Letters to the Editor: 03 March, 2020

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March 3, 2020

National integration is need of the hour

This refers to your editorial “Humanity at stake in burning Delhi.”We all are aware that India has witnessed brutal communal violence in the pre and post-Independence era. Communal differences come very handy to such people. Small incidents sometimes lead to big riots which result in a large scale violence, loot and arson. They have always resulted in a lot of bloodshed and destruction. Man becomes a wolf to man and is out to kill and destroy. Growing fissiparous tendencies in the country must be controlled on a top priority basis. National integration is the crying need of the hour. It is unfortunate that some fanatic religious groups continue to indulge in objectionable and undesirable activities.

The people in India must come to realize that India is their own country and they have a moral responsibility to build her up into a great land. There is also a negative impact of social media in spreading rumours, disinformation, hate-campaign and fanning violence. Platforms like WhatsApp and Twitter have played an increasing role in sparking communal violence in India. Further, our police can also act much better, if there is political will and if they are given a free hand along with the implementation of recommended police reforms.

Vinod C. Dixit

Speed Post available at fraction of ordinary mail tariff

Postal tariff to mail an ordinary unreliable mail-article (local) weighing 500 gms will be rupees 125 (GST exempted) and through fast and assured delivery of Speed Post will cost just Rs 36 (inclusive of Rs 6 as GST). Such irrationality in mail-tariffs costs heavily to postal-department with premium postal-services like Speed Post not giving desired profits which may compensate heavy losses on subsidised postal-services like post-cards, inland-letter-cards, registered newspapers etc.

Postal-department has different mail-tariffs for local and non-local mail articles sent through premium postal-services like Speed Post, while it is uniform for ordinary postal-services. Premium postal-services have additive of GST, while no GST is added on ordinary postal-services. Imposing GST on selected premium postal-services is like putting revenue from one pocket to another that too with a bias between premium and ordinary postal-services. Tariffs for Speed Post and other premium postal-services should be common for local and non-local mail-articles. Tariffs for ordinary mail-tariff should be revised to rupees 10 per 50 gms or part instead of present Rs 5 per 20 gms or part. Speed Post tariff can be fixed commonly at Rs 20 or 30 (inclusive of GST if imposable) per 50 gms or part both for local and non-local mail-articles.

Foreign-mail tariffs can be fixed for 20 gms or part slab-weight independently for air and sea-surface-mail. Loss-making and unpopular inland-letter-cards should be abolished. However post-card may be retained but priced at rupee one only in meghdoot category where an appreciable part of revenue-loss is offset through sponsoring. All other types of post-cards (business or printed) can be priced at Rs 10. All postal-tariff should be in complete rupee rather than paises with tariff for registered newspapers fixed decades ago can be revised at rupee one.

Postal-department should stop delivering post-cards with rubber-stamps (printed category) to Akashvani where many regular listeners send their choices of film-songs by putting fixed rubber-stamps on ordinary post-cards which must be covered under printed category of post-cards.

Madhu Agrawal

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

MVA is questioned for good governance: Babus get less working days

By

Hema Singh

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March 2, 2020

Since the time the current coalition government of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress came in to power in the state, they have made several decisions and did good work for the masses. Whether it was about the farmer loan wavier, new Education model for BMC schools or for that matter the recent announcement of five days working for government employees, it looks like all have borne results. By this the MVA government is leaving no stone unturned to do things for the betterment of the society.

When AV spoke to Vishwas Utagi, he said, “No, I don’t think this will affect the productivity because it’s a technological era and even if one is on a holiday, he can work 24*7. In that context five days working in a week will not affect at all. As five day working is a worldwide phenomenon and that is not a demand of workers, in fact this has come from the private sector itself and public sector is slowly following their path.”

Talking about the five-day working, the government announced on February 12 that the five days work week for the government officers and employees will begin from February 29 by extending the 45 minutes from the last working hours. According to the government, this new structure would not only improve the quality of life of its employees but will also cut down expenses on fuel and electricity. Reportedly, the employees of the State government have been demanding the five-day work week since the last many years that would benefit nearly 20 lakh government officers and employees.

