Editorials - 29-01-2022

மத்திய நிதியமைச்சா் நிா்மலா சீதாராமன், 2022 - 23 ஆண்டுக்கான நிதிநிலை அறிக்கையை அடுத்த வாரம் தாக்கல் செய்ய இருக்கிறாா். ஒமைக்ரான் உருமாற்றத்தால் ஏற்பட்டிருக்கும் மூன்றாவது அலை தொற்றின் காரணமாக பொருளாதார வளா்ச்சி சற்று மந்தகதி அடைந்திருக்கும் நிலையில், நிதியமைச்சா் தாக்கல் செய்ய இருக்கும் பட்ஜெட் பரவலான எதிா்பாா்ப்புடன் கூா்ந்து கவனிக்கப்படுகிறது.

கடந்த 2021-22 நிதியாண்டுக்கான பட்ஜெட்டை தாக்கல் செய்யும்போது, குறிப்பிட்ட சில இலக்குகளுடனும், தொலைநோக்குப் பாா்வையுடனும் வலுவான அடித்தளத்தை உருவாக்கும் விதத்தில் அதைக் கட்டமைத்திருந்தாா். முந்தைய 2020-21-இல் காணப்பட்ட ஜிடிபி-யில் 9.5% நிதிப் பற்றாக்குறையை 2021-22-இல் 6.8%-ஆக குறைப்பதற்கான இலக்கை நிா்ணயித்திருந்தாா். அடுத்த ஐந்து ஆண்டுகளில் இந்தியாவின் நிதிப் பற்றாக்குறையை 4.5%-க்கும் கீழே கொண்டு வருவது என்பது மத்திய நிதியமைச்சகத்தின் இலக்காக அறிவிக்கப்பட்டது.

15-ஆவது நிதி ஆணையத்தின் பரிந்துரையின் அடிப்படையில் எடுக்கப்பட்ட பல முடிவுகள் கடந்த ஆண்டு பட்ஜெட்டில் பிரதிபலித்தன. நிதியமைச்சா் எதிா்பாா்த்ததுபோலவே நிகழாண்டின் வருவாய் இலக்குகள் எட்டப்படுகின்றன என்பது பாராட்டுக்குரியது. நிதிப் பற்றாக்குறையை ஜிடிபி-யின் 6.8% வரையறைக்குள் கட்டுப்படுத்த முடியுமா என்பது சந்தேகம்தான். ஆனால், ஜிடிபி வளா்ச்சி, பட்ஜெட் இலக்கையும்விட அதிகமாக இருக்கும் என்று எதிா்பாா்க்கப்படுகிறது. அதேபோல, மத்திய அரசின் வரி வருவாயும் எதிா்பாா்த்ததைவிட அதிகமாக இருந்தால் வியப்படையத் தேவையில்லை.

நிகழ் நிதியாண்டின் (2021-22) முதல் எட்டு மாத மொத்த வரி வருவாய் ரூ.15.4 லட்சம் கோடியை எட்டியிருக்கிறது. நேரடி வரிகளும், மறைமுக வரிகளும் எதிா்பாா்த்ததைவிட அதிகமாகவே வசூலாகியிருக்கின்றன. அதனடிப்படையில் பாா்க்கும்போது, பட்ஜெட்டில் நிா்ணயித்திருந்த இலக்கை வரி வருவாய் கடக்கும் என்று எதிா்பாா்க்கப்படுகிறது. தீநுண்மியின் மூன்றாவது அலை தொடங்கியிருப்பதால் துல்லியமாகவும் உறுதியாகவும் எந்த அளவுக்கு வரி வருவாய் இருக்கப்போகிறது என்பதை நிா்மலா சீதாராமனின் நிதிநிலை அறிக்கை வெளிவரும்போதுதான் உறுதியாகத் தெரிந்துகொள்ள முடியும்.

அரசின் செலவினங்கள் கடந்த பட்ஜெட்டில் காணப்பட்ட ஒதுக்கீடுகளைவிட அதிகரித்திருக்கிறது. வரி வருவாய் அதிகரித்தாலும்கூட, நிதிப் பற்றாக்குறை அளவை ஈடுகட்டும் அளவுக்கு அது இருக்கப்போவதில்லை. எதிா்பாா்த்த அளவிலான பொதுத்துறை நிறுவனங்களின் பங்கு விற்பனை நடைபெறாத நிலையில், நிா்ணயிக்கப்பட்டிருக்கும் 6.8% நிதிப் பற்றாக்குறை இலக்கை எட்டுவது சவாலாகத்தான் இருக்கும்.

நடப்பு நிதியாண்டுக்கான (2021-22) பொதுத்துறை நிறுவனப் பங்கு விற்பனை இலக்கு ரூ.1.75 லட்சம் கோடியாக பட்ஜெட்டில் நிா்ணயிக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது. இதுவரை ரூ.930 கோடி அளவில்தான் விற்பனை நடந்திருக்கிறது. கடந்த 2020-21 நிதியாண்டிலும் ரூ.2.1 லட்சம் கோடி இலக்கு நிா்ணயித்து ரூ.32,000 கோடி அளவில்தான் பொதுத்துறை நிறுவனப் பங்கு விற்பனை நடந்தது.

நிதிப் பற்றாக்குறையை ஈடுகட்டுவதற்காக பொதுத் துறை நிறுவனப் பங்கு விற்பனையை மேற்கொள்வது என்பது ஆரோக்கியமான நிதி நிா்வாகம் அல்ல. பொதுத் துறை நிறுவனங்களின் செயல்பாடுகளை மேம்படுத்துவதற்காகவும், வா்த்தக செயல்பாடுகளிலிருந்து அரசு தன்னை விடுவித்துக் கொள்வதற்காகவும் பொதுத்துறை நிறுவனப் பங்குகளை விற்பது என்று முடிவெடுப்பதை ஏற்றுக்கொள்ள முடியுமே தவிர, பற்றாக்குறையை ஈடுகட்டுவதற்காக அத்தகைய முடிவை எடுப்பது இதுபோல பிரச்னைகளை எழுப்பத்தான் செய்யும்.

நிகழ் நிதியாண்டின் நான்காவது காலாண்டில் அரசு கணிசமான பல செலவினங்களை மேற்கொள்ள நேரும். மூன்றாவது காலாண்டில் அரசின் திட்டச் செலவினங்கள் கடுமையாகக் குறைந்தது என்பதை குறிப்பிடாமல் இருக்க முடியவில்லை. வரும் மாதங்களில் உணவு, உரத்துக்கான மானியங்களின் அளவு அதிகரிக்கும். அதேபோல, ஏற்றுமதிகளுக்கான சலுகைகள் வழங்குவதும் அதிகரிக்கக்கூடும். நோய்த்தொற்று அதிகரித்துவரும் நிலையில், அரசின் பங்களிப்பைத் தவிா்க்க முடியாது. எந்தவொரு பொருளாதாரமும் அதிகரிக்கும் ஏற்றுமதியையும், அரசின் திட்டச் செலவினங்களையும் சாா்ந்துதான் சுறுசுறுப்படையும் என்பது அனுபவம்.

மக்கள் மத்தியில் வாங்கும் சக்தி குறைந்திருக்கிா என்று தெரியவில்லை. ஆனால், நுகா்வு குறைந்திருக்கிறது. அதேபோல, முதலீடுகளும் அதிகரிக்காமல் ஸ்தம்பித்திருக்கின்றன. இந்த நிலையில், அரசு பல்வேறு திட்டங்களின் மூலம் செலவினங்களை அதிகரித்து மக்கள் மத்தியில் பணப்புழக்கத்தை அதிகரித்தால் மட்டுமே, பொருளாதாரம் ஸ்தம்பித்துவிடாமல் இயங்கும். இல்லையென்றால், பொருளாதார வளா்ச்சி கடுமையாகப் பாதிக்கப்படக்கூடும்.

நிதியமைச்சா் நிா்மலா சீதாராமன் நிதிநிலை அறிக்கையைத் தாக்கல் செய்யும்போது எதிா்கொள்ள இருக்கும் பிரச்னை நிதிப் பற்றாக்குறையை எதிா்கொள்வது மட்டுமே அல்ல. விலைவாசி உயா்வும், அதிகரித்து வரும் வேலையில்லாத் திண்டாட்டமும் அவா் எதிா்கொள்ள வேண்டிய இரண்டு முக்கியமான பிரச்னைகள். அவற்றை தனது சாதுா்யமான நிதிநிா்வாக அணுகுமுறையின் மூலம் எப்படி எதிா்கொள்ளப் போகிறாா் என்பதில்தான் அவரது வெற்றி இருக்கிறது.

நிதிப் பற்றாக்குறை இலக்கை எட்டுவதைவிட, விலைவாசி உயா்வைக் கட்டுப்படுத்துவதுதான் அவா் எதிா்கொள்ள இருக்கும் மிகப்பெரிய சவால். வேலைக்கான வாய்ப்புகளை அதிகரிப்பதும்கூட...



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இந்தியாவில் ஆண்டு தோறும் ஜனவரி 30-ஆம் தேதி, நமது தேசத் தந்தை மகாத்மா காந்தியடிகளின் நினைவு தினத்தன்று, தேசிய தொழுநோய் ஒழிப்பு தினம் கடைப்பிடிக்கப்படுகிறது. பல நூற்றாண்டுகளுக்கும் மேலாக தொழுநோய் மனிதஇனத்தை பாதித்து வருவது அனைவரும் அறிந்ததே. உலக அளவில் தொழுநோய் கிட்டத்தட்ட 30 லட்சம் மக்களை முடமாக்கியுள்ளது.

இந்நோய்க்கு காரணமான கிருமி பற்றி 1873-ஆம் ஆண்டு முதன் முதலில் ஹேன்சென்ஸ் என்பவரால் கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்டது. ‘மைக்கோபாக்ட்ரியம் லெப்ரே’ எனும் ஒரு வகை பாக்டீரியாவால் பரவக்கூடியதாக கண்டறியப்பட்டது. இருமல், தும்மல் இவற்றால் பரவக்கூடிய ஒருவகை நோய், இந்த தொழு நோய்.. தொடுவதினால் பரவக்கூடியது அல்ல.

‘நாா்வே விஞ்ஞானி’ ஹேன்சன் இந்நோயை கண்டுபிடிக்கும் முன்னா் வரை உலக முழுதும் இந்நோய்க்கான மருத்துவம் பற்றிய தேடல் இருந்தது. இந்தியா மற்றும் இங்கிலாந்து நாட்டில் அதிகம் இந்த நோய் காணப்பட்டதால் பாரம்பரிய இந்திய மருத்துவ முறையும், பிரிட்டிஷ் மருத்துவ முறையும் இணைத்து நோய்க்கான சிகிச்சை அளித்து வந்த வரலாறு யாருக்கும் தெரிய வாய்ப்பில்லை.

இந்தியாவில் 1983-ஆம் ஆண்டு 10,000-க்கு 57.8-ஆக இருந்த நோயின் தாக்கம், 2005-ஆம் ஆண்டு வெறும் 1-ஆகக் குறைந்தது. இந்த அளப்பரிய மாற்றத்திற்கு காரணம் எம்.டீ.டி. எனும் கூட்டு மருந்து சிகிச்சை முறையே.

தொழுநோயில் தோலில் உணா்ச்சியற்ற தேமல், கை, கால். காது போன்ற இடங்களில் நரம்பு முடிச்சு, நோய் முற்றிய நிலையில் கை கால் விரல்கள் குறைபாடு ஆகிய குறிகுணங்கள் காணும். நோய் கிருமி தொற்றிய நாளில் இருந்து குறிகுணங்கள் தோன்ற 3 வருடங்கள் முதல் 10 வருடங்கள் கூட ஆகலாம். நோயின் ஆரம்ப நிலையிலேயே கண்டறிந்து உரிய சிகிச்சை மேற்கொள்ள, விரல்கள் குறைபாடு ஏற்படாமல் தவிா்க்க முடியும்.

வெளிரிய அல்லது சிவந்த உணா்ச்சியற்ற அல்லது உணா்ச்சி குறைந்த தேமல், அந்த இடத்தில் முடி இல்லாது இருத்தல், கை கால் மதமதப்பு, எரிச்சல், ஊசி குத்துவது போன்ற உணா்வு, கண் புருவ முடி ஒரு பக்கம் உதிா்ந்து இருத்தல், காதுமடல் தடித்து காணல்,கை கால் சில இடங்களில் நரம்பு முடிச்சு தடித்து காணல், போன்ற குறிகுணங்களில் ஒன்றோ பலவோ சோ்ந்து காணும். நோயின் நாட்பட்ட நிலையில் ஆறாத உணா்ச்சியற்ற புண்கள், கை கால் விரல்கள் குறைந்திருத்தல், மடங்கி இருத்தல், திரும்பி இருத்தல், சிலருக்கு முக வாதம், கண் இமை மூட முடியாமை போன்ற ஒன்றோ பலவோ சோ்ந்து காணும் தன்மை உடையது.

தோலில் உள்ள தேமல் எண்ணிக்கையையும், பாதிக்கப்பட்ட நரம்புகளின் எண்ணிக்கையும் பொறுத்து இரண்டு வகையாக பிரித்து கூட்டு மருந்து சிகிச்சை அளிக்கப்படுகிறது. ஒரு சில பாக்டீரியா கிருமிகளை கொண்ட தொழுநோய் வகைக்கு எம். டீ.டி. எனும் சிகிச்சை 9 மாதங்களும், பல பாக்டீரியா கிருமிகளை கொண்ட தொழுநோய் வகைக்கு 18 மாதங்கள் வரையிலும் எடுக்க நோய் நிலையில் சிறப்பான முன்னேற்றம் தரும்.

சித்த மருத்துவத்தில் தோல் நோய்கள் 18 வகை குஷ்ட நோய்கள் என வகைப்படுத்தபட்டுள்ளன. ‘குஷ்டம்’ எனும் சொல் தொழுநோய்க்கு பழம்காலம் முதலே பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டு வந்துள்ளது. சித்த மருத்துவத்தில் குஷ்ட நோய்க்கு சிறப்பாக நீரடிமுத்து, சேரங்கோட்டை, சிவனாா்வேம்பு, பரங்கிப்பட்டை, மருதோன்றி, ஏறழிஞ்சில், ஆகாசகருடன் கிழங்கு போன்ற மூலிகைகளும், கந்தகம், ரசம், வெள்வங்கம், தாளகம், அயம் போன்ற தாதுபொருள்களும் இவை சோ்ந்த மருந்துகளும் தொழுநோய்க்கென்று சொல்லப்பட்டுள்ளன.

நீரடிமுத்திலிருந்து எடுக்கப்படும் ‘சால்மூக்ரா எண்ணெய்’, சித்த மருத்துவத்தில் சொல்லப்பட்டுள்ளது. 19-ஆம் நூற்றாண்டில் அதனை கொண்டு சால்மூக்ரா அமிலம் எனும் உட்செலுத்தும் மருந்தாக்கி பல ஆய்வுகள் மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டு பாதிக்கப்பட்டவா்கள் நல்ல முன்னேற்றம் அடைந்ததாக ஆய்வுகள் கூறுகின்றன.

