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Crossed wires over IPL
Bill to check torture |
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Death in Hisar
Subversion of democracy
Ways of the railways
by Raj Chengappa, Editor-in-Chief
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Crossed wires over IPL
The raging Indian Premier League controversy which claimed former Union minister Shashi Tharoor as its first casualty has caused perceptible fissures in the relationship between the Congress and the NCP. Over the last few days, the NCP and its two Central ministers, Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel, have had fingers pointed at them for benami stakes, slush funds, benefits to kith and kin and for too cozy a relationship between Mr Pawar and IPL kingpin Lalit Modi, who is under a serious cloud for tax irregularities. Though Pawar has distanced himself from Modi, who also carries the cross of being close to the BJP, there is a nagging feeling that there is more to it than meets the eye. The IPL was created when Pawar was at the helm of the BCCI. The Union Agriculture Minister continues to be a powerful presence in the cash-rich cricketing body, of which Modi is a vice-president. Though Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari recently went on record to say that the IPL controversy would not cloud his party’s ties with the NCP as there is a “Chinese wall” between cricket and politics, the strains in the relationship are for all to see. Only the previous day Praful Patel had charged a section of the ruling party of launching a "slander campaign" about his involvement in the matter. As for Pawar, he was initially spirited in his defence of Modi and backed out only when he found that he was being bracketed with the BJP to which Modi was seen to be close. Since the Congress and the NCP share power not only at the Centre but also in Maharashtra, Goa and Meghalaya, the stakes are high for both to maintain their relationship. For the Congress, which will soon be up against a vote on the budget at a time when its majority in the Lok Sabha has been reduced to a razor-thin one, the support of the NCP’s eight Lok Sabha members is particularly crucial. Consequently, all eyes are on the tax searches at the IPL offices which could prove an embarrassment for the BCCI bosses if they unravel serious irregularities. Whatever Pawar and Praful Patel may profess, they can hardly deny that for them cricket and politics go hand in hand. |
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Bill to check torture
The Union Cabinet’s proposal to introduce the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010, in Parliament is welcome. There has been an alarming increase in custodial deaths. The police still has a colonial mindset. The National Human Rights Commission, in its annual reports, has recorded the custodial deaths of 16,836 persons or an average of 1203 persons per year during 1994-2008. These included 2,207 deaths in police custody and 14,629 deaths in judicial custody. However, these represent only a fraction of the incidence of torture. There is no record of torture that does not result in custodial death. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court’s guidelines in the case of D.K. Basu vs State of West Bengal or the NHRC’s guidelines to report cases of custodial death and rape within 24 hours have failed to end torture. The apex court has ruled that non-compliance of its guidelines would be treated as contempt of court and police officers will be punished accordingly, but most states have done little in this regard. Shockingly, fake encounters too are on the rise. The police have no fear of law. Following media pressure, the Supreme Court is monitoring the riot cases and the deaths of Sheikh Sohrabuddin, his wife and of Ishrat Jahan in fake encounters in Gujarat. Clearly, the police must not violate the human rights of innocent people. Otherwise, they will be exposed to double jeopardy. The Bill envisages imprisonment up to 10 years for public servants found guilty of torture. But this is not enough. The Centre and the states need to do a lot more to sensitise the police and check torture. Significantly, the Bill will pave way for the ratification of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment of Punishment adopted by the United Nations in 1975. India had signed the Convention in October 1997. Its ratification requires an enabling legislation having provisions necessary to give effect to the Articles of the Convention. Though the Indian Penal Code has some provisions, they neither define “torture” (Article 1 of the Convention) nor make it “criminal” (Article 4). The proposed legislation would have served the intended purpose if it helped change the image of the police, making them more humane and sympathetic. |
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Death in Hisar