Siddhant Mohite President OYE – Organization for Youth and Elderly said, “In my opinion, the initiative taken by the Maha Vikas Aghadi Government, of providing only 5 working days according to the global standards, instead of 6 to the government employees is fine, but does the government have trackers in every department to trail daily activities, that will be audited from time to time. How will the government prove accountability without any digital tracking system, is my question.”

Earlier, the working hours for the government employee in Mumbai was from 9.45 am to 5.30 pm and from 10 am to 5.45 pm in the rest of Maharashtra including lunch time of 30 minutes. Also, the employee got holidays on every second and fourth Saturday but by the implementation of new rule the new work hours are – from 9.45 am to 6.15 pm including the lunch break for 30 minutes between 1 pm and 2 pm.

Talking about the same Shivani Lokhande observed, “According to me, this five days working system will not affect the productivity because this rule will give employees the chance to maintain a balance between proper work and personal life. Earlier since there was a six days rule, it stretched a person lot. After getting sufficient two days break from work, in the next week, employees will return fresh and be more focused to work. “

On one hand, the government thinking that giving two days off in a week will reduce the expenses such as electricity, water, diesel and petrol while on the other, government employees can spend time with their families which will boost their quality of life.

However, on the other hand the questions beg here that and which will later bother the people, if the government is giving too much holidays to their employees. And if this is how they will work then how can the government give guarantee for a good governance.

Go to calculate, people will be availing holidays as following:

Sundays : 52 days, Saturdays: 52 days, holidays: approximately 20 days. Additionally, they will avail 15 days casual leaves, 30 days EL (earned leaves), 20 days medical leaves and 15 days special leaves. Counting all these, it comes to 204 days. So the total days, the employees would work will be 365-204=161 days.

But all said and done, a glaring question hanging on the minds of the government is will the employees be able to finish their work in 161 days compared to the earlier 176 days?

Earlier, the total working days for government employees in Maharashtra were 288 days in a year while the total working hours per day were 7:15 hours excluding the 30-minute lunch time. Thus the total work hours in a month were 174 hours and in a year 2088 hours. Due to the five-day work week, the total work days in a year will be 204 while the working hours per month will be 176 and 2112 hours in a year.

While many have hailed with the decision, whereas many private sector employees are not happy with the announcement. Like it is said a coin has two sides one is pros and another is cons and the same scenario has taken place here.

Elaborating about the five-day week, Archana Sharma said, “Firstly, the sustainability about the project is important because if anything that you can implement for the interest of the citizens, it has to have sustainability and also have an implementing strategy. If the govt. is providing offs to its employees, then you have to think about the productivity which comes down automatically. Secondly, if you are not allowing people to work beyond their certain limit then you’re curbing his skill and talent.”

A general observation is that it would be difficult for people to finish the kind of job they have on their tables in so short a period. The government is of the view that with the lessoning of the working days, the productivity of the employees is bound to increase as they will return back to work with a fresh mind.

The holidays would definitely be beneficial for the employee and his/ her family, but what about the development measure? How will the economy of the state be revived? How will they scale the GDP on the right track?

MPs should get good perks so that they don’t become corrupt

By

Vaidehi Taman

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March 2, 2020

In 2019, Madhya Pradesh-based activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur filed a RTI query. The Lok Sabha Secretariat’s First Appellate Authority cited Section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act which authorises the information holding authority to refuse information if it deems it personal. The reply given was actually very strange. The information, the Lok Sabha Secretariat has informed, was “personal”, so details would not be shared. According to the Finance Bill of 2018, former MPs are entitled to a pension of Rs 25,000 every month if they complete their five-year term. The MPs are entitled to an additional Rs 2,000 for every year served as an MP over the five-year period. Under the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954, an MP loses his entitlement to pension and perks in case he is appointed the President, Vice-President, or is re-elected to either House or gets employed in the central or state government.

The Section says that “information which relates to personal information, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual” may not be shared “unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure.” It also adds that this is “provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person.”

