Round The States

New Delhi, 8 July 2010

CM Queers The Pitch

KASHMIR SITUATION WORSENS

By Insaf

Kashmir is menacingly becoming too hot to handle for both the State and Central Governments. For the first time in over a decade, the Army was called out on Wednesday last, to restore semblance of order in the Valley, stricken by violent protests and riots for the past one month. A nagging fear is that the Valley may slip back into the 90s, when pro-azadi movement was at its peak. However, the Cabinet Committee on Security which met in Delhi following calls from Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P Chidmabaram, decided the Army should stage flag marches in Srinagar and be kept out of towns and populated areas. It left it to the civil administration to deal with the situation and to decide when and where it wanted the troops deployed. The Ministry of Defence too has made it clear that it wants the Army deployed for the shortest possible period. On its part, a dazed State government continues to impose curfews in entire Srinagar and separatists’ stronghold towns of Sopore and Baramulla. Unfortunately, the media too has come under attack. Curfew passes have been withdrawn for the first time ever.   

Meanwhile, Omar Abdullah has ill-advisedly queered the pitch and added fuel to the fire by stating the other day: “The aspirations of the people of Jammu & Kashmir cannot be assuaged only by development, good governance and economic packages but need a political solution”.  Pleading the case for more autonomy, the Chief Minister added: “But I am not averse to move beyond it, if there is a solution other than autonomy that is acceptable to both India and Pakistan and meets the aspirations of the people of Jammu & Kashmir”. Whether he is extending tacit support for the Opposition PDP’s espousal of “dual sovereignty” involving India and Pakistan is unclear. What is significant, however, is that the CM has challenged the belief mouthed by many well-meaning Indian liberals that a long dose of good governance could bring an alienated Kashmir Valley and its people back to the constitutional mainstream. Leading analysts have pointed out that the significance of this assertion should not be under-estimated. Not least because it loosely corresponds to the position taken by some of the ‘moderate’ sections of the Hurriyat Conference!

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Big Relief for Karnataka                    

Hope is not all lost for Karnataka and importantly for the country in its battle against corruption. After 11 days of suspense whether he would or not, the State’s Lokayukta, N Santosh Hegde finally withdrew his resignation on Saturday last conceding to the request of senior BJP leader L K Advani. Speaking to the media after a visit by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and the BJP President Nitin Gadkari, Hegde said: “Advani is like a father. He was a close friend of my father (former Lok Sabha Speaker KS Hegde). I cannot go against his wish.” At the same time, Yeddyurappa assured him “all cooperation to fight corruption,” thus making amends and saving the BJP a national embarrassment. Hegde had resigned on June 23, peeved by the constant “neglect” shown by the BJP-led Government to the authority of the Lokayukta. His was the first case in the country where a Lokayukta had quit blaming the Government.

Sadly, the Lokayukta institution exists in only 17 States and even among these there is no common legislation. In an interview to a daily, Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily has opined that the Lokayukta be accorded a constitutional status to safeguard the institution from the “whims and fancies of the State Government.” Accordingly, he should be vested with the powers to prosecute bureaucrats and politicians and the Centre was considering a collegium to appoint the Lokayukta, who will be a retired Supreme Court judge “with an impeccable track record.” However, this apart, a section of the judiciary feels the Lokayukta requires an efficient and effective infrastructure. He should be able to handpick his officers and have offices in every district. If the institution has to function meaningfully then it must have an independent budget. Above all, the Hegde episode has also put the spotlight on the Centre’s half-hearted fight against corruption. Successive governments have failed to legislate for the appointment of the Lok Pal at the Centre even after four decades since a bill was first introduced as far back as 1968.   

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Maharashtra Is Livid

Maharashtra is livid against the UPA Government at the Centre for having let it down badly in its decades-old dispute with Karnataka in the Supreme Court over Belgaum. New Delhi has opposed Maharashtra’s application of 2004 in the Apex Court challenging the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the State’s Reorganisation Commission Act 1956 and the Bombay Reorganisation Act of 1960. It has told the Supreme Court that Belgaum, where the majority population speaks Marathi, should stay with Karnataka as Maharashtra’s claim over it has no merit. The dispute has caused considerable tension between the two States. In 2006, the then ruling coalition of Karnataka, led by HD Kumaraswamy, son of HD Deve Gowda, even held a special session of the State Assembly in Belgaum, provoking Maharashtra to move an application in the Supreme Court seeking imposition of Central rule in the State. The Centre has stated that “the language of the people has been one criteria but not the sole criteria for inclusion of any area in a State.”

