Letters to the Editor: 20 January, 2020

By

-

January 20, 2020

1Atrocities against women should not be tolerated

Dowry related death in the 21th Century is a shame and stigma on our nation and every citizen should raise his voice against such evil still prevalent in our society. Chartered Accountant Manisha Shelke hanging herself to death after constant torture from her in-laws is sad and a shame on our society that fairer sex is still tortured for dowry in our country even in the 21st century. Pervert mindset I suppose as well as economic slowdown in our country where even the bread earner of the family trying to depend on the better halfs income for survival.

Fairer sex deserves respect and atrocities against women should not be tolerated. People involved in dowry deaths should not be spared but hanged. Many cases of dowry go unreported and women should be encouraged to come out in the open and there should be a special investigation cell to deal with cases of dowry for speedier action as well as to protect the women.

S.N.Kabra

2Hang Nirbhaya convicts

By not hanging the Nirbhaya rapists, the country is sending a wrong image to the world. These four rapists should be hanged in full public view and the execution should be shown live on TV on all the channels so that other rapists may learn a lesson from this one. Mukesh Singh, one of the rapists’ lawyer has a criminal background. He is trying to tell the world that his client is innocent and has not raped Nirbhaya in December 2012.

Jubel D’Cruz

3BEST bus-depots in Mumbai seized with problem of plenty of coins

Coins worth more than rupees twelve crores are lying packed in gunny bags under surveillance in 27 bus-deposits of Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking in Mumbai with banks refusing to deposit these coins. Not only cost is being incurred on storage and surveillance of coin-bags, but also there is an interest-loss of more than rupees 31000 daily because of cash in form of coins refused by banks to be deposited in BEST accounts.

This is the problem everywhere including small shopkeepers where there are reports of disposal of coin-quantity with deduction of heavy handling charges. This is in contrast with situation in earlier years when there used to be premium on coins with shopkeepers giving unwanted items like candies and chocolates in place of coins. Reserve Bank of India is aware of the problem of plenty of coins with many banks including SBI, HDFC, PNB and ICICI banks refusing to accept coins as deposit in bank-accounts.

Bigger problem is of most unpopular denomination of 10-rupee coins. Rather than discontinuing minting of 10-rupee coins, 20-rupee coins are now to be forced on public. System should be that both coins and currency-notes in same denominations must not be in circulation. As such printing of one-rupee note should be discontinued. RBI and Central Government should take urgent steps to introduce plastic currency with longer life in low-denomination notes of rupees ten and twenty as was announced long back by the then Union Minister of Finance Namo Narain Meena. Any further minting of coins in denominations of rupees 10 and 20 should be discontinued. Surplus mint-capacity should be utilised by seeking export-orders for coins of other countries, and running mints in one shift. Coin-bags should be in uniform capacities of 100 and 2000 coins to be available at all bank-branches respectively for consumers and bulk-users.

Madhu Agrawal

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

Rollback on BJP projects continues; MVA govt. plans resolution on CAA

By

Hema Singh

-

January 19, 2020

Ever since the Uddhav Thackeray led government Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) came into power, it has either reversed or stayed several project like the latest Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) or other previous projects like Bullet train, Jalyukt Shivar, Aarey metro car shed, transfer of salary account of the Police department from the Axis Bank to a public sector bank among others that were introduced by the previous BJP-led government.

Now, the MVA government is planning to bring out a resolution on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the state assembly. With this, Maharashtra will become the third state after Kerala and Punjab to request withdrawal of CAA from the country.

Let us look into the projects initiated by the earlier government:

Jalyukt Shivar

The Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan was started in December 2014 by the Fadnavis government to make 5,000 villages completely drought-free. The project involved deepening and widening of streams construction of cement and earthern stop dam, work on nullahs and digging of farm ponds. However, the MVA government put a stop on this project by not releasing funds for Nashik, Dhule, Nandurbar, Jalgaon and Ahmednagar districts.

