Egypt on boil

Not only Egypt but the entire Arab world is in the grip of uprising against the corrupt,

inefficient and dictatorial governments. The anger in Arab countries also manifests the

grudge against America of the people there because almost all Arab countries are the

followers of America. The fiore of discontent that began in Tunisia spread to Egypt, Yemen

and other Arab countries. The people in full strength have come on the streets and want the

ouster of none other than President Hosni Mubarak. Hosni has been ruling the country for the

last three decades. Price rise, coorruption, unemployment have given birth to

discontentment. The march of the people against the government has turned violent as curfew

is frequently defied and even soldiers have also joined the protesters. This is a rebellion

of middle class consisting of lawyers, doctors, judges. The ramifications of people’s

rebellion may be felt in other part of the world if the systen of governance there also did

not improved. The situation in Egeyprt has come to this stage not in a day but the people

have patiently borne the effect of maladministration for the last 30 years. The violent

situation may also have its impact on world economy as it would disturb the supply of

oil.Egypt was in the grip of increasing lawlessness as gangs of armed men helped free

thousands of prisoners and looters rampaged malls, banks and jewellery stores as many

armymen doffed uniforms to join the uprising against Prez Mubarak’s 30-year rule that has

claimed at least 150 lives in six days.

An embattled Mubarak, 82, visited the military headquarters and held hectic parleys with top

commanders, a day after he showed first signs of handing over power by naming intelligence

chief and his close confidant Omar Suleiman as Vice President.An embattled Mubarak, 82,

visited the military headquarters and held hectic parleys with top commanders, a day after

he showed first signs of handing over power by naming intelligence chief and his close

confidant Omar Suleiman as Vice President.

The death has reached to 150 and 4,000 people have been injured since the unprecedented mass

protests against Mubarak’s autocratic regime.

The Indian mission is rightly making arrangements for those wishing to return home.

Pro-democracy advocate Mohamed ElBaradei, who returned to Egypt from Vienna, has rightly

asked Mubarak to step down, saying his response to the mass protests was “disappointing”.The

Indian mission is making arrangements for those wishing to return home.Pro-democracy

advocate Mohamed ElBaradei, who returned to Egypt from Vienna on Thursday, asked Mubarak to

step down, saying his response to the mass protests was disappointing.

The Nobel laureate and former chief of the UN nuclear watchdog, who was put under house

arrest soon after joining the protests, said the nation will collapse if Mubarak stays.The

Nobel laureate and former chief of the UN nuclear watchdog, who was put under house arrest

soon after joining the protests, said the nation will collapse if Mubarak stays.

The transition of power in Egypt is the immediate need to douse the rising flame of

rebellion. If the rebellion continued for longer period and big powers would look as mute

spectators, the spark of the fire is bound to engulf the entire Arab world.

Gruesome killing of upright officer

The killing of Additional Collector Yashwant Sonawane of Manmad in Nashik district of Maharashra is the most shocking. He was an upright and honest officer. His killing has taken place on the eve of Republic Day. The Republic Day signifies the rule of law in the country. His killing is yet another blot on the face of the nation and it also reflects that the state has bowed before the law breakers, pilferers and mafia. The situation has come to such a passe that it has become difficult for honest government officials to act.

Yashwant Sonawane was killed by oil mafia when he was in line of duty and on a mission to check oil pilferage. Before the killing of Sonawane, a young officer of Oil India Manjunath was killed while was on inspection of Petrol pump. He was killed because he had sealed the petrol pump for illegal dealings. Sonawane was burnt alive in Manmad when he was in line of duty. Over 80,000 gazetted officers in Maharashtra have gone on a cease work to protest the killing of Additional District Collector Yashwant Sonawane by members of the oil mafia.

Although the Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithvi Raj Chavan has assured of taking immediate action against the killers of Sonawane and 11 men have been rounded up on the suspicion of Sonawane’s killing. Now the the question arises when the officer of Additional Collector rank is burnt alive in line of duty, how can it be possible for the junior level employees of the government to act honestly. Sonawane , Manmjunath and others were killed because they were honest and did not allow dishonest act to go unchecked. This is the prize of their honesty.

As the then Home Secretary N N Vohra, presently the governor of Jammu and Kashmir, in 1993 submitted comprehensive reoprt on politician-criminal nexus, which is at the root cause of all criminal acts, it is gathering dust since then and no action has been taken on it yet. In Parliamentary democracy, politician is the chief executive and he is responsible for guiding and directing the bureaucracy. In the given situation, it is pre-requisite for the politician to be honest and progressive to give a clean administration. So, the greater responsibility rests with politician to break the unholy nexus. Mafia rules every section of society. They earn black money and give it to politicians to fund elections. So, untill and unless the state funding of elections is not introduced, it is very difficult for the government to declare war on oil, coal, minining and education mafias. The employees have not announced the protest as a strike but are shunning work to register our protest against this gruesome act which has shaken the government employees.

