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Editorials - 03-09-2022

The delay in payment of wages has pushed MGNREGS workers in West Bengal to the brink. Shiv Sahay Singh reports on the allegations of corruption against the State government, the Centre’s reluctance in releasing payments, and the plight of the workers caught in this tussle

On July 25, nearly three hours after Droupadi Murmu took oath as the first tribal President of India, hundreds of women, mostly from tribal communities and Other Backward Classes, held a rally at Puncha block in West Bengal’s Purulia district, about 1,300 km from Delhi. Demanding that they be paid pending wages for work done under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the women shouted, “Keu khabe ar keu khabe na, ta hobe na, ta hobe na” (Some will eat, some will go hungry. That can’t happen.) Some of them were not wearing shoes, but they walked without wincing on a tarred road that sweltering afternoon. “Jaat dharm baad dao, bhuka pete bhaat dao” (Set aside caste and religion, give food to the hungry), they cried.

Entering the administrative complex of the block in Puncha town, the women gathered around a display sign of MGNREGS. It featured a photograph of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as well as details about who is entitled to work under MGNREGS and for how many days. The women said they had not been paid since December 2021.

Ranu Mahali had come to the rally with a nine-month-old child in her arms. She said she had worked for 14 days in the financial year 2022-23. Her husband, Dibakar Mahali, who had been unable to find work, had left for the neighbouring Bardhaman district to work in potato fields. On his way back home on April 4, Dibakar died in a road accident. Ranu was desperate for her pending wage of Rs. 2,982.

“She is struggling to make ends meet. She has three children to feed,” said Sadhana Mahato, pointing at Ranu. Sadhana had worked for 48 days in April and May and was waiting for her dues.

Somali Mahati and Sarati Mahato, who were walking barefoot, said they want to work but there was no work to be found. “We have to depend on others in the family. Nobody is willing to give us a loan,” said the two women who appeared to be in their mid-fifties. The people in Purulia, which is among the poorest districts of West Bengal, are the worst affected by the delay in payment of MGNREGS wages.

Brewing discontent

Not far from Puncha Block Development Office is Kultanr village, where the Sabar tribals live. The Sabars are a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group. Most of the 50 houses in the village have been constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The announcement of the state’s contribution in building the houses is in bold letters on nearly every house. The children don't attend school. The older people in the community look perplexed when asked why July 25 was a historic day. Most of them had not even heard of Droupadi Murmu.

Sajani Sabar was cooking the evening meal of rice and leafy vegetables, which were grown in her backyard. The food, she said, was insufficient to feed her three children. Her situation had worsened compared to last year when there was guaranteed work for 100 days under MGNREGS. Sajani and her neighbours said they could now afford to cook only one meal a day.

A fact-finding team, which was probing the impact of the delay in payment of MGNREGS wages, looked at the job cards of the Sabars. None of the members of the community had got any work in the financial year 2022-23, said Apurva Gupta, a member of the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, who checked the job cards on the MGNREGS management information system (MIS). With no work under the scheme and no land of their own, the Sabars have been surviving on odd jobs and agricultural work.

Anindya Bhattacharya, the Block Development Officer of Puncha, who met the team, said work was available, but labourers could not be convinced to do the work as payments were pending. Speaking about the regular demonstrations at his office, he said he was aware that discontentment was brewing. He was worried that the anger would erupt and lead to a law-and-order situation.

Pradipta Biswas, the District Panchayat and Rural Development Officer of Purulia, said the district administration was unable to plant saplings or undertake water restoration projects because of the issue of pending wages. Biswas explained that the average number of people employed under the scheme for any given day in July 2021 was 80,000-90,000; this had now dropped to 5,000-6,000. The stoppage of 100-day work has not only pushed workers to the brink, but also impacted the creation of necessary physical infrastructure in Purulia, which faces water scarcity. The district had a yearly target of planting 20 lakh saplings but is now trying to meet a target of about 1.5 lakh, he said.

Biswas’s words rang true in Purulia’s Barabazar block, once a hub of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Rows of small pits, dug to plant saplings, were lying empty. At Tuima village, women assembled under a tree besides thatched mud houses that were beautifully decorated with tribal motifs. Most of them had worked for 10-14 days in the last few months under MGNREGS, but had not received wages. Their debt was surging. They were depending on daily work in agriculture to sustain themselves, but Rs. 150 a day was far lower than what they were earning under MGNREGS (Rs. 223 a day). “We would repay loans, taken from self-help groups, with the money we got from 100 days of work. Now we have no means to repay the loans,” said Jaleshwari Hansda, who had worked for 16 days in February.

The women, who are mostly in their forties and fifties, insisted on taking us to the water body where they were working. Thakurdas Mahato had about three bighas of land, which was surrounded by a guava orchard. The land had been dug for a pond, but the work had stopped. The pond was several feet deep. "But it is not deep enough to store water," said the women as they descended into the pit. A few kilometres away, there was another half-dug pond at Tumrasole village. Purulia is crucial to West Bengal’s ambitious ‘Usharmukti’ scheme, which aims to provide relief to people in drought-prone areas.

Allegations of corruption

In the last week of July, West Bengal was on the boil over the recovery of Rs. 50 crore cash, and jewellery worth Rs. 4.5 crore from an aide of former Minister Partha Chatterjee. The visit of a fact-finding team of activists and social workers to three districts of West Bengal — Purulia, South 24 Parganas and Nadia — coincided with the reports of the cash seized in Kolkata.

After the visits, district representatives of the fact-finding teams met Partha Ghosh, Special Secretary, Panchayat and Rural Development, in Kolkata. Ghosh appeared worried about the deadlock and said a flurry of letters had been exchanged between the State and Central governments over the non-payment of wages. He said several Central teams had come to West Bengal in the last few years and another team was expected soon.

Asked about the allegations of corruption, he said the Centre wanted action against erring officials and, in some cases, “full recovery” of the money spent for MGNREGS. Ghosh said the West Bengal government was lodging FIRs in some cases where allegations of corruption had come to the fore. But he admitted it would be difficult to recover the money.

James Heranj, an activist from Jharkhand who was part of the fact-finding team, asked why the State had not set up a buffer fund so that it could pay the workers before the Centre released the funds. Heranj gave the example of Jharkhand where the State government had set up a buffer fund of Rs. 500 crore.

The team also met the social audit director of West Bengal, who revealed that no budget had been sanctioned to conduct a social audit of MGNREGS for 2021-22 and 2022-23. A social audit helps to check corruption in MGNREGS.

The number of people affected by non-payment of MGNREGS wages in West Bengal can only be gauged by the figures in the MGNREGS MIS. The State has about 3.42 crore registered workers and 1.57 crore jobs cards (one family has one job card). In 2021-22, the number of man-days generated was 36.42 crore, the second highest in the country after Rajasthan. Women comprised almost half the workforce — 46.69% in 2021-22 and 48% in 2022-23. Due to non-payment of wages, the total man-days generated in 2022-23 till September 2 had dropped to 3.43 crore.

A major political issue

In response to a question by Trinamool Congress MP Jawhar Sircar on August 3, the Ministry of Rural Development informed the Rajya Sabha that West Bengal was the only State in the country that had received no funds for 2022-23 from the Centre under MGNREGS. In response to another question in the Rajya Sabha on July 20, the Ministry of Rural Development pointed out that the Centre had Rs. 3,989.58 crore pending liabilities for the wage component under MGNREGS and that it owed Rs. 2,605.82 crore (about 65%) to West Bengal. In response to Sircar’s question and several other questions in Parliament on why funds to West Bengal had been stopped, the Centre cited “non-compliance of directives of the Central Government" under Section 27 of the MGNREGA, 2005. Section 27 says the Central government may order stoppage of release of funds to the scheme and institute appropriate remedial measures for proper implementation within a reasonable period of time. “What is so 'reasonable' about withholding payments to workers for months for the back-breaking work they did,” Anuradha Talwar of Paschimbanga Khetmajoor Samity asked. A prominent voice on worker's rights, Talwar said allegations of corruption in MGNREGS in West Bengal “have a basis, but it is completely unjustified not to pay workers for no fault of theirs.”

Several other activists also admitted that there is rampant corruption in implementation of MGNREGS in West Bengal. There have been allegations of fake bills, panchayat functionaries withholding job cards of workers and siphoning off funds, forged master rolls of workers, and work done with earthmovers and machines being passed off as MGNREGS work. After Cyclone Amphan ravaged large parts of the Sundarbans two years ago, a substantial amount of MGNREGS funds was diverted for restoration of damaged houses. Plantation of saplings constitutes important work under the 100-day work scheme. The planting of trees has multiple benefits in regions such as Purulia, which are arid. And in the Sundarbans, mangrove plantations protect low-lying areas from frequent cyclones.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 6, the Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, referred to specific instances of corruption in panchayats under Joynagar II block of Kultali Assembly in South 24 Parganas district. The BJP MLA alleged that individual beneficiaries, mostly from the ruling party, had been allocated funds but did not plant a single sapling. At the time of inspection, these beneficiaries claimed that the plants had been washed away in the Amphan and Yaas cyclones, he held.

“Despite allegations of corruption, the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) has not conducted any audit of the implementation of MGNREGS in West Bengal after 2011-12. Even the system of social audit is not working,” said Biswanath Goswami, a socio-legal researcher and RTI activist. In the past few months, there have been a few instances, including in Nadia and Malda districts, where block development officers have lodged complaints against panchayat functionaries for corruption. During a meeting in August, the State Panchayat Secretary directed District Magistrates to file FIRs and recover money for work where irregularities had surfaced. Instances of refunds of MGNREGS work were also being reported in some districts.

The Chief Minister has raised the issue of non-payment of MGNREGS wages on several occasions. She has written letters to the Prime Minister and met him on August 5. In a letter to the Prime Minister on August 5, she said there was “great distress” in rural areas because funds had not been released for schemes. On August 4, the West Bengal government denied permission to members of a fact-finding team to hold a gathering in Kolkata’s Esplanade area, but on July 22, during her party's Martyr’s Day rally, Banerjee called for protests in Delhi against non-payment of MGNREGS dues.

