Letter to IE Chief Editor Shekhar Gupta

Dear Mr Gupta,

I am sorry to say that your commentary:"Our Singapore fantasy"(National Interest column-Indian Express-June 25)was completely out of focus-and even hypocritical.  In your deep-seated prejudice against Anna Hazare and his anti-corruption movement("India Against Corruption"-IAC), you have been ridiculing and misrepresenting them from the very beginning. At no stage, you have objectively analysed the divergence between Hazare and his men and the five Central Ministers in the Joint Drafting Committee of the Lokpal Bill. For instance, the demand for Prime Minister to come under the Bill's ambit, as also the entire bureaucracy and the Members of the Parliament. While a large majority of Indians support these demands of the Hazare team, the government opposes them. Yet, you have accused  the anti-corruption campaigners of "impatience" with democratic processes and "extra-parliamentary" approach.

Although I am not a member of the  IAC movement nor I hold any brief for them, I have closely watched their moves and read their statements, as an ordinary, concerned Indian citizen, to convince myself that these people are as attached to democracy as you and I; they seem determined to work within the democratic parameters. Hence, they are not only debating on TV news channels in the presence of studio audiences as also in public fora, they want all discussions with the govt., including the drafting committee proceedings, to be telecast as a proof of their adherence to transparency. They are also meeting all political parties to acquaint them with their draft as well as the govt draft to seek their support in the Parliament when the bill comes for discussion and approval. As regards the selection of the Lokpal and his team, what is your idea on its composition? Will you give  representation to dalits, SCs, STs, OBCs,etc., and not choose experienced, honest people from the judiciary, bureaucracy, politics, academia, and so on?

Thus, this preference for "Singapore fantasy" seems to be your own figment of imagination. How many times have you criticised the disarray and confusion in the ruling Congress alliance and its misgovernance or non-governance? But, when some one else does it, you do not like it! Similarly, your hypocrisy on casteism shows. You mocked your high class, "upper crust" audience for their lack of communication and interaction with dalits, tribals, etc. May I ask you the same question? How many dalits, tribals, SCs you have befriended and appointed in your newspaper without suitable merit and credentials? Is this the only proof of one's liberalism and inclusivism in your eyes?

Yours truly,
M.Ratan
New Delhi  

Cong charge against Hazare team:"Tyranny of unelected"

The Congress spokesman Manish Tewari, notoriously combative, arrogant and self-righteous, recently came out with an utterly thoughtless and despicable charge against the Anna Hazare team which is currently engaged with some UPA Ministers to jointly draft a Lokpal bill for consideration of the nation and the Parliament. He accused them of the "tyranny of the unelected and the unelectable"! In other words, the ruling Congress party was telling the representatives of the people's anti-corruption movement that since you were not elected, you have no right to "dictate" to those who are elected. If the election was the sole criterion for taking up a public cause, why the UPA govt. accepeted Anna Hazare's demand for a strong Lokpal bill in the first place, after tremendous nation-wide support to his indefinite fast in this regard? Why did it listen to the voice of "the unelected"? Does it not show dupilicity and dishonesty? And why Mrs Sonia Gandhi has unleashed her barking dogs to attack Anna and his associates and their mythical backers-the RSS? If she and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were sincere and serious about tackling corruption, why did they not use this golden opportunity to work with the non-political group of people to draft a credible and strong anti-corruption measure for the approval of the Parliament?

All democratic societies have room for public pressure groups to influence and offer helpful inputs to elected politicians and parliamentarians in the interest of the people at large. Wisdom and public-spiritedness is not the monopoly of the elected. Otherwise, the people like Gandhiji, Vinobha Bhave and Jaya Prakash Narain  would have been fringe players and not widely popular, respected, influential leaders. The JP movement  succeeded in toppling the Indira Gandhi authoritarianism. Was he elected?