Aarey Metro Car Shed

After taking oath as CM of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray on November 29 announced a stay to construction of metro crashed in Aarey Colony. This project was introduced by the BJP while the Mumbai civic body’s tree authority granted permission to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) to cut down over 2,700 trees, often referred to as ‘city’s lungs’, in order to build a car shed for the Metro. Environmental activists and citizen groups protested against the felling of trees in Aarey colony. As many as 29 activists were arrested and were later released on bail. Following an urgent hearing the Supreme Court has imposed a stay on further felling of trees.

Bullet Train

After putting stay on the Aarey car shed, the MVA government decided to review the
Rs 1.1 lakh crore Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project which was another flagship project of the previous government. Earlier, Uddhav had alleged that the bullet train project would benefit Gujarat more at the cost of money from Maharashtra. The state share in the expenses for building the bullet train project was projected around 25 per cent of the total project cost.

Public To Private Bank

Recently Uddhav Thackeray decided to transfer the salary accounts of the police department from the Axis Bank to a public sector bank. During the tenure of the Fadnavis government, the Chief Minister had transferred the police department’s salary accounts from SBI to the Axis Bank. This step of Fadnavis had stirred a controversy after Mohnish Jabalpure a Nagpur-based activist who had filed a petition with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged that the shift was motivated by Fadnavis for personal reasons as his wife Amruta holds a top position at the bank.

Last but not the least, the MVA government, has opposed to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and would soon take a call on the controversial Act. It is reported that after Kerala and Punjab, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government is also mulling over a resolution against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 in Maharashtra Assembly.

A movement of the people, by the people, for the people

By

Faheem Usmani Qasmi

-

January 19, 2020

This is the beauty of a democracy that when people’s voice is not responded, they give their voice to each other and establish togetherness. What India has witnessed, from the college and university campuses to the buzzing streets, for the last one month is unparalleled in Indian history. The ongoing protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and NRC continue to grow despite the TRP-hungry media focused a lot on shifting it to a mere communal issue. The sheer diversity of the ways in which people are expressing themselves against the government’s divisive policies is an evident proof that they are united and very serious for their fundamental and constitutional values.

The anti-CAA movement is being believed the largest after the India Against Corruption movement (IAC), but while the focus of IAC was too narrow, the ongoing protests are about the renewal of the promise of India to its people. The most attractive aspect in these protests is the sight of the preamble of the constitution of India. The Constitution is at the tip of every participant’s tongue in this movement which is a good sign for the future of the country that people are struggling against the coercive powers to secure freedom, equality, justice and fraternity.

This movement has two very distinct features: The youth mainly students, cutting off their all religious boundaries and social backgrounds, are performing a vital role for a society – always trapped in its divisive politics – and considering their responsibilities for each other. The second feature is that, in spite of all efforts to make this movement communal one, the efforts to persuade others to join the movement have met with a great success. This is the reason that the Central Government has stepped back for now on the NRC exercise clearly in response to civil protests that have shown no signs of giving over instead growing bigger and wider all across the country and taking a shape of people’s movement covering large swathes of urban India.

The brutal crackdown of Delhi police at JMI students also contributed much to these protests that set off a cascading reaction beyond anyone’s expectation and certainly beyond the control of a government that arrogantly believed that the people acquiesce in its every unjust decision.

The most beautiful angle of this movement is that people themselves have taken the lead for this protests as they usually wait for the leadership in other matters. But in this movement whether in college assemblies or in the protest marches they raised their voice themselves loud enough to be heard above the din of the city as in the case of Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, simply assembling to show off their strength.

This can be said just an irony for the BJP. All these years BJP and its right wings-allies had used the flag as a weapon against Muslims and secular Indians. The BJP volunteers took out tiranga yatras ostensibly to instill feelings of pride in the country but in actual fact to taunt Muslims and liberal Indians.

But to utter surprise to the Narendra Modi government, four years later, his government has been rendered speechless by the sight of thousands of flags flying in all corners of India. The BJP sued the flag as a threat, as an instrument of coercion, as a test of loyalty for alleged ‘anti-national’, and finally as a symbol of the PM’s New India.