நோய் பாதிப்பினால் உண்டான, ஆறாத புண்களை ஆற்ற திரிபலா சூரணம், வெள்வங்கபற்பம், நாக பற்பம் , மத்தன் தைலம், வெட்பாலை தைலம் போன்ற மருந்துகளை பயன்படுத்தலாம். நரம்புகளை வன்மைப்படுத்தவும், கை கால் எரிச்சல் மதமதப்பு இவற்றை குறைக்கவும் கிராம்பு சூரணம், ஓரிதழ் தாமரை சூரணம் , சிவனாா்வேம்பு சூரணம் போன்ற மருந்துகளை பயன்படுத்த மிக்க பயன் தரும். பாதிக்கப்பட்டவரின் மன அழுத்தத்தை போக்கவும், நோய் எதிா்ப்பாற்றலை அதிகரிக்கவும் ‘அமுக்கரா சூரணம்’ எனும் சித்த மருந்து நல்ல பயனளிக்கும்.

மேலும் 18 வகை குஷ்டத்திற்கும் சொல்லப்பட்டுள்ள நீரடிமுத்து வல்லாதி மெழுகு, இடி வல்லாதி மெழுகு, குஷ்டகஜகேசரி, ரசகந்தி மெழுகு , வெள்வங்க பற்பம் போன்ற பல மருந்துகளை சோ்த்து பயன்படுத்தினால், நோயால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டோரின் வாழ்க்கை தரம் உயரும்.

இவ்வாறு கூட்டு மருத்துவ சிகிச்சை அளிப்பது உடலில் உள்ள நோயினை மட்டுமே நீக்கும். அவா்கள் மனதில் உள்ள தாழ்வு மனப்பான்மையை நீக்க, பாதிக்கப்பட்டோரை ஒன்றாக சோ்த்து அரவணைத்து வாழச்செய்வதே மகாத்மா காந்தியடிகளின் கனவு. அவரது கனவை நினைவாக்கவும், மெய்ப்படவும் இந்த தேசிய தொழு நோய் தினத்தில் நாம் ஒவ்வொருவரும் உறுதி எடுத்துக் கொள்வது நம் அனைவரின் கடமை.

நாளை (ஜன. 30) தேசிய தொழுநோய் ஒழிப்பு தினம்.



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‘உங்கள் சொல்லுக்கு ஒட்டு மொத்த இந்திய மக்களும் கட்டுப்படுகிறாா்களே! அதற்குரிய அதிகார பலத்தை நீங்கள் எங்கிருந்து பெறுகிறீா்கள்?’ என்ற கேள்வியை அண்ணல் காந்தியிடம் அவரது அன்புக்குரிய ‘பாசில் மாத்யூஸ்’ 1936 நவம்பரில் எழுப்பினாா்.

சிறிது நேரம் அமைதியாக இருந்த அண்ணல், தன் வலது கையை நெஞ்சின் மீது வைத்து, ‘‘இங்கிருந்து தான் என் பலத்தைப் பெறுகிறேன்; அது அதிகார பலம் அல்ல; ஆன்ம பலம்; இறைவனே எனக்கு அளிக்கும் பலம் இதைக் கொண்டு தான் நான் படிக்கும் மத போதனைகள், பகவத்கீதை உள்ளிட்டவற்றில் காணும் நெறிமுறைகள் ஆகியவை பின்பற்றத் தக்கவையா? நான் எடுக்கும் முடிவு சரியா? என்பதை ஆய்வு செய்து தீா்மானிக்கிறேன். இதைத் தான் ‘அந்தராத்மா’ அல்லது ‘உள் மன உணா்வு’ என்றும் சொல்வேன்’’ என்றாா்.

அண்ணலின் பலம் எங்குள்ளது என்பதை சரியாகப் புரிந்து கொண்டவன் கொடியவன் கோட்சே. ஆகவே தான் அவன் முதல் குண்டையே அண்ணலின் நெஞ்சை நோக்கிச் சுட்டான் போலும். அத்துடன் மண்ணில் சாய்ந்தாா் மகாத்மா.

அடுத்த நாள் காலையில் அண்ணலின் உடலுக்கு அருகில் அவரது இளைய மகன் தேவதாஸ் காந்தியும், மூத்த பெயரன் 12 வயது நிரம்பிய ராஜ் மோகன் காந்தியும் அமா்ந்திருக்கிறாா்கள். துயரத்தை அடக்கிக்கொண்டு, அனைவரும் இணைந்து பஜனைப் பாடல்களையும் பக்திப் பாடல்களையும் பாடிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறாா்கள்.

‘இப்பாடல்களைக் கேட்டு பாபுஜி எழுந்து வருவாா்; என்றும் போல் நடப்பாா், பேசுவாா், போதனைகள் செய்வாா்’ என எதிா்பாா்த்தேன். ஏமாந்து போனேன். ஆனால் அன்று நான் எதிா் பாா்த்தது இன்று (2019 அக்டோபா் பதிவு) நடக்கிறதே! பாபுஜியின் பேச்சுக்களும், எழுத்துக்களும், போதித்த சித்தாந்தங்களும், நெறிமுறைகளும் இன்றும் உலகெங்கும் விவாதிக்கப்படுகின்றன; ஆய்வுக்கு உட்படுத்தப்படுகின்றனவே. பேதங்களும், பிணக்குகளும் நிறைந்த இந்த மானுடம் உய்வதற்குரிய ஒரே வழி, மகாத்மா காட்டிய வழி நடப்பது தான் என்பதை பெரும்பான்மையினா் ஒப்புக் கொள்ளுகிறாா்களே! ஆகவே மகாத்மா மறையவில்லை: இன்றும் வழிகாட்டும் ஒளிவிளக்காக வலம் வருகிறாா்’ என்கிறாா் ராஜ் மோகன் காந்தி. இது ஒரு மேதையின் கூற்று.

காந்தி அடிகள் மறைந்து 74 ஆண்டுகள் ஆகிவிட்டன. ஆனாலும் அவா் இன்றும் போற்றப்படுகிறாா். அதற்கு அடிப்படைக் கரணங்கள் பல உண்டு. அனைவரையும் போல் அவரும் ஒரு சாதாரண மனிதா் தான். ஆயினும் அவரது வாழ்வும், வழியும் தூய்மையானது. புனிதமானது. எவருக்கும் தீங்கு நினைக்காதது. பிறா் வலியைத் தன் வலியாக உணா்வது. எல்லோரையும் நேசிக்கும் இறைப்பண்பு கொண்டது.

இவை அனைத்துக்கும் மேலாக, பிறரிடம் இல்லாத ஒரு சிறப்பு இயல்பு தவறுக்கு தலைவணங்காமை, அதிகாரத்துக்கு அடி பணியாமை, அநியாயத்திற்கு துணை போகாமை - அண்ணலிடம் இயல்பாகவே அமைந்திருந்தன. இதனை ஒத்துழையாமை என உரைக்கலாம்; சட்ட மறுப்பு எனக் கூறலாம். சத்தியாக்கிரகத்தின் அம்சங்கள் என்றும் ஏற்கலாம். சொற்கள் மாறலாம்; ஆனால் அதன் பொருள் ஒன்றே.

தென்னாப்பிரிக்காவில் 55,000 இந்தியக் குடிமக்களின் உரிமைக்காகப் போராடிய காந்தி, தனது 46-ஆவது வயதில் (1915-இல்) தாயகம் திரும்பியவுடன் 30 கோடி குடிமக்களின் உரிமைக்காகப் போராடக் களம் இறங்கினாா். விடுதலை இயக்கமாம் இந்திய தேசிய காங்கிரசில் இணைந்தாா். அதனை ஒரு மக்கள் இயக்கமாக மாற்றினாா். ஒரு சிலா் அரச பதவிகளும், சலுகைகளும் பெறுவதற்காகத் தோன்றிய இயக்கத்தை, அனைத்து இந்தியா்களின் உரிமைக்குப் போராடும் முன் மாதிரி அரசியல் இயக்கமாகச் செயல்பட வழிவகுத்தாா்.

சமுதாயத்தில் சாதியின் பெயரால் நிலவிய ஏற்றத்தாழ்வை ஏற்க மறுத்தாா். ஒடுக்கப்பட்ட மக்களுக்கு அனுமதி மறுக்கப்பட்ட கோவில்களில் நான் அடி எடுத்துவைக்க மாட்டேன் என்று கூறினாா். ஆண்டாண்டு காலமாக நிலவி வந்த சமுதாயச் சீா்கேடுகளை, மனமாற்றம் மூலம் மாற்றி அமைத்தாா். மதத்தின் பெயரால் அனுசரிக்கப்பட்டு வந்த மூடப் பழக்கங்களை முறியடித்தாா்.

‘காவி உடை அணிந்து, கமண்டலம் ஏந்தி, கடவுளை எந்நேரமும் துதிப்பதே துறவு வாழ்க்கை என்பதை மாற்றி, இல்லறத்தில் இருந்து கொண்டே மாசற்ற வாழ்க்கை நடத்தி, பிறருக்கு உதவுவதே உண்மையான துறவு வாழ்க்கை’ என்று துறவுக்கு இலக்கணம் வகுத்தவா் அவா்.

உயா்கல்விக்காக வெளிநாடு சென்றவா்கள் தாயகம் திரும்பிய பின்பு, மேல்நாட்டு உடையான கோட்டும் சூட்டும் அணிந்த கால கட்டத்தில், இந்திய- குஜராத்தி-உடைக்கு மாறிய அவா், பின்பு ஏழை. விவசாயியைப் போல் முழங்கால் வரை கச்சை கட்டிய வேட்டியோடும், உடம்பை மறைக்க 4 முழத்துண்டோடும் கடைசி வரை எளிமையாக வாழ்ந்தவா். ஆடம்பரத்தை அறவே தவிா்த்தாா்; எளிமையாக நாம் வாழ்ந்தால், ஏழைகள் வாழ்வது எளிதாகும் என்றாா்.

அயல்நாட்டில் ஆங்கிலம் பயின்று மேதைகளாகத் திரும்பியவா்கள் பெரும்பாலும் ஆங்கிலத்திலேயே உரையாடினாா்கள். ஆனால் அண்ணல் காந்தி தனது முதல் நூலாகிய ‘இந்திய சுயராஜ்யம்’ என்ற நூலை தன் தாய் மொழியாம் குஜராத்தியில் தான் எழுதினாா். ஒவ்வோா் இந்தியரும் தங்கள் தாய் மொழியில் தான் பேச வேண்டும் என்றாா். இந்திய நாகரிகமும், பண்பாடும், கலாச்சாரமும்,. மேலை நாட்டுடையதைவிட எவ்விதத்திலும் குறைந்தது அல்ல; உயா்ந்தது என்ற உண்மையை உணா்த்தினாா்.

1938-இல் நீங்களே காங்கிரசின் தலைவராக வேண்டும் என்று நேதாஜியிடம் முன் மொழிந்து அவா் தலமைப் பொறுப்பேற்கக் காரணமான காந்திஜி, 1939-இல் இரண்டாம் முறையும் தலமைப் பதவிக்குப் போட்டியிட்ட நேதாஜியை ஆதரிக்க மறுத்தாா். வெற்றி பெற்ற பின்பும் ஒத்துழைப்பு அளிக்க இணங்கவில்லை. காரணம் என்ன? எனக் கேட்டபோது, ‘அகிம்சைவாதியான நான், ஆயுதம் ஏந்தும் வழிதேடும் அவரை எப்படி ஆதரிக்க முடியும்?’ என பதில் உரைத்தாா்.

அரிஜன மக்கள் பிரதிநிதிகளை அவா்களே வாக்களித்துத் தோ்வு செய்யும் தனி உரிமையை அம்பேத்கா் கேட்டபோது, ‘‘அச்செயலால் என் அரிஜன சகோதரா்களை நிரந்தரமாக ஏனைய மக்களிடமிருந்து தனியாகப் பிரித்து விடும் அபாயம் உள்ளது. அதனை என் மனம் ஏற்கவில்லை’’ என்றாா். இப்போது நிலவும் ஜாதிப் பிரிவுகளுக்கு, நாம் காந்திய வழியைப் புறக்கணித்ததுதான் காரணம் என்று வரலாறு கூறும்.

அரிஜன சகோதரா்களுக்கு உரிய அளவில் தொகுதி ஒதுக்கீடு தர முன் வந்து, அவா்களது உரிமையையும் காத்தாா். எல்லோரும் இணக்கமாக இணைந்து வாழும் சூழ்நிலையையும் உருவாக்கினாா்.

அவரது உள்ளம் ஏற்காததை ஒதுக்கினாா். அது சமுதாயத்துக்கு தீங்குபயக்கும் என்றால், சமுதாயத்தையே அதற்கு எதிராகத் திருப்பினாா். அவா் தொட்டதெல்லாம் துலங்கியது. அவா் நினைத்ததெல்லாம் நிறைவேறியது. ஆனாலும் தான் தோற்றுப் போனதாக தானே சொல்லியது இரண்டு பேரிடம். ஒருவா் தன் மூத்த மகன் ஹரிலால். அடுத்தவா் தன் அன்புச் சகோதரன் ஜின்னா.

அண்ணல் வெறுத்து ஒதுக்கிய தீய பண்புகள் அனைத்தும் ஒருங்கிணைந்து ஹரிலால் என்ற பெயரில் உரு எடுத்து வந்து, ‘‘உலகத்தையே திருத்தப் போகிறேன் என்கிறாயே, என்னைத் திருத்த முடியுமா?’’ என சவால்விட்டது. அவனும் கூட அண்ணலின் இறுதி ஊா்வலத்தின்போது, எவரும் அடையாளம் காணமுடியாத நிலையில் கிழிந்த உடையில் மெலிந்த உடலுடன் இருந்து கொண்டு, ‘‘பிதாவே, உங்களைப் புரிந்து கொள்ள இயலாத பாவி நான்.”என்னை மன்னியுங்கள்’’ என்று புலம்பினான்.

பகிஸ்தானின் கவா்னா் ஜெனரலான ஜின்னா, உடல் நோயுற்று, உள்ளம் ஒடிந்த நிலையில் இந்தியத் தூதா் ஸ்ரீ பிரகாசாவிடம், ‘‘பாகிஸ்தான் தனி நாடு கேட்டதன் மூலம் நான் பெருந்தவறு செய்து விட்டேன். என் இறுதிக் காலத்தில் இந்தியாவுக்கு வரவேண்டும். மும்பையில் உள்ள என் அழகிய மாளிகையில் தங்கி மடிய வேண்டும். இதுவே என் கடைசி ஆசை என்பதை என் சகோதரன் ஜவாஹா்லாலிடம் சொல்’’ என்று கண்ணீா் மல்கச் சொன்னாா்.

இந்தியாவின் வைஸ்ராயாக இருந்த ரெடிங் பெருமகன் (1921) காந்தியடிகள் பற்றி ஆங்கிலேயே அரசுக்கு ஓா் கடிதம் எழுதுகிறாா். ‘‘காந்தி ஒரு கலகக்காரா் அல்ல, அவா் ஒரு அறிவு ஜீவி, அற்புதமான மனிதா். எளிமையாக இருக்கிறாா். பேச்சில் தெளிவு, உள்ளத்தில் உறுதி. ஒத்துழையாமைப் பண்பில் நம்பிக்கை. இவரது கருத்தை நாம் கவனமாகப் பரிசீலிக்க வேண்டும்.’’

