Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Spinning T-20, Khare style

I've been a long-time reader of The Hindu, a well-known and respected daily based out of Madras, Tamil Nadu. A particular article on today's paper seemed like a very spin-doctorish, lopsided and biased analysis to me.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/t20-politics-has-run-its-course/article4188766.ece

The article be Mr.Harish Khare, former media adviser to the PMO talks about the deploring standards of parliamentary behaviour in particular and the steady fall of debate standards in the country, in general. Yes, I agree with the issues raised about the fall in quality but I don't agree with the examples he quotes so eloquently and the inferences he draws therein.I'll attempt a point-by-point rebuttal.


Sushma Swaraj, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, otherwise a mild-mannered leader with a becoming sobriety, gave in to this mood — with totally unintended consequences. Not satisfied with being personal and offensive to the Congress president, she shrilly suggested that the Uttar Pradesh-based parties — the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party — were obliged to help the government out because the Central Bureau of Investigation had been unleashed on the leaders of these two outfits.
As she saw it, the issue was not the presumed merits or deficiencies in the government’s initiative; rather it was a simple matter of “FDI vs. CBI” — a classic T20 formulation.

As it so happens, I happened to watch Mrs.Swaraj's speech in full. She spoke in chaste Hindi for almost an hour on, what in her opinion, were the possible fallout of introducing FDI in retail without due deliberation as to the consequences. In fact, I could see that the ruling party MPs constantly interrupted her, raising hullabaloo which forced her to raise her voice to be heard. This fact Mr.Khare comfortably white-washes and portrays Mrs.Swaraj as shrill. And, as far as I could remember there was nothing remotely close to a personal attack on Mrs.Sonia Gandhi. I wonder what Mr.Khare is referring to here. To be honest, I felt Mrs.Swaraj made an excellent job of her speech. She was not all eloquence, backing all her claims by solid evidence. It was no mere rhetoric. And, talking about the CBI angle to the issue, I think the entire public is well-aware of  the CBI being used as an ally by any ruling party in the Centre to witch-hunt opponents. We need no remainder of the vacillating issue of the Taj Corridor case involving Ms.Mayawati where the temperature raises or thaws based on BSP's proximity to the Centre. Mr.Khare need not pretend to be a saint. The Aam Aadmi knows that the vote also hinged on the FDI Vs. CBI factor.


The BSP leader framed her argument in an institutional context: a government defeat would embolden the BJP to continue its two-year-old strategy of parliamentary disruption, a technique that had already eroded parliamentary institutions’ credibility and respect.
Like everyone else, Ms Mayawati knew that a setback on the FDI issue would have been much more than a defeat for the Manmohan Singh government. It would have advertised to every stakeholder at home and abroad that the Indian parliamentary system was no longer able to generate for the executive the requisite legislative sanction behind any kind of policy coherence. She unwittingly ended up providing a much-needed refurbishing to the basic scheme of our constitutional arrangements. 
So, Mr.Khare is OK when Ms.Mayawati thinks that the stability of  the government takes precedence over an issue of far-reaching national importance? How else would one justify this stance where one votes in support of a particular policy decision which, in many countries has known to unsettle the indigenous social setups, arguing that a defeat would cause a collapse of the government? The very ideal enshrined in a parliamentary approach to government to keep a check on reckless policy decisions by the executive. A dismissal by the legislative is in fact a opportunity to re-examine the policy and re-work it to suit the needs of the people.

It is indeed somewhat mystifying as to why Ms Swaraj, who otherwise has the temperament of a one-down batsman in a five-day cricket test match, got seduced into recklessness. Perhaps the only explanation is that the BJP (as also its cheerleaders in the media) has been taken in by the success notched up by the Gujarat Chief Minister in the style of a limited overs-swashbuckler.
So, if someone is opposing FDI that someone is reckless?? Is that what Mr.Khare is implying? And, cheerleaders in the media? For the BJP?? Mr.Khare, that in anybody's opinion has to be the 'joke of the decade'. Well, BJP is one party that is at the receiving end of the most biased and agenda-driven of media coverages. Anything BJP is equated to Hindutva, Saffron terror, what not! I wonder if Mr.Khare lives in India only. I'm not even venturing into the Gujarat cottage industry of NGOs working against Mr.Modi.

