Thursday, January 25, 2018

Hooliganism on display in four BJP-ruled states

Protesters took to hooliganism, stone pelting, setting vehicles on fire and streets against the film Padmaavat without any check by the state police of the four BJP-ruled states- Gujarat, MP, Rajasthan and Haryana. The Chief Ministers of these four states were missing in action. Hoodlums were given free hands to create anarchy and break law and order in the name of Rajputs' honour by not allowing the screening of the film Padmaavat. The film Padmaavat has been directed by Sanjay Leela Bhanshali. There is nothing in the film to hurt the ego and sentiment of Rajputs. Normal lives have been thrown out of gear by the protesters of the film Padmaavat by different Rajput groups under the leadership of Karni Sena in the four BJP-ruled states. Despite the order of the Supreme Court to maintain law and order at all costs on the release of the film Padmaavat, these four BJP-ruled states turned the other way and left the states to the mercy of hooliganism. The Karni Sena protesters did not leave even school going children. They also targeted children. They stoned the school bus in Gurgaon. They created so much havoc that children started crying over their hooliganism. The Supreme Court should also take action against all these four states and ask them why they have surrendered to the Rajput groups under the leadership of Karni Sena. It has been seen in the last three years that whenever the law and order problems arose in the state of Haryana, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has completely failed to enforce it. Whether it is the issue of Jat reservation, Ram Rahim conviction or violent protests against the film Padmaavat, the state government and its police have been mute spectators to the acts of violences. It appears that the four BJP-ruled states have surrendered to Karni Sena for the sake of vote bank politics. Votes appear to be more important for the BJP than governing the state according to the rule of law. What message would have sent out the scene of burning vehicles and the crying of the children in buses in Gurgaon about the law and order situation in Indian states? Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits one country after another for luring the companies and investors for investment in India. He sings the songs of India's growth story before the foreign audience to tempt the investors. He says them that there is a congenial and peaceful atmosphere in India for business on one hand and his party ruled states have surrendered to lawbreakers on the other. It promotes goondaism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi must not keep silent anymore and intervene in the matter of law and order in his party-ruled states immediately. It clearly appears that Karni Sena Chief Lokendra Singh Kalvi has the blessings of the Chief Ministers of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh that he openly says that he would not allow the film Padmaavat to be screened anywhere in India. Is he above the law of the land? When Supreme Court ordered that the state cannot ban Padmaavat from screening and it is the fundamental responsibility of the state govt. to maintain law and order at all costs, why do the four BJP-ruled states not respect the order of the highest court of the land? It is because of the vote bank politics that the BJP state govts deliberately ignore the violent protests by Karni Sena members. PM Modi must take note of the situation in his party-ruled states and remove Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar immediately because he has failed times without number on law and order front. Who is Karni Sena to decide what film to watch and what not? It is the total failure of law and order that the hoodlums held sway in the BJP-ruled states.

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Setback for AAP

Election Commission has recommended disqualification of 20 Aam Aadmi Party MLAs for holding Office of Profit as Parliamentary Secretaries. It has sent its recommendation to President for his approval. President will only send the recommendation to the Ministry of Home. With the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs, a mini-election in Delhi for these seats is to be held within 6 months. The disqualification is a foregone conclusion. It has reduced the AAP MLAs strength in Delhi assembly from 66 to 46, though Arvind Kejriwal has still the majority. So, technically there is no threat to Kejri govt. This by-election in 20 assembly constituencies will give the opportunity to the opposition parties- BJP and Congress- to show its strength. The performance of the AAP govt. in the last 3 years will also be tested. AAP will have to prove its grip on the electorates of Delhi by retaining the seats. BJP will get the chance of consolidating its position and Congress will get the chance of recording its presence in Delhi assembly. Presently, Congress has no MLA in Delhi assembly despite ruling the city till 2013. As far as disqualification of AAP MLAs is concerned, it was a foregone conclusion. Before AAP MLAs’ disqualification, former Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi had also faced the wrath of disqualification for holding Office of Profit. So, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should have thought twice before appointing his 20 party MLAs as Parliamentary Secretaries. He had done only for appeasing and satisfying them by providing govt. perks and facilities to win their loyalties. Kejriwal came to power on an anti-corruption plank. And it is the catharsis that his own half of the Cabinet Ministers had to go on the charges of corruption. Holding Office of Profit by his party MLAs is also a type of corruption. So, the plank of corruption on which Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal came to power boomerang on him itself. Congress and BJP demanded the resignation CM Arvind Kejriwal. They say that he has no moral authority to rule Delhi. One thing is crystal clear that CM Kejriwal had promised Delhiites to provide them a responsive government different from others. He also promised that he would start different political innings in Delhi. As far as development in Delhi is concerned, it is still at the same point where former CM Sheila Dikshit had left it. AAP govt. only kept the promise on reducing the water and electricity bill with some riders at the cost of public exchequer. CM Kejriwal has done nothing different from any other political leader of any other political party. The by-poll in the 20 assembly constituencies may prove to be an eye-opener for Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. One can mislead the people once, but not all the time. Delhiites have seen through his temptations and misleading statements.

