I’m fascinated with slightly tragic characters, says Janhvi

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December 29, 2019

Actor Janhvi Kapoor instantly agreed to feature in Zoya Akhtar’s short in the horror anthology “Ghost Stories” for two reasons: to understand how the filmmaker creates her characters and because she finds herself drawn to “slightly tragic characters”.

Zoya’s short features the “Dhadak” star as a home nurse tasked with taking care of an elderly woman, played by veteran actor Surekha Sikri.

Janhvi says the project gave her the opportunity to understand the world Zoya creates, which is quite unlike others.

“The way Zoya sees her characters and writes them, they are grounded in reality. They are detailed and never one dimensional, she layers them in a way I don’t think many filmmakers have cracked.

“I wanted to be a part of this world and get to know how these characters are made. It was just curiosity,” Janhvi told an agency in an interview.

The actor says the story and the character resonated with her on a very “weird level”.

“I think I am fascinated with slightly tragic characters,” she adds.

Calling Zoya an incredible storyteller, the actor says the director, quite meticulously, handed over her a five-page backstory for the character before the film rolled.

“A lot of discovering who my character was, was also about her physicality – the fact that she was a nurse, there was a certain body language.

“The way she would dress while working and not working dictated a lot of her intentions. She had a specific way of talking.”

The actor was shooting for “Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl” and “Dostana 2” when she landed on the sets of “Ghost Stories” and was told, last minute, she had to put up an accent for her character.

“Zoya asked if I speak Tamil or Telugu. I said I don’t, so she asked me to do an accent. I did one, because my DoP in ‘Gunjan’ is a south Indian. Zoya was like great, let’s do it.

“Imagine she is a nurse — an orphan, part of her backstory — who has grown up around those Kannadiga sisters who bring up orphan kids. This happened on the spot! Luckily that day I had only one-two dialogues,” Janhvi adds.

The actor then relied on her house help, a Kannadiga, to pick up the specific accent.

“The way she speaks Hindi was very specific to what Zoya said. All her ‘h’ are silent, so she says, ‘teek hai’, ‘kaane may kya chahiye.’ I made her say some of my dialogues, recorded it and then we just went with it!”

“Ghost Stories” would be her follow-up to her 2018 debut “Dhadak”, which will stream on Netflix from January 1.

Thackeray govt to shift salary accounts of police dept to nationalised banks: Rivalry or Insecurity?

By

Hema Singh

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December 27, 2019

Due to the insecurity in private banks, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government is likely to withdraw accounts of police department from a private bank and transfer the same to a nationalised bank.

Uddhav Thackeray may transfer the Maharashtra police department’s salary accounts from Axis bank to a government sector bank (SBI). However, the final decision has yet not been taken. Also the fate of Axis bank will be sealed after the cabinet expansion later this month.

After the CM’s announcement about the transfer of accounts, Thane Mayor Naresh Mhaske directed officials to shift the accounts from Axis bank to a nationalised bank.

During the tenure of former chief minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis who had transferred the police department’s salary accounts from SBI to Axis bank where his wife holds a senior position. The decision of Fadnavis in the matter has stirred a controversy around the state.

On Fadnavis’ step, a Nagpur-based activist, Mohnish Jabalpure had filed a petition with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last August in which he alleged that the shift was motivated by the then CM’s personal reasons.

When AV contacted Jabalpure about this, he said, “The accounts were shifted at the behest of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Also his wife Amruta Fadnavis is the vice-president and corporate head (Western India) at Axis Bank. He also claimed that while Axis Bank benefitted from the move, it caused a huge loss to the public sector bank. I just want to ask what if the private bank stops functioning? Would the government get back the salaries of the policemen? The Fadnavis government has done many acts of corruption while they were in power.”

Reportedly, the state had been witnessing a political drama between the two strong parties, BJP and Shiv Sena after their alliance broke. According to sources,the current CM has taken this decision due to internal political tussle.

When we contacted NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik on this, he said, “This step has not been taken due to internal rivalry. The Fadnavis government had transferred accounts of police officials to Axis bank which is against the policy. The government institutions must hold accounts with nationalised banks.”

“Since Fadnavis’s wife is employed with Axis bank, a favour was done to her by transferring the salary accounts of Maharashtra police departments. This was against the policy of the state. Fadnavis has misused his position as CM. However, the current government will ensure and follow the rules which will be beneficial for the people”.