இந்திய சுதந்திரம் உறுதியாகிவிட்ட பிறகு, ஒருமுறை நேருஜியிடம் காந்திஜி சொல்கிறாா் - ‘‘இறைவன் எனக்கு அளித்திருக்கும் பணி இன்னும் முடியவில்லை, உலகில் போா் அபாயம் இன்னும் நிலவுகிறது. சகல மனிதா்களையும் சகோதரா்களாக மாற்ற வேண்டும். அன்பு, அஹிம்சை, சத்தியம், அரவணைப்பு ஆகியவற்றை உள்ளடக்கிய போா் இல்லாத, அமைதியான உலகை உருவாக்க வேண்டும்’’.

கட்டுரையாளா்:

காந்திய அறிஞா்.



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மதுரையில் வயதான தாயும் தந்தையுமே தங்கள் ஒரே மகனை அடித்துக் கொன்றதாகக் கூறப்படும் ஒரு சம்பவம், வெறுமனே ஒரு கிரைம் செய்தியாக நாளிதழ்களில்  அனைவரையும் கடந்துசென்றிருக்கிறது.

அரசு அல்லது காவல்துறையைப் பொருத்தவரை தாயையும் தந்தையையும் கைது செய்ததுடன் பணி முடிந்துவிட்டது. இனி நீதிமன்றத்தின் பாடு, குற்றம் சாட்டப்பட்டோரின், அவர்களுடைய குடும்பத்தினரின் பாடு, வழக்கறிஞர்கள் பாடு.

ஆனால், உண்மையில் இந்தக் கொலையையும் அதை மறைப்பதற்காக வயதான அந்தப் பெற்றோர் மேற்கொண்டதாகக் கூறப்படும் முயற்சிகளும் கொலைக்கான பின்னணியும் யோசிக்க யோசிக்க பெருந்துயரம்தான் நேரிடுகிறது.

மதுரையில் ஆரப்பாளையம் மறவர் தெருவைச் சேர்ந்தவர் பழங்கள் விற்கும் முருகேசன் (72), அவருடைய மனைவி கிருஷ்ணவேணி (65).

இவர்களின் மகன்தான் மணிமாறன் (45), மெக்கானிக்காக வேலை பார்த்து வந்ததாகக் கூறப்படுகிறது. மணமான இவருக்கு மனைவியும் மூன்று குழந்தைகளும் இருக்கிறார்கள். குடிப்பழக்கத்துக்கு அடிமைப்பட்டிருந்த இவரை விட்டு மனைவியும் குழந்தைகளும் பிரிந்துசென்றுவிட்டதாகக் கூறப்படுகிறது. சரி, இப்படிப்பட்ட நபர்களுடன் யாரால்தான் வாழ முடியும்?

பெற்ற கடனுக்காக மணிமாறனுக்குத் தாயும் தந்தையும் சோறு போட்டு வந்திருக்கின்றனர். வேலையே இல்லாவிட்டாலும் மணிமாறனைப் போன்றவர்களுக்கு மட்டும் எங்கிருந்தோ குடிக்க மட்டும் காசு கிடைத்துவிடும் அதிசயம் எல்லா காலத்திலும் நடந்துகொண்டுதான் இருக்கிறது. இவரும் தினமும் குடித்துவிட்டு வீட்டுக்கு வருவதும் தகராறு செய்வதுமாகக் காலம் கழிந்திருக்கிறது.

இதேபோலதான், சம்பவத்தன்று இரவிலும் வீடு திரும்பிய மணிமாறன், தாயுடன் ஏதோ வாக்குவாதத்தில் ஈடுபட்டுத் தகராறு செய்திருக்கிறார், வேறு என்னவாக இருக்கப் போகிறது, சோறு வேகவில்லை, குழம்பு சரியில்லை என்றிருக்குமாயிருக்கும். எரிச்சலுற்ற தந்தையோ மகனை வீட்டை விட்டு வெளியேறுமாறு கூறியுள்ளார். ஆனாலும் மணிமாறன் தொடர்ந்து சண்டையை வளர்க்க ஒருகட்டத்தில் தள்ளுமுள்ளு ஏற்பட ஒரு கட்டையால் மகனைத் தலையில் தந்தை அடித்ததாகக் கூறப்படுகிறது.

யாருடைய கெட்ட நேரமோ மயங்கிவிழுந்த மணிமாறன், சிறிது நேரத்தில் இறந்தும்விட்டார். அவர் இறந்தது தெரிந்ததும் என்ன பாடுபட்டிருக்கும் பெற்றோரின் மனம்? ஒரே மகன், பெற்று வளர்த்த மகன், மனைவி, மக்கள் என்றெல்லாம் வாழ்ந்த மகன், போதையில் அழிந்த மகன்... கண்ணெதிரே பிணமாகக் கிடந்தால்... அதுவும் தகராறில் சாதாரணமாக அடிக்கப் போய்...

துஷ்ட மகனே என்றாலும் சட்டத்தின்படி கொலைதானே. இதற்காக யாரிடம் சென்று என்ன உதவி கேட்க முடியும்? அந்த இரவில் நிலைகுலைந்த வயதான அந்தத் தம்பதிகள், அவர்களால் யோசிக்க முடிந்த அளவில், எப்படியாவது பிணத்தை எரித்துவிட்டால் பிரச்சினை தீர்ந்துவிடும் என்று நினைத்துவிட்டார்கள் போல.

மகனுடைய உடலை ஒரு சாக்கில் கட்டி, சைக்கிளில் பின்புற கேரியரில் வைத்து, மனைவியும் பிடித்துக்கொண்டுவர, இருவருமாக அருகேயுள்ள வைகையாற்றங் கரைக்குச் சென்றிருக்கின்றனர். அங்கே சடலத்தைப் போட்டு பெட்ரோலை ஊற்றி எரித்ததாகக் கூறப்படுகிறது.

தொழில்முறைக் கொலையாளிகளா அவர்கள், இவற்றையெல்லாம் தடயமில்லாமல் செய்ய? அரைகுறையாக எரிந்துகிடந்த உடலைக் காலையில் பார்த்தவர்கள் காவல்துறைக்குத் தகவல் தெரிவித்திருக்கின்றனர். பிறகென்ன, வழக்கமான புலனாய்வுகள், விசாரணைகள்...

விசாரணையில்தான் மேற்கண்ட விவரங்கள் எல்லாம் காவல்துறைக்குத் தெரிய வந்திருக்கிறது. இரவு 2 மணிவாக்கில் மகனுடைய சடலத்தை கேரியரில் வைத்துத் தாயும் தந்தையும் சைக்கிளை உருட்டிச் செல்வதைப் போல சிசிடிவி கேமரா பதிவும் கிடைத்திருப்பதாகச் சொல்லப்படுகிறது.

நிச்சயம் இவர்கள் கிரிமினல்கள் அல்லர், கிரிமினலாக யோசித்திருக்கவும் வாய்ப்பு இல்லை.

காவல்துறையினர் வழக்குப் பதிந்து, பெற்ற மகனைக் கொன்றதாகத் தந்தை 72 வயது முருகேசனையும் தாய் 65 வயது கிருஷ்ணவேணியையும் கைது செய்திருக்கின்றனர்.

இனி வழக்கமான நடைமுறைகள் தொடரும். சட்டம் என்ன சொல்லுமோ, சட்டப்படி என்னென்ன நடைபெறுமோ? வயதான காலத்திலும் ஒழுங்காகப் பழம் விற்று பிழைத்துக்கொண்டிருந்த தந்தை, தாயின் எதிர்காலம், அல்ல, நிகழ்காலம் என்னவாகுமோ? அந்த இரவில் குடித்துவிட்டுத் தகராறு செய்த அவ்வளவு பெரிய மகனையும் அவர்களால் வேறு என்னதான் செய்திருக்க முடியும்?

அவர்கள் அடித்தது குற்றமா, போதையிலிருந்த மகன், அந்த அடியிலேயே செத்துப்போனது குற்றமா, செத்துப்போன மகனை என்ன செய்வதெனத் தெரியாமல் வயதான காலத்தில் விழித்துக் கொண்டிருந்தது குற்றமா? நேராகக் காவல்நிலையத்தில் போய் சொல்லிவிடலாம் என்று அவர்களுக்குத் தோன்றாமல் போனது குற்றமா? கூட்டமாகக் கொள்ளிவைத்து எரிக்க வேண்டிய ஒரே மகனின் சடலம், பெட்ரோல் ஊற்றியும் எரியாமல் போனது குற்றமா?

இப்படியொரு நபரைக் கணவராகப் பெற்றது மனைவி செய்த பாவமா? இப்படியொருவருக்குப் பிள்ளைகளாகப் பிறந்தது மக்களின் பாவமா? இப்படியொரு மகனைப் பெற்றெடுத்து, ஊட்டி வளர்த்து, ஆளாக்கியும் உருப்படாமல்போன நிலையில் சாவுக்கும் காரணமாக நேர்ந்தது அந்தத் தாயும் தந்தையும் செய்த பாவமா?

'ஒருவர் எரித்துக்கொலை, பெற்றோர் கைது' என்பதுடன் இந்தச் செய்தி முடிந்துவிட்டது. ஆனால், இன்னமும் சமுதாயத்தில் ஏராளமான மணிமாறன்கள் இருந்துகொண்டுதானிருக்கிறார்கள், அவர்களுடைய பெற்றோர்களும் மனைவிகளும் பிள்ளைகளும் அவர்களைச் சகித்துக்கொண்டுதான் இருக்கிறார்கள். விரைவில் இதேபோல இன்னொரு செய்தி வரலாம். அப்போதும் வழக்கமான கைது, வழக்கு வகையறாக்கள்தான். ஆனால் மணிமாறன்கள் உருவாகாமல் எப்போது தடுக்கப்படுவார்கள்?

பொங்கல் விழாவின் மூன்று நாள்களில் மட்டும் தமிழக அரசு நடத்தும் டாஸ்மாக் மதுக்கடைகளின் விற்பனை ரூ.675.19 கோடி, அதிகளவாக மதுரை மண்டலத்தில் மட்டும் ரூ.144.74 கோடி!

யார் செய்த பாவம்? யாருக்கு சாபம்?

[இதே நாளின் இன்னொரு செய்தி: சென்னை ஓட்டேரியில் குடிபோதையில் மகளிடம் தவறாக நடக்க முயன்ற பிரதீப் என்கிற நபரை சுத்தியால் மனைவி அடித்ததில் செத்துப்போய்விட்டார். மனைவியைக் கைது செய்திருக்கிறது காவல்துறை].



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A series of killings of Maoists, the latest being on January 18, has given the Greyhounds of Telangana a firm upper hand in their fight against the outlawed CPI (Maoist).Marri Ramureports on how state measures, socio-economic changes and the Maoists’ inability to attract new cadres are impacting the insurgency

It was 6 a.m. on December 26, 2021. With dense fog all around, Telangana’s Greyhounds, billed as one of the best commando forces in Southeast Asia, had to watch every step of their boot-strapped feet in the dense forests of Chhattisgarh, known to be filled with booby traps. Darkness was diminishing and the sun's rays were beginning to pierce through the canopy of trees. The commandos could see shadows but the fog obscured their view. Assisted by their counterparts in Chhattisgarh, they were on the lookout for members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) on the borders of Sukma and Bijapur. The armed commandos continued moving until they spotted a Maoist patrolling team of five to six members a kilometre away. Apparently, the Maoists were standing guard for important comrades and leaders who were some distance away. An eerie silence followed. In hushed tones, the commandos discussed whether they should lunge at the enemy in a sudden move or reach closer and pull the trigger.

Choosing the second option, they silently inched their way towards the Maoists. They had barely moved when one of the Maoist sentries spotted them. He frantically took out his weapon and pulled the trigger, alerting his associates. Realising that their opponents had identified them, the commandos started returning fire. For the next few minutes, the forest reverberated with the sound of gun shots. Some bullets ricocheted off the trees. The commandos, who often run half-marathons as part of training, chased the Maoists, spraying bullets with their AK-47s and 9 mm carbine guns.

Taken aback at this unexpected attack at daybreak, the Maoists ran for cover behind the trees as bullets buzzed past them. They shouted and sent signals to their comrades so that they would not get caught in the crossfire. The exchange of fire continued for some time and then the forest fell silent. After making sure that their opponents had fled the area, the commandos combed the area. They found the bodies of six Maoists. Four of them were women. This was the account that the Greyhounds gave of that morning.

A big victory

The exchange of fire (EoF) towards the end of the year turned out to be a big victory for the Telangana Police. The ‘neutralisation of the Maoists’ may have occurred on Chhattisgarh soil, but it re-enforced the upper hand of the Telangana police in their ongoing battle with the Maoists.

The next day, the Maoists issued a statement describing the incident as a “fake encounter”. “Police got frustrated as they could not locate us during their searches in the forest. They picked up six locals, shot them down and cooked up the story of [an] encounter,” the statement said.

Five days before this EoF, the Maoists had summoned K. Ramesh, a former sarpanch of K. Kondapuram village in Mulugu district, to the forest of adjacent Bijapur in Chhattisgarh. The village leader went there with an acquaintance only to be detained that night. The Maoists let off the acquaintance but a day later, Ramesh was found shot dead in the forest with a letter from the Maoists stating that he had lost his life for acting as a “police informer”. Police sources said that it was this murder that compelled them to launch searches in the border areas of the two States.

Villagers said the toll would have been much higher if the sentry had not opened fire. “A training camp with militants and villagers was being held there. They were about to leave the place when the firing started,” a villager said to journalists. An intelligence official said there could have been more losses but the “forces did their best”.

The spot where the EoF took place was barely 20 km from the Telangana border. This was the fourth breakthrough, a big one, for the police in 2021. The Maoists described the EoF as a “typical concocted story and a clear fake encounter” but the joint combing operations of the commando forces of the two States did not stop.

A spree of killings

Combined squads of the police commandos of the two States received yet another shot in the arm three weeks later, on January 18, 2022, when they neutralised three more Maoists in the Karreguttalu forest on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border. A woman was among the slain Maoists. Ten rocket launchers, a self-loading rifle and an INSAS rifle were recovered from the site of the EoF.

“This second EoF within a month has dealt a serious blow to the proscribed organisation. The fact that a Greyhounds commando sustained bullet wounds in the EoF shatters the ultras’ claim that the EoF was a fake encounter. The commando was airlifted to a hospital in Hyderabad where he is being treated,” a senior officer said.

The officer, who was unwilling to be named, described the killing of an ex-Sarpanch in Mulugu district by the Maoists as a strategic mistake. Maoist squads holding sway in Chhattisgarh executed the village leader, branding him a police informer, apparently in a bid to convey that they had not lost ground.

