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Round the World
India-Canada-USA: AVOIDABLE DISAGREEMENTS, By Prof. (Dr.) D.K. Giri, 3 May 2024 |
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Round The World
New Delhi, 3 May 2024
India-Canada-USA
AVOIDABLE DISAGREEMENTS
By Prof. (Dr.) D.K. Giri
(Secretary General, Assn for
Democratic Socialism)
Apparent divergence of
approach to the puzzling interface between liberty and violence has cropped-up
again between India, United States and Canada. The latest trigger has come from
a report in The Washington Post naming an Indian official involved in
the plot to murder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York. The US government has
expressed concerns while Government of India (GoI) responds in its own way. At
the same time, anti-India and pro-Khalistani utterances and activities in
Canada have once again deeply upset GoI. Since India and the US are
strategically coming closer and India and Canada would want to do so, the
question is how to avoid disagreements on balancing individualliberty with peoples’
security.
In reference to the Post’sreport,
the White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on 29 April to the
journalists that one VikramYadav from Indian intelligence agency RAW contacted
the Indian businessman Nikhil Gupta to get Pannun killed by a hired assassin. Gupta
is currently in the custody of Czech Republic waiting deportation to USA. Yadav
had the approval of SamantGoel, the Chief of RAW. Pannun is having dual
citizenship of USA and Canada, one of the main leaders of Khalistani movement,
and legal advisor and spokesperson for Sikhs for Justice, a Khalistani
organisation based in Canada. India has declared Pannun as a terrorist.
Jean-Pierre said in
the same press conference that, “India is an important strategic partner of
United States, and we are pursuing an ambitious agenda to expand our
cooperation in several areas”. At the same time, she added, “We expect
accountability from Govt of India on that. We are going to raise our concerns
directly with Indian government.” The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson
said in his response, “a high-level committee is looking into information
shared by American side with us because it equally impacts our national
security”. The Foreign Minister had endorsed this in his reply to Parliament on
7 December last year that a high-powered committee is looking into the material
shared by United States.
What is of curious
importance is that the alleged plot to kill Pannun in US coincided with the 18 June
2023 killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey in Canada’s
British Columbia province.Intriguingly, that operation was also linked to Yadav
according to western officials. This raised the western concern (Canada and US)
about the escalating campaign of aggression against overseas Indians allegedly
involved in anti-Indian activities, by Indian intelligence operations. Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau revealed in the Canadian Parliament on 18 September
2023 that there was ‘potential involvement of Indian agencies in the killing of
Nijjar’.
Trudeau added that
Canadian security agencies – Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Canadian
Security Intelligence Agency – had the evidence of India’s involvement. He also
reported that a fellow-member of Five-Eyes Alliance had shared similar information.
Five-Eyes Alliance is an intelligence group comprising five Anglo sphere
countries, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom.
Govt of India at the time had rejected the allegations as absurd and motivated.
India had accused Ottawa of harbouring Sikh separatists.
Jagmeet Singh, the
President of the New Democratic Party, the third biggest party in Canada which
props up the Trudeau government, came out in support of Trudeau’s allegations
of Indian officials’ involvement, “today we learned of allegations that agents
of Indian government murdered Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian killed on
Canadian soil. To all Canadians, this is my vow. I will leave no stone unturned
in the pursuit of justice including holding NarendraModi accountable”.
Once again Govt of
India was alarmed and agitated over raising of pro-Khalistani slogans at a
public event at Toronto, attended by Justin Trudeau. This was the Khalsa Day
organised by Sikhs in Canada on 28 April. As soon as Trudeau approached the
podium, KhalistanZindabad slogans were raised. Trudeau was reportedly
seen smiling at the chants of the slogan. Banners were also displayed which said
‘Modi wanted’. The Sikhs for Justice portrayed huge bannersidentifying
NarendraModi, Rajnath Singh and Jaishankar as killers of Nijjar. This
organisation is a pro-Khalistani group which called for revenge against killing
of Nijjar and had initiated violence against Indian diplomats.
Trudeau’s acquiescence
in such pro-Khalistani slogans is ‘understandable’ as his government is
surviving on the support of the New Democratic Party headed by Jagmeet Singh.
This is a party whose support base consists of Khalistan-supporting Sikhs. Evidently,
immigrants hankering nostalgically for their cultural roots,seek to recreate
those in their adopted countries. If they fail to do so, they support the
separatist and revivalist organisations in the countries of their origin. This
is the case with large number of Sikhs in Canada. Having achieved material
prosperity and lost their cultural identity, they tend to become reactionary in
their approach.