BJP must re-think on Flag unfurling plan

The BJP youth wing’s Kolkata-to-Kashmir Rashtriya Ekta Yatra to unfurl the national flag in Srinagar on 26th January after a gap of 18 years is in the thick of controversy. As far as unfurling of national flag on Republic Day is concerned, it is done every year with all respect to it for maintaining unity and integrigrity, besides peace and amity in the entire country. Kashmir had been in the throes violence during entire summer. It is with great difficulty that the normalcy has been restored there. There is possibility that if the BJP went ahead with unfurling of flag on Republic Day on January 26, there might occur violence between the separatist leaders and BJP cadres. Separatists are opposing the unfurling of flag by BJP at Lal Chowk in Srinagar. It is also a fact that the BJP can not encrease its nationalist standing by unfurling the flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar. It will only create rancour between the two sections in Srinagar, creating disturbance and breaking peace. Entire state machinery of Jammu and Kashmir Government is involved in not allowing anyone to disturb the fragile peace in the state. Even after the three top leaders of BJP,Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Ananth Kumar were stopped at Jammu airport and not allowed to enter the city to participate in a massive rally planned in Jammu , triggering vehement protests, BJP has asserted that it would go ahead with its plan to hoist the tricolour at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Republic Day while the Congress party said that the opposition party should not play politics on the national flag to satisfy their motives.The three leaders have thrown their weight behind the party’s controversial Ekta Yatra, were asked to return to Delhi which they refused as hundreds of BJP workers outside the airport shouted slogans and waved flags. Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra said that peace and harmony will prevail in the state on the solemn occasion of Republic day celebration. Republic Day is a solemn occasion and it must be celebrated as such. BJP must re-think on its flag hoisting plan in the interest of the nation.It is correct to say that unfurling national flag is a right of every Indian but no one has the right to create law and order problem.

Karnataka Cabinet’s unwarranted resolution

The Bhartiya Janata Party may level charge against the Governor H R Bharadwaj of acting in a partisan way and as a Congress agent but it can not evade the blame that despite corruption charges against its Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, it has failed to act against him. Governor of a state is not sitting in Raj Bhavan for giving go ahead signal to any proposal sent by the state cabinet. He is empowered to look into all its legalities and if he finds anything unwarranted, he can dismiss it forwith. No body is in doubt about the corruption charges against Yeddyurappa about the misuse of his discretionary powers in land allotment to his family members. BJP is required here to act judiciously by asking its Karnataka Chief Minister to step down, pending enquiry. It is no excuse for its CM that previously this type of malpractices have been committed by Congress Chief Ministers and on that ground he can not be prosecuted. Here the BJP has lost moral ground on the issue of corruption. It has also lost all rights to attack the ruling Congress Party on several issues of corruption with which it is beset. The cabinet resolution had asked the Governor to drop the proceedings to prosecute Yeddyurappa and Home Minister R Ashoka on alleged scams on the basis of a complaint filed by lawyers’ forum, saying such a move was nothing short of a farce and colourable exercise on his part.Quoting a Supreme Court order, Bhardwaj pointed out in his letter that “the Governor is entitled to and required to take an independent decision on the basis of the material available and therefore the Cabinet decision recommending to drop the consideration of the petition itself is unwarranted.”Allegations relating to land scams, corruption and manipulation of rules and regulations regarding acquisition and denotifying of public lands regularly appeared in the media since September, 2010.”Allegations of serious nature of corruption were levelled against the office of the Chief Minister by various groups, which submitted representations to him personally, creating a cloud on his (Yeddyurappa’s) personal integrity, Bhardwaj said in the letter. Home Minister P Chidamabaram has rightly criticised BJP for its attack on Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj granting sanction to prosecute the chief minister and said the governor’s decision was in accordance with the law. It is not the first time that a Governor has given his sanction to prosecute a chief minister or a minister of the state government. The law in this respect is clear and well-settled.Taking to the street against Governor’s action with the total backing of state government also indicates of constitutional breakdown. It is also correct that Governor is entitled to act as per the tradition set by consititution.Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj has rightly dismissed as unwarranted a resolution adopted by the state cabinet asking him to drop proceedings for prosecution of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on corruption charges. He has acted within constitutional parameters.

