Noose tightens around Mulayam

Morals, ethics or sheer hard-core politics?

Noose is gradually tightening around Mulayam’s neck in the State and the Election Commission’s announcement of holding the elections in 7 phases is another step in that direction. This shows that the Commission has taken serious note of apprehensions of Congress, BJP and BSP regarding fair and non-partial role of administration and police machinery during the elections. The decision of the Commission not to take services of local police has come as a setback to the SP Government that was busy deploying police force of its choice at crucial police stations. Even the DGP had finalized arrangements to oversee the progress at various cities through Internet while sitting at his office at Lucknow. The decision of the Commission implies that this tested loyal force of Mulayam will sit and watch while the centrally deployed forces take care of law and order during election period.
In this regard, Congress has been largely successful in its mission of removing Mulayam from power prior to election to some extent. Though it has not been able to impose President’s Rule in the State till now, next two days are crucial for Mulayam as Congress may still wish to implement its agenda. Congress has just 25th of February to impose article 356, after which it will become more or less certain Mulayam will carry the bat till the results of the elections.
The noose is being tightened around Mulayam not because Congress has suddenly discovered that law and order has been lacking under his rule. Neither is this decision being made because of the ‘ethics’ over crossing of BSP MLAs and the subsequent Supreme Court’s decision. And if you feel, the Nithari killings or large-scale abduction of children could be the reason, you are once again wrong.
The Congress has been looking elsewhere when all these continue to happen. Not only did Congress ignore the State going from bad to worse during the last three and a half years, but also supported SP in the State. Today, if all these issues are being brought to the forefront it is because Congress has begun preparations for the forthcoming Assembly elections and Congress’s think-tank has decided that it would gain a handful of more votes and few more seats if the elections were to be held under the Governor’s rule.
That is why Congress appears hell-bent on enforcing Article 356 in the State and if there is one reason why Congress has failed to do so until now it is because of CPI’s tacit understanding and consequent unflinching support for Mulayam. CPI therefore is the only hope for Mulayam and unless CPI itself negotiates a few ‘big deals’ for itself and backs down, Congress will have some difficulty in carrying forth its agenda.
The reasons that Congress are putting forth now were all in existence all through the last three and a half years. Supreme Court’s decision that 13 MLAs came out of BSP prior to the remaining 37 may have given a boost at the moment but truth remains that Congress knew right from day one that horse-trading had taken place that resulted in the BSP MLAs deserting their party. It appears nothing but a joke now when the Congress says that it is withdrawing support because it fears further horse-trading in the house by the hands of SP.
Not only the Congress, its new ally Ajit Singh too remained with the ruling party and enjoyed the benefits of being in power all through and deserted company only prior to the elections.
If we talk of BJP, the party too has no moral right to ask for Governor’s rule consequent to Supreme Court ruling. Kesrinath Tripathi became Speaker of the House from BJP’s quota and it was he who had allowed the BSP’s breakaway factions to sit in the house. Fact is that only BSP seems to be having the right to oppose SP at the moment on this issue.
But what to say of politics, because of which all morals and ethics are being put aside in the name of morals and ethics itself. Otherwise we all are already aware of the moves that various political parties are going to take in the near future. Watch out for the political field and interests of each of them and you too may do the guesswork!

Youths beckon Rahul to lead

Youths associated with Congress in the State of UP seem to have only one demand at the moment. They, in unison, are pitching for Rahul Gandhi to take complete control of affairs in the State prior to elections.
It is believed that Rahul Gandhi spearheading the campaign will give great boost to moral of the Congress workers in the State and further consolidate the vote bank by roping in voters at the periphery and also from upper caste, scheduled castes and the minorities, thus leading to greater vote-share and more seats for Congress in this crucial election.
Hi Time assessed the mood of certain senior Congress leaders in this regard. Most of them, barring a few, were confident that Rahul’s entry as head of the Party in the State will go a long way in enhancing Congress’s prospects in the elections. However, a few leaders who opposed this cited that time was not right for Rahul’s entry and Congress should keep this card close till the time of Lok Sabha elections.
Amethi and Rai Bareilly too are jubilant at the prospects of Rahul’s portrayal as head of the party in the State. Mashan Miyan of Nasirabad whom Hi Time spoke to said that Rahul’s entry at helm of affairs will usher in the period of rejuvenation for the party at a faster pace than expected. The entire Uttar Pradesh needs development similar to what has taken place in these two districts and Rahul’s leadership will ensure that the same will happen. Judging by Rahul’s nature, it is certain that he will leave no stone unturned to carry forth the commitments.
Soniaji, the Congressmen are looking at you to release the biggest and most capable weapon in your arsenal not only for the development of party in the State but also for the development of the State of Uttar Pradesh on the whole.

Who is to blame for Samjhauta deaths?

Another train blast has taken place killing 68 people. During the last ten years, 272 lives have been lost in train blasts. This includes the seven series blasts in Mumbai trains on July 11 last year that killed 185 and wounded people in hundreds. A little before, on 11 March, 2003, 11 people died due to a blast in a Mumbai train. 33 people gave away their lives in Brahmputra Mail in Assam on 30 December, 1996.
These are just few incidents that show that terrorists have repeatedly used trains as medium to spread terror. Not just in India, they are doing the same internationally as well; blasts in London and Madrid are a pointer to this.
The Samjhauta Express train blast earlier this week was not just aimed at killing a few more innocents and spreading the message of terror; they were also aimed at ripping apart the cordial ties between India and Pakistan. This is so because this train and its name itself were symbolic of the delicate thread of brotherly relationship that hangs between the two countries and chaos.
Home Minister Shivraj Patil has gone on record saying that he was aware who was responsible for the blasts but would not like to name them at the moment as this would have adverse impact. Moreover, there are reports that intelligence agencies had already forewarned the government about likelihood of such an attack. Even general people were aware of the threat to this train, in particular, and rest of the trains in general. Why did the Government and Railway authorities in particular failed to take any preventive measures? The very fact that 12 passengers in the train, including Pakistani nationals, were traveling without passports and there were only seven security persons in the train comprising 16 coaches is an indication to this.
Moreover, the Haryana police is claiming that two persons boarded the train from Old Delhi Railway Station and alighted from it about 15 minutes before the explosions when the train had slowed down near the Deewana station. Clearly they had no valid tickets to be traveling on this train whereas people without passports and valid visas are not allowed to board the Samjhauta Express. These two even had heated arguments for 20 minutes with the security personnel on board the train. Even the sketches of these people have been released. Why were no attempts made to stop these people from getting down? Is it so easy for a person to alight from a high-security train? If people can alight midway, there are all possibilities that others can board it too.
It is worthless to claim that so and so was behind the attack? No doubt, direct hand of Jaish or Lashkar-e-Toiba cannot be ruled out. But who is to be blamed for utter failure to take care of the security. Samjhauta Express is not like any other trains which stops at every other station to take in or drop passengers. All the passengers had boarded the train from Delhi, which has been under terrorist attacks on countless occasions and a minimum amount of security is expected at the station.
What is the point of red alert now? People’s baggage is once again being screened at the stations from the day the blast occurred. The same was being done till a few days after the previous similar attacks in Mumbai and elsewhere. Terrorists are not fools like us who would plan another attack in the near future. They are sure to lie low until this ‘alert’ converts into ‘slumber’ once again.