The Trinamool Congress has termed the issue of non-payment of wages as an act of vendetta by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre for the defeat the national party faced in the 2021 Assembly polls. The BJP leadership, including party president J.P. Nadda, said West Bengal did not submit details of how MGNREGS funds had been utilised over the past three years. The Left parties and the Congress have stressed on corruption, rather than highlighting the plight of the workers.

The fact-finding team made its report public on July 28. It pointed out that work under MGNREGS had almost come to a halt due to non-payment of wages. This had impacted food security, especially among single women. The report also stated that the imbroglio between the Centre and the State had increased migration, and the stoppage of work like building embankments and irrigation channels had an adverse impact on the livelihoods of communities and the environment.

No work on the embankments

Almost three weeks after the workers in Purulia held protests demanding work and wages, the villagers in South 24 Parganas’s coastal area braved back-to-back depressions in the Bay of Bengal. This is the district where the highest complaints of corruption of MGNREGS have surfaced. Large areas of Nagedrapur gram panchayat in Mathurapur II block of Sundarbans were submerged on August 14, when embankments were breached. The Sundarbans has a network of 3,500 km mud embankments, most of which are repaired under MGNREGS. Since there has been no repair of the embankments, fear of inundation looms large. There are a number of small huts in Jata Barodanagar on the embankments, just beside a water body that locals call river Moni. When it poured on a Friday afternoon in August, women, all of them barefoot, tried to keep their huts safe by covering them with tarpaulin sheets. The children of Samiran Mollah and Gauri Halder have migrated for work. Asked why they didn’t repair the embankments, the women replied: “We haven’t got any money. Why should we work?”

Arjina Gazi, pradhan of the gram panchayat, also expressed her helplessness. “The people have not been paid. How can I ask them to repair the embankments,” she said, opening the doors of her newly built and curtained two-storey house.

The rain poured for hours and the wind gathered pace, turning into a squall. As dusk descended, women fretted over how to cook dinner. The firewood was wet and none of them had an LPG cylinder which, they said, costs more than Rs. 1,000. “We don’t cut the mangrove trees we planted although that could have given us dry wood. Maybe we should have repaired the embankments before the monsoon,” rued Samiran and Gauri.



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Sustaining it requires facing up to today’s political realities such as the growing rivalries in a multipolar nuclear world

The Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) concluded last week in New York. Marking 52 years of a treaty that every speaker described as the ‘cornerstone of the global nuclear order’ — it was originally planned for its 50th year for 2020, but the conference was delayed due to COVID-19 — it should have been a celebratory occasion, yet, the mood was sombre. And after four weeks of debate and discussion, the delegates failed to agree on a final document.

NPT’s success and weakness

To manage the disappointment, some staunch believers claimed that the success should not be defined in terms of a consensus outcome! It is true that since 1970, when the NPT entered into force, only four of the 10 review conferences (in 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2010) have concluded with a consensus document, the review years were: 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2022. Ironically, even the critical 1995 Review Conference that decided to extend the NPT into perpetuity, broke down weeks later over the review process.

However, there was one key difference in 2022. In the past, the divergences were over Iran, Israel, West Asia or between the nuclear haves and nuclear have-nots. The three depositary states (the United States, the United Kingdom and the U.S.S.R./Russia) were always on the same page. The difference in 2022 was that it pitched Russia against the West; it was the inability to find language to address the nuclear safety crisis at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, under Russian occupation since March, that ultimately led to the failure.

The NPT was negotiated during the 1960s to reconcile three competing objectives — controlling the further spread of nuclear weapons beyond the P-5 countries (the U.S., the U.S.S.R., the U.K, France and China) that had already tested; committing to negotiating reductions of nuclear arsenals leading to their elimination; and sharing benefits of peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology. The first was strongly supported by the nuclear-haves; the latter two were demands made by the nuclear have-nots.

Over the years, the non-proliferation objective has been achieved in large measure. Despite apprehensions that by the 1980s, there would be close to 25 nuclear powers, in the last 50 years, only four more countries have gone on to test and develop nuclear arsenals — India, Israel, North Korea and Pakistan (South Africa developed nuclear weapons but the apartheid regime destroyed them and joined NPT in 1991 before relinquishing power to majority rule). After the end of the Cold War and the break-up of the U.S.S.R. in 1991, non-proliferation remained a shared priority for the major powers and the International Atomic Energy Agency, set up originally to promote international co-operation became better known as the non-proliferation watchdog.

Progress on the other two aspects took a back seat; no meaningful discussions or negotiations on nuclear disarmament have ever taken place in the NPT framework. In fact, in the early 1980s, there was a growth in nuclear arsenals. Arms control talks between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R./Russia did take place and the two countries did succeed in bringing down their collective arsenals from a high of nearly 65,000 in the early 1980s to less than 12,000 warheads. But this process too has ground to a halt.

The first signal was the U.S. withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 2002 on the grounds that it unduly constrained its missile defence activities. Limits imposed by the ABM Treaty had been a critical element in creating mutual vulnerability as a means of underwriting deterrence stability. It was a unipolar world with the U.S. as the dominant power. Russia gradually responded by embarking on its nuclear modernisation.

In 2019, the U.S. notified Russia of its decision to quit the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty that had obliged both countries to get rid of all ground-launched missiles with a range of 500-5,500 km. The U.S. blamed Russia for cheating on its obligations and pointed out that China’s missile developments created new security threats that needed to be addressed. The U.S. was now facing two strategic rivals.

The only surviving arms control treaty between Russia and the U.S. is the New START Treaty that imposes a ceiling on operational strategic nuclear weapons of 700 launchers and 1,550 warheads each. It expires in 2026 and there are no signs of any follow-on discussions.

Attempts by the Donald Trump administration to invite China to join in the arms control process were rejected. Given growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait, any prospects for such talks have only receded.

All that the five nuclear-weapon-states party to the NPT could manage at the conference was a reiteration of the 1985 Reagan-Gorbachev declaration that ‘a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought’. The statement remains valid but clearly sounded hollow in the face of growing strategic rivalry between China, Russia and the U.S., rising nuclear rhetoric, and modernisation plans for nuclear arsenals being pursued.

Nuclear modernisation

While the Joe Biden administration’s Nuclear Posture Review is awaited, the U.S.’s 30-year nuclear modernisation programme, intended to provide ‘credible deterrence against regional aggression’ is already underway. This has been used to justify developing and deploying more usable low-yield nuclear weapons.

Russia (and China too) is developing hypersonic delivery systems that evade missile defences as well as larger missiles that do not need to travel over the Arctic. Also on the cards are nuclear torpedoes and new cruise missiles. Last year, satellite imagery over China revealed that at least three new missile storage sites are being developed. Analysts suggest that China may be on track to expand its arsenal from current levels of approximately 350 warheads to over 1,000 by 2030. Such a dramatic expansion raises questions about whether this marks a shift in the Chinese nuclear doctrine that has relied on a credible minimum deterrent and a no-first-use policy for the last six decades.

Developments in space and cyber domains are blurring the line between conventional and nuclear weapons, leading to nuclear entanglement and rendering command and control systems vulnerable. This, in turn, compresses decision-making time and creates incentives for early use, raising nuclear risk.

At the conference, France, the U.K. and the U.S. wanted to draw a distinction between “irresponsible” nuclear threats of an offensive nature and “responsible” nuclear threats for defensive purposes but Russia (and China) stymied western efforts. When the nuclear have-nots suggested a universal condemnation of all threats of nuclear use, all five nuclear-haves joined together to resist such moves. This reflects an emerging divide.

Other treaties, their state

Frustrated by the absence of progress on nuclear disarmament, the nuclear have-nots successfully negotiated a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW, also called Ban Treaty) in 2017 that entered into force in January 2021. All 86 signatories are nuclear have-nots and parties to the NPT. The TPNW creates a new legal instrument and at their meeting in June in Vienna, the TPNW states committed to pushing for ‘stigmatising and de-legitimising’ nuclear weapons, condemning all nuclear threats and ‘building a robust global peremptory norm against them’. Expectedly, the nuclear-haves and their allies ignored the Vienna meeting but will find it increasingly difficult to overlook this political reality as more and more NPT colleagues call their bluff.

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was concluded in 1996 but has yet to formally enter into force because two major powers, the U.S. and China, have yet to ratify it. While it is true that they do observe a moratorium on nuclear testing, modernisation plans could soon run up against the CTBT.

Nobody wants a breakdown of the NPT but sustaining it requires facing up to today’s political realities. The rivalries in a multipolar nuclear world create new challenges, different from what the world faced in a bipolar era of the 1960s when the NPT was concluded. Without addressing the new challenges, the NPT will weaken and with it, the taboo against nuclear weapons that has held since 1945.

Rakesh Sood is a former diplomat who served as Special Envoy of the Prime Minister for Disarmament and Non-proliferation. He is presently Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation



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With cybercrime on the rise, the central and State governments need to work in tandem

There has been a steady spike in cases of cybercrime in the last five years. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), from 12,317 cases of cybercrime in 2016, there were 50,035 cases registered in 2020. In India, cybercrime is increasing with the increased use of information and communication technology (ICT). However, despite this alarming trend, the capacity of the enforcement agencies to investigate cybercrime remains limited.

As far as the admissibility of electronic evidence is concerned, though there were some conflicting judgments of the Supreme Court of India earlier, the law was finally settled inArjun Pandit Rao Khotkar vs Kailash Kushanrao Gorantyal & Ors . The Court held that a certificate under Section 65B(4) of the Indian Evidence (IE) Act was a mandatory pre-requisite for the admissibility of (secondary) electronic record if the original record could not be produced.

With ‘police’ and ‘public order’ being in the State List, the primary obligation to check crime and create the necessary cyberinfrastructure lies with States. At the same time, with the IT Act and major laws being central legislations, the central government is no less responsible to evolve uniform statutory procedures for the enforcement agencies. Though the Government of India has taken steps that include the setting up of the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs to deal with all types of cybercrime, much needs to be done to plug the infrastructural deficit.

No procedural code

There is no separate procedural code for the investigation of cyber or computer-related offences. As electronic evidence is entirely different in nature when compared with evidence of traditional crime, laying down standard and uniform procedures to deal with electronic evidence is essential. The broad ‘guidelines for the identification, collection, acquisition and preservation of digital evidence’ are given in the Indian Standard IS/ISO/IEC 27037: 2012, issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). This document is fairly comprehensive and easy to comprehend for both the first responder (who could be an authorised and trained police officer of a police station) as well as the specialist (who has specialised knowledge, skills and the abilities to handle a wide range of technical issues). The guidelines, if followed meticulously, may ensure that electronic evidence is neither tampered with nor subject to spoliation during investigation.

