by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
By Mohd Asim Khan,
New Delhi : There has been a rise of vigilantism in the country and if “gau rakshaks” (cow vigilantes) are not listening to even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then it is a matter of concern, says former Vice President Hamid Ansari.
“Modi is a strong leader. He is the unquestioned leader of his party. If his words are not being listened to, that’s a matter of serious concern. No need to say that there are people in his party who are defying him. I am not drawing that conclusion,” Ansari said in an interview with IANS ahead of the release of his latest book “Dare I Question”.
This book is a compilation of speeches that Ansari made on different occasions on different themes. He said he has explored various issues in the book such as what is it to be an Indian, what is Indian nationalism or why do we call ourselves plural, secular, democratic.
The former Vice President created a flutter recently when he said in the foreword to the book that the remarks of Modi at the farewell function for Ansari last year that his views were conditioned by his long career as a diplomat in Muslim countries and as a person who has dealt with minoities (as a member of the National Minorities Commission) were a deviation from tradition on such occasions.
While asserting that intolerance is indeed rising in society, he underlined that it cannot be said that the communal divide emerged only after the Modi government came to power as it has been there for very long.
“Intolerance has been there in our society for a long, long period. But I think if the level of water rises you don’t notice it at first and it begins to rise higher and higher. Then you notice it. That’s what is happening,” he said.
“Yes, there has been a rise of vigilantism. It has been written (about) nationally as well as internationally. International newspapers have reported that there has been a rise in it. I can’t put a precise date (as to when it was noticed first)… different occasions, different places. It has been going on for many, many years,” he told IANS.
There have been incidents of attacks and lynchings of people belonging to the minority community suspected of cow smuggling or in the name of eating beef in some states.
Has it risen after Modi government came to power?
“No, no. Every government has been guilty of failures. Every time there has been a communal riot anywhere, it is a manifestation firstly of intolerance and secondly of failure of administration.
“You see two people can always have a disagreement. Two bicycles can collide on the road and there will be exchange of hot words. But what takes a small disagreement into a communal riot requires thinking and planning. And wherever there is such planning, there is failure of law and order,” Ansari said.
Asked if he is particularly indicting the state governments headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for rising vigilantism, the former Vice President said: “Look, I am indicting the government of the day wherever it is. Whether it happens in Assam, Kerala or Punjab. It doesn’t matter. I am not targeting political parties, I am targeting administrations.”
Commenting on critics and trolls on social media tagging him as an “ungrateful Muslim” post his remarks in a TV interview just a day before his demitting office that there has been a rising sense of insecurity among the Muslims, Ansari pointed out that it was not for the first time that he had said as much.
“Ungrateful to whom? This is my land. I am an equal citizen of this country. I am an equal stakeholder of this country and I have been so for centuries. Where is the question of ungratefulness? Gratefulness or ungratefulness comes only if you are giving me something and I am receiving something. It is my right. I have my rights, I have my duties,” Ansari said.
Asked if the incident of Hindutva goons barging into Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) when he was there to attend a function on May 2 happened with the local administration’s connivance, Ansari said he would desist from drawing such conclusions but stressed that the Jinnah portrait there was just an excuse to create disruption.
“I don’t draw that kind of conclusions. But I do know I was invited there, and there was disruption. The function could not take place. The senior police officer in the district next day admitted that there was a failure of arrangements and that he is going to inquire into it.
“I am not drawing a conclusion that there was a connivance of the local administration with the miscreants. But I see it as straightforward fact of failure. Now why that failure took place, let the inquiry find out.
“But yes, the Jinnah portrait was just an excuse. It’s been there for a long time. The gentleman who objected to the portrait was a member of the AMU Court for three years. What did you do about it?” Ansari asked.
On the demand by rightwing politicians to end the minority status of the AMU and Jamia Millia Islamia, Ansari said that as the matter is being heard in the Supreme Court, he, and others, should not comment on it.
“Let the court’s opinion come, we will see after that. The Acts of Parliament are there which created these institutions, the debates in Parliament are there as to what was the intention behind setting up these institutions. All this will be discussed threadbare in the Supreme Court and the court will decide,” he said.
