Round The States
New Delhi, 16 September 2023
Anantnag Terrorist Strike
PEACE FRAGILE IN J&K!
By Insaf
The temporary lull in terrorist
attacks in Jammu and Kashmir has been broken, putting a big question mark on
the Centre’s claim that normalcy has more or less returned. On Wednesday last,
an Army Colonel Manpreet Singh, commanding officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles,
Major Ashish Dhonack, and Deputy Superintendent Humayun Bhat were killed in a
gunfight with terrorists in Garol area of Anantnag district. And though the
Home Ministry data says there has been a 32% reduction in acts of terror
between 2019 and 2022, recently there have been other renewed attacks on
security targets south of the Pri Panjal range in Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch.
National Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said, ‘such incidents
will continue if there is no dialogue…India and Pakistan will have to come to
the dialogue table if they want to end bloodshed and find lasting peace in J&K’.
Indeed, peace is fragile in the Union Territory and the Centre will need to
ensure that it can’t let down the guard, even as it boasted of a successful
meeting of the G-20 in Kashmir. There is need for continuing vigilance and a
better vigilance network.
At the same time, the Opposition
should be more responsible. Unfortunately, in today’s charged political
atmosphere, the INDIA bloc has sought to score brownie points and hit out at Prime
Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of ‘silence’ over the incident and instead being
felicitated at the BJP headquarters over the G20 Summit success and was campaigning
in Madhya Pradesh. No healing touch for the families. The Congress said, ‘Modi
can’t postpone receiving accolades no matter what happens’; the AAP said Modi
was “celebrating the G20” while the families of the four soldiers who died in
J&K were in “shock”. It also recalled that Modi was busy shooting a show
with a television host Bear Grylls at the time of the Pulwama attack. Sharing
the video of the rousing welcome accorded to Modi at party headquarters, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Thackeray faction said ‘this could have been
postponed, expected more sensitivity, especially on a day when our security
forces have fought a fierce fight with militants in Kashmir’; RJD leader Manoj
Jha slammed the BJP saying the ruling party held ‘celebrations at its
headquarters even as three soldiers and a police officer were killed in a
gunbattle with terrorists.’ Playing politics over the tragic killings in
Anantnag should have been be a no-go.
* * * *
AP High Drama
The high-pitched political drama unfolding in Andhra
Pradesh promises to be a suspense-filled blockbuster, with former Chief
Minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu in Rajahmundry Jail. His arrest has
got actor-turned politician Pawan Kalyan to announce on Thursday last the
much-awaited tie-up between his Jan Sena and TDP “for future of AP’. For him
the villain of the piece is Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and the State
‘can’t afford YSRCP’ in the Assembly polls next year as the arrest is ‘purely
political vendetta’. On Sunday, Naidu was sent to judicial custody for two
weeks in a ₹371 crore scam case related to a ₹ 3,300 crore project of clusters of centres of
excellence (CoE); on Tuesday an anti-corruption court rejected a house custody
plea by his wife given ‘security concerns’; on Wednesday, the CID insisted
Naidu is primary accused as he ‘orchestrated the scheme’ though initially he
was listed as Accused Number 37; TDP leaders have appealed to Governor Abdul
Nazeer saying ‘Naidu was being framed’, the CID had ‘no evidence or
testimonies’, and ‘it has been acting as a private army to take revenge on
Opposition parties.’ Will the tie-up turn out to be a game changer, the
climax?
* * * *
Naga No
To UCC
Nagaland says a big no to Uniform Civil Code. On
Tuesday last, the Assembly, which includes 12 BJP MLAs of whom five are Cabinet
ministers, unanimously adopted a resolution urging the State be completely
exempted from the proposed Code’s purview. The resolution moved by Chief
Minister Neiphiu Rio says the apparent objective of a UCC “is to have a single
law on personal matters such as marriage and divorce, custody and guardianship,
adoption and maintenance, succession and inheritance”, which would pose a
threat to ‘Naga customary laws’ and social and religious practices “that will
be in danger of encroachment in the event of imposition of UCC”. In July, the
government through a Cabinet decision had also conveyed its opposition to the
Commission in the backdrop of the State’s ‘unique history’ since
pre-Independent British era, the assurance of non-interference policy starting
since pre-Independence times and continued by the Centre in the social and
religious practices and customary laws of the people and the constitutional
guarantees given under Article 371A. Given that the State has over 86% of the
population from Scheduled Tribes, expectedly both tribal and civil society
organisations have spelt out their strong objections. While Mizoram and
Meghalaya have too objected to the Code, all eyes will be on how vocal Manipur,
Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura will be. Clearly, few takers.
* * * *
Assam Corruption Case
A political storm is brewing in
BJP-ruled Assam. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is on the backfoot refuting
charges that his wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma’s firm Pride East Entertainments Pvt
Ltd had received Rs 10 crore as part of credit linked subsidy from the Central
government. The opposition Congress have upped the ante in the Assembly
demanding an adjournment motion as well as Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha,
Gaurav Gogoi is having a running brawl on ‘X’ insisting on the charges, quoting
Ministry of Food Processing website. Sarma on Thursday last replied on X “…neither
my wife, nor the company she’s associated with, has received or claimed any
amount from the GoI. If anyone can provide evidence, I am willing to accept any
punishment including retirement from public life.” And threatened legal action
against Gogoi, who is revealing more documents. The spat has turned ugly and
the battle is going to be closely watched.
* * * *
Relief for Lakshadweep Admn
The Lakshadweep administration can
heave a sigh of relief. It’s order to exclude meat products, including chicken,
from midday meal menu for school kids is no longer under threat, with the
Supreme Court saying it cannot decide on what food should be eaten. On Thursday
last, it dismissed the PIL saying it was the UT’s ‘policy decision’ which could
not come within the scope of ‘judicial review’ as there’s no legal breach. The
PIL finally stands junked as the advocate petitioner was persistent. He had
first approached the Kerala High Court in June 2021 pleading the order on
midday meals was issued with mala fide intent to change food habits of the island
people and alleged that another decision to shut down government-run dairy
farms was meant to promote marketing of dairy products from Gujarat, the
administrator Praful Khoda Patel’s home state! The case had hit headlines. The
HC then had temporarily stayed the two orders. However, in September 2021 a
two-judge bench dismissed the PIL, and apex court has ruled there was no error
in judgement. Guess, a lesson for petitioners to be wary of not having to eat
their own words!---INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature
Alliance)
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