The raging price war

Panic has gripped the Government over the sudden spurt of prices in the country. It has resulted into a series of decisions including banning export of some goods, allowing easier import of some others, reducing or eliminating Customs duties, invoking restrictive storage laws and delisting a couple of essential commodities from the bourses. Unfortunately, these steps have come as too little too late. This is so because financial analysts were already citing apprehensions from a few months now regarding the continued swelling of inflation. And the reactions when they have come are being seen as knee-jerk and topical rather than a well-planned effort to counter the problem.
As it is, it was being said that the fruits of much-touted economic growth have not reached large sections, especially in the rural areas. In fact, the fallout of rapid growth was that the pockets of multinationals and big Indian companies continued to swell, even with additional money generated from the rural areas. Galloping inflation is sure to rob the poor further and hurt the lower middle class as well, though a little less grievously. Under present conditions, the benefit of high prices paid by consumers does not flow back to primary producers, but is siphoned away by middlemen and speculators who enjoy a free run in an economy of shortages. Government has done little to better the plight of agriculture sector as well as the physical market while the manufacturing sector has been reeling under the burden of excess demand, leading to shortages of essential commodities. This demand cannot be countered with increased imports as the high global market prices have not allowed it to remain conducive for our economy.
Measures taken by the Government are not sufficient. In fact, it failed to act on time and the present inflation is courtesy our deviated policies. Otherwise, inflation is not an overnight phenomenon.
Even announcing the cut in fuel product prices is being seen more as a political ploy to dampen the BJP’s stirrings against the general price rise, rather than a sincere attempt to go to the root of the problem. Crude oil prices have as it is fallen recently, though they have started looking upwards post Bush’s fresh tirades against Iran. Once the prices will rise again, the Government can easily reverse the cut.
Clearly, the country is paying a heavy price for the omissions and commissions, primarily in neglecting the farm sector which has not allowed us to take proper remedial steps towards augmenting supplies and controlling prices. And finally when we did take some decision, it was primarily a negative one, which is not going to have any worthwhile impact in the future. Banning export of wheat and wheat products and putting an embargo on milk powder export is the buzz world whereas till only sometime back the companies from abroad were coming to India, purchasing the wheat in bulk, taking it back and then reselling it to India in times of need. That was one extreme, what we are doing now is another extreme, which is going to have only short-term impact. We are so paranoid that we are bent upon closing even the smallest window of export.
The Government has to consider a range of fiscal and speedy delivery mechanisms to tackle the current price rise that shows little signs of abating. Long-term solutions will have to be incorporated in the forthcoming Budget if we wish the situation to remain in control.
All this show that our revered saints of market economy were either not vigilant or were differentially focused when it comes to reading the signals and acting in time. Consequently, it has gone on defensive, and without any effective ammunition to fight the rise in prices all of a sudden, it is appearing to be an impotent force trying to show it is still virile.

Lead poisoning leads to impairment

Lead is a crucial component of human anatomy. But a bit more of it and there’s trouble in store. Anaemia, impairment of intelligence and several other impairments are direct offshoots of increased lead content, which is generally called lead poisoning. This was revealed by Dr. Abbas Ali Mehdi of KGMU in an exclusive discussion with HTE.
Dr. Mehdi has been involved with research related to lead poisoning for several years now. His studies on lead content level among painters have revealed that the lead content is several times higher, which could have adverse impact on the health of these painters and could even lead to renal failure in some cases.
Blood samples of 18 such painters were sent to Kolkata’s Vivekanand Institute of Medical Sciences as there is no lead analyzer presently available in Lucknow. Results have revealed lead content was 6 to 7 times more on average. “Normally 2 micrograms per dl of lead is present in blood but samples of these painters contained up to 20 micrograms of lead presence. In one case, this was as high as 27 micrograms as well,” Dr. Mehdi informed.
Consequently, Dr. Mehdi is spearheading a campaign to formulate a society that will exclusively conduct research in this area. In this regard, he has already tied up with NGO Prithvi Innovations, whose caretaker Anuradha Gupta has been involved in few researches in this field. Era Hospital, a prominent hospital in Lucknow, has been persuaded to install a lead analyzer machine in its premises.
Dr. Mehdi is hoping that once the society comes into shape, they would be able to conduct lead related research among other groups as well. These include the tannery workers, battery, lock, bangle, pottery and bulb industries and the toys that are coloured with bright colours. He fears that lead content could be as high as that among painters in several of these industries but not much can be said at the moment as there is no proper study to supplement the view.
Elaborating on the urgent need in this regard, Anuradha Gupta says that lead has a peculiar characteristic of following the calcium in the human body. Wherever there is calcium, lead goes and deposits itself. Hence high levels of lead could result in difficulty in walking and movement of limbs as well. Even lactating mothers, with high lead content in their bodies, can pass on this poison to their children. Children are particularly at risk as there have been reports of high lead content in herbal medicines, including Chawanprash.

The project is being promoted by George Foundation and St. John’s Academy of Health Sciences in Bangalore who are funded by international agencies like WHO, UNICEF and World Bank and wants a UP Referral Centre to further augment their work in this regard.