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Trouble in AP Congress

Trouble appears to be brewing for the Congress in Andhra Pradesh. Its young MP, Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, son of the late YSR started his Odarpu yatra on Wednesday last, his father’s birth anniversary, much to the chagrin of the party High Command.  This follows his inability to get the requisite go ahead from the party President Sonia Gandhi, whom he met last week in New Delhi along with his mother. In a letter in his paper Sakshi, Jagnamohan wrote it was his “moral responsibility” to finish the yatra, to console the family members of those who had committed suicide following YSR’s death. In fact, the MP from Kadapa has even ridiculed the party’s suggestion that he gather all families at one place and meet them by stating: “When my father died Sonia Gandhi flew down to console me and my family instead of asking us to come to Delhi.” So far, the Congress is unsure how to deal with the situation. At best, Chief Minister K Rosaiah has warned party ministers, MPs, MLAs and MLCs not to participate in the yatra, which will be closely watched.   

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Bandh In Opposition States 

Opposition-ruled States have finally brought the nagging price rise issue into sharp focus.  Importantly, the Bharat bandh called on Monday last also wittingly or unwittingly may help the Opposition parties bury their ideological and political differences for a larger cause. While the CPM sought to distance itself from the BJP and insist that there was no coordination for the bandh, facts suggest otherwise. Left-ruled West Bengal and Kerala were literally shut down, and in NDA-ruled Bihar, Gujarat, Orissa, Punjab, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh normal life too was disrupted. As expected, the call had no major impact in UPA-ruled Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Haryana, but the Shiv Sena and the BJP did manage a good response in Congress-NCP ruled Maharashtra. While industry outfits have given different figures ( Rs 3000 crore to Rs 300 crore) on the financial loss suffered by the country, the big question before the common man is  whether it will make the UPA government sit up and roll back prices? ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Round The States

New Delhi, 1 July 2010

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Chhattisgarh & Kashmir

CENTRE LEARNS NO LESSONS

By Insaf

Chhattisgarh and Kashmir have cast a sinister shadow over the Centre’s strategy to tackle internal security threats—be it the Maoists or the anti-national elements. Developments in the two States have also unwittingly put a big question mark on the functioning/handling of the country’s para-military forces: Is the CRPF an “uncontrolled force” mindlessly firing at civilians, as alleged by the J&K Government in curfew-ridden Kashmir Valley? Or is its personnel mere ‘sitting ducks’ for the trigger-happy Maoists in the jungles of Bastar due to a lack of cohesive policy? Sadly, the Centre appears to have learnt no lessons from the past. The Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram, continues to pass the buck on to the States. Revisit deployment of the Central forces and avoid criticizing New Delhi is the best that he offers time and again.    

Just over two months after the Dantewada massacre of 76 CRPF personnel, the Maoists struck again in Chhattisgarh, killing 27 CRPF personnel in Narayanpur district on Tuesday last. The 63-member CRPF contingent, which was returning to its camp after a road-opening, was an easy target for the Maoists. Reports yet again suggest that the Special Operation Procedures, such as guarding the heights and not taking the same route back, were not followed. Additionally, intelligence input of an attack was taken lightly. While Chief Minister Raman Singh held a meeting with senior officials to further “fine tune” the strategy to fight the Maoists, Chidambaram on Wednesday last suggested that deployments “needed to be revisited.” The State government, he advised must deploy Central forces keeping in mind only operational objectives or developmental requirements.

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Valley Under Curfew

Meanwhile, Kashmir is once again on the boil, forcing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to hold a meeting with Chidambaram, Defence Minister A K Antony and National Security Advisor Shiv Shanker Menon on Wednesday last to review the situation in the Valley, where peace and reconciliation have taken a severe hit this past week. Major towns in north and south Kashmir were placed under curfew, following widespread protests and riots against the killing of three protesters in CRPF firing. The Hurriyat took advantage of the situation and led the protests. In fact, the situation in Sopore town, once a hotbed of militancy, was reminiscent of the early 90s when pro-freedom slogans rent the air. A rattled Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said it was not a simple law and order problem and that anti-national forces had come together to foment trouble. He appealed to parents not to allow their wards on the streets and indulge in stone-pelting when curfew was imposed. Chidambaram agreed that anti-national elements had joined hands with the LeT to create violence. He also reiterated the Centre’s full support to the State government.   