A significant attempt has been made by the higher judiciary in this field also. As resolved in the Conference of the Chief Justices of the High Court in April 2016, a five-judge committee was constituted in July 2018 to frame the draft rules which could serve as a model for the reception of digital evidence by courts.

The committee, after extensive deliberations with experts, the police and investigation agencies, finalised its report in November 2018, but the suggested Draft Rules for the Reception, Retrieval, Authentication and Preservation of Electronic Records are yet to be given a statutory force.

Shortage of technical staff

Second, there have been half-hearted efforts by the States to recruit technical staff for the investigation of cybercrime. A regular police officer, with an academic background in the arts, commerce, literature, or management may be unable to understand the nuances of the working of a computer or the Internet. He can at best, after proper training, act as a first responder who could identify digital evidence and secure the scene of crime or preserve digital evidence till the arrival of an expert. It is only a technically qualified staff who could acquire and analyse digital evidence.

It is relevant here to mention that the Court, during the trial of the infamousState of Goa, through C.I.D. C.B., North Goa, Goa. vs Tarunjit Tejpal took objection to the fact that the investigating sub-inspector, who seized the relevant CDs, did not know the meaning of the term ‘hash value’.

Similarly, in the Aarushi murder case of Noida, reported asDr. (Smt.) Nupur Talwar vs State of U.P. and Anr. , the Allahabad High Court observed that the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) expert was not provided with the details of the Internet logs, router logs and laptop logs to prove whether the Internet was physically operated on the fateful night. Even the certificate under Section 65B of the IE Act (which is statutorily required), was undated, and hence rejected by the trial court.

Therefore, it is essential that State governments build up sufficient capacity to deal with cybercrime. It could be done either by setting up a separate cyberpolice station in each district or range, or having technically qualified staff in every police station.

Further, the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 insists that offences registered under the Act should be investigated by a police officer not below the rank of an inspector. The fact is that police inspectors are limited in number in districts, and most of the field investigation is done by sub-inspectors. Therefore, it will be pragmatic to consider a suitable amendment in Section 80 of the Act and make sub-inspectors eligible to take up investigation of cybercrimes.

Upgrade cyber labs

Third, the cyber forensic laboratories of States must be upgraded with the advent of new technologies. Offences related to crypto-currency remain under-reported as the capacity to solve such crimes remains limited. The central government has proposed launching a digital rupee using blockchain technology soon. State enforcement agencies need to be ready for these technologies. The Centre helps in upgrading the State laboratories by providing modernisation funds, though the corpus has gradually shrunk over the years. While most State cyber labs are sufficiently equipped to analyse hard disks and mobile phones, many are yet to be notified as ‘Examiner of Electronic Evidence’ (by the central government) to enable them to provide expert opinion on electronic records. Since there is now a state-of-art National Cyber Forensic Lab and the Cyber Prevention, Awareness and Detection Centre (CyPAD) of the Delhi Police, there may be an extension of professional help to States in getting their labs notified.

Need for localisation

Most cybercrimes are trans-national in nature with extra-territorial jurisdiction. The collection of evidence from foreign territories is not only a difficult but also a tardy process. India has extradition treaties and extradition arrangements with 48 and 12 countries, respectively. In most social media crimes, except for the prompt blocking of an objectionable website or suspect’s account, other details do not come forth quickly from large IT firms. Therefore, ‘data localisation’ must feature in the proposed Personal Data Protection law so that enforcement agencies are able to get timely access to the data of suspected Indian citizens. Also, the police still get CyberTipline reports on online Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) from the U.S.’s non-profit agency, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). It would be a step forward if India develops its in-house capacity and/or makes intermediaries accountable to identify and remove online CSAM for immediate action by the police.

In fact, the Centre and States must not only work in tandem and frame statutory guidelines to facilitate investigation of cybercrime but also need to commit sufficient funds to develop much-awaited and required cyber infrastructure.

R.K. Vij is a former Special Director General of Police of Chhattisgarh.

The views expressed are personal



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INSVikrantis a milestone; the focus now must be on a twin-engine deck-based fighter

India commissioned its first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier, INSVikrant , on Friday and joined a small group of countries which include the U.S., the U.K., Russia, France and China, that have the capability to design and build carriers with a displacement of over 40,000 tonnes. What India has demonstrated is the capacity to develop a carrier although it has been operating these ships for over 60 years. It took 17 years from the time the steel was cut and around Rs. 20,000 crore to makeVikrant a reality. Developing a viable domestic defence industry has been a priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the new aircraft carrier is a sign of India’s expandingatmanirbharta or self-reliance in defence. The new vessel has 76% of indigenous content overall but its critical technology has been imported, pointing to the need for persistence. The carrier in itself is an engineering marvel with an endurance of 7,500 nautical miles. It has around 2,200 compartments for a crew of around 1,600 that include specialised cabins to accommodate women officers and sailors, and a full-fledged speciality medical facility. Several technological spin-offs from the ship’s construction include the capacity to manufacture warship-grade steel, which India used to import. Its commissioning gives India and its emerging defence manufacturing sector the confidence to aim and sail farther.

The Indian Navy’s ambition is to have three aircraft carriers — it already has INSVikramaditya procured from Russia — and it has suggested that the expertise gained from buildingVikrant could now be used to build a second, more capable, indigenous carrier. INSVikrant will be the wind in the sail for India’s proactive maritime strategy in the Indo-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region. At the commissioning ceremony in Kochi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reiterated India’s interest in “a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific” and Mr. Modi’s idea of ‘SAGAR’ or Security and Growth for All in the Region. A strong Navy is also critical to India’s ambition to grow its share in global trade, which is largely maritime — INSVikrant significantly expands the Indian Navy’s footprint in the backdrop of increasing Chinese activity in the region and New Delhi’s closer cooperation with the U.S. While MiG-29K fighter jets will now be integrated into the fleet air arm ofVikrant , the Navy has taken an active interest in procuring either the French Rafale M or the American F/A-18 Super Hornet. This would need structural modifications in the ship which would allow operating these more capable aircraft from its deck. Meanwhile, the plans to develop India’s own twin-engine deck-based fighter continue to remain a distant dream. The focus, and priority now, should be in resolving the fighter jet conundrum while also taking a call on the second indigenous aircraft carrier to ensure that the expertise gained is not jettisoned due to strategic myopia.



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SC has done well to reject stiff opposition from Government to giving bail to activist

In granting interim bail to activist Teesta Setalvad, the Supreme Court of India has dealt a firm rebuff to the Gujarat government, which stoutly opposed her release after showing great alacrity in arresting her for pursuing allegations that high functionaries were involved in the Gujarat pogrom of 2002. The order by a Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, Justice U.U. Lalit, is limited in scope, as it will now be the Gujarat High Court that will decide on the grant of regular bail on merits. However, its real significance is that it is a strong pushback against a government that seems intent on keeping her behind bars for daring to assist victims of heinous communal violence in their efforts to seek justice. In an earlier judgment that endorsed the findings of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that absolved Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister, the Supreme Court virtually canvassed for the arrest and prosecution of Ms. Setalvad and former police officers, R.B. Sreekumar and Sanjiv Bhatt. The Court had accused her of “keeping the pot boiling” in a pejorative reference to the help she rendered to Zakia Jafri, among others, in seeking justice for the death of her husband Ehsan Jafri, a former MP, and many others in a mob attack on Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad. In cases registered in response to the Supreme Court’s orders, the three have been accused of being part of a conspiracy to forge documents and present false evidence in court to implicate political leaders.

The Supreme Court raised some sharp and pertinent questions to the State government represented by the Solicitor General of India during the arguments. A key consideration was the unusually long postponement of the bail hearing before the Gujarat High Court, which had issued notice to the police returnable after nearly six weeks. While the Solicitor General raised a technical objection to Ms. Setalvad approaching the Supreme Court even while the High Court proceedings were on, the Bench was of the view that such a long adjournment may warrant interim bail until it is heard. Ultimately, the Bench has clarified that the High Court will take an independent view without being influenced by any of its observations. It also seems to have taken into account a provision in law that allows grant of bail on the ground that the accused is a woman. Noting that the documents allegedly forged and submitted in court pertained to a period prior to 2012 and considering that she has been in custody for over two months and had been interrogated in custody for seven days, the Bench rightly felt that granting interim relief would be quite in order. The relief given to Ms. Setalvad should be welcomed by those who value personal liberty as well as activism in support of the vulnerable.



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The noted educationist and activist, who died at the age of 89 this week, was the petitioner in a court case, Mary Roy vs the State of Kerala, that became a landmark in Indian legal history

It was anger over her worth being reduced to Rs 5,000 that powered Mary Roy in her long, lonely battle for the equal inheritance rights of Syrian Christian women in Kerala. The noted educationist and activist, who died at the age of 89 this week, was the petitioner in a court case, Mary Roy vs the State of Kerala, that became a landmark in Indian legal history and marked an important moment in the fight for gender justice in India.

Roy had a tumultuous life — she had walked out of an unhappy marriage and brought up her two children alone and, in an acrimonious battle, fought her family in court for an equal share of the ancestral property. Her courage and refusal to be cowed inspired the character Ammu, the rebel heart of her daughter Arundhati’s award-winning novel, The God of Small Things. In later years, Roy’s life saw a measure of stability, especially with the success of her school, Pallikoodam in her hometown Kottayam.

If she eventually came to be regarded as a pillar of the Syrian Catholic community, her path to this position had been long and thorny. It was hard enough being a divorcee and a single parent in a deeply conservative society: Roy’s isolation only deepened when, in 1983, she filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the provisions of the 1917 Travancore Christian Succession Act, which had continued to apply to Syrian Christians after the former princely state became part of Kerala in 1956. According to the Act’s provisions, if a man died intestate, any daughter he had would only be entitled to one-fourth of the value of the share that was inherited by the son or Rs 5,000, whichever was less. In 1986, when the apex court decided in her favour, it cemented Roy’s role in pushing India along the path towards greater gender equality.



