Round The States
New Delhi, 22 October 2008
MNS’ Regional
Terrorism
NATIONWIDE DEMAND
FOR BAN
By Insaf
All State capitals are agitated over what is being termed as
“regional terrorism” unleashed by Raj Thackeray and endorse a call by party
leaders for a ban on his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). In fact, the drama
of Raj being arrested in Ratnagiri in the wee hours of Tuesday last and
released on bail by both the Bandra and Kalyan courts is only lending credence
to the suggestion that he is a protégé of the Congress-NCP Government. Why? To
slice into Shiv Sena supremo and uncle Bal Thackeray’s vote bank and help the
combine to come back to power at the Mantralaya. It’s another matter that the
MNS leader had to spend a night in the lock up, perhaps the first,
notwithstanding the violence and havoc let loose by him and his men in the
country’s financial capital over the past year against “North Indians”.
While Raj had been arrested in a case filed by the Kherwadi
police station for “inciting his men to disrupt peace on grounds of regional
divide, obstructing officials” and beating up students particularly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh during the Railway recruitment
exams, the big question is will he be reigned in? So far, the MNS chief had
warned that if he was arrested, the whole of Maharashtra
would be set on fire. Well, the State hasn’t gone up in flames. But large parts
of Mumbai were shut down, 45 buses set on fire and three persons killed and
hundreds arrested in the violence and rioting that followed MNS strongholds.
Reverberations of the “regional terrorism” were felt in Delhi too, with most parties in Parliament,
barring the Congress demanding a ban on the MNS for spitting venom against
north Indians and playing unacceptable divisive politics.
* * * *
Jammu & Kashmir Elections
Suspense over Jammu
and Kashmir elections is finally over. The Election
Commission has announced an election schedule of a seven-phase poll beginning
on November 17 and ending on December 24. The results will be announced on December
28, bringing to an end Governor’s rule in the trouble-torn State. While the
Commission’s decision to go along and hold the 87-member Assembly poll with
five other States in the country is a calculated risk, both the Union
Government and the State administration appear to be making the right moves to
promote stability and strengthen the forces of peace. One such move was made on
Tuesday last, when the Line of Control was converted into a ‘Line of Commerce’.
The Peace Bridge on the LoC, which divides and connects the two parts of
Kashmir, was thrown open to the people on either side for trade--60 years after
Independence. Traders dispatched a 13-truck convoy each from Muzzafrabad and Srinagar, amidst loud
cheers from the milling crowd.
While the opening of trade is clearly seen as a confidence
building measure and should help change overall environment in the coming
weeks, political parties are gearing up for the political battle. The National
Conference, the Congress and the BJP have welcomed the Commission’s decision to
hold the polls now instead of later. The PDP is so far silent and the
separatists, under the banner of the Hurriyat Conference, have decided to
boycott the elections yet again. The latter has said that the “elections are no
solution to resolve the Kashmir problem. We
first want a resolution, then elections.” Regrettably, the separatists forget
that elections are only for the governance of the State. Importantly, the
future of Kashmir was decided long ago, in the Constituent Assembly, during
Sheikh Abdullah’s time, when the State decided to accede to India.
* * * *
Imphal Bomb Blast
Not only is militancy dangerously spreading across the
country, but is assuming outrageous overtones. The latest incident being that
of the bomb blast, the biggest-ever, in Manipur’s capital, Imphal on Tuesday
last. It claimed 17 lives and left 30 injured. Initially, the police suspected
the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) behind it, as it had
claimed that the blast near the Chief Minister Iboi Singh’s fortified residence
just two days ago was its handiwork. However, the Kangleipak Communist Party
(Military Council), KCP-(MC), which is involved with the preservation of Meitei
culture and has been seeking secession of Manipur, claimed responsibility a day
later. In a signed press note by its leader, Lanheiba Metei, the outfit said it
triggered the explosion “to end lagao, a form of gambling, which is alien to
Meitei culture and needs to be stopped…it was corrupting the Manipuri society.”
Thus, the bomb blast was close to the security Police Commandos Complex, on the
outskirts of Imphal specifically targeting the place where security personnel
and civilians would gamble just before Diwali. Surely, the KCP-(MC) could
consider some other way of promoting its campaign, instead of this dastardly
act.
* * * *
BJP
U-Turn In Uttarakhand
Politics of survival in Uttarakhand under Chief Minister B C
Khanduri has forced the BJP to do a U-turn on its election promise and clearly
be no different from its rival, the Congress. The State Government recently
removed 23 Government-run corporations, boards and councils from the purview of
the office of profit to please its disgruntled MLAs, seeking Khanduri’s
removal. In August last, some 24 BJP MLAs had gone to Delhi to urge the party
high command to replace the CM on the ground of his being ‘inaccessible’. The
reason, however, was completely different, according to Khanduri. MLAs were basically
unhappy over his opposition to handing out plum posts in government bodies to
the MLAs. However, the CM has been compelled to relent and make allowance for
MLAs to chair various government bodies. Every one is now happy, even if it
means going against the party’s solemn poll promises.
* * * *
Punjab Farmers Buy
Brides
Farmers in Punjab have an altogether different problem from
the rest of the country. The State simply does not have enough women for them
to marry. Brides are thus ‘bought’ from less developed States such as Bihar,
Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. Worse, they are expected to produce sons or else they
would be either sent back or re-sold or simply abandoned. As per the 2001
census, Punjab has a dismal sex ratio of 793 girls for 1,100 boys and Fatehgarh
district, the country’s worst -- 754 girls for 1,000 boys. According to the
Centre for women Studies in Punjab University the scarcity of girls is a result
of decades of sex-determination tests followed by female feoticide, despite a nationwide
ban. Regrettably, the “bride trade” will continue to flourish in Punjab for
three reasons: Sex ratio will not be corrected because sons are what the
farmers want; education will not help as most of feoticide cases reported are
of educated women and lastly for families from poor States the system of
marrying their daughters provides a relief-- they receive money instead of
paying a dowry!
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
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