Dual face of the United States

The United States has shown its dual face once again. North Korea was labeled part of the “axis of evil” only in January 2002 when Washington went public with its accusations of nuclear activity at Yongbon. Thereafter, defying international pressure, North Korea went ahead with a nuclear test. Now that it has tested the bomb, the United States is patting its back over the deal with this ‘rogue’ state, as per which Pyongyang will declare all its nuclear facilities and shut them down.
Analysts feel that making Pyongyang declare all its nuclear facilities and shutting them down is likely to prove arduous. This is so because the country is believed to have numerous mountainside tunnels in which to hide projects. This is to be remembered that North Korea conducted its only nuclear test deep inside a mountain. Therefore it is perfectly possible that weapon’s research could be continued at other, undeclared sites.
At the same time, the United States has promised fuel to the North Korean regime. This much-needed support will in fact help preserve the regime. In 1994 too, Bill Clinton had persuaded Pyongyang to freeze its plutonium-based nuclear weapons program in return for aid and funds to build light water, power-producing reactors. But it backed down and went ahead with nuclear research. Fact remains that America has rewarded the communist regime, which left the Non Proliferation Treaty four years ago, for defying the world with its test, while at the same time it is fighting tooth and nail to deny Iran the same privilege, which has reiterated time and again that it will limit itself to peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Nobody can deny now that the US has engaged in this exercise because it wishes to calm fears of conflict in one corner of the world, while it pursues war in others, viz. Iraq and the rest of the Middle East, including Iran.
The dual face of the US is evident also from the fact that while on one hand it is leaving no stone unturned to strangulate Iran on its attempt to go ahead with nuclear research, Clay Sell (Deputy Secretary of Energy) and Robert Joseph (Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security) in a press briefing at Washington DC on February 16, 2006, talked of the urgent need for all developing countries to look at nuclear power as the energy substitute, something that Iran claims to be doing.
Look at the urgent need for taking optimum benefit out of nuclear resources that the two are talking about: “There are over 130 nuclear reactors under construction, planned or under consideration around the world today. The U.S. has not ordered a nuclear power plant in over 30 years and we have 103 nuclear power plants in this country. We have more than any other country, but we have not built one in about 30 years. And so we are anxious to get back into the nuclear generation business ourselves.”
And then the two talks of the benefits: “I would like to spend just a moment to elaborate just a little bit more on the benefits; why we need such a dramatic expansion of nuclear power. Here in the United States we are serious about reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, particularly coal and natural gas for electricity generation. We want to be able to meet this increasing energy demand in a way that does not significantly increase our carbon emissions. We want to develop technologies that allow us to recycle spent fuel.” It is clear that they can do it, but not Iran.
Speaking further on US’s recent Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, they said: “There are seven key elements of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership and I will quickly tick through each one of those and then we'll open it up to questions.
“The first element is to expand dramatically the use of nuclear power here in the United States. We think -- today, we have 100 nuclear reactors; many of those are going to start phasing out in the coming decades. We think we really need to be, from a public policy standpoint we're shooting for 300 reactors in 2050; that's a significant increase. That's what we think would be appropriate to meet our energy needs as well as to manage our greenhouse gas emissions and that's going to require significant advances in technology.
“Another key aspect of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership is teaming together with a number of nations on advanced reactor technology. And a lot of the reactors that are on the market today are of great scale and they're appropriate for the most advanced electricity grids where there are huge load demands. And we would like to develop, in partnership with other nations, advanced reactors that are passively safe, that could have a lifetime of the reactor cores, that are possibly meltdown proof, that can be built on a modular basis, can perhaps even be factory built, shipped to a country and deployed. There are tremendous opportunities with advanced reactor technology that we think are critical and that can be developed in a way that will allow us to safely bring the benefits of nuclear power to the developing world. And working in partnership with other nations in developing these technologies is a key part of our initiative.”
And conclude that they dream of a world with much more nuclear power (sans Iran, of course). “So in conclusion, we really hope to envision a world with much more nuclear power, with much greater nuclear energy security which comes from energy diversity, a world that advances significantly our development goals, a world with much less carbon and pollution intensity, a world with much less nuclear waste and a world with less proliferation risks and less stocks of fissile material.”
What few have noticed till now is that the US is talking of a Global Nuclear Energy Partnership when it has not built a nuclear power plant following the Three Mile Island accident nearly 30 years back. Says a US expert on the subject: “Three Mile Island was the only serious accident in the history of nuclear energy generation in the United States, but it was enough to scare us away from further developing the technology: There hasn't been a nuclear plant ordered up since then.”
This is in spite of the fact that more than 600 coal-fired electric plants in the United States produce 36 percent of U.S. emissions -- or nearly 10 percent of global emissions -- of CO2, the primary greenhouse gas responsible for climate change. Nuclear energy is the only large-scale, cost-effective energy source that can reduce these emissions while continuing to satisfy a growing demand for power.
If this is so why has the US not done so for the past 30 years? Was just a mere accident enough to reason to deter it? Russia didn’t stop doing so after Chernobyl where 56 people died from radiation or burns. There was no casualty in the Three Mile Island accident, whereas more than 5000 coal-mining deaths occur worldwide every year. In fact no one has died of a radiation-related accident in the history of the U.S. civilian nuclear reactor program. (And although hundreds of uranium mine workers did die from radiation exposure underground in the early years of that industry, that problem was long ago corrected.)
Are there other serious issues that we are not aware of? Considering the US’s dual standards, one can presume there must be some more uglier and serious reasons than a mere apparently insignificant accident for stopping construction of nuclear power plants.
Answer perhaps lies in the speech of Clay Sell and Robert Joseph themselves. Other countries that US is aligning with as part of its Global Nuclear Development Partnership, and that includes India, are shortly going to become guinea pigs not only for latest experimentations in nuclear use but also as a dumping ground for nuclear wastes. Say the two US experts: “It makes the challenge of disposing of that waste a very significant challenge. And so we want to reduce the quantity, the radio toxicity and the heat load of the waste that we ultimately have to dispose of. And we also want to capture the energy value which is in spent fuel. And if we are able to do that, we can optimize and make our geologic repository in the United States at Yucca Mountain much more efficient.
“If we keep our policy and we don't recycle in the United States, we will have to build nine Yucca Mountains over the course of the century, if we just keep Yucca Mountain at 20 percent of our -- if we just keep nuclear power at 20 percent of our electricity generation. If we recycle and can burn down those wastes in a way that we are proposing, we will be able to use -- that one Yucca Mountain will be able to last for the entirety of the century.”
This is to be remembered that Yucca Mountains, Nevada have been chosen as first long-term geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in the US. The Government plans to start using it from 2017 while at present the US stores this waste at 126 sites around the nation; these materials are a result of nuclear power generation and national defense programs.
India and other similar countries will not only be giving their territory for disposal but also providing money to the US for further research on areas which has prohibited the US Government from building new Nuclear Power Stations till now. Not realizing all this, many in India were taken aback with the Bush administration, which has always wanted to uphold the non-proliferation regime, but decided to reach an understanding with India on nuclear energy. Unable to find a logic, many of us thought it was all about China.

Mulayam Rules

Surpreme Court’s latest verdict in which it has disqualified the 13 MLAs who had left BSP three years back from the primary membership of the Legislative Assembly has further confirmed the chances that the next Assembly elections will be held under SP rule, though under strict vigilance. Fact remains that whatever permutations and combinations are used, odds continue to favour Mulayam.
On 25th January last, Mulayam had won the vote of confidence in the house. At that time Mulayam needed 197 votes in his favour but eventually got 223. After disqualification of 13 MLAs by the Supreme Court, the count of MLAs in the Assembly has got reduced to 380.
This is to be reminded that out of 404-member Assembly, 2 members have died and 9 MLAs do not have the voting right. As per calculations, Mulayam now needs 191 votes in favour and he has 210 MLAs with him. If the other group of 24 MLAs who left the BSP too are disqualified, then Mulayam will need votes of 179 MLAs while he will have 188 MLAs favouring him. There is every likelihood that these 24 MLAs too would be disqualified as the Supreme Court has ruled that the decision of the Speaker to consider these 24 MLAs as another group called Loktantrik Bahujan Dal was incorrect.
However, the Speaker has maintained till now that since there were 37 MLAs who had left the BSP and decided to support the BSP, it comes within the parameter of one-third members and hence cannot be disqualified. But the Speaker overlooked the fact that all the 37 MLAs had not announced their decision together and 13 MLAs had left BSP initially, which was followed by another 24 leaving the party two days later. What nobody talks of is the motive and ethics behind the decision of these MLAs. It was a clear case of horse-trading and falling ethics within our political system. The Supreme Court’s verdict of disqualifying the 13 MLAs and asking the Speaker to reconsider his decision regarding 24 MLAs is a pointer to this. Unfortunately, the decision has come too late as the Mulayam government is already on verge of completing the tenure of this Assembly.
It remains to be seen now what new tactics the Congress, the BSP and the BJP will use in their attempt to oust Mulayma, prior to the Assembly elections, when it has become more or less certain that Mulayam continues to rule the House.
These parties have already started saying that Mulayam should resign considering the fact that he was not in majority three year back. They have also begun pressurizing the Governor to take decision to oust Mulayam from power and usher President Rule in the State. But on the other hand, Mulayam is jubilant as the Supreme Court has refrained from taking any decision against his government and instead asked the Speaker to reconsider his decision regarding the fate of 24 MLAs. Mulayam is now gearing up to go for another vote of confidence on 26th February. Unless some unprecedented developments take place, it is very likely that he will emerge victorious yet again.