Unfortunately, under our present electoral system, polluted by money and muscle power as well as casteism, criminals and history-sheeters get elected in large numbers. How can one forget the manner in which the  previous Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav catapulted his illiterate wife from the kitchen to the Chief Minister's chair as he was jailed under a corruption charge?  Also, we have a classic case of  "a poor Dalit ki beti"(daughter of a poor scheduled caste) becoming a crorepati(multi-millionaire) in a decade, by manipulating Dalit and minority vote in her favour to capture the office of Chief Minister.  It is quite easy for powerful politicians to get their children, daughters-in-law and sons-in-law, elected to legislatures. Thus, what is so sacred and holy about elections?  If the elections are regarded as supremely important, why the Congress party has allowed an unelected bureaucrat-turned-politician to occupy Prime Minister's office for two terms(ten years) without fighting an election? Dr Singh is not a member of the Lok Sabha, hence, he cannot hold the office of the Leader of the House, nor he can vote in the House. Having lost one Lok Sabha election earlier, he refuses to fight another Lok Sabha election;  he has chosen the convenient and comfortable Rajya Sabha route to enter Parliament. Why is the party not insisting on his respecting the long established convention of the Prime Minister belonging to the Lok Sabha? All his predecesors-Jawaharlal /Nehru, Mrs Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, did so. Why one norm for Hazare's men and another for their PM?  

PM and his deputy Mukherjee attack anti-corruption groups

Two recent statements-one by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, justifying the police brutality against peaceful followers of Baba Ramdev at the Ramlila Maidan, past midnight on June 5, when they were sleeping, and another by his deputy Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister, made in Kolkata on June 12, in which he accused Anna Hazare, the  leader of the anti-corruption movement, of "subverting democracy", are very ominous. Both unmistakably suggest the depth of insensitivity, illogicality and the Emergency-type misuse of power, to which they have fallen.

Take the case of the PM's assertion that he had no alternative but to order the police armed with lathis and teargas bullets to throw the sleeping elderly men, women and children out on the streets at that unearthly hour. Dr Singh did not explain how the assembled peaceful anti-corruption protestors were threatening his govt and the Capital's law and order. Baba Ramdev's camp was on for a couple of days in the June heat without any untoward incident. It is reported that an official paper was delivered to the Baba at 11.30pm, an hour or so before the police assault, indicating that most his demands against corruption and black money had been accepted. But without waiting for the yoga guru's response, the police action was launched, injuring scores of  camp-dwellers. One lady in 50s continues to be in coma. Yet, the PM insists that he had no option  but to resort to undemocratic, repressive and cruel operation against his peaceful citizens! Does it do any credit to his image as a man of integrity and high moral values? Has he not forfeited his right to remain in office? The irony is that a few days ago, he had sent four of his senior ministers, led by his deputy, Pranab Mukherjee, to receive the Baba at the airport and to negotiate with him.

Now, the same Mukherjee who is co-chairing the Joint Drafting Committee for the Lokpal Bill alongwith Anna Hazare and his men, is accusing the Gandhian of "subverting democracy". He and his govt had agreed with Hazare 's time-table for the passage of the anti-corruption bill without bothering to consult opposition parties in the Parliament. Now,  in a sudden somersault, he declares that the Parliament is supreme and no one can dictate to it. Is it'nt a double-speak and double-act? Anna Hazare activists have rightly accused the Mukherjee talk as an indication of "elected Tanashahi"(autocracy). 

Post-midnight police assault on Ramdev camp in Delhi

Past midnight, around 1.00 am, Sunday June 5, witnessed the blackest chapter of the UPA-2 when the Delhi Police, controlled by the Central government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, staged an assault on the camp of Baba Ramdev at the Ramlila Ground in Delhi to evict him and thousands of his followers who were sleeping in their tents. Images of the brutal happening on Indian TV news channels that must have been seen all over the world have clearly done enormous damage to India's "vibrant" democracy, thanks to the moral and mental bankruptcy of its ruling leadership. The barbaric attack on children, women and elderly men who had assembled in the Capital a couple of days ago, to show solidarity with the yoga guru Ramdev in his anti-corruption campaign through Gandhian fast, is reminiscent of the dreadful Emergency era of Mrs Sonia Gandhi's mother-in-law, Mrs Indira Gandhi in June 1975. It was a peaceful show of support and the Swamiji had himself repeatedly assured that it would remain so. Hence, for this ruthless breach of people's fundamental right for peaceful protest in a democracy, Baba Ramdev has publicly accused foreign-born super Prime Minister, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of the UPA, as the main culprit.