In fact, Narendra Modi is the first political leader of some consequence who has built up an aura around himself by rough-talking. His handlers have crafted a macho image for him, which now critically hinges on his perceived ready and uninhibited willingness to bad-mouth anyone; he has been projected as having the ability to “take on” anyone, and that he is unafraid of any holy cow. Mr. Modi is loud and immodest in self-praise and self-promotion; unrestrained in his nasty comments about Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. He tickles our baser instincts, makes us feel good in our small-mindedness. So invidious a toll has the Modi-type aggression taken on our collective sensibilities that a gentle, soft-spoken Manmohan Singh is dismissed in middle class conversations as a namby-pamby.
Well, Modi-bashing is the flavor of the season. Mr.Khare adds his 2 cents' worth. It has been a while since India saw a strong, decisive figure as a ruler of the state. After almost two terms of Manmohan Singh anyone with a remotely strong and decisive approach seems macho. Mr.Khare talks about bad-mouthing, Well he should remember the "Maut ka Saudagar" comment in the last Gujarat Assembly elections, by none other than the Congress President. So who is bad-mouthing, Mr.Khare?  Mr.Modi, has demonstrated in not one, but two consecutive elections, with thumping majority, that his agenda of development-driven and strong leadership is what people of Gujarat aspire for. The statistics speak for Mr.Modi. His much-touted "Gujarat model" is desired by everyone. For a public, that has seen only major scams as the highlights of 10 years of UPA rule, Mr.Modi's assertive style is a whiff of fresh air. Mr.Modi is not tainted by charges of corruption. His wife/son/daughter/brother, etc. are not part of the government, unlike the Congress' style of dynasty as politics and politics as dynasty .Nasty comments about the Gandhis? So if someone is alleged to be corrupt, asking them to come clean is nasty? That is Mr.Khare's logic? Manmohan as namby-pamby eh? Well, no matter how much spin doctors like Mr.Khare can try to make it sound good, the people know for a fact about the stoic silences of our Prime Minister on various issues. 2G scam? Our PM gratefully acknowledges Mr.Raja's letter where he arbitrarily advances the date of submission. That the Supreme Court cancelled all licenses, isn't that a slap in the face of our "decisive PMO"? I agree that the Prime Minister is personally clean. What use? Facts are facts.

Mr.Khare is right when he asserts "Violence in our daily political discourse is bound to breed violent proclivities in political society".


But my request is, please state facts and don't try to spin issues. The daily debates on late night television is enough to gauge the quality of debates. There is an overflow of loud-mouthed, no-holds-barred rhetoric. Shouting down the other person is the strategy. It is one thing to deplore the state of debates and other to manufacture imagined perceptions and inferences. Mr.Khare has blurred the line.








Monday, December 10, 2012

Experience on rails

I happened to travel in the special compartment for disabled people , on a recent trip from Tirunelveli to Trichy, as an escort for a relative of mine. I'm writing this post to basically place a few observations on record.

The compartment was make-shift, a part of the coach having the Pantry was walled off on one end and marked as Special. The first thing that struck me as I entered was the roominess. The authorities had taken care to make the small area spacious , by not having the aisle seats. Just one cubicle was there with large seats, seating up to four people. There were two such seats, facing each other. So the place could house eight persons. There was a berth on top, where if need be, the escorts could move to, in case quite a few disabled persons happened to be there. But, on this trip the place was empty. Just two other persons with their respective escorts were there. 

Initially, while boarding, I was shocked to notice, that although the compartment prominently displayed the sign "For Disabled" it had no special arrangement for people to board. I mean, one had to climb the same steep vertical steps (three of them) like any normal railway coach. It stumped me to think, how this was dis-abled friendly? What if a wheel-chair bound person happened to travel? Was he to be lifted up? Having said that, the interior was designed sensitively, there were railings in the coach walls so that they could be held by people while walking. The toilets were also large and spacious. One complaint I had was that the water outlet was hard to operate even for me, leave alone challenged people. The emergency-stop chain also was placed lower so that it will be easier to reach. Good thinking, that. India, is not the most disabled friendly of countries. Its record is miserable. So, considering that, it is quite a thing to see a well-designed Disabled compartment in India Railways. It will be even better if care were taken to incorporate further amenities, especially the one with the entering stairs.

