Congress & Corruption Go Together: The Sothern Deal

M. KARUNANIDHI, HEAD, DMK

KANIMOZHI, MP, RAJYA SABHA

For Congress it does not matter if it supports an accused in the multi crore 2G scam for petty political gain – an alliance in Tamil Nadu for Lok Sabha elections. Scruples have no place in the ruling Congress Party at the Centre. Now the Party has decided to support M Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi in the Rajya Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu who will not be elected to the Upper House without the support of the Congress.

For DMK leader Karunanidhi, pretention is always better than practice. The DMK chief who broke the alliance with the UPA following arrest of his daughter and denial of bail in the 2G spectrum case and on Sri Lankan Tamils issue has no qualms in approaching the Congress to help Kanimozhi retain her Rajya Sabha seat. What matters most for the DMK is to go for the spoil of office and power. The CBI has charged Kanimozhi along with A Raja in the 2G scam. She was jailed cooling her heels for more than six months in Tihar before she was granted bail. She is facing prosecution trial in the special designated court of the CBI in Delhi.

The immediate fall out of this unholy deal will be dilution of the charges against A Raja, Kanimozhi and Dayanidhi Maran. The CBI will be asked to go slow in the case. The prosecution lawyers would put weak arguments during the trial and even prefer to hold evidence against the accused. The entire arrangement between the Congress and the DMK smacks of corruption and criminalization of politics.

Criminals in politics don’t necessarily mean murderers, rapists and dacoits. White collar criminals are equally dangerous to the society and the polity of the country.

See what the Congress spokesman Sandeep Dixit has to say about the deal- “People can go to jail, that does not mean they are guilty”. One should remind Dixit and his party leaders that there is something called probity in public life. The law of the land does allow people faced with charges including charges of murder and embezzlement of public money or making money in deals to contest elections. One is innocent till proved guilty. But it does not give a license to stuff Parliament and State Legislatures with criminals. It is the UPA Government and its investigating agency that has held the DMK leaders guilty of corruption charges. Prima facie there is strong case against these leaders. It was precisely for this reason that the Prime Minister sacked A Raja from the Union Council of Ministers. It also removed Dayanidhi Maran because of corruption charges. Suddenly it finds that ‘corruption’ is no issue and there is no harm in ignoring the charges if it suits the political convenience of the ruling party.

The Congress also came forward with ridiculous argument in favour of the deal. Its leaders say that the Congress fears the prospects of J Jayalaliths and her Party the AIADMK to join hands with the BJP and Narendra Modi in the next Lok Sabha elections, hence better to join hands with Karunaidhi and his DMK to counter the BJP move in Tamil Nadu.

I wonder, one day the Congress and its partners may even justify rehabilitating all corrupt and criminals in the country in the name of ‘Modi’- to keep the BJP leader out of the race. This is not going to help, more they shout ‘bhago bhago Modi  aya’, more it will harm itself in politics.

~R. K. Sinha

Terrorists Attack: Govt. Approach Casual

UMAR ABDULLAH, CM, J&k

MEHBOOBA MUFTI, PRESIDENT, PDP

After the 9/11 attack in New York, the then President of the United States George W. Bush had said two things: Dry up resources that fund terrorism and go for hot pursuit of terrorists. India can’t go for hot chase as it lacks military power. We can’t go to Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad to hunt for Hizbul Muzahideen leader or target those who are funding and engineering terror attack in India. But we can certainly restrict and dry up resources- supply of money and weapons to the terrorists from within and without. Alas, the government has proved not only incompetent in checking uninterrupted flow of money and weapons to militants in India but also failed to put any strategy in place to stop flow of funds.

On Monday, terrorists attacked our Army in Srinagar inflicting heavy casualties. The attackers also showed that they can strike at will. The brave words like “we will fight the terrorists” or “we will give befitting reply to attackers” sound hollow. It does not carry conviction even if it comes from the mouth of Prime Minister of India.

The situation in the valley has gone from bad to worse with the state government getting more interested in scrapping of the Armed Forces Special Power Act in Jammu & Kashmir than curbing the activities of the terrorists and the separatist elements like Hurriyat who are accused of providing logistic support to the militants from across the border.

Chief Minister Omar Abullah is seen singing the tune of the PDP (People’s Democratic Party) leader Mehbooba Mufti who carries a bias against the Centre. The Congress who is supporting the National Conference from outside is a mute spectator to the development as its leaders live in the comforts of New Delhi.