Mulayam continues to rule still…
Out of the 404-member Assembly, two have died and 13 have been disqualified under the order of Supreme Court. This is the present position:
SP 152
BSP 67
BJP 83
Congress 15
Others 56
Nominated 1
Independents 6
Vacant 2
Devoid of voting rights 9

“Mulayam has no right to continue’: BSP leader
Shiv Kumar Gupta is a prominent leader of BSP who has been given the task of strengthening the Party’s base among the Vaishya community. This arduous responsibility has been given by none other than Mayawati herself.
Talking to this correspondent, Gupta feels that Mulayam Singh has no right to continue in office, particularly after the decision of Supreme Court disqualifying the 13 BSP deserters and raising a question mark on the continuance of 24 others in the Assembly. Gupta says that the Court verdict has amply demonstrated that Mulayam had not won a majority on 9 September, 2003, when these BSP MLAs were paraded in the house in support of SP. This shows that Mulayam’s government was not in majority at the time when he formed the government. When asked regarding the BSP’s National General Secretary and MP, Satish Chandra Mishra’s comment urging the Governor to impose President’s Rule in the State, Gupta said that this is exactly what the Governor should be doing now.
Businessman turned politician, Gupta contested for Assembly elections from Mahmoodabad. Recently, he contested for the Mayor post in Lucknow but failed to capture good number of votes. In this regard, Gupta says that since he contested the election as an Independent and not on party symbol, it is wrong to see it as failure. Gupta is now eyeing Lucknow Central or Lucknow East seat for the forthcoming Assembly elections.

White garbs, black deals

Goons and white-collared criminals enjoy the protection of not just in the States of UP and Bihar. Penetrate a little inside the working of corridors of power and you would find the same happening in Delhi. Even the supposedly clean white-collared and white-dressed profession of Indian army could not wipe out the accusations of shady deals.
Former naval chief Adml. Arun Prakash’s wife’s nephew Ravi Shankaran, key accused in the naval war room leak case, is being ‘protected’ by Ministry of External Affairs, which has been reluctant to approach the British authorities for extradition despite the request of CBI pending with it for about 8 months.
Shankaran is a declared absconder and said to be the main link between the secrets leaked from the naval war room and the Rs. 18,898-crore Scorpene deal. Yet, his ‘high connections’ enabled him to sneak out of the country. Who could have stopped him from doing so when key men in the army were his backers?
Consequent to his escape, the CBI requested the MEA on two occasions, viz. May 18, 2006 and Oct. 27, 2006. Even Interpol issued a red corner notice against him on May 12, but MEA, under the stewardship of Pranab Mukherjee, is sitting on the request even though under the provisions of Article 12 of the Indo-UK extradition treaty, the Government of Indian can seek his arrest and subsequent deportation to India.
Such is the sensitive and explosive nature of evidence available with CBI that when it submitted 369 pages of classified data, including crucial file notings and procurement-related information, to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Seema Maini, it handed them in a sealed packet with the plea that it be kept in her safe custody and not be made public. It is believed that these documents could cause severe embarrassment to the defence establishment as they prove that Abhishek Verma, retired naval officer Kulbhushan Parashar and Ravi Shankaran were tapping ministry of defence officials for classified information. Sources reveal that the three were passing the documents relating to the army and navy’s weapon and equipment requirements to international armament firms. CBI’s chargesheet says clearly these people were “spying on behalf of several multinational firms” and were inciting defence personnel to spy on their behalf. So far, the CBI has tracked Rs. 6.2 crore which, the agency alleges, was paid as bribes to defence personnel.
It was in May 2005 that the IAF’s intelligence wing found that secret information was being leaked from the navy’s war room. While navy headquarters dismissed three allegedly involved officers without a showcause notice or a trial, no action was taken against the civilian recipients of the data, including Ravi Shankaran.
Unless Shankaran is arrested and brought back, some of the vital links in the investigation relating to Scorpene deal will continue to elude the investigating agencies. This puts question mark on the Governments’ willingness to bring back the key accused. The irony of ironies is that the same people who left no stone unturned to pressurize the Mulayam Singh government to give the Nithari killings case to CBI are attempting to strangulate the CBI in its attempt to bring back the key accused who has also been declared an absconder.

Election fever begins

Punjab, Uttaranchal and Manipur are the last states to go to election before the turn of the mother of all battles for the 403-member Uttar Pradesh. Hi Time Express’s Aziz Haider explores the highs and lows of the mood in these states when they are readying to go to polls.
Voting for 117-member Punjab assembly will take place on February 13, while the 70-member Uttaranchal assembly elections are to be held on February 21. In Manipur, the elections will be held in three phases, on February 8, February 15 and February 23. The counting and results will take place at all the three places on February 27.

Tough fight in store at Punjab; BSP the dark horse
Punjab is going to polls on February 13. There are 1039 candidates in the fray fighting for the 116 assembly constituencies in Punjab, while the election to the Valtaoha assembly segments has been countermanded following the death of the CPI candidate there.
The campaigning has reached its peak as we write this peak. Only recently, Congress dispatched Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on a State visit, wherein he addressed rallies in Patiala and Ludhiana.
Speaking at Patiala, the PM said: “We have our Congress-led government at the centre. If you re-elect the Congress in Punjab, I can assure you that my government (in the centre) will give full support to the state government. We will make Punjab the number one state in the country.” Wonder what has been done for past two years when there are Congress led governments, both in Punjab and Centre.
Holding the Shiromani Akali Dal responsible for the dark period of Sikh terrorism in Punjab during 1982-92, Manmohan Singh urged the electorate to compare the achievements of the Congress and the Akalis.
'Please compare the Congress rule with that of Akalis. They did not allow any development to take place,' he said.
Sonia Gandhi too has also personally entered the fray and will be addressing several rallies during the last few days prior to election with an aim to catch the voters during the last moments.
The major highlight of these elections is the great number of dissidents, both in the ruling Congress’s camp and the major contender Prakash Singh Badal’s camp. However, there is a general opinion that though it may not come to power, BSP is set to influence the outcome of several assembly seats in these elections.
The position of Congress is particularly bad, which during the last few years of Capt Amarinder Singh as Chief Minister witnessed rebellion from the sitting MLAs twice, which threatened to rock the Congress government in the State.
Presently, Congress is faced with an acute problem of dissidence in its ranks as rebels are opposing the official Congress candidate in 27 assembly segments. These rebels continue to remain in fray despite Capt. Amarinder Singh and PPCC president Shamsher Singh Dullo trying their level best to persuade the rebels to withdraw their nominations against the official candidates. Consequently, AICC general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi has announced that all Congress rebels who are opposing the official candidates automatically stood expelled from the primary membership of the party for six years.
Consequently, all the 27 rebel candidates of Congress stand expelled.
Meanwhile, Akali Dal (Badal) too has not remained without dissidence. The party has expelled six rebels who refused to withdraw their nomination papers against official candidates after the expiry of the deadline for withdrawal of nominations.
All is not well for Akali Dal (Badal) since it received a major political set back in Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) elections sometime back where his party lost the mandate to its core rival Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) led by Paramjit Sarna.
It is widely believed that this loss is going to reflect on the Punjab elections. SAD (Delhi) led by Paramjit Sarna got clear cut majority in DSGMC by winning 28 seats, where as Akali Dal (BADAL) got 12 and SAD (Panthic) got 6 seats in the house of 46. SAD (Delhi) is said to be having tacit support of Bibi Joginder Kaur Tohra, wife of late Gurcharan Singh Tohra. Also, SAD (Panthic) had support of former Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh, which also has mustered some support against Akali Dal (Badal). Badal had removed Bhai Ranjit Singh from Sri Akal Takht Sahib when he tried to intervene on the issue of dispute between Badal and Tohra.
This loss of Akali Dal (Badal) has given some relief to Congress, reeling under dissidents and incumbency factors. However, the road continues to be uphill for Congress party.

