Round The States

New Delhi, 1 May 2009

Mumbai Disappoints

CRUCIAL THIRD ROUND FOR BJP

By Insaf

Braving the blistering hot sun, voters in nine States and two Union territories exercised their franchise for 107 Lok Sabha seats in the third phase of polling on Thursday last. But the exercise was not good enough. The turnout was no more than 50 per cent, which was far less than the 60 per and 55 per cent in the previous two phases. However, this round, which completes voting for two-thirds of the total 543 seats, is crucial for the BJP as it is defending 43 seats against 25 of the Congress. With Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, UP and Bihar in play, the stakes for the BJP are definitely higher for it in its stronghold, where it holds office. It could be either make or break for the saffron party. The Congress, however, needs to hold on to its seats in Maharashtra with the NCP, make gains in West Bengal with the help of Trinamool Congress and hopefully make a dent in BJP’s Gujarat.    

Meanwhile, all eyes were on how the country’s financial capital, Mumbai, with six constituencies going to polls fared with its date with democracy. Against the backdrop of the bloody terrorist siege of 26/11 and some 10,000 citizens’ vociferous protests against the polity that followed, the turnout clearly is a major disappointment. It was a mere 43.5 per cent compared to 2004’s 47.15 per cent. The only saving grace, if one could say was that the Who’s Who of Bollywood did show up in full strength. Some like Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan flew back from abroad to exercise their franchise. Heat, humidity and a long weekend came in as a handy excuse for the poor show. Reason enough for 50 lakh voters to keep away? Sadly, months of awareness by leading Bollywood stars and prominent social activists coaxing people to vote went waste!

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Bizarre Tamil Nadu Drama

The race for winning the electoral battle in Tamil Nadu went bizarre last fortnight. Both the DMK and AIADMK went all out in their bid to protect themselves as champions for the suffering Tamils in Sri Lanka. On Saturday last AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha surprised one and all with a U-turn in her stance. A virulent critic of the LTTE, the former Chief Minister said her party would strive for setting up an independent “Tamil Eelam” as it was “the only lasting solution” to the decades-old ethnic crisis. Clearly, her earlier demand for equal status for the Tamils and devolution of powers to them was not good enough to rival, the DMK’s campaign. The latter has made the ongoing war a major poll issue and sought to pressurize its ally the Congress to demand an immediate ceasefire. However, Jayalalitha’s u-turn did rattle the Chief Minister and the DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi who felt compelled two days later to suddenly go on a fast proclaiming he was “prepared to sacrifice himself” to protect the Tamils in Lanka! As luck would have, the fast ended before lunch as soon as the Lankan Government announced its decision to halt heavy firing.

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Madhya Pradesh Rap For Sonia

Madhya Pradesh’s progress and achievements cannot be wished away lightly. Not even in an election campaign. This is what Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi would have learnt the hard way. In a letter to her last week, the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has set the record straight and asked her to distance herself from the “slander” that he had stolen the Dhanalakshmi scheme going on in Delhi and Haryana for a long time and renamed it Laadli Lakshmi.. The scheme, he told her was much older than Dhanalakshmi and there was no such scheme in the two States. This apart, he “educated her” by asserting that it was launched by the Central Government in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. This was followed by a knock-out blow: “While you complain that we stole your scheme…our complaint is that you haven’t even stolen our scheme properly”.

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 Congress’ Caste Problem In Rajasthan 

The Congress in Rajasthan has found a novel way to balance the caste factor and keep its flock together. Particularly, those who have been left out in the ticket distribution. The party has sought to accommodate as many castes in the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies as possible. Over half the tickets have been given to Jats, Rajputs and Brahmins. However, there are many less prominent castes, including the Vishnois, Malis, Rawats and Yadavs who have not been represented. But they shouldn’t have reason to sulk, if the party’s election observer for the State and Rajya Sabha member, Virendra Kataria, keeps his word: “If anybody is left out, they will be given positions in the State government. The interest of these communities would be fully taken care of.”

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Post-Poll Game In Andhra 

Andhra Pradesh has already set the ball rolling for trading in government formation. With both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls over, the Telengana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) has declared that it would go with whichever political party or coalition supported statehood for Telengana. The TRS chief, K Chandrasekhar Rao apparently means business. On Sunday last he made it known that he would meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Advani and NCP’s Sharad Pawar to discuss his post-poll plans. While the announcement is bound to disappoint his Grand Alliance partners-- the Telugu Desam Party and the Left parties --- it offers a ray of hope to the Congress, which is worried that it may not be able to retain power on its own. In the ensuing numbers game, the BJP too may stand to gain as it has championed the cause of a separate State. 