Heads must hang in shame over the tragic death of a handicapped girl and her father in a village near Hisar. Words cannot adequately convey the outrage over the medieval act of vengeance carried out in the heart of Haryana where the two were torched alive for no fault of theirs. Dalit houses were set on fire on Wednesday by a mob of upper-caste men merely because a an upper-caste boy had got into an altercation with Dalits earlier in the week and was beaten up by them. The grossly disproportionate reaction was evidently inspired by caste considerations and wounded pride. While the armed mob went on the rampage and set the thatched tenements on fire, most people managed to escape but the roof caved in on polio stricken Suman who was trapped in the inferno and lost her life. Her father could perhaps have saved his own life but lost it while trying to save hers. The shameful incident shows up the weaknesses of both the administration and civil society. The administration clearly had no clue about the simmering tension in the village or about the immediate provocation. The panchayat and the civil society too cannot be absolved of their responsibility. It is incredible that the majority of the villagers remained passive and allowed the mob to have its way. The absence of any restraining influence and lack of sane advice reflect poorly on village society and the ‘dominant’ community. Growing assertiveness of the dalits following their political and economic empowerment , and the corresponding loss of clout of the upper-castes, seem to be at the root of the conflict. Reports in the media suggest fairly old rivalry and sharp differences between the two communities, some as old as a decade. That is why the institutional failure to restore social harmony is a cause of serious concern and needs to be studied at greater depth. Judging by past experience, the culprits are unlikely to get their comeuppance. In all acts of mob violence, it is certainly difficult to judge the specific role played by individuals and apportion responsibility. Most perpetrators take advantage of this lacuna to claim innocence and get off lightly. Justice, however, demands exemplary and swift punishment to the entire group because any delay or prevarication would continue to encourage unruly mobs to take the law into their own hands. |
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When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.
— Samual Johnson |
Subversion of democracy
Paid news has become a big threat to the world’s largest democracy. It raises serious questions of journalistic ethics and professional integrity. In the last elections to the Lok Sabha and a few State Assemblies, a section of the media — print and electronic — had indulged in nefarious monetary deals with some politicians and candidates by agreeing to publish only their views not as advertisements but as news items. Parliament, the Election Commission, the Press Council of India and organisations like the Editors’ Guild of India and the Association for Democratic Reforms are deeply agitated about it. On April 26, the Press Council of India will examine the draft report of the inquiry conducted into this disturbing phenomenon by it. But we need to look beyond reports. There is need for exemplary action like impounding the licence of a publication or a TV news channel if it is found guilty of the crime. In a petition to the Press Council, the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) has charged six Telugu newspapers — Eenadu, Andhra Jyothi, Sakshi, Vaartha, Andhra Bhoomi and Surya — with succumbing to the lure of paid news. In a sample survey of these newspapers in West Godavari district during the election campaign in April 2009, it has alleged that the advertisers’ copy appeared as paid news along with the dateline and creditline to mislead the reader to believe that it was the reporter’s news story. The respective newspaper managements, according to the APUWJ, collected money for space according to their advertisement tariff without acknowledging that it was an advertisement. Their designs were exposed when they published paid news sometimes on the same page and sometimes on different pages of the same edition, predicting the victory of more than one candidate in the same constituency with the same dateline and creditline. The APUWJ has charged these newspapers with putting the creditline and dateline at the end of the story instead of at the beginning which was the usual practice. Some other newspapers did not give the creditline but published it in the news format with just the dateline. But then, the usual attributes of a news story such as where it was said and the context were missing. From the tone and tenor of the story, a journalist with minimum experience would sense that it was a plant or an advertisement. According to Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, the commission had received several complaints on paid news. One grievance was that candidates sometimes got blacked out by unscrupulous publications unless they paid up. Others complained that the well-heeled candidates who could cough up the money got favourable write-ups. Significantly, the commission has sought comments from Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan who allegedly spent money on paid news in his favour in some Marathi newspapers and did not account for this expenditure in his election accounts. Mr Chavan was elected from Bhokar in Nanded district. The commission has pointed out that three Marathi dailies carried identical news reports praising Mr Chavan. Only the headlines were different. “Prima facie, we felt it was an advertisement masquerading as news”, the commission said. The media occupies a special place in society. It is the conscience-keeper of the nation. It enjoys freedom of speech and expression as guaranteed under the Constitution. It will have to inform the people and the government correctly and dispassionately. It does not enjoy freedom of speech and expression to misinform and give distorted news and project views of a particular party or group in the guise of news for monetary considerations. A newspaper — or a TV news channel — is much more than a product. It is a live medium of communication, information, analysis