As the next Lok Sabha elections are nearing, it is pertinent to examine the present government’s achievements and failures. While Prime Minister Modi used to bitterly attack the Manmohan Singh government over an “absence” of a tough policy on Pakistan, has the present government evolved a consistent policy on Pakistan after four years in office?
Ansari, who was a career diplomat, replied: “We have zig-zagged on Pakistan to the best of my knowledge. We have gone like a pendulum from one extreme to the other. If that is policy, then there is a policy. What can you do about it?”
He added that while India’s traditional policy of non-alignment adopted under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was “fine” and earned the country respect in the world, India’s neighbourhood policy has deteriorated in recent years.
“Our neighbourhood policy at the moment seems to be under some stress. People who are knowledgeable about it have written about it,” he said.
Is India doing enough to counter China’s growing influence?
“Successive governments have been very conscious about it. China is a big neighbour. And we have relations with China, different kinds of relations — political, cultural and even military relations. Both countries understand that we have problems also, we have positive relations as well,” Ansari said.
(Asim Khan can be reached on mohd.a@ians.in )
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Mirzapur : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched a number of projects including the much awaited Bansagar canal which is expected to provide a big boost to irrigation.
The Prime Minister arrived in Mirzapur on Sunday, on the second day of his visit to Uttar Pradesh.
The Bansagar Canal project would help at least 1.70 lakh farmers of both Mirzapur and Allahabad with the irrigation sector receiving a huge boost. A joint venture of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, the canal is 171 km long.
“The Bansagar project of about Rs 3,500 crore will not just provide irrigation in Mirzapur but also 1.5 lakh hectares of this whole area including Allahabad,” Modi said while addressing a gathering in Mirzapur.
He also laid the foundation stone of the Mirzapur Medical College, inaugurated 100 Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadi Kendras and a bridge over the Ganga river.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) on Saturday said farmers would hold demonstrations across the country against the Narendra Modi-government for failing to fix fair Minimum Support Price (MSP) for kharif crops.
Addressing media here, leaders of the AIKSCC, an umbrella body of over 180 farm organisations, the government had not just failed to fulfill its electoral promise of fixing MSP, according to the M.S. Swaminathan Commission recommendations, but “fooled” farmers by calling the hike in the new MSP “historic”.
The planned demonstrations would start with a protest march with black flags from Mandi House to Parliament Street on July 20. Later, on the anniversary of the ‘Quit India Movement’, a ‘Kisan Mukti Diwas’ will be observed on August 9, in which farmers will participate in a Jail Bharo Andolan’.
On November 30, farmers across the country will lay siege the national capital to force the passage of two Bills regarding loan waiver and better farm remuneration, as per the AIKSCC.
Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav, who is a part of the AIKSCC, said the government had fixed the MSP for kharif crops using ‘A2+FL’ input of cost against the comprehensive ‘C2’, which is recommended by Swaminathan Commission and being demanded by farmers.
“The (BJP) government’s claims of fulfilling its promise of profit of 1.5 times the input cost and historic hike in MSP are wrong. It is not as per ‘C2’. As per ‘C2’, the MSP of paddy should be Rs 2,340 per quintal while the government has fixed it at Rs 1,750 per quintal using ‘A2+ FL’. It means farmers will incur loss of Rs590 for every quintal,” he said.
He also said that the Modi government was lying when it said the hike in the new MSP was “historic”. “It is not new to increase crop prices in election year. UPA government had increased prices for all crop by almost 50 per cent (in 2008-09). But the BJP government’s hike is below 50 per cent except one crop,” he said.
Yadav said the government decided to increase the MSP following nation-wide protest carried out by the AIKSCC including the mega rally in Delhi last November.
AIKSCC will also carry out inspections at all wholesale markets from October 8 to 10 “to expose” government’s claim on MSP and to see if procurement is done properly.
According to the AIKSCC, only 28-30 per cent of wheat and 30 to 35 per cent of paddy is procured while for coarse grains, the procurement is less than 1 per cent.