Nearly seven months earlier, on June 16, 2021, the Telangana Police had given ‘key inputs’ to their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh to help the latter ‘neutralise’ six Maoists in the Theegalametta forest area under Mampa police station limits in Visakhapatnam Agency. That was a serious blow to the operations of Maoists in the Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC). Three of the slain ultras were women. Of the remaining three, one was incidentally from a village in the Peddapalli district of Telangana.

Two months later, commandos ‘neutralised’ another Maoist, Madvi Ungal alias Chotu, in an EoF at the Bodanalli forest area of Charla mandal in Bhadradri Kothagudem district. With the death of Ungal, said to be the sibling of a top Maoist leader, Madvi Hidma, the police emerged triumphant yet again in the battle against the Maoists.

If a tip-off helped the police gun down six Maoists in Visakhapatnam Agency, a joint operation of the Telangana Police with their Chhattisgarh counterparts proved equally successful on October 25. This time, victory was recorded on Chhattisgarh soil in the Karreguttalu forest area of Bijapur. Three Maoists, all from Chhatisgarh, were killed.

Gaining an upper hand

The spree of EoFs have led the Telangana Police to claim an irrefutable advantage in the war against ultras not only in their jurisdiction but also in Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

This is in stark contrast to what the people, the police and politicians had witnessed during the peak of Maoist activities in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. The Maoists were fondly called ‘annalu’ (elder brothers) by some. The most dominant group of them was the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People’s War. Hundreds of police personnel lost their lives during this period to Maoist attacks, including three IPS officers. K.S. Vyas, instrumental in the formation of the Greyhounds, was assassinated in 1993 in a surprise attack in Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad. The same year, Mahbubnagar Superintendent of Police G. Paradesi Naidu was killed along with nine other policemen in a landmine blast. Six years later, IPS officer Ch. Umesh Chandra, who was unarmed, was gunned down by Maoists at S.R. Nagar in the State capital while he was heading to office.

After these challenging times, the concerted efforts of Intelligence officials and the Greyhounds reduced the threat posed by the Maoists. By 2010, the Maoists began suffering more losses, while deaths of police forces dipped considerably.

In fact, when the agitation for a separate Telangana State peaked after 2010, those opposing statehood argued that the Maoists could take over Telangana. They cited the assassination of the then Home Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, A. Madhava Reddy, in a blast near Ghatkesar, less than 30 km from the Secretariat in Hyderabad on March 7, as an example of what would happen in the event of the creation of a separate State. Some even went to the extent of contending that the creation of a separate Telangana would mean offering the region to the Maoists on a silver platter. All such contentions fell flat with the police establishing control over the Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) movement after Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh on June 2, 2014.

In undivided Andhra Pradesh, at least eight districts out of 10 were directly or indirectly affected by the ultras. In the remaining two, Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy, there were reports of movements of couriers and Maoist sympathisers. These 10 districts were eventually re-organised into 33 districts in Telangana. Since the inception of Telangana, law-enforcement agencies have clearly established their command over LWE activists in all the districts barring Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mulugu and Bhadradri Kothagudem. While Bhupalpally has a border with Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, Bhadradri Kothagudem has a border with Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. Mulugu shares a border with the Bijapur and Sukma districts of Chhattisgarh, which is the present bastion of Maoists. “Soon the whole of Telangana will be free of Maoists and all LWE groups,” said Telangana Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy after the deaths of six Maoists on December 27.

There is more than one reason for the State Police chief’s confidence. The Telangana Police never slowed down even after they gained the upper hand in the battle against the Maoists. In fact, they launched stronger offensives against the ultras soon after the administrative machinery settled down after initial hiccups of State formation.

In the new State, the police had their first face-off with the Maoists on September 16, 2015, with Sruthi and Vidyasagar Reddy getting killed in an ‘encounter’ in the Tadvai forests of Warangal district. Revolutionary writer Varavara Rao and several civil rights activists then alleged that Sruthi had been subjected to torture and acid had been poured on her before she was killed. The deaths of Sruthi and Reddy impacted the Maoists, who supported the creation of a separate Telangana State and were planning to regain their foothold.

While they were attempting to regain strength, Koora Rajanna, a former Maoist of the CPI-ML, Chandra Pulla Reddy and some others ganged up to create a new splinter group. They secured firearms and were waiting for an opportunity to prove their might when the police struck in Tekumalla forest of Bhadradri Kothagudem. Nine persons, reportedly including a Registered Medical Practitioner who is believed to have tipped off the police about the group’s movements, were killed in the EoF in December 2017.

This ‘encounter’ sent the message that the Telangana Police were going all out to prevent all the attempts being made to revive the LWE movement. That they could be ruthless when tackling armed militants was established again in March 2018. Ten Maoists were killed when the Greyhounds carried out an operation jointly with the Chhattisgarh Police on the borders of the two States abutting the Bhadradri Kothagudem and Sukma districts. The Greyhounds too suffered a blow with one of their commandos losing his life in the fiercely fought gun battle. This and the death of a Home Guard in 2020 were the only losses suffered by the State forces in the war against LWE activists in the seven years and seven months since the creation of Telangana State.

Socio-economic changes

Besides the efforts of the police, socio-economic changes in rural Telangana are making it difficult for the Maoists to attract fresh blood. In the 1980s and 1990s, several families found it difficult to make ends meet in some interior villages of the region. The advent of television, mobile phones and Internet have changed the lives of youngsters. It has become tough for the Maoists to recruit cadres. They mostly recruit members of tribal communities like the Koyas or Guthi Koyas now.

An intelligence report says that of the total underground cadres of the CPI-Maoist Telangana State Committee, 50 are from Chhattisgarh and 11 from Andhra Pradesh. Only 30 are from Telangana. “Most people are getting land for cultivation... due to this people think there is no need of CPI-Maoist party for them…,” said the diary notes of Mailarapu Adellu, Maoist Adilabad District Committee Secretary, in 2020, who made desperate attempts to revive the party and recruit new cadres in the Adilabad and Kumuram Bheem Asifabad districts of northern Telangana. The Maoist leader, who is believed to have moved around without using a mobile phone to escape detection, narrowly escaped death in the hands of police forces in three to four EoFs in the two districts. During their combing operations, the police stumbled upon the diaries believed to have been penned by him. “Enemy (government) has increased... focus seriously. Wherever we go, people’s cooperation dwindled... though people have problems circumstances are not conducive to fight..,” he wrote.

Poor health was a major issue that prompted many Maoists to surrender before the police. Three months ago, a Central Committee member, Akkiraju Haragopal alias Ramakrishna, fondly called RK by his comrades, died of kidney ailment in south Bastar. His death is seen as a setback to the movement.

The pandemic has also affected the movement. Telangana Maoist State Committee Secretary Haribhushan alias Yapa Narayana died of a COVID-19-induced heart attack in Chhattisgarh in June 2021. Gaddam Madhukar, Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee Secretary, was caught by the police when he got admitted in a hospital for COVID-19 treatment in Warangal. He died later at the Osmania General Hospital of Hyderabad. The Maoists alleged that the police killed him. The pandemic not only claimed lives but also became a stumbling block in efforts to revive the movement. Mailarapu Adellu also wrote in his diaries that the lockdown in 2020 inconvenienced people and impacted attempts to bring people back under the Maoist fold.

For the Telangana Police, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mulugu and Bhadradri Kothagudem are crucial areas as the Maoists can enter through these regions from other States. Maoist presence in Maharashtra is not strong but it cannot be ignored. Despite multiple attempts by central paramilitary forces and local police commandos to wipe out the movement, the Maoists are operating their own government (janathan sarkar) in southern Chhattisgarh, which abuts the Mulugu and Bhadradri Kothagudem districts of Telangana. Maoist squads enter Telangana from Chhattisgarh through different villages of these two districts. They also sometimes go north, travel via the forests of Maharashtra and enter through the Adilabad, Kumram Bheem Asifabad and Mancherial districts. “They cross the Godavari river using rafts or mostly ferries but don’t travel during rainy season or when the river is in spate,” a police officer said. Posting policemen at likely entry points such as these is impractical. It is also illogical from a security point of view. So, State forces have developed a network of informants who keep track of the movements of strangers. When an input is received about ‘non-locals’, the police cross-check the information and send commandos for combing operations if Maoist movements are confirmed. In the past seven years, the police have succeeded in stalling, driving away or neutralising Maoists whenever they launched such operations.

A close watch

Back in the capital and in other parts of the State, there is strong surveillance of those who are even remotely attempting to connect to the Maoist movement. Social and women rights activist Sandhya of the Progressive Organisation of Women was at her home in Hyderabad when a posse of policemen knocked on the door at night on November 12, 2021. They took the activist and her husband to the local police station. The main charge against them was an alleged attempt to publish a compilation of stories related to the dead Maoist leader RK. Eventually, the police issued notices to them under Section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code in a case registered under the Telangana Public Security Act. The case indicates how the Telangana Police are keeping an eye on every Maoist-related development, be it deep inside the forests on the banks of Godavari river or the publication of a book in the heart of the capital. The top brass of the police is reworking its strategies every day and analysing intelligence inputs and inputs from informants. With these persistent efforts, the question on everyone's mind is this: Will Telangana soon become a Maoist-free State?



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Worries over the electoral bond scheme go beyond its patent unconstitutionality — it befouls democracy and elections

Late last year, the Union government authorised the State Bank of India to issue and encash a new tranche of electoral bonds, the 19th such parcel since the scheme’s notification in 2018. The timing of the announcement was predictable, with elections slated to be held to five different State Assemblies beginning next month. Now, as a result, voters in those States will go to the ballot box with no knowledge about the donors backing the various contestants.

Anything but transparent

Ensuring citizens have access to information, especially material on political funding, one would think, is an essential feature of a democracy. But ever since its introduction, the electoral bond scheme has envenomed the democratic process, by destroying altogether any notion of transparency in political funding. In this time, the Supreme Court of India has paid scant attention to the issue. It has allowed the scheme to continue unabated and has denied an interim stay on its operation without so much as conducting a full-fledged hearing.

In one such provisional order, the Court asserted that the bonds were not, in fact, anonymous. Voters interested in finding out the identity of political donors, the Bench said, could simply perform what the order described as “match the following.” According to the Court, since both the purchase and the encashment of bonds are made through banking channels, all it would take for a person to glean the identity of a donor was for her to look through every corporation’s financial statement — these records, the Court said, ought to be available with the Registrar of Companies.

Parties have no obligation

Even assuming for a moment that voters have the resources to go through annual returns filed by every corporation in India, what the order ignored was that there is no attendant obligation on political parties to provide details to the public on each donation received by them through electoral bonds. Companies are also under no obligation to disclose the name of the party to whom they made the donation. Therefore, this “match the following” exercise apart, from being impossible to perform, will also do nothing to pierce the veil concealing the bonds. This is because anonymity is written into the programme’s ideals; it represents the basic leitmotif of the system.

When he explained the contours of the electoral bond scheme to the Lok Sabha, the then Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stressed on this very feature. “The donor will know, which party he is depositing money to,” he said. “The political party will file return with the Election Commission [of India]. Now, which donor gave to which political party, that is the only thing which will not be known.” This avowed objective runs athwart one of the most basic features of a democracy, that the right to freedom of expression, which the Constitution guarantees, includes within it a right to know.

The electoral bond scheme is designed to allow an individual, or any “artificial juridical person”, including body corporates, to purchase bonds issued by the State Bank of India during notified periods of time. These instruments are issued in the form of promissory notes, and in denominations ranging from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 1 crore. Once purchased, the buyer can donate the bond to any political party of their choice and the party can then encash it on demand. The purchasers are not obliged to disclose to whom they presented the bond, and a political party encashing a bond is compelled to keep the donor’s identity secret.

Untenable arguments

What is more, a series of restrictions that were in place before the scheme’s introduction have now been done away with. For example, amendments have been made removing a previous prohibition that disallowed a company from donating anything more than 7.5% of its net profits over the course of the preceding three years. Similarly, a mandate that a company had to have been in existence for at least three yearsbeforeit could make donations (a requirement that was aimed at discouraging persons from using shell corporations to funnel money into politics) was also lifted.

Thus, through its very architecture, the electoral bond scheme permits unlimited and anonymous corporate funding of political parties. In its defence, the Government says two things: one, that voters have no fundamental right to know how political parties are funded and two, that the scheme helps eliminate the role of black money in funding elections. On any reasonable examination, it ought to be clear that neither of these arguments is tenable.

First, the Supreme Court has consistently held that voters have a right to freely express themselves during an election and that they are entitled to all pieces of information that give purpose and vigour to this right. Surely, to participate in the electoral process in a meaningful manner and to choose one’s votes carefully, a citizen must know the identity of those backing the candidates.

Second, as affidavits filed by the Election Commission of India in the Supreme Court have demonstrated, the scheme, if anything, augments the potential role of black money in elections — it does so by, among other things, removing existing barriers against shell entities and dying concerns from donating to political parties.

Moreover, even if the bonds were meant to eliminate the presence of unaccounted currency, it is difficult to see what nexus the decision to provide complete anonymity of the donor bears to this objective. Indeed, it is for this reason that the Reserve Bank of India reportedly advised the Government against the scheme’s introduction.

For the higher judiciary

The worries over the electoral bond scheme, however, go beyond its patent unconstitutionality. This is because in allowing anonymity it befouls the basis of our democracy and prevents our elections from being truly free and fair. There are, therefore, few issues of greater moral urgency than this that are awaiting the Supreme Court’s consideration. Yet, despite challenges to the scheme having been launched quickly on the heels of its notification in 2018, the Court has failed to hear and decide on the programme’s validity.

A delay in adjudication, as we have seen in a plethora of cases that are pending consideration, invariably presents afait accompli. In this case, the damage from the pendency is all the starker, because the integrity of the electoral process is at stake. Judges of yore warned as far back as in 1957 of the threats posed by limitless corporate funding of elections. Chief Justice M.C. Chagla of the Bombay High Court predicted that any decision to allow companies to fund political parties might “ultimately overwhelm and even throttle democracy in this country”.

Justice P.B. Mukharji of the Calcutta High Court used language that was stronger still. “To induce the Government of the day by contributing money to the political funds of political parties, is to adopt the most sinister principle fraught with grave dangers to commercial as well as public standards of administration,” he wrote. “…The individual citizens although in name equal will be gravely handicapped in their voice because the length of their contribution cannot ever hope to equal the length of the contribution of the big companies.”

Today, those dangers are heightened by individual voters not only being in a position where they are unable to match contributions made by corporations but also find themselves in a position where they have no knowledge over the identity of the donors bankrolling the political establishment. Can there be a greater threat to our democracy?

Suhrith Parthasarathy is an advocate practising at the Madras High Court



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Left unchallenged, a former CJI’s insinuations against the judiciary could gravely erode faith in the institution’s integrity

December 10, 2021, was a dark day in the history of the Indian judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court of India’s. In a televised interview, where the pointed question was on whether there is corruption in the Supreme Court of India, the former Chief Justice of India, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, said: “Corruption is as old as society. Corruption has become an acceptable way of life and judges don’t fall from heaven.”