Shaheen Bagh has become the hallmark for this movement. The women come here, day and night in a make-shift pandal waving the tricolor and energetically singing along patriotic songs. The flag can be seen imprinted on the cheeks of little children as also on the wrists of their mothers. Many of them here are not so educated but still they are fighting for what is at stake.

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

Letters to the Editor: 19 January, 2020

By

Web Team

-

January 19, 2020

1Sania back with a bang

Kudos and a hearty applause to our Indian tennis star the one and only Sania Mirza for winning the WTA Hobart International doubles title along with her on-court partner Nadiia Kichenok. Sania’s title-winning return is an inspiration to all the mothers who wish to mark a niche of their own in their field of interest. Her win also excellently proves that age is no bar and anyone who has that sheer determination and will power can definitely strive and achieve what they aim. Taking care of her child and getting along with family life Sania continued working hard to be fit and pursue her passion-tennis.
Though the champion had to keep away from tennis for some time it seems she had taken a strong decision to be back in her favourite sport and the way she returned with a big bang – winning the popular WTA Hobart International doubles title along with her on-court partner Nadiia Kichenok Sania has proved that anything is possible.
This is Sania’s 42^nd WTA doubles title and first since Brisbane International trophy triumph in 2017 that came in the company of her then American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Credit also goes to Sania’s husband and her family whose support and encouragement has paved way for the tennis star to return to the court boldly, beautifully and boisterously and ready to begin another innings much to the enjoyment and enthusiasm of millions of tennis lovers who were eagerly waiting for their stars return.

M Pradyu

2Milk price raise by Maha Vikas Aghadi government

With consumer price index on the rise, another hike in milk prices, Rs.2 per litre, is imminent in Mumbai. All along we were blaming the then ruling BJP government. Now the new Maharashtra Government made two increase in milk price and it is not going to be a welcome one. It is time to agitate and get a roll back on milk prices. Already people are facing price increase in vegetables and fruits and add to that the basic necessity milk too has become dearer. It is high time prices of commodities should be stabilised instead of going up and up.

Calicut Krishnan Subbu

3Who is Indira Jaisingh to give suggestion to Nirbhaya’s parents?

Senior lawyer, Indira Jaisingh has asked Nirbhaya’s parents Badrinath and Asha Devi to forgive their daughter’s killers just as Sonia Gandhi has forgiven her husband’s killer (Nalini). Who is Indira Jaisingh to tell Nirbhaya’s parents to do this? Does she have a daughter and if she has one, has she been gang-raped and killed? She should understand the trauma Nirbhaya’s parents have been going through after her daughter’s death. Justice should be given to Nirbhaya’s parents and the four convicts (Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Akshay Kumar Singh) should be hanged at the earliest so that Nirbhaya’s soul may rest in peace.

Jubel D’Cruz

4Share of fake Rs 2000 bank notes continuously increasing

Report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals that in terms of value, 2,000-rupees banknotes comprised 56 per cent of all fake currency seized in India after demonetisation of old currency on November 8, 2016. Share of fake 2000-rupees bank-notes is continuously increasing with their share 53.3 percent in the year 2017 increased to 61.01 percent in the year 2018.

Instead of demonetisation, those having rupees-2000 currency notes may be asked to deposit these in bank-accounts and withdraw if needed immediately or as per need thus not affecting common people or having accounted cash in form of 2000-rupee notes. Simultaneously an amnesty-scheme in form of elephant-bonds can be announced for those having unaccounted cash in any denomination including of 2000-rupees notes.

Such a system coupled with other steps like fixing upper Income Tax limit at 30-percent as earlier, drastic GST-reforms with Input-Tax-Credit abolished in manufacturing and service sectors after having uniform GST-slabs at 10 and 30 percent (with additional slabs in multiples of 100 in place of cess for super-luxury items), fixing monthly cash-withdrawal for individuals at rupees 96000 to be subsequently reduced to rupees 48000 and central government bearing transaction-charges on use of credit-cards after reducing it to half-percent will also drastically reduce currency-circulation.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

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

Jana Sena in Andhra joins hands with BJP, after Shiv Sena in Maharashtra dumps it

By

Vaidehi Taman

-

January 17, 2020

BJP-Sena alliance has always hit the headlines. This time, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and state BJP president Kanna Lakshmi Narayana announced an alliance at a press conference after a four-hour-long meeting of leaders of the two parties in Vijayawada.