The salaries and pensions of parliamentarians are decided by the Parliament through open deliberation and thus, constitute information, which can be placed before Parliament if a member asks for it from the Authority. The RTI query had sought the information of pensions and allowances given to Amarinder Singh, Mehbooba Mufti, Yogi Adityanath, Mamata Banerjee, Sarbananda Sonowal, Nitish Kumar, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Vasundhara Raje, Manohar Parrikar, Kamal Nath, V. Narayanasamy, Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot (current Rajasthan deputy chief minister), between 2013 and 2018 December. All of them have been MPs and later went on to become chief ministers except Pilot. After a year-long hearing, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Chelameswar dismissed a petition that sought the scrapping of pension and perks being given to ex-MPs. The court also rejected a plea to regulate the salary and allowances of sitting MPs. The bench was delivering a judgement in an appeal filed by NGO ‘Lok Prahari‘ against the Allahabad High Court order dismissing its plea alleging that pension and other perks being given to MPs even after demitting office are contrary to Article 14 (Right to Equality) of the Constitution.

The SC agreed with the findings of the Allahabad High Court that Parliament is competent to legislate on pensions for ex-MPs and has the power to prescribe any condition subject to which the pension may be paid. In the process, what the court cleared for former MPs includes life-long pension, travel facilities, telephone calls, free electricity and water unlimited travel by train along with spouse from any place in India to any other place in the country and up to eight air journeys in a year from the MP’s place of residence to Delhi and back when Parliament is in session.

According to this new SC mandate, the spouse of the MP gets unlimited train travel by first class AC at any time in the year and along associate of the former MP get free AC-II tier pass to accompany him/her in all train journeys. The petition had challenged the constitutional validity of the law and sought its scrapping. “Parliament has no power to provide for pensioners benefits to lawmakers without making any law,” it said. 82 per cent of the lawmakers were “crorepatis” and “the poor tax payers should not be made to bear the burden of their pension including their family pension,” the petitioner NGO said. Backing the pension and other perks for MPs, the Centre had told the court that the entitlement of former MPs to get pension and other benefits was “justified” as their dignity has to be maintained even after they complete their tenure as Parliamentarians. He also informed the bench about the Finance Bill 2018 which contains provisions regarding salary and pension of MPs and also about the revision of their allowances after every five years starting from April 1, 2023 on the basis of cost inflation index. The term of appointment of the Member of Parliament (MP) in India is only five years and hence they get pension after five years.

The term of appointment of government servants including Army and civil services is for 25-40 years i.e. until they become sixty years. They still get a full pension after 20 years. An IRS officer, who served Government of India for 25 years, gets the pension of around Rs 90,000 per month, which is half of the total salary received by him at the time of his retirement. A retired Cabinet Secretary of Government of India gets a pension of more than 1, 25,000 per month. Now compare these pensions with the pension of an MP. MP is paid a base salary of
Rs 50,000 per month and is entitled to a pension of only Rs. 20,000 per month. If a MP serves as a member for a period exceeding five years, this pension increases by 1,500 for each additional year of service.

One term MP thus gets lesser pension than even the clerk who has retired in a government on superannuation. This pension is not even 10 per cent of the benefits, which a sitting MP gets. Such benefits are estimated to be more than Rs 3,00,000 per month. Let our MPs get decent salaries and pension so that they don’t have to engage in corruption. But scenario is completely otherwise, in spite getting paid they are neck deep MPs are the representatives of the people and the most important people in democracies as they represent the people of India.

They deserve much more than what in greed of getting more. Their intent is serving themselves than the people. They are getting lawfully now but for that they really need to serve people coming out of glamour posts; they need to slog for the people and their welfare unconditionally. When politics becomes an opportunity for them, why would they be paid our hard earned money is the question here. People’s representatives just gave themselves financial bonanza. One has to complete 21 years of service to become eligible for pension. Why pension for a peoples representative? It is not a government service. No qualifications fixed. No retirement age. It is for the people to raise questions?

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

National capital turns battle field

By

Jayanthy Subramaniam

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March 2, 2020

In this modern times, India is becoming a primitive society where tribes fight each other for economic wealth and power to oppress each other. This ruling Janta Janardhan not even feeling ashamed for the violence that happened in the National capital last week as they are building vote banks for the next election. Any responsible leader in a matured democracy would be ready to offer and resign in such circumstances. The Game of dice that Duryodhana won by deceit but his end may help everyone to realise that only dharma wins and no religious values come to the protection of such people.