Of considerable interest is the assessment of the Army Chief, Gen V K Singh, on the situation in the Valley. In an interview to a national daily on Tuesday last he said: “I feel there is a great requirement for political initiatives that take all people together. Militarily, we have brought the overall internal security situation in J&K firmly under control. Now the need is to handle things politically. The J&K police, too, needs to become more active.” The Army chief maintained that the terror infrastructure in Pakistan remains intact and that there are 34 “active” and eight “holding terror-training camps still operational across the border. Moreover, an estimated 500-600 terrorists’ are still active in J&K, with close to 50 per cent of them being of “foreign origin”! About three soldiers are deployed along the borders as well as the hinterland for counter insurgency.

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Bihar CM Woos Muslims

Bihar’s JD (U) Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, is going all out to woo the Muslim vote bank, for the forthcoming Assembly elections this year-end. This follows some  “undesirable” advertisements applauding Narendra Modi, his BJP counterpart in Gujarat for his help to the State Government in providing relief to flood victims. His party has assured recognition to over 2,400 madrasas and even demanded scheduled caste status for over one crore Dalit Muslims in the State. It has noted that so far only 1,127 madrasas have got recognition and none since 1994. The pro-Muslim agenda is also being followed by his Rajya Sabha MP, Ali Anwar, who organized a national convention of the All India Pasmanda (OBC) Muslim Mehaz (AIPMM) inviting Muslim clerics and intellectuals from across the country. Of the 1.35 crore Muslims in Bihar, one crore are stated to be Pasmanda (OBC) and the JD(U) proposes to take up their cause as per the Ranganath Mishra Commission report. How successful will the JD(U) be in reinstating its secular credentials will be known only by what chunk of the 16 per cent Muslim votes it garners in the Assembly poll.   

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BJP & Orissa Riots

The BJP has cut a sorry figure in Orissa. It has indirectly been indicted for its role in the Kandhamal anti-Christian riots in 2008. On Monday last, a fast track court sentenced BJP legislator Manoj Pradhan, one of the prime-accused in the riots, to seven years rigorous imprisonment for the murder of a Dalit Christian, Parikhita Nayak. Other than Pradhan, who is an MLA from G Udaygiri, which bore the brunt of the communal violence, the court also meted out similar punishment to his accomplice. Recall that the two-month long anti-Christian riots which broke out in Kandhamal district following the killing of the 80-year-old VHP leader Laxmananda Saraswati claimed over 40 lives and witnessed burning of 4,600 houses and over 150 churches and prayer houses. Thousands were rendered homeless and Orissa and the BJP were under international glare. The court's verdict was welcomed by the Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) as a "significant boost to the cause of justice in Orissa.” It, however, hopes that the State Government ensures that all perpetrators and inciters of the riots are brought to justice, that victims are rehabilitated properly and that community reconciliation is pursued.  

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Cong Readies For Bengal Poll

The Congress is busy putting its house in order in West Bengal. Months ahead of the crucial Assembly polls next year, if not earlier, the party has a new PCC chief, legislative party leader Manas Ranjan Bhunia. He took over as PCC chief from Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who stepped down on Saturday last on grounds of “heavy responsibilities” at the Centre. While that may be the official reason, many see the change in guard as an offshoot of the party’s recent drubbing at the civic elections. Taking over his new assignment, Bhunia, an MLA from West Midnapore and a close aide of Mukherjee, said he would work hard to strengthen the party and importantly its alliance with the Trinamool Congress. It is no secret that the two parties have had problems in seat-sharing formula leading to speculation whether the electoral alliance would last. For Bhunia the real challenge is removing all hindrances to put up a united fight against the Marxists and defeat them. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Political Diary

New Delhi, 31 July 2010

                                                            Commonwealth Games         

CERTIFIED LOOT OF TAXPAYERS MONEY

By Poonam I Kaushish

It is billed as “national prestige” but reads more like national shame. No guesses, I am talking about the Commonwealth Games (CWG) to be held in Delhi from 3-14 October. Daily India is inundated with horrific details of certified loot by our shameless political and bureaucratic mai-baaps. Even as Organizing Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi nonchalantly fobs off queries with, “Not my headache.” Three words which tell the tragic tale of the misdirected ‘unsporting’ event. Raising a moot point: Will India's showpiece Games turn into a non-event and huge embarrassment?

