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Round
The States
New Delhi, 11 September 2021
UP, Haryana Stir
FARMERS’ RAISE THE
ANTE
By Insaf
The nine-month long farmers’ agitation gets a
shot in the arm in Karnal district of Haryana and Muzaffarnagar in western
Uttar Pradesh. The massive show of strength challenging the two BJP-ruled
States should have not just Chief Minister worried, but so also the BJP
headquarters. While Harayana may not be top priority as it is not going for
Assembly elections, the farmers ‘UP Mission’ had had a great start. The
‘mahapanchayat’ by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), attended by thousands has
one agenda-- campaign and defeat the Yogi Adityanath government. Leading the
charge, Bhartiya Kisan Union chief Rakesh Tikait roared: “People of UP will not
tolerate (Home Minister) Amit Shah, (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and Yogi
Adityanath. If we have governments like this, there will be riots. This land
witnessed the slogan of “Allahu Akbar, Har Har Mahadev” in the past.
They talk of dividing, we speak of uniting.” Political overtones? Will the farmers
eventually align with Opposition parties, such as the SP or RLD or is Tikait
going to court them for the 2022 polls? It was said that UP has 8 crore farmer
votes and that they must steal the political mandate from the BJP. Having
tasted success, strategy will be worked out next month in Lucknow for more
mahapanchayats and reaching out to every single district. While victory is a
long way, a rethink by the Centre on the farm laws could be a step to stop the
juggernaut.
Likewise, in Karnal, the farmers have Chief
Minister Khattar and team worried, as the show of strength in his constituency
does not augur well for the government. The protesting farmers are continuing
their indefinite sit-in at the district headquarters, demanding the suspension
of the IAS officer, who ordered the security forces to lathicharge them and
‘smash their heads.’ Signs of unease in the ruling party are very much there.
Mobile internet services there have been suspended, as round of talks between
district officials and farmers failed on Wednesday last. Despite barricades,
the farmers have managed to lay siege at the mini-secretariat. It’s a huge embarrassment for the state government,
alright. Is it now on the backfoot? State Home Minister Vij has offered to
order an impartial probe into the lathicharge but said “only genuine demands
(of farmers protesting in Karnal) can be accepted.” Who decides, what is
genuine, is the question.
* * * * * * *
Innocent Not Maoists
Damning, is to say the least. Eight innocent
lives were killed, eight years ago in Chhattisgarh! A judicial inquiry report
submitted to the Cabinet on Wednesday last should make the then governments in
the State and the Centre hang their heads in shame. The report by a retired
judge of Madhya Pradesh High Court into the gunning down of eight tribals,
including four minors by security personnel in Edesmetta, Bijapur district,
concluded that none of those killed had weapons nor were they Maoists, as was
alleged at the time of the incident, night of May17-18, 2013. They were
‘unarmed and died in gunfire of 44 rounds, 18 of which were fired by a single
constable of the CoBRA unit of the CRPF’! The report termed the incident as ‘a
mistake’ saying the security personnel “may have opened fire in panic.” Ironic
as it may sound, the report says 25-30 people had gathered that night to
celebrate Beej Pandum, a tribal festival ‘to worship new life’ in the form of
seeds, when a 1000-strong security force showed up, claiming it was a Maoist
hideout. The incident, adds the report, could have been avoided had the
security forces been ‘given enough gadgets for self-defence, if they had better
intelligence from the ground and had they been careful’. The report has been
adopted by the Cabinet. Not enough. North Block must read it and so should
State governments. Every life matters.
* * * * * * *
Row Over ‘Namaz’ Room
Allotment of a ‘Namaz’ room in Jharkhand
Assembly has stirred a hornets nest. The Opposition BJP led protests both inside
and outside the Assembly, before the monsoon session came to an end on Thursday
last. The BJP accuses the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha of ‘appeasement politics’
and demanded the “unconstitutional and undemocratic decision” be withdrawn immediately,
as ‘secularism means the State shouldn’t profess and promote any particular
faith.’ Interestingly, in the same breath, a BJP MLA demanded a ‘separate hall
for reciting Hanuman Chalisa, in Bihar Legislature’, which too has a separate
hall for offering Namaaz since 1993. While JD(U), BJP and Hindustani Awam
Morcha (S) didn’t agree with the MLA’s demand, the HAM (S) asked “What happens
if people start demanding construction of a mosque in every police station just
because most of it has temples.” A notification “Allotment of room number TW
348 as Namaz Hall for offering Namaz in the new Assembly Building,” was issued
last week on Speaker’s order. Following the developments, Speaker Mahto formed a
7-member, all-Party committee to examine the issue and submit a report within
45 days. The BJP is unwilling to accept it and insists they will protest till the
notification is withdrawn. Time will tell.
* * * * * * *
Tripura Political Violence
Political rivalry between ruling BJP and
Opposition CPM in Tripura takes an ugly and violent turn, forcing the latter to
seek Prime Minister Modi’s intervention. On Thursday last CPM General Secretary
Sitaram Yechury shot off a letter to Modi complaining of ‘pre-planned” attack
by ‘mobs of BJP men’ with connivance of State government a day earlier. The
clashes between party workers left 10 persons injured, two CPM party offices
gutted, few others vandalised and vehicles burnt. CPM’s state headquarters in
Agartala was worst-hit among other district committee offices damaged or burnt
down and ‘houses of many party leaders and activists were attacked, ransacked
or set on fire.’ Even newspaper offices were not spared. ‘Daily Desharkatha’, CPM
mouthpiece and Pratibadi Kalam were vandalised. Importantly, police confirmed
most of the reports of arson, but the big question is where will it end. Using state
power to supress dissent is all too well-known. The police, present at many of
the sites was a silent bystander and some CRPF jawans, present in front of state
committee office were withdrawn an hour before the attack began. Denying
charges, BJP accuses the CPM cadre of fuelling trouble and instigating violence
for the past few days. Sadly, in this blame game it is democracy which suffers.
But does anyone care?
* * * * * * *
In National Interest?
Watch your words, is a stern warning issued
to faculty and members of staff of the Central University of Kerala. In a
circular, the Registrar has asked them to abstain from giving any type of
“provoking statements or lectures that are anti-national and against the
interest of the nation”. However, ‘anti-national’ hasn’t been spelt out. The
timing though gives ample hint, as it seems to be an upshot of the suspension
of an Assistant Professor in Dept of International Relations and Politics who
had allegedly described the Sangh Parivar and Modi government proto-fascist
while teaching MA students on “fascism and Nazism’ way back in April. He also
is said to have slammed the Centre’s decision to export Covid-19 vaccines,
saying it was ‘unpatriotic.’ The Executive Council had termed his statements as
‘anti-national’. Sadly, the term is oft-heard and being blatantly misused, with
a clear intent to suppress dissent and criticism in these past few years,
specially by BJP-ruled governments. Be it human rights activists, civil society
organisations, journalists etc, the head count is ever-increasing. The
circular, predictably has ruffled feathers among the academic community. Will
it trigger protests, such as the one at Visva Bharati University, against what students call ‘saffronising’ of the
campus by the VC? Time will tell.---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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