Kalyan, who made derogatory statements about the BJP in the past, landed up praising Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Well politics knows no morals and it’s all about the greed of power. In Andhra Pradesh, if BJP projects Pawan Kalyan as its CM face there are chances that his community may support the alliance. On the other hand, there is news of an internal unrest in the BJP because many of the local leaders are not in favour of projecting Pawan Kalyan as CM face. Besides CM candidate, what Andhra needs is a strong leader who is not corrupt and has a vision. Since Andhra Pradesh became a separate state, they did not get a non-corrupt government. The development of the state is at stake. Though we cannot guarantee about Pawan Kalyan being clean as he has both money and muscle power and with wasted power comes the vested interest too. But, still BJP has a choice to pick a lesser evil. If we look into the past, Jana Sena was formed in March 2014 amid the Modi wave and after supporting the BJP-TDP coalition initially, had fallout out it. The two outfits have also announced that they will contest the 2024 assembly elections together and will have a seat sharing arrangement well in time. For now, the alliance will focus on strengthening the protest against decision to have three state capitals.

For the first time, Pawan came to active politics in 2009 when his brother Chiranjeevi launched Praja Rajyam party. He campaigned across the state against the then atrocities of then YSR led Congress government. He worked very hard in those election campaigns for his brother. But those election results were very shocking and eye opener for Chiranjeevi. He flopped in his political debut. There are so many reasons for the failure and megastar ended up with a mere 18 seats and then Kalyan took it in a sportive spirit. But after two years, Chiranjeevi merged his party PRP into the Congress against whom they campaigned all these years, same like Shiv Sena in Maharashtra who were ideologically and principally against Congress-NCP recently sidelined BJP and joined hands with the secular alliance. This triggered a silent rift between the two brothers and Pawan Kalyan distanced himself from that merger. He ideologically always hated Congress, he campaigned against Congress but his big brother merged the party for the sake of a Ministry. After the 2009 election defeat of Praja Rajyam, things did not go well with them. The state too was divided as Andhra and Telangana. The 2014 election was power packed, that elected Telangana’s Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao better known as K.C.R the first Chief Minister of Telangana and the leader and Founder of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, a regional party. In the centre of it was the Modi wave, the political equations across India took new twists. BJP was all set to concur and everyplace the leftists & seculars got disowned by voters. There was threat and challenges for the survival of regional parties. Looking at emerging new equations and total failure of big brother Kalyan, he launched his new party Jana Sena and gave the slogan “Congress Hatao Desh Bachao “ similar to Modi’s “Congress Mukt Bharat”.

Pawan Kalyan was always overshadowed by his more illustrious brother. Everyone knew that Pawan didn’t have it easy coming from a family of such a popular actor. However, it is to Pawan’s credit that he proved his mettle by becoming a Power Star. It all culminated in Pawan launching his own political outfit Jana Sena in style just like his brother Chiranjeevi’s now extinct Praja Rajyam. Pawan’s debut political speech too was loaded with the same power and intensity as of Chiranjeevi when the latter had launched his outfit. He campaigned heavily, but did not contest elections as it would have split the votes and YS Jagan could have benefitted of it. He compared both the leaders at the Central and the State level and went with Narendra Modi as PM and Chandrababu Naidu as CM. He campaigned for both of them in the state and helped them at his level to win in the election. During the campaigning of 2014 elections, he announced that he will question the Central Government and State Government if they fail to keep their promises. For a long time, he kept silent but when the Central Government led by Modi refused to give special status to Andhra Pradesh which was their election promise, the State Government started downplaying it by passing statements like “special status is not a sanjeevani.” Kalyan came to the surface questioning Modi and Naidu. Jana Sena started giving voice to people’s problem like special status to Andhra Pradesh, land acquisition for farmers, mega aqua food park issues at East Godavari, kidney diseases at Srikakulam, sand dumping at Polavaram, farmers land and mainly the Agrigold victims. After many permutations and combinations once again BJP and Pawan Kalyan announced an alliance and emerged as ‘third alternative’ in Andhra.