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The BJP appears to be in for a rude shock in Gujarat from none other than its hard core supporters, the Patel community. Comprising 20 per cent of the State’s population and an overseas major diaspora which funds the party, Patels no longer want to be taken for granted. They would rather vote for a Patel candidate irrespective of party affiliations. Or in the absence of a Patel candidate, the community leaders will refrain from issuing a diktat. Indications in Central Gujarat are that while one of the biggest Patel Samaj will support BJP’s Deepak Patel, in Kheda they will vote for Dinsha Patel a Congress candidate and Union Minister of State for Petroleum. Likewise, in North Gujarat, the Patels will choose their candidates this time and the votes will be divided between the Congress and the BJP. In Saurashtra, 30 per cent votes are expected to shift in favour of the Congress. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Round The World

New Delhi, 28 April 2009

LTTE End Near

TIME TO BUILD TAMILS’ CONFIDENCE

By Monish Tourangbam

(School of International Studies, JNU)

As the LTTE suffers one military setback after another, a small and ever-shrinking strip of land is all that remains of the territory held by the rebels, who at a time held whole swathes of northern Sri Lanka, running their own police force, schools and courts. With the Sri Lankan Army putting the Tamil Tigers on the run, President Rajapaksa’s only line of reception to the LTTE is to surrender or perish. Emboldened by the unprecedented military victories that it has received against the Tigers this time around, the Sri Lankan establishment is not ready to accept anything less than the complete surrender of the remaining LTTE cadres.

The Rajapaksa administration has been receptive and wary of the international concerns regarding the condition of the civilians trapped in this “fight to the finish”. Nevertheless, it is in no mood to give any breathing space to the flagging LTTE and has put the blame on the rebels for selfishly using the civilians as human shields, to prolong its final defeat. Even as the Sri Lankan government announced the end of combat operations with heavy weapons, and shifted its focus on rescuing the trapped civilians, it also declared at the same time that its security forces would leave no scope for the LTTE to revive. The Sri Lankan Navy is also reported to be engaged in continuous surveillance and patrolling of the north-eastern seas. These activities might be seen as a preventive action to thwart any attempt of the LTTE leader Prabhakaran to escape through the sea-route.

On the one hand, the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry continues to report the advance of the troops toward the last LTTE hide-out and says that the Tamil Tigers is intensifying its violence on the civilians in the hope of survival. On the other, the pro-LTTE TamilNet has, in a report, charged that two Sri Lankan Air Force fighter bombers bombed civilian targets in Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal after formally announcing that it would stop using heavy weapons or carrying out air strikes.

The recent election to the crucial Western Provincial Council in Sri Lanka was being closely watched. The ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by Rajapaksa and the United National Party (UNP) of former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were pitted against each other. The province, which consists of Colombo and its suburbs with a large percentage of minorities, has traditionally been a stronghold of the UNP. But, the UPFA’s victory has given additional confidence to Rajapaksa in his campaign against the LTTE and is being seen as a mandate from the people to annihilate the outfit.

Indeed, the electoral success of the ruling alliance in this province comes on the heels of the support it got in the elections held to the provincial councils in the past months, beginning with the new Eastern Provincial Council (September 2008), after the liberation of the East from the LTTE. This was followed by successes in elections in the North-Central, mid-country Sabaragamuwa, Central Province and North Western Provinces.

These electoral victories are largely being viewed as approval of the Rajapaksa administration’s success in driving out the LTTE from the East, and later from its strongholds in the North, including its administrative centre Kilinochchi. As of now, the LTTE is precariously holding on to merely eight sq.km of land still under its control in the NFZ.

In a further blow to LTTE’s shattered spirit, there have been cases of its officials surrendering to the government. With the numbers of civilians fleeing the NFZ increasing, the military is upbeat over the impending defeat of the Tamil Tigers. As to the question of Prabhakaran’s fate, it is worth recalling that Rajapaksa had dismissed any possibility of his government pardoning him since he had refused to give up arms and surrender. The President maintains that there is no way out now but for Prabhakaran to face the consequences of his acts. As such, the hunt for this prized target is still very much on.