It is hoped that loss making public sector banks could gain valid profit out of the current situation. Let us hope that in future, the ruling Chief Minister would stick to the policy of having salary accounts of all government departments in Nationalised banks.

India doesn’t like Bangladesh’s good ties with China

By

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury

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December 27, 2019

Despite restrictions on criticising the National Register of Citizen (NRC) in India, mainstream newspapers in the largest democracy in the world are continuously going on criticising and even condemning the initiative of registering Indian nationals in Assam and some of the adjacent provinces. With the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah saying that the provision that would give special rights to indigenous people of Assam, there is a confusion among lakh of Hindu Bengalis who missed out in the NRC list but consider themselves as Assamese as any other person. According to analysts, the ruling radical-Hinduist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has on purpose been giving support to NRC with the ulterior motive of hunting Hindu votes mostly from the non-Bengali nationals. Earlier they have made best use of the Hindutva rheotatic and had ignored non-Hindu voters particularly Muslims with the same agenda and have seen tremendous success. Majority of Hindus in today’s India are seeing BJP and its ultra-Hinduist political cohorts as “saviors” and believe that India will be able to come out of its secularist “hypocrisy” and transform the country into a radical Hindu state. Majority of those pro-BJP population are arguing saying that if Christians, Muslims and Buddhists can have their own country, why the Hindus should be deprived of “rescuing India” from the “evil clutches” of the non-Hindus.

Meanwhile, the leaders of BJP are not only instigating Hindus in waging “silent war” against Muslims and Christians, they even are showing the extreme audacity of ignoring the sovereignty and independence of the neighboring nations. They even are mad on Nepal despite the fact of it being a Hindu state. The only “crime” of Nepal is its growing relations with China.

In my personal opinion, the reason behind over-playing of the NRC card by the BJP bigwigs is that they are feeling uncomfortable at Bangladesh’s growing relations with China. The Indian policymakers are desperately willing to see Bangladesh of being totally dependent on New Delhi instead of looking for newer friends in the world. One of the key reasons behind the worries of BJP leaders and Indian policymakers is that they believe that growing Sino-Bangladesh relations will greatly contribute in faster economic growth of Bangladesh. Moreover, they fear Bangladesh’s joining President Xi Jinping’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) program because Bangladesh’s affiliation with the project will connect the country up to African and European continent and beyond. This will greatly contribute in enhancing Bangladesh’s export trade which will ultimately transform Bangladesh into a developed nation within the span of maximum 15 years. Indian policymakers do not want Bangladesh to cross the prosperity meter of India, simply because, a developed Bangladesh will generate extreme anger amongst the people in West Bengal and adjacent provinces. They will become angry on the Indian policymakers and may even become frustrated, which actually may lead top disintegration of India.

But, this tendency of the Indian policymakers would ultimately be proved as counter-productive. The NRC issue and Indian policymaker’s hostile attitude already is having negative impact amongst its neighboring countries. For example, those pro-liberation forces in Bangladesh, who had always been supportive of excellent relations between Dhaka and New Delhi even are becoming aggrieved. They are seeing NRC as a tool of threatening countries like Bangladesh.

The misleading claim

Indian policymakers are repeatedly saying that a large number of non-Hindus had migrated to India from Bangladesh during the past several years. In reality, this claim is baseless because Bangladesh’s economy had always been much better than that of West Bengal or Assam and there is no reason for Bangladeshi Muslims migrating to India. In fact, those people whose names had not been included in NRC are purely Indians. Any attempt of forcibly pushing those Indian nationals to any neighboring countries is not only unethical, but it would stain the relations between India and that neighbouring country.

The Indo-Bangladesh relations

Since 1971, relations between Bangladesh had always been excellent, save those periods when radical Islamist parties like Bangladesh Nationalist Party or Jamaat e Islami had ruled the country or those autocratic regimes of Major General Ziaur Rahman. During the rule of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and subsequent rule of our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh-India relations had been extremely warm. Particularly Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has extended all-out support and efforts in helping India is uprooting insurgency groups like United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and various smaller separatist groups. There is not even a single base of any anti-India separatist groups now in Bangladesh. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has very generously extended transit facilities to India enabling New Delhi in establishing easier connectivity with its provinces in Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya etc. As we are grateful to India for its support during our war of independence in 1971, Indian policymakers should be equally grateful to our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

New Delhi should combat any anti-Bangladesh activity inside India. Leaders of the ruling party should realise the importance of maintaining excellent relations with Bangladesh. On the other hand, they must adopt the policy of not interfering into the internal affairs of Bangladesh. They also should refrain from any attempt of sabotaging Bangladesh’s growing relations with the international community, including China.