Last year, in the
British Labour Party conference, I happened to run into a Sikh guest delegate
from Canada who was a Member of Parliament from the New Democratic Party. In
our conversation, he said that Nijjar was an innocent ordinary Sikh eking his
livelihood from priestly activities in Gurudwaras. I was shocked to learn that
a terrorist was perceived by Canadian Sikhs as a simple and ordinary person.
The Govt of India
summoned the Deputy High Commissioner of Canada in New Delhi and strongly
protested the patronage given to anti-India elements in Canada. The MEA said,
“It illustrated once again the space given in Canada to separatism, extremism
and violence. It encourages a climate of violence and criminality in Canada
which will prove detrimental to its own citizens”. Trudeau’s complicity in
pro-Khalistani activities may go well with his vote-bank politics and alliance
government. But it is certainly not advisable, nor acceptable in bilateral
relations. How would Canada, for that matter United States react, if Govt of
India were to encourage forces in India that attempt to create divisions and
violence in their countries.
Clearly, USA and
Canada are missing the link between freedom at home and acts of terrorism abroad.
Whether Indian agencies were involved in murder of wanted criminals in other
countries, is a matter of investigation. What is however baffling is the
duplicity maintained by Canada as well as United States. Trudeau should not
miss the link between politics at home and foreign policy. A kind of politics
that conduces Trudeau, should not be causing violence in other countries. Likewise,
United States and its close allies like Israel can take out their enemies in
other countries; Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad has done it in several
countries, and the stark example of USA doing so is killing Osama Bin Laden in
Pakistan.
Quite a few human
rights experts argue that, given the justice system in USA, Osama should have
been captured and tried. This is not the debate we will engage in, but the fact
to underline is Osama Bin Laden was responsible for Twin Tower terrorist attack
killing innocent people. USA militarily moved to Afghanistan and chased Osama
into Pakistan. If any other country were to do a similar act of chasing and
killing terrorists, why should USA object? ---INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature
Alliance)
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‘Apical’ GST Hits SC Quiz: 30 Cr. JOB LOSS FEARED, By Shivaji Sarkar, 6 May 2024 |
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Economic
Highlights
New Delhi, 6 May 2024
‘Apical’ GST Hits SC Quiz
30 Cr. JOB LOSS FEARED
By Shivaji Sarkar
The
sparkle of GST touchinga collection of Rs 2.1 lakh crore due to higher
contribution from North East states and Uttar Pradeshis subdued by shattering
of the Indian dream for overseas employment as Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau creates more diplomatic problems and targets Indian youth to deprive
them of jobs.
Foreign
job situation is becoming worse even as the domestic conditionboils with high
unemployment and Lok Sabha elections generating more heat. In a year marked by
a surge in Indian students pursuing foreign education, those already studying
abroad are facing significant challenges in securing jobs. The rising cost of
living combined with limited job opportunities is shattering dreams of many non-resident
Indians (NRIs).
Diplomatic
spats add to woes. While India lodges strong protest on pro-Khalistan slogans
raised at an event on April 29 in Toronto in which Trudeau spoke, almost
simultaneously the US raised the heat over plot to kill Khalistan separatist GS
Pannun.The events have a fall out on jobs for Indians, though reasons could include
economic turmoil in many of the western countries.
Canada,
one of the topmost destinations for Indian youth, on Labour Day limits
international students working hours to 24 hours a week from 40 hours and
curtails startup visa plan to less than 1000. This cuts intake from India to
87,000 study permits against 2.2 lakh new students in 2022.
On an
average a student loses $5000 a year, says Mateusz Salamassi, Canadian Director
of advocacy, Canadian Alliance of Students Association, a blow to debt-ridden
Indian students. Most students have debts of Rs 20 to 40 lakh, which they repay
as they work while studying. Cost of living is rising. Rents range from $1,000
to $1,500 per month. Additionally, expenses for food, transport, and utilities
cost at least another $1,000 to $1,200 every month.
With 6.1
per cent unemployment reported in Canada, many end up without jobs or get into
menial works that is not in keeping with their needs or qualifications. As the
going gets tough, many students are turning to drugs to cope up with the stress
and get into a worse debt and psychic situations.
