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Sunday,
May 5, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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Special focus: Poverty
eradication & human rights
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More
responsive MCD needed
Naidu —
willing to wound, afraid to strike
Networking
of divisive forces
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Special focus: Poverty eradication & human rights ARE economic and social rights as important as civil and political rights? Can they both be practised with equal felicity? In a special report on human rights in its August 14 issue last year, The Economist asked the question, “Human-rights campaigners are starting to lobby for economic and social rights, such as the right to health and the right to food. Will they make a success of it?” The paper concluded that in this effort human rights campaigners “risk frittering away their hard-won political capital in the pursuit of rights that are both undefinable and undeliverable”. The basis for its conclusion is that “even if economic and social rights appear to have the same status on paper as civil and political rights, their philosophical grounding is often questioned.” In its leader in the same issue on the Politics of Human Rights, The Economist claimed that “the most telling arguments against the adoption of universal economic and social rights are not philosophical but practical”. The weekly also warns how the human rights campaigners risk “alienating western countries that have hitherto usually been their allies”. “America is at the top of the list”, says the paper and reminds us that the USA has not yet ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The 2001 report by the International Advisory Commission of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) squarely meets arguments of this kind made not only by the western governments but also the globalising reformist elites of the developing world as well and logically and convincingly asserts that civil, political, economic and social rights are indivisible and nowhere is this “more clearly demonstrated than in the consequences of poverty and prescriptions to over come it.” The report declares that “for the human rights framework to be effective, the importance of economic, social and cultural rights must be more strongly recognised by policy makers.” This 2001 Millennium report of the CHRI is a landmark document in that it examines incisively and powerfully the poverty situation in the countries of the Commonwealth from a human rights perspective, and pleads for concerted action to banish it using a rights-based approach. Margaret Reynolds in her foreword recalls how way back in 1991 the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) adopted the Harare Declaration on poverty and the time has now come to evaluate the Commonwealth’s ability to tackle poverty through its own fundamental principles of good governance and human rights. This report attempts to do with great sincerity and has drawn on the expertise and research of NGOs, thinkers and activists coming from a wide spectrum as evidenced from the six substantive chapters and the 197 end notes it lists. The points made in the report are well-supported by appropriate boxes of real life processes drawn from various countries. There are no loose ends and it is a “must read” for all those interested in poverty eradication and human rights and as to how the two impinge on each other. The readers would find the bibliography and the chart showing the country-wise status of ratifications of principal human rights treaties in the Commonwealth given in the report useful for future studies. The first two chapters discuss the nature and causes of the poverty that exists in the Commonwealth with women and children bearing a disproportionate share of it. The incalculable harm the current globalisation drive is inflicting on human rights “prioritising market-oriented rights over social rights, that is, property, investment and trade rights over equality, mobility of labour, social justice and rights of communities” thus deepening poverty is dealt with at great length. Chapter 3, “The Rights-Based Approach to Poverty Eradication”, is the central part of this report. It discusses the justification for the central theme — a rights-based approach to poverty eradication. It summons Prof Amartya Sen’s argument as to how diverse political freedoms are linked with other types of freedoms like those to escape starvation and stresses the natural synergy between poor people’s capabilities enhancing human development as advocated by the UNDP’s Human Development Report and human rights. It recalls the signal contribution made by the Copenhagen World Summit on Social Development (1995) which placed human rights, as also the importance of equity and equality between women and men, at the centre of economic and social development in its declaration. The chapter places firmly the rights-based approach against discretionary charity as the basis of development and rejects the idea of the effect of trickle down as an unproven “accidental byproduct of the market”. The fundamental principle of equality of all human beings and their right to participate in governance, inherent in the rights-based approach, is a basis for political and social mobilisation and an antidote to the ideology of globalisation. The central point of the report — the artificial chasm between human rights in the civil and political domains on the one hand and human rights in the economic, social and cultural domains as assumed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the ICESCR division as an unreal one on the other hand — is made powerfully in this chapter. These two sets of rights are interdependent and indivisible, though in practice there has been a failure “to give economic, cultural and social rights the same status and institutional support as certain civil and political rights because of the power of vested interests”. The report discusses in the next chapter the elaborate human rights framework that exists in the Commonwealth at the international, regional