The Chief Minister lives life king-size
Capt. Amarinder Singh, the Chief Minister of Punjab, has left all other CM’s behind when it comes to opulence and ostentatious living. Therefore, while our own Mulayam has to sneak out to Sahara land to enjoy ‘some moments of peace’, the Punjab CM blatantly displays his wealth so much so that he flies in to capital Chandigarh every morning from his palace in Patiala.
Hailing from the royal family of Patiala, Capt. Amarinder Singh is also known for lavish parties where wine flows like water and delicacies from all over the region spread out in sumptuous menus in front of the guests. Recently, Capt. Amarinder Singh’s large-heartedness has been witnessed by the local journalists who have announced great bounties on the members of the fourth estate. As regards to his ministers, they have been given luxurious Camrys to reach office while the CM’s own office was modernized after spending more than 3 crore rupees.
All this blatant display of wealth is being carried out by the Congress CM in spite of Party President Sonia Gandhi’s strictures to party men to follow a code of conduct. She had said in one of her statements: “The lifestyle of many of our leaders can put us to shame. I am pained by the way they flaunt their wealth – whether it’s during marriages or birthdays. It seems as if our sympathy for the poor is a joke. I’m strictly against this vulgar display of wealth…”
In spite of such clear remarks, it is apparent that they have fallen on deaf ears. And with Punjab Chief Minister openly flouting Sonia Gandhi’s guidelines on austerity, it is obvious that some Congressmen pay no heed to President’s directives when it comes to spending their wealth.

Sonia wooing voters in Manipur too
Voting for the first phase of the Assembly elections in Manipur has already taken place. Observers believe that the campaigning has largely remained lackluster but during the last few days when Congress president Sonia Gandhi addressed a few major public rallies.
Maintaining the territorial integrity of Manipur is a major poll plank for Congress in the backdrop of the demand by the NSCN (IM) outfit for the integration of all the Naga-dominated areas in the region into a greater Nagalim. In her rally, Congress president categorically stated the government was ‘seriously and genuinely’ considering the recommendations of the Jeevan Reddy Committee on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958.
The Centre has been engaged in a long-drawn process of negotiation with the Naga militant outfit for more than a decade now ever since the government signed a ceasefire pact with the outfit.
Meanwhile, Azang Rongmei, general secretary of the united Naga Council (UNC) called upon every Naga to understand why the Indo-Naga talks sojourned after Manipur elections and expressed his views that the election will play a catalytic part in a "win-win" situation for both ends.
President Naga Women Union Manipur, Grace Shatsang gave a key note address on Naga issues where she stated the rights of the Nagas and their land for which their forefathers struggled. The coming election is the election of "Nagas integretion vs Manipur integration," she added.Thousands and thousands at a gathering shouted the slogan "Long live Naga-lim" three times in unison after the speaker.

BJP giving Congress a run for its money at Uttaranchal
BJP stands a great chance of victory in the forthcoming elections in Uttaranchal. This is in spite of Narayan Dutt Tiwari’s recent public comments that the Congress was to retain its hold over the State. Fact remains that even ND Tiwari knows in his heart that it will be extremely difficult for him to cross the half-way mark this time and it is this reason why he has already announced that he won’t be a candidate for Chief Minister in case the Congress was to return to power in the State.
In the previous elections, the BSP had also registered its presence in the state by winning seven seats in Haridwar and Uddham Singh Nagar. In fact, it was BSP, securing 10.93% votes, which damaged the BJP and prevented it from coming to power. BSP is to play a significant role this time as well though SP will continue to remain on periphery like on last occasion when it contested 63 seats but at the 57 seats its candidates could not save their deposits. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) too could upset the calculations this time. The party got 5.49% votes and four seats during the last elections.
In the previous elections the BSP had also registered its presence in the state by winning seven seats in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar. In fact, the victory of BSP damaged the prospects of BJP. The BSP had got 10.93 per cent votes. The SP had, however, contested 63 seats but at the 57 seats its candidates could not save their deposits. But later it won the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat, and may now open its account in the state assembly. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) had bagged 5.49 per cent votes with four seats. Three seats were won by independents. The CPI had fielded 11 candidates and the CPM had fielded five candidates last time but they all lost their deposits.
If we look at the outcome of the last assembly polls in Uttaranchal held in February, 2002, the Congress had received 26.91% votes (36 seats) while the BJP bagged 25.45% votes with 19 seats. Compared to the Congress, the BJP had bagged just 42,000 less votes out of the total 28,63,886 (54.34%) polled last time. This time, Congress is already reeling under several cases of corruption and the negative fallout of remaining in power for the past five years. Though more than 8 lakh new voters have been added in the State, who are going to play a crucial role in the elections, if we keep in mind the last year’s position, mere one per cent swing in favour of BJP will bring the party to power. Analysts feel that this is most likely to happen.
It is perhaps this reason why prominent Congress leaders skipped Uttaranchal and concentrated on Manipur and Punjab this election season.