Jobs are
becoming dearer across the West as International Monetary Fund warns of 60
percent high skilled jobs at risk in advanced economies and predicts 40 per
cent jobs to be impacted due to AI, in 2024. Severe wage cuts are imminent, it adds.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says two million jobs are at stake.Global rating agency Goldman
Sachs predicts disruption of 300 million (30 crore) jobs across the world.
While rising
12.4 percent April GST mop up of the highest ever Rs 2.1 lakh crore (trillion) elates
the Finance Ministry, which says, it is the result of intense auditing,there is
a crackdown on bogus registration, fake invoices and norms are tightening.Domestic
transactions rise by 13.4 percent while the import figures are up by 8.3
percent.
Observing
“there can be harassment of people,” the Supreme Court on May 2, directs the
additional solicitor general SV Raju to submit data in GST Act notices and the arrests
made “for alleged defaults of Rs 1 and Rs 5 crore”.Interestingly, North-East
led the GST show. Mizoram, with 35 percent rural poverty, led it with 52
percent, Nagaland had 3 percent lower contribution with Meghalaya and Jammu &Kashmir
2 percent less and Sikkim kitty fell 5 percent. Elsewhere, the highest growth
was in UP – 19 percent, Gujarat and Maharashtra - 13 percent.
However,
the rise in GST is not an indicator of increase in employment. Periodic Labour Force Survey 2023
indicates the unemployment rate at 7.2 percent in December 2022 and 6.5 percent
December 2023 and CMIE puts it at 8 percent in February 2024 and 7.6 percent in
March.In April 2024, major tech companies like Tesla, Apple, Intel Amazon
resorted to mass layoffs and overall job losses are estimated at 70,000. Even
Byjus lays off 500 Indian staff.
Jobs
worldwide are becoming scarce as artificial intelligence (AI) takes over many
assignments. It is no
better in the UK. Even restaurants are sacking them too often. Foreign student,
health&care and skilled work visa applications to UK also fall with new
curbs.Other visas fall by 44 percent to 40,700 against 72,800 last year. It cuts
application for dependent visas to 6,700 against 32,900 a year back. Foreign
students no longer can switch to a work visa before completing their course and
graduate visa norms might limit job prospects. The US offers a slightly bright
spot for Indianstudents. It issued a total of 1,30,839 F-1 student visas in
2023, witnessing a 14 per cent surge from 2022, says an ApplyBoard report.
The ILO projects that the labour market outlook and
global unemployment will both worsen. In 2024, an extra two million workers are
expected to be looking for jobs, raising the global unemployment rate to 5.2
per cent from 5.1 per cent in 2023.
The AI expansion could worsen impact on developing
economies such as India, which are facing political turmoil for job losses. An
added woe could be degrees might lose shelf life as technical skills would
require continuous updating, learning and adaptation throwing up challenges for
Indian universities. Even many companies might go out of business. The world
has yet to evolve pro-active measures to cope up with AItransformation.
The IT sector is already resorting to heavy job
cuts. Google has issued pink slips to over 1,000 employees assisting in voice
assistance, hardware and engineering teams.
It also implemented job cuts across Python, Flutter and Dart teams.The
job loss in IT sector is a major problem along with many other Indian industries.
More than 40 percent of college graduates under the age of 25 are unemployed,
compared with 11 percent of those of the same age group who are literate but
haven’t completed primary school, says Azim Premji University 2023 report.
India would have to launch crash moves to create
jobs to keep the economy in the lead. It is not an easy task with job
recruitment scandals in West Bengal, UP, Madhya Pradesh and many other
states.While AI is certain to make its way into numerous Indian industries, the
country has to take the best advantage of it in creating multifarious jobs as
well.---INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature
Alliance)
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On-Line Education: NOT JUST AN EMERGENCY MEASURE, By Rajiv Gupta, 4 May 2024 |
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Spotlight
New Delhi, 4 May 2024
On-Line Education
NOT JUST AN EMERGENCY MEASURE
By Rajiv Gupta
In the recent student protests at Columbia University
in New York City, the university administration decided to use on-line classes
as a way to mitigate the potential danger to students. Globally, on-line
classes were widely adopted during the Coronavirus pandemic to keep students
from spreading the virus through proximate contact with each other. These
examples may suggest that on-line education is a means to be adopted under
extreme circumstances. This article presents an alternate view; that on-line
education is an ideal solution for a variety of reasons and whose time has
come.