Lacklustre Cabinet reshuffle

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in his first Cabinet reshuffle during UPA-2 amidst galore of corruption charges and unchecked food inflation has failed to give any message. He has only undertaken changing of chairs from this row to that and nothing else. PM has only undertaken cosmetic change and given emphasis to improve Congress Party’s prospect in the coming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections as two ministers from that state have been elevated to Cabinet rank and one was inducted as State Minister with independent charge. The state of Kerala has also been given prominence to prepare the party to fight coming assemble elections there. The Cabinet reshuffle gives the message that the government and party leadership are in no mood to annoy any party leader by punishing them for his inefficiency and charges of corruption. Generally, the meaning of Cabinet reshuffle is to refurbish the image of the government and give it a look to appear efficient to resolve the issue facing the nation. But here we see that Cabinet reshuffle has been undetaken for the sake of it.Manmohan Singh Government is beset with growing corruption and food inflation. The Cabinet reshuffle should have been such as to give the message to the people that government can no longer tolerate corruption and ready to check inflation. But the reshuffle has seen only the mutual exchange of portfolio among the 33 ministers. It shows that the government lacks in courage and guts to declare war on corruption and inflation. Inflation is rising day by day. It means government is inefficient to find the cause to check it. Prime Minister’s Cabinet reshuffle only shows the fine political balance by taking almost all economy related portfilos for his party. Prime Minister has said that this is a minor reshuffle and he will undertake major one after the Budget Session of Parliament. He has also tried his best in view of the shaky image of the government and Budget Session to keep every party leader in good humour to defend the government boldly against the opposition onslaught. On the whole, this is a meaningless Cabinet reshuffle.

Check the rising inflation

Since the UPA-2 came back to power, inflation is rising unchecked. The
ruling Congress party never tires of claiming to be the champion of Aam
Aadmi on hand and sky-rocketing price of food tems and other essential
commodities are breaking their back on the other. The weekly inflation
figure is the highest during the past one year.Soaring onion and other
vegetables’ prices led to the sharp rise in inflation at 18.32 per cent for
the week that ended on Christmas, up from 14.44 per cent recorded in the
previous week.This is the economic condition of the nation when it is
headed by world-renowned economists Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan
Singh and the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh
Ahluwalia. Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P
Chidambaram have expressed cooncern over the rising inflation but says
that the government has no magic wand to control the inflation. The UPA
government and its ministers should the know that the rising trend in
inflation is not of a day’s development, it appears to have been left by
them due to their efficiency and complacency.. It has been rising for the
last two years and they have completely failed to check it. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and other ministers concerned with
economic management of the government keep saying that inflation
would come dowm in two to three months. But all their promises on price
rise front have fallen flat. The sky-rocking prices of green vegetables and
food items have made the poor people difficult to fill their stomach. UPA government has not acted firmly ever to bring the inflation down.
Contrary to this, they have increased petroleum products a number of
time which has made cascading lmpact on prices of all essential
copmmodities. The prices of onions have gone so high that the poor
people can not afford to purchase and eat them with bread and salt,
which is the bere necessity for them. Congress President and UPA Chairperson must intervene immediately
and pressurise the government to act on price rise front . She must ask
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Deputy Chairman of Planning
Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia that it is India and not the US
whose captalistic economic policy they are following blindly. They must
know that the economic reforms they are carrying forward blindly will be
of no use if their benefits do not reach poorest of the poor . The food
inflation at 18.32 per cent for the week ended 25th December should be
of grave concern for the government.

Shameful act

Bihar BJP MLA Rajkishore Keshari was killed by a lady teacher in public view at his residence in Purnia. This is the most condemned act but it also reflects very bad on the law and order situation in the state. This is also pointing towards criminal politician nexus existing in the state, resulting in the murder of the MLA. The BJP MLA Rajkishore Keshari was a four-time winner and he was very popular in his constituency in Purnia. The lady runs a school and had grudge against the MLA because as MLA was alleged to have exploited her sexually. The lady teacher had reportedly lodged FIR with the local police six months back but the matter was settled and she withdrew the charge. Though it is highly condemnable that the MLA was stabbed to death while he was meeting the visitors, it also points towards deteriorating standard of public representative if the allegation of the lady teacher is anything to by. As it is the responsibility of public representative to meet several visitors in a day, his security should also be of full proof. That was not there. Though MLA's murder at his residence is not new in BIhar, in early 70s for the first time a CPI MLA was shot dead in his MLA flat in the state capital Patna. In 90s, there has also been killing of MLAs in BIhar.The yersterday's killing of the BJP MLA still shows that there is still lot to be done on law and order front in Bihar. The complaints and grievances of the lady teacher must also be look into, besides thorough and immediate high-level enquiry into the murder of senior BJP MLA murder case. Undoubtedly, MLA Rajkishore Keshari was very popular in his constituency and he was also said to be a thoroughly gentleman and of very sober nature. The killing of the MLA is highly condemnable and very shameful for the state of Bihar. The tragic incident has tarnished the image of the state. Nitish Kumar government must take murder of the MLA very seriously and make full proof security for public representative to ensure that this nature of tragic incident must not recur. But at the same time, the government of Bihar must enquire thoroughly into the allegation of criminal-politician nexus and break it immediately.Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has rightly directed the DGPs to constitute a high-level probe team, review the security of all legislators and ensure that those who visited them were frisked.