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There will be more pain as Sri Lanka implements domestic economic measures agreed upon with the Fund.

Sri Lanka’s provisional agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a $2.9 billion bail-out package has come not a day too soon, even though the agency’s Board is yet to give its final nod, and the more difficult task of persuading the country’s varied creditors to restructure its debts is a pre-condition for the assistance. As one of the bilateral creditors, India has already sounded the first warning bell with a demand for “creditor equality” and “transparency”, a veiled caution against preferential treatment to China. So far, Beijing has not committed to joining multilateral negotiations on the restructuring, which Japan has offered to organise and initiate on behalf of Sri Lanka. As the world’s biggest bilateral lender, China’s record on debt restructuring suggests it prefers to go it alone. For Sri Lanka’s sake, it is to be hoped that all creditors will approach these negotiations in a spirit of co-operation.

There will be more pain as Sri Lanka implements domestic economic measures agreed upon with the Fund. In his interim budget on August 31, President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also the finance minister, has outlined the measures that the nation will have to adopt — more and higher taxes, selling off assets such as the national carrier, and privatising the electricity board and the state-owned petroleum corporation. Trade unions are up in arms against these moves, which include a lowering of the retirement age. Those who had argued that the meltdown was an opportunity to correct a lopsided and inequitable model of economic development outside of IMF formulas — this is the 16th intervention by the agency in Sri Lanka — are predicting that short-term fixes that carry so much hardship are not the solution. Wickremesinghe’s ability to get the people on his side will be crucial, but it will be a hard task for a politician whose party failed to win a single seat in the 2020 parliamentary elections, and whose presidency is being propped up by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, the party of the ousted and still despised Rajapaksas.

This is why the Sri Lankan president has been trying to form an all-party government since assuming office on August 2. So far, his outreach and an impassioned plea in his budget speech asking opposition parties to join the government in order to free the country of its foreign loan dependence so that stronger economies stop using this “as a tool for interference”, has not won over any of his opponents. In Sri Lanka, the road ahead is still long and hard.



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An SC bench led by new Chief Justice of India UU Lalit, by what it said and in its tone, played its constitutionally mandated role of applying the check and restoring the balance

The Supreme Court’s grant of interim bail to activist Teesta Setalvad comes in the face of an unconscionable lack of urgency shown by the Gujarat High Court, and against pointed resistance by the state. The SC order is both welcome and reassuring. Setalvad has been in custody for over two months in a case of alleged fabrication of documents relating to the Gujarat 2002 riots. In fact, her arrest on June 26 had followed from another SC order which was disquieting in the way it provided direct cues for the police FIR filed against her the very next day. While upholding the SIT’s clean chit to the then state government led by Narendra Modi for the communal violence in 2002, the SC had castigated those who, it said, had kept “the pot boiling, obviously, for ulterior design” and who “need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law”. On Thursday and Friday, however, an SC bench led by new Chief Justice of India UU Lalit, by what it said and in its tone, played its constitutionally mandated role of applying the check and restoring the balance.

Of course, as the SC pointed out on Friday while giving interim bail to Setalvad, the merits of the entire matter would still be independently considered by the high court. But, for now, the apex court was stepping into a case the High Court was visibly kicking down the road. Its intervention depended on “facts and circumstances” of a case, the SC said, and wondered if the Gujarat HC was singling out Setalvad’s case for delay – the HC had issued notice on August 3 and made it returnable on September 19, effectively keeping the bail plea hanging for six weeks. Was this the “standard practice in Gujarat”, the SC asked. It also asked sharp questions regarding the case made against Setalvad so far by the state. Was it necessary to keep her in custody, it asked, when even a chargesheet has not been filed after over two months of her arrest and the FIR only cited what had been said by the court. It was not as if Setalvad was accused of a heinous offence, it pointed out, or one in which difficult conditions are imposed to get bail.

In recent times, the apex court has displayed a worrying lack of alacrity in matters of individual rights and liberties being encroached upon by the state, and in far too many instances, it has given the state the benefit of the doubt. Now, the SC’s stance — on the side of the individual, calling to account the powerful state — holds out a larger promise of a vigilant court, regardless of the final outcome of the Setalvad case, and whatever course it takes.



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Manish Paliwal and Swati Parashar write: To design solutions in multiple, changing contexts, integrated education is essential

The academic structure worldwide is driven by market values, privatisation of higher education and utilitarian degree programmes that produce highly specialised graduates who can quickly become part of a skilled labour force. A general perception is that arts and humanities graduates are less equipped to contribute to the workforce compared to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) or business degree holders. The pandemic has enhanced this perception, exacerbating a drastic decline of resources, encouraging academic redundancies and closing down of several arts and humanities degree programmes.

As academics working within engineering and the social sciences, located in western academia, but also collaborating with colleagues in India and abroad, we are very concerned. If anything, the pandemic has taught us that solutions to real-world problems lie in a sustained collaboration across disciplines. Not only do we need more arts and humanities programmes, but we argue that engineering and generally STEM degree programmes must include arts and humanities courses.

In its report, “Grand challenges for engineering”, the National Academy of Engineering in the US identifies several key global challenges. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers strategy vision 2030 and the National Academy of Sciences have also recommended that engineers look beyond technical knowledge and solutions to address societal challenges. Several other studies in different contexts point to similar outcomes.

Over time, the engineering curricula in higher education have increasingly focused along disciplinary lines and have created silos, so much so, that there is an artificial separation of academic disciplines. Students are now struggling to see the connections between different forms of knowledge and methodological approaches to human inquiry.

The most common approach in engineering programmes is a la carte style, where students take several disconnected courses from a list of approved courses in social sciences and humanities to meet the programme requirements. They generally constitute 15-20 per cent of the courses required for an undergraduate degree in engineering in countries like the US. In India, the IITs seem to have about 10 per cent of courses in humanities and the social sciences. More worryingly, NITs have less than 3 per cent and the state colleges have no humanities and social sciences courses. Exceptions may be rare.

The enormous strides in technologies need to be backed by transferable, uniquely human skills, which will enable work in a dynamic, evolving environment. In fact, the learning outcomes associated with integrated education, such as critical thinking, communication, teamwork, and abilities for lifelong learning, remain highly desirable. Hence, we need education beyond disciplinary training to prepare students for future challenges and opportunities, and institutions need to design education that “intentionally” integrates different disciplines like arts, humanities, sciences, social sciences, engineering, and mathematics. This integrative model of education brings together knowledge, modes of inquiry, and pedagogies from multiple disciplines within a single course or programme of study where students can make connections between these disciplines and thus enrich their learning.

Research now indicates that the integration of the arts, humanities, and engineering in higher education is associated with positive learning outcomes and leads to increased critical thinking, ethical decision making, problem-solving, teamwork, etc. These skills and educational outcomes enhance the employability of graduates. This integrative approach also serves as a social corrective and has been shown to increase the participation of women and other minorities.

For the graduates of any STEM programme to possess the ability to design and produce creative solutions, they must be educated in public health, safety and welfare, and have an increasing awareness of the cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors in different contexts. Only an integrated approach to higher education can enable greater intellectual engagement, policy-based solutions and a dynamic learning environment both, for teachers and students.

Paliwal is Professor and Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering at The College of New Jersey, US and Parashar is Professor of Peace and Development at the School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg, Sweden



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Ameeta Mulla Wattal writes: Technology, digitalised classrooms, and even the use of search engines, pose challenges to the teaching community

Circa 2019, Teachers Day. As I walked into school, the lyrics from a Bollywood bluster sprang in welcome: “Tunhe maari entreeyan toh dil mein bajee ghantiyan”.

So much for the guru-shishya parampara. Students have moved from subservient respect to affectionate irreverence. We have come a long way in how students and society perceive our role. Over the years, the essence of Teachers Day has changed, evolved and adapted to the cultural mores of the day. In the words of Khalil Gibran: Your children are not your children/ They are life’s longing for itself/ They are with you yet they belong not to you/ You may give them your love but not your thoughts/ For they have their own thoughts./ Which dwell in tomorrow/ Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams/ You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

The attitudes of students have changed. But have teachers remained trapped in a time capsule? Are their expectations, hopes and aspirations any different from those in the past?

Those of us who have made a choice to engage with learning believe that it is a calling and if properly conceived it is an art form. Great teachers do know their discipline. But more than that they know their students and they adapt their expertise to respond to the demands of the classroom. They are not only instructors but mentors and guides who can raise the confidence of their students, help them find a sense of direction and empower them to believe in themselves.

The mind is a garden that contains the seeds of understanding, forgiveness and love. It can also incubate traits that make us violent or peaceful, understanding or intolerant. Teachers help to water the positive seeds and weed out the ones that make us ignorant, cause fear and stoke hatred. A thinking educator can create a learning environment filled with compassion.

An enlightened educator looks dispassionately at his or her own personal vision and asks: How do I communicate? What pressures am I under? How do I respond? Do I inspire confidence? Do I give enough of my time? Am I mindful of the visions, goals and feelings of the children I interact with? Am I watering the right seeds?

Recognition — the ability to recognise a student’s individuality and value — is perhaps the most important aspect of nurturing. Among tribal communities in Northern Natal in South Africa, a common greeting, the equivalent of hello in English, is the expression, sawu bona. It literally means, “I see you”. A member of the tribe responds by saying, sikhona (I am here). The order of the exchange is important — until you see me, I do not exist. It is as if, when you see me, you bring me into existence. The same is the case with children. If teachers don’t nurture the individuality of children, many of their positive traits could remain invisible, and as they grow, these children are likely to embrace half-hearted causes, ideals and approaches to life and learning.

Education differs greatly account to the context. Every interaction of the teacher is bilateral and should be guided by love and harmony — ideals that nurture a child. In contrast, hate, injustice and violence are fostered by unilateralism. Teaching has no place for exclusivism.

A teacher’s life is a challenge. A teacher must hide private sorrows, for he or she is expected to be stoic. The play of temper must be curbed, for a teacher is required to be equanimous. We are not obliged to others but guided by our own sense of self-esteem to keep our smiles within the ambit of permissibility, our laughter to a decimal count and our tears to a milligram of a drop of admissibility. For, we must not seem to be weak or frivolous.