India has nothing to fear from Bangladesh’s growing relations with China. Instead, policymakers in India need to follow Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as their role model and contribute in resolving growing unemployment crisis as well as economic hardship in their own country.

Being our friend and good neighbor, India should feel delighted at the progress and the prosperity of Bangladesh.

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.

School principal arrested for molesting 14-year-old in Bhiwandi

By

Hema Singh

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December 27, 2019

The principal of a private school in Bhiwandi has been arrested for allegedly molesting a 14-year-old girl, police said on Friday.

According to the Bhiwandi police station, the incident took place at the Hindi school in Nadi Naka area of Shelar village of Bhiwandi. The arrested principal was identified as Pramod Nayak (35) who sexually harassed a class 10^th student on Thursday.

As per the victim’s statement, Nayak called her to his cabin three days ag, but the girl refused. However, the accused told a school clerk to call the minor in his cabin when the girl was in the class room. Later, he inappropriately touched her.

Initially, she did not inform her parents but later she narrated her ordeal to her parents. Following this, the parents along with locals approached the principal and beat up him and took him to the police station.

The police have booked the accused under Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

A career in cartooning is demanding one

By

C K Subramaniam

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December 27, 2019

Though cartooning is not limited to drawing it requires a person to have ideas that can be translated visually. It is important to be well-versed with current events and read on a variety of things. The idea being that the cartoonist should be able to write captions, besides conceiving the idea. It is also imperative for aspirants to follow the works of cartoonists. There are a number of cartoonists who have carved a niche for themselves in different spheres of cartooning.

Art in some form or other has existed from the Paleolithic period, and as long as humans have existed, we have been attracted by and fascinated by it. Art affects society by its power to change opinions and translate human experiences. It is a repository of our collective memory. But it is the effects that art has on the mind and brain that truly deserve admiration. Art has been shown to have an impact on the brain by causing an actual increase in the levels of ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitters.

Humans have two types of skills — physical and cognitive. Neuroscience show that even the simple act of drawing can improve our cognitive and higher cerebral functions. The essence of art is its perceptibly imaginary nature, which reflects actual experiences, feelings and sentiments. The mind being the target behind the idea of art as therapy, the same art can purify our sensual world through artistic catharsis-on-canvas, which could even ‘correct’ some psychological dispositions.

The art of cartooning is alive and kicking. Political and social cartoonists have often been pressurised and threatened by entrenched political leaders or religious groups — and some have even been assassinated. The cartoons and paintings cut across barriers of language and culture, and the galleries did not need captions to explain their powerful messages of change and justice in the face of discrimination.

It is futile to cry hoarse about the need to understand the larger text of which the cartoon is an illustration: not only is the text unexceptionably fair in its assessment of the Constituent Assembly’s achievements, it has anticipated many possible critiques of the constitution making process as well. Let it be said that what the textbook achieves is not only a way of reading Indian politics, but encourages a politics of reading, anticipating opposition, criticism and building defences. These are all experiences and challenges that our young people deserve. But representations have many lives, and are subject to fresh interpretation and critique. The possibility that an image offends in the present day, and becomes a call to political action, where it might not have had the same impact at the time of its production, needs to be fully recognised.

This is what has been achieved by those who have raised their voices against the cartoon. Far from being another affirmation of public unreason, the protests have brought the politics of reading to the fore. Filmi actors and cricketers gets Lion’s share of cartoons in the media. As a freelancer I got the opportunity to draw a cartoon on Gandhiji as a cricketer. My cartoon sent to Late Madhavrao Scindia got his appreciation letter filed to my scrap book. Drawing cartoon is an art no doubt.

Precisely for this reason, it is impossible to anticipate at which point or in which location a particular representation will cause offence. A career in cartooning is a demanding one.

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

Letters to the Editor: 27 December, 2019

By

Web Team

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December 27, 2019

Celebrate New Year in a simple manner

It is good to see New Year celebrations warming up much before a week with a wide publicity of the New Year themes, huge shopping discounts, party offers etc. But one fails to understand the reason for extensive awareness drive on do not drink and drive while drinking should be otherwise be discouraged on a New Year. Instead New Year should be celebrated in a simple manner within family and friends.