and opinion and not a commodity. Its fundamental duty is to serve the people with news, views, comments and information on matters of public interest in a fair, accurate, unbiased and sober manner. The media ought to conduct itself in keeping with certain professional norms which are universally recognised. The various norms and guidelines regulating the Press underline one fundamental principle or objective — that the media has some societal compulsions and moral obligations. Journalists may enjoy complete freedom in the exercise of their duties. But this freedom is not without responsibility and restraints. It is the ethical foundation, based on certain norms and guidelines, which give the Press a stature and strength for a major societal role, particularly where credibility is the principal criterion. Ethical practices and norms distinguish rights from wrongs. An unfettered and restrained Press, without ethical concerns, can be a threat to free society and to its very independence. If a newspaper or a TV channel takes money to publish or telecast a news item, it will have a debilitating influence on society. Free and fair elections are sine qua non of a democratic form of government. And elections will cease to be a level-playing field for all candidates if some, with bags of money, grease the palms of newspaper or television barons and get undue coverage. Clearly, paid news, if not checked, will subvert democracy. True, there are problems in bringing the guilty to book. Circumstantial evidence may not always be available. There is also the question of transactional evidence that would hold up to legal scrutiny. Yet, nothing prevents the government from framing suitable guidelines for an independent and transparent monitoring mechanism after due deliberations with bodies like the Editors’ Guild, the Advertising Standards Council, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, the Press Council and the Election Commission. The Press Council needs to be given more teeth. At present, it is hardly able to do anything other than reprimanding or censoring those found guilty. It would be eminently sensible to empower the Election Commission to enforce the guidelines. The Centre should also try for an all-party consensus for a legislation to tackle paid news. The suggestion for an amendment to the Representation of the People Act declaring paid news as an electoral malpractice merits serious consideration. Without this, the Election Commission would find it difficult to take action. According to Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, the commission needed “solid proof” that could stand the test of legal scrutiny. The Editors’ Guild has suggested that the expenditure limit of candidates be raised to a “realistic level” as the present ceiling on election expenses — Rs 25 lakh for a Lok Sabha seat and Rs 10 lakh for an Assembly seat — is being cited by politicians as a reason for resorting to paid news. But the Election Commission has expressed its limitations in this regard. Parliament alone can take the initiative in raising the ceiling on election expenses. As for taking action against politicians and mediapersons who violated disclosure norms, Mr Chawla is of the view that the Election Commission did not have the mechanism to monitor candidates in all constituencies. However, he suggested that some “random samples” could be put under close scrutiny. If a few candidates were made an example, it would serve a warning to others, he says. As paid news impinges on the people’s right to know and wreaks havoc on the democratic system, it must be tackled expeditiously. At stake are the credibility and moral foundation of the Indian
media. |
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Ways of the railways
THE Indian Railways, faced with an acute resources crunch, is engaged in an exercise thinking up ways and means to raise the wind and one of the ideas that is receiving close attention at the highest ministerial level is to ask bulk customers to provide their own freight wagons. Will the idea catch on and extended to fare-paying passengers and will they be required to lug with them three-tier sleeper coaches, chair cars and general compartments when they arrive at a railway station to commence their journey? I have been talking to Member (Coaching) of the Railway Board. “Yes indeed,” he said, “there’s a distinct possibility that the next railway budget will contain provisions making it mandatory for passengers to provide their own compartments, but no final decision has yet been taken”. “As you know, the railway ministry had almost finalised a deal to import 10,000 steel bogies and wheel-and-axle sets from Japan and Germany, but due to budgetary constraints, the contract had to be scrapped at the last minute and therefore we are thinking of asking passengers to bring with them, along with their tiffin carriers and hold-alls, steel bogies and wheel-and-axle sets which they can place on the tracks and perch comfortably and commence their journey.” “What about the improved amenities for passengers which the railway minister is talking about?” I asked. “That’s receiving out top-most attention,” said the Member (Coaching),” after all, fare-paying passengers are our bread-and-butter. Our station masters, gangmen and khalasis have been given standing instructions to provide also possible assistance to our passengers in this regard and unload the steel bogies and wheel-and-axle sets from their luxury taxis and help place them on the Permanent Way.” The Member (Coaching) continued: “Because of labour unrest and power