and national levels, including for supervision of the protection and enforcement of rights such as the UN Human Rights Commission, its special rapporteurs mechanism and the independent committees. It refers to the Commonwealth’s Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which is a mechanism for dealing with violations of the principles contained in the Harare Declaration itself, which subsumes all the international human rights norms. The report says that the persistence of poverty in the Commonwealth despite the elaborate human rights framework shows that a great deal remains to be done before the economic, social and cultural rights become a reality for all in the Commonwealth. It apprehends that a major obstacle may be the wording of the ICESCR which commits member-states to “take steps, individually and through international assistance and cooperation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realisation of the rights…” — expressions taken advantage by states to plead lack of resources and to delay action. By way of overcoming ideological opposition to economic and social rights, it is necessary to imbue them with measurable content so as to make them tangible and, therefore, enforceable. Indicators must be developed to lay down acceptable standards of literacy, nutrition or shelter. The report rightly observes “…indicators provide the hard measurements while the principles of human rights provide the framework for formulating policy, judging methods of implementation, and the means by which to evaluate outcomes in terms of what the impact has been on the realisation of rights”. The report clarifies this concept by using the right to food as an example. Pointing out that many of World Bank, IMF and WTO decisions adversely affect the human rights of the poor, the report states: “The World Bank, the IMF and the WTO …..having been created in accordance with the general principles of international law …. must respect the fundamental principle of human rights law. Both international economic law and international human rights standards are creatures of the same jus cogens”. Recommending the kind of remedial action required, the report demands that countries should sign international treaties without caveats and subject themselves to their discipline in terms of fulfilling formal commitments, particularly to the ICESR. The supervisory work of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) should be strengthened in terms of resources and staff; the Commonwealth’s Human Rights Unit (HRU) has to be pro-active in publicising the CESCR’s comments on country reports and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group’s ability to monitor implementation of social and economic rights in member-states should be enhanced with the assistance of the HRU and the leadership of the Commonwealth High Commissioner for Human Rights (CHCHR) or the Secretary-General himself. The report makes the all-important point that for a rights framework to be ultimately effective it has to be securely anchored at the domestic level. For this, making economic, social and cultural rights justiciable so that the national courts can play a creative role, and establishing genuinely strong national human rights commissions to remedy the violation of these rights so as to contribute to the eradication of poverty, is vital. The HRU should involve itself in this work so as to expand this principle in the Commonwealth and for this the HRU’s status should be enhanced financially and in terms of its place in the Commonwealth secretariat. Calling for the building of a culture of rights with in the Commonwealth countries, the report makes a telling point about the need for participation, transparency in governance and the right to information because “information in the hands of the population at large would fundamentally alter power relationships” and calls for national legislation on the right to information and human rights education. It gives a call to civil society organisations to make duty-holders accountable for rights, stressing the crucial role of mobilising public opinion and people around campaigns. It admonishes civil society organisations for the most part being “less concerned with mobilising mass social movements around rights than advocacy and lobbying” and reminds them that the “framework of human rights will serve the agenda of the eradication of poverty only if it is carried to the people, they realise that their own oppression is clearly linked to the violation of rights, and they are organised to claim their rights and to base their agenda and organisation on them.” The report concludes with a warning to the Commonwealth that it is in imminent danger of losing its credibility in regard to its rhetoric of endless commitments to the eradication of poverty unless it matches it with deeds for a more just social, political and economic order through “the premier means to overcome it — human rights”. It deplores how the Commonwealth “has treated the deprivation of social and economic rights and the condition of Commonwealth citizens, however wretched, as best left to member-states to deal with, unencumbered by anything more than oratory”. It illustrates this by the Commonwealth’s failure to follow up on its own call to member-governments to become parties to the ICESCR and the ICCPR by 1995; and the absence of a clear mandate to its own official organs, particularly its Secretariat, to mainstream human rights and poverty eradication in servicing member-governments and provide leadership to member-states in crafting right-based approaches to poverty eradication. This is a landmark report. It makes a trilogy along with the 1992 report of the Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation of SAARC and the 1995 report of the Copenhagen World Summit on Social Development (WSSD). Essentially, these three reports are saying the same thing that human rights-based policies are key to poverty eradication with social mobilisation and organisation of the people as the means. This is a very powerful document of advocacy and, given the eminently practical suggestions it has made, the Commonwealth Human