों में से एक) की शूटिंग की है, ने स्पष्ट रूप से बताया कि यह शहर उनके लिए कितना मायने रखता है। अपने मजाकिया अंदाज में उन्होंने चुटकी ली, “कई साल पहले 2006-07 में, मैं यहां आया था उस वक्त मैं उभरता सुपरस्टार था, जो हिट पर हिट फिल्में दे रहा था। और अब जब मैं यहां फिर से आया हूं, तो अब भी एक उभरता हुआ सुपरस्टार ही हूं जो उतनी हिट फिल्में (मजाकिया अंदाज में) नहीं बना रहा है, जितनी मैं चाहता था। यहां बोलने का अवसर देने के लिए मैं सभी का शुक्रगुज़ार हूं। जब मैं इस शहर में चक दे की शूटिंग कर रहा था, तो मैं सेट पर क्रू मेंबर्स के साथ ट्रीवियल (एक गेम) खेला करता था। भारतीय फिल्म अभिनेता होने के नाते, हम अक्सर स्थानीयता महसूस करते हैं। ये देखना दिलकश है कि यहां के भारतीय प्रवासियों – यहाँ के भारतीयों की दूसरी पीढ़ी के लोगों (जैसे कि मीतू) की वजह से भारतीय सिनेमा सबकी नजर में आ रहा है। यह बहुत ही खुशी की बात है और हर भारतीय को इस बात पर गर्व है। मैं सभी की तरफ से कह रहा हूं, कि हम यहां आकर बहुत खुश हैं।”
सुपरस्टार शाहरुख खान, तब्बू, अर्जुन कपूर और दुसरे भारतीय कलाकार मेलबर्न के इंडियन फिल्म फेस्टिवल मे
हमेशा की तरह मजाकिया और तेजतर्रार खान की ऊर्जा अपने लंबे समय के सहयोगी और खास दोस्त कारण जौहर के साथ मेल खा रही थी। उन दोनों के कमाल के चुटकुलों ने दर्शकों का मनोरंजन किया ही, साथ ही उन्होंने साहस के व्यापक विषय के बारे में भी बात की। इस मौके पर ज़ोया अख्तर, रीमा दास, त्यागराजन कुमार राजा, अर्जुन कपूर, तब्बू और फिल्म निर्माता श्रीराम राघवन भी मौजूद थे।
मेलबर्न का इंडियन फिल्म फेस्टिवल 8 अगस्त से 15 अगस्त तक मेलबर्न, ऑस्ट्रेलिया में चलेगा। इस महोत्सव में पूरे भारत व उपमहाद्वीप की 22 से अधिक भाषाओं की 60 फ़िल्में प्रदर्शित की जाएंगी। समारोह में फिल्म प्रशंसकों को पैनल डिस्कशन और प्रश्नोत्तर सत्र में अपने पसंदीदा कलाकारों और फिल्म निर्माताओं के साथ बातचीत करने का अवसर मिलेगा, जो प्रत्येक स्क्रीनिंग के बाद रहेगा।
Kolkata: Putting up a resistance against the centre’s decision to revoke Article 370, CPIM, organised a protest rally in Kolkata on August 7. This is the second protest rally organised by the Left since the centre revoked Article 370 on Monday, August 5. The first rally was organised on Monday itself, with all Left parties like CPIM, CPI, CPI-ML, RSP, SUCI and DYFI participating in the protest rally.
Leading the rally were prominent Left Leaders like Chairman Biman Bose, CPIM General Secretary Surjya Kanta Misra, former MP Mohammad Salim and many more.
The leaders along with the participants of the rally were seen carrying huge placards and banners condemning the centre’s decision to revoke Article 370, there were a few banners which also demanded the release of political leaders put under house arrest in the Kashmir valley.
Interacting with the media, Md Salim said, “We demand the immediate release of all the leaders affiliated to various political parties to be immediately released from house arrest. We are in particular worried about comrade Yousuf Tarigami, who is also under house arrest.”
Left cadres burn effigy of Amit Shah for abolishing Article 370 and bifurcating Jammu and Kashmir, in Kolkata
While Bose said, “Revoking of Article 370 is unethical. We resist this decision of the centre. We have been hitting on the streets to express our opinion and putting forward our demand, which is the cancellation of the centre’s decision. And we will keep doing it till the centre does the needful.”