It weakens confidence

Justice Gogoi’s attack was against the entire Supreme Court and scandalised the entire institution of the Supreme Court, which demands immediate redress. Wilmot, C.J. inR. vs Almon, had as early as 1765 observed: “…and whenever men’s allegiance to the law is so fundamentally shaken, it is the most fatal and most dangerous obstruction of justice and, in my opinion, calls out for a more rapid and immediate redress than any other obstruction whatsoever; not for the sake of the Judges, as private individuals, but because they are the channels by which King’s Justice is conveyed to the people.”

The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court inBrahma Prakash Sharma vs State of U.P.(1953) said: “It would be only repeating what has been said so often by various Judges that the object of contempt proceedings is not to afford protection to Judges, personally from imputations to which they may be exposed as individuals; it is intended to be a protection to the public whose interests would be very much affected if by the act or conduct of any party, the authority of the court is lowered and the sense of confidence which people have in the administration of justice by it is weakened.”

The Supreme Court found advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court, in 2020, “for shaking the confidence of the public in the institution as a whole” and for creating an “impression that ... Judges who have presided in the Supreme Court in the period of last six years have a particular role in the destruction of Indian democracy”. The Court found that the attending circumstance to be taken into consideration was about the “person who makes the statement”; it held that “it is not expected of a person who is a part of the system of administration of justice and who owes a duty to the said system, to make such tweets which are capable of shaking the confidence of general public,” the judgment read.

A bench presided by the now former CJI, Justice Gogoi, had in fact initiated contempt proceedings against a former Supreme Court judge, Justice Markandey Katju for similar utterances (against judges in a blog), but these were dropped after his unconditional apology .

So what happens when a scurrilous attack is made and the Court is scandalised by a former CJI?

A top judge and his conduct

Justice Gogoi’s conduct raises serious questions. During his tenure as CJI, as many as eight cases of a particular business group were assigned to the Benches presided by Justice Arun Mishra, former judge of the Supreme Court. These cases were all decided in favour of the said business house, giving it relief running into thousands of crores of rupees. Interestingly, in one such case, C.A. No. 11133/2011, the said business house has settled the matter with the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited recently, according to reports, forgoing a claim of Rs. 11,000 crore but only after a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court decided to rectify the judgment in favour of the business house under an extraordinary curative power.

Sadly, other States or authorities have not come forward with similar curative petitions for the Court to act. One gets the impression that States or authorities are happy to accept even decisions against them running into crores of rupees which are made in questionable circumstances. Thus, what they could not do directly they are allowing it to be done indirectly — by their silence.

Interestingly, this case — C.A. No. 11133/2011 was taken up during the summer vacation in 2019.

Another matter of the same business group ( C.A. No. 9023/2018), which was also not an urgent vacation matter, was listed on May 21, 2019 when the following order was made: “Heard the arguments of Mr. Ranjit Kumar, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the appellant. List tomorrow, i.e. Wednesday, the 22nd May, 2019 for further arguments.”

On May 22, the matter was concluded and judgment reserved with the following order: “Heard Mr. Ranjit Kumar, learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant and Mr. Tushar Mehta, learned Solicitor General appearing on behalf of the respondent. Arguments concluded. Judgment reserved.”

Pertinently, on April 8, 2019, the Registrar Judicial of the Supreme Court had passed the order stating that “regular hearing matters will be taken up as per guidelines and norms approved by the Hon’ble The Chief Justice of India”, that was, CJI Gogoi. So, has he self-incriminated himself?

On this issue, I had addressed a letter on August 16, 2019 to the then CJI, Justice Gogoi, and other judges of the Supreme Court pointing out the gross abuse of the judicial process, with this request: “I do hope and trust that you would look into the matter and take corrective steps as deemed appropriate to protect this institution.” Sadly, my letter though received was not even acknowledged.

A Constitution Bench of Supreme Court, to which Justice Arun Mishra was a party has held in 2018 “that the Chief Justice is the Master of the Roster; he alone has prerogative to the constitute Benches of the Court and allocate cases to the Benches so constituted”, and that, “In view of the aforesaid, any order passed which is contrary to this order be treated as ineffective in law and not binding on the Chief Justice of India.”

Why would the now former CJI, Justice Gogoi, allow matters of one business group to be heard by a Bench presided by a particular judge? Why would he not take any action after his attention was drawn to the irregularities? At his book launch on December 8, 2021, the now former CJI welcomed the industrialist concerned and his family as guests.

It has happened only once in the history of the Supreme Court when a Bench presided by (now former) CJI Justice K.N. Singh had heard and decided matters pertaining to a particular business group giving it substantial relief. But then perhaps following the outcry from Members of the Bar and the then Attorney General, the (now former) CJI H.J. Kania acted swiftly and decisively to recall those orders and restore the image and the reputation of the Supreme Court, thereby sub serving the rule of law.

The Court must act

Crony capitalism is a curse on this nation. The Supreme Court itself has come down heavily on corruption in public life and has directed time and again that action be taken against bureaucrats and politicians found guilty of corruption. Corruption is indeed a bane as far as our democracy is concerned. The judiciary must be fiercely independent and free from any kind of influence. It is indeed so, generally and by and large. It has served the nation well. The former CJI, Justice Gogoi, has done great disservice to the institution that he purportedly served. So, one wonders why there is an absolute silence on the part of this great institution. Surely, actions are needed against the former CJI, Justice Gogoi, and his actions or inactions. The Court has itself held that in such a situation, it must act on its own without waiting for the Attorney General or any person to move the Court. If not done, citizens’ faith in the integrity of the institution will be seriously eroded — perhaps irreparably.

Dushyant Dave is a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India and a former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association



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India must stay in step with the changesin the Central Asian region

As the joint statement at the end of the India-Central Asia virtual summit on Thursday noted, ties between India and the region have been historically close, with “civilisational, cultural, trade and people-to-people linkages”, but the lack of access to land routes, and the situation in Afghanistan are among the biggest challenges. Hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Presidents of the five Central Asian Republics (CARs), it was a first, building on years of dialogue. The summit also came after the meeting of NSAs in Delhi, where they built on several common themes of concern and priority. To begin with, there is the problem of routing trade — a paltry $2 billion, spent mostly on Kazakhstan’s energy exports to India. In comparison, China’s CAR trade figures have exceeded $41 billion — they could double by 2030 — apart from the billions of dollars invested in the Belt and Road Initiative. With Pakistan denying India transit trade, New Delhi’s other option is to smoothen the route through Iran’s Chabahar port, but that will involve greater investment in rail and road routes to Iran’s northern boundaries with the CARs, something India is hesitant to do in the face of U.S. sanctions. A third option is to use the Russia-Iran International North-South Transport Corridor via Bandar Abbas port, but this is not fully operational and at least two CARs (Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan) are not members. India too, has dragged its feet over TAPI gas pipeline plans (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India), due to supply guarantees, given the tensions with Pakistan. Finally, there is Afghanistan: the tenuous link between Central Asia and South Asia, where after the Taliban takeover, there is no official government, a humanitarian crisis is building, and there are worries of terrorism and radicalism spilling over its boundaries. Each theme has been outlined in the summit joint statement as areas to work upon. They have also agreed to more structured engagement, including the setting up of joint working groups, on Afghanistan and Chabahar, and more educational and cultural opportunities.

While the attempt by India to institutionalise exchanges and press the pedal on trade, investment and development partnerships with the CARs is timely, it is by no means the only country strengthening its ties here. While Russia is the most strategic player, China is now the biggest development and infrastructure partner to the countries. The CAR Presidents held a similar virtual summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier. Pakistan has also increased its outreach to the CARs, signing transit trade agreements, offering trade access to the Indian Ocean at Gwadar and Karachi. India will need to move nimbly to ensure it stays in step with the changes, and to make certain the future of ties more closely resembles the deep ties of the distant past.



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The BJP is seeking to bridge the divide between tribals and other people in Manipur

The Bharatiya Janata Party is eyeing its second straight term in Manipur. In 2017, the party had finished second with 21 seats in the 60-strong Assembly, behind the 28 seats won by the Congress. Forming an alliance with the National People’s Party (NPP) and the Naga People’s Front (NPF) that had four MLAs each, one MLA each from the Trinamool Congress, the Lok Janshakti Party, an Independent and a Congress defector (who was Minister until his disqualification three years later), the party managed to cross the halfway mark. Defections continued, including from parties allied with the BJP. The BJP now has 30 MLAs while the Congress has 13 — but an MLA has now joined the Janata Dal (United), the BJP’s national ally. The party in power at the Centre manages to exercise undue influence in Manipur politics, and that trend could continue this time too. The BJP has no pre-poll alliance, while its principal rival, the Congress, has announced a tie-up with five smaller parties, including the Communist Party of India. Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh was himself once a Congress leader. A challenge to his continuance from within the BJP, if it were to form the government, is a likely scenario. Thongam Biswajit Singh, PWD Minister and an influential party functionary, could well be in contention. In neighbouring Assam, the BJP had replaced its Chief Minister after winning a second term last year.

In the broad geographical divide in the State, the Imphal Valley, where the Hindu, non-tribal Meitei community dominates, has an edge over the surrounding hills inhabited by the largely Christian Naga and Kuki-Zomi communities. The Valley has 40 seats and the hills, 20. The BJP and its ideological partner, the RSS, have tapped the Valley for decades now, but the party also has a foothold among Christians. In the event of a hung Assembly, the NPP and the NPF, both fighting alone in their respective strongholds, could emerge influential. The NPF’s role is limited to a part of the Naga-inhabited hills. The JD(U) is also in the fray again. The Congress hopes the defections would help it regenerate with fresh faces. The BJP wishes its focus on infrastructure, rural housing, water supply, electrification and other schemes would help it. The CM’s “go to hills” and “go to villages” programmes sought to bridge the psychological divide between the hills and the Valley. The demand for the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act unites all sections of Manipur society. The demand for Scheduled Tribe status for the Meitei community, the enactment of the Manipur (Hill Areas) Autonomous District Councils Bill 2021 for providing more autonomy to the tribal councils, and the Hill Areas Committee comprising all the 20 MLAs of Manipur’s hills also will be talking points in the campaign.



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Exercise caution

The front page report (January 28) is even more reason for utmost caution. The weakening of COVID-19 is great news, but it persists for many. Reports from Europe and other countries suggest that they are going back to normal life. However, the situation is very different in India. It is difficult to come to a conclusion based on numbers alone. There is also under-reporting and unreported self-testing. There are even reports suggesting new variants. The Government’s moves must be in alignment with the ICMR and other medical bodies.

Dr. Jayasekharan V.P.,

Payyanur, Kannur, Kerala

A bogey

Having nothing concrete up their sleeve to make inroads into the vote bank of Tamil Nadu and win the hearts of Tamil voters, leaders of the BJP have now taken up the bogey of conversion by Christians. The case of a girl student in Thanjavur ending her life is being used by the party to derive political mileage out of it by levelling strange allegations. The Tamil Nadu government should clamp down on attempts to create disharmony among the peace-loving people of the State.

Tharcius S. Fernando,

Chennai

Now, privatised

Air India’s saga of distress may be over now (Page 1, January 28) and this could be cause for hope. But, at the same time, it has been deeply saddening to see the downfall of the majestic carrier of India as a result of faulty decisions made by various governments at the Centre. The travel space now is crowded with many private airlines. It is up to the Tatas to ensure that passengers can reminisce the Air India of the good old days.

K.R. Hari Karthikeyan,

Theni, Tamil Nadu

The entire story must serve as a lesson for the managements of other public sector companies — how such undertakings, large and small, should not be allowed to go sick. Ensuring utmost efficiency at all levels, avoiding wasteful expenditure, making certain that customer trust is never lost and pursuing innovation are the main ingredients for success. The Air India-Tata story should also not become a precedent for the Government to sell more public sector units on the plea that they are loss-making. There is a place for well-run public sector units in India’s business landscape.

S. Nallasivan,

Tirunelvei, Tamil Nadu



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That the leaders of the five Central Asian states, already part of the so-called Shanghai Cooperation Organisation led by Russia and China — India is also a member — are willing to engage India in a separate format suggests that there is considerable interest in deeper ties.

India was among the first countries to recognise the Central Asian Republics after the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago. Delhi, which had privileged access to Soviet Central Asia thanks to its special relationship with Moscow during the Cold War, hoped for a quick flowering of ties. Despite the much celebrated historical and civilisational relationship between India and Central Asia and the rekindled geopolitical romance, Delhi has struggled to build a productive relationship. India’s annual trade with the region has been stuck at around $2 billion. China’s trade with the region in contrast stands at more than $40 billion. As the US enthusiasm for Central Asia faded within a decade, Russia’s deep structural links endured, and a rising China became an important economic partner, India seemed quite marginal to the region. As in other parts of the extended neighbourhood, the gap between India’s reach and grasp appeared quite large.

This week’s summit — the first ever with the five leaders of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan — was about overcoming the persistent obstacles to a productive economic relationship and finding a new basis for political engagement and security cooperation. In fact, the five leaders were scheduled to join the Republic Day celebrations this week in a powerful demonstration of the region’s collective interest in India. But the pandemic forced the shift to a virtual mode. That the leaders of the five Central Asian states, already part of the so-called Shanghai Cooperation Organisation led by Russia and China — India is also a member — are willing to engage India in a separate format suggests that there is considerable interest in deeper ties. Although Delhi’s weight may not match that of Moscow or Beijing in the region, India does figure prominently in Central Asia’s strategy of diversifying their regional relations.

As it looked to the revitalisation of ties, the summit’s focus was on two important themes. In the first, they addressed the principal constraint on developing deeper ties —lack of connectivity between India and land-locked Central Asian Republics. Pakistan’s refusal to give overland trade and transit facilities to India and the political instability in Afghanistan have meant the natural routes between India and Central Asia have remained blocked. The two sides have now set up a joint working group that will intensify the effort to use Iran’s Chabahar port to promote “free movement of goods and services between India and Central Asia”. Complementing the focus on overland connectivity is the emphasis on security. The return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan has shaken the Central Asian governments, all of whom are vulnerable to the forces of terrorism and religious extremism. The shared interest between India and Central Asia in containing the forces of destabilisation emanating out of Afghanistan is encouraging the two sides to institutionalise political coordination and deepen security cooperation. The challenge now is to turn the proclaimed political will into concrete outcomes on connectivity and security.

This editorial first appeared in the print edition on January 29, 2022 under the title ‘Making connections’.



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Though there has been criticism of the pace and manner of the government’s privatisation programme, the symbolism of this sale is hard to ignore.

Almost seven decades after ceding control of the airline, the Tata group on Thursday regained Air India. Last year, the group had emerged as the winning bidder for the airline, with a bid of Rs 18,000 crore. With this acquisition, the Tatas will gain 100 per cent ownership in Air India, Air India Express, and a 50 per cent stake in the ground handling firm AI-SATS. This sale marks the first major outright privatisation of a public sector entity in recent years. Though there has been criticism of the pace and manner of the government’s privatisation programme, the symbolism of this sale is hard to ignore.