Rights Institute should consider whether the time has not come for the Commonwealth NGOs for going beyond advocacy by planning for concrete programmes in some of the Commonwealth countries in pursuance of the arguments made in this report. But before we go into that suggestion, a little criticism of the report would be in order. There seems to be a slight lack of balance in the gathering and analysis of the data in and between the various countries of the Commonwealth. For example, military expenditure by India is strongly referred to while similar sins in its neighbourhood are not touched. India receives a lot of attention in certain other respects also while others do not. Also, the report may have missed an opportunity in failing to analyse the causes behind the contradictions between the high human development indices of Sri Lanka and the conditions obtaining in its EPZs on the one hand and the raging ethnic conflict in that country, on the other. While the report has dealt with the debilitating impact of globalisation, multi-national corporations and multi-lateral financial institutions splendidly on the poor of the Commonwealth, the reader could get an impression that all the sins of poverty, including corruption in the Commonwealth, are sought to be laid at the door of the Structural Adjustment Programmes, when lack of accountability of national governments has a lot to account for. This is not to suggest that the report has not held the national governments responsible for poverty eradication but only to point out that the treatment of the subject in regard to globalisation is more extensive than the specific neglect of their duties by national governments. However, these do not by any means detract from the overwhelming merits of this report. Every point made in this report on the reforms required in the organisation of the various administrative bodies of the Commonwealth is fully justified and urgent action by the next CHOGM is called for on all of them. The writer, a former IAS officer, was Secretary to the Prime Minister and Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights Commission. |
Why security at the cost of freedom? WHEN a joint session of Parliament passed the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO), the government did not win; nor was the Opposition defeated—it was the nation which lost, temporarily, the battle for civil liberties. But the BJP seemed to be riding a high horse. It was sure of its numbers in the joint session and presumably also keen to obtain approval from the US State Department (as its spokesperson has publicly stated) — the patronising comments come ill from the USA, which is a strong ally of Israeli terrorism in the current Israeli-Palestine conflict—surely the irony will not be lost on the public. Considering that the entire Opposition had shown rare unanimous opposition, it would have been an act of grace and correct parliamentary convention if the government had withdrawn this controversial Bill. After all, the supposed justification of fighting terrorism is not a partisan programme, the Central government cannot claim to have a monopoly of patriotism—such self-patting will hardly pass muster. The whole purpose of such a law gets defeated when the Congress governments in the majority of states vehemently deny the need for it (of course, there is an element of false bluster because Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have a law similar to POTO). Such is the partisanship that the Congress-ruled Maharashtra has even taken the embarrassment of withdrawing the POTO case against Afroz, whose arrest had been trotted by the government as the height of efficiency of the state police and even a foreign government had been warned of a plot that Afroz was said to be engaged in—blowing up the House of Commons (UK). Now that the government says that POTO should not have been applied — the result is that in the one-upmanship game between the Centre and the Maharashtra government, the credibility and efficiency of Indian investigating agencies has taken a dip. The apparent urgency to pass POTO, attributed by Mr L.K. Advani to the compulsion of Resolution No 1373 (2001) passed by the Security Council is misplaced. The Central government's invocation of the USA Patriot Act is inapposite. It applies to non-citizens. "This law is based on the faulty assumption that safety must come at the expense of civil liberties", says the ACLU's Washington National Council for Civil Liberties. It adds: "The anti-terrorism laws in this country have led to some of the worst human rights abuses in this country over the last 30 years, contributed to miscarriages of justice." POTA is modelled on TADA, which remained in force from 1987 to 1995, and yet militancy remained at the highest in the country. Even the government concedes that acts of terrorism have come down in the last half a decade. The apprehension of misuse of POTA has a strong basis considering the history of its predecessor TADA. The Supreme Court, while reluctantly upholding TADA, was constrained to observe: "It is heart-rending to note that day in and day out we come across with the news of blood-curdling incidents of police brutality and atrocities, alleged to have been committed in utter disregard and in all breaches of humanitarian law and universal human rights as well as in total negation of the constitutional guarantees and human decency....". How with the ancestry could anyone assure that POTA will not be misused — this boast has been belied even before the ink has dried on this legislation. Witness the Gujarat government shamelessly making partisan arrests under POTA of minorities, when, according to all credible reports, they have suffered the maximum; also the National Conference hypocritically abstaining in the Rajya Sabha but soon thereafter arresting Yasin Malik, a JKLF leader, with the sole purpose of muddying a Kashmir settlement and sabotaging chances of holding peaceful and free forthcoming Kashmir elections. A confession made before the police is made admissible under Section 32 of POTA even when two out of the five Judges of the Supreme Court had described a similar provisions