We are expected to relate to each student personally. But while we encourage and nurture every child, we should do nothing that indicates favouritism. We have to forgive, but not exculpate, give another chance, yet not indulge. It is these values that make an inspirational teacher.

The relational aspect of teaching becomes even more significant in current times when a lot of students have computers and learning platforms have become the norm in classrooms. Technology, digitalised classrooms, IT business sectors, and even the use of Google search, poses challenges to the teaching community. Substantial sections of it are gripped by insecurity — an identity crisis seems to have set in.

Let’s not reduce teachers to coaches, facilitators and data analysts under the ruse of democratisation of education. Else, robots will be receiving virtual cards and flowers on teacher’s day in 2020.

The good news is that teachers will always be the heartbeat of schooling. They are the ones who promise creativity, educate innovators of the future and create conditions for a caring and empathetic society. Teachers should have the scope and facility to dream big for their students. That’s my ardent wish this Teacher’s Day.

The writer is chairperson and Executive Director Education, Innovation and Training, DLF Schools and Scholarship Programmes



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Sandeep Dwivedi writes: With refreshing honesty, the cricketer around whom Indian cricket revolves, has hinted at the importance of work-life balance, reassessed his own 'brash' behaviour

In an interview with Indian cricket’s long-standing broadcasters Star Sports, said to be his bravest ever, Kohli shared learnings about the Inner Virat. The meat of the interaction is a long philosophical monologue where he says that when the world starts seeing you as an extension of your “profession identity, somewhere you start losing perspective as a human being.” In other words, you start becoming a victim of the hype around you and even subconsciously begin to believe in the marketing folks-handcrafted larger-than-life persona.

It’s in this context that the man credited with changing Indian cricket’s nice-boys image came up with the disclosure that would be the talking point on the eve of the ongoing Asia Cup. “I sat and thought… and then came to the realisation that I was kind of trying to fake my intensity a bit recently,” he said. He didn’t go on to specify the games where the trademark Kohli passion, unknown to the world, was merely skin-deep. But he admitted that before this break, there have been outings when he might have had the usual intense game-face on, behind which was a tired cricketer with a weary body begging for a break.

As articulate as ever, in the interview titled “Heart to Heart” that went viral, Kohli seemed in a mood to lay it all out. He said that he is looked on as a mentally tough guy and he is one but “everyone has a limit”.

Standing at the team hotel balcony with the sun-drenched Dubai bay behind him, Kohli wasn’t holding back. “I was the guy who was looked at as brash… and I was. I was not mature enough but I was true to myself.” Kohli was adding shades of grey to his own portrait and looked more human now. When the five-minute-long riveting answer ends, the interviewer, Jatin Sapru, tries couching king Kohli’s brutally honest “faking intensity” revelation into assorted riders.

“The word that you used right now … that you were ‘trying to fake intensity’ … it’s not that you were doing it intentionally? It is something you realised during this break. It’s so amazing to hear, I hope it even becomes a headline. Fans need to listen to this answer completely,” says Sapru. He suggests a minor tweak. “At times when there is too much love, the layers are not seen. You didn’t use the word that you were intentionally trying to fake it.”

Kohli doesn’t really jump on the unsolicited lifeboat thrown at him. He isn’t sinking, he has actually learnt to cut across the waves and beat the sea. He takes his time, and talks about the importance of taking a step back and how it makes you see the big picture. The former captain also shares how being away from the game gave him a reality check. He had a better understanding of those who didn’t see the game the way he did. Those who misunderstood his life-long motto of playing cricket with his heart. It’s then that he says, “I didn’t know I was faking it, I was in the competitive zone and pushing myself but it wasn’t coming naturally to me.”

Intentionally or unintentionally, the bottom line is that Kohli had been faking intensity on the field recently. He has also been brash and immature. This was a rare occasion when on the official broadcaster channel, king Kohli’s imperfection was being underlined. Ironically, it was king Kohli himself who was being brutally honest in listing his own weaknesses.

Over the years, be it IPL or any India series, Kohli-centric programming has been the staple of broadcasters. The off-season is about playing his past great innings on a loop. During his long run-slump, every flawless cover drive, or even a fine fielding effort got hyped as a harbinger of hope. A half-century would see celebrations spill over to the next few days.

You could feel the pundits cross their fingers when Kohli walked in to bat, armed with a hopeful hunch that this was going to be Kohli’s day. Those in the business of keeping fans invested were contractually obliged to sell dreams and always promise a better tomorrow.

Being objective would invite a nudge, being critical would mean a push. In Indian cricket, Kohli is the sun around which the universe moves. The darling of the ad world, Kohli has a role to play in the zeroes on broadcasting deals. For the wheels to keep moving, he needs to fire.

This is when Indian cricket is at crossroads, with Kohli’s magic waning and the next big brand yet to emerge. KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Shubman Gill are stars, not quite the sun. From Sachin Tendulkar to MS Dhoni to Virat Kohli, the transfer of power has been smooth. For close to three decades, there was always an iconic face, or two, to launch millions of soaps.

Kohli’s intensity had a lot riding on it. He was the brand ambassador of the new aggressive approach with which, we were told, team India was to dominate world cricket. Series and events got sold by putting an intense close-up of king Kohli, the rage on the face threatening to burst their veins, on billboards.

Now suddenly, when Kohli said that at times he was faking the much-celebrated intensity, the ad guys would have panicked. He was even threatening to take breaks. “As a human being you should always know what you want, you should be able to say no and walk away from things”. He was even asking others to stop running around like “headless chickens or be like a rabbit in front of headlights”.

Mentioning Ben Stokes, Trent Boult and Moeen Ali — cricketers who recently took unscheduled breaks or spoke on mental health — he would say others too need to follow these examples. “These are not abnormalities but it’s normal practice for people who are in touch with themselves and know what they want in life,” he said.

This was a sermon to those on the treadmill that never stopped. Profession shouldn’t be the be all and end all. The work-life balance conversation had finally come to India. The world and its sensibilities have changed. Kohli didn’t want to be the ancient comic-book superhero that the broadcaster wanted him to be. He had dropped the mask and cloak and wanted to be real.



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Abhijit Singh writes: Despite rising costs and vulnerability, the aircraft carrier continues to be at the heart of India’s maritime strategy

Vikrant’s induction, however, has stoked an old debate among strategic experts and observers about the relevance of aircraft carriers in the contemporary world. After the Navy’s top brass reiterated the need for a third aircraft carrier to protect Indian interests in the Indian Ocean, some commentators criticised the move, calling for a mindset change in the Navy. Sceptics say there is little point in spending billions for a carrier strike force to protect the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea, when near-seas defence can be easily ensured from airbases on India’s island territories. Aircraft carriers, the doubters posit, are logistically unviable, and highly vulnerable to new hypersonic weapons and disruptive technologies. The flattop, they argue, is defenceless against modern-day underwater attacks, long-range strategic airpower and ballistic missiles; a virtual sitting duck in a conflict scenario.

The sceptics make a point. Aircraft operating warships are prized targets in wartime; not just on account of their enormous cost and susceptibility to enemy attack, but also for their symbolic value. For navies locked in combat, the destruction of the opponent’s aircraft carrier is a priority mission. Such ships are likely to be targeted in salvos of cruise and ballistic missiles — the kind of heavy ordnance that no floating platform can hope to survive, least of all an ungainly mammoth with its vital parts exposed to attack.

Yet, there is a compelling rationale for retaining the aircraft carrier. In peace and in war, no platform provides access to littoral spaces as thoroughly and emphatically as the aircraft carrier. Whilst ensuring effective sea command, it allows for a continuous and visible maritime presence that influences the cost-benefit calculus of the enemy commanders. Whatever its disadvantages, the aircraft carrier has the critical ability to alter the psychological balance in the littorals, which is why modern-day navies regard the ship as an indispensable asset.

The aircraft carrier ought, also, to be located in a conceptual framework. Ocean-going navies today need three types of conventional assets. The first category comprises “hard-power” assets — fighting platforms like destroyers, frigates, missile boats and attack submarines meant for combat operations in a naval battle. These are used in both offensive and defensive operations, and are meant to influence the tempo and outcome of a maritime conflict. The second lot is of “soft-power” assets like hospital ships, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief platforms, survey vessels, etc. These provide a valuable service and are crucial for a navy’s soft-power outreach and peacetime diplomacy. Finally, and most significantly, a navy needs assets for “power projection” — a crucial component of peacetime maritime strategy, and an embodiment of a nation’s strategic capability and political intent. A navy’s ability to project military power far beyond the home country is a metric of national influence and regional relevance.

This is not to suggest that the flattop no longer has a wartime role. It does indeed. But the ship need not necessarily be involved in high-intensity combat operations against adversaries. It must be seen as a fungible asset, in terms of its utility in advancing national objectives. As proponents point out, there is something about an aircraft carrier sailing through foreign waters that cannot be replicated by a submarine or a destroyer. The carrier could be replaced by lesser platforms that might do the job, but none can match its demonstrative impact.

And yet, India’s aircraft carriers have never quite been used as versatile assets, switching between power projection, soft power diplomacy and presence operations. That’s because the navy has rarely had the opportunity of operating two operational carriers. With the Vikrant joining the fleet — and the possible addition of a third aircraft carrier over the next decade — the Indian Navy could for the first time play a crucial role in shaping the power balance in the Indian Ocean.

Even so, India’s maritime planners confront a dilemma. The strategic objective of expanding influence in the Indian Ocean competes with the mission set of raising fighting efficiency and interdiction potential in the littorals. The Indian Navy must plan not only to project power and influence abroad, but also deter adversaries and mark its presence in the near-seas. The predicament naval planners face is that if particular aspects of naval operations are found lacking, should the larger maritime strategy (focused on aircraft carrier operations) be discarded in favour of an ad-hoc plan built around assets with doubtful efficacy. The consensus among experts is that Indian strategic capacity in the Indian Ocean region would be robbed of its vitality if the aircraft carrier is replaced with shore-based air power. Regardless of the latter’s perceived tactical advantages, it has never been particularly effective at sea.