AIKSCC convener V.M. Singh said letters will be written to MPs for their support to the Private Member Bills, expected to be tabled by MP Raju Shetty of Swabhiman Shetkari Sanghtana.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh) : Raking up the controversy over the reported remarks of Rahul Gandhi that the Congress is a party for Muslims, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Congress and other parties of wanting continuance of practices like triple talaq.
He also wondered whether the Congress was interested only in the welfare of Muslim men and not women.
“For the last two days I am hearing that a naamdar leader (a sarcastic reference to Rahul Gandhi) recently said that the Congress is a party of Muslims. I’m not surprised. Even former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh once said that Muslims have the first right over nation’s natural resources.
“But I want to ask the naamdar of Congress, congratulations to them. But please tell us whether the Congress is only for Muslim men? Or does it have space for Muslim women too because they don’t stand with Muslim women on issues of triple talaq and nikah halala,” he said addressing a public meeting after inaugurating the Purvanchal Expressway in a speech aimed at the next Lok Sabha polls in the battle ground state.
Modi said all the parties have been exposed on the issue of triple talaq. It concerns the lives of lakhs and crores of Muslim women. Even in Islamic countries, there is a ban on triple talaq, he said.
The Prime Minister’s attack on Gandhi and the Congress on the issue of Muslims came a day after Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman accused the Congress of dividing the country on communal lines and playing a dangerous game before 2019 general elections.
Citing a report in an Urdu daily which claimed that Gandhi told a meeting of Muslim intellectuals earlier this week that the Congress is a party for Muslims, she had demanded an apology from the Congress President.
The Prime Minister also accused the opposition parties of not allowing Parliament to function. “They don’t allow the Parliament to function. They stall the proceedings. I would like all anti-Modi leaders to go and meet these women who have been affected by triple talaq and nikah halala and then come to Parliament. People have to be alert about such parties.
“These parties want triple talaq to continue. I will try to make them understand and bring them together for the sake of Muslim women so that they get freedom,” he alleged.
He said these are 18th century parties in the 21st century and cannot do any good for the country.
Modi said that Purvanchal Expressway will take Uttar Pradesh to greater heights. “More than Rs 23,000 crore will be spent on the project. All cities, towns between Lucknow and Ghazipur, that fall on this route will witness a change.”
The Prime Minister also said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had changed perception about Uttar Pradesh.
“The Yogi Adityanath government has been able to control crime rate, corruption in Uttar Pradesh. He has contributed immensely in the state’s development,” Modi said.
He also said besides highways, work was also on relating to waterways and airways.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, News, Politics
Shillong : Stressing India’s northeastern states suffered from lack of adequate private investment, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said that the Narendra Modi government is committed to ensure socio-economic development of this region as per its potential and to also ensure peace and prosperity to the citizens.
“Our Government is taking keen interest to act as a link with the South East Asian countries so as to push economic development in the region. ‘The Look East Policy’ has been changed to ‘The Act East Policy’. We are trying to ensure in all eight States, sectors such as infrastructure strengthening, manufacturing, trade, tourism, skill development, urban renewal, smart cities, and ‘Make in India’ get emphasized,” he said in his address at the 67th Plenary meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC) here.
He also suggested the NITI Forum for the North East to meet on a regular basis and decide on the action to be taken on recommendations by October and for this, he even advocated calling a special Session of the NEC.
The NEC, a regional planning body of the eight northeastern states, has recently been brought under the direct control of the Union Home Ministry. The Home Minister is the ex-officio chairperson of the council while Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Minister is the vice chairman.
The meeting was attended by Governors and Chief Ministers of all the eight north-eastern states, including Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region, Jitendra Singh.
Rajnath Singh, underlining that cooperation between India and ASEAN is essential for the region’s prosperity, he said with this objective, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj chaired an interactive session with Chief Ministers of northeastern states on the ‘Act East Policy’ and discussed the issues in detail.
This forum should prepare a broad roadmap towards realizing the objectives of the “Act East Policy” and for its preparation and its speedy implementation, NEC can be a right forum,” he added.
—IANS