A sordid saga of free-for-all hustling-muscling of Rs 35,000 crore that has vanished into the pockets of the politico-officer-engineer-contractor nexus. Scams that are brazenly breathtaking: the successful "favourite" bidder who gets the contract after quoting the lowest amount is allowed to tamper with figures post-auction so that profit margins could be jacked up. Higher costs are justified by citing "urgent and emergent circumstances". Items not on bid papers are incorporated. Concrete samples fail to meet the strength test.

Use of sub-standard material, rigging of bids, gold-plating and sanctioning of projects not needed at all, fake completion certificates et al of games venues, infrastructure and city upgrades. All game for wealth! No matter it would take over two years for the CBI, ED and other investigating agencies to get to the bottom of the corrupt pit of 16 projects totalling over Rs 2500 crore. With fresh additions to the "work load" appended every day.

Worse, TV screens are flooded with images of leaking roofs, mountains of debris and incomplete stadias with just 60 days to go for the inauguration ceremony now costing Rs 188 crore up from Rs 53 crore. Behind all the bravado are repeatedly missed deadlines. Yet, Delhi’s Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s standard response is, “Please leave us alone” and Union Urban Minister Jaipal Reddy coos, “Indians excel at leaving things till the last minute and then do a good job”. Really?  An optimism that is not shared by anyone.

Recall, in 2003, when India was awarded the Games, they were expected to cost Rs 635 crore, this was revised to Rs 767 in 2007 and Rs 1,780 crore in 2008. Today the sky is the limit with organisers justifying the escalation because of time constraint or that they “forgot” to add a few costs! As per international guidelines, all the CWG projects were to be completed by May 2009 and the last year kept for trial runs. However, the first stadium was handed over for trials only a few days ago. But Saturday’s downpour has led to water-logging!

More. According to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) 2009 report, in 13 of the 19 sporting venues, the work shortfall is between 25% and 50%. Read, these projects would either miss the deadline or compromise on quality. At least six infrastructure projects have been shelved by delinking them from the Games.

Cases in point: main venue Jawaharlal Nehru stadium has missed several deadlines for completion, the latest is 15th August. At the new shooting range at Kadarpur, inaugurated in May, embankments and roads have collapsed in heavy rains. There are major seepage problems at Talkatora Boxing Stadium and at the Yamuna Sports Complex where the false ceiling collapsed and the wooden flooring got damaged due of water-logging. At the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Aquatic Complex so far only 40% of the work has been finished. There is a 50% work shortfall at all training venues, Games Village, Shivaji Stadium, Ludlow Castle Hall, Jamia Milia Islamia University etc.

Meanwhile, the all-too-familiar finger-pointing is on. The CPWD blames the Organizing Committee which passes the buck to Delhi Government which rests the blame on “unknown officials” of the PWD, MCD, NDMC, CPWD and DDA. Lost in this merry-go-round of accusations and portraying Delhi as a ’world class’ city, read construction site, none spares a thought to the Government’s— Centre and State —inherent duty to provide good and honest governance.

Sadly, our leaders have lost sight of their priorities, legal and moral commitments to the aam aadmi. Three cheers for Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar for upping the ante against the "loot going on in the name of ‘evil’ Games." Arguably, can a poor country inhabited with 40% of the world’s hungry, where one in three Indians lives below the poverty line, where 46% children and 55% women are malnourished justify spending Rs 35,000 crore on a 12-day sports event? Is this how we build “national pride?” Or should we say national disgrace and unwarranted extravagance.

World statistics show that mega sports events result in losses for the host country, especially when security costs are factored in. Greek Capital Athens was sold the same dream of renewed wealth and glory when it won the right to stage the 2004 Olympics costing £9.4bn. But the legacy is a tragedy of immense financial debt, of €50,000 for each Greek household. Today, Greece is in the abyss of utter economic ruin. Besides, 21 of the 22 stadiums built now lie abandoned. Some have become gypsy camps.

South Africa with extreme wealth disparity, hosted the football World Cup. Hotels renovated at astronomical costs saw alarmingly low levels of uptake for rooms. Today, they are struggling to recoup the costs. India’s expenses for the CWG too are likely to create a negative financial legacy for the nation, the effects of which are already visible in the form of higher cost of living and taxes for Delhi residents.