shortage, Indian industry has failed to supply the railways heavy-duty buffer couplers and vacuum brakes and we might ask passengers to provide these equipment also. “Because of the resources crunch” many of our air-conditioned sleeper coaches and chair cars are running without airconditioners and we’re thinking as asking passengers to ruthlessly strip their offices and residences of five-tonne airconditioners and air coolers and bring them along to be fitted to their compartments. There’s a likely possibility that they might also be required to provide high end signalling gear”. “Let’s be grateful for small mercies,” I said, “at least you’re not thinking of asking them to provide rails.” “Don’t be too sure” cautioned the Member (Coaching), “our contingency plans call for directing passengers to bring with them 56-kg Long Welded Rails and place them progressively on the Permanent Way as their journey progresses.” “I’m glad that passenger amenities aren’t being given the goby despite the perilous resources position the railways find themselves in, I said, “but just one last question.” Besides steel bogies and wheel-and-axle sets, heavy-duty buffer couplers and vacuum brakes, air conditioners, signalling equipment and long-welded rails, will the passengers be required to bring anything else with them?” “Just one thing. Engines.” |
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by Raj Chengappa, Editor-in-Chief
Omar
Abdullah is 15 months into the job and it’s been a turbulent period for India’s youngest Chief Minister heading one of the country’s most troubled and sensitive states - Jammu and Kashmir. The young Abdullah, who turned 40, seemed to have weathered the initial storm and has got down to real business of governance keeping his focus on gut issues like power, education, roads, health and jobs. The suave Chief Minister, dressed in a trendy linen suit, spent an hour talking today to The Tribune’s Editor-in-Chief Raj Chengappa and principal correspondent Jupinderjit Singh at his official residence in Jammu. Excerpts: You have now been 15 months in the saddle and your critics say your performance has been average. What’s your response? If my critics were praising me I would be worried. The fact that they are criticising me is rather heartening because then we must be doing something right. I think on the whole it has been a good 15 months. There have been ups and downs but given the challenges we have had to face, we have succeeded in improving the quality of governance, improving the delivery on the promises we have made. We have sought to improve the inclusiveness of the government. We have provided a good atmosphere in terms of security and law and order. And all-round development. As I said it was not free of its share of troubles but we have dealt with these also — perhaps in the best possible way. On top of that I am heading a coalition government which is an exercise in diplomacy. So I think under the circumstances, we have done a bloody good job. What’s the big lesson you have learnt? I think the biggest lesson is to learn but take your own decisions. And any decision is better than no decision at all. Unlike governments in the past, I believe in doing things rather than in talking about doing things. My own style of doing things is to talk less and let my work talk for me. What have you provided in terms of infrastructure? In infrastructure, we have been working on not one but two central universities and four-laning of the national highway between Jammu and Srinagar which will significantly cut down the distance between the two. We have developed international airports but flights have been sketchy. We have focused on rural connectivity. In a large part of Jammu and Kashmir, connectivity is thin on the ground. You have an area like the erstwhile Doda district, which has 16 per cent road connectivity. This is abysmally low that too 60 plus years after Independence. If you can’t get a bus to village, then what are you telling people. It is really the nuts and bolts, bijli, sadak, pani, sehat and taleem. These are our five focus areas to prove qualitative improvement in the lives of the people. Power is another one. We generate 2500 mw while we talk about the potential of 17000 mw capacity. So, we are trying to add another 6000 mw in the next five to seven years. So, these are really the big ticket focus items. You have to come to power on the basis of providing jobs to the people. What have you done about that? We have put into place a policy for the youth. Basically, the problem has been that employment has been looked at from the prism of government jobs. In J and K, a government job is the first option. The private sector is a measure of the last resort. We are gradually trying to change that. We are trying to start a system where a stipend could be provided to economically weaker and backward sections that are struggling to find jobs. We are also working on an aggressive programme on developing our skill development infrastructure. We have 18 polytechnics coming up in various districts. We are trying to provide one ITI for every two administrative blocks. The idea is to convert essentially unemployed youth into employable youngsters, provide them those skills to match the areas they come from. And the potential that exists there. At the same time, we are trying to see how many government jobs we can create without putting too much of additional burden on the economy. Why did the policy of inter-district recruitment ban come up? What we found was that better educated youngsters from one part of the state would