The Tatas will now face the arduous task of turning around the airline. This will be challenging, more so at a time when the aviation industry is grappling with the fallout from the pandemic. It will also have to deal with a plethora of legacy issues, ranging from an ageing fleet to human resources. According to the bidding conditions, the Tatas will have to retain all employees for a one-year period. The group must also contend with claims on international assets of Air India by Devas Multimedia and its investors who are trying to enforce its arbitration awards. Reportedly, Air India is seeking an end to the case on grounds that the ownership change prevents any claims of recovery of arbitration awards. Then there is the issue of the group’s other competing airlines — Vistara and AirAsia India — to contend with. It is possible that the Tatas will at some point consider integrating their aviation ventures under a single entity.

Though this is a milestone, by itself, it does little to shore up the government’s disinvestment proceeds. Of the Rs 18,000 crore winning bid, only Rs 2,700 crore is to be paid to the government, while the group will retain the balance, Rs 15,300 crore, in the form of debt. Data from DIPAM shows that the government’s proceeds from disinvestment remain well short of the target — as against a target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore, collections till now had been only Rs 9,330 crore. On its part, the government is hopeful of the LIC IPO culminating by the end of March, though, considering the intricacies of such a transaction, it is not clear if it can be concluded by then. Similarly, the privatisation process of BPCL as well as that of the public sector banks is also expected to spill over into the next year.

This editorial first appeared in the print edition on January 29, 2022 under the title ‘Flying home’.



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Charanjit captained the Indian team that defeated Pakistan to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. They did so with calmness, grace and humility — traits associated with Indian teams of that era.

With the death of former hockey captain Charanjit Singh, who died at 90 on Thursday at his home in Una, India has lost another member of the golden generation. The crafty midfielder belonged to an era when hockey was one of the key sources of national pride and the players were among the first heroes of post-independence India. In the last few years, many of those stars, Balbir Singh Dosanjh, Balbir Singh Junior and Keshav Datt, have passed away. Many of these players were forgotten, remembered in a snippet or two in once-in-four-years compendiums of Olympic trivia. Charanjit, though, will always be remembered as one of the key men responsible for India regaining its supremacy on the hockey field.

‘Padma Shri Sahab’, as Charanjit was fondly called in his hometown, started playing for the national team in the early 1950s, fighting his way into a star-studded midfield comprising the likes of Leslie Claudius, Datt and Joe Antics. His absence in the final of the 1960 Olympics, due to an injury, was seen as one of the reasons why India lost to Pakistan, conceding the champion’s tag to their arch-rivals. But four years later, Charanjit captained the Indian team that defeated Pakistan to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. They did so with calmness, grace and humility — traits associated with Indian teams of that era.

While a lot needs to be done to preserve the legacy of these legends, it’s reassuring that India is clawing its way back to the top of world hockey. Coincidentally, India’s resurgence has begun in the same city — Tokyo — where it reclaimed its lost glory under Charanjit. The bronze at the Tokyo Olympics last year has breathed fresh life into the dying sport. But players and administrators recognise that this is just the beginning. For, the revival won’t be complete until the team reaches the top of the Olympic podium, as the yesteryear stars did, so effortlessly.

This editorial first appeared in the print edition on January 29, 2022 under the title ‘Top of the game’.



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The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan will meet on January 29 to begin a joint pursuit of a no-war pact, but there are enough indications that the search for such a pact will be long and fairly slow-paced.

The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan will meet on January 29 to begin a joint pursuit of a no-war pact, but there are enough indications that the search for such a pact will be long and fairly slow-paced. What is significant is that the two foreign ministers will sit together. The talks will be exploratory in nature. The two ministers may have more rounds of discussions, either in Islamabad or New Delhi, before coming to the brass tacks. This is mainly because of persisting suspicions and varying perceptions of the context in which the talks are taking place. The Indian government which was initially sceptical about Pakistan’s suggestion of a no-war pact said that it will approach the “talks with an open mind, serious approach and a positive desire to ensure a satisfactory outcome”.

CPM on China

Sharp criticism by several state units and individual delegates forced the central leadership of the CPI(M) to modify the strong pro-Soviet and anti-China line taken in its draft resolution at the 11th Party Congress at Vijayawada. The critics succeeded in forcing the steering committee to name both the Soviet Union and China in the list of friendly countries.

Ranga’s plea rejected

The Supreme Court dismissed the petition of Ranga with severe strictures on the advocate representing him for casting “unfounded insinuation against judges”. “The advocate should have known that the case of Billa and Ranga has been given the most careful and sympathetic consideration,” they said.

Shetty no more

Shetty, stuntman of Indian films, has died of a heart attack. Pokkiri Raja, a Tamil film in which he acted with superstar Rajinikanth, was his last film.



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Sameena Dalwai writes: What the animals can tell us about the state of our nation

Do we live in the republic of India? I live in three different spaces, and I can tell they are distinct because of the status that dogs and cows enjoy in each of them.

The first is the elite India that I watch operate on a university campus. It is like the European Union in many ways. A beautiful oasis amidst rough hinterlands, with paved roads, shaded pathways, lush-green lawns and fruit-bearing trees. Just like in Europe, entry is strictly guarded and boundaries demarcated. It is fed by an army of workers from the surrounding areas — guards, cleaners, cooks, carpenters, and plumbers.

Here, dogs have an enviable status. Our students love dogs; they hug, kiss and cuddle them. They fight with guards who try to shoo them away and threaten the administration with media exposure if dogs are treated with cruelty. They buy milk packets, tear them with bare hands and empty them for the dogs to lap up. Merely 200 metres away, infants and toddlers of migrant workers live in huts with no doors and do without milk.

The dogs are overfed and oversized. They have lost their natural alacrity but show their canine streak by barking at all hours. They also understand class. They wave their tails at people wearing shorts and snarl at those in uniforms or with dupattas on their heads.

Pets are a profitable industry in the affluent world, with special foods, clothes, toys and beauty parlours to cater to them. India is the fastest growing pet care market in the world and is expected to grow at 14 per cent annually to become a $490 million market by 2022. Some of these pets threaten wildlife; cats kill 2.4 million birds every year and dogs have contributed to the extinction of nearly a dozen wild bird and animal species. The love I see on campus, perhaps, is a kind of possession, just as the Victorian wife, horses, dogs were all subjugated and loved, turned into trophies.

The land surrounding our pristine campus is plagued by gaurakshaks, the protectors of cows. This is the space that the RSS extols as Bharat, though the ancient name of the country is not theirs to claim. Here, people worship the cow as a mother and insist that crores of gods live inside it. The protection of cows has little to do with their welfare. When we pass through the towns of north India, the dramatic rise in the number of stray cows, growing thinner over summer months and crowding the roads unattended, is evident.

Gaurakshaks threaten Muslims and Dalits, who they suspect of killing and eating cows. Over 60 incidents of attacks and murders have been reported since 2010 as mobs of gaurakshaks have descended upon suspects with terrifying results. The vigilantes are aided by state governments, which have already passed laws banning cow slaughter and enlisted police units to enforce it.

This “Bharat” is trying to live on its past historical glory, on land ownership, on the slavery of Dalits, on the unpaid “on demand” labour, both domestic and sexual, of women. Here, the identity of the self comes from “not being them”, the proof of love comes from hating others. So, love for the cow equals hate for Muslims. Love for the country equals hate for Pakistan, China. Love for women equals hate for anyone who might take them away and panic about love jihad.

But there is a third kind of space that exists in the country — let’s call it Hindustan, which survives on agriculture and allied sectors like animal husbandry. Here, cows are important as they give milk and milk products, leading to extra income and stability in lean times. People love their animals like family members and are ready to make many sacrifices for them. In the fodder camps run by Mann Deshi Mahila Bank in rural Maharashtra, thousands of farmers stay out in the open for a few days so that their cattle can get water and fodder. Children and animals are introduced to strangers by their names.

Kids play with dogs here too. They guard the farms at night and keep the farmers company. Shepherd communities travel with their goats and sheep in search of grasslands. Their dogs help them keep the herd intact. Children run along with the dogs to bring back wandering goats. Life is hard and sparse — the dogs get food that people can spare and kids are as agile as their dogs.

Even under normal circumstances, hunger is common in poor communities. India ranks very low in the Global Hunger Index. Only 15 countries — sub-Saharan African nations such as Congo, Somalia or war-torn Afghanistan and Yemen — are below us. In the past decade, hunger has intensified as income gaps have widened. According to the World Inequality Report 2022, the top 10 per cent of Indians hold 57 per cent of national income, while the bottom 50 per cent’s share is 13 per cent.

In this marginalised population, love means giving oneself. Love for the land is experienced by applying oneself to it — by giving labour, care, sacrifice. Love for the country too is shown by the same. There are norms of equity which resonate with socialist idealism — from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. The members of this Hindustan sat at the Delhi border for a year and forced the mighty government to give in.

What is the idea of a republic but for many different types of people, species to exist together in harmony? Maybe we have a republic after all — perhaps overshadowed by the other two, but it exists.

This column first appeared in the print edition on January 29, 2022 under the title ‘Imagining the republic’. Dalwai is a writer and a law professor



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S Mahendra Dev writes: In the near term fiscal policy can play an important role by expanding fiscal space while fiscal deficit can be stabilised in medium term

The first advance estimates released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that GDP in constant prices in FY 22 was 1.26 per cent higher than the pre-Covid year of FY20. In other words, India had a growth rate of 0.63 per cent per annum in the post-Covid period. Although the impact of Omicron is less on the economy, the loss of GDP in the last two years is high. Also note that the pre-Covid year FY20 had a low base with 4 per cent growth of GDP. Therefore, the need to focus on higher growth in the forthcoming budget and in the medium term, that is, beyond India@75, is obvious.

There are several challenges in creating quantity and quality of jobs in the economy: (a) Unemployment rate is high in both rural and urban areas; (b) decline in work participation rates, particularly for women; (c) recovery in employment is still below the levels of the pre-Covid period. According to CMIE, the employment in December 2021 was 2.9 million less compared to that of 2019-20; (d) 85 per cent of the workforce is still in informal sector; (e) less than 5 per cent of India’s workforce has formal skill training; (f) manufacturing and services need structural change; (g) focus on MSME sector is needed for higher employment.

There is a need to have policies in the forthcoming budget and in the medium term for achieving higher economic growth and jobs. Some of these policies are discussed below.

First, the last budget has given a push to capital expenditure and infrastructure. This has to be continued in the next budget and in the medium term. The government outlined an infrastructure project pipeline worth more than Rs 102 lakh crore and asset monetisation pipeline of Rs 6 lakh crore to be implemented in the medium term. Continuing focus on infrastructure and capex by the government is important as it is a key driver for the “future of India”. Of course, all these plans on infrastructure depend on effective implementation and creating appropriate models of infrastructure and also on generating the required finance.

Second, it is well known that rise in exports is one of the main engines of growth and also important for employment creation. Export growth in India has increased and is expected to reach $400 billion by the end of FY22. One worrying aspect of India’s export performance is the failure in expanding the share of labour intensive products in the export basket. In the post-Covid situation, there are several opportunities for India to occupy the space vacated by China to boost exports. However, one problem in recent years is that India’s trade policy has become more protectionist by increasing import tariffs. India should also join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) for integrating our industries with the value chains in Asia.

Third, there is hardly any disagreement that India needs to aim at the larger growth of the manufacturing sector for higher economic growth and creating more productive jobs. However, the share of manufacturing in GDP and employment has hardly increased over time. Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes can improve performance. However, more efforts are required to improve the manufacturing sector. Similarly, there are a lot of opportunities for India in the service sector. The top global service brands like Google, Airbnb, Amazon, LinkedIn, McKinsey, Master Card, Visa, Fedex covering hospitality and consulting firms or food and beverages like Starbucks are from the US. Brand and customer centricity are important here. India can also think of more business in the service sector. Growing startups including unicorns in manufacturing and services is part of this effort.

Fourth, banking reforms are important as bank credit growth is a key indicator of economic growth. In the immediate term, interest rates may rise in India and at the global level due to rise in inflation. This may increase the cost of capital. Credit to GDP ratio in India is only around 55 per cent compared to 100 per cent and 150 per cent in many other countries. Credit should flow to all categories of economic agents like firms, households etc. It is true that bank credit growth increased to 9 per cent in December 2021. But, NPA is still a problem for Scheduled Commercial banks (SCBs) and others. The macro stress tests for credit risk mentioned in the Financial Stability Report released by the RBI “indicate that the gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio of SCBs may increase from 6.9 per cent in September 2021 to 8.1 per cent by September 2022 under the baseline scenario and to 9.5 per cent under a severe stress scenario. SCBs would, however, have sufficient capital, both at the aggregate and individual levels, even under stress conditions”. The bad bank, a key initiative of the last budget, is yet to take shape. The role of fintech companies in the financial sector has increased significantly. They may not be able to replace banks although they are competing on payments. The banks also have to focus now on ESG (environment, social and governance) while giving credit. Big technology and digital push is also needed for banks.

Lastly, the K-shaped recovery of the economy is still continuing. A large part of the corporate sector has been able to manage the pandemic and the stock market is doing well. On the other hand, the informal workers, including daily wage labourers, migrants, MSMEs, the contact intensive sectors etc, have suffered a lot with the loss of incomes and employment. The policies have to focus on giving a push to the MSME sector, increasing investment in agriculture and rural infrastructure, a social sector push including bridging divides in health and education, social protection measures like foodgrain distribution, cash transfers, MGNREGA in rural areas, urban employment guarantee schemes etc. This will also create demand for the economy.

On economic growth and jobs, we have to double our efforts to cover the losses and reach a normal steady growth. The forthcoming budget and medium-term policies should focus on them. The goal of achieving a $5 trillion dollar economy by 2024-25 may get delayed by one or two years. The monetary policy is already very accommodative and this may not continue as there are headwinds like rising inflation. In the near term, fiscal policy has to play an important role in achieving the objectives of growth and jobs by expanding fiscal space while the fiscal deficit can be stabilised in the medium term. Increase in private investment may take some more time.

This column first appeared in the print edition on January 29, 2022 under the title ‘Recover and rebuild’. The writer is director and vice chancellor, IGIDR, Mumbai



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Harsh Mander writes: The pandemic exposed the horrors of the existing economic and social arrangements that privilege some but treat others as expendable

The pandemic has dramatically laid bare the catastrophic public costs of inequality. Thousands of lives could have been saved if much greater investments had been made in public health provisioning. The explosion of mass hunger and joblessness and the dislocation of millions of working poor people could have been averted had labour protection, social security, and wage levels of workers been secured.

“Inequality Kills” is the apt title of a devastating report by Oxfam India released at the time of the World Economic Forum in Davos. For India’s super-rich, the pandemic became a time to swell their wealth dizzyingly. The worst year of the pandemic for India was 2021. In this year, the net wealth of just one Indian billionaire, Gautam Adani, multiplied eight times, from $8.9 billion in 2020 to $50.5 billion in 2021. The net worth of Mukesh Ambani doubled to $85.5 billion in 2021, rocketing him from India’s to Asia’s richest man. In fact, Ambani added Rs 90 crore to his wealth every hour right from March 2020, the start of the pandemic. In 2021, the number of dollar billionaires in India expanded by 39 per cent. India is home today to the largest number of dollar billionaires, after the US and China, with more billionaires than France, Sweden and Switzerland combined. In 2020, 98 families held more wealth than 555 million Indians. India’s top 10 per cent owned 45 per cent of the country’s wealth. Three-fifths of India’s top 100 added $1 billion or more to their wealth in 2021 over the previous year.