One should understand that the New Year is the beginning of new leaf in each and every individual’s life and to welcome it with alcohol and partying is highly avoidable. People should give up such things and instead consider celebrating New Year in a unique manner which will be enjoyed by one and all-atleast this can top the list of New Year resolutions.

Varun Dambal

Take steps to curb pollution by cars

It refers to welcome news that only e-scooters (two-wheelers) will be sold in the country after 2025 while in respect of three wheelers, the deadline is even earlier of 2020. Since two-wheelers constitute major portion of total vehicle-sale in the country, ban on two-wheelers and three-wheelers other than driven by pre-charged electric-engines will effectively check pollution.

However till phenomenon of exclusively sold e-cars becomes a dream come true, cars should be allowed to be sold only with petrol-engines fitted with CNG-kit. Production and sale of cars driven by diesel-engines should be altogether banned with immediate effect. Production of diesel-driven cars is gross misuse of having price of diesel less than that of petrol only for keeping cost of public-transportation less.

Also since big cars occupy more space in road and parking, their production should be discouraged also because these cars are purchased and used by affording rich. GST, road-tax, insurance and other levies on cars with ex-showroom price say above rupees ten lakhs should be doubled. There should be a complete ban on loans on costlier cars. Only economical cars should be purchased by central and state governments and their public-sector-undertakings including even for judges of higher courts, ministers and top bureaucrats except required for use by foreign dignitaries visiting India that too on permission from Union Ministry of External Affairs.

Madhu Agrawal

Take action against celebrities for provoking people against legitimate governance-system

It refers to noted writer Arundhiti Roy publicly provoking people to give misleading and common information about their names (as Ranga-Billa), address (as 7 Racecourse Road, New Delhi) and a unanimously decided mobile-number when government-officials come to their residences for compiling information for National Population Register (NPR).

It has become a pseudo-secular political fashion of some intellectuals, celebrities and politicians to oppose usual administrative-procedures just for sake of opposition. Compilation of such details has been a usual feature even in earlier UPA regime, and its opposition now is just political aimed to disturb governance-system. Strict-most action should be taken against such provocation by concerned ones against the state.

It is beyond understanding that all such pseudo-secular persons causing disturbance against governance, are curiously silent on atrocities against majority-community like they did at time of mass murder of Kashmiri pandits in the year 1990 causing their exodus from Kashmir valley.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

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

Women workers forced to remove uterus, writes Congress leader Nitin Raut

By

Hema Singh

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December 26, 2019

The Marathwada region in Central Maharashtra has the highest number of sugarcane workers who are mostly women. It’s been reported that more than 30000 women in Beed and Osmanabad districts have undergone hysterectomy as they were unable to go to work while they were menstruating. The contractors are reluctant to hire women given the possibility of them missing out on a day or two of work during their periods.

Congress leader and Maharashtra cabinet minister Nitin Raut, wrote to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray seeking his intervention to address the issues of women sugarcane workers who had removed their uterus in their bid to ensure they don’t lose wages.

When Afternoon Voice contacted Nitin Raut, about the kind of response he got from the chief minister, he said, “Response from the CM on this issue was very positive. A proposal should come up from the department. I asked the department to bring the proposal before the cabinet to give relief to the women. Those women want both holidays and wages.”

According to Raut, the women will not take such drastic steps if the sugarcane factories provide them wages for the four days of menstrual cycle during the six-month sugarcane harvesting period. To solve the problem of those women, Raut had written a letter to Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday stating,”Thousands of women sugarcane labourers from Beed and Osmanabad have undergone uterus removal surgery. It’s saddening as they did so to avoid the few days of their menstrual period wage loss. I’ve requested the CM to address their grievances. The government will certainly find a solution to it.”

Vijaya Rahatkar, Chairperson of Maharashtra State Commission for Women said, “This issue was brought to me a few months back and the state commission had taken note as it was a serious issue (Uterus removal). We have sent notice to collectors and civil surgeons and have demanded a detail report on same.”

What can be done to help these women on that she said, “Firstly, these women are not getting proper environment to work. And secondly, the honorable government should provide proper facilities to these women so that they wouldn’t have to go through this kind of surgery.”