Chiranjeevi in 2008 in a grand manner announced the launch of Praja Rajyam in Tirupati with the slogan ‘PREME LAKSHYAM SEVA E MARGAM.’ He began with: “Who called me into politics? It was you people. What do you want?… It should be a rule by the people for the people.” About his party, he said: “Praja Rajyam will be a party of backward and weaker sections, farmers, labourers and women. Pawan Kalyan too while launching his Jana Sena followed the same. On why, he entered politics, he averred, “Politics is nothing when compared to the love showered by my fans and supporters. While Chiranjeevi’s PRP launch was a mega affair in open grounds, Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena launch was just a press meet but made best use of technology for wider reach. The PRP launch saw many speakers address the gathering before Chiranjeevi spoke. However, during Jana Sena launch, Pawan was the sole speaker.While Chiranjeevi confined himself to state politics, Pawan touched upon national politics. The actor did not spare even Pakistan and China to prove his general knowledge. Meanwhile, Praja Rajyam faded out and now it’s almost forgotten. Let’s see what fate Kalyan brings to his political party and his persona as politician.

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

BJP and Jana Sena to emerge as third alternative in AP

By

Web Team

-

January 17, 2020

Once again, old allies Jana Sena and BJP have come together and announced an alliance on Thursday seeking to emerge as the “third alternative” in Andhra Pradesh.

The reunion of the two parties comes after a separation of three years due to what they termed “communication gap,” may alter the political scenario in the state, where the local body elections are round the corner.

Sudhish Rambhotla, BJP spokesperson said, “We expect that this alliance will do well in the future. Jana Sena has some vote share and so does BJP and that is why this alliance has come into existence. This is going to be a formal alliance and this coalition government will be projected as an alternative government for the existing political party. We (Jana Sena and BJP) are ready for the future elections.”

This political realignment has raised a point of an interesting discussion in political and media circles. Jana Sena Chief Pawan Kalyan and state BJP president Kanna Lakshmi Narayana announced the alliance at a press conference after a four hour meeting of leaders of two parties in Vijaywada on Thursday. A coordination committee would soon be formed with leaders of the two parties to carry forward their agenda.

The point of discussion is whether this new alliance would make any difference to the existing political parties in the state or bring about a larger change in the political equations in the state.

More than seven and a half months ago, the YSR Congress (YSRC) party led by chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy came to power with a massive mandate reducing the Telugu Desam Party led by N Chandrababu Naidu to an insignificant position with just 23 MLAs and three MPs among these 23 MLAs, two of them have already directly or indirectly switched over to the YSRC and at least two to three MLAs are likely to follow the suit.

Among the other opposition parties, the BJP and Jana Sena were completely decimated in the elections and the Congress has lost its presence in the state with a vote share less than the votes polled under NOTA.

While the BJP had drawn a blank, Jana Sena had won just one MLA seat though it got nearly 7 per cent votes but even that MLA is all set to defect to the YSRC.

There are three communities that matters in Andhra politics Kapa, Kammu and Reddy. Chandrababu Naidu is Kamma, Pawan Kalyan belongs to the Kammu community while Jagan Reddy is from the Reddy community. The Kapus are a deciding factor. This means that whomsoever they support, they win the election in Andhra Pradesh. BJP wanted to have strong hold in Andhra politics. Hence they were in alliance with TDP’s Chandrababu Naidu. Since TDP and BJP parted ways, the option remains in Jan Sena. Both the parties together can change some equations as Pawan Kalyan has the Kammu vote bank and BJP too has its loyal vote share.

After a gap of nearly seven months, the political activity has picked up again and the opposition parties badly mutilated in the last elections are now planning to regain their strength through political realignment.