Conquering the World

India Inc. is surely going places! Taking over Corus is another feather in the cap of indigenous home-grown firms that have begun to reverse the order of takeovers. Only recently Videocon-Daewoo deal worth $684.78 mn showed that Corus is just not a stray deal and India Inc. has actually come of age to compete with the world’s best, even on their home turf.
Clearly, the axis of corporate power is seeing a major shift and the sure winners are Asian countries – India and China. The buyout of Corus (formerly British Steel) has in particular given a jolt to the Europe as it was this company which had provided the infrastructural backbone for the expansion of the English empire in the 18th and the 19th century. The tide has been reversed now. Summing this up, a prominent British newspaper headlined its story: “The Empire Strikes Back”.
The most significant change is that Indian businessmen who were till recently interested in smaller markets like Africa and Asia are flexing their muscles among the corporate world of Europe and Americas. It is estimated that out of the total investments done offshore by Indian companies, Oil and Gas and Pharma and Healthcare sectors together account for nearly 35%, followed IT companies that account for about 13% of all investments. The total amount of investments done offshore by Indian companies can be gauged from the fact that even after the takeover of Corus, being termed as the biggest global takeover by an Indian company, investments by Indians in the manufacturing sector a miniscule 10% of the overall investment.
Other than Tatas and Videocons, several more of Indian firms have been in news recently for similar takeover. These include Suzlon Energy, M&M, Ranbaxy Labs and the AV Birla Group. Even relatively lesser known Indian companies like Subex System which purchased UK-based Azure Solutions for $140 million.
Other companies which have been in the forefront of international ventures recently include AV Birla Group, whose MD, Kumar Mangalam Birla, is now on prowl looking for to buy global firms. The recent buyout of the Canadian Minacs was only one such step.
Ranbaxy too is eyeing new markets vigorously. Its CEO, Malvinder Singh has recently been on global acquisition spree. Presently, the company has eight overseas plants from where nearly three-fourth of its revenue comes.
A major acquisition was carried out by Suzlon Energy recently, which acquired Belgian Hansen Transmissions which is the world’s second largest maker of gearboxes. Tulsi Tanti, CMD, Suzlon Energy bought Hansen because gearboxes are a major component for Suzlon’s turbines. With another company in his arsenal, Suzlon is now gearing up for more global ventures.
Other significant acquisitions in the recent past include Tata Tea buying the food and beverage firm Energy Brands, USA ($677 mn), Wipro buying three US-based companies, mPower, cMango and Quantech, for a combined $58 mn, ONGC Videsh taking over Ominex of Columbia ($425 mn), Aban Lloyd buying the Norwegian oil major Sinvest ($425 mn), Dr. Reddy’s taking over Betapharm, Germany ($571.77 mn) and also Jeco Holding, Germany (140 mn euros), Ranbaxy taking over Terapia, Romania ($324 mn) and Videocon buying CPT major Thomson, France (240 mn euros).
This is not to speak of Reliance, which now divided two-fold, has become manifold stronger with both Mukesh and Anil Ambani looking for fresh M&As on global level. Though the two brothers have recently been concentrating on strengthening their domestic fiefdoms, the two cannot be excluded when one talks of M&As globally.
This is also not to speak of the Indian businessmen settled abroad like Mittals who are shoulder-to-shoulder with Tatas, when it comes to steel.

Are they bold, or have they shed their ethics?

It is not an everyday occurrence that you encounter all co-travelers of same age in your train coupe. This was the case when I traveled from Lucknow to Delhi. All the seven other occupants, including a representative from the fairer community, were what you would call young - the future flag bearers of India's destiny. Not that I have started considering myself among the older community, considering that I am still decidedly younger than most office-bearers of youth brigades of major political parties. But in my 30s, I was the oldest of the lot as the rest of the occupants were all between twenty and twenty-five years of age.
The purpose of this article is not to impart moral values and neither to compare the difference in attitude that has crept in the social values of a generation that is merely 10 years behind than me (or 10 years ahead, depending on how you look at it) and it doesn't befit to term it 'generation gap'.
If there are three aspiring doctors of Saraswati Dental College in Lucknow, two students of a Management Institute in Noida and two other bank employees who sell accounts and loans in Delhi, other than this writer with pen to carry as sword, you should naturally expect fun and frolic, jokes, lot of laughing and no seriousness. All this carried on till 12 in the night, before all including me retired to bed.
But what happened next alerted my thinking antennas. Before I mention any further, it is suitable now to add a line or two about the two bank employees - one male and the other female. The two were decidedly not married together, as the girl's husband had come to see her off at Lucknow. Though it was evident that all three knew each other and belonged to the same friend circle, the girl and this other guy were not all that familiar as they started conversation hesitantly, that too when the girl's husband had left, and initially talked about each other's office, their role therein and few common friends.
As night dawned and the date changed, there was a new action to catch among the motionless frames of human bodies trying to sleep. As the management student, who had chatted on his phone with his girl-friend since even prior to Lucknow Mail leaving the station at 10 in the night, prepared his bed around 12 only when the signals of his mobile parted company, one of the dentists, after bidding adieu to his friends on board called up his girl-friend at 12 in the night and greeted her with the line "so gayee thee kya" (Had you gone to sleep?) and followed it up with "ab uth ja!" (Now get up!). From then onwards, this guy talked and talked; it went on till 4 in the morning. It was apparent that this was their usual habit. Signals came and went and every time the train moved within the range of signals, he redialed to start conversation yet again. Seeing this, I was reminded of one of friends from college days who bought a costly pair of walkie-talkies from Nepal and gifted one of it to his girl. Every time he wanted to talk to her, he had to drive his car close to the girl's hostel wall, send the 'beep' signal from there and the two - the girl cozy in her hostel bed and my friend in his car - chatted for hours. There were also occasions when I accompanied him on the front side seat, sad fully delighting in their conversation. All that has changed now with the coming of mobiles, and this new generation is giving the mobile companies reason to smile at the cost of their parent's pocket.
Meanwhile, the girl had exchanged her berth with the doctor and opted for the side-upper while my berth was just under her. She along with her new found friend had dinner together while the two chatted, while seated on the upper berth.
I cannot tell exactly what development or conversation took place but by the time the dinner packets were discarded, the two had come dangerously physically close to each other. The girl put her headin the boy’s lap asthe two started a conversation tht wasto go on for next two hours. The man was definitely a good listener as he made the girl open up her chatterbox, non-stop till it was almost morning. Lying barely two feet under them, I could hear all the stories that she had to tell about her husband, how they met and fell in love, about mom-in-law, friends and relatives. If only I had ignored that she was lying in the lap of a person whom she had just become close, she appeared to be a devout wife. In between, the man added a few liners about his own girl-friend.
Desperately wanting to catch some sleep, the ceaseless chatter had become an irritant, as the stories told by the girl were coming to me at high pitch for the last two-and-a-half hours. As I lost patient, I addressed them with these words: "Please talk in a lower voice as I can hear each and every story of yourprivate conversation." To this the girl said “It didn't matter!" and went on.
However, this had a marked impact on the boy who asked the girl to lower down her voice. Moments later, they pulled up the blanket over them, both lying togethr on the one-and-a-half feet berth of the train, unmindfulof the rest o us. For next two hours, the shower of words was less frequent, though the chatter kept pouring down from top intermittently. As I lay, my thoughts wandered to empty berth on the other side. If not for the girl's husband who came to see her off, they could have done with one berth itself.
There's no way her husband was to find it out as he had been left behind in Lucknow. Even if he did get suspicious, there was no way he could muster proofs. And without proofs, he cannot even go to the court. Even ifhe did, the girl would surely be having other weapons up her sleeves. After all, the Domestic Violence Act and Dowry Act have only been strengthened lately.
Then I thought why was it that I was the only person who appeared disturbingly bothered. Rest of the co-passengers woke up and then went to sleep, while the doctor chatted on his phone all through the night. Ten years have made so much of a difference, I thought, and didn't go to sleep. I couldn't!