When asked what the government should do, she replied, “The government should take this issue seriously and form some norms. Also they should conduct counseling session for these women to help to understand their problems.”

The coalition of Maharashtra government consists of parties like Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress in which Raut handles a slew of portfolios including PWD, tribal welfare, women and child welfare, textile, relief and rehabilitation.The leader also requested the chief minister to take the needed measures to ensure that women labourers are not forced to put their lives at risk to earn their livelihoods.

The labourers are migrating from several western districts like Beed, Osmanabad and Sangli with the hope of supporting their families by working as labourers in the sugarcane fields. A hysterectomy is a surgical procedure which removes the uterus. Hysterectomies are performed by either through their abdomen or vagina. Some can be done laparoscopically or with robot-assisted technology. The side effects, patient might experience after the surgery. The women can feel the pain at the incision site, swelling, redness or bruising at the incision site burning or itching near the incision and numb feeling near the incision or down their leg.

Dr Baliram Dhondiram Parsewar said, “There are no side effects after performing uterus operation, only the woman can’t get pregnant after uterus surgery. Side effects happen if the ovary is removed. Also, the woman feel hot and cold and her bones get weakened. ”

In India, minorities are safe and have equal voices as the majority does

By

Vaidehi Taman

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December 26, 2019

D ue to the political scenario prevailing in India, minorities are safe and have equal voices as the majority does. Here, everyone is punishable under Blasphemy law. If we look into history of India in 1953, Tamil reformer EV Ramaswami Naicker smashed an idol of Lord Ganesha in public at the Town Hall maidan in Tiruchirapalli. Naicker, who was angered by the caste system of Hinduism, made a speech announcing his intention to do this before breaking the idol. Veerabadran Chettiar, an offended Hindu, filed a case against him under two laws. Section 295: Whoever destroys, damages or defiles any place of worship or any object held sacred by any class of persons with the intention of thereby insulting the religion of any class of persons or with the knowledge that any class of persons is likely to consider such destruction, damage or defilement as an insult to their religion, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years.

Section 295-A: Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years or with fine or both. The Tiruchirapalli magistrate dismissed the petition. On the first charge, he said that simply because the mud figure resembled Lord Ganesha, it cannot become an object held sacred. He accepted an offence was made out on the second charge (295-A), but that law required government sanction for the case to be registered which had not come. He dismissed that also. The petitioner appealed. The sessions judge dismissed the appeal. He agreed with the magistrate saying that the idol was the private property of those who broke it.

The matter went to High Court. The judge said that the broken idol did not come within the scope of “any object held sacred by any class of persons”. An idol in a temple or one in a religious procession would, he clarified, but not any object resembling a deity. Even a toy in such a shape would otherwise qualify as being sacred. No offence was made out, the judge said, and dismissed the appeal. The case was later referred to the Supreme Court. On August 25, 1958, Justice BP Sinha said that the High Court was wrong to have imported meaning into the words “held sacred”. It was not necessary for the object to have been worshipped for it to be sacred. For instance, the Bible, Holy Quran and the Guru Granth Sahib were also objects held sacred. Sinha asked the judiciary to be circumspect in such matters and consider the feelings and religious emotions, irrespective of whether or not they share those beliefs, or whether they are rational or otherwise, in the opinion of the court. However, after making these observations, Sinha then dismissed the appeal saying the matter had become “stale” since five years had passed. What his observations did was not to set a precedent, which would have happened had the case been dismissed on merit.

Two aspects were important here. First, a tolerance for offences against God shown by India’s lower judiciary. Second, and this is from Sinha, a reminder that such offences are likely to have consequences and therefore should not be encouraged. On April 20, 1960, the Allahabad High Court fined a man, Khalil Ahmad, for costs of Rs1,200 after he was sued for getting his books released. He had written texts praising Yazid and Muawiya saying that they had a place in heaven according to Hanafi consensus. The state then seized his books. The judges cited Justice Sinha’s observation in a ruling against him. There are not many blasphemy cases reported in India. In my years as a Sessions court reporter in the 1990s and most of the case studies in legal volumes refer to events that happened 50 years or more ago. I would attribute this to a generally high tolerance in the population for the other’s faith, and a pragmatic and alert police force and judiciary. What is different in Pakistan?