The fate of the trapped Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka has expectedly turned into an emotive issue in Tamil Nadu what with a good 39 Lok Sabha seats in its kitty. Leaders have changed their stand towards the LTTE and the ongoing crisis in Sri Lanka like chameleons. In addition to the Congress and its ally the DMK giving contradictory views on Prabhakaran, the AIADMK supremo, Jayalalitha, has done a complete U-turn by coming out openly for an independent “Tamil Eelam” (homeland for Tamils) in Sri Lanka.

In a case of outright political opportunism, she said it would alone solve the decade-long ethnic strife in the island nation. “Separate Tamil Eelam is the only solution. Sri Lanka will not ensure equal status to Tamils. If the AIADMK-led alliance is elected in all the 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, we will work for formation of separate Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka," she said in an election meeting. But, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader M.Karunanidhi managed to score some brownie points, as his indefinite fast coincided with Sri Lanka’s decision to halt combat operations with heavy weapons. His indefinite fast luckily came to an end only six-and-a-half hours later, thanks to Rajapaksa.

Recently, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and National Security Adviser M K Narayanan met Rajapaksa in Colombo and expressed India's concerns over the killing of civilians and the need for a political solution to the crisis--something New Delhi has been stating repeatedly.

According to sources, even though Rajapaksa was “receptive” to India's concerns, he was non-committal over the issue of ceasefire, merely stating that Colombo's main concern was the safety of civilians. The Sri Lankan government has largely maintained its position by stopping operations short of a ceasefire. Indeed, the government has shown displeasure with some section of the media who they say have misinterpreted the government declaration as “cessation of hostilities” and a “ceasefire”. Moreover, the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry, in a rebuff to various media reports, has said that the latest decision is not in response to international pressure but more a result of what it calls the “world’s largest hostage rescue operation.”

But amidst the sounds of military triumph and glory, the importance and essence of a political roadmap to solve the issue should not be lost to the Rajapaksa administration. The mandate that he has received from the people in terms of electoral victories should now be used to chart out a coherent political strategy to end the ethnic mistrust and take the Tamil minority into confidence. In future, more and more Tamils should be encouraged to join the Sri Lankan Army. Unless the ethnic issue is dealt with and resolved, the military victories will only be illusionary, and the conflict will give birth to many more Prabhakarans. –INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Economic Highlights

New Delhi, 24 April 2009

Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Pact

WAR AGAINST PIRATED WORKS

By Dr P K Vasudeva

The US is considering coming out with an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), designed to combat the ‘increase in global trade of counterfeit goods and pirated copyright protected works’. This includes whether to involve Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in fighting copyright infringement or not. Details of the negotiations, previously held under a cloak of secrecy, have at last been published thanks to US President, Barack Obama’s commitment of transparency in government.

A study the agreement is a worthwhile exercise, which should help countries affected.  Section 4 of the pact is intended to address some of the special challenges that new technologies pose for enforcement of intellectual property rights. These include the possible role and responsibility of ISPs in deterring copyright and related rights piracy over the Internet. As yet no draft proposal has been tabled because discussions are still focused on gathering information on the different national legal regimes to develop a common understanding

The proliferation of counterfeit and pirated goods in international trade is posing an ever-increasing threat to sustainable development in world economy. It not only causes significant financial loss to the right holders and legitimate businesses but hinders sustainable economic development in both developed and developing countries. In some cases it even represents a risk to consumers.

Expertise, innovation, quality, and creativity are the main factors for success in any knowledge-based economy. Adequate protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights is a key condition for nurturing these. In 2006, Japan and the US launched the idea of a new plurilateral treaty to help in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy, the so-called ACTA.

The aim of this initiative is to bring together nations that are interested in fighting counterfeiting and piracy, and to negotiate an agreement that enhances international co-operation and contains effective international standards for enforcing intellectual property rights. Preliminary talks for this took place between 2006 and 2007 among an initial group --Canada, European Commission, Japan, Switzerland and the US.  Beginning June 2008, a broader group--Australia, European Union, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Republic of Korea and Singapore joined the negotiations.