The Indian Navy is also mindful of the ambition of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the role that China’s aircraft carriers — the Liaoning, the Shandong and the recently launched Fujian (Type 003) — are likely to play in the Pacific and the Indian Oceans. Beijing is also said to be considering using aircraft carriers both for power projection and soft-power diplomacy — a key component of the PLAN’s “far-seas” strategy. Disquieting as Beijing’s maritime ambitions are for Indian watchers, Chinese plans to build six flattops by 2049 validate the need for aircraft carriers in maritime strategy and national security.

For Indian naval commanders, then, the questions surrounding the third aircraft carrier are entirely unnecessary. As they see it, an aircraft carrier is more than an instrument of utilitarian value. It is the beating heart that provides all naval effort with its essential vigour. As the famed Soviet admiral, Sergei Gorshkov, noted in his thought-provoking treatise, The Sea Power of the State, ideas on the deployment of maritime power need to be anchored in the logic of geopolitics and long-term state interests, and not on contingent assessments of imminent needs.

The writer, a retired naval commander, is head of the Maritime Policy Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi



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Stalking has been a clearly defined criminal offence since 2013, but that doesn’t seem to deter stalkers. Two stalking incidents last week – one in Jharkhand where a schoolgirl was burnt to death by a young man and the other in Delhi where a schoolgirl was shot despite a complaint to the police – show stalkers don’t fear the law. Some questions bear asking. Is the law not strong enough for deterrence? Is beat policing failing? There are of course broader questions on gender relations in a conservative, male-dominated society, on schools failing to sensitise children. But these are long-term issues. In the short term, we need to take a close look at existing tools of law and policing.

From 1,091 cases reported in 2014 – the first year of Section 354D IPC that criminalised stalking – to 9,285 in 2021, reported cases are in all probability a massive undercount. Stalking cases that were acquitted, compounded or compromised outnumbered convictions, and 40,000 cases were pending trial. More problematically, 354D is bailable, which allows offenders to secure bail from police stations itself. This gives too much power to cops to settle cases. Similar offences like Section 354 (criminal force or assault with intent to outrage modesty) is non-bailable, so is criminal intimidation with threat to cause death or grievous hurt (Section 506). Should we change the statute on stalking to make it non-bailable or should Sections 354 and 506 be used against stalkers?

Further, cops are immensely overworked. India’s 17,000-odd police stations cover an average of 80,000 people. And there are too few women cops – just 12% – and many of them face harassment at work. Moreover, many cops are conditioned to see stalking as “boys will be boys” behaviour. Tragedies like those in Jharkhand and Delhi demand that politicians tell cops to adopt zero tolerance against stalkers and also rethink how the law should be applied to those who terrorise women.



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Teesta Setalvad yesterday was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court after having spent more than two months in jail in a case pertaining to alleged fabrication of documents in relation to riots in Gujarat in 2002. Notwithstanding the apex court order, the Gujarat high court will continue to consider her regular bail application. SC’s decision was underpinned by some observations it made earlier. Setalvad has spent over two months in jail without a chargesheet being filed. The offences pertain to alleged forgery and not bodily harm. The offences do not restrain the court from granting bail.

India’s jurisprudence on bail is rooted in the Constitution’s Article 21, the right to life and personal liberty. Its importance can be gauged from the fact that the relevant procedures provide for everything from anticipatory bail to statutory bail. Therefore, SC’s approach is guided by the principle that bail is the rule and jail is the exception.

This principle is not followed often enough by other levels of the judiciary. Data till December 2021 show that of 5.54 lakh prisoners, 77% were undertrials. A mere 22% of prisoners had been convicted. Around 95% of undertrials are released on bail but the process is slow, often inhumanely so. GoI data for 2019 showed that almost half of the jailed undertrials had been locked up for more than two years. This is unconscionable.



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When political scientist WH Morris-Jones visited the Congress party office in Bhopal in 1967 to research what held the party together, he was waved off by a committed party worker “hard at work over a desk” who told him he was “busy”. When Morris-Jones persisted, the worker responded, “I am working for the party and nobody can interfere with this work”. The political scientist later recalled that this encounter “opened” his eyes. There were, he wrote, “several of his (the worker’s) kind to be found in dusty Congress offices up and down the country, slaves dedicated to the cause”. These party workers were legatees of Mahatma Gandhi’s exhortation to the service ethic, which harnessed the “traditional call of seva to the modern party machine”.

Today, it is possible to find such dedicated men and women — karyakartas — in brand new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) offices across India. It is relatively more difficult, however, to find a comparable large cohort of dedicated ideological workers in older Congress offices anymore. As the Congress prepares to elect a new president next month, the revolt of a dissenting group of leaders (the so-called G-23, some of whom have now left the party), the exit of some of its leading lights, and rising demands to publish electoral rolls have dominated the headlines. However, beyond the news cycle, there are deep differences in cadre-building and party structures between Narendra Modi’s New BJP post-2014 and the Gandhi family’s Congress – differences which its next president must contend with.

Cadre growth and size

Historically, the old pre-Independence Congress was built district by district by Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru with a deep grassroots structure of ideological workers. That backbone of the zameenee karyakarta remained the party’s bedrock after Indira Gandhi split the Congress in 1969 and replaced the Syndicate of powerful state satraps such as K Kamaraj and Morarji Desai with a coterie of rootless central leaders. Even after the Congress went into decline from the early 1990s with the rise of Hindutva and the Mandal parties, it took two decades for its district-level structures to atrophy.

In 2009, BJP candidates forfeited their deposits in as many as 170 parliamentary seats, the Congress only in 71. By 2019, the BJP forfeited deposits in only 51 seats nationally, but the Congress did so in almost three times as many seats (148). In other words, in almost one-third of India’s parliamentary map, the Congress had become electorally irrelevant within the course of a decade.

It now faces a political hegemon with a cadre structure of a scale it has never faced before. The BJP under Modi, between 2014 and 2019, grew five-fold to 174 million members, becoming almost double the size of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Even if we assume that one-third of these members claimed by the BJP are transient — those attracted to the ruling dispensation and in danger of leaving if the party loses power— it would still be larger than the CCP.

Booth-level strength

The new BJP’s internal reordering under Modi was based on a simple organising idea: The voting booth is at the heart of winning elections. Nationally, India has 1,035,000 voting booths. The BJP claims to have set up booth-level committees in 83% of these (863,000) between 2014 and 2019. This is what gives it the ground game and last-mile connectivity – to convert loose supporters into voters. This was evident in the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh (UP) elections, where cadre mobilisation made a huge difference, with the rival Samajwadi Party unable to convert its rally crowds into votes.

Digital shift

A significant part of the BJP’s managerial restructuring was enabled by the adoption of technology, with mobile phone numbers, one-time passwords and WhatsApp. WhatsApp groups performed two functions: Disseminating outward uniform messaging and social listening from the ground up. During the 2017 UP election, for example, Amit Shah announced later, the BJP had as many as 3.2 million people in its WhatsApp groups in the state.

The Congress, too, began a new digital membership drive on November 1, 2021. It claims to have registered over 26 million new members through it. It tried to adopt a tech-driven approach to cadre management before the 2019 polls -- with its Shakti platform – which linked party workers’ voter identity cards with phone numbers. But that experiment failed.

Technology is not a magic bullet. It is only an enabler. By itself, it can do little. For the BJP, the adoption of digital technologies as a management tool worked only because it was adroitly enmeshed with managerial restructuring to the grassroots, oversight mechanisms, and clear command and control systems. The BJP’s use of digital technology would not have been so impactful without a physical reordering of the party and its ground-level sangathan. In the Congress’s case, its previous tech interventions were never seen through with offline changes.

Aspiration

The BJP is also growing because the acquisition of power has made it the party of upward mobility and aspiration in middle India. When UP deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak, once the Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, switched to the BJP in 2017, he told journalist Pranshu Mishra: “A political leader has an average career of 20 years unless you are from a political family. Then it can go up to 30 years. Of the 20, I did 10 in BSP, I will do my remaining 10 in BJP. The Congress is good but what’s the point in joining it?”

Beyond senior leaders such as Jyotiraditya Scindia and RPN Singh, a lot of younger third- and fourth-rung Congress leaders have also been making similar choices. In Gujarat, the Congress gave the BJP a tough fight in 2017. Yet, its state unit is almost unrecognisable ahead of this year’s assembly election. Many Congress district-level leaders have switched to the BJP.

Ideology

Product differentiation is a big structural difference between the BJP and the Congress. Whether you like it or not, the BJP’s ideological positioning is crystal clear. The Congress carried the legacy of the nationalist movement post-Independence. Today, many people who may otherwise not vote for the BJP, are unclear what the Congress stands for: Beyond being anti-BJP or anti-Modi. Psephologist Jai Mrug argues, “At a time of great social flux, a party that has a sharper ideology and positioning compared to others who are bits of everything, like Congress, always looks more attractive.”

In the 2022 UP polls, many Congress posters featured Indira Gandhi. Recent Rajasthan government ads featured Rajiv Gandhi prominently. Indira Gandhi was assassinated almost four decades ago, Rajiv three decades ago. A vast majority of Indians were born after their deaths. A whopping 74% of Indians are below 40, over half is below 30. How does the Congress speak to this new India? That is the challenge its next president will face.

Nalin Mehta is the author of The New BJP: Modi and the Making of the World’s Largest Political Party, Westland

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The Bilkis Bano case has generated outrage and disgust, bringing back to public memory similar outrages in the past, notably the horrific Delhi gang rape in 2012, in which the victim lost her life. But little is remembered today of one case that made headlines in 1992, of the indomitable Bhanwari Devi, a saathin (nurse) with the women’s development programme in Rajasthan who was gang raped in September of that year. Her crime was to try and prevent a child marriage in her village.

Her story is remarkable in that she has fought for justice for 30 years now, with incredible tenacity for a woman from Bhateri village in Jaipur district, a member of the only potter community household in a village dominated by upper castes.

Her rape was a brutal exercise in teaching her a lesson for daring to challenge social norms and the diktats of the powerful. There were ridiculous excuses proffered in the sessions court for why her case did not hold water, among them that the men were from different castes and thus would not function in a group, that two of the accused were over 60 and, therefore, not capable of the crime, and that such a crime was not part of the culture of rural Rajasthan. Disparaging remarks about her looks were also bandied about.