Incidentally, Naicker, the idol-smasher was also the founder of the Dravidian movement that produced both of Tamil Nadu’s main political parties, DMK (Karunanidhi) and AIADMK (Jayalalitha). Naicker’s successors converted an anti-Brahmin movement into a powerful political force that now does not seek to offend. The AIADMK chief Jayalalitha was a Brahmin and both parties are inclusive. Naicker’s act is all but forgotten today and seen as political not religious. We see many political party leaders and workers making derogatory comments about each other’s religious faiths but they just render an apology after outrage by people and get scot free. Whereas a common man or a citizen of this nation gets prosecuted under judicial provision. Criminalising criticism of religion is also difficult to reconcile with guarantees of freedom of expression and freedom of religion contained in such widely embraced documents as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Fundamental Rights. It also has been demonstrated that blasphemy laws are more likely to be enforced against religious minorities than adherents of a majority faith. Equally disturbing, blasphemy laws are being repackaged as prohibitions on “hate speech.” Over the years there has been a campaign led by some Muslim nations to have the international community condemn “defamation of religion.” This rhetorical sleight of hand allows defenders of blasphemy laws to portray them as protections for persecuted believers rather than the enforcement of a theological orthodoxy.

Thankfully, India does not have a blasphemy law which punishes an individual for criticising the concept of GOD or religious beliefs and no individual can be punished for leaving his/her religion or converting to another religion. Apostasy is not punishable in any way, but can be used as a ground for divorce (does not automatically lead to). Missionaries and Dawah groups are having a heyday in India. And we have communist parties too. Hinduism is India’s dominant religion Being polytheistic and pantheistic does not have the concept of blasphemy and laws pertaining to religion and blasphemy are absent in the Indian constitution. While India has no laws that specifically prohibit blasphemy, Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code has been used as a blasphemy law. There have been widespread calls in India to repeal this regressive British era code. India is a multiracial, multilingual, multi religious country, where people of all hue and colour are living together in peace. This uniqueness, harmony, unity in diversity is our well-acknowledged characteristics. We have to preserve it.

We have already witnessed our great country being mercilessly and quite meaninglessly divided on the name of religion and anyhow survived the holocaust caused by religious differences and hatred. We can’t risk large scale dissension on religious lines among any section of the society by any way intruding, introducing, imposing, influencing their customs, beliefs, practices or hurting their sentiments. Majority has to accommodate, compromise, sacrifice sometimes for minority. Incidentally, minority is no longer a minority going by its growth and size. It constitutionally enjoys equal footing and has a major say in policy matters with wholesome participation and contribution in all spheres of lives. Religion is still a major influence though its utility, credibility and relevance are often questioned. However, it is something eternal and personal. In our democracy, everyone has the freedom of belief and no one should try to criticise or interfere into it. We all talk about universal religion but the time is not ripe yet. Even small things are sometimes grossly highlighted and misinterpreted by certain elements and they unnecessarily become the cause of communal tensions and violence. A system works on certain permissions and prohibitions. The law in its place serves its purpose at present.

(With Inputs from various agencies)

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

After BJP’s Jharkhand poll loss, saffron hues shrink from India’s map

By

Faheem Usmani Qasmi

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December 26, 2019

Bharatiya Janata Party setback in Jharkhand may have kept the bigwigs like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and political maverick Amit Shah out of the limelight but they sure have reasons to break a sweat. With the latest loss at the state-level political game, the BJP has been reduced to mere 35 per cent of the national landscape as compared to a whopping 76 per cent it commanded over in March 2018.

The BJP has been riding a roller coaster of political triumphs and defeats for the past five years. From holding power in only seven state assemblies in 2014 to a staggering 21 by 2018, the BJP swept the nation with the Modi wave. But the BJP’s luck did not shine in its favour in 2019 as well. Even as the Modi government has made a historic comeback in the Lok Sabha elections, the state-level politics continue to test the BJP.

Now it became very clear that state politics, leaders, and issues are totally different from the center ones as the BJP is being rejected by the people in state after state. Only six months ago, Jharkhand had given a favourable mandate to Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha election, but in assembly election, people definitely judged the BJP as a party and Raghubar Das as the head of a BJP government. Both failed in popular mandate in Jharkhand.

Question is why Jharkhand discarded the BJP and Raghubar Das despite PM Modi making a frantic effort with comments like, “those (opposing the government and resorting to violence over Citizenship Amendment Act) could be identified with their clothes”? Polarisation did not work for the BJP in Jharkhand.