Distance education, a precursor to on-line education,
is not new. Some of the earliest versions of distance education were
correspondence courses as far back as the 1950s and 60s. Written course
materials were sent by mail to students. The students completed the assignments
at home and sent in their answer sheets to be evaluated. The quality of these
programmes was not very good and they did not receive any recognition from
companies looking for qualified candidates for potential hiring.
In the 1980s, a different form of distance education
began in the United States. In these programmes, video tapes of lectures were
recorded and mailed out to students at different learning centres. A sizeable
group of students watched the tapes at these learning centres. Proctored exams
were conducted at these learning centres. This form of distance learning was a
major improvement from the earlier correspondence courses. However, its major
drawbacks were a lack of direct communication between the faculty and students
as well as among the students.
The next development in distance learning was
streaming videos, which allowed students to stream lectures instead of watching
video tapes. This made the access to the lectures more flexible. However, there
was still no direct communication between the faculty and students, and among
the students. All communication was through a learning management system (LMS)
such as Canvas and Blackboard. The LMS contained all the relevant course
materials, including videos and lecture notes. Communications could be either
via the LMS or via email.
The current form of on-line education uses live,
on-line classes where the faculty delivers the lectures and the students can
choose to either attend the lectures live, or watch the taped lecture at their
convenience. The system permits the students to either type in their questions
or comments during the lecture, or to speak. This allows for a classroom
atmosphere that more closely resembles a typical in-person classroom. In some
cases, students can also turn on their cameras and can be seen as well. The
extent to which this is possible depends on the size of the class as well as
the network bandwidth. It should be noted that, in India, several students
still shy away from speaking in on-line classes, let alone turning their
cameras on. However, this is likely to change over time.
So, what are the main advantages and disadvantages of
an on-line education system? There are three major, and compelling, reasons in favour
of on-line education. First, it allows educational institutions to expand their
academic offerings to a larger student population without a large scale
increase in classroom capacity. This is especially important since most
existing universities have limited capacity to increase the number or sizes of
classrooms. For residential universities there is an additional need to provide
residential accommodation for students if the student strength is increased. In
an on-line environment using virtual classrooms, the one major expense is in
the creation of the computer and video systems for transmitting on-line
classes. This is relatively easier than creating more physical space.
The second major advantage, especially in a country
such as India, is that on-line education can help bring education to a larger
section of the population without having students travel to a limited number of
locations where high quality educational institutions are situated. With a
population that is spread out over a very large geographical expanse, including
a number of rural areas, providing access to quality education is a major
challenge for both government as well as academia.
Every year, cut-off percentages for admission to
sought after colleges and institutes seems to get further out of reach of a
large section of the students graduating from schools. In the last couple of
decades, a number of colleges and institutions of dubious quality have sprung
up in the country in response to the increased demand. It would be preferable
for well established institutions to expand their offerings via on-line classes
as there would be an expectation of quality from established institutes.
Finally, the population where on-line education has a
major impact is working professionals. It has been well established that with
technological change, and new research, a lot of what people learn in colleges
and universities becomes obsolete in a few years. This phenomenon has resulted
in working professionals having to keep their knowledge up to date either
through evening or full-time courses. Evening courses require that working
professionals travel or commute to the place where classes are held, which can
consume a significant amount of time. Full time courses require working
professionals to take time off from work to pursue their studies.
Both of these options pose a major burden both, on the
professional as well the companies they work for. It is here where on-line
education becomes a very appropriate option. The classes for the on-line
courses can be attended by the students either at their place of work, or at
home, or any other convenient location. Moreover, if the student has to miss a
class due to work requirement, the lecture is available on tape. So, the
student can get all the information that he/she misses quite easily.
This is why a number of universities in India and
abroad have been offering on-line courses successfully. Some examples are BITS
Pilani in India, and the University of Phoenix in the US. In addition to degree
programs, leading universities such as Stanford and MIT have collaborated in
offering free on-line courses on various topics. These are known as Massive
Open On-line Courses (MOOC). Coursera, Udacity, and edX offer a very large
number of MOOC courses where the student can choose to either attend for free,
or pay a nominal fee to get a certificate. The faculty who have recorded the
lectures for these MOOC courses are from leading global universities and the
quality of the lectures is excellent.