The death toll in the communal violence that rocked the national capital since Sunday rose to 46 with 11 more people succumbing to injuries in various hospitals. The national capital was, however, spared from any major clashes, shifting the focus on treatment, investigation, relief and rehabilitation.

A police spokesperson said 48 FIRs have been registered and 514 suspects detained or arrested for questioning so far. Special teams also carried out raids in the Delhi-National Capital region to arrest rioters. Late in the day, a case of murder and arson was lodged against Aam Aadmi Party corporator Tahir Hussain and other unidentified persons at the Dayalpur police station.

While Mr. Hussain denied any involvement in the riots or the killing of an Intelligence Bureau man whose family had pointed fingers at him, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called for “double punishment” if any party men are found involved.

The Delhi CM also announced that the Delhi government will provide an ex-gratia of Rs. 10 lakh to families of those who lost their lives in the violence. The government will also pay for the treatment of those injured at private hospitals under the Farishtey scheme has now been extended to riot victims. He also announced an ex gratia of Rs. 5 lakh each for those sustaining permanent damage and Rs. 2 lakh and Rs. 20,000 respectively for those with serious and minor injuries. Kejriwal said the office of the Divisional Commissioner will be the nodal point for all relief and rehabilitation activities from the North East district headquarters. But who will give back the lost life of innocent human beings?

India always faces the danger of the explosive built in animosity between the two religious communities. One of the most undefinable cases are when one group cannot and will not accept the national laws and wants to create and live by their own version of laws. The other group is vehemently suspicious of their motives. When one perceives the government is unwilling or unable to stem the tide, they take matters into their own hands often with catastrophic consequences. Often it is a balancing act for the government.

India will have to remain a unified nation under unified laws to be viable. Individual religions have individual manifestos, but no one’s manifesto can be supreme. The politicians are to blame for that. It is purely creation of Indian misguided opposition parties and they are responsible for the death and destruction of beautiful Delhi. Clearly, anti-social and anti-nationalists are reaping advantages by creating such mayhem. Unfortunately, our politicians are causing rift in the society by beguiling the masses. Media is also not doing enough to make people aware. And Janta Janardhan suffers for no fault of them.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Letters to the Editor: 2 March, 2020

By

Web Team

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March 2, 2020

Novel Coronavirus

The deadly disease, novel Coronavirus is in limelight globally which has created menace for several countries like India, France, China, Indonesia, Canada, USA, Japan, Thailand, Sri Lanka and even Pakistan. The virus is spreading like wildfire engulfing many people around the world. In China, the death toll due to the lethal virus has reached 250 and around 15, 000 people have been infected so far.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) indulged in taking immediate measures as the virus rang the alarming bells with a sudden rise. The Coronavirus is transmitted person to person through the air by coughing and sneezing, touching or shaking hands, and touching objects surrounded with that virus. However, the severe symptoms include fever, pneumonia, kidney failure and dreadful death. Unfortunately, the authorities and officials could not make vaccines available, but the virus can be controlled through effective and responsive conduct like washing hands with soap. Avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands. Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Jubel D’Cruz

India should remain cautious to prevent COVID-19

COVID-19 is the reason global indices have collapsed and India is no exception. WHO’s latest briefing indicate that the Coronovirus cases emerging outside China was for the first-time more than reported inside the Chinese territory which is worrisome. It is a gloom and doom scenario till there is anti-virus to check the disease and a fear is being built each passing day which is the reason why markets the world over are collapsing. The role of China in world economy is that of ‘salt and spices’ without which no recipe can be complete.

Italy is now the worst affected nation after China and with Singapore as well as other Asian countries red flagging the disease, India should be very cautious as health care facilities on our shores are very poor and a few cases are good enough for the epidemic spreading like wildfire in our country. The government should form an top level committee of experts to not just take measures to deal with the epidemic but also its economic implications which could even be more deadly than the disease.