of Section 15 of TADA as "unfair, unjust and unconstitutional, offending Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution." One of the most objectionable features in Section 30 of the Act, which empowers the court to issue directions that the identity of witnesses be not disclosed to the accused. This would mean that the right of the accused to show his innocence through a cross-examination of the witness will be denied. Dr Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution, could not even contemplate such a situation and said that it was not necessary to have a provision specifically providing for cross-examination because such a right cannot be taken away "unless the provincial government goes absolutely stark mad....." This provision is also a denial of fair trial. All regional and international human right instruments recognise the right of fair trial to the accused. The question whether evidence of anonymous witnesses denies the accused a right to fair trial has been answered in the affirmative by the European Court of Human Rights, which said: "Being unaware of (the witnesses) identity, the defence was confronted with an almost insurmountable handicap: it was deprived of the necessary information permitting it to test the witnesses' credibility or cast doubt on this credibility". The court held that a domestic court may not rely on the evidence obtained from anonymous sources whom the defendant has not had the opportunity to challenge. Section 48 of the Act dealing with bail is a serious inroad on liberty of the citizen. Thus, the reversal of burden of proof for bail for a period of one year and before the filing of a charge-sheet is contrary to a basic principle of criminal jurisprudence, apart from the unfair requirement that the accused should prove that he is not guilty. Section 18 of POTA empowers the government to declare an organisation as a terrorist organisation. Significantly, this provision has been included against the recommendation of the Law Commission, which had categorically stated that "we have not suggested herein any amendments providing for banning of unlawful organisations and for confiscation of their assets in as much as there is already an enactment of force viz, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which deals with the said aspects". Thus Section 18 is not innocent but has a mischievous intent. The government efforts to mollify the Press by purporting to delete Section 3(8), is eyewash because as journalists will still continue to be covered by Section 14 of the Act. Meeting the challenge of terrorism requires determination, proper utilisation of intelligence information and support of the public and not these draconian laws, violating the human rights of citizens. The loud noise that POTA, even if it denies civil rights, is necessary for protecting freedom can be dismissed in the words of Mr Muggeridge, a former Editor of Punch, when he warned: "The choice for us is between security and freedom. And if we ever ceased to prefer the
latter, we should soon find that we had nothing of any worth left to secure anyway." Any government shaky about its credibility has to conjure up a sense of panic in order to survive. That alone can explain the BJP government rushing through with POTA in spite of its universal condemnation. The writer is a former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. |
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This law is in the national interest THE Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) has been mired in unnecessary controversies. Our political leaders did not examine it purely on merits. They took an opportunistic stance, based on communal and caste considerations. Our national security is being viewed through the coloured glasses of electoral configurations. POTA has divided our nation on communal lines and it is getting far more polarised. Media propaganda has been hyped to portray it as anti-minority. In fact, TADA, was a harsher Act than POTA. The internal security situation of our country is much more vulnerable than ever before. The country is facing the onslaught of jihadis in Kashmir, the secessionist movement in the North-East and violent class struggles in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. The interrogation of Omar Sheikh, arrested in connection with the murder of Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter, has clearly established the links of the ISI to the attack on Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001. The concept of internal security is not only police surveillance of suspected terrorists but it also encompasses the monitoring of various other institutions, especially the banking and financial establishments. The Lashkar-e-Toiba “withdrew Rs 4 billion from its bank accounts after September 11 attack”. India, as a nation, is yet to face the menace of cyber-terrorism, which it may have sooner than later. There may be attacks on computer systems and information infrastructure. The future terrorists will wage a Net war, a psychological campaign to change the mindset of the people to conform to their strategy. The information technology war will engineer disruption of public services such as water supply, transportation and electricity or a breakdown in the telecom and banking services. It is not that only India is enacting laws such as POTA. The UK introduced harsh laws in the eighties — the Special Powers Act, the Emergency Procedure Act and the Prevention of Terrorism Act — to fight insurgency in Northern Ireland. The highlights of a new anti-terrorism law, signed by President George Bush, include permission for more electronic eavesdropping, tracking Internet communications, and searching property without notifying a suspect and the authority to detain immigrants. The tribunals set up for these investigations may not make public the evidence citing national security and make their own rules for expeditious disposal. The Government of India has taken into consideration the criticism of the lapsed POTA and modified its Section 3(8) dealing with the disclosure of the journalists’ sources of information regarding terrorist activities, and