Friday, January 5, 2018

Provide full-proof security to database

Right to privacy must not be breached. As Addhar database details contain the records of private information of the people, it must be kept safe and secure. There must be a full proof security of Addhar database details. Government or any organization has no right to know about the private information records of the individuals. The media report that one can have access to the data base of a billion Addhar details for just Rs. 500 may not be authentic, but the Government of the day at the Centre is required to show it publicly that the private details of people recorded by UIDAI are safe, secure and intact. It will exude confidence among them. How a person could get access to the database of a private individual for just paying Rs. 500 and he got its print-out for another Rs. 300 is a matter of investigation. The news had also appeared in the recent past about the leakage of private information by managing to get access to Addhar database, but the Govt. had refuted it very strongly. There must be a thorough probe into the leak of the private information. If the Govt. did not pay immediate attention and plug the loopholes if ever exist anywhere in the database of the Addhar, there is every possibility that it would be abused. Authority of India (UIDAI) has denied the media reports which said that one could have access to a billion Aadhaar details for just Rs. 500. UIDAI has called it a case of misreporting and assured that there has not been any data breach. The Authority has said that the reported case appears to be an instance of misuse of the grievance redressal search facility and assured that it maintains complete log and traceability of the facility and any misuse can be traced and appropriate action is taken. It has reiterated that the grievance redressal search facility gives only limited access to the name and other details and has no access to biometric details. It also stressed that mere availability of Aadhaar number will not lead to financial fraud as for a successful authentication fingerprint or iris of an individual is also required. A day after the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) denied that there was any breach of the Aadhaar database, American whistleblower Edward Snowden has hinted that Aadhaar is open for abuse. Though UIDAI has put forward several facts in support of its claim that there has not been Addhar data breach and it has also said that merely getting information about a private individual cannot lead to financial fraud, a suspicion among the people about the safety of their private information has arisen. It is required on the part of the govt. to display publicly how safe is the Addhar data base. An impression has to be made by the government among the people that it has provided proof security to the Addhar database, which contains the record of private information of the people.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Tighten law and order machinery