S.N. Kabra

Department of Posts should issue sponsored postal-stamps

Indian Post should extend system of sponsorship for issuing sponsored postal-stamps on commercial lines like is presently done in case of post-cards and Inland-Letter-Cards. Sponsored postal-stamps with some minimum stipulated number can carry advertisements or other messages desired by sponsors to be endorsed by a committee of the Department with sponsorship-charge fixed per printed stamp. System will give dual-edged enormous extra revenue-earning firstly from sponsorship and secondly by making sponsoring companies shifting from private courier-companies to premier postal-services provided by India Post.

To induce newness in system and for earning extra revenue through philately, India Post should traditionally issue an altogether new definitive series of postal-stamps and postal-stationery simultaneously in all denominations every year on first day of new financial year which should also be date of revision of postal-tariffs if any. However colour of a particular denomination of a postal-stamp of definitive series should be same but with change in design on basis of theme selected for that year. A representative of main opposition party should be traditionally included in the advisory-body to decide on issue of new postal-stamps to avoid any political bias in choosing personalities to be figured on postal-stamps.

Madhu Agrawal

Ban campus politics

The Kerala High Court has come out with a verdict recently banning all forms of agitations by student groups in school and college campuses that disrupt functioning of educational institutions and cause inexplicable hindrance to the smooth functioning of educational institutions.

The HC has asked for banning of all forms of agitations including gherao and dharnas on the campuses. The HC further instructed that no one can be persuaded to participate in such protests. The court rightly said that educational institutions are meant for academic-related activities and not for protests. It also said no one has the right to violate the fundamental rights of other students.

The court three years ago had said if any student is found to be indulging in such activities, he or she would make himself or herself liable to be expelled or rusticated. Due to political interference and callousness on the part of stakeholders political conflicts continued.

The present verdict comes as a result of petitions filed by various college and school managements against agitations on campuses disrupting the peaceful atmosphere. The court said educational institutions can be made a venue for peaceful discussions and debates.

The courts judgement is laudable as campus politics is sadly going from bad to worse. In the past student politics helped students to train themselves as responsible citizens to work for the welfare of the student community as well as the society .Violence was present in the past but not like what we see now- so heart breaking, brutal, horrendous and blood curdling. They are used as death squads by the political parties and factions for their selfish motives. There are some Indian states that don’t allow politics in the campus and is one of the reason that most of the campuses there witness students really enjoying their life and their studies and at the same time grooming themselves to become responsible citizens rather than becoming pawns in the hands of parties and organisations that exploit young hearts, to achieve their vested interests.

M Pradyu

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

World’s largest temple coming up in Bengal

By

Afternoon Voice

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March 2, 2020

Vedic Planetarium,Vedic, Planetarium,Bengal,mayapur,West Bengal,Kolkata,largest temple in india,largest temple,temple,largest — Image Courtesy: tovp.org

Bengal is a land of many firsts. Open the history book of Bengal and you will find many. But let bygone be bygone. Do you know that Bengal will be the first state that will sport the country’s first underwater metro?
Now, there is a second.

The largest temple in the world will open its doors for the people this month. Located in Mayapur in Nadia district of West Bengal, the temple of Vedic Planetarium has multiple first-evers in the world. The entire temple is nothing less than a palace of modern times with the biggest chandeliers and state of the art technology to broadcast prayers and offerings live worldwide. Incidentally, Mayapur is the headquarter of International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

The Temple of Vedic Planetarium is all set to unveil the first-of-its-kind pujari floor spread across one lakh square feet as it moves one step closer to its target of completion by 2022.

The construction began a decade ago and more than two crore kilograms of cement have already been used in building the structure. It will have one lakh square feet of every floor and what makes it even more beautiful is the largest dome in the world.

Being made with an intention to spread the vedic culture and wisdom across the world through a scientific and authoritative presentation based on vedic knowledge, the 380-feet high temple has special Blue Bolivian Marble used to add the effect of western architecture to the Temple.

Talking of the Vedic Planetarium, managing director Sadabhuja Das said, “This temple is the mixture of the East and the West. The marble has been imported from Vietnam. We also procured marble from India. The temple is unique because the pujari floor is 2.5 acres and the temple floor is 60 metres in diameter. The house of deities is unique as well. We are building 20 metre long vedic chandeliers.”

