by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
The state of Uttarakhand has been placed under President’s Rule, within two months of dismissal of the Arunachal Pradesh government on January 26.
Dismissing Harish Rawat’s regime in Dehradun under Article 356 of the Constitution appears to be yet another addition to the catalogue of constitutional sins committed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government at the Centre.
By doing so, Modi has followed the footsteps of the Congress reign at the centre. Yet, he had promised a different kind of polity.
The provisions of the Article 356 — giving sweeping powers to the central government — is essentially aimed at restoring constitutional propriety after breakdown of governance in a state, Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer had once observed.
But settling partisan scores seems to have become the order of the day under the present disposition.
Abuse of Article 356, though, is nothing new in Indian politics. A few BJP leaders have tried to build up an argument that the Congress had no business to talk about constitutional decorum as the grand old party had several times dismissed non-Congress governments across the country and era.
“Congress is forgetting how many state governments it has dismissed in the last 60 years,” Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kailash Vijayvargiyasaid.
In 1992-93, the P.V. Narasimha Rao government at the Centre dismissed four BJP governments — in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh — following the demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6.
After the Rao regime dismissed the Nagaland government led by Vamuzo in 1992, the chief minister said that the imposition of President’s Rule did not surprise him. “After all, the Congress has always considered itself as imperial power and treated the states as colonies,” the late Vamuzo was quoted as having said.
In 2005, during Manmohan Singh’s regime, Goa Chief Minister Manohor Parrikar — now the Defence Minister — was dismissed by Governor S.C. Jamir.
Incidentally in 1990, Jamir, then Nagaland Chief Minister, was himself dismissed by Governor M. M. Thomas after 12 ruling Congress legislators defected from the Congress camp.
Like Rawat, Jamir had demanded trial of strength in the assembly and had managed the backing of the Speaker, late T.N. Ngullie.
However, Governor Thomas, during the V.P. Singh regime at the Centre did not summon the assembly and had even declined to meet two Congress observers, Rajesh Pilot and S.S. Ahluwalia, saying the views of Congress MPs were not required on a political situation in Nagaland.
Even a government led by hardcore socialist Chandrashekhar at the Centre was no different. In 1990, it dismissed the DMK ministry of M. Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu, despite lack of any adverse report from the state governor, to seek support from Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress which was wooing Karunanidhi’s rival, J. Jayalalitha of the AIADMK.
Ironically, the Congress party is now at the receiving end of the imperial character of governance, protesting “murder of democracy”.
That brings to fore the debate whether Article 356 allowing the Centre to dismiss state governments should have some legal restraints.
By its action, the Modi government and the Bharatiya Janata Party have put other Congress governments — in Manipur, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Karnataka on notice — that it will practice the same art that the regime before it did.
Modi may do well to recall that the 2014 the mandate was also about ushering in change in way of politics.
Voters may have hoped that a proponent of development would care about constitutional propriety since the BJP is fond of talking about “Cooperative Federalism” with the states.
But their action in Uttarakhand, and Arunachal Pradesh, seems to have belied that hope.
(Nirendra Dev can be contacted at nirendra.n@ians.in)
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
Patna :(IANS) Amid a political furore over JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar’s arrest, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday asked the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain their definition of ‘desh-drohi’ (anti-national).
“One week has passed (since Kanhaiya’s arrest) but government agencies concerned have failed to come out with evidence against Kanhaiya. Is it not a fact that the government has no evidence against him? What is the definition of anti-national; please explain it to the people,” Nitish Kumar told the media here.
He said some powerful people were trying to defame and destroy the unique character of JNU, one of the best educational institutions in the country.
“If talking of and slogan-shouting against the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and freedom of Jammu and Kashmir are crime and anti-national, why is the BJP again keen to form a government in that state with the Peoples Democratic Party, whose leaders openly opposed the hanging of Guru.”
Nitish Kumar also questioned the meetings of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ram Madhav with PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti.
“Is it not a fact that Ram Madhav met leaders of the PDP which openly talked against Guru’s execution and the right to self-determination in Jammu and Kashmir.”
Nitish Kumar asked the BJP to explain to the people what their definition of nationalism was.
“Is it not a fact that the PDP openly hails Afzal Guru as a Shaheed (martyr) but BJP has no problem for sake of sharing power to join hands with them.”
The chief minister said what happened in the wake of incidents on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus in Delhi “is a part of a deliberate attempt of the Narendra Modi government to divert attention from the poor condition of the country’s economy”.