Your mobile phone can be a ticking time bomb

Government experts in the US have warned the Government that the mobile phones that we are using could be having adverse impact on our health. The experts have said that there is ‘hint of a link’ of mobile phones with certain diseases like brain cancer and infertility and it is high time that a mass study of the long-term impact of mobile phones is undertaken.
As part of this initiative, more than 200,000 volunteers, including long-term users, are to be monitored for at lest five years to plot mobile phone use against any serious diseases they develop, including cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.
Professor Lawrie Challis, who is in the final stages of negotiation with the Department of Health and the mobile phone industry for the £3 million that he needs to fund the study, said that research has shown that mobiles are very safe in the short term but that there is a “hint of something” for people using them longer.
In an interview, Professor Challis, a world expert on mobile phone radiation, and chairman of the government-funded mobile telecommunications health research programme, emphasized that the “hint” was just that. One European study has found a slight association and using a mobile for more than ten years. The few long-term users developed more acoustic neuroma brain tumours which were found close to the ear used for phoning.
But, because of the tiny numbers involved, “it could be by chance,” he said. Asked whether the mobile phone could turn out to be the cigarette of the 21st century in terms of the damage it could inflict, he replied: “Absolutely.”
He said that the study was necessary because all the important breakthroughs in what caused cancers had shown that the effects often took more than ten years to show. “You find absolutely nothing for ten years and then after that it starts to grow dramatically. It goes up ten times. You look at what happened after the atomic bombs at Nagasaki, Hiroshima. You find again a long delay, nothing for ten years. The same for asbestos.”
He made plain that he was not put off because many existing studies had shown no dangers. “The fact that you don’t see anything in ten years is also more or less what you would expect if there is something happening,” he said.
Announcing the new study, he said: “Because there is a hint and because the professional epidemiologists who I trust and who do this all the time feel there is a chance that this could be real, they can’t rule out the possibility. And because we all know that most cancers don’t show up for more than ten years, I think you have to carry on. It’s essential we carry on.
“Otherwise what are we going to do? If in ten or fifteen years’ time people start getting trouble it won’t show up until it’s a really big effect.”
Professor Challis is planning a separate study monitoring the impact of mobile phone use on children. He disagreed with the claim of some scientists that there was no cause to believe mobiles affected them differently from adults.
“We all know that if you’re exposed to sunlight as a kid you are much more likely to get skin cancer than if you’re exposed as an adult.”
He insisted that there was nothing irresponsibly alarmist about his message. Even if a risk were found, people would not have to stop using phones, but perhaps reduce their use.“I do it because I think it’s worthwhile,” he said.

Box:
A science of ifs, buts and maybes . . .
2006 Largest study yet, of 420,000 Danish users for up to 21 years, ruled out any large effect on any cancer after short or long-term use
* It suggested there could be a very slightly raised risk of acoustic neuroma, a rare, benign cancer of the inner ear, among users of more than ten years
* A raised risk on the side on which sufferers said they used their phones was balanced by a decreased risk on the other side — which led the scientists to suggest recall bias as the likely explanation. They said no firm conclusions could be drawn
2006 US study suggested lower sperm counts among heavy users. It is widely thought that this reflects another aspect of heavy users’ lifestyles, such as stress or a lack of exercise
2005 Interphone international study finds no effect on acoustic neuroma for ten years of use. It was unable, however, to rule out an effect for longer-term use, because of insufficient data
2004 Study suggests users have a higher risk of brain cancer if they live in rural areas. It has been suggested that this could reflect the higher strength of signal in areas with few base stations
2003 Swedish study suggests higher risk of acoustic neuroma among heavy users of analogue mobile phones, which have since been phased out. Scientists criticized the methodology of the research
2002 Finnish research suggests that phone emissions can cause abnormalities in blood vessel cells in the laboratory. Scientists that said it was not possible to draw conclusions for phone safety for real people

New law against communal violence futile without the political will

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said sometime back that the government would soon bring in a model comprehensive law to tackle communal violence in the country. For reasons best known to it, the Samajwadi Party decided to oppose this Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, 2005.
The state’s opposition to the proposed legislation stemmed from the fact that under the Constitution, law and order is a state subject, and any Central law on the subject should be operative only in Union territories. Any law that does otherwise negates the spirit of the Constitution. And if the Centre is given the power to interfere in one subject on the state list, the intrusion may soon spread to other subjects as well. Legal opinion provided to the state cautioned that through the bill, the Centre will have sweeping powers as in an Emergency.
The UPA’s Common Minimum Programme had promised a separate comprehensive law on communal violence under which investigations would be carried out only by Central agencies and prosecution by special courts. Mr Patil’s statement indicates that the government intends bringing in legislation to contain communal violence.Some have questioned the need for new legislation on the matter. After all, there are several laws to take care of such situations. For instance, Section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code provides for punishment for any act, which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious, linguistic, or regional groups or castes or communities and which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquillity. There is legislation to tackle the inciting of violence and so on. Existing legislation to tackle communal violence has failed in the past because of poor implementation and a lack of political will. As evident in Gujarat in 2002, the attack on minorities assumed the immense proportions it did because the BJP government in the state along with the police force was complicit in the violence and refused to take steps to arrest its spread. There is no guarantee that the Central government would necessarily act to check communal violence if the state government is reluctant to do so. The BJP-led government in the centre simply looked the other way in the case of Gujarat. The Congress was in power at the Centre and in Maharashtra in 1992, when communal violence broke out after the demolition of the Babri Masjid. The Centre took no action when the Maharashtra government did not act effectively to halt the violence.No communal riot can occur if the government and its law and order machinery are determined to prevent or arrest the spread of such violence and virus. The need for keeping the intelligence apparatus in a fine fettle and making effective use of the input for nipping the trouble in the bud is also equally crucial. What is needed is political will to prevent the spread of the communal virus. The proposed new law could end up as just another piece of legislation if the government does not back it with effective implementation.
The raging violence in UP at present is an indicator how small incidents can turn barbarous, if the political will is only to seek benefits in elections, no matter at what costs. And if Congress has opened up a front against SP at the moment, it is merely because it is in opposition at the moment. Otherwise, Congress too can be blamed for many a riots in the past. Even the Srikrishna Commission that was attempting to unearth the names of those who were responsible for Mumbai riots that led to more than 1000 people killed and looting, arson and rape continuing for days, was terminated without a whimper, thus protecting the identities of those involved in the riots, including some policemen, perhaps forever.