The massiveness of the temple is such that one floor will accommodate more 10,000 devotees at a time who can pray, sing and even dance in front of Lord Krishna to live up to the tradition of the ISKCON temple.

Explaining it further, Das added, “Our founder Acharya Prabhupada wanted to build something that will attract the entire world to Mayapur. Mayapur had been the birthplace of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He wanted that all the people should come and relish the Odharyabhav, the merciful form of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. We believe that this with this kind of ability – to be able to accommodate 20,000 people – the doors of the temple will be open across all communities, cutting across all ethnic backgrounds, all religious background, and no caste barriers. It is open for all. People can come here, chant, dance before the Lord and be a part of the “Saint Kirtan Movement.”

Going by statistics around 70 lakh people arrive every year in Mayapur. Recently, WB chief minister Mamata Banerjee declared Mayapur as a Heritage City.

Subrato, head of communication in the temple said, “We got lot of support from the Mamata Banerjee government. I am sure that after the temple opens, it will give a major boost to the tourism industry.”

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

BJP bent on inciting unrest: Jitendra Awhad

By

Suraj Chandran

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March 1, 2020

Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad has stated that just like by inciting violence in Delhi, the BJP wanted to incite unrest in Mumbai, but since Uddhav Thackeray is the Chief Minister of the State, they failed to achieve their objective here. Awhad was addressing a meet of the NCP party workers at Somaiya grounds, Chunabhatti, Sion where he said this.

Awhad targeted the BJP for its failure to control the Delhi violence. BJP is indulging in politics of communalism and trying to create a rift in the society and the Delhi violence is the right example of this. The minister also slammed Home Minister Amit Shah for maintaining silence over the violence that rocked the capital between anti and pro Citizenship (Amendment) Act protestors.

When AV spoke to NCP MLC Vidya Chavan she said, “This violence has been sponsored by the central government. Amit Shah is responsible for the violence in Delhi. They want to defame Muslims by hook or crook. BJP is resorting to violence to hide its failures.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah is keen to replicate the Delhi violence pattern across the country, Awhad observed. At a time when the unemployment is increasing in the country and economic growth has fallen, the BJP is trying to hide its failures by inciting violence in Delhi. Awhad compared the Delhi violence to the 2002 Godhra violence. BJP has been receiving flak from the opposition for mismanaging the economy.

BJP spokesperson Vishwas Pathak said, “BJP doesn’t indulge in such low-level politics. How can BJP incite violence when the US President was on a visit to India? We demand that strict action should be taken against the accused responsible for violence.”

The Delhi Police has registered 167 FIRs and arrested or detained 885 people in connection with the violence that erupted in north-east Delhi. The death toll in the violence has gone up to 42. More than 250 people have sustained injuries in the clashes. Police have registered 13 cases for provocative posts on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The violence which started as minor clashes between pro and anti-CAA protestors has grown into full blown violence between the Hindus and the Muslims. Mosques, shops and homes of Muslims were attacked. Hindu rioters had stopped journalists covering the violence and were asked about their religion. Congress and NCP have already demanded Amit Shah’s resignation for his failure to maintain peace.

Amit Shah carries ‘Goli Maro’ slogan to Kolkata

By

Vaidehi Taman

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March 1, 2020

The reverberations of the Delhi violence that were fuelled by hate speeches is still continuing. The hate spewing ‘Goli Maro’ slogan was heard near a rally in Kolkata. The rally was addressed by Amit Shah who spoke in favour of the contentious citizenship law and accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of “triggering riots” and “burning trains” to stop the law. Hate speech by a section of senior BJP leaders and ministers was seen as a key reason for the violence in Delhi that flared up earlier this week. It started as clashes between supporters and opponents of the law meant to expedite citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who had to flee due to religious persecution. But soon, the violence flew. For more than four days, goons armed with iron rods, stones and hockey sticks took to the streets thrashing, burning and looting. By the end of it, 46 people were dead and more than 250 were injured.