The TDP, which had fought with the support of the BJP in 2014, tried to send friendly signals to the BJP, the saffron party has shut the doors on it.

Having no other option, Naidu has now joined hands with the Communist parties to fight to retain the capital city at Amaravati.

On the other hand, Pawan Kalyan who opposed the BJP in the elections and indirectly maintained friendly equations with the TDP has changed his track and is now aligning with the BJP.

This would mean that there is going to be a triangular fight in the next elections unless there are further changes in the political equations.

While it will be a virtual lone fight for the TDP (the Communists have relevance in electoral politics), the BJP-Jana Sena combination is expected to gain some strength because of the charisma of Pawan and cadre base of the BJP.

However, the combination will split the anti-establishment vote in a big way and it will ruin whatever little chances the TDP has to bounce back.

“Ultimately, it will be advantageous to the YSR Congress party, unless there is a radical shift in the YSRC vote bank to the TDP,” an analyst said.

Nirbhaya Rape Case: Four convicts to now hang on February 1 at 6 am

By

Web Team

-

January 17, 2020

After the President rejected the mercy petition of Mukesh Kumar Singh who sought the postponement of the date of his execution scheduled for January 22, comes the news that a Delhi court has issued a fresh death warrant for the four men in the Nirbhaya rape and murder case and scheduled their execution for 6 am on February 1.

A total of six people namely Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Kumar Singh, Pawan Gupta, Ram Singh and a juvenile were named accused in the case. Meanwhile, Pawan Gupta has moved the Supreme Court claiming that he was a juvenile in 2012 and should be tried accordingly. Gupta has challenged Delhi High Court order of December 19.

The savagery of the crime shook the nation and led to country-wide protests over the issue of women’s safety and seeking speedy trial of the accused. The trial of the five adult men began in a special fast-track court in March, 2013.

Thanks to the govt. malls, eateries, multiplexes to remain open 24×7 from Jan 27 in Mumbai

By

Hema Singh

-

January 17, 2020

There’s some good news for Mumbaikars and that is that malls, eateries and multiplexes will now be allowed to remain open 24×7 from January 27. Mumbai is said to be a city that never sleeps will indeed not sleep after this announcement.

As per a report, Maharashtra Minister of environment and tourism Aaditya Thackeray who had earlier backed the idea that licensed establishments in Mumbai should be allowed to operate 24×7 called a meeting on Thursday when city authorities decided to implement the change and decided to implement the same from January 27. Owners of shopping malls, hotels and restaurants were also present at the meeting.

According to the municipal commissioner, Praveen Pardeshi, “We have given permission to operate shopping malls, hotels and restaurants 24×7 functioning from January 27. Gated communities, primarily with entertainment and food plazas have been given permissions. We have cautioned the representatives of the establishments to ensure fire-safety compliance and security. Most of the malls have said that they will keep their establishments open on weekends if running it throughout the week is not feasible for them.”

In this fast paced life people usually miss their food at the right time, this new initiative of Aaditya Thackeray will surely make nightlife more happening in Mumbai.

Reportedly, some of the malls have agreed for the 24×7 implementation and the names are Atria Mall in Worli, R-City Mall in Ghatkopar, Phoenix Market City in Kurla, Growel’s 101 in Kandivali, Oberoi Mall in Goregaon and High Street Phoenix at Lower Parel.

However, the authorities should give a thought to two important things that seemed to have escaped their mind. One is there ought to be police personnel on the roads to safeguard people moving on the road at night. This is because there would be chances of all kinds of crime happening. Secondly and more importantly, the railways and BEST buses have to run all throughout the night to make it easier to move from this place to the other,

In 2013 the idea was proposed by Shiv Sena and from that time, this idea was lingering. Finally the idea is soon to take shape.

Politics in the time of anti-CAA row

By

Nava Thakuria

-

January 17, 2020

Defying the relentless protests by a number of organizations in the Brahmaputra valley of Assam, the Union government in New Delhi has lately imposed the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 (CAA) by bringing the gazette notification and it was another reason to make the people in northeast India angry and baffled with the development.