Political pundits are coming up with several reasons that BJP has failed to get as victory mark in Jharkhand. The very first reason is that now the people of every region realized that it is a local leader who can be their voice in government and they understood that only the name of Modi would no longer fulfill their stomach.

Also the arrogance of Raghubar Das –the first non-tribal CM of Jharkhand, led the party to a miserable blow in the state. Many videos have gone viral which show Mr. Das yelling at commoners and officials in the last five years.

Moreover, the anger of tribals also contributed to the BJP breach as though tribal vote share is less than one-third, Jharkhand emotionally remains a tribal state, where the image of Raghubar Das government became of one that is anti-tribal in nature.

In 2014, the BJP-led alliance had won 13 out of 28 assembly seats reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates. Even in the Lok Sabha election, the BJP won three of the five seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes in Jharkhand. However, two of these victories came with very slim margins.

This time around, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won more than 20 of these seats – a clear case of tribals moving from the BJP camp to the JMM side.

Mob attacks against Muslims and Dalits by vigilant groups also played a role in changing the narrative against the BJP that did nothing to ensure safety and security of the common people. There have been more than 20 lynching deaths in Jharkhand in the last two years only. At least 11 of these victims were Muslims, most of whom were targeted by cow vigilante groups.

So, now the BJP must realize that national issues or divisive politics will no longer serve its purpose particularly in the states because the situation people are suffering from all over the country is so disastrous. In every sector, people are facing problems, youth are jobless, economy is declining, farmers are dying, women are insecure, and minorities are being deprived of their rights. These are the issues that must resolved at the very first step.

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

Letters to the Editor: 26 December, 2019

By

Web Team

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December 26, 2019

A tribute to Atalji

Kudos to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government for dedicating two remarkable public welfare and utility schemes in the name of Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the great leaders 95th birth anniversary. The projects – one connected to ground water and the other easing transportation, enhancing tourism and national security are truly milestones in our nation’s progress. Both the schemes have been named after the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee one of the greatest visionary leader the country has seen.

The Atal Bhujal Yojana, a scheme aimed at improving groundwater management will help in supplying water to every house hold. Prime Minister said the issue of water was very close to Atalji’s heart.

Under Atal Bhujal scheme, the government will promote Panchayat led ground water management and behavioural change with primary focus on demand side management. The central government scheme stresses on the need to use technology to prevent wastage of water in various spheres, including agriculture. The Union Cabinet had approved Rs 6,000 crore for the implementation of the scheme over a period of five years. The scheme aims to improve ground water management through community participation in seven states. With rapid growth in industrialisation and urbanisation it has become a must to manage ground water in a diligent and technical way. The PM also named Rohtang passageway as Atal Tunnel to mark the 95th birth anniversary of former prime minister.

The decision to construct a strategic tunnel below the Rohtang Pass was taken on June 03, 2000 when late Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. The foundation stone for the access road to the south end of the tunnel was laid on May 26, 2002. The 8.8-kilometre Rohtang Pass tunnel is the world’s longest tunnel which is above an altitude of 3,000 metres .The tunnel will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 kilometres and save crores of rupees in transport costs. It has world class amenities and will be one of the safest tunnel to travel. Besides enhancing tourism influx it will also enhance national security transportation.

M Pradyu

Yet another petal falls off the Lotus

BJP is dethroned in Jharkhand after losing Maharashtra only a few days back. NDA led by BJP won the Parliamentary elections a few months back with ease but local factors dominate State elections and clearly people are unhappy at the ground level as the policies enacted by the Centre are either not followed at the State level or not understood by the people.

Jharkhand debacle means a jolt for the BJP in Rajya Sabha which means GST and other reforms cannot be carried out smoothly. Prime Minister undoubtedly need to rethink on many policies that affect the common citizens who are least concerned on international matters where Modi’s focus has been all this while and it is the bread and butter apart from a shelter over their head which affects people primarily. Time to nurture the Lotus for PM Modi as new petals would re-emerge if efforts are taken to nourish the aspirations of the citizens in the days to come.

S.N.Kabra

BJP loses power in five states

The BJP has lost power in five States since last year as an alliance of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal crossed the half-way mark when votes of the Jharkhand Assembly election were counted on. BJP lost power in the fifth state within a year despite thundering win in Lok Sabha polls. Leaders blame lack of allies, unpopular chief minister and local issues.

A Abuzar Bajpatti

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