the operational period has been reduced to three years. The main objections against POTA are that the minorities will be targeted and that a confession before a police officer will be fabricated to frame innocent persons. These apprehensions are unnecessary. With the egalitarian media and wide-awake political leadership, it is just not possible. This has been proved in Gujarat. The government had to withdraw cases under POTA against the accused in the Godhra carnage. As regards confessions, we should trust our senior officers of the rank of Superintendent of Police. Moreover, it has to be confirmed before a Judicial Magistrate. The assassin of Rajiv Gandhi was convicted for murder only on the basis of the confessions before a police officer. I may also add that under the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provision) Act, the confession made by an accused before a police officer is admissible and the onus of proof is on the accused. Bail provisions in POTA are said to be harsh. It should be understood that it is not a normal law. It is an abnormal law for an abnormal situation. Here also there is a provision that an accused can be released on bail if the court is satisfied that there are grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such an offence. It is correct that the conviction under TADA had been rather negligible, may be 2 per cent. Whenever terrorist crime takes place, no one comes forward to give evidence even if there are eyewitnesses. So, when a militant is nabbed, forensic experts match the weapon seized from him with the empty cartridges recovered from the scene of crime. Obviously, it is too late. The police say stingy remand and expeditious bail orders deny them the time enough to interrogate detainees. However, with the provision in POTA to allow the interception of electronic communications, after following a strict procedure, the conviction rate will go up as intercepts will be admissible as evidence. This was a lacuna in TADA. The 80 per cent conviction claimed by Maharashtra is because of the provision of interception and its admissibility in the court under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999. Serial bomb blast cases in Mumbai were worked out with the help of the conversations that took place between dons in Dubai and their agents in Mumbai. The Opposition has referred to Section 3(1) of POTA suggesting that a reference to the disruption of supplies or services essential to the life of a community is intended to strangle trade union activity. This is far from true. This provision is preceded by “Does any act or thing by using bombs, dynamite or other explosive substances, etc”. So, it cannot be used against normal trade union activity. The author is a former Director-General of Police, Punjab. |
More responsive MCD needed PEOPLE'S expectations from the new Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) are very high. It is expected that steps would be initiated for systematic planning the programme to improve conditions. Various political parties, during the election campaigning, have been championing the cause of the people and exhorting them to rally behind their parties which alone could raise house tax exemption, improve public distribution system of essential commodities, control, reduce prices of milk, provide adequate electricity etc. Further, though the law and order, land etc. are reserved subjects, yet the Chief Minister Delhi can certainly advise the Centre and the Lt. Governor to devise ways and means to improve law and order situation. The Councillors of MCD have a key role to play in improving police and public relations. The common man would like the new MCD to ensure that he is treated with courtesy and respect when he visits the MCD offices as also the offices of the Delhi government. The people have given mandate to the Congress with a thumping majority. The MCD would get full cooperation from the Delhi government which is also headed by a Congress Chief Minister. The priority may be given to set up a meaningful "Public Grievances Cell". It may be ensured that the petitions received are not thrown in the waste paper basket. An acknowledgement may be sent to the petitioners informing that action would be initiated. There may be many complaints on which action cannot be taken, for instance reports concerning police, cases of civil nature for which redressal lies in the civil counts where the complainants may be informed by the MCD and the Delhi government that they should approach the court of law. Where the complaints fall within the purview of the administration, the senders may be informed that their complaints are receiving attention. In that event, a follow-up action may be ensured by the public grievances cell. The telephone number and the designation of the concerned officers may be publicised through media so that the people may know whom to contact, when and where. The MCD should ensure proper cleanliness of the city, improve sewerage system. The house tax department may be revamped. There is a large scale corruption in this department. People are harassed time and again to get the House Tax cleared on flimsy grounds. Drinking water supply hardly meets the requirement and the people have to face many hardships. The supply of water may be regularised and it may be ensured that those residing in far flung colonies and DDA complex get sufficient water. The Delhi government should ensure steps for regular supply of electricity. Delhites are unhappy over the erratic power supply. Electricity is one of the essential services and is not only required for domestic consumption but also for factories and cultivation. It is a known fact that electricity is misused and power stolen by the people with the connivance of unscrupulous employees. It goes without saying that conditions of the MCD schools is most unsatisfactory. What to speak of necessity infrastructure, even the teaching staff is not adequate. It well known that the roads in the city are bumpy and most unsatisfactory material is used for levelling the roads as also for conducting repairs. Further, the dustbins are most unhygienic and no regular removal of