Friday, December 7, 2012

A startling read!


Melvisharam: “Darul Islam” of Tamil Nadu

An article by Chennai based senior journalist on Vijayavaani.

The Supreme Court’s Order

November 9, 2009 is a significant day in the religious, political and demographic history of India in general and Tamil Nadu in particular. The Supreme Court directed the Tamil Nadu government to consider within three months the representations filed by “Keel-visharam” (Lower Visharam) villagers for the de-merger of their Panchayat from the “Mel-visharam” (Upper Visharam) Panchayat of Vellore district and forward them to the Governor to act upon. The SC Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam also directed the Tamil Nadu government to communicate the same to Janata Party president Dr. Subramaniam Swamy, a respondent in the case.
Islam, its concepts and character
Before going into the facts of this important case, one needs to know the facts about the fundamental character of Islam and the Muslim community. This revolves around six important concepts – Ummah, Darul Islam, Darul Harb, Jehad, Taquia and Kafir – which are practiced and executed as per the Koran, Hadith and Sura.
Ummah is an Arabic word meaning “community” or “nation”. In the context of Islam, ummahmeans the “Community of the Believers” (ummat al-mu’minin), and thus the whole Muslim world.
Darul Islam is an Islamic term for the Muslim regions of the world under the system of divisions of the world in Islam. The term appears in the Quran in 6.127 as a name of Paradise. Islamic Nations fall under this category.
Darul Harb is a term classically referring to those countries where the Muslim law is not in force in the matter of worship and the protection of the faithful and Dhimmis. For much of Islamic history, this is the preferred term used to describe non-Islamic societies, emphasizing various Islamic countries’ aspirations to conquer such territories and render them part of Darul-Islam.
Kafir in the Islamic doctrinal sense refers to a person who does not recognize Allah or the prophethood of Muhammad (i.e., any non-Muslim) or who hides, denies, or covers the “truth”. Quran, Sura 2 Verse 256, asks them to take upon themselves the action of “Kofr” of all unjust idols, persons or powers. It is translated in English as “unbeliever,” “ungrateful,” or “obliterator,” and is seen as derogatory(Wikipedia on Kafir). People of other faiths are addressed as Kafirs.
Jihad, an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. Jihad appears frequently in the Qur’an and common usage as the idiomatic expression “striving in the way of Allah (al-jihad fi sabil Allah)”. A person engaged in jihad is a mujahid, plural mujahideen. The four major categories of jihad are – Jihad against one’s self (Jihad al-Nafs), Jihad of the tongue (Jihad al-lisan), Jihad of the hand(Jihad al-yad), and Jihad of the sword (Jihad as-sayf). Islamic military jurisprudence focuses on regulating the conditions and practice of Jihad as the only form of warfare permissible under Islamic law, and thus the term Jihad is usually used in fiqh manuals in reference to military combat.
The word “al-Taqiyya” literally means: “Concealing or disguising one’s beliefs, convictions, ideas, feelings, opinions, and/or strategies at a time of imminent danger, whether now or later in time, to save oneself from physical and/or mental injury.” A one-word translation would be “dissimulation”. The Taqiyah doctrine is based on Qur’an 3:28: “Let not the believers take for friends or helpers unbelievers rather than believers. If any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah; except by way of precaution, that ye may guard yourselves from them”. Sunni commentator Ibn Kathir explained that “believers that fear for their safety from the unbelievers… are allowed to show friendship to the unbelievers outwardly, but never inwardly”.
From the above, we can see that to convert the world into an Ummah, Muslims wage Jihad using Al-Taquiya against Kafirs to convert Darul Harbs into Darul Islam. This prompted Dr Prithipal, Professor Emeritus, Professor of Comparative Religion, University of Alberta, Canada, to observe: ‘Muslims will only live as an oppressive majority and turbulent minority’.