Coming back to the flow of fund, the Govt. of India is fully aware of the flow of funds to the separatist Hurriyat leaders from Pakistan and from some Arab countries. Mirwaiz Farooqi and Yasim Mullick were even found carrying foreign currencies, case was registered but it is more than 4-5 years since then, there is no trace of what happened to the charge against them. The Government appears to have hushed up the case to appease Hurriyat leaders who openly profess Anti- India policy within and without. What kind of policy it is?

If one is to believe people in the know of things, there are occasions when Indian Government provides funds for Hurriyat leaders for their trip to Pakistan.

Government is in the know of things- dozens of people involved in Hawala transactions carry their business without any let or hindrance. Indian currencies are freely smuggled into the country from Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Arms are being smuggled by road from across the border into the country. Does, Indian authorities require orders from anyone to discharge their normal duty for which they are being paid for.

Every time there is terrorists attack, India has only one sentence to say- blame it on Pakistan. We must realize that Pakistan is not a friendly country. No matter who rules Pakistan – a military dictator or an elected Prime Minister, Islamabad would remain hostile to India. The Army and the ISI – the twin arms of Pakistan have a well laid long time strategy to inflict injuries and harm Indian interests.

Why then expect Pakistan to stop exporting terror to India. Why bemoan Pakistan’s involvement when it is an established fact. No outsider will fight India’s war against Pakistan. Not even the USA. We have to fight our own war against terror. But this is no way to fight the undeclared war on us.

India must come heavily on smugglers and traders of illegal arms who operate under the very nose of the government administration albeit by paying huge money to the authorities as a cut from the ‘trade’. Some politicians in Maharashtra are said to be giving protection to the syndicate of smugglers. Investigate the source of money that comes to the separatists in the valley and dry up the supply chain. That is one way to neutralize terrorists, the other options is to go for hunt even if we have to cross the border that seems unlikely.

~R. K. Sinha

Rain Warnings Again As Thousands Still To Be Evacuated

There is possibility of moderate to heavy rains lashing the ravaged areas of Uttarakhand in next 24- 48 hours. The weathermen have warned in advance. There are  around 80 -90 thousand people who are still waiting to be evacuated from the troubled zone in the hills. Even with best of efforts, the rescue and relief team of the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force and the Indo Tibetan Border Police, it is not possible to take all the stranded pilgrims and tourists out of the devastated areas.

What causes concern is more damage to the already damaged road links if the there is heavy downpour again. The affected parts of the hills have become fragile after the torrential rains. Any further onslaught of rains and flowing water from down the hills may result in fresh landslides in the region. The rescue team has been asked to complete the operation as far as possible in another 48 hours.

Reports from the affected areas are disturbing. There is acute shortage of food and ration in the entire region with supply chain totally snapped. Some of the survivors are reported have died of hunger, according to unconfirmed reports.

The government has put a ban of one year on travel to the four ‘Dhams’ in Uttarkhand. But as the situation stands today, it may take longer time to restore the road links to the region and much longer time to rehabilitate the displaced local population who have lost their home and hearth. The state government is yet come out with relief package for the affected population in the hills. Funds are there but when it comes to disbursing the money to the beneficiaries, the officials and politicians are first to embezzle the money from the relief fund and relief operation. This must stop.

That there have been callous neglect in disaster management is clear by now following admission of the state chief minister Vijay Bahuguna about the lapses. This is not for the first time that torrential rains wrecked havoc in the region. But the successive state governments ever since the creation of Uttarakhand in the year 2000 and even the state government of undivided Uttar Pradesh neglected the area for long.

Despite more than 50 helicopters pressed into service, the rescue operations are being affected for want of landing facilities. There are very few helipads in the area. Any government with vision and sincerity would have gone for building series of helipads in vulnerable locations. Hundreds of people who could have been airlifted remain stuck since helicopters cannot land in those locations. They wait for bus, van and trucks for getting out and reach the nearest point where landing facilities are available.

One can only pray to the rain God to show some mercy when it pours again in the devastated zone. Had the government paid heed to the met department warning on June 13, the number casualties would have been much less. Soon after the warning the government should have stop entry into the area and would have started evacuating the tourists and pilgrims by road before the strategy struck.