garbage is done. The congested areas are the worst affected. The Delhi government should improve the public distribution system. For this, more fair price shops may be opened and prices may be fixed. The public distribution system may be drastically improved so that the essential commodities are available are reasonable rates. It is well known that unauthorised slaughtering of animals takes place with the connivance of the MCD staff. This affects the health of the residents of the area where the unauthorised slaughtering takes place. What we have said so far does not include all the problems of the people. The Delhi government and the MCD which are now under the Congress party must take adequate steps to bring about a discernable change and improvement in the functioning of the departments fallen under the Delhi government as also the MCD. Will the authorities concerned take adequate action to tackle the people's problems, is a million dollar question? The writer is a former Assistant Commissioner of Police, Delhi. |
A relentless fighter ELDERS recall with pride the role played by Ram Vilas Paswan in the October 1984 anti- Sikh riots in Delhi following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Little known M.P. in the union capital’s political circles then, he lived opposite “Shastri Bhavan” on Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road. Across the road was a taxi stand, mostly managed and owned by Sikh drivers. As a frenzied mob attacked the taxi stand, Paswan came to their rescue; he gave shelter to many terrified Sikhs in his house. His second wife, a Sikh, was said to be the motivating force behind the daring act by Paswan, who without caring for his own life, saved lives of many innocent. The taxi stand was partly burnt but, because of this young Dalit leader, many lives were saved. Paswan, holding the portfolio of Coal and Mines, hit the headlines last week when he resigned from the Vajpayee Government over the Centre’s failure to check recurring Gujarat violence. He asked four members of his party — Lok Janshakti — to vote against the Government on the censor motion on Gujarat in the Lok Sabha even as another important NDA ally — Telugu Desam — chose to walk out demanding Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s scalp. Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference too chose to abstain but Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, while making common cause with Paswan, voted against the motion. In a way Paswan was isolated in the NDA as the allies, even though taking the Centre to task, were in no mood to harm the Vajpayee Government. BJP leaders attribute Paswan’s decision to “ ditch the NDA at the crucial time” to Mayawati’s refusal to include two Lok Janshakti members in the Uttar Pradesh Government. Paswan, however, asserts that his resignation should not be linked with the developments in U.P. Out of the NDA and having no worthwhile allies yet, what the future looks like for Paswan ? Will he join the forces opposed to the BJP and carry on the “crusade” against the “ Sangh Parivar” ? He may, as of now, appear friendless, but the high moral ground on which he quit his ministerial post, has raised his stature. Chances are that he may make common cause with Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Congress. He has already emerged as an established “ Dalit” leader and his objective now is to project himself as the Messiah of the Backwards and Muslims too. Whatever may be Paswan’s future course of action, his career graph shows that he has been a relentless fighter and come up on his own in the tortuous world of politics. A new chapter now opens in his life. His journey from Shaharbanni village in Khargaria district of caste-ridden Bihar to the post of a Cabinet Minister has been full of struggle, more so, because he was born in a family of “ untouchables”. Paswan says his birth in a “ Dalit” family, which has been untouchable, helped him primarily because “I can understand the feelings of the downtrodden and poor sections of the society”. The late “Bandit queen”, Phoolan Devi, had adopted Paswan as his brother and tied “Rakhi” round his wrist every year. Paswan made his debut in the Bihar Assembly when he was barely 23. In 1969 he was an MLA belonging to the Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP) but the Naxalite movement attracted him. So much so that in 1970 he had to be imprisoned in the Bhagalpur jail for his activities. Come the J.P. (Jayaprakash Narayan) movement and it changed the course of youthful Paswan’s life. He became a close follower of the “Sarvodaya” leader in 1974, actively participated in his movement and, as a result, remained imprisoned through out the months of the Emergency. In the 1977 general election, he became a member of the hurriedly constituted Janata Party and romped home with a thumping majority from the Hajipur reserved constituency. Since then Paswan’s rise has been meteoric; he never lost an election, except 1984. When he was not an M.P, he occupied the key post of General Secretary of the Lok Dal as well as the Janata Party. Besides J.P, other leaders whom Paswan adores have been the late Charan Singh, the late Karpoori Thakur and former Prime Minister, V.P. Singh. As the Minister for Labour and Welfare in the V.P. Singh Government he did solid work for the welfare of “ “Dalits” and backwards and was known to be closely involved in V.P. Singh’s most controversial decision to implement the Mandal Commission’s report lying in cold storage for several years. When the Congress brought down the Deve Gowda Government in March 1997, Paswan’s name figured for the Prime Minister’s post but the choice finally fell on a seasoned leader, I K Gujral , then holding the portfolio of External Affairs. Paswan’s second marriage to a high caste Sikh, Reena Sharma, had raised many eye brows. The couple has now a daughter and a son. His first wife, Raj Kumari, a village woman and mother of two daughters, still lives in Shaharbani village and does not show any bitterness against his husband for marrying the second time. “ Most of the big people keep two wives there is nothing wrong in it”, she says.