Though she has been unable to get justice, her fighting spirit has not gone. She has become an icon among women and social justice groups. Of her five assailants, four have died natural deaths. Bhanwari says, “Sarkar ki adalat mein toh nyaya nahi milta hai par bhagwan ki adaalat mein nyaya mil gaya.” (I could not get justice in the courts here but justice came from the court of God.)

“What is remarkable about her is her never-say-die spirit. Despite her own problems, people come to her all the time to get help to solve their problems,” says Kavita Srivastava, national general secretary, People’s Union for Civil Liberties in Rajasthan who has been following Bhanwari’s story from 1985 when she was a social worker. She recounts a story in which Bhanwari intercepted a local strongman who was attempting to molest a woman bathing in a river; she, along with the women of the village, chased the half-clothed assailant around the village.

Bhanwari’s case triggered the landmark 1997 Supreme Court Vishakha judgment, which was on the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace. The law on the prevention, prohibition, and redressal of sexual harassment of women in the workplace came into effect in 2013.

Today, frail at 65 with severe diabetes, she has been working to get girls in villages in her area to find hall space to write competitive examinations. She has been working for Dalits on water access, pensions, wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, and child marriage — one of her original campaigns. When Covid-19 struck, she was at the forefront of creating awareness about testing and vaccinations in the region with a focus on 100 single women who needed help.

Two years ago, she lost her husband who had stood with her all these years. The death, she says, has broken her emotionally. The fight against child marriage and education for the girl child that she championed has ensured that her children got the education and opportunities she did not have.

Denied justice by the courts and living in largely hostile surroundings in her village, she has nevertheless got national and international recognition for her fight for justice. Her story does not exactly make a vibrant, modern India proud at a time when the prime minister himself has spoken of harnessing nari shakti (women power). While Bhanwari is inspiring, it is disheartening that her example shows that women’s fight for justice often never seems to end.

lalita.panicker@hindustantimes.com

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My earliest memories of Khairati are of a lanky young man with a broad smile dressed in rags. He was a Muslim dhobi living in Moradabad, who would respond to all requests of urgent ironing and washing from my visiting mother, her sisters and their daughters with “jee baaji”. I also remember the separate utensils kept for him and the other Dalit sweepers in which they would be served food while squatting on the floor.

Despite his hard life and the fact that he had been shot at and survived the mass shooting by the police and the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) at the Eidgah during the 1980 riots, where his brother died, he had not lost his zest for life. This was most reflected in his jovial demeanour, his love for the occasional bottle and a game of cards. He passed away a few years ago due to tuberculosis, as did his son.

My thoughts turned to him when I read that the Supreme Court was taking up the issue of reservations for backward class Muslims in Andhra Pradesh next week. Unlike a Hindu, Buddhist, or Sikh dhobi, who are considered Dalits, neither he nor his children were eligible for Scheduled Caste (SC) reservations. In some regions, they would be clubbed under Other Backward Classes (OBCs) where they would have to compete with much better-off middle castes.

Similar struggles exist for Muslim OBCs. They are also largely excluded from the categories of OBCs and are now demanding that a religion-neutral category of Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs) be carved out of the OBCs, as has happened in Bihar, in which Hindu, Christian, and Muslim EBCs can be included. But some courts and governments continue to be reluctant and claim a paucity of data, while simultaneously not conducting a caste census.

As per the 1931 Census, which was the last time caste was counted in the census, the lower castes among Muslims constituted over 80% of all Muslims. Given the large exodus of middle- and upper-class Muslims during Partition, they probably constitute a significantly higher percentage (possibly above 90%) today, which can only be ascertained once an interminably delayed caste census is conducted. The Ajlaf (OBC) and Arzal (Dalit) Muslims who constitute over 10% of India’s population, are the biggest victims of mob and police atrocities as well as the only significant community with virtually no representation in government, and the two facts are interlinked. Their bodies and properties bear the brunt of violence towards Muslims because they are powerless.

The term “caste” originates from the Iberian (Portuguese/Spanish) “casta”, referring to a phenomenon found in all religions in the subcontinent. The upper caste among Muslims – who once constituted the landholding, clerical and scribal classes – found their position eroded with the arrival of English education and the abolition of zamindari but still maintained their sense of superiority.

The coming of the new Constitution brought hope, it states in article 16(4) “Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.” But despite this provision, and the fact that the Government of India Act 1935, from which over 60% of our constitution is taken, mandated reservations for Muslims and Christians, reservations were removed for all but Hindu Dalits. Later amendments brought in Sikhs and Buddhists. This, despite the fact that Article 341 allows any community to be classified as SC. A large body of Supreme Court jurisprudence, including the Indra Sawhney (1992) judgment, say that reservations are primarily meant for adequate representation of backward classes in public services and the just and democratic sharing of State power, not as a tool for economic betterment.

Khairati never gave in to religious extremism even as India plunged into that vortex in the 1980s, he held no rancour against the state or his Hindu friends. Even though he suffered twice – as a Muslim and a Dalit – he showed a wisdom that few of us can match. It is time now that we too de-communalise reservations in this, our 76th year of freedom.

Mohsin Raza Khan is associate professor and executive director of the Centre For A New South Asia, Jindal School of International Affairs, OP Jindal Global University

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Humour as political satire

My first postings in the Indian Foreign Service were in east Europe: Bulgaria, Romania, and later Moscow. This was in the era before the Berlin Wall came down, and when the Cold War was in full swing. East Europe, and the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), were communist dictatorships, with no freedom of expression or dissent.

Romania, undoubtedly, was perhaps the worst. Nicolae Ceausescu, the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party for almost 25 years (1965-1989), was a ruthless dictator, who snuffed out even a whiff of dissent. He was "elected" every time unanimously, and ruled over this beautiful country with a brutal hand, as though it was his personal fiefdom.

Ordinary Romanians had no means to express their anguish or anger. It was in these circumstances that humour became their only instrument of protest. Not publicly, of course, because retribution would be swift and harsh, but in private. These jokes were woundingly satirical, the only way a repressed people could express their resentment. If a joke was cracked in the morning, by evening it would be on almost everybody’s lips, by the power of sheer word of mouth, since there was no internet or social media. People mocked in private, and complied with the regime in public.

One joke that was very popular was this one: Ceausescu falls in love madly with French actress, Bridgette Bardot. She resists his advances, but he is persistent. Finally, she says, "Ok, Nicu, I will marry you but on one condition. You must allow for free emigration from Romania." Hearing this, Ceausescu blushes deeply. With a shy look on his face he says, "Oh darling, you are so clever. You want to live all alone with me in Romania!"

Another one was even more biting, hitting squarely at the authoritarian regime. This joke surfaced just after the communist regime had raised prices yet again on essential commodities. It goes like this: Two policemen are patrolling at night. One of them asks the other, "Brother, what do you think of this price hike?" The other one replies, "What can I say, brother? The same as you," at which the first policeman says, "In that case, brother, you are under arrest!"

Ceausescu died a violent death. In December 1989, he ordered the army to fire at Romanians protesting economic deprivation. Many either died or were injured. Riots broke out across the country. The capital Bucharest was besieged. Ceausescu and his wife tried to flee in a helicopter, but were arrested by the army, which had joined the people. They were summarily tried for economic sabotage and genocide, and executed by firing squad on December 25, 1989.

There is a lesson in this for all dictators. The wheels of history may move slowly, but finally, deliver justice. Tyranny, however seemingly invincible, is never permanent. The will of the people ultimately prevails.

The Moral Compass

This was the title of a book that was released in New Delhi last week. Its author, Hardayal Singh, was a member of the Indian Revenue Service, who retired as chief commissioner of income tax in New Delhi. He had a reputation for being scrupulously honest, even in a department that otherwise enjoys certain notoriety.

The Moral Compass is about the dilemma of doing the right thing even in very difficult circumstances. The book is a collection of 17 short stories, about people who have to decide what to do when acting ethically could very well have adverse consequences. Dharma in the Hindu worldview is a very sophisticated concept. It lays down a normative framework for correct behaviour, but judges the final choice in terms of the context of the situation. Unlike Christianity, there are no 10 commandments in Hinduism, and hence, no absolutisms in pronouncing a verdict of innocent or guilty. For instance, if a starving man on the verge of losing his life, takes an apple from an overhanging branch of a rich man’s orchard, is he committing theft, or only acting to save his life? An individual must act according to his or her conscience, viveka, in any given situation, and face the consequences of that action.

I spoke at the launch along with Shyam Saran, former foreign secretary, and Gurcharan Das, noted author and economist. I raised the question of whether Indians are predisposed to act ethically, or do so only under compulsion or fear. Do they follow Mahatma Gandhi’s dictum of the means being as important as the end, or are only concerned about the end — be it status, wealth or power? It was an engrossing discussion, with spirited audience participation. I think that, in these times, when all principles and morality seem to have evaporated, this book should be read by as many people as possible.

Pavan K Varma is author, diplomat, and former Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha).

Just Like That is a weekly column where Varma shares nuggets from the world of history, culture, literature, and personal reminiscences with HT Premium readers

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Perhaps because so many believe that in due course, the Supreme Court (SC) will rescind the remission granted to 11 men guilty of raping Bilkis Bano and murdering seven members of her family, I have decided to raise a few questions and create a little doubt. It’s not that I don’t have faith in the court, but more because it’s worth seeing the other side of the picture. Otherwise, we could end up deluding ourselves.

To start with, let’s not forget it’s the same SC that set in motion the process of remission with, arguably, some very questionable decisions to whom we are appealing. Two of those decisions are that the case for remission should be heard under the 1992 policy and this should be done by the government of Gujarat. The latter is the more disturbing. Not only does it appear to breach Section 432(7)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which explicitly states the appropriate government is that of the state where the offender was sentenced, but there’s an even bigger concern. In 2004, Bilkis Bano’s case was transferred by the SC to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and moved from Gujarat to Maharashtra because of apprehensions of bias in Gujarat. Isn’t it odd that when it came to remission, those apprehensions were not considered?

However, I have two further concerns. The first arises from the way Gujarat handled the remission. The opinion of the judge who conducted the trial wasn’t sought. It seems unlikely that the opinion of the central government was invited even though it’s explicitly required under Section 435 of the CrPC for matters investigated by the CBI. I’m pretty sure of this because if the central government had been consulted, its recently issued guidelines would have required a refusal of remission. And, then, five members of the committee that recommended remission are Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries and two are sitting BJP Members of Legislative Assembly.