In this same period, as many as 84 per cent Indian households suffered a fall of income, for many into deep and stubborn poverty. The RBI estimated a GDP contraction of minus 8.7 to 7 per cent. 120 million jobs were lost, of which 92 million were in the informal sector. In 2021, FAO reported there were 200 million undernourished people in India and India was home to a quarter of all undernourished people around the world. Pew estimated that the number of poor people in India doubled from 55 million in 2020 to 120 million in 2021. Oxfam reports that daily-wage workers topped the numbers of people who committed suicide in 2020, followed by self-employed and unemployed individuals.

Evaluations in the media do not adequately recognise that the greater part of the grim economic devastation that surrounds us in India today — deaths, joblessness, hunger — is not caused primarily by the Covid-19 virus. They are the consequence of market-led public policies that have fostered unequal life chances. This got exposed more in these times of global calamity.

Imagine a vastly different India. Imagine, for instance, a country that has secured free and quality healthcare for every citizen, a guarantee of food for all, workers’ rights to social security and wage payments to all during lockdowns, and decent housing and clean water. The deaths and unemployment that engulfed a large section of Indians could have been eschewed. If millions of working people had more money in their hands, the greatest contraction of the economy since Independence could have been forestalled. If decent social housing and clean water supply had been secured by governments for all residents, it would have enabled the millions forced into overcrowded shanties to protect themselves by keeping distance in well-ventilated tenements and washing their hands regularly. Millennials might then argue: All of this is unattainable; what, then, is the point of painting scenarios of utopias?

But just as the humanitarian crisis today could have been prevented, the alternative is eminently feasible if people and government commit themselves to the goals of the Constitution. India spends only 3.54 per cent of its budgetary resources on healthcare, much less, as noted by Oxfam, than other middle-income countries like Brazil (9.51), South Africa (8.25) and China (5.35). Income inequalities reduce life chances in India even more for those disadvantaged by caste, gender and religious identities. A Dalit woman, for instance, has 15 years lower life expectancy than an upper-caste woman. Confronted by a broken and starved public health system, even the poor have to rely on private health providers, and 60 per cent of health spending in India is out-of-pocket, among the highest in the world, and a major cause of poverty. In the pandemic, the exclusions were even more spectacular. Oxfam found middle-class families spending Rs 4 lakh a day in private hospitals during the second wave — something a casual worker earns in 1,000 days.

The starting point of our vision of a new India is for the state to assume responsibility to provision quality healthcare, education, food, pension, clean water and housing, free or in affordable ways for all citizens. Economist Prabhat Patnaik, in his contribution to the India Exclusion Report brought out by the Centre for Equity Studies, says that to resource all of this would demand a public resolve to expand taxation of the super-rich. Sufficient to fund all of this, he calculates, is two taxes levied only on the top 1 per cent of the population — a wealth tax of 2 per cent and an inheritance tax of 33 per cent. Our government is doing the opposite; it withdrew the wealth tax in 2015 and reduced the already low levels of corporate tax. The result is regressive taxation burdening the poor and abysmally low public spending.

Those who care for a kinder world must not miss this moment when the pandemic has revealed to us the horror of our moral collapse; of economic and social arrangements that privilege some lives, but treat the rest as expendable. The struggle of our times must be for a new social contract based on solidarity and inclusion.

This column first appeared in the print edition on January 29, 2022 under the title ‘The inequality epidemic’. The writer is a Richard von Weizsacker Fellow and Chairperson of the Centre for Equity Studies



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Sanjay Kaul, Uma Mahadevan-Dasgupta write: This is necessary for the well-being of the millions of young children in low-income households

The National Education Policy, 2020 has rightly highlighted the importance of early childhood care and education (ECCE), vital for the young child’s early cognitive, social, and emotional development. However, the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) finds only 13.6 per cent of children enrolled in pre-primary schools. Therefore, the nearly 1.4 million anganwadis of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) across India must provide ECCE for the millions of young children in low-income households.

Admittedly, with its overriding focus on health and nutrition, ECCE has hitherto been the weakest link of the anganwadi system. Multiple administrative duties have left anganwadi workers with little time for ECCE.

The existing system at best serves the age group of 3-6 years, ignoring infants and toddlers. Nevertheless, a child’s early learning begins at birth, initially through stimulation, play, interactions, non-verbal and verbal communication, and gradually through observation and cues from the immediate environment and increasingly structured activities. Unfortunately, due to a lack of parental awareness compounded by the daily stresses of poverty, disadvantaged households are unable to provide an early learning environment.

Many low-income families have begun to send their children to low-cost pre-schools. However, these mostly have a developmentally inappropriate teaching approach.

Some educationists have suggested that owing to the high workload of anganwadi workers, ECCE in anganwadis would remain a non-starter — and, therefore, all government primary schools should open pre-primary sections, with anganwadis limiting themselves to the 0-3 age group. This proposal has multiple logistical challenges and is fiscally unsustainable. It would require a massive outlay to build over a million classrooms with a million nursery teachers and helpers — even a conservative estimate would put the additional annual outlay at over Rs 30,000 crore. Moreover, with child stunting levels at 35 per cent in India, would children enrolled in pre-schools not require supplementary nutrition and health monitoring? If so, would the nursery teacher not also get overburdened? More critically, experience suggests that existing government pre-schools are mostly a downward extension of primary school, and do not impart age-appropriate ECCE.

A meaningful ECCE programme in anganwadis is not only a more intelligent and cost-effective strategy but is also feasible to implement through seven concerted actions.

First, to design and put in place a meaningful activity-based ECCE framework that recognises the ground realities with autonomy to reflect the local context and setting.

Second, routine tasks of anganwadi workers can be reduced and non-ICDS work, such as surveys, removed altogether. Many anganwadi helpers have studied upto matriculation. With training and an additional incentive, helpers can be redesignated as childcare workers and handle routine work.

Third, anganwadi hours can be extended by at least three hours by providing staff with an increase in their present remuneration, with the additional time devoted for ECCE. Karnataka has already taken the lead; its anganwadis work from 9.30 am to 4 pm. This will have the added benefit of serving as partial daycare, enabling poor mothers to earn a livelihood.

Fourth, ICDS needs a change in policy mindset, both at central and state levels, by prioritising and monitoring ECCE. This will additionally require all ICDS functionaries to be fully trained in ECCE, including assessment through group activities and child observation.

Fifth, anganwadi workers must be re-oriented to closely engage with parents, as they play a crucial role in the cognitive development of young children. Responsive parenting requires both parents to play an active role in ECCE activities at home; therefore, anganwadi workers should be asked to consciously engage with fathers too. Appropriate messaging and low-cost affordable teaching materials can be designed and made accessible to parents.

Sixth, ICDS must supply age-appropriate activity-based play material in adequate quantities regularly, and anganwadi workers encouraged to utilise them in a liberal manner.

Finally, states should invest in research and training to support early childhood education, and ensure that the ECCE programme is not a downward extension of school education.

This column first appeared in the print edition on January 29, 2022 under the title ‘The youngest learners’. Kaul is an ex-IAS officer and former secretary, school education, Karnataka. Mahadevan-Dasgupta is an IAS officer and former principal secretary, women and child development, Karnataka



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Kham Khan Suan Hausing writes: In the Northeast, this means committing to the ideal of ‘equal’ and ‘group-differentiated’ citizenship rights and deepening constitutionalism and democracy

Like every year, the imagery of a powerful and deeply diverse nation was meticulously demonstrated this Republic Day through an impressive military parade, the display of India’s air power and the diverse themes exhibited by the states, Union Territories and government departments in their colourful tableaus. Away from New Delhi, the state/UT capitals saw a similar pageantry interspersed by speeches by governors, chief ministers and other dignitaries. Although the themes and content of the pageantry and speeches have changed over time, what remains constant about Republic Day is the display of the state’s power and the demonstration of patriotism.

Such exercises are, no doubt, an integral part of state and nation-building. We may, however, ask: Is the extraordinary display of the might and diversity of the country on a few occasions such as Republic Day enough? I contend that while such displays are necessary, they need to be accompanied by an enduring commitment to our constitutional ideals and values in ways that embed the state and the nation in the popular psyche. From the perspective of the country’s Northeast, conversations in two areas are in order.

The first is the commitment to the ideal of “equal” and “group-differentiated” citizenship rights. The founding fathers of the country recognised early on that a realistic way to politically integrate the different tribal groups in the Northeast was to reconcile our constitutional commitments to equal citizenship rights with the imperative of accommodating group-differentiated rights. This was a realistic solution to two exigencies: The popular mobilisation for “self-rule” in parts of the Northeast — the 1951 Naga plebiscite, for instance, was reported to have been supported by “99.9 per cent of the Naga population” — and the region being governed by disparate customary laws. Affirmation of the differential rights of tribal groups on land through customary laws and religious practices undergirds the institutional protection enshrined in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution — they apply to tribal areas of several parts of the Northeast today.

However, this institutional arrangement often becomes problematic as it’s founded on an unequal two-tiered rights regime that distinguishes tribal “citizens” from non-tribal “denizens” by permanently excluding the latter from de jure ownership and acquisition of land/property in tribal areas. The 73rd year of our Republic occasions serious thinking on envisioning institutions that accommodate the distinctive needs of non-tribal “outsiders”. It is equally imperative to realise that this problem is no longer restricted to the non-tribals. Thanks to extensive land-grabbing by the dominant tribal elites, often in connivance with the non-tribal “outsiders” who have become the de facto landowners, the vast majority of tribals face large-scale landlessness with serious economic consequences. Unless the inherent flaws in the asymmetric institutions are immediately addressed, they can implode and unleash bloody fratricidal conflicts.

It is also imperative to underline that the sons-of-the-soil movements in Assam and Tripura since the 1970s — embers of which are present in the persistent drive to privilege the khilonjias (autochthones) over “illegal” immigrants in Assam — are driven by a pervasive sense of insecurity about identity and land-ownership. The situation is made more precarious by the inability of the state to control “illegal” immigration. Such movements become steeped in a majoritarian way of thinking that targets the Bengali Muslims as “illegal” outsiders irrespective of the fact that many of them are indigenous to Assam. The sectarian emotions and sense of insecurity unleashed by the National Register of Citizens and the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 to permanently disenfranchise Muslim “immigrants” is a reminder of this slippery slope where our commitment to fraternity and equal citizenship rights has been severely tested.

The second set of conversations to embed the state into the popular psyche in ways that help consolidate nation-building pertain to renewing our commitment to democracy and constitutionalism. Such a commitment needs to be anchored in daily plebiscitary attempts, not only to promote democratic justice but also to check abuse of state power — a situation exacerbated by the pandemic when the state has invested itself with extraordinary powers. This invariably has to be a mutually reinforcing commitment from the top and bottom.

From the top, the Indian state needs to commit itself to promoting substantive democracy by protecting the rule of law and enlarging democratic settings to leverage power-sharing within and across groups/ communities. Institutions should be tailored to give various groups, including women, effective voice and participatory rights not only in democratic deliberations but also in policymaking and implementation. From the bottom, the onus is on groups like the Nagas and Bodos that enjoy autonomous “self-rule” to be accommodative of, and willing to share power with women, other tribal and non-tribal groups to foster democratic justice.

It is also imperative for the state to acknowledge its abuse of power and renew its commitment to constitutionalism. To begin with, labelling human rights activists as anti-nationals and jailing them under draconian laws like UAPA on flimsy grounds such as criticising the government, or other such pretexts should stop. It also needs to accept the fallacy and inefficacy of relying on its “coercive monopoly of power” to crush movements in the region through the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and dismissing these movements as “law and order” problems. The persistence of the Naga armed movement and the proliferation of other such movements in the Northeast only illustrate the inefficacy of such means. Instead of winning the hearts and minds of the Naga rebels and deepening nation-building, AFSPA has become what the B P Jeevan Reddy Committee (2005) rightly called a major instrument of “oppression” and “alienation” in Northeast India. AFSPA has militarised Indian democracy and is seen as the cause for several human rights violations. The recently botched encounter in Oting in Nagaland’s Mon district undertaken by the 21 Para Special Forces, that killed 14 innocent people of the Konyak community, is a case in point. There has been a widespread campaign for the withdrawal of the AFSPA after this incident.

The depiction of state grandeur on Republic Day is mesmerising. It can be made more meaningful by renewing our commitment to the cardinal ideals and values enshrined in the Constitution.

This column first appeared in the print edition on January 29, 2022 under the title ‘In Northeast, work to be done’. The writer is professor and head of the department of political science, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad



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Today’s the first weekend this year where many cities will see a semblance of normalcy. Unlike earlier occasions, states this time have not let weekend restrictions linger even though daily new infections average around 2.5 lakh. It spells relief for India’s beleaguered contact-intensive businesses such as eateries. This sector has been among the worst hit over the last two years. The National Restaurant Association of India last year estimated that the pandemic-induced lockdowns had put around 25% of restaurants out of business, leading to retrenchment of about 2.4 million employees. The scale of damage was surely avoidable.

States during the Omicron wave raised their game by linking mobility restrictions to the extent of stress on the healthcare infrastructure. Going forward, this should be the primary metric to guide decisions. Another approach that needs to be avoided is differentiating between essential and other activities to decide on shutdowns. Every activity generates jobs and arbitrary demarcations undermine livelihoods. To illustrate, across India gyms have been amongst the worst hit by shutdowns, which have often persisted long after other activities resumed. Typically, the average Indian business is small sized which makes it impossible for most to survive prolonged shutdowns.

One of the unheralded aspects of India’s services sector is that it’s an important source of employment for low-skilled and unskilled youth. Most of them pick up skills on the job which then provides a pathway to upward mobility. Large-scale closures, like those of restaurants, have long-term consequences in India’s job market. After living with the novel coronavirus for almost two years, people have developed a sense of the associated risks. Consequently, governments should avoid any kind of closure based on the incidence of infection and just focus on keeping healthcare infrastructure prepared. This approach will have a positive spin-off on economic activity and jobs.



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Marching crisply and saluting the President of India, Lieutenant Commander Aanchal Sharma led the naval contingent. Lieutenant Manisha Bohra led the Army Ordnance Corps contingent. India’s first woman Rafale jet pilot, Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh saluted from the deck of the air force tableau. Women from BSF’s Seema Bhawani motorcycle team put up a fine daredevil display. In short, this year’s Republic Day parade displayed women’s expanding role in the Indian military with instructive and inspiring vividity.

Such imagery can play an important role in changing mindsets and mending prejudices. It can encourage young women to consider military careers even as it helps erase their families’ nervousness about this. But all such social change banks on institutional change, on the forces welcoming women soldiers and promoting them fairly. On this front a lot of the push has actually come from the Supreme Court’s side, while the forces have kept petitioning for more time to mitigate “operational, practical and cultural problems”.

For example, last week saw SC asking government to explain why the intake of women candidates at the National Defence Academy has been prelimited at only 19 for the upcoming session, which is how many women were inducted last year. Hasn’t NDA set up the infrastructure needed for a full intake of women yet? Warfare has changed dramatically since the 20th century, modern armies need an appropriately wider skill-set. They need women.