Describing the police action as an "abominable misdeed", India's nationalist daily, the Pioneer has indicted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a "morally decrepit wimp" and "dishonest" head of government who has presided over "the most corrupt regime India has ever witnessed". The dupilicity of the UPA govt. was evident in the manner in which it handled-rather mishandled-the Anna Hazare and the Ramdev fasts. Since the Yoga guru posed a much bigger challenge in terms of sheer numbers of his followers, the regime clearly panicked, going from one extreme to another. First, the Baba was provided a red carpet treatment at the Delhi airport when four senior Ministers led by Pranab Mukherjee travelled there to receive, placate and negotiate with him. While publicly announcing a full understanding with the Swamiji on his major demands, Kapil Sibal, acting as the spokesman,  with his tendency to being clever by half, mixed suavity with firmness, implying an obvious threat. Baba  Ramedev was only insisting on a written commitment by the govt which Sibal could have promptly given on the Saturday evening itself. Instead of despatching the crucial piece of paper to the Ramlila maidan, suddenly choosing the hour of thieves and evil men, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh despatched gendarmes with  lathis and tear gas bullets to pounce on unarmed, peaceful people in thousands to oust them at that unearthly hour from their tents. If the government's motives and intentions were honest and civilised, why did they not choose a daylight hour for the eviction? On the top of this cruelty, the Congress general secretary, the dynasty's loyalist foot soldier, Digvijay Singh who had earned notoriety by championing the cause of the Batla House terrorists, has called its victim, Ramdev, "a thug"!

Unfortunately, some of the TV news anchors-particularly English ones-are being less than honest and impartial:Their main concern is not the Baba's anti-corruption movement but an obsessive fear that it is being "hijacked" by the BJP, the RSS, the VHP and Sadhvi Rithambara;they have deliberately overlooked the repeated assertion of social activists like Mrs Kiran Bedi and a few others that all Indians despite their affiliations are welcome and  have the democratic right to support the anti-corruption campaign. Are these people antinationals and terrorists? Do these TV news overlords similarly object to the participation of persons like Swami Agnivesh and Prashant Bhushan who are known supporters of Maoist terrorists? If my memory serves me right, Bhushan is also a staunch advocate of terrorists who attacked the Parliament. Why these double standards?       

Second anniversary of UPA-2

The ruling Congress recently celebrated the second anniversary of the UPA's second term with a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It was a low key affair. The major southern ally-the DMK, that is upset with the senior partner because of the arrest and detention in the Tihar jail of Kanimozhi, the daughter of its leader M.Karunanidhi, on the corruption charges registered by the CBI, was represented at the dinner party by a single leader. There was hardly any public participation or enthusiasm on display for the occasion. Thus, the people's mood seemed glum due to excessive rise of prices of essential commodities. The price of petrol with the latest hike of Rs.5, crossed Rs 63/- per litre in Delhi and was close to Rs.70/- in other metros. The excuse advanced by the ruling party spokesmen was that they could do nothing to intervene as market forces determined the price. When critics and opponents of the petrol hike reminded  Finance Minister  Pranab Mukherjee and others that how come the increase talked about much earlier was delayed for several weeks due to State elections to avoid voter backlash, they had no answer.

As if the series of scams, including 2G spectrum allocation and Commonwealth Games, and terrible, uncontrolled inflation, were not enough to distress and disillusion the common people, the ruling party unleashed several legislative proposals in the fields of food security for BPL and "average" families, land acquisition, communal violence, etc. Although these were supposed to deal with serious problems to help common people, they were found to be controversial and counter-productive, with potential for more harm than good. All of these proposals were drafted by Mrs Sonia Gandhi's favourite National Advisory Council(NAC), a virtual parallel centre of decision-making headed by Mrs Gandhi herself which is not accountable to the Parliament or any other official agency.

On the top of that irresponsibility and insensitivity is the loose cannon and foot-in-the mouth tendency of some Cabinet Ministers and senior general secretaries of the party. We recently witnessed Rahul Gandhi and Digvijay Singh's verbal excesses relating to alleged massacre of farmers of the Greater NOIDA villages of Bhatta-Parsaul and the alleged rape of women without any reliable evidence. Singh was earlier guilty of anti-national comments in support of Batla House terrorists. And the latest case of utter impropriety and stupidity is the fulmination of  Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh against the IIT/IIM faculties, calling them almost sub-standard, totally ignoring the fact that these national institutes have made a name for themselves and India worldwide due to the high quality of their alumni. How can "world class students" be produced by a less than world class faculty? Does it make sense? With such Ministers in the Indian govt., do we need any external enemies to malign the country?    