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Naidu — willing to wound, afraid to strike ANDHRA'S biggest political
phenomenon since NTR, N. Chandrababu Naidu, is known for keeping his cards close to his chest. His conduct in the past few years reveals a typical trait: when he gets estranged with somebody he is willing to wound but afraid to strike. Remember how his Telugu Desam Party surprised everybody in 1998 when he quit the United Front (of which he was the Convener) and extended his support from outside? Naidu kept everybody guessing in the recently-concluded debate and voting in the Lok Sabha under Rule 184 over Gujarat. He played a game of brinksmanship with the Vajpayee government on the Gujarat issue but he took care not to go over the brink. On the crucial night of voting in the Lok Sabha on April 30, TDP Parliamentary Party leader in the Lok Sabha Yerran Naidu rang up Chandrababu. Incidentally, the TDP had made arrangement for enabling Chandrababu hear the Prime Minister’s speech live. Yerran Naidu wanted to know what stand the TDP had to take at the voting. Chandrababu asked whether the Vajpayee government faced defeat if the TDP abstained. Yerran Naidu replied in the negative. Then only Chandrababu instructed Yerran Naidu to walk out before the voting. Now the question in political circles is whether Chandrababu is going to accept the BJP’s offer to the TDP for the post of Speaker whose election is due on May 10. As usual, the TDP supremo is keeping everybody guessing. Laloo Yadav charms
friends and foes New Minister in MEA Now that the Parliament session is coming to an end and a cabinet reshuffle is being anticipated later this month, the grapevine has it that Minister of State for Coal Ravi Shankar Prasad may well get a more important portfolio. The media-savvy glib-talker that he is, Prasad may well find himself in the Ministry of External Affairs as MoS. Probably he would occupy the slot which Omar Abdullah is tipped to vacate. For months the power corridors have been abuzz with the talk that Omar Abdullah would be sent by his National Conference party to Jammu and Kashmir to spruce up the NC’s image for the Assembly elections due by this October. Prasad getting the MoS job in the MEA, one may argue, will depend when Omar takes the plunge into state politics. The sooner the better for Prasad who is increasingly being seen in MEA’s dinner and cocktail circuits. Victory despite infighting There is more good news for the Congress and this time from Himachal Pradesh which is due for the Assembly polls in less than a year. Despite severe infighting, the Congress managed to retain its hold over the Shimla Municipal Corporation. Party insiders say loyalists of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh fared better than those of PCC chief Vidya Stokes in the elections and the two sides are likely to renew their battle of supremacy before the high command. Evidently, it was the effort of AICC secretary Satyajit Gaekwad to keep the two factions together that eventually paid off in the Shimla polls. After the recent reshuffle at the AICC, there is speculation of some PCC chiefs being changed, specially in the states facing polls. With the Lok Sabha elections due in 2004, the Congress high-command is eager to have an experienced, result-oriented team in all states. Former Governor Mahabir Prasad, who was recently removed as General Secretary, may be given some assignment on Uttar Pradesh. AICC treasurer Motilal Vora, till recently in charge of Punjab, has begun Punjab-style operations in electorally crucial Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal and has set up coordination committees in both states. Coordination committees are normally set up in states where the Congress house is divided and Vora, it seems, has decided to take the bull by the horns. RSS prophecy RSS spokesperson M.G. Vaidya recently got additional help to present the views of the Sangh. While introducing joint spokesperson Ram Madhav from Andhra Pradesh here recently, Vaidya said that since life was so uncertain and as he was getting old, it was important to have a successor. TDP’s dilemma (Contributed by T. V. Lakshminarayan, Rajeev Sharma, Prashant Sood, Tripti Nath and Satish Misra) |
Networking of divisive forces THIS