In Kolkata, the circumstances reflect the same pattern. For weeks, the city has been witnessing several Shaheen Bagh-inspired sit-in protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The Chief Minister who has been one of the vocal opponents of the law held several marches against it in the city and its outskirts. The suggestion of the use of bullets against “traitors” and “terrorists” used to describe protesters against the CAA and NRC came from a huge section of senior BJP leaders and ministers in the run-up to the Delhi assembly election held last month. But after the Arvind Kejriwal government returned to power with another overwhelming majority, Amit Shah had admitted the possibility that the hate speeches had contributed to the BJP’s dismal performance.

The cycle of political violence in West Bengal portends to persist long after the 2019 general elections are over. It may actually turn worse even if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) manages to make a perceptible dent in the vote bank of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for contradictions give birth to confrontation and there are no dearth of contradictions in West Bengal’s politics which has been centred around the TMC till now. The factors that lead to violence are all intact and both the parties, it seems, are ready to fight it out both politically and physically on the streets.

As a matter of fact, the TMC is now not too sure of the support of the huge chunk of Muslim voters that it has enjoyed so far. The composition of the Muslim vote bank in West Bengal is a little curious. The most aggressive of them are those who came in from Bangladesh and are heavily influenced by the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islam and the Urdu speaking Muslims of Kolkata and its adjacent industrial areas. Many of the latter group comprises those who had shifted to East Pakistan as Muhajirs after Independence, but had to come back to West Bengal after the birth of Bangladesh. BJP making dent in TMCs vote bank may exacerbate the situation.

The TMC, through various religious leaders and opinion-makers, has managed to keep them on its side, while the rest of the Muslim population comprising ‘indigenous’ Bengali Muslims, mostly small and landless farmers have been led by their brethren. But the situation is changing fast particularly because indigenous Bengali Muslims are afraid of a Hindu backlash. They are now coming out into the open pleading for peaceful co-existence. Now with the BJP getting stronger in the state, the TMC is trying to strike a fine balance between the two communities. But public memory is not as short as it is believed to be. While there are possibilities of a communal rift and clashes, the TMC is likely to lose its lead role as the arbiter. The Muslims may seek other power centres for protection.

What’s more, a divide between the Muslims of West Bengal and the aggressive infiltrators and Urdu-speakers may make the situation easier for BJP while TMC will never be able to recover from the loss of its oldest ally in the state. The ‘indigenous’ Muslims shifted their allegiance from the CPM to the TMC during the Nandigram uprising in 2006-07. Nandigram is a Muslim-dominated area. Two, the TMC has triggered a dangerous game of brinkmanship. It did so by changing the political narrative just before the last phase of polling. Since the ‘bhadralok’ would rather prefer democracy, a goon-free system and clean and impartial governance which the TMC cannot provide at short notice, Banerjee changed the tone and tenor of her tirades against Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. As the Lok Sabha polls draw to a close, the perception that the TMC only has time till the 2021 Assembly elections is growing strong. So, the factions, who are not in a position to control the syndicates and other avenues of making money are getting increasingly fidgety.

Political observers across party lines are sure that even if the BJP becomes a force to reckon with in the state, as long as the TMC has the power to hand out state doles, it will have ample supplies of musclemen and hangers-on who depend solely on ‘state funding’. And since the BJP has proved this time that it’s not going to retreat in the face of violence, the clashes are going to be bloodier in the not-so-distant future. It seems both the TMC and the BJP have created a political demon that feeds on the never-ending cycle of violence in the state. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, 16 political workers were killed across India in poll-related violence; seven of them were in West Bengal. Between 1999 and 2016, violence in West Bengal saw 365 politically motivated murders. Every phase has had its own share of headlines for violence that was unleashed on and around the polling day. Murders, clashes, stone pelting, lathi charge, firing were then the call of the day.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Trinamool Congress and the Left parties have been accusing each other of attacking and murdering their workers and supporters. This cycle of accusations and counter-accusations did not come up all of a sudden. But in the immediate context, it started in the run-up to the Panchayat elections that were held in West Bengal last year.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

India Junction – A Window to the Nation

By

C K Subramaniam

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March 1, 2020

Indian Railways is deeply entrenched in public consciousness and needs no introduction as such. The Indian Railways provides us with a practical, convenient mode of transport, but its contribution to Indian life goes much beyond that and we are really proud of the Indian Railways. The book, ‘India Junction – A Window to the Nation’ states a saga of the long an action-packed journey of Indian Railways starting from 1853 to the present day with in detail, methodical thesis that are loaded with history; gorgeous travel pieces; and some truly wonderful and exceptional photo features, which commemorates the modifications, changes and convenience that the Railways has brought about in our lives; and looks at how the Railways itself has changed over time. The book shows that India got its first taste of Railway mode of transportation in the year 1853 when train was launched from Bombay to Thane.