Both BJP and SP set to gain from communal riots

If the eyes are on elections, who is bothered if a few more innocents get killed or their belongings looted in the communal riots that have begun spreading like forest-fire almost immediately after the dawn of the election year in UP. Ironically, two political parties perceived to be poles apart, at least ideologically, that is the SP and the BJP, are set to gain if the communal violence happens and spreads to other parts of the UP.
Large scale desertions had happened in the past both from BJP and SP, more so in the case of later due to it being in power for the last three and a half years. The shift was naturally towards Congress and BSP. With these riots, a great number of voters on periphery are sure to return to the folds of either the BJP or the SP. This is the vote politics of a pseudo-democracy like that of UP. You may call it the riot politics as well!
Mayawati is not far off the mark when she alleges that Samajwadi Party and BJP leaders had planned communal violence in Gorakhpur and neighbouring districts to serve their vested political interests.
“Both SP and BJP have lost the confidence of people and their base is shrinking fast. To regain the lost ground both the parties are indulging in the politics of communal violence”, she said. Cautioning the Muslims, she said they should understand the designs of both parties.
More communal violence would take place in the state in the coming days, she claimed and added that she had submitted memorandum to the Governor and the UPA government seeking dismissal of the State government and imposition of President’s rule, but in vain.
“Law and order is deteriorating in the State and jungle raj is prevailing. If people want that their sisters and daughters to remain safe and Muslims want to take revenge for Kareli madarsa and Ranipur rape case, they must vote Samajwadi Party out of power,” she said adding that it were the Samajwadi party leaders who were involved in Kareli madarsa (Allahabad) and Ranipur village (Jaunpur) rape case.
Evidently, Mayawati too is playing her cards, so as to reap the maximum out of the riots. So is the BJP. And who are the victims? Hutments of members of a particular community were set on fire in Behrampur in the wee hours recently. Shops belonging to members of a particular community too were torched. Miscreants tried to brun alive a member of a particular community when he was returning home after offering evening prayers in Singhadia locality, under Khorabar police station. Arsonists set ablaze a passenger train, attempted to burn Godan Express and torched vehicles. Another train was set ablaze at Tulsipur in Balrampur district on the metre guage section between Gorakhpur and Gonda. Two compartments of a train at Salempur railway station in Deoria district were also burnt. Buses too were burnt. Some activists of Hindu Yuva Vahini set on fire a government bus and held its driver and conductor hostage in Gurma village under Madhuban police station. All this seems to be offshoot of a well-planned strategy. After all, elections have dangerously close. And arrest of local BJP MP Yogi Adityanath is only an excuse.

Communal violence not a new phenomenon
Communal violence is not a new phenomenon in India. Prior to Independence they occurred because the rulers of the time benefited because of the Hindu-Muslim divide. Hence such divisionary tactics were framed and the riots fanned; most common example being the incidents of Meerut and Lucknow that resulted in the First War of Independence, 1857. Thereafter, riots continued to erupt, be it in Calcutta or be it in Punjab.
Post Independence, riots seem to have become a weapon in the armoury of political parties. Riots after demolition of Babri Masjid and not just the demolition catapulted BJP to power. The same happened in Gujarat where Narendra Modi had almost lost the election due to internal fights and anti-incumbency factors. The same is the case now as the BJP needs issues or passions to help it in the elections and if the political pundits predicted riots in UP much before, this was because they knew of the politics that politicians play.
One thing that is noteworthy in the present riots in UP is the inevitable presence of RSS or its sister organizations wherever the riots occur. At places it is in the form of Hindu Yuva Vahini, at other places in the form of Bajrang Dal or simply RSS workers. Even Yogi Adityanath and his supporters are known RSS sympathizers.

Political will needed to curb communal violence
Year 2007 has just begun and so has begun cases of communal violence in India. One precious life was lost and three others were injured in police firing to quell communal violence in Bangalore that flared up in eastern parts of the city during a RSS-sponsored procession as part of ‘Viraat Hindu Mahotsav’ recently. Several others were injured in the rioting that followed. A few days earlier, 50 persons were injured and several houses attacked after a protest against the execution of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussain turned violent. And now the entire Eastern UP is reeling under communal tension, owing to arrest of BJP MP Yogi Adityanath.
Communal violence is not a new phenomenon in India, fuelled as it is by the fundamentalist forces on both sides.
Communal violence in India has reached unprecedented levels in the 1990s. Where conflicts were once localized, they now occur on a national scale. At the level of rhetoric, the government claims to be committed to secularism and nondiscrimination. However, the government shows a conspicuous tendency to ignore the scale of violence and human suffering during communal violence. Laxity in enforcing the law and the failure to punish those involved sends the wrong signals to both law-breakers and law enforcers across the country.

The racist Britons

Actress Shilpa Shetty has just won what she couldn’t accomplish all her career. Huge money, endorsement offers, meaty film roles, fame and even big money for giving ‘exclusive’ tabloid and TV interviews. Eventually, she would give so many of them that none of the interview would remain ‘exclusive’. Why refuse money when it is coming!
We surely have reasons to delight at her award unless and until we ponder over reasons that enabled her to get it. No doubt, racism in Britain is still predominantly present and the alleged racist comments by certain participants in the show were just an off-shoot of the prevailing undercurrent. After all, it were the grand fathers and great grand fathers of the present-day generation who had written “Dogs and Indians not allowed” outside restaurants or thrown a well-dressed, well-educated person named Gandhi out of a train. The treatment meted out by the Memsahibs and their male counterparts are still written in the annals of our past literature.
We are deriving too much out of a stray incident, some of you may say. As proof to substantiate what we are saying, we cite certain passages from column ‘London Diary’ by Anil Thakraney written in Outlook (November 26, 2006) prior to the shaping of events and controversies surrounding Shilpa Shetty.
In his column Thakraney mentions of “suspicion and derision” merely because he was ‘brown’. He writes: “One legendary taboo in London is making eye contact inside the tubes. It’s always been considered offensive to stare at the fellow commuter. The locals arm themselves with newspapers and books mainly to avoid any possibilities of eye contact. Well, apart from other things, the terrorists have changed this, too. I am stared at long and hard, usually with a mixture of suspicion and derision. Because not only am I ‘brown’, I cheerfully move around with a rather bulky green-coloured backpack. Never felt so important in London before.”
At another place he writes: “Most locals (living around London’s Finsbury Park mosque), I gather from any letters to editors, want the mosque eliminated ASAP. And Jack Straw wants the irritating veil unveiled.”
All this is happening because of the aftermaths of 9/11 and train-bombings that killed several people; you may say as a counter. But what would you say if a white policemen stares from beneath your daughter’s skirt up to her panties. Do they harbour suspicions that bombs can be carried inside? Sample this passage from Tahkraney’s column:
“On a night out at the happening Bond Street, I spot a group of overzealous white cops bodysearch some rappin’ Black teens. Reminds me of that provocative scene in Crash, where a racist cop orgasmically fingers a black lady up her panties. Mercifully, on this occasion, the officer is only looking up the girl’s skirt (swear, I didn’t make this up). And what exactly is their crime, I enquire. “The youngsters are suspected of soliciting and drug-dealings on the streets,” coolly informs Steve, one of the policemen. The tamasha carries on for a while, until one female member loudly accuses the cops of being unfairly racist, and threatens to file counter-charges. Taken aback, the policemen quickly disappear into the night. Makes me wonder. Shouldn’t they be focusing their energies on brainwashed Muslim kids of Brick Lane? Why go after soft targets? Mumbai mein bhi aisa hota hain, na?” (As long as they are Muslims, the media won’t complain.)
How would you react if our own Mumbaiite cop does this with a European lady visiting or staying in our country? After all, suspicions of drug-peddling by certain white-skinned Europeans have surfaced from time to time.
All this is prompting me to become racist for a while. Kudos to Ratan Tata who through purchase of British steel-giant Corus has shown the mettle, that ‘Brown’ is definitely a stronger colour than ‘white’.