Given all this, shouldn’t the SC have taken suo motu cognisance of the matter? It has the power to do so. But in this case, there’s perhaps also a moral obligation. After all, it set in motion the process of remission. If that ended up with the “wrong” outcome, shouldn’t the court have stepped in to rectify matters?

The second concern is a possible hint of the court’s attitude. On August 25, justice Ajay Rastogi, who’s hearing this matter, asked: “Merely because the act was horrific is that sufficient to say remission is wrong?… Day in and day out remission is granted to convicts of life sentences, what is the exception?” Now, these are just questions. It’s very possible they’re rhetorical. But can you be certain they don’t convey a lot more?

These doubts suggest the outcome may neither be as clear nor as welcome as we would like. I don’t intend to second guess what the court will do, but only ask, can we really be confident it will send the 11 convicts back to jail? What if it doesn’t? After all, the process that led to their remission was in accord with what the SC required. In which case, if the 11 remain free, how should we interpret that denouement?

The Bilkis Bano case has become a litmus test at many levels. That’s clearly the case for Indian women and, perhaps, more forcefully, for the SC. But isn’t that also true for our country? I would say it is. Because, on the outcome depends the sanctity of justice in India.

Judging by the international media, you could go one step further. A report on the BBC asks if the felicitation of the convicts suggests rape is being normalised in India. You may not accept that as a legitimate question, but the fact that it’s been raised means the world’s eyes are on us.

An awful lot depends on how the SC handles this matter and what conclusion it comes to. That’s something I’m confident the judges are aware of. Which is why their decision will be so critical.

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

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Though it is putting up a brave face, the Congress is yet to come to terms with Ghulam Nabi Azad’s decision to leave the party and the explosive contents of his five-page resignation letter. Party leaders have been instructed to ascertain if Mr Azad acted alone or there were other dissenters who extended support to him. More importantly, they have been tasked to find out who helped him draft the much talked-about letter. Everyone in the Congress is convinced that the language and the writing-style in the letter indicate it was not penned by Mr Azad. However, the party “detectives” are yet to zero in on anyone in particular though Kapil Sibal and Anand Sharma’s names are being mentioned in informal conversations. Besides finding the real author of Mr Azad’s letter, office bearers of various Congress party’s departments have also been asked to keep an eye on those who are filing nominations for the party president’s post as well as the activities of the other G-23 leaders who appear to be on the warpath once again.

Meanwhile, the members of G-23, who got together to write to Congress president Sonia Gandhi two years ago demanding internal elections in the party and an effective leadership, are not only confused about their next move but also not on the same page. For instance, not many are enthused with Shashi Tharoor’s plan to contest for the party president’s post. Leaders like Manish Tewari and Anand Sharma believe they have better credentials as they have risen through the ranks and spent many more years in the Congress organisation while Mr Tharoor is a latter-day entrant to the party. At the same time, the pro-changers are obviously not confident about contesting the October 17 election for the party chief’s post as they keep changing the goal posts. The group began by pressing for internal elections, preferring that a non-Gandhi be fielded for the post. Now that elections have been announced and someone from outside the Gandhi family is being considered for the top job, the G-23 is insisting on the publication of the electoral rolls list for a “free and fair election.” As old timers they are well-aware that the list is never published in advance and is instead made available on demand to the contestants but they hope to discredit the electoral process by pressing this point. 

It is over a week since the Election Commission is reported to have recommended that Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren be disqualified in an illegal mining case but the governor, Ramesh Bais, has yet to act on the matter. It appears the Bharatiya Janata Party has asked the governor to go slow because the Election Commission's decision is based on rules which disqualify Mr Soren but do not debar him from contesting elections. This means that even if Mr Soren is disqualified as per the Election Commission recommendation, he will be out of office for only a brief period till a fresh election is notified. The BJP feels this could work to Mr Soren’s advantage as it will allow him to play victim and accuse the Centre of acting against a tribal chief minister. The governor is, therefore, sitting on the recommendation, which gives the BJP sufficient time to engineer defections from the ruling parties in Jharkhand. The two sides are locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation. Time will tell who blinks first.

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As reported earlier, Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is facing flak not just from the Opposition but also his own party colleagues. He is currently in the dock after reports surfaced that the chief minister’s staff members and those working with other ministers and local BJP leaders have been accommodated on the staff of the state assembly over the past few years. What makes matters worse is that those in power are unapologetic about these appointments. The Uttarakhand minister for women and child welfare, Rekha Arya, publicly admitted she had instructed the animal husbandry department to give jobs to four unemployed boys, stating that as a public representative, she had every right to write such letters. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal was quick to take potshots at Mr Dhami. In a tweet, it described him as the weakest chief minister who was watching in silence while his ministers justified their corrupt practices. The chief minister’s hands are tied as he has been foisted on Uttarakhand by New Delhi, the tweet added.

With Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot emerging as the top contender for the post of Congress president for which elections are being held on October 17, party insiders are wondering if Sachin Pilot will be picked as his replacement in the state. It is no secret that Mr Gehlot and Mr Pilot have been on a collision course ever since this government was formed. But the Congress leadership faces a serious dilemma. Since Mr Pilot is perceived primarily as a Gujjar leader, it runs the risk of alienating the numerically-larger and more powerful Meena community given the longstanding rivalry between the two castes. On the other hand, the Congress could find itself battling another crisis if it overlooks Mr Pilot’s claim.



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Atal Behari Vajpayee had once wondered if Indians suffer from an “ethical deficit”. In other words, are they moral by choice, or do they do the correct thing only under compulsion or fear? 

Corruption is, of course, not unique to India. What is unique is its acceptance, and the “creative” ways in which it is sustained. It appears that Indians do not subscribe to antiseptic notions of rectitude, as for instance in the Scandinavian countries. For us, corruption appears to be like litmus paper, it changes colour: bad if done by others, good if it is for oneself. In general, our behavior is far more related to utility than to absolute notions of morality.

Morality is diluted by an ingrained inclination to be worldly wise.  The world is not inherently fair; it does not guarantee a level playing field. In such a situation, where opportunities are scarce, competition is tough, and malpractice is pervasive, success is the consequence of a well-understood transaction: give to the world what is unavoidable, in order to get from it what you want. Perhaps, only direct online transactions where human interface is limited — can ensure some probity, for voluntary ethicality is practiced by very few of us.

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Mahatma Gandhi believed that the means are as important as the end. His high morality was admired, but failed to attract many followers. Is that because the concept appears to be alien to Indian tradition? Kautilya’s Arthashastra wastes little time on the moral underpinnings of power. On the contrary, it advocates a compellingly unsentimental recipe on how to seize and retain power through means fair or foul: sama (reconciliation), dama, (blandishments) danda (superior force) and bheda(sowing dissensions in the enemy’s camp). 

The Mahabharata clearly reveals that the end goal of defeating the Kauravas was far more important than the morality of the means employed. Drona, the guru of the Kauravas and a formidable warrior, was killed when Krishna persuaded Yudhisthir to tell a lie. Drona was extremely fond of his son Ashwathamma. If he was told that Ashwathama had died, Drona would, Krishna knew, lose all desire to fight. It is true that an elephant called Ashwathama had died in battle, and Yudhisthir did not utter a complete lie when he said that Ashwathama had died. But Yudhisthir, known for always telling the truth, was aware of the deceit he was playing. Drona, on hearing what Yudhishthir said, laid down his arms.

Karna was killed when during his fight with Arjuna he got down from his chariot to lift its wheel which was sunk in the ground. It was against the rules to attack a man when he was unarmed.  But Krishna was clear that fair play had no application to those who did not respect it themselves. “Kill Karna now, before he returns to his chariot,” he pressed Arjuna.  The next moment Karna lay dead on the battlefield. 

Duryodhana was killed in a duel with Bhima. Krishna, who was watching the fight intently, confided to Arjuna that Bhima would never be able to win in a fair fight. It was then that Krishna drew the attention of Bhima to Duryodhana’s vulnerable spot — his thighs. It was against the rules of war to hit below the navel, but Bhima broke the rules at Krishna’s urging. The Kauravas symbolised adharma. To defeat them, the end justified the means.

Dharma, in the Hindu worldview, is a highly sophisticated concept.  It lays down a moral order, a normative framework for correct behaviour, but allows, pragmatically, for this to be judged in context.  We have, unlike in Christianity, no absolute ten commandments.  In the Mahabharata, when Draupadi tells Yudhisthir that the decision to share her among the five brothers is against dharma, Yudhisthir’s reply is significant: “Dharma is sukshma — subtle — o’, Draupadi. Who has defined it?”

This highly cerebral approach to dharma is based on a deep study of human behaviour. Can final judgment be pronounced on what is right or wrong? For instance, if a starving man on the verge of death takes an apple from an overhanging branch of a rich man’s orchard, is he guilty of theft or merely doing what is essential to save his life? This understandable relativism has allowed us, in everyday life, to accept exemptions from what would normally be defined as right conduct. A man can do no wrong if he acts to protect his svadharma, conduct that is right for one’s jati or station. He cannot be held accountable for actions that are a part of his ashram dharma, conduct that is right for one’s stage of life. He cannot be penalised for transgressions made in the interest of kuladharma, conduct that is right for one’s family. And finally, almost anything he does would be justified in a situation of distress or emergency, when he would be guided by his appadharma, conduct that is right in moments of crisis. 

Such deviations dilute a universal code of ethics. The law does not recognise them, but even the law operates in a social milieu, where people need to be convinced. The essential point is that our tradition has always allowed for a conveniently fractured response to the moral imperative. The only consistent concern is the end goal.  In the pursuit of the desired goal, morality is not so much disowned as it is pragmatically devalued. The consequence is a down-to-earth relativism, a flexibility of approach, and a willingness to prune absolutisms in the interest of a “larger” purpose.

Today, the intellectual nuances of dharma, and the high-minded stratagems of Krishna, have been reduced to their lowest common denominator. The end goal — status, power, money — has completely demolished all notions of morality. That is why we see parents colluding with their children to get a leaked copy of a question paper. Or political parties pursuing power with no thought to what is right or wrong. It is an ethical wasteland for which all of us are responsible.



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