Although the number of on-line courses and their quality
has grown exponentially, there is still a perception that the quality of
on-line courses is inferior to live in-person classes. It will take some time
before the true advantages of on-line education will be recognised in the
society. Universities have to focus on maintaining high quality and invest in
technology and faculty who can deliver an effective on-line experience for
students. It may not be too long before on-line education is accorded its
rightful place in academia.---INFA
(Copyright, India News &
Feature Alliance)
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FAIR FIGHT REQUIRES FAIR FLIGHTS, By Inder Jit, 2 May 2024 |
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REWIND
New Delhi, 2 May 2024
FAIR FIGHT REQUIRES FAIR FLIGHTS
By Inder Jit
(Released on 4 July 1989)
Thoughts in New Delhi and elsewhere
in the country are turning once again towards ways and means of ensuring a free
and fair poll, now that the general election is fast approaching. Successive
polls over the past 37 years have no doubt been largely free and fair.
Nevertheless, the Election Commission, headed by Mr. R.V.S. Peri Sastri, has
spoken from Tirupati not a day too soon in calling upon all the political
parties to follow the Model Code of Conduct. Specifically, they have asked the
Centre and the States to ensure that there is no cause for complaint about
“utilisation” of their official position for the purposes of electioneering.
The Commission has also done well to have suggested once again incorporation of
six items of the Model Code as “corrupt practices” for electoral purposes in a
bid to prevent the party in power from misusing its authority and position for
gaining electoral advantage.
The Model Code of Conduct
specifically lays down: “(a) The Ministers shall not combine their official
visit with the electioneering work and shall not make use of official machinery
or personnel during electioneering work; (b) Government transport, including official
aircraft, vehicles, machinery and personnel cannot be used for furtherance of
the Party in power.” It thus bars
Ministers from doing two things. One, combining their official duties with
electioneering. Two, using Government transport, including official aircraft,
for furtherance of the interest of the party in power. Yet, all our Prime
Ministers have used IAF planes for election purposes from the days of Nehru.
Indira Gandhi did so time and again. So also did Charan Singh prior to the 1960
poll which swept Indira Gandhi back to power. Mr Morarji Desai as Prime
Minister, too, used this facility during the 1977 Assembly elections.
The issue burst into the open again
in December 1984 when the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr N.T. Rama Rao
approached the Election mission for permission to use a Government helicopter
for electioneering. But the then Chief Election Commissioner, Mr R.K. Trivedi,
turned down the request and justified his decision on the ground that the Chief
Minister of Andhra Pradesh was not the only Chief Minister who had been refused
permission. He said that the Chief Ministers of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana,
UP and Manipur had also sought permission to use official aircraft for electioneering.
All of them had been refused permission. Mr Trivedi also asserted that the
Prime Minister alone was permitted to use the official aircraft for electioneering.
The use of the official aircraft by Central Ministers, Chief Ministers and
their Cabinet colleagues was prohibited under the Model Code of Conduct. No
exceptions could be made.
Was the CEC’s stand fair? Before
answering the question, we would do well to take a fresh look at the convention
even if it was established during Nehru’s time. Nehru, according to “India
from Curzon to Nehru and After” by Durga Das, was initially against using
IAF planes. He did not think it proper to travel for his election campaign in
the plane he used for official purposes as the Prime Minister. At the same
time, “neither he nor the Congress Party could afford to charter a plane for
the purpose.” The then Auditor General, Mr. Narahari Rao, thereupon came to the
ruling party’s rescue and “salved Nehru’s conscience by devising a convenient
formula.” He said, “The PM’s life must be secured against all risks and this
could be assured best if he travelled by air. Air Transport would obviate the
need for the large security staff required if he travelled by rail. Since it
was the nation’s responsibility to see to his security, the nation must pay for
it”.
An equally obliging committee of
senior officers recommended in 1951 the use of the IAF planes by the Prime
Minister “for official as well as other types of journeys.” The committee
argued and the Government agreed that “even though the Prime Minister undertake
tours for electioneering as a party leader, the business of Government does not
come to a standstill.” It was, therefore, the responsibility of Government also
to provide adequate facilities which would enable the Prime Minister to attend
to governmental functions even while on tour. The new rule then framed enabled
the Prime Minister to use IAF planes by paying the Government the normal fare
charged by the civil airlines for transporting a passenger. Thus, Nehru was
able to acquire through the payment of a nominal amount a mobility which
multiplied a hundred fold his effectiveness as a campaigner and vote catcher!