Most of the localities in the region were passing through an uproarious situation as the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 (CAB) was passed in the Parliament and subsequently endorsed by the President of India. A series of protest-demonstrations were observed with the participation of locals including student leaders, singers, academicians, writers, journalists, etc with the sole demand to repeal the CAA.

The CAB, which argued for Indian citizenship to religious persecuted asylum seekers including Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Parsi, Jain families in Muslim dominated Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh (who came prior to 31 December 2014), was easily passed in Lok Sabha (on 9 December) where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) enjoys the majority. It was later passed in Rajya Sabha (11 Dec) with significant vote differences and subsequently endorsed by President Ramnath Kovind.

Putting voices for the specific bill that aimed to amend the Citizenship Act 1955, Union Home Minister Amit Shah quoted Mahatma Gandhi as saying on 26 September 1947 that Hindu and Sikh people living in Pakistan can fearlessly come to India as it would be the duty of India to give them shelter and jobs. During the RS debates, Shah also pointed out that the Liaquat-Nehru pact on 8 April 1950 agreed that both Pakistan and India would treat respective minorities with dignity.

On the debate, why Muslims have been kept aside in the process, Shah categorically stated that Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh follow their constitutions where it is defined that those are Islamic nations and no Muslim can be religious minority there. He however clarified that India has provisions for Muslim victims of persecution and they are being given citizenship on case to case basis. At the same pace, he assured that Indian Muslims need not to worry as the CAA would not affect them.

On the northeastern region, where anti-CAA protests gained momentum, Shah declared that the amended CAA had exempted all States under the inner line permit (ILP) arrangement and localities declared under the sixth schedule to the Constitution. With the amendments northeastern States namely Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and lately Manipur were given immunities, whereas major areas of Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura were also kept outside the CAA.

Nonetheless, if not the Barak valley, other localities of Assam witnessed a series of protests against the CAA. Assamese protesters have come to the streets raising voices against the CAA as they apprehend that it would destroy their language and culture. They would not digest the arguments for making the CAA secular (read inclusion of Muslim asylum seekers) and they are determined that no illegal migrant (irrespective of his/her religions) should be settled in Assam after 25 March 1971 (mentioned in Assam Accord).

Continuous protest-demonstrations by All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parisahd (AJYCP), a section of Assamese performing artistes along with their associates had also hinted to form a political party eyeing the forthcoming State Assembly elections in 2021. Even though the agitators were waiting for the Supreme Court’s directive as another hearing (on CAA) was scheduled on 22 January, they have unofficially declared that a new regional party was emerging to counter the saffron party in Assam.

AASU leaders namely Samujjal Bhattacharya, Dipanka Nath and Lurinjyoti Gogoi along with popular Assamese singer Zubeen Garg and his thousands of fans expressed confidence that the electorate would this time reject the saffron party. They were morally supported by many Assamese academicians, lawyers, writers, media personalities etc in their mission. But various active anti-CAA civil society groups including Krishak Mukti Sangram Samity (whose top leader Akhil Gogoi is behind the bars for NIA charges) are yet to make up their mind.

However, the proposed regional political party had drawn the attention of the opposition Congress and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). Veteran Congress leader and former State chief minister Tarun Gogoi welcomed the initiative and he publicly announced that they would think of going for an alliance with the new party. Later AIUDF supremo Badrauddin Ajmal also extended support to the party so that the saffron party could be challenged in the coming State and general elections.

Facing the heat of disapproval and rejections across the Brahmaputra valley, the saffron leaders swiftly came to action with an aim to mobilise the people in their favour. BJP’s State unit in association with their political allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) started organizing spectacular peace rallies (read pro-CAA gathering) in different localities. Started at Nalbari in western Assam, the ruling parties continue their rallies at Sarbhog (Barpeta), Jagiroad, Sualkuchi, Biswanath, etc with massive supports from their well-wishers.