week I was almost certain of not focusing on the Gujarat mess but, then, that carnage seems to have left its impact on many amongst us. Last week alone there had been two major protest rallies here, where thousands turned up and this coming week begins with a 30-minute film being screened at the Constitution Club. Titled “Junun ke Badhte Kadam”, it is made by scientist — poet Gauhar Raza and as the title suggests it focuses on not just the Gujarat carnage but on the communal virus being unleashed by the Right Wing outfits . I think I mentioned in one of the previous columns that Raza had earlier made a documentary which shows the rise of Hitler and all that he unleashed and he draws parallels with what is happening here. It is definitely an eerie warning, preparing each one of us to either combat these divisive forces or get ruined by them. In fact the networking of these divisive forces should not be overlooked. Just for your sampling — at last week’s CII meet one of the key speaker's name was struck off just a day before the meet. And the name was that of Harsh Mander, the 1980 batch bureaucrat who resigned because he couldn’t really be part of the system that was unleashing this sort of terror all around. Though there was no official explanation and nor an apology for this last- minute change but insiders say that his name was struck off because Pramod Mahajan wanted it so. And the government’s reach goes right up to the relief camps of Gujarat. In fact, around 55,000 people have taken shelter in the 29 relief camps situated in Ahmedabad city and another 30,000 are staying in the relief camps in other districts of Gujarat but till date there’s little aid coming from the government. It may surprise many of you to know that all foreign donor agencies have been stopped from sending aid and relief material to Gujarat. Volunteers coming back from Ahmedabad confide: “These relief camps are working only on community support and though many foreign agencies want to help but red tapism comes in the way. Conditions in these camps are so pathetic that many are lying ill. Last week, after a lot of hue and cry a certain amount of food items did trickle in from one of the government departments but that was about all and, mind you, the people in these camps are very wary of the government and anybody connected with it. Last fortnight when Poornima Advani, Chairperson NCW, visited these camps most thought her to be connected with L.K. Advani and they were apprehensive, almost scared!” This reaction when Ahmedabad is Advani’s constituency! This letter from Srinagar I just received this letter from Majid Butt whose father owns one of the largest fleet of houseboats — Butt’s Clermont Houseboats are known not only in Srinagar but across the world because the famous who’s who of the world have stayed in them — right from Nelson Rockfeller (former Vice-President of USA), Adelai Stevenson (former Governor of Chicago), Kenneth Galbrath, Chester Bowles, Kenneth Keating, John Hubbard, (former US Ambassadors to India) and several other personalities like George Harrison, Joan Fountain, Yehudi Menuhin. I am mentioning these names to focus on the fact that with that rather glorious backdrop it is painful to know that today there are no takers for these houseboats, that stand still on the still waters of the Dal Lake, silently witnessing a painful era pass by. I must mention that several activists here are extremely worried about the welfare of the detained JKLF chief Yaseen Malik. In fact in my next week’s column I would be writing what these concerned citizens feel about misuse of POTA — at least where Malik is concerned. |
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ARE economic and social rights
as important as civil and political rights? Can they both be practised
with equal felicity? In a special report on human rights in its August
14 issue last year, The Economist asked the question, “Human-rights
campaigners are starting to lobby for economic and social rights, such
as the right to health and the right to food.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Laloo Prasad Yadav’s maiden speech in the Rajya Sabha attracted the attention of friends and foes alike as the majority of those present in the Central Hall of Parliament left their places and went towards the television screen and remained glued to it. As Laloo pulled punches and gave an earful to his political rivals terming the BJP as Bharat Jalao Party (burn India party), the BJP members started shouting and intervening him, but he remained unfazed and continued to regale his rivals and friends with his humorous style and earthy language. A former Minister commented that after all in the time of tension, one needs someone who can enliven the atmosphere. Thank God, we have one now, he observed. But as the RJD leader squatted in the well of the House, pat came a comment from a former MP that politics is becoming interesting again as Parliament has someone to match former Socialist leader Raj Naraian who used to squat in a similar fashion.
Telugu Desam supremo Chandrababu Naidu is reportedly in a fix as he cannot decide on anybody’s name from his party for the Lok Sabha Speaker’s chair. Now he is understood to have decided to forego his claim and continue to support the Vajpayee government so that he can milk the cow further. But the BJP apparently does not want to allow this as a senior Minister commented that Andhra Pradesh has succeeded in extracting so much of resources and funds from the Centre in the last four years what it could not get even in the last 50 years.