The CEC’s decision on NTR’s request
was clearly unfair. (Actually Mr. Trivedi conveniently slipped up on his
facts.) The considerations which made it necessary to permit the Prime Minister
to use the official aircraft for electioneering all over the country apply
equally to the Chief Minister -- at least within his own state. Like the Prime
Minister, the Chief Minister does not cease being a Chief Minister when he
undertakes journeys for reasons other than official. He, too, needs to be able
to travel by official aircraft for the due performance of his or her duties as
the head of Government as well for reasons of security. Understandably, the
issue did not arise during Nehru’s time. He was his party’s principal
campaigner and there were no Chief Ministers belonging to the Opposition who
wanted official aircraft. We have now not only Chief Ministers who belong to
the “Opposition” but also convenient and fuel saving helicopters.
More. Is it fair to allow the Prime
Minister alone to use official aircraft and that too virtually for a song? The
use of official aircraft enabled Mr Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 to campaign in some
300 constituencies. In sharp contrast, the Opposition leaders were nowhere near
Mr Gandhi’s record performance, which was one up on the hurricane poll tours
undertaken by Indira Gandhi. A pertinent question that arises is: Should not
official planes also be available to the Opposition leaders? Without exception,
the Opposition leaders answer in the affirmative. One top leader urged: “Once
the poll is announced, the Prime Minister’s status and privilege must change in
favour of equality with the other party leaders. If security is an over-riding
consideration, it must be extended to the leaders of the other recognised
parties also. In the U.S., all the Presidential candidates are provided equal
facilities.”
Clearly, there is need to consider
the whole matter afresh in the light of conventions in other democracies. In
the UK, the Prime Minister does not use official transport for electioneering.
In a classic case, Attlee campaigned in his own car driven by his wife and
accompanied by merely one detective. In Canada, use of official aircraft by the
Prime Minister for party purposes is acknowledged on all sides as an unfair
advantage and, therefore, avoided. In the USA, the President can use the Air
Force plane as assigned to him for his poll campaign. However, he has to
reimburse the Air Force on actual cost basis. In India in 1967, Mrs Gandhi used
IAF planes for her 46-day poll campaign round the country and paid no more than
Rs 8,650. During the mid-term poll in UP in 1969, she was charged Rs 6 and a
few odd paisas only for a 20-minute helicopter ride from Deoria to Kasia, an
air distance of 20 miles!
True, the use of IAF official planes
does not necessarily spell victory. These did not save either Indira Gandhi in
1977 or Charan singh in 1980 from defeat. (Tragically, Charan Singh failed to
implement as Prime Minister his own plea as an Opposition leader that identical
facilities should be made available to the Opposition in all fairness.)
Nevertheless, there should be no scope for any feeling of unfairness. The
Election Commission should even now correct the wrongs committed during the
past many polls and allow the Opposition and their Chief Ministers the use of
official aircraft on the same basis as available to the Prime Minister. As the
ruling party, the Congress-I may be tempted to disagree. But its leaders would
do well to remember that a party may be in power today and in opposition
tomorrow. Statesmanship lies in taking a detached long-term view. The poll
should not only be fair, but must also be seen to be fair.--INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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Intentional Distortions: CONFUSING VOTER FOR POWER, By Dhurjati Mukherjee, 1 May 2024 |
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Open Forum
New Delhi, l May,
2024
Intentional Distortions
CONFUSING VOTER FOR POWER
By Dhurjati Mukherjee
Distortion
of facts, ‘hate speech’ and even misinterpretation of court judgments,appear to
be near normal this general election. It should be a cause concern for the
electorate, but unfortunately masses do get swayed with the rhetoric and the
hysteria created around, given sheer ignorance and low level of education.
Allowing political parties and their star campaigners to play merry havoc with
sentiments, particularly veering around religion.
Prime
Minister Modi’s speech in Rajasthan’s Banswara is one such glaring case, among
others,which has been written a lot about. Modi, as per fact checking, distorted
former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speech in 2009, wherein he has stated that
the marginalised had priority in any scheme of redistribution of wealth.
However, Modi thought it prudent to give this a religious turn by saying that
if the Congress is elected to power, it would do what Singh wanted i.e. give
away the wealth of the nation to ‘infiltrators’ and ‘those who have more
children meaning Muslims along with the mangalsutras of women.
The
Congress, Left parties and civil society groups complained to the Election
Commission of India against Modi's divisive remarks, stating it was a clear
violation of the model code of conduct. The complaint observed: “Shri Modi
distorted the statement and peddled a lie with a clear objective of creating
fear among the Hindus that the opposition Congress Party would give the wealth
of the country to Muslims”. Note, Article 39(b) of the Constitution provides
that the State should direct its policy towards securing “that the ownership
and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed to
subserve the common good”.