The ruling party also organized a booth-level conclave in Guwahati, where the national working president JP Nadda, general secretary Ram Madhav, State chief minister Sarbanand Sonowal, State BJP president Ranjeet Kr Dass, State minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, etc were present to clarify that the CAA would not be harmful for the people of Assam and northeast India. They also alleged that the Congress leaders were trying to manipulate the anti-CAA stir for their political gains.

Addressing a strong over 75000 saffron supporters, Nadda reassured that the Centre is committed for safeguarding the language & indigenous cultures of northeastern residents besides developing the region. Criticizing the Congress leaders for spreading misinformation about the CAA across the country, Nadda appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Shah for showing the political will to take initiative for the persecuted asylum seekers.

Sonowal criticised both the Congress and Left parties for spreading misinformation that over one crore Bangladeshi Hindu nationals would be settled in Assam with the CAA arrangements. He targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asking him to answer ‘how many Bangladeshi nationals were allowed to enter and stay in Assam during the Congress rule for the sack of vote-bank politics. Sonowal alleged that the Congress had never shown due respect to the indigenous people of Assam.

North-East Democratic Alliance convener Sarma asserted that the number of CAA beneficiaries in Assam would never cross five lakh. Lambasting the anti-national elements, Sarma declared that he would leave the politics if the number (CAA beneficiaries) goes above five lakh in the State. Rejecting any possibility of success with a new political party in the State, he claimed that the saffron party would get not less than 100 seats in the 126-member State Assembly polls scheduled for early next year.

Commenting on anti-CAA protests, he stated that the government has no problem with peaceful & democratic movements, but the vandalism and violence would not be tolerated under any circumstances. Sarma also commented that the ongoing anti-CAA pretests have lost its credibility as the agitators now start talking about the party-politics. He however asserted that the BJP remains ready to face any electoral political challenges in future.

(The author is a northeast India based political analyst)

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.

NPR survey: Don’t disclose vital details to non-government authorities

By

Jayanthy Subramaniam

-

January 17, 2020

Maintaining of account books is very important for a business house. If the accountant does not do his job properly, the business goes down and the owner comes in to the red. So is our country. The income, expenditure, population, per capita income and planning etc. all are dependent on the enumeration process. If some states say that they won’t allow NPR in their area, then what kind of accountability the Centre can maintain should be analysed and understood. If no proper citizenship base is maintained, then illegal migrants from neighbouring countries will continue to enjoy our country’s resources.

NPR is an exercise that is required and a necessity to update the population details of India or any country. I also recommend the same. When the government is spending so much for this, details of the education, profession and job details should also be collected. These will help in getting the right statistics of our people in India. Unless we have the right data about our citizens, how can we plan the benefits and rights of the people? We have lot of resources in India, but our data is not up to date. The opposition parties and media are unnecessarily blowing up the issue so that they stay visible! No one is bothered about our country and its’ future! Next thing is the Big data analysis for decision making and passing on benefits etc.

Right to information is of course the privilege of Indian citizens. Its converse too should be maintained. The state should be in a position to be aware of per capita income of its citizens, the level of deprivation of those who avail undeserving privileges misinterpreting secularism of the country etc. Unscrupulous politicians have brought about a lot of inconsistencies in registers, to cite an example, in our parliamentary constituency, there had been a host of doubling in electoral registers which was noted by one and took measures on a wartime basis, and the electoral outcome changed significantly.

So, the census, registers etc should be updated scientifically so that no political patronage should interfere into the data. Our government should not be discharged in implementing the noble task of collection of credible data regarding citizens which are intended towards discharging citizen friendly allotments for empowering people, based on credible data. Those who had been booked for sedition have their own divisive agenda. So, such frolic people say irrelevant things to mislead citizens. In democracy we have nothing to fear, so long as we are aware of our rights and obligations, see what happened to those who declared emergency when an imminent no confidence motion robbed her peace of mind. Dissension is allowed, but, let us not loose our sense of proportion.

It has been categorically said that no individual should submit any document to any authority or enumerator visiting his/her household for NPR survey. Information provided by the individual would be accepted and recorded accordingly. The Ministry spokesperson has not denied the point that the National Population Register form will include an additional column seeking details of the place of birth of father and mother.

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