Mamata takes charge

A new chapter has begun in West Bengal with Mamata Bannerjee taking over as the first woman Chief Minister of the State. It was a remarkable achievement on her part to single-handedly topple a powerful leftist regime that was in office for 34 long years. The change in West Bengal was long overdue and Ms Bannerjee became the catalyst for it. However, her real test begins now. It is easy to sway the electorate which is already fed up with an incumbent regime that ruled over them for over three decades, with emotional issues at a given time. One has to wait and watch whether she delivers what she has promised, sooner than later. Good governance is a long and painstaking effort.

There is no dearth of sceptics and cynics who keep reminding us about Ms Bannerjee's unimpressive record as Union Railway Minister. On the top of it, she is known as mercurial and maverick with her own eccentricities. Once in power as Chief Minister of a volatile and sophisticated people, she has to lead with sagacity, finesse and patience, taking every one along.

Her Finance Minister Dr Amit Mitra, the erstwhile FICCI honcho, who starts his political career with a lot of media goodwill, however, disappointed me somewhat in his maiden TV interview on Headlines Today, May 20 night, He sounded too much of a faithful-more on the lines of a religious convert who chants "Allah, Allah, more than necessary, defending his leader Mamata Bannerjee whom he mysteriously insisted on repeatedly calling as "Mamata Bandhopadhya"(perhaps a more puritanical Bengali surname and not the Anglicised one); one has not heard her ever use "Bandhopadhya" as her surname. Ms Bannerjee struck her own discordant note at her first press conference as Chief Minister when she enthusiastically embraced the Congress minoritism plank as one of her foremost priorities. It seemed like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's "Muslim first" slogan following the Sachar committee's recommendations. 

Karnataka Governor Bhardwaj's motivated move

It is a painful fact of Indian political life that more often than not, political appointees to important constitutional posts act more as agents or loyal workers of the ruling party at the Centre to promote its agenda, rather than serving as impartial, objective functionaries within the clearly defined parameters of the Constitution and the apex court's relevant judgements. Frankly speaking, the Indian National Congress that has ruled at the Centre close to nearly five decades since independence, shares the major part of the guilt in this respect.

For almost first twenty years during the prime ministership of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and then Mr Lal Bahadur Shastri who was unfortunately in office briefly, these constitutional appointments were generally made fairly, keeping high moral values and merit in mind. The decline and degeneration started  with Mrs Indira Gandhi when the emphasis suddenly was on committed bureaucracy and judiciary. The Emergency excesses did not spare even highly respected bureaucrats like Mr PN Haksar, the then Principal Secretary of the Prime Minister,  because he was perceived to be independent-minded and unhappy with Sanjay Gandhi's ruthless shenanigans. Mr Haksar's in-laws' well-known shop in the Connaught Place was raided to give him a signal "to behave". Arbitrary judicial appointments and promotions of "committed" judges during the dark era of 19 months are common knowledge.

The appointment of Governors like Mr HR Bhardwaj is the product of that reprehensible and politically motivated mindset. For them, loyalty to the ruling dynasty is supreme; if, in the process, constitutional proprieties are thrown to the winds, so be it. Mr Bhardwaj did enough damage to the reputation of the UPA government when he was the Union Law Minister. Finally, he had to be eased out of his post but, instead of sending him home, he was kicked up to the Governor's office, that too in the southern State of Karnataka where the opposition party, the BJP, had trounced his party to form its first State govt. Obviously, to keep his party bosses in Delhi happy, he was needling the BJP govt from the very outset. The recent Supreme Court judgement reinstating the disqualified BJP MLAs who had openly rebelled against the party govt thus inviting the wrath of the anti-defection law, gave Governor Bhardwaj his excuse to recommend the Yeddyurappa govt.'s dismissal and imposing the President's rule-in effect, his rule. Unfortunately for Mr Bhardwaj, however, in the face of strong BJP reaction in Delhi, better sense seems to have  prevailed at the Centre: the Governor's recommendation was rejected. There is speculation in the media that dejected and humiliated Mr Bhardwaj may choose to resign.