The Indian Railways is an Indian state-owned enterprise which began as a railway link connecting Bombay with Thane, Kalyan and with the Thal and Bhore Ghats inclines. It was first conceived by George Clark, the Chief Engineer of the Bombay Government, in 1843 when he visited Bhandup. The Railway Board manages and oversees all the services related to passenger railways, freight services, parcel carrier services and other services undertaken by the Indian Railways. Covering over 108,706 km of tracks, the Indian Railways is one of the world’s largest railway networks.

The Railways is the lifeline of the nation and, in many ways, its development has been deeply intertwined with the destiny of India. India Junction edited by Seema Sharma is a treasure to preserve for historians going through the details of Indian Railways. The book carried both black and white and colour photographs. Railways Filmy Chakkar was well covered with a coverage on Western Railway. The highlight of the photographs was of Amitabh Bachchan travelling in a local train for the promotion of Kaun Banega Crorepati. The train keeps going, the films keep rolling, and we watch in fascination as our lives play out on the parallel tracks that meet somewhere in the distance, somewhere out at infinity. We still remember the way how “Burning Train” was filmed in the platform number one of the New Delhi Railway Station and the memory still lingers in our mind.

Featuring award-winning and renowned authors, including Sir Mark Tully, Ruskin Bond, Gillian Wright, Ian J. Kerr, Jerry Pinto, Omair Ahmad, Kartik Iyengar, Shoba Narayan, Sandipan Deb and Sharmila Kantha, India Junction will interest readers of all hues: students of history, travel buffs, and everyone who loves a good railway yarn. It is a Rupa Publications costing Rs.695/- A must buy for people, who follow Indian Railways. Indian Railways is steadily marching forward towards the future and there is no doubt about it. Paper pack of the issue costs at Rs.349/=

Wikipedia might close shop in India!

By

Afternoon Voice

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March 1, 2020

For every detail of someone or the other, we refer to Wikipedia though we do not know what is going on behind the scene.

In the fear of the Indian government’s drafted provisions related to regulating the internet, Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organisation that hosts and operates Wikipedia has expressed fears that it would become difficult for the company to run the free knowledge-sharing platform. In terms of the total number of users, India accounts for the fifth-largest market for Wikipedia. The free knowledge and information sharing platform was visited 773 mn times by Indians in 2019.

Talking on the subject, Wikimedia’s senior communications director Anusha Alikhan said that the company is structured by individual languages, not geographies. She also highlighted that removing content from one country and allowing the same in the other doesn’t fit with Wikipedia’sways of working. “We can’t restrict changes inside a Wikipedia article from being visible in one country and not another,” she added.

According to the drafted provisions, internet companies will have to take off their online content within 24 hours on the government’s request. Once flagged, these companies will also have to even share crucial information within 72 hours to the government.

These rules also make it mandatory for internet companies to leverage automated tools to detect and remove any content which promotes illicit information. As these laws will force Wikimedia to file its content, the company has now raised its concerns. “The automated filtering of user uploads, either explicitly or implicitly,” Anushka added.

Wikimedia has also pointed out that the drafted intermediary liability rules that make it mandatory for all internet companies having over 5 mn users from India to set up their offices in the country will also pose difficulties for the company to operate in India.

Wikimedia legal director Stephen LaPorte said that if the government passes drafted intermediary liability rules, then it would take a significant amount of effort and resources to comply with the draft and keep Wikipedia in operation.

Wikipedia is a multilingual online encyclopedia created and maintained as an open collaboration project by a community of volunteer editors using a wiki-based editing system. It is the largest and most popular general reference work on the World Wide Web and is one of the most popular websites ranked by Alexa as of January 2020. It features exclusively free content with no commercial ads.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)