Clearly, Delhi has been persuaded to stage a cripplingly luxurious party on the facetious promise that the Games will herald a new chapter in India’s history, enhance its international reputation and providing a major and lasting economic boost. But the aam aadmi may have been sold a lie. A razzmatazz for which the guests might not even turn up!

Before it is too late, the need of the hour is for detailed inquiry into the decision-making and bidding process as well as on the total expenditure of the CWG. There must be full public disclosure of all finances, officials who have consistently overstated benefits from the Games, withheld critical information, misappropriated funds should be investigated and prosecuted if found guilty.

Undoubtedly the Government needs to have a long-term legacy plan based on principles of economic sustainability. Besides, given our stark socio-economic reality and the negative social and economic costs in the run-up to the Games, New Delhi should under no circumstances, bid for the Olympic Games or any other mega events. Instead, all available resources should be spent on providing food, housing, education, sanitation, water, and healthcare for those living below the poverty line.

All in all, the Commonwealth Games are caught in a cleft-stick ---- between the wailing Cassandras’ who assert that India should never have bid for the Commonwealth Games and  the Caesars’ with their never-say-die optimism who maintains that mega sporting events are just what the masses want. An Rs 35,000 crore question. True, when push comes to shove India will showcase its glory (sic) to the world. Chalu and all. Kalmadi needs to stop whining, “Don’t ask me.”  Then who? The buck stops squarely at his doorstep! ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Political Diary

New Delhi, 24 July 2010

Aaj Ke Rajnetas

ARE THEY WORTHY OF US?

By Poonam I Kaushish

From “politics of direct sale” to rule by law, Indian rajneeti has it all. Today it has another earned another ignominious feather: democracy of convenience. That entails using, misusing and abusing power through political weapons at one’s command to fix rivals, making allegations, even it they border on the ridiculous, to get the better of adversaries, create mayhem to get one’s way and say et al. All employing individual meanness for the public good! Sic.

Four tales which ‘showcase’ the ugly, uglier and the ugliest of our aaj ke rajneetas. Story I: In Gujarat alleged terrorist Sohrabuddin and his wife are killed in a fake police encounter, November 2005. The Supreme Court orders CBI to probe the case as the State’s investigation was unsatisfactory. The agency summons State Home Minister Amit Shah who seeks time which is refused and a CBI special court refuses him anticipatory bail. Chargesheeted for criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and murder Shah resigns but is in hiding.

The BJP goes to town yelling blue murder even cancelling the Prime Minister’s customary lunch prior to Parliament’s monsoon session. It accuses the Congress-led Government of misusing the CBI and wanting to break the Opposition’s new-found bonhomie.  Challenging the Centre to file a case against the Andhra police and the State’s Home Minister for the killing of a senior Naxal functionary and a journalist in an encounter recently.

Clearly, the chargesheet holds out ominous portals. On one hand many find fake encounters abhorrent but desist from questioning Maoists killed in suspicious manners. Not a few argue that the security forces might adopt a “hands-up” policy in eliminating terrorists fearful of future allegations being heaped on them for political expediency.

Some contend that with the breakdown in the law-enforcing machinery, corruption and slow judicial process the only way to eliminate bad elements is to resort to fake encounters. Arguably, killings cannot be selective if terrorism has to be eliminated. Recall, innocents paid a heavy price to ensure a militant-free Punjab in the 90s. The then Governor late Dharma Vira believed in the dictum: there is no place for a live dacoit. 

As for the CBI’s role, all know that it is the hand maiden of the Government of the day. Be it the Congress, BJP, NDA or UPA. In recent times, UPA’s statecraft demanded that the investigative agency goes slow in cases against three regional satraps, BSP’s Mayawati, Samajwadi’s Mulayam and RJD’s Lalu. As did the BJP when it sat on India’s Raj gaddi.

Politically, the Sohrabuddin case has turned into an ugly war between the Congress and the BJP. Wherein Shah’s exit could stall Gujarat Chief Minister Narender Modi’s ambition of occupying BJP’s centerstage and lead the NDA. Notwithstanding, that it would help the Party in the State. Even as the Congress gloats over its victory of cornering its opponent it has to contend with the fact that the case has less to do with upholding the rule of law and more to do with scoring political brownie points.