A number of groups have shown interest in additional information and thus requested that the draft text be disclosed. However, during trade negotiations it is an accepted practice among sovereign States not to share texts with the public at large, particularly when it is at an early stage. The practice allows delegations to exchange views in confidence to facilitate an agreement, particularly if it involves a complex issue. At present, the ACTA delegations are at the discussion level and no comprehensive set of proposals for the text of the agreement is available.

As of now commercial interests, rather than activities of ordinary citizens is the intended focus of the initiative. The ACTA is not meant to interfere with a signatory’s ability to respect its citizens’ fundamental rights and civil liberties. It will be consistent with the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement and will respect the Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health. Of particular importance to ACTA will be the availability of life saving drugs to developing countries at a cheaper rate.

The draft structure of the agreement as discussed at this stage is broadly dealing with a number of issues such as: Civil enforcement referring to providing courts or other competent authorities with the authority to order/take specific actions when it is established that a party has violated intellectual property laws, and the rules on when and how to use those powers. This would involve questions such as which intellectual property rights would be covered? What will be the definition of adequate damages and the question of how to determine the amount of damages, particularly when a right holder encounters difficulties in calculating the exact amount of damage it has incurred?

What will be the judicial authorities’ authority to order injunctions to ensure a party desists from an infringement? What remedies, including destruction of goods can be adopted if found to be infringing an intellectual property right? And, what would amount to be a reasonable reimbursement of legal fees and costs?

Cross-border trade in counterfeit and pirated goods is a growing global problem that often involves organized criminal networks. ACTA participants need to work together to tackle this challenge. In particular, they need to have basic issues in place such as that international enforcement cooperation is vital to realize fully effective protection of intellectual property rights; that there is cooperation among the competent authorities of the Parties concerned with enforcement of intellectual property rights, consistent with existing international agreements; there is sharing of relevant information such as statistical data and information on best practices among the Signatories, in accordance with international rules and related domestic laws to protect privacy and confidential information and there is capacity building and technical assistance in improving enforcement.

The ACTA is also working out laws that should be in place to promote better enforcement of intellectual property rights. It would need to focus on the methods used by authorities to apply those laws, wherein there is fostering of expertise among competent authorities in order to ensure effective enforcement of intellectual property rights; collection and analysis of statistical data and other relevant information such as best practices in this regard; internal coordination among competent authorities concerned with enforcement of the rights, including formal or informal public/private advisory groups; steps to allow customs’ authorities to better identify and target shipments, which are suspected to contain counterfeit or pirated goods and publication of information on procedures regarding the enforcement of intellectual property rights, and promotion of public awareness.

The obligations or recommendations for enforcement practices and sharing of information with the public should take into account and be consistent with existing international agreements and the need to protect investigative techniques, confidential law enforcement information and privacy rights.

The ACTA draft is also considering including all necessary provisions for the institutional set up, including questions related to the implementation of the agreement, how and when to hold meetings of the Parties, and other administrative details of the agreement. In the end, the final provisions of the agreement are expected to take into account details on how the agreement will function, such as how to become a party to the agreement, how to withdraw from it and amend the agreement in the future.

While the finalisation of the draft will take some time, India should seriously consider enacting a legislation similar to the ACTA to safeguard its Internet Service Providers for the protection of copyright infringements. This will help strengthen the movement to fight the increasing global trade of counterfeit goods and pirated copyright protected works. After all, India has a huge consumer market. –INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Open Forum

New Delhi, 25 April 2009

Sajjad Lone’s Poll Foray

TURNING TABLES ON “AZADI”

By Sant Kumar Sharma

‘Separatist’ leader and Peoples Conference Chairman Sajjad Gani Lone is the new poster boy of 2009 Lok Sabha elections in Jammu & Kashmir. His entering the electoral arena is yet another setback to the separatist and secessionist politics in the State. Notwithstanding the final outcome, he is likely to hog the limelight, at least in the Valley for some time. In addition, New Delhi has reason to be enthused --the hold of militants in State politics is weaning with each successive election.

Sajjad’s decision to contest from the Baramullah-Kupwara constituency has set the proverbial cat among the pigeons. The Hurriyat Conference leaders were still licking the wounds inflicted on their brand of politics by the high voter turnout in the last year’s Assembly polls, when Sajjad delivered his blow. He was with them only a few months ago when they gave the poll boycott call. However, after witnessing 65 % voter turnout, Sajjad admitted his failure to read the “mood of the masses”. He appealed to his colleagues to “re-think” strategy and soon thereafter threw the bombshell of his candidature for the General elections.