On being asked about the great divide that the centre’s decision has created with political parties by large and Trinamool Congress (TMC) walking out of the Parliament when the bill to revoke 370 was passed, Salim scathingly attacked TMC. He said, “BJP and TMC are the two faces of the same coin. TMC which has been saying that they are not supporting the centre decision chooses to walk out means that by walking put they have some how shown their support to the government decision. Had they voted against the bill, then our vote count would have been higher and better.”
However, on being asked about Pakistan’s move to condemn the revoking of Article 370, the Left leaders maintained that they would be speaking about their movement in India and would not comment on the same.
So far, it seems, it is the Left parties mostly who hit the street on the issue. Similar protests have taken place in many places of West Bengal and in India.
Many of my fellow countrymen, mostly Hindus, have hailed Union Home Minister Amit Shah after the passage of Narendra Modi government’s sweeping legislation in the Upper House of the Parliament on the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). It’s a matter of little time that the lower house of our highest legislature will also succumb to the regime’s brute majority and arm-twisting tactics outside the house.
Shah’s cronies including the A-listers in Indian big business have already greeted the crown prince as the reincarnation of Sardar Vallavbhai Patel; the first occupant of the hollowed chair in independent India and the original ‘íron man’ who had achieved national integration by incorporating princely states during the Partition years. The courtiers have also welcomed this move as a masterstroke against Pakistan’s proxy war against India which is aimed at gobbling up the parts of original J&K that has been left with India after the 1948 intrusion of Pak raiders as well the incursion of China in the north-east.
The move fulfills one of the most controversial pledges of Hindu hyper-nationalist BJP’s poll manifesto within three months of the second coming of Modi, the messiah of Hindu resurrection, even as he has failed to deliver in his first innings on mundane things like jobs for youth and farmer’s distress. Also, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the party’s ideological fountainhead is more than happy as the surgical strike in Kashmir underlines a leap forward towards the majoritarian Hindu Rashtra that it has been propagating since inception.
But, are we ordinary mortals prepared for its far-reaching consequences, both internal and external?
The design
India’s sole Muslim-majority state’s special status vide article 370 of Indian constitution that promised it maximum autonomy at least in theory now stands annulled. Further, the historic state itself has been abolished. It will be now bifurcated into two centrally ruled Union Territories (UT). Buddist-dominated Ladakh bordering Chinese Tibet will be separate with no legislative assembly. The Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley and Hindu-dominated Jammu region in the plains that border Pakistan with remain together. But it will lose a full statehood with a nominal assembly with little power. Maintenance of law and order, land management and hosts of other subjects scheduled in state and concurrent lists of the constitution will be passed on to union government. Both the UTs will be ruled by two lieutenant governors like the national capital territory of Delhi with their puppeteers at the Centre holding the strings.
The design is ostensibly aimed at defang Pakistani claim on the Indian part of the state as well as its supporters in the valley. Further, it will not only facilitate the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to their ancestral homes in the valley who had been forced to flee by the terror groups. With the scrapping of article 35A of the constitution that was a safeguard against land alienation of locals of all faiths, now the mainlanders including the big business would be free to buy land and property as well as settle permanently in the residual J&K. The intended influx from the plains will trigger demographic changes and consequent delimitation of electoral constituencies. In turn, it would dilute the support base for Muslim separatism in the valley and parts of Jammu which will eventually integrate the land to Hindu-dominated India.
The regime has made the momentous move when the state is under the President’s rule which is a smokescreen for central government’s rule, the most abused section of Indian constitution. An unprecedented security build up has preceded the government’s parliamentary move as additional thousands of security forces have been rushed to the state to spread fear psychosis and quell any violent protest. Even pro-Indian political leaders of Kashmir valley including the former chief ministers have been put to house arrests or taken in custody. Hindu pilgrims to Amarnath cave as well as tourists and students from mainland India were returned in a hurry, ostensibly to preempt terrorist attacks but actually to avoid any local backlash. The civil and military machinery has been prepared for a siege within for a long period.
In a way, the abolition of the unified statehood and the bifurcation of the territory has only formalised the present ground reality of J&K. The valley has virtually become an internal occupation zone, one of the world’s most militarised and brutalised parts since past three decades. New Delhi largely controls the state, with or without an elected state government, on the ground of ongoing Indo-Pak tussle over it which has remained inconclusive despite four wars between the twins born in August 1947.