Footnote:

An elected member of Lok Sabha is a worried man as many of the people stranded in Uttarakhand are from his constituency. In an attempt to play  good Samaritan, the politician hired a chopper to airlift the stranded people from his state (in western region). When the helicopter landed in the area, people rushed to get into it. All but people of his constituency got into it. There was no way the officers commanding the rescue operation could ask people to disembark and make room for a group of persons for whom the chopper was sent. Politician now rues that only a handful of his people could be airlifted in more than three sorties that cost him a couple of crores of rupees. Why regret gentleman, after all the stranded people were rescued.

~R. K. Sinha

Warning Ignored: No Preparation As Disaster Hit Uttarakhand

Sitting in the comforts of state secretariat the officials did not heed to warnings that came from the central agencies about the impending disaster in Uttarakhand. The Planning Commission has warned about lack of preparedness a year ago while the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General of India) note of warning was sent just two months ago to Dehradun about lack of preparedness to meet the situation in case of heavy rains and landslide in the hills which has now become an annual feature. The Meteorological department had warned just 48 hours before the torrential rains came down pouring on the hills of Uttarakhand.

Why the local administration sat on the warning? Why the administration did not ask people to leave the shrines immediately after the met department warning about heavy rains? These are the question that should be asked to the state government.

The state Disaster Management Committee was set up in Uttarakhand in 2007. According to one report, the committee did not have a single meeting after its formation. What the members of the State Disaster Management Committee were doing over the past 6 years or so. Just drawing their salaries and enjoying the perks! What was the head of the committee doing? He too appears to be enjoying the paid holiday. Why the minister of the department concerned did not bother even to peep into the office of the committee even once. Nobody bothered to check that furniture were gathering dust in the office. Was it so?

At the same time the Centre can’t absolve itself by saying that its agencies had warned the state government about the disaster. No financial grants were sanctioned by the Union Government for the disaster management.

One major area of concern was dumping the ‘Ecological Zone’ plan that was recommended by the Union Ministry of Forest & Environment for a stretch of 135 kilometers that covers the four ‘dhams’. It is being said that even the BJP Government in the state opposed  the idea of ecological zone which was supported later by the Congress led government in the state. Obviously, the state government was under pressure of industrial lobby, timber lobby and mining lobby to scuttle the project that would put restrictions on construction and mining in the hill areas.

Written communications exchanged hands between Dehradun and New Delhi. If implementation of ecological zone project was necessary to protect the environment and forests in the hills of Uttarakhand, then why the Centre did not press for it. Why the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment meekly accepted the request of the state government? Knowing well that some industrial lobbies were interested in scuttling the ecological project, the Centre too appears to be a party to this lobby which does not want any restrictions on its illegal activities whether denuding forests, or haphazard constructions in the hills. The whole thing smacks of scandal.

In many areas, builders are reported to be using explosives for construction works which is not allowed in the hills. Why the local administration allowed the use of explosives for construction of buildings and reservoirs in the hills?

The untold sufferings, loss of life and the miseries of the people affected by the disaster in Uttarakhand are created by human failure, government in particular. As I write this piece, my heart goes out to those who have lost their dear members of family and friends in the disaster. Hats off to the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force and the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for rescuing and saving hundreds of lives that might have perished otherwise if left at the hands of the state government officials.

~R. K. Sinha

Tampering With Nature: Bigger Disaster Awaits The Hills

 

Sunderlal Bahuguna, environmentalist & Chipko movement leader

A bigger disaster awaits  the hills of Northern India if unlawful activities of construction and destruction of forests are not stopped immediately. The fury of nature wrecked havoc in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh killing unknown number of people and destroying properties worth hundreds of crores of rupees. The untold miseries of the people who survived including hundreds of pilgrims stranded in Kedarnath, Badrinath and Rudraprayag can’t be described in words.

We have to pay the price for tampering with the nature. The immediate cause of devastation is uncontrolled constructions in the hill region. In defiance of all rules, builders have constructed multistory apartments and buildings in the hills, a major cause of landslide. In a situation like cloud bursts the earth in the hills get pregnable and brittle that weakens the foundation of the buildings, hence the collapse.

Rapid commercialization of land in the hills is a serious threat to the people living there. Look what is happening in hill stations. Chain of luxury hotels have come up in Shimla, Manali, Kullu, Mussorie, Nainital and Dharmshala which also boasts of a cricket stadium. Rich and affluent sections of the people have their own luxury resorts now in the hills. Rishikesh has witnessed heavy constructions in the recent past where commercial high rise buildings dot the landscape. This is high time state governments put immediate curb on constructions in the hills.

