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#BeefPolitcs Rants Prove Activists’ Duplicity on Lynching by mobs
- Published on 02 October 2015
(Indian Civil Society should create such online museum on lynching by mobs in the country)
Is there a good or bad lynching by mob? Do media especially #ShrillNow TV channels and self-certified, #CivilSociety have different set of ethics on lynching debates? Should there be different levels of concern over two types of death – one resulting from lynching and the other from court verdicts?
These issues would stir the mind of any rationalist who values all human lives irrespective of the lynched person’s profile. These would equally disturb any citizen who wishfully prays for enforcement of the rule of the law in the country.
The two triggers for these concerns are: hysterical response of certain sections of the intelligentsia over lynching of father-son duo in a village at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and hanging of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon.
In the latter case, civil society indulged in unprecedented theatrics to delay implementation of reconsidered Supreme Court verdict even as it kept mum on heinous instances of lynching during the same period.
In both these cases, the common factor is that lynched/hanged persons belonged to a particular religion. This reflects the inherent bias of the media, civil society and vote bank-obsessed politicians for a particular segment of society. Both cases served as a perfect opportunity for dubious intellectuals to bash BJP in particular, and Sangh Parivar in general.
And this bias becomes crystal clear if we compare shrill and repeated condemnation of deaths in these two instances with numerous cases of lynching. The latter type of tragedies often gets tucked away as fringe news on inside pages of most dailies. These are also under-reported by TV channels perhaps due to their lower prospects for boosting TRP ratings.
Save Healthcare from Kejriwals, Manjhis & Papus of Populist World
- Published on 25 September 2015
(Edited Image Courtesy: Expert Group Report on Universal Health Coverage Nov2011)
The avoidable dengue crisis in national capital region (NCR) has served as a perfect opportunity for populist politicians and the media to indulge in hospitals-berating.
Headlines/hashtags aptly capture their attempt to whip mass hysteria over alleged medical negligence. Check out these: 1) Debate: #KillerNegligence: Care, but for profits? 2) Dengue, neglect claims a second young life in city. 3) Delhi dengue death toll at 11, govt warns hospitals. 4) Dengue scare grips Delhi: Cabinet discusses options against errant private hospitals. 5) Dengue: Act against refusal, overcharging by hospitals, Centre asks Delhi Govt.
Both the politicians and media have, on the other hand, virtually maintained silence over citizens’ criminal negligence in taking preventive & protective measures as specified in the familiar do’s and don’ts. Dengue is a highly ‘unpredictable’ viral disease for which there is no specific cure.
Hostile and biased reportage is thus likely to harden the negative opinion of the unruly and ignorant citizens’ towards the medical profession.
As it is, the growing attacks on hospitals deprive other patients of urgent medical attention. It is here pertinent to cite violence that followed the death of a dengue patient at a hospital in Noida, adjoining Delhi.
Modi-Nitish cheating spat over Bihar is a big blow to Team India
- Published on 09 September 2015
Enact law on Pre-Poll promised goodies as mooted by Apex Court
(Nitish Welcoming Modi- Edited Image Courtesy: PIB)
The Indian political rope trick over electoral freebies & spoils has entered a new phase. It has moved from freebies incorporated in electoral manifestos to pre-manifesto Centre-State war over offering capital & consumption investments.
It is perhaps for the first time that the citizens are witnessing a pre-manifesto battle of special investment packages (SIPs) for Bihar. And the battle has been masterminded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the ruling alliance in the State led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The battle for political control over Bihar through SIPs should trigger a national debate over institutionalized mass bribery that threatens to reduce democracy to a farce. This is a grey area in the Constitution and the Statute that short-sighted, power-hungry leaders exploit to the detriment of national interest.
Mr. Modi’s Bihar SIP marks another low in cooperative federalism. It makes a mockery of recommendations of two august bodies. And arbitrary SIP is bound to fuel simmering discontent among the special category states (SCS) as we find later in this column.
Modi Scales up Billion Dreams to Grand Illusion
- Published on 24 August 2015
Modi Transforms from Dream Merchant to Grand Illusion Innovator
(PMEGP Start-up Unit- Edited Image Courtesy: KVIC)
Public sector Banks-aided start-ups are mushrooming across the country.
From Ms Anung Phom’s (8th class drop-out tribal) Dhaba in Nagaland to Ms Hema Sudha Sakhre’s (farm worker-turned entrepreneur) Bedana/rasin unit in Maharashtra and From Ghulam Mohi-Ud-din Bhat’s (lower middle-class) carpet weaving unit in Jammu & Kashmir to P. M. Murugesan’ s (school drop-out OBC) banana fibre-based products unit in Tamilnadu, all share a common bond. And it is the Prime Minister’s vision for start-ups and jobs
Please don’t mistake these tiny units as an overnight outcome of Narendra Modi’s clarion call from the ramparts of Red Fort. Many such enterprises have come up under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) that was launched by UPA following Dr. Manmohan Singh speech on 15th August 2008!
And Modi turned a blind eye to this UPA legacy that would elate any rationalist Indian.
In addition to PMEGP units, several lakh micro enterprises, self-help groups (SHGs) and cooperatives have bloomed under different schemes. A notable scheme is National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) for which India signed $ 1bn, 5-yr soft loan agreement with International Development Association (IDA) in 2011.
These and other facts on issues ranging from corruption to labour code have been marshaled in this column to take the fizz out of grand illusion created by Mr. Modi’s Independence Day speech.
Barring a couple of good announcements, PM’s claims were nothing but repackaging of UPA’s schemes and achievements. He passed them off as them as his initiatives to realize Indian dreams.
More disturbing feature of the Speech was that it distorted facts and misled the public. One does not know whether to blame PM or his coterie of advisers for this let-down on a solemn occasion.