get jobs in more difficult areas and not serve there. They would then get the posts transferred out. So, in fact, the area they got recruited into would not have their services. Besides, the posts available to that area would suffer. There are three kinds of government jobs — the district cadre, the provincial and the state level. The new ban is applicable to the district level only and we have ensured that the constitutional safeguards of 8 per cent for the Scheduled Castes have not been affected. Was it a ploy to scuttle any non-valley citizen from taking valley jobs and also populating the region, thereby changing the demographics? No, absolutely not. Please understand that we have only brought back a situation which existed up to 2004. It is not as if we have reverted to something that existed in pre-1947. It is not as if it was a Jammu versus Kashmir thing. More often, we found that it was a problem within Kashmir. People from Anantnag were getting jobs in Kupwara and Kupwara people were saying what was wrong with us. So, this in a sense was just to protect the employment interests of these districts. Your main opposition party, the PDP, just today launched an agitation for India and Pakistan to settle the Kashmir issue? I have my doubts on the extent to which they will be able to involve the people. They know that no amount of agitation on our part is going to get India and Pakistan talking to each other until the two countries are ready themselves. What is your approach? I think both will have to fulfil what they have been saying so far. For that, Pakistan has to ensure that its territory is not used against India and India has to ensure that we keep the dialogue process going on in spite of efforts made to sabotage or hijack it. If we can just do this, I think half of battle is done. Has there been a rise in militancy in the Valley? Contrary to popular perception that we are having a hot summer, infiltration this year is lower than last year at the same time. But, obviously, we have to remain on our guard. There is absolutely zero room for complacency. There is no room for letting our guard down. Should the Army reduce its forces in the Valley? I think it is something for the Army to decide. And it has to be taken out of the political arena. The decision to bring the Army in was not a political one. It was based on the security environment in the state at that time. And the decision to take the Army out will also be based not on political sloganeering of any political party. It will be based on the comfort level of the state government and the Central Government with the inputs from the forces on the ground. And keeping that in mind, we have had some amount of de-location of forces and we have done it quietly. Without all the bells and whistles that normally go with such decision. And so far it has worked absolutely fine. What’s your approach to the question of revoking the Armed Forces Special Powers Act? It is a two-pronged one. In the medium term, we will hope to revoke it completely. But obviously in the near future, we would like it modified and amended so that the more draconian aspects of it can be taken away, like the search and seizure permissions, the mobile check posts that are allowed to be set up, where the law and machinery is kept out of the purview of this. Those aspects need to be looked at. How should the Army be dealing with the people — we just had the case of a 70-year-old being killed? What they need to build into the system is transparency and accountability. Your opponent shave been pushing for self-rule. But you have been talking about autonomy. What do you want? Well, basically, that the autonomy to J and K is a constitutionally mandated situation that existed between 1947 and 1953. And we believe that is the way forward. But we also say that there is enough scope for discussion. Clearly, we are neither the only political party here, nor are we the only voice and it is important that the government of India in the light of the Justice Sagheer Ahmed Report start engaging various voices and find a road map that is acceptable to the majority of people. Between Jammu and Kashmir, a lot of trouble happened earlier because of the Amarnath Yatra. What have you been doing to bring the two regions together? Just basically ensuring that each region gets it due share. No more, no less. We are trying to ensure that no region feels cheated or robbed at the hands of other one. There are sensitivities and those have to be addressed. And in this, the government of India has also played its part on the issue of the central university, which some political parties were hoping would flare up into an Amarnath agitation based on regional lines. And they were kind enough to sanction two central universities and that put an end to that. Has the Amarnath land row being resolved? It is a non-issue. The shrine board is free to use whatever land it needs to for the duration of the yatra and that has always been the case and it will continue to be the case. Does the shadow of your father, Farooq Abdullah, fall on you. What lessons have you learnt from him? We learn from everybody that we come across and meet. And I learn from dad almost everyday. I think he is one of the few people I turn for advice, knowing that it won’t be in anyway biased or motivated by self interest. I learnt from him to be straight forward. I think my dad takes it to new heights but I tend not to do that. What is the difference between you and your father? Well, I don’t play golf. (laughs) |
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Omar