The questions refuse to die
Will it facilitate integration of people of Indian Kashmir with our nation-state, or trigger more disintegration, communal hatred and violence as well as militarisation and dance of ‘Death’ in the ‘heaven on Earth’ with cascading effects in mainland India to the content of the hearts of enemies? What will be the impact on our centre-state relations in rest of country and the federal structure that has been increasingly violated in order to create a unitary state, halting by the earlier Congress regimes and now aggressively by the BJP-RSS dispensation? Is it a culmination of national integration project based on pluralistic Indian nationalism of our freedom fighters? Or is it a mainstreaming of communal fractures in our body polity and road map to a one-party dictatorship under the garb of one nation-one election- one supreme leader slogan that will fructify the Sangh’s dream of Hindu-Hindi-Hindustan?
Does the dismemberment of historic state of J&K and abolition of its special status through this ramrod legislation and unprecedented gagging of public opinion in Kashmir valley upheld the unity of the union? Or, does it underline the denouement of the secular, democratic and republican ethos of our freedom struggle which makers of our constitution had codified in the book despite all our contradictions?
According to the new normal of our public life, enforced by the rulers at the Centre, the questions will be called anti-national. The hired howlers or hyper-nationalists by creed would like to lynch the questioner. Else, they will ask the government to throw him/her into a dungeon for sinning against Mother India and colluding with her enemies as urban naxal or Jihadi terror suspect. The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act has been amended suitably to extend the police state only before the J&K bill was placed.
The recent massive mandate for the BJP has bolstered the Sangh Parivar to translate its agenda into legislations in quick successions. The denouement of the state which has been the flashpoint of South Asia between two nuclear neighbors has not come through the discussions and agreement of the pro-Indian political forces of the state and its elected assembly that had earlier ratified the merger with India but demanded more autonomy time to time. It has been accomplished through an executive ordinance and legislative bill, rubber-stamped by a fellow-traveller president. Both were introduced at the fag end of monsoon session of the parliament without giving the emasculated opposition enough time to go through the watershed bill and decide after a discerning debates on internal and external ramifications. What happens if other Christian-dominated NE states or recalcitrant sub-nationals like Tamils and Bengalis as well as tribals in the hinterland demand maximum autonomy like the Kashmiris and the new emperor wipes out the legitimate entities at one fell swoop in the parliament using its brute majority?
The mothballed history
It’s true, prevailing social-political reality in J&K is a far cry from its syncretic past that was a creation of its people over the millenniums of Hindu, Buddhist, Mughal and Sikh rules. It had laid the cornerstone for its composite traditions and modern polity. The role of people of J&K was exemplary when rest of Indian subcontinent was convulsing under communal riots during the Partition years. A substantial section of Kashmiri Muslims and fellow believers in Kashmiriyat had refused to join Pakistan that was born out of two nations theory. The state’s Hindu king had initially dithered while tinkering with the idea of an Independent realm. The letter and spirit of his eventual agreement to join Indian union, though disputed by all stakeholders including Pakistan, reflected the popular desire for maximum autonomy based on composite Kashmiriyat.
This mothballed tradition and its collective memory have been under severe strains during Indo-Pak wars over the land as well as periods of certain regional and religious tensions in post-independence decades. The misgovernance and mockery of democracy in J&K, as we have suffered across the country, have only increased the tension between the seekers of unity and diversity. The mix of religious and regional identities and violence against minorities within has always helped the autocratic centres to suppress legitimate cries from the margins. The ouster of Pandits from the valley and Pak-sponsored Jihadi terror on poor labourers from the mainland became handy to sway the Hindu public opinion in favor of wanton human rights violation in the valley during the decades of separatist insurgency.
Chronicles of a death foretold
The Modi-Shah regime could not have a more opportune moment to press for its agenda when the grand old party of the land, Indian National Congress (INC), has been reduced to a headless chicken with clipped wings. The residual opposition comprising mostly of regional parties whose bosses have no qualms about running with the hares when hunting with the hounds. Lefts, who have dug their own graves in their former strongholds and now have microscopic presence in the parliament are only left to cry in the wilderness. The electoral authoritarianism of Modi-Shah only reminds early periods of Hitler and Mussolini. We know what befell the patriotic Germans and Italians later who had lauded the ‘final solution’ of Jew problem by the Third Riech Fuhrer and his buddy. The death knell of Indian democracy, if goes unheard by my fellow countrymen, we will be the pallbearers of Indian civilization that Asoka and Akbar, Nanak and Tukaram, Buddha and Basavanna had built.
Opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not of eNewsroom. This is an open forum and we try
to give space to every school of thought.
Kolkata: On the day, when Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir bifurcation issue was being discussed across India, the West Bengal Chapter of all Indian political parties were having a brainstorming session on other recent important issue including One Nation One Election, amendments in Right To Information (RTI) Act and Electoral Bonds.
A state-level consultation on Electoral Democracy and Role of Political Parties had been organised by West Bengal Election Watch (WBEW), Association for Democratic Reform (ADR) and IMSE at Kolkata.
The leaders of political parties who participated included, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), CPI-ML, CPI, SUCI, Forward Block and RSP.
Significantly, ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) did not send its representative for the consultation event. Nobody from CPM was also present, but party had conveyed earlier to the organisers that they wouldn’t be able to participate as the day was coinciding with founder of Communist Party of India – Muzaffar Ahmed’s Birth Anniversary Celebration which was being organized at their party office.
During the closed-door meeting between all major political parties of West Bengal and the civil society, which lasted for a couple of hours saw the leaders and civil society engaging in a meaningful discussion.
The opening speech of Manoj Bhattacharjee, representing the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), was fiery and besides several important questions he also mentioned about the Kashmir issue.
He said, “While RTI has been destroyed. There is so much secrecy shrouding the Kashmir issue at the moment. The central government needs to understand that decisions can’t just be imposed on the citizens. Given scenario is the best example of how democracy is being killed democratically.”
Taking on the centre’s decision to pass the UAPA Act, he said, “The present situation is no different from the declared emergency of 1975 when those questioning the government were simply put behind bars. Back then the slogan was No Daleel, No Vakeel. Today the situation is no better. In this era of a non-declared emergency, those questioning the government are branded as anti-national and now that this law has been passed anyone who questions those in authority can be branded as a terrorist.”
Congress party’s Sukhbilash Berma said about amendments in RTI, “Our party had only enacted the RTI act, we must remember that no act is perfect. But, the present government instead of making amendments to better the law, have chosen to weaken it.”
Democracy
While most of the participating party representatives were seen openly questioning the need for One Nation One Election theory, BJP West Bengal’s vice president, Joyprakash Majumdar maintained, “Most of the political parties seem to be raising this issue, there is no reason to panic. It’s not like it will be implemented today. It will happen only after much needed political discussion and debate.”
An excited Majumdar was also heard saying during his speech, “The civil society always rallies strongly behind Amartya Sen if something is said against him. But they never support other intellects. They will question about lynching and other issues but will never question the intention of Tukde Tukde Insha Allah gang.”
However, when the Tanmay Ghosh from Banga Sanskriti Manch countered him on his comment on the tukde tukde Insha Allah gang comment, he quickly said, “By that, I didn’t mean the Muslims who respect the Indian Constitution and love the nation. I didn’t mean to label any particular community.”
After the event was over, speaking to eNewsroom Dr Ujjaini Halim, State Coordinator of WBEW, said, “It was a fruitful consultation between the political parties and civil society. And it was apparent that most of the political parties, barring one, were against the One Nation One Election concept. Many also raised questions on how this policy could do away with the federal government structure of the Indian democracy.”
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi has granted permission to CBI to investigate corruption charges against a sitting judge of Allahabad High Court. This is a welcome departure from the attitude of one of his predecessors who had ruled while disposing of a case that no action should be initiated against a judicial officer even if he takes bribe.
Justice S N Shukla of Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) was alleged to have favoured a private medical college by extending deadline to admit students for 2017-2018 in violation of the Supreme Court order. After receiving a complaint from Uttar Pradesh Advocate General Raghvendra Singh in September 2017, then CJI Deepak Misra constituted an inquiry panel comprising three High Court judges, two of them Chief Justices, to hold a preliminary inquiry into the allegations against Justice Shukla. The panel found that Justice Shukla had disgraced the values of judicial life, acted in a manner unbecoming of a judge to lower the majesty, dignity and credibility of his office and acted in breach of his oath of office, and that “there is sufficient substance in the allegations contained in the complaints against Justice Shukla and the aberrations complained of are serious enough to call for initiation of proceedings for his removal”. On receiving the panel’s report, Justice Misra asked Justice Shukla either to resign or seek retirement but he had refused.