One area of concern is taming of the rivers. Reckless constructions of reservoirs and dams in the hills are fraught with danger. It was not for nothing that Sunderlal Bahugana had raised his voice of concern over construction of Tehri Dam in Uttarakhand. Bahuguna was later joined by other social activists like Medha Patkar in protesting against construction of reservoirs not only in Uttarakhand but in other parts of the country as well.

It was Sundrlal Bahuguna who started ‘chipko’ movement in 1970s to save trees in the Himalayas. He carried forward his movement in later years to protect  environment in the hills. His movement had impact on the government. P V narsmiha Rao when he was Prime Minister appointed a committee to review the height of the Tehri Dam. He went on hunger strike in 1996 at Rajghat in Delhi for the longest period of 74 days. H D Deve Gowda then Prime Minister gave assurance to review the project. After the death of Bahuguna, the movement against tampering with the nature lost steam. As we can see today, there is no attempt to check the haphazard growth of buildings and houses in the hills. In the name of tapping resource of hydro power, private players have entered the field throwing all checks and balances to the winds.

 Rudra in Sanskrit means anger. A tall statue of Lord Shiva stands unmoved in the midst of furious river in Rudraprayag. The God who is the creator of the Universe will punish the mankind for tampering with the  cycle of nature and for destroying environment. It is better we control our greed and stop abusing the land, the river and the forests for monetary gains and comforts.

~R. K. Sinha

Don’t Legalise Gambling: It is Suicidal for India

It is tempting. The lure of quick and easy money is indeed tempting. It is in human instinct. It is said that had Yudhistir resisted the temptation of playing dice with the Kauravas and losing Draupadi in the gamble, there would not have been Mahabharat.

In India or for that matter in the world, gambling is as old as our civilization. Recent uproar over huge betting running into hundreds of thousands of crores on cricket matches in the IPL league has given impetus to a particular lobby who wants gambling to be legalized in India. Their argument is that India like Europe and America will earn revenues running into billions. According to one estimate, total betting in India (all illegal) runs into over three lakh crores in a year.

One should not forget that India is a welfare state and we are duty bound to protect the vast majority of ordinary people from the lure of gambling. The recent spate of suicides in West Bengal following the burst of Sharadha Chit Fund should be  an eye opener. Mere earning of revenue is not and should not be  only goal of any government in the country. If raising funds is the only objective, India should not only open a chain of gambling dens and casinos but should also run ‘prostitution centres’ with government license. Despite strong lobby of tourism industry, the centre did not allow casinos in major cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Banglore. The only exception is Goa where a casino runs.

What happened in West Bengal was promise of the promoters of the chit funds to give handsome returns on their deposit- far exceeding the return from any mode of savings. Some were driven to the lure because of sheer poverty others went willfully into the trap to multiply their cash in short time. The end result was death and destruction of families.

The votaries of legal gambling in India may argue that those putting bet on cricket matches or elections results are not poor or common man. It is absolutely wrong. Even in small towns like Jamshedpur and Ranchi in Jharkhand people put money on bet during the IPL league. The daily betting amount ran into more than a crore of rupees.

The betting is not confined to matches. People bet on rain forecast. Habitual gamblers bet on anything and everything.

Lotteries were and still are popular gamble. Many State Governments used to run lottery and allow private players to sell lottery tickets. It resulted in many poor people losing their hard earned money to lottery; many committed suicides. The governments were forced to ban lottery. Only few states like Punjab and some states in the North East run lottery.

In Mumbai, Matka is popular and is a daily betting game on numbers. It is banned. Yet many people play it. Think what would happen if gambling is legalized. The number of participants would multiply and ordinary people instead of buying ration and vegetable would put their money on betting.

Addiction is bad. Like gambling, people are also addicted to drinking. I recall a short story that we read as part of our school syllabus. Noted litterateur and novelist Munshi Premchand had written a short story ‘Kafan’. It tells about a man and his son. The wife of the man dies and there is not enough money even to by the shroud. People around collect money and give it to the man to buy the cloth for shroud. The duo, father and the son set out to fetch the cloth from market. On way there is a tavern. They go to the tavern and drink the money as the body of the woman lay in the courtyard of the house. It is a grim reminder of the ruin that gambling can bring to India.

For the rich and affluent no destination is far. They can go to Las Vegas and Monte Carlo to play in style of legendary film character James Bond. But everybody is not 007.

~ R. K. Sinha