The Bhima Koregaon violence led to the death of a 28-year-old man and left four others injured. The violence spread in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. The troublemakers in the state must be dealt with stern action by the Maharashtra government irrespective of their affiliations. The law and order is a state subject. So, it is the duty of Maharashtra government to contain violence and damage to the public property immediately. People protest following the Bhima Koregaon violence, which resulted in road blockades and vandalized city buses near Pune Station on January 2, 2018.It is alleged that right-wing Hindu leaders orchestrated the violence in Pune district that caused the death of a 28-year-old man during bicentennial celebrations of a British-era war. Hindu leaders were alleged to have stoked the violence. Gujarat MLA and SC/ST face in the state Jingesh Mevani and JNU Left-wing students’ leader Omar Khalid also allegedly made controversial statements. Whether it is right-wing Hindu leaders or SC/ST or Left-wing leaders, the law and order machineries must do their work to maintain peace, tranquility and harmony among different sections, castes and communities in the society. The social fabric must not be allowed to be torn for the sake of promoting political interests of any group. BJP is ruling in Maharashtra and at the Centre. Being the ruling party both in the state and at the Centre, the responsibility to maintain peace and harmony rests with it. But since the BJP came to power, social balance appears to have gone awry. A general perception among the weaker section of society is evolving that the BJP protects and promotes the interest of the upper castes and the well-off section in the society. This impression must not be allowed to exist. The state government in Maharashtra must act apolitically by setting up an enquiry committee to go into the whole affairs and whoever is found guilty must be punished stringently. It has also been experienced that some Dalit leaders become over-enthusiastic, aggressive and excited unnecessarily and sees every action of the Narendra Modi-led Government at the Centre as going against them. It is required in the prevailing situation in Maharashtra that no political party should fish in troubled water. The first and foremost responsibility of the state administration and political parties is to work together to restore normalcy as early as possible in the state. Maharashtra govt. must also act swiftly so that the situation may not go out of control. Mumbai is not merely a Metropolitan city but also the commercial capital of India. If the violence spreads in other parts of the state, a message would go out that India's commercial capital is not safe for doing business. So, it is the responsibility of social, political activists and state government to work together to restore normalcy immediately. No leader is above the law of the land. Whoever stokes violence or makes a controversial statement must be brought to book. More than 40 vehicles were burnt or damaged and several houses and shops torched at a time when hundreds of thousands of Dalits were visiting Bhima Koregaon to celebrate an 1818 war between the Peshwa and British. Many believe Dalit soldiers in the British army helped defeat the Peshwa, who was said to have instituted oppressive caste practices. The violence by anyone in society is not permissible. Caste and communal discord should be handled astutely by the govt.

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Realization dawns on the US belatedly

When the US President Donald Trump realized that it was wrong on the part of his country to patronize, protect and promote the interest of Pakistan by giving it 33 billion dollars in aid over 15 years, he began 2018 with the first tweet, giving a stringent message to it. Trump used his first tweet of 2018 to tear into Islamabad. He tweets, "The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools". "They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!" Trump's tweet rattled Pakistan so much that it summoned the US ambassador. Trump's allegation that Pak is safe havens for terrorists has upset Pakistan. The US President also appears to have felt that India was right when it called Pakistan a terrorist state. President Trump has rightly said that when the US was in the hunt for terrorists in Afghanistan, Pakistan instead of acting against them, it provided state patronage. Washington and Kabul have long accused Islamabad of supporting terror groups including the Taliban. There is no stronger proof than the presence of the US's most wanted and world's most dreaded terrorist Osama bin Laden in the safe haven of Pakistan. Though ultimately the US SEAL killed him in Abbottabad near Pak army's headquarters where had been living for the last ten years. Osama was ultimately killed in 2011, and till then Pak was in the good book of the US and in the denial mode about Laden’s presence on its soil. The US should have realized at that time itself that Pak cannot go against terrorism as it is its backbone. Pak army gives all kinds of patronage by putting pressure on the govt. of the country. One thing should also be kept in mind that since the inception of Pakistan, it has been under military rule for half of the period of its existence. To break the back of terror, it is utmost necessary for the US to act against Pak military. The democratically elected government in Pakistan has been the puppet in the hands of the military and whenever confrontation arose between them, the military takes no time in staging the Coup. So, with the arrival of New Year, President Trump mustn’t only tweet and lash at Pak, but he is required to take action on the ground. Pak cannot act against the Mumbai bomb blast mastermind Jamma-Ud-Dawa- boss Hafiz Sayeed nor can it do anything against LeT, JeM and others. All these terror outfits have taken strong roots in Pakistan. So, the US must not lose any time in acting against Pak for its act of promoting terror not only against India but all over the world also. Pak is a rogue state and it deserves to be treated as such. Sense cannot prevail on it. The time has come for the US to put all kinds of sanctions on Pakistan and thereby stopping all aid in the hope that it would act against terror. It will be foolery for the world to believe that Pak will act against terror. It cannot go against terror as it is its instrument of state policy. President Trump must translate his tweet against Pakistan on the ground to the world that how serious he is against terror, which is the No.1 enemy of humanity.