The Supreme Court had in 1991 ruled while deciding a case that no investigating agency can lodge an FIR against a Supreme Court or High Court judge without first showing the evidence to the CJI for permission to investigate the judge. The CBI had written to CJI Gogoi to investigate the allegations against Justice Shukla. Attached with the CBI request was a note listing the preliminary evidence of corruption against Justice Shukla. After perusing the note, Judiciary CJI granted permission to CBI on July 30 to file an FIR against Justice Shukla and start investigation.
Contrast this with the attitude of the Supreme Court about five years ago when corruption in Judiciary was virtually given legitimacy by a judgement of the apex court — by a three-member bench presided over by then CJI K G Balakrishnan. An Additional District and Sessions Judge of Uttar Pradesh, Ramesh Chander Singh, was charged with illegal gratification for granting bail to a notorious offender. An inquiry was held by the vigilance wing of Allahabad High Court and it came to light that the respective courts, which had the jurisdiction, had rejected the bail applications of the accused twice on merits. It was alleged that the Additional Judge had granted bail on the third application in utter disregard of judicial norms and on insufficient grounds and it appeared to be based on extraneous considerations. The full court of the Allahabad High Court imposed a punishment of withholding two annual increments of the Additional District and Session Judge with cumulative effect and subsequently he was reduced to a lower rank. His writ petition challenging the punishment was dismissed by the High Court. He then went in appeal to the Supreme Court.
Judiciary
What the three-judge bench of the apex court comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justice Lokeshwar Singh Panta and Justice D K Jain ruled was incredible, to say the least. It said: “this court on several occasions has disapproved of the practice of initiation of disciplinary proceedings against officers of the subordinate judiciary merely because the judgements or orders passed by them are wrong. The appellate and revisional courts have been established and given powers to set aside such orders. The higher courts after hearing the appeal may modify or set aside erroneous judgements of the lower courts. While taking disciplinary action based on judicial orders, High Courts must take extra care or caution.” The bench set aside the Allahabad High Court judgement and directed that the appellant be immediately posted to the cadre of district judge and paid all monetary benefits due to him.
Opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not of eNewsroom. This is an open forum and we try
to give space to every school of thought.
Mumbai/Kolkata: With Independence Day just round the corner, are you bothered about the National flags made out of plastic being strewn around your city? While this question was looming in our head about the plastic-made National Flags that remain strewn around every locality once the flag hoisting ceremony is over, it took Mumbai-based homemaker Shruti Dadhich to figure out an eco-friendly way of celebrating Independence Day.
Speaking to eNewsroom, Shruti said, “I am a mother of two lovely kids. Every Independence Day, I would get worried about how to dispose of the plastic flags that my elder daughter gets from her school. I would also get disturbed by the very sight of plastic flags strewn around after the celebration was over. A little bit of research and brainstorming session with myself, I came up with this idea of creating bio-degradable flags, which could grow into plants. And that was how it all began.”
She then quickly added, “Perhaps, the solution came easily to me as I have a Jaipur-based friend who manufactures seed paper.”
Watch the video of seed-Tiranga being made
Explaining the concept of seed papers and its journey so far, Divyanshu Asopa, CEO and founder of 21 Fools, the company said, “Seed paper that we manufacture in our Jaipur-based workshop, uses cotton waste, glue and seeds as raw materials. These seed paper sheets are hand-made."
Then Divyanshu explained how the idea came to them, “We were into the business of manufacturing greeting cards and soon I realized that there was a lot of paper wastage and sadly enough this waste couldn’t be recycled. Jaipur has a history for manufacturing handmade papers. So, we think a little more and the result was Divyanshu, has been supplying cards, calendars and diaries made from these specialized sheets to clients like Google, YouTube, BMW and HUL among others subscribing to his innovate go green concept.”
When asked about the concept of this eco-friendly Tirangas he said, “The idea was of Shruti and we are just helping her as an entrepreneur. Her idea is commendable. As not many of us are aware of the flag code and the right way to dispose of the national flag once the celebration is over.”
Elaborating about her Go Green Tirangas, she said, “I have got a good response and am getting a good number of orders. We have used marigold and basil seeds in our Tirangas. All that the buyers will need to do is, bury these flags in a plot, and water it and watch the seeds grow into beautiful marigold and basil plants.”
So, if you have been perturbed by the plastic flags, then at least for yourself pledge to catch hold of these bio-degradable National flags, which can grow into beautiful marigold or basil plants in flowering pot place in your very own balcony. These flags cost only Rs 10 per piece but are a better alternative to the plastic and metal flags.