Perhaps, many have failed to see the writing on the wall so far. For one, during the Assembly polls, former militants drawn from several extremist groups had come together under the banner of the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Party led by Imran Rahi. A candidate of J&K Awami National Conference (ANC), Rahi had operated as a senior commander with Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) for several years. This time around he has again entered the fray by filing his nomination from the Baramullah Lok Sabha constituency.

Rahi was functioning as HM’s “deputy chief” when he entered into a dialogue with the Union government along with nine other militant leaders, notably late Bilal Lodhi (then Chief Commander of Al-Barq), Firdaus Sayeed alias Babar Badar (then Chief Commander of Muslim Janbaz Force) and a Muslim Mujahideen leader, late Ghulam Mohi-ud-din Lone.

Recall that another former militant Kukka Parrey of the Awami League had won the Assembly elections in 1996. In the 2002 Assembly elections too, yet another former militant, Usman Majid, had emerged victorious in Bandipora constituency and was a minister in Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s government.

The latest entrant, Sajjad describes his participation in the polls as just a “change of strategy’’ and that if elected, he will “continue to raise the Kashmir issue and seek a solution to it in accordance with the wishes of the people”. However, his opponents and corridors of power in Delhi could well interpret his action as having committed “not to work against India’s integrity,” for every contestant is required to swear allegiance to the Constitution.  

Interestingly, Sajjad’s father, the late Abdul Gani Lone, had mentored former Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussein Beigh, a senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader. This apart, in 2002 the Peoples Conference leader Ghulam Mohammed Sofi, had entered the fray and won from Kupwara district as an Independent. He then went on to join Mufti Sayeed’s government was forest minister for almost three years.

Thus, several Peoples Conference cadres have tried their luck during the past three successive Assembly elections and every time one or the other has emerged victorious, including Maulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Nizam-ud-din Bhat, Abdul Haq Khan and Mohammad Akbar Lone. The latter is presently the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.

Sajjad has dared to stand alone, deciding to steer clear of both the hardliners of the Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and the moderate faction led by Mirwaiz Omar Farooq. What then are his prospects? Kupwara is home turf for Lone as his father stood tall among the Kashmiri politicians even in the heydays of Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah. However, the contest is mainly between the National Conference and the PDP. But Sajjad’s entry has led to a situation wherein the votes garnered by him will be enough to decide the outcome.

For the past several years, Sajjad has managed to remain in the limelight, creating an independent space for himself as a good orator, who is willing to speak his mind on important issues. Thus, during last year’s Amarnath land row, he was very visible in both print and electronic media. In fact, he has over the years managed to create a flutter with his “Achievable Nationhood” idea to resolve the intractable Kashmir tangle. The 294-page document, available on the Net has been debated at different fora.

However, the old adage `A lone swallow doesn’t make a summer’ can be aptly applied to Sajjad’s foray. He alone can’t turn the tables on the separatists committed to the idea such as `Azadi’ and `Self-Determination’. But his entry has undeniably given respectability and credibility to mainstream politics in J&K.

He must, however, be cautious. The Hizbul Mujahideen headed by Syed Salahuddin and Lashkar-e-Tayyebba (LeT) have already said they will actively oppose the poll process. From his Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) headquarters, Salahuddin has already made it clear that the United Jehad Council (UJC), a conglomerate of separatists operating from across the border, is against participation of Kashmiris in the General elections.

This apart, it is important to note that post 26/11, the relationship between India and Pakistan, are strained. New Delhi has been declaring, time and again, that the peace parleys with Islamabad can’t move forward without credible action against the perpetrators of the carnage. However, successful elections in J&K may lead to a change in stance, according to some political analysts. This apart, after government formation in Delhi, they expect the US to put pressure for a dialogue on the settlement of the Kashmir issue.

Former Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed has been insisting that Delhi will need to find a way to engage with Pakistan, despite such violent incidents. He would try to put the pressure through his 21 MLAs, which he describes as “mujahideen in the Assembly to keep vigil on the Government’’. Maybe candidates like Sajjad can work to appropriate the political space the “mujahideen” have created in J&K. His move and its success could be a victory of the Indian democracy in more ways than one. --INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)