Recall
that Vinoba Bhave started the bhoodan movement to urge big landowners to
give a part of their landholdings to poor farmers. The sharing of one’s
resources with the poorer sections of the community is something that needs to
be inculcated amongst the rich and become part of our national policy.
On its
part, the BJP also issued complaints to the Election Commission against
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. The BJP said that in
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Rahul alleged that the prime minister was attacking
“our language, history, and tradition” and brining about a north-south divide. It
also accused Kharge of violating the model code by claiming that he was not
invited to the Ram temple consecration ceremony due to discrimination against
SCs and STs.
Lately,
another controversy has erupted regarding inheritance tax. A few countries have
this tax and the most important country in this category is the US. Sam
Pitroda, chairman of Indian Overseas Congress, said in a recent interview that
the inheritance tax in America was “interesting law” and could be an issue that
people could debate and discuss. He clearly pointed out the redistribution of
wealth entails new policies and programmes that are in the interest of the
common people and not in the interest of the super-rich only. Pitroda’s
comments gave additional ammunition to Prime Minister Modi, who appears to have
relegated ‘Viksit Bharat’ campaign to the back seat after the first
round of voting and instead playing the Hindu-Muslim polarisation card.
Modi grabbed
the opportunity to accuse the Congress of planning to impose an inheritance
tax, raising the slogan “Congress ki loot, zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ki
baad bhi”. This is misleading and moving away from the real issue and
a subtle attempt to protect interests of the rich. He said that the late Rajiv
Gandhi had abolished the inheritance tax to “save his property” but, in
reality, the abolition was effective for deaths after March 16, 1985 – over
four months after Indira Gandhi’s assassination, making Rajiv ineligible for
its benefits.
Experts
believe that the redistribution of private assets have the potential to solve
the problem of widening inequality accompanied by unemployment, poverty and
hopelessness that induced 170,000 suicides in India in 2022, 27 percent more
than in 2018. At no point in our known history has the proportion of the
population experiencing absolute deprivation been as low as it is today. One
may mention here that economic growth without grass-root development has no
meaning. The point is to broaden the participative base of economic activity as
a portion of growth would accrue to those creating it. But the political
leadership is not focussing on restoring citizens with rights and dignity and
providing adequate and quality education, healthcare and infrastructure,
physical as well as financial.
The
other development pertains to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who
has been trying frantically to distort a High Court order and questioning the
integrity of judges in scrapping over 25,000 teaching and non-teaching posts.
Not just her, but TMC leaders have been quoted saying the judges were working
on the advice of the BJP.The court stated: “all appointments granted in the
selection processes involved being violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the
Constitution of India are declared null and void and cancelled . . . SSC, State
and Board have perseveringly non-cooperated so that even the possibility of
trying to separate the grain from the chaff could be rendered nugatory.”.
The
order referred to the scam of being one of unprecedented dimension, which
obviously cannot be doubted and, as such, the court scrapped the whole panel of
2016. Banerjee stated that the judgment was passed into a “mandir, masjid or
gurdwara” but in “BJP’s bicharalaya (court)”. While telling the common
people that she wanted to give jobs to the deserving, criticism of the
judiciary and insinuation of judges is, no doubt, jarring. Even TMC General Secretary
Abhishek Banerjee said, “a section of Calcutta HC is in a nexus with the BJP”. A
case has been filed against the chief minister.
Politics
has undoubtedly reached a new low with leaders intentionally distorting facts
to gain political mileage. Sadly, they do not feel the need to get down to
basic issues which matter to the common man. Principles and ideologies are being
sacrificed at the altar of politics and leaders’wealth is surging ahead. Such
mischief has unfortunately been continuing and civil society is not strong
enough to thwart such intent. Both at the Central and state levels, the spirit
of dissent has been broken by authoritarian tendencies. This has been clearly
highlighted by Western media, which is increasingly doubting India as a true
democracy.
Free and
fair elections are bedrock of democracy. The electorate must be able to make a
well-informed decision and be given the confidence that his vote will help
bring a government which cares for its well-being. And it is the Election
Commission which too must play its role and be above board. Distortion of facts
and confusing the voter defeats the entire exercise, and it must actively step
in and call out the guilty leaders, whichever party it may be. ---INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)
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