Introduction to Melvisharam

Visharam is a town in the ‘Arcot’ Assembly constituency in Vellore district. It has a considerable population of Muslims, who are largely concentrated in areas like Ambur, Vaniyambadi, Arcot and local Vellore as well. Initially, Visharam had two panchayats – Melvisharam dominated by Muslims and Keelvisharam dominated by Scheduled Castes (Adi Dravidas) and MBCs (Vanniyars). The panchayats were constituted in 1951. While Melvisharam had 17 wards, Keelvisharam had 4 wards. In 1996, the then DMK government, yielding to pressure of Melvisharam Muslims, merged Keelvisharam with it. Later in October 2004, the then AIADMK government upgraded Melvisharam as Grade-III Municipality. Later in August 2008, it was merged with Vellore Corporation.
Melvisharam being a predominantly Muslim town, the Urdu-speaking community was quite wealthy with an economy largely based on Tanneries, while the SCs and MBCs of Keelvisharam were dependent solely on agriculture in the water-starved region. The merger of Keelvisharam with Melvisharam has brought immense difficulties to its people, who were forced to approach the courts due to the total indifference and arrogance of successive governments, Dravidian parties and self-styled Dalit and Vanniyar leaders. Dr. Subramaniam Swamy took up their cause, and there is now hope for permanent relief to the hapless Hindus of Keelvisharam.

Melvisharam as Darul-Islam
Journalist Puduvai Saravanan made an ‘on the spot’ investigative report way back in 2005. The Tamil magazine “Vijayabaratham” also published an investigative story on this.
Only Urdu gets prominence in Melvisharam. In Municipal sessions, the Chairman and members discuss all issues only in Urdu. The Municipal Library contains only Urdu books, magazines and newspapers, and has very few Tamil newspapers, that too as a formality. The Muslim majority of Melvisharam speak Tamil only with strangers visiting the town. The only street with just 10 Hindu families is named “Tamil Street”! The names of all other streets and even the names of shops and other trade venues and business establishments are written only in Urdu.
Melvisharam has “Abdul Hakim Engineering College”, “Abdul Hakim Arts & Science College”, and five schools run by “Melvisharam Muslim Educational Society” (MMES). A landmark is Masjid-e-Khizar whose minaret is 175 ft (53 m) high. In 2003 K.H. Group of Companies and Apollo Group of Hospitals set up the Apollo KH Hospital. Banks and other establishments are aplenty. But, it doesn’t have a police station! Everything is decided only by Jamaat (public – as told by Amjad Hussein, who runs a fruit juice shop).
Keelvisharam is also called ‘Rasaththipuram,’ and since its merger with Melvisharam, the Panchayat election has never been conducted democratically. The local Jamaat decides the Chairman and Councillors and only they can file nominations. Nobody else can.
In 2002, the four councilors of Rasathipuram were beaten black and blue by the other Muslim councillors and since then the people of Rasathipuram (four wards) have been boycotting the elections.
The Melvisharam Jamaat had the practice of choosing an influential Muslim of the ruling party as Chairman of the Municipality. The proceedings of the Municipal session were never known to the Hindus. It is alleged that most times the sessions were conducted in wealthy Muslim homes and not in official municipal premises.
While most of municipal jobs were given to Muslims, menial jobs like sweeping and scavenging only were given to Hindus (SCs and MBCs).

K.L. Elavazhagan of PMK is the present MLA (Arcot) and hails from Keelvisharam. His father K. Loganathan was murdered in 1991. Though the murder was projected as ‘political rivalry’, it was learnt that the killer was saved and converted to Islam by an influential Muslim from Melvisharam. He is presently living with his Muslim wife leading a cushy life. (As PMK leadership was always pandering to minorities, Elavazhagan had no option but to toe the party line and couldn’t proceed against his father’s killers).

On the banks of ‘Palar’ river in Keelvisharam, the SCs had their burial ground on poromboke lands, which was encroached by Muslims who built around 300 houses there illegally. The Melvisharam municipality named it “Sadhik Basha Nagar” and gave electricity and water connections and issued “Patta” for the owners (sic). A few Dalit hutments situated in nearby were not given power and water supply.
The wealthy Muslims forced the SCs and MBCs to sell their lands for paltry sums and built Tanneries on those lands. The used water and wastage from the tanneries polluted the water resources of Keelvisharam, resulting in agricultural lands becoming infertile and useless. A few years back, the Jamaat issued an order that the lands (worth Rs.10,000/- per ‘cent’) in Keelvisharam must be bought at the rate of only Rs.1000/- per ‘cent’.