He said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and like-minded organisations were out to destroy the country.
“People like Nathuram Godse (Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin) are being glorified and the BJP leaders are openly attending such functions. No action is being taken against anyone,” the chief minister said.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, News
New Delhi:(IANS) Hitting back at former prime minister Manmohan Singh over his criticism of Narendra Modi governments’ economic policies, the BJP said on Friday that the problems are his gift to the nation.
“He rightly identifies a lot of issues Indian economy is facing. These problems are his gift to the nation. He himself admits that when they were in power, people complained of tax terrorism. Can he tell us if he addressed this problem?” the ruling party said here in a statement.
“But we believe in solutions and not problems, and are solving all legacy problems left by UPA,” it added.
Manmohan Singh, in an interview, criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party government for its economic policies, saying it has not been able to benefit from falling oil prices and “fortuitous circumstances” to boost the rate of investment in the country.
The Bharatiya Janata Party also hit out at Singh for being critical of the Modi government.
“We are absolutely delighted with the fact that Manmohan Singh has finally found his voice in the Modi regime. We welcome him to a free India where everyone can speak what he thinks unlike the India when even he as the PM was denied his free speech,” the party said.
“When he was the PM his silence and inability to act against corruption hurt India’s image internationally and put citizens trust in the Government at an all time low,” it added.
The BJP also accused Manmohan Singh of batting only for one family rather to the nation.
“Perhaps he hasn’t been following the news properly enough and so gives the rich advice that the PM belongs to the entire nation. ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ and India First are our government’s guiding mantra. He conveniently forgets that he was a PM who batted only for one family,” the party said.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
Dr.Javed Jamil
By Dr Javed Jamil
Let BJP Government act according to its religious rather than corporate instincts! Let it prove that it truly stands for Indian culture, for the honour of men, women and children and for family values. Simply banning Child pornography is a ploy the merchants of Sex use when faced with opposition to minimise the damage. Pornography involving children may increase paedophilia but pornography as a whole is even more dangerous. Let the Government not fall in its trap and ban all forms of pornography without delay. Let the people come on roads to force the Government to take the necessary steps.
The feeling of joy over the Government’s decision to block pornographic sites proved temporary. Within hours, the Government had second thoughts, and clarified that the ban would only be “temporary” and that it does not intend to be “totalitarian” in its policy. It is not difficult to assume that the BJP and its Saffron Brigade have hardly any love for Hindu religion or Hindu culture. Their Hindutva is not aimed at bringing the religious morality to the country but to mobilise Hindu support by promoting hatred for Muslims. Corporate agenda, not the Hindutva, remains its primary concern. When BJP was in power last time, even them it did not do anything to block the spread of vices spread by Westernism through the corporate lobby. It is not expected to act any better this time. The forces of the merchandise of sex are so strong that BJP would neither face any opposition from other political parties including Congress nor would media support any ban on pornography.
It was about 15 years back when my NGO PEACE organised a seminar entitled, “In Search of a Comprehensive Solution for AIDS” at New Delhi in collaboration with National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), Government of India. One of the speakers was Late Mr K R Malkani, the Hindutva ideologue who was Vice President of BJP then. BJP Government was in power. Inviting him to speak, I had said the following:
“Mr Malkani! You are Vice President of BJP, and I am a Muslim. You know very well what the feelings of Muslims are for BJP. I share most of them. But I have some positive views too about your party. What I like about it is its insistence on Indian cultural and moral values. Hindus and Muslims are similar in the sense that we have faith in God. We both hate alcoholism, gambling, nudity, sex outside marriage and homosexuality. We both would not like our daughters roaming freely with boys in the nights. Why then do we keep fighting for Ayodhya Mandir-Babri Masjid and not against these vices?
“I am sorry to say that when your party came to power you forgot these moral and cultural values. You must know that the most dangerous thing for the current world is the commercialisation of sex, which is causing havoc at every level. It is killing human beings in huge numbers, devastating families, making children orphans. Why can’t your government ban prostitution, pornography and homosexuality? Why can’t you run a campaign for the strengthening of traditional marriage system, which is most health protective?”