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Har Gobind Khorana was an Indian American who shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine and was awarded the National Medal of Science in the United States (US). His 100th birth anniversary passed earlier this month without any major commemorative events, either in the US or in India.

The failure to recognise the contributions of Khorana this year, at a time when tens of millions of people are benefiting from his landmark research on a daily basis, is unfortunate. The origin of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, one of modern medical science’s best tools in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, traces its beginnings to Khorana’s foundational research on the ribonucleic acid (RNA) gene.

At the National Medal of Science citation, presented to Khorana in 1987, President Ronald Reagan pointed out that he “significantly contributed to our understanding of gene structure, membrane function and vision” and “the work stimulated by his research” had “had a major impact on the biological and chemical sciences.”

Khorana’s journey from Raipur, a small village now in Pakistan on the Jammu border, to being a Nobel laureate and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is awe-inspiring. It was a circuitous journey.

Born as the youngest of five children of a village tax official, Khorana received his primary education at a local school with no conventional classroom. After completing his high school in Multan, more than 400 kilometres to the southwest of his hometown, he earned his bachelor’s and master’s from Punjab University in Lahore.

Then, at the age of 23, Khorana received a government fellowship to do a PhD at the University of Liverpool in England. He followed it with a brief postdoctoral program in Zurich, Switzerland.

Khorana travelled back to India in 1949 with the intention of starting cutting-edge genetic research in India. But the scientific infrastructure in the newly independent nation was still nascent and did not provide the platform for a scientist who was on the cusp of doing something great.

Khorana returned to England, to the University of Cambridge, to work in the lab of the celebrated Scottish biochemist, Alexander R. Todd. Working with Todd, who won the Nobel Prize in 1957, Khorana expanded the frontiers of his research to biochemistry, especially nucleotides, which form the RNA and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Khorana acknowledged that it was his “good fortune to be associated with” the legendary scientist’s “laboratory before the start of our own work in the nucleotide field.”

In 1952, Khorana relocated to Vancouver, Canada, to start his own lab, supported by the British Columbia Research Council. During that period, he started his work on phosphate esters and nucleic acids, the research that eventually led to the Nobel.

Eight years later, Khorana came to the US, accepting a faculty and research position at University of Wisconsin’s Institute for Enzyme Research. It was there that he cracked the genetic code, discovering that the genetic code of a DNA predisposes protein synthesis, which decides the way a cell functions. He won the Nobel, along with colleagues and fellow Nobel laureates Robert Holley and Marshall Nirenberg, for that feat.

Khorana did not sit on his laurels after receiving the Nobel. Instead, he continued his path-breaking research to become the first person to synthesise a gene two years later.

Then in 1970, MIT came calling. In the fall of that year, he joined the institute as a professor of biology and chemistry.

Khorana’s presence at MIT was felt immediately as he helped synthesise two different genes. In the mid-1970s, he and his team synthesised a manmade gene in a living cell.

Until he retired from MIT in 2007, Khorana continued his path-breaking research, while also mentoring a generation of scholars and researchers. He died on November 9, 2011, in Massachusetts, at the age of 89.

One of the best summations of Khorana’s life and work was made by his former MIT colleague and head of MIT’s Department of Biology, Chris Kaiser. In 2018, Kaiser wrote “Like the great explorers Frances Drake and Ernest Shackleton, who were my heroes growing up, Khorana had the vision and leadership to convince a team to follow him to an unknown place, and he had the supreme confidence that he would know what to do once he got there.”

Khorana was indeed an explorer. As his personal journey from Punjab to Liverpool, Zurich, London, Vancouver, Madison, Wisconsin and Cambridge, Massachusetts attests, he was willing to go to various locations until he reached the ideal place for his work.

Once there, his professional journey was exploring the genetics of the human body with a singular and dedicated focus in order to discover the previously unknown. His discoveries have enabled scientists and doctors to help find solutions to make all of our journeys safer and better ones.

That is why we remember Har Gobind Khorana in 2022 and he should be remembered for centuries to come. Journey on!

Frank F. Islam is an entrepreneur, civic leader, and thought leader based in Washington DC. The views expressed are personal



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It seems somehow apt that the Union Budget for 2022-23, the penultimate one of the second Narendra Modi government, is being presented in the immediate wake of two very significant events.

One, the transfer of Air India, post divestment, to its new owner, the Tata group. And two, the completion of all regulatory preparatory work, and the launch of India’s bad bank, an idea put forth in the last budget, and none too soon.

It can be argued that selling State-owned companies can’t be counted as reform, but Chanakya has always considered them as such — especially given the social and economic context in India that makes such sales extremely difficult; not to forget the judicial context, at a time when the Supreme Court has ordered an investigation into one of India’s earliest divestments (dating back only two decades).

It is clear that such reforms will continue.

Given the exceptional tax buoyancy this year that will help the government beat its estimates of tax revenue (and comfortably), there is probably no point in rushing through the partial divestment of Life Insurance Corporation, the big one, although the intent to sell shares through an Initial Public Offer (IPO) is very much on display (and can’t be doubted). Indeed, it’s possible that the government may complete the IPO in March. Still, since it’s very likely that next year will not see the tax buoyancy that this year has, it perhaps makes sense to push big-ticket divestments to the next financial year as a buffer. And next year is also probably when the impact of the bad bank will really start being felt in the banking sector.

If 2021-22’s Union Budget was one that focused strongly on the pandemic, what should 2022-23’s do? There’s no doubt the finance minister will indulge in a bit of ballot-oriented populism (and then, a lot more of the same next year), but that is understandable given the context. It does raise the same question the Prime Minister recently did (again) on the wisdom of unending cycles of elections, but that is material for another column.

Before answering the question on the coming budget’s focus, it is important to understand the economic context in which it is being presented.

The Indian economy will grow by 9% in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and 7.1% in 2023-24, the International Monetary Fund said in its latest economic forecast. Those are big numbers for a $3.1 trillion economy. And those are numbers that mean that India will end 2021-22 with an economy slightly larger than the one it ended with in 2019-20. Put otherwise, the Covid-19 pandemic has not, as feared, made India lose five years, but one year, although it has also changed the lives of some (both individuals and enterprises) irreparably.

Many high-frequency indicators are at or above pre-pandemic levels, and as Hindustan Times explained in an analysis on Saturday, the trajectory of the third wave of the pandemic is already beginning to dip (and it has probably had even less of an impact on economic activity than the second wave did).

That’s a creditable recovery but it is also one that has favoured large companies and heightened inequality. It’s also a recovery that has been achieved without a sustainable growth in consumption (as mentioned by the Reserve Bank of India governor after the last monetary policy); the next one will come soon after the budget and it will be interesting to see what the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee’s commentary says, and despite poor consumer sentiment (according to RBI’s consumer confidence index). And it’s a recovery that’s been buffeted to some extent by supply constraints, many of which are global, not local.

Against this background, what should the finance minister do on Tuesday?

One, this budget should focus on education, in much the same way the last one sought to do on public health, ensuring that the country does not lose any of the gains it has made in the latter. The best-case scenario for school education is that the majority of children have lost two years; the worst, is that they have lost much more. The budget needs to provide for bridging courses, new curricula, training for teachers, refurbishment of school infrastructure, and access to devices and connectivity.

Two, to create jobs (or at least work) in the short-term, it should increase allocation to the rural job guarantee scheme and launch a similar one targeting poor families in urban areas.

Three, even as it focuses on creating an environment conducive for private investment, it should enhance the government’s capital expenditure, continuing the emphasis on infrastructure. Construction, lest anyone forget, is the biggest employer of unskilled labour in this country after agriculture.

Four, with hopes for a new deal for agriculture (and doubling farm incomes, one of this government’s promises) fading with the repeal of the farm laws, it should announce a new deal for agriculture.

Five, elements of the relief package announced last year should continue at least for another year — especially the provision of free grains to poor households , and credit guarantees for small and medium enterprises and the self-employed.

And six, in an effort to boost sentiment, the budget should announce no new taxes of any kind, no increase in levies, and, in fact, reduce effective tax outgo for income tax payers, either by tweaking tax rates, or enhancing exemptions. Short of cheques-in-the-mail, this is the surest way to make people feel good.

This column has stayed clear of getting into the issue of the fiscal deficit. The government will probably meet (or even better) this year’s targeted deficit of 6.8% of GDP, courtesy the windfall in tax revenue. Next year is a different question altogether (and also because, the reduction in the duty on fuel will pinch the state’s finances). The budget should set a realistic deficit target — perhaps 6%, with a tolerance of around 20-25 basis points (one basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point).

The government should see Union Budget 2022-23 as a staging budget that both addresses some of the lingering issues of the pandemic, and sets the stage for the next chapter of the country’s growth.

letters@hindustantimes.com



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Now that Subhas Chandra Bose’s statue, holographic for now, stands under a canopy originally intended for a King Emperor — an ironic twist of fate, if ever there was one — let’s reflect on some of the things Netaji said and did. There’s a lesson here for the men who rule us, although I doubt they’ll heed it. But it could be revealing for everyone else.

Perhaps you know the popular military greeting “Jai Hind” is taken from the Indian National Army (INA), but are you aware the INA’s insignia, worn on every epaulette, was Tipu Sultan’s springing tiger? Its motto was three Urdu words — ittehad, itmad aur qurbani (unity, trust and sacrifice). Of its four brigades, three were named after Gandhi, Nehru and Maulana Azad. So, I doubt if Netaji would have changed the names of Allahabad, and Mughalsarai station.

Let’s now turn to Netaji’s view of our history. He certainly didn’t see it in terms of “barah sau saal ki ghulami” (1,200 years of slavery). In his book An Indian Pilgrim he writes, “History will bear me out when I say that it is a misnomer to talk of Muslim rule when describing the political order in India prior to the advent of the British. Whether we talk of the Mughal Emperors at Delhi or of the Muslim Kings of Bengal, we shall find that in either case the administration was run by Hindus and Muslims together, many of the prominent Cabinet Ministers and Generals being Hindus. Further, the consolidation of the Mughal Empire in India was affected with the help of Hindu commanders-in-chief. The Commander-in-chief of Nawab Sirajudowla, whom the British fought at Plassey in 1757 and defeated, was a Hindu.”

Now, Netaji died nearly 80 years ago, but his thoughts and actions have great relevance for the country we’ve become and the way we’re governed. Let me cite two examples.

In 1938, when he was president of the Congress, Netaji established the “Planning Committee”. He appointed Jawaharlal Nehru as its chairman. After Independence, Nehru converted the Planning Committee into the Planning Commission. This bit of Netaji’s legacy continued till 2015, when it was replaced by the Niti Aayog.

More important is how Netaji viewed the mosaic of multiple faiths that combine to create the Indian nation. “The government of India should have an absolutely neutral and impartial attitude towards all religions,” he wrote in The Indian Struggle. “Religious fanaticism is the greatest thorn in the path of cultural intimacy … and there is no better remedy for fanaticism than secular and scientific education.”

This means it’s hard to believe Netaji would have claimed that Karna born from Kunti’s ear is proof of genetic science being known at the time or that Ganesh’s elephant head is evidence there were plastic surgeons in those days.

If he was prime minister, how would Netaji have responded to the bloodcurdling calls for Muslim genocide made at a Dharm Sansad last month? Would he have stayed silent? Or would he have stood by what he said on June 14, 1938 in Comilla? “Communalism has raised its ugly head in an all-out nakedness … we hear voices of Hindu Raj in India owing to a majority of Hindu population. These are useless thoughts. Do the communal organizations solve any of the problems confronted by the working class? Do any such organizations have any answer to unemployment and poverty?”

Finally — because yesterday’s Beating Retreat was the first without Abide With Me in nearly 50 years — how would Netaji have viewed this decision? The answer is surely embedded in the fact Netaji was the first to call Gandhi “Father of the Nation”. I don’t know how he viewed Christian hymns or whether he liked Monk’s haunting melody — although I’d be very surprised if the answer is in the negative — but I’m confident he would have retained Gandhi’s beloved choice.

So, as he looks down Rajpath towards the seat of the Modi government, I’d like to believe there is a wry smile on Netaji’s face.

Karan Thapar is the author of Devil’s Advocate: The Untold Story

The views expressed are personal



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Last Sunday, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi took another step towards changing the country from a liberal democracy to a nationalist democracy, taking pride in its limited pre-Independence military successes.

There is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, which successive governments intended to erect under the canopy at India Gate. The canopy was originally occupied by the British king. He was removed in the sixties but disputatious Indian politicians prevented Gandhi taking his place since then. On Sunday, the PM, flanked on his right by home minister Amit Shah and on his left by housing minister HS Puri, switched on a hologram statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, standing where Gandhi never stood, under that canopy. This will be replaced by a granite statue of Bose.

Bose founded the Indian National Army (INA), which fought alongside the Japanese in World War II. The PM quoted him as having told the British,”I will not take Independence as alms. I will achieve it.” Gandhi, urging India to adopt the way of peace to gain Independence, said: “If India can possibly gain her freedom by war, her state will be no better and will be probably much worse than that of France or England.”

I am not trying to suggest that the statue of Bose is intended to provoke violence. Both the PM and his right-hand man made the immediate intention behind the statue clear. Modi said, “The freedom struggle involved the penance of lakhs of people but there was an attempt to limit their history. But today after decades of Independence the country is correcting those mistakes with boldness.”

Shah said, “There has been an attempt to push into oblivion many such personalities [as Bose] who struggled for India’s freedom. But today, with the decision to install the Netaji statue here , the nation is feeling satisfied and enthusiastic.”

The PM installed Bose under the once royal canopy, looking along Rajpath, to symbolise an independent India without mentioning the Nehru family, whose members’ names still adorn so many streets, institutions, and buildings. Even now, 75 years after Independence, the family continues to dominate the Congress, which, although sorely wounded, is still the only potential alternative national party to the Bharatiya Janata Party. The PM did, however, praise others who fought for India’s Independence, including, of course, Bose. They were leaders whose views on nationalism would differ from Modi’s.

One leader Modi mentioned was Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, who was chairman of the committee which wrote the Constitution. In his collection of writings on Indian nationalism, historian S Irfan Habib, said for Ambedkar, “Nationalism was a means to an end, and not an end itself.” Of course, the Congress’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was mentioned by Modi but he was an opponent of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) because its leaders supported using violence to bring about their Hindu Rajya. And then there was Birsa Munda, the tribal guerrilla leader, who challenged the British inspired by a tribal religion, not Hinduism.

The leaders Modi chose to mention included a Dalit and a tribal, groups he wants to win over in the forthcoming elections. There was not a woman among them. Even Irfan Habib was only able to find one among the 20 writers he chose.

The RSS leaders were not included, but they didn’t figure in the Independence movement. The most immediate reason for the PM selecting this heterogeneous collection of men as bulwarks of nationalism is to demonstrate the end of the Nehru era. He must have realised that these leaders also demonstrated the diversity of Indian nationalism. That diversity includes many who want to see the battle between the secular and the Hindu end.

The views expressed are personal



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