Moral of story:  Let parties continue misusing the CBI

Story 2: The Jnaneswari Express collides with another train in West Bengal leaving 66 dead last week. The second accident in two months. Predictably, the Opposition demands Rail Minister and Trinamool Chief Mamata’s resignation regime as over 200 accidents have taken place since she took over 14 months ago.

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Leading to a bellicose war of words between Mamata and arch rival CPM. Asserted she: “The CPM has been planning sabotage…. opening clips on tracks… They are letting cockroaches into food…."I am prepared to resign if the CPM guarantees that it will not indulge in sabotage….  It is time for the CPM to go. Countered the Red brigade, “Mamata is politicking a serious mishap. No conspiracy theory can explain how 400-plus lives were lost in these accidents.”

At one level it is an appalling reflection on the standards of safety in the Railways and a heartless attitude towards loss of human life. Particularly as it runs 9,000 passenger trains carrying over 18 million passengers every day. On the other, it showcases Mamata’s cavalier attitude to her portfolio. Shockingly, over 90,000 safety-related posts have been lying vacant for want of official sanction and it needs vital technological upgrade vis-a-vis signalling and track maintenance for minimising human error.

Undoubtedly, much of the criticism is warranted. Instead of ensuring safety measures Mamata is more interested in securing the political ground in her home State and becoming the Chief Minister in the forthcoming Assembly elections. The Cabinet berth at the Centre is only a means of distributing patronage to her vote-banks to achieve that goal.

Worse, she merrily plays on the Congress’s political compulsions which dictate her indispensability from the Rail Ministry. No matter that passengers are paying daily with their lives. Not only that. By trivialising the deaths she underscored that in her scheme of things the buck cannot stop at her doorstep. Thus, drawing a new line on ministerial accountability.

Moral of the story: Today’s brand of politics is all about muck-raking, name-calling, shrill rhetoric and shoddy public spectacles.  

Story 3: A CAG report alleges financial irregularities in Bihar and all hell breaks loose. Disobeying the Speaker’s directive to let the House function, 80 Opposition MLAs overturn desks and chairs, break microphones and virtually came to blows with ruling JD(U)-BJP members. They also spend the night in the well of the two Houses of the State legislature. Obviously, taking a cue from their Opposition counterparts in Karnataka who had a five-night sleepover in the Assembly earlier this month to protest against the illegal mining scam allegedly masterminded by two ruling party MLAs.

The next day, 67 of the MLAs are suspended by the Assembly Speaker for the rest of the monsoon session for unruly behaviour and marshalled out. In the prevailing chaos a slipper is flung at the Speaker and outside the Assembly and the Legislative Council a hysterical woman Congress MLC animatedly threw flower pots around. In the free-for-all RJD members accuses Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of “losing his mental balance,” and JD(U) dubs Lalu “the epitome of corruption.

PS; The slipper throwing resonated in Delhi’s Municipal Corporation as a Congress member gave vent to his angst against the BJP. Indeed, politics is going to pot and has come a long way from ‘shoe-cide’ to ‘slipper politics’!

Moral of the story: Legislatures are supreme. But it helps if one shows muscle power.  

Story 4: It all started with a bumptious Congress Pune MLA ticking off a newspaper security guard, “Don’t you know who I am?” On receiving a negative reply, the MLA abused and beat up the guard and reprimanded him for daring to talk to him.  Later, the blasé MLA argued that he had done nothing wrong. “I am a VIP” and should get respect, he reportedly averred. 

There is no gainsaying that VIP is three grimy words that underline all that’s wrong with our powers-that-be. In a milieu flooded with loutish and loathsome VIP culture where a simple query is construed as an impertinent affront and challenge to the all-important person. Unlike the aam aadmi they profess to serve, they refuse to conform to rules instead rule by law. No IDs’, no frisking and long queues, show ID, brushing away bans etc. God forbid, if anyone questions their misdemeanor be prepared for open fury.

Moral of the story: Keep abusing power. Some men are more equal than others.

Importantly, these fables portray India’s tragic reality. True, we get the leaders we deserve. But at the same time are the netas worthy of us? The time has come to bell the political cat of convenience. And bring probity and morality into our national life. Any takers?  ----- INFA

(Copyright, India News and  Feature Alliance)