Malkani spoke very well, supporting me in strongest possible words. I remember him calling “Times of India”, which had published a front page feature in support of homosexuality, “Times of Sodomy”. But the words never turned into action. We passed a strong resolution in the seminar urging the Government to take effective steps against commercialisation of sex, to effectively ban pornography and to ban prostitution with rehabilitation of prostitutes. The proceedings of the seminar were published with the support of NACO. We warned NACO that AIDS cannot be controlled by simply distributing condoms. But nothing changed. Since then more than 20 million people have been consumed by AIDS all over the world. Tens of millions will die in the next decade. The number in India may be close to 4 million. But the economic forces of the world will not allow any campaign against commercialisation of sex. They care more for dollars than for the lives.
There are now at least 40,000 porn sites on the World Wide Web and probably thousands more. No one has been able to count them all. There are in excess of 40,000 individual URLs containing child pornography, paedophilia and pro-paedophilia content. According to Nielson Net Ratings, 17.5 million surfers visited porn sites from their homes in January, a 40% increase compared with 4 months earlier. About 1.2 million children annually are exploited in child pornography and prostitution. 25 million Americans visit cyber-sex sites between 1-10 hours per week. Another 4.7 million visit in excess of 11 hours per week. Child molesters often use pornography to seduce their prey, to lower the inhibitions of the victim, and to serve as an instruction manual. Indians are also fast catching the trend not only in watching the porn sites but also producing pornographic material.
Prostitution and promiscuity are promoted by pornography. Pornography survives on prostitution, because if women are not available for acting in these films (in case prostitution is effectively banned) or for posing nude before the camera, it would automatically scale down. Pornography fans sexual frenzy. To alleviate promiscuity from society, pornography, in all its forms including eroticism, has to be effectively banned. No man or woman must be permitted to appear naked at any place other than in absolute privacy. Freedom of nakedness in public must be eschewed because its effects are not confined to the person appearing naked. It activates electrifying signals in the bodies of all the watchers intensifying their sexual appetite. Needless to say that nakedness breeds promiscuity; promiscuity leads to the commercialisation of sex, which invariably means the commercial exploitation of women and children; and the commercialisation of sex threatens the very survival of human beings as individual, as family and as society.
I would like to quote here from by recently published book, “Qur’anic Paradigms of Sciences & Society” (First Volume: Health):
“Pornography has no place in a civilised society. It is extremely detrimental to the normal functioning of individuals as well as families. It turns humans into beasts and normalises abnormal and perverse behaviour. It instigates the watchers to go sexually berserk and vent their sexual frenzies in whatever way they can. It denudes love making of any element of love and converts it into an unalloyed and unadulterated sex. Pornography is the most sophisticated arsenal in the armoury of the devil. Through it the devil takes full control of human sentiments that then refuse to distinguish between right and wrong. It kills men and women in a way that they do not even know it. It is a poison that begins to act instantly and continues to damage for long. It pulverises conscience and readies a man to rape. Acquaintances are often the targets. It bedevils men who feel inclined to have a lustful desire for even their mothers, sisters and daughters. It demonises even some women who respond favourably to advances of their friends. It makes them bare themselves and offer to whatever men desire from them. Under its effect, men and women tend to forget what the consequences of their actions would be. Pornography makes the people believe in the enjoyment of actions that in fact have nothing to enjoy. It makes men penetrate the animals. It makes one like one’s own sex more than the other. It even makes men believe that sex with children is more delightful than with adults. The wine of porn is much more deadly in effect than the wine of grapes. If the world has to be saved from the monster of uninhibited sex promoted by the merchants, pornography will have to be crushed at the first go.”
People argue and will continue to argue that it would be difficult to eradicate its menace for variety of reasons. This is only a ploy to keep things going. Once the decision is taken at the international level to uproot it, there are hundreds of ways to flush out the culprits. If even the Government of India decides not to let it continue, there is no reason why it will not succeed. It is always impossible to achieve a hundred per cent result; but if it is attacked with the ruthlessness needed to combat such a huge and colossal menace, there is no reason why it cannot be minimised.
The colossal transformation of social values that has taken place during the twentieth century all over the world, particularly in West, owes itself to the ever-increasing prospects of the commercialisation of sex. This may in fact be regarded as the most abominable, the most exploitative and the most threatening manifestation of economic fundamentalism. Sex in varying degrees is being used by a large number of newspapers, magazines, films and consumer industries for their own growth. The worst forms of course are prostitution and pornography that have become big industries. If mankind is to be saved from death, diseases, distress and destruction, an end will have to be brought to the commercialisation of sex without any further delay. This monster cannot be tolerated in a civilised society. It has to be chained at the earliest and permanently demolished. Steps have to be taken at the international level with an earnestness of purpose that requires all the states, organisations and men of morals to contribute in their respective ways. Only a concerted, well-organised and co-ordinated fight can successfully challenge the merchants of sex.