The Melvisharam Municipality had passed a resolution to set up a “Waste-water purification plant” in the land (Survey 256/2 – 31.66 acres) at Rasathipuram which comprised a Cashew Farm and an open air temple with “Ganesh Murti” and “Village Amman Deity”, where Hindus (SC Dalits and MBC Vanniyars) have been celebrating Pongal and other festivals for hundreds of years. Due to stiff Hindu opposition, the Muslim Municipality couldn’t set up the waste water treatment plant, but they destroyed the Cashew farm worth 10 crore rupees completely and demolished the Ganesh Murtis. Representations to the district authorities fell on deaf ears. Now the Muslims are trying to encroach on this land in the guise of laying drainage systems. The Hindus are determined to save their land and temple. The only Ganesh Temple in Melvisharam is used as a store room by Muslims to store old equipments and worn out things.
Hindus are allowed to run only ‘Saloons’ and ‘Laundries’ in Melvisharam. Many families in Keelvisharam roll beedi leaves for Beedi factories owned by Muslims of Melvisharam.
Muslims are trying to settle in Keelvisharam and build Mosques there, to change the demography of the small Hindu area. Government schemes and concessions are not passed on to Hindus of Keelvisharam. Every facility (drainage, water supply, power supply, roads, etc.) is enjoyed by Melvisharam while nothing is passed on to Rasathipuram.

The New Indian Express reported on 10 November 2009 that all Muslim functionaries of the Panchayat have denied all administrative and developmental facilities and even basic amenities such as drinking water to the four wards where Hindus reside. Adding insult to injury, when Hindus demanded their rightful share, they were asked to convert to Islam. Muslims of Melvisharam have discriminated against Hindus of Rasathipuram by violating Article 15 (1) of the Constitution.

The Hindus (SCs and MBCs) of Keelvisharam have been oppressed for years and no Dravidian party bothered to attend to their grievances. All Tamil political parties have been acting like beggars for Muslim votes, showing scant regards to Tamil Hindus. Sadly, neither English nor vernacular media in the State bothered to report the problems and misery of the hapless Hindu victims of Islamic oppression. But for Dr. Swamy, journalist Puduvai Saravanan and magazine “Vijayabaratham”, the facts of a “Darul Islam” in Melvisharam would not have come out into the open.

The legal course

Subramaniam Swamy filed a PIL in 2007 in the Madras High Court, seeking a direction to the government to constitute the revenue village of Keelvisharam as a separate village Panchayat instead of being part of Melvisharam Panchayat (now upgraded as municipality).
The High Court issued an order on February 5, 2007 saying that the various Melvisharam public grievances petitions and the demand for partition be considered by the Governor. The Tamil Nadu government, instead of abiding by the HC order, approached the SC against it through a Special Leave Petition, and on 16 January 2009, the SC stayed the HC judgment and issued notice to Dr. Swamy.
Now disposing off the state government’s appeal, the Supreme Court directed it to consider within three months the representations filed by Keelvisharam villagers for de-merger of their Panchayat from the Melvisharam Panchayat of Vellore district and forward the same to the Governor to act upon.

Conclusion

Melvisharam is not the only “Darul Islam” in Tamil Nadu. Dr. Swamy says there are forty panchayats across the state in similar conditions: “In TN there are 40 Town Panchayats with Muslim majority and the minority Hindus there are living with the same Hobson’s choice or Catch-22. Hence, Melvisharam was a test case. With the help of VHP, I shall now visit all 40 Town Panchayats from Melvisharam to Thondi (Ramnathapuram) and see that the minority Hindus get their due share and are not harassed for conversion of their faith to Islam. So this judgment will trigger similar demands in all 40 Panchayats and lead to state-wide Hindu consolidation. That is Karunanidhi’s nightmare” (the ruling DMK tends to discriminate against Hindus for minority votes).