Let BJP Government act according to its religious rather than corporate instincts! Let it prove that it truly stands for Indian culture, for the honour of men, women and children and for family values. Simply banning Child pornography is a ploy the merchants of Sex use when faced with opposition to minimise the damage. Pornography involving children may increase paedophilia but pornography as a whole is even more dangerous. Let the Government not fall in its trap and ban all forms of pornography without delay. Let the people come on roads to force the Government to take the necessary steps.
- Dr Javed Jamil is doctor turned thinker and writer with over a dozen books including his latest, “Qur’anic Paradigms of Sciences & Society” (First Vol: Health), “Muslims Most Civilised, Yet Not Enough” and “Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Road-map”. Other works include “The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism”, “The Essence of the Divine Verses”, “The Killer Sex”, “Islam means Peace”, “Islam and Family Planning”, and “Rediscovering the Universe”.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | C S R, Corporate, News
SRINAGAR: Disappointed with central government’s recent Rs 1677 Crore rehabilitation package for State’s flood-affected people, a leading traders’ body in Valley asked Modi government to allow international donors to send their aid directly to Kashmir while opposition National Conference called for convening of special session of J&K Assembly to seek proper package from Delhi.
“The losses suffered by J&K people during floods were estimated to be about 1 lakhs crores by economic experts, Rs 44000 crores by previous J&K government and Rs. 21800 Crores by World Bank through its initial Quick Assessment Report,” Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) president Sheikh Ashiq Ahmad said in a statement here.
The statement was issued at the end of a special meeting of trade body’s executive committee which discussed the Flood Rehabilitation Package announced by the Central Government on 16th of June 2015.
KCC&I expressed deep resentment over what it termed as unjustifiable and unrealistic package.
The body expressed shock over ‘biased and discriminatory’ attitude of Central Government by applying a different yardstick to the damages suffered by the people of Kashmir and state of Uttarakand.
According to KCC&I flood affected in Utrakhand were granted Rs seven lac for a damaged house while as only one lac fifty thousand rupees have been allowed in case of Kashmir.
Furthermore, nothing has been announced for rehabilitation of traders, business, industry, horticulture and other sectors who suffered massive losses which will lead to economic disaster, it said.
“This has left the people of Kashmir and the business community shell shocked”, Sheikh Ashik said.
The loss is estimated at about 1 Lac Crore by experts, 44000 crore by the State Government and Rs. 21800 Crore by the World Bank through its initial Quick Assessment Report although the final assessment could have been done by the World Bank through Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) which actually will be more than 1 lac Crore, KCC&I statement said.
Besides the fact that World Bank and ADB in their empirical studies have found out that the indirect and secondary cost of disaster may be more than 2 ½ times the cost of direct losses, it further read.
“In view of the inability of the Sate government in getting justice for its people and the Government of India’s abject failure in providing relief and rehabilitation measures, the KCC&I decided to appeal to Government of India to allow International Donors, including Kashmir Diaspora abroad to send aid to the Kashmir directly to enable them to rehabilitate affected people”, he said.
According to KCC&I President: Under current circumstances the international aid is the only option left for the people of Kashmir to mitigate their suffering.
Kashmir witnessed worst-ever floods in September last year. The floods caused death of about 300 people and destroyed over three lakh structures.
Meanwhile opposition National Conference today termed Rs 1667 crore rehabilitation package to the State as “mediocre”, “disgusting” and “insulting”.
“We call on government to convene a special session of the State legislature for passing a unanimous resolution for seeking a proper rehabilitation package for the flood victims from central government,” NC General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar said while addressing a press conference.
He said the special session of legislature has become a necessity and should be convened as soon as possible.
State Congress chief G A Mir accused Modi government of treating J&K people as beggars.
“Rs 1677 Cr package is a cruel joke to flood affected people of Kashmir,” he said adding instead of rehabilitating flood affectees properly, centre and State government are playing with the emotions of people.
Asserting that the prejudiced approach of Modi government has further agonized the people, Mir warned PDP-BJP coalition government of consequences if centre and state governments don’t stop playing with emotions of people.
