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Infighting in BJP
Russian realpolitik |
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Another coup in Pakistan unlikely
Faced with a dilemma
Unrepresented half in Indian politics
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Infighting in BJP Pre-poll
ticket distribution triggering protests and desertions is common across political parties. In the BJP, which released a list of its candidates on Saturday, not just those denied the ticket but also senior leaders displaced from their safe seats have voiced their dissatisfaction in public. Rift in the party deepened when Murli Manohar Joshi was asked to vacate Varanasi for Narendra Modi and Lalji Tandon Lucknow for Rajnath Singh. Haryana BJP workers ransacked the party office in Rohtak. Pradeep Sangwan quit as the secretary of the party unit in Haryana over the denial of the ticket for Sonepat. The usually voluble Navjot Sidhu quietly and gracefully accepted Arun Jaitley for Amritsar, though he refused to contest from any other costituency. BJP-Akali politicking has cost him politically. In Chandigarh BJP workers burnt the effigy of Kirron Kher, who is seen as an "outsider". By choosing Varanasi, Modi has lifted the party cadre's morale in UP, which elects 80 MPs. However, the BJP's leaning over the MNS can hit the party prospects in UP and Bihar, given Raj Thackeray's occasional fulminations against north-Indians. Varanasi is a BJP stronghold, though Joshi won in 2009 only by 17,000 votes. AAP's Arvind Kejriwal has tentatively decided to take on Modi, but put off a formal announcement to March 23. The contest may take a new turn if opposition parties decide to put up a united fight to defeat Modi. If Modi chooses another constituency in Gujarat, as reports suggest, this may be held against him during campaigning. He may have to explain which seat he would keep, post results. If there is a Modi wave, as BJP leaders claim, then why contest two seats? Reasons for discontent are varied. Sushma Swaraj's objection over the party admitting B. Sriramulu, a tainted Karnataka leader, has been ignored. Joshi first heard about his displacement from Varanasi from the media. Patriarch L.K. Advani is sulking. The party leadership needs to take its grumbling senior leaders along. To counter discontent and infighting, decisions should be taken democratically instead of being imposed from above.
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Russian realpolitik Crimea
has been recognised as an independent state by Russia following a referendum on Sunday that overwhelmingly voted for the region to secede from Ukraine. The US and the European Union have reacted in a predictable manner by imposing sanctions on some senior political and military officials, but the full annexation of the Black Sea peninsula is increasingly being seen as a fait accompli. Russian President Vladimir Putin has secured his flanks, and found popular support in his country for his tough action, even as he has been widely condemned by the West for virtually annexing a Russian-dominated part of Ukraine. The crisis triggered off memories of the cold war. Its origins lay in the protests in Ukrainian against initial Russian overtures to wean that part of the former Soviet Union from the European Union. Indeed, the anti-government protests in Ukraine received widespread support from the West. The protesters were eventually able to overthrow the pro-Russian president, but this only provoked Moscow to move in and flex its muscle. There is little doubt that the referendum was heavily influenced by the presence of unmarked troops, evidently Russian, which had been moved to the region. Messages of support to the government of Ukraine, from which Crimea has voted to secede, came in from US President Obama and EU leaders, but they are not enough. The writing on the wall is that President Putin's realpolitik has succeeded, even as it set a dangerous precedent. Crimea is now under Moscow's influence. The process of its absorption into the Russian Federation could take time, but the reality of it being treated as a part of Russia was driven home as the new government in Crimea adopted Moscow time as its own. Russia could well face sanctions, but the deed is done - it has aggressively secured its interests in the face of stiff diplomatic opposition from the West.
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A nation is the same people living in the same place. — James Joyce
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Treatment of prisoners in Indian jails IN supporting Mr. Rayaningar's resolution on prison reform Mr. Vijiaraghavachariar made some valuable suggestions which have not received from the public the attention their importance demands. Mr. Archariar referred to the practice of conducting searches to discover forbidden articles such as tobacco and ganja and said that the manner of conducting these searches was calculated "to degrade them not only in the estimation of their fellow beings but also in their own estimation." In at least one of the arsenals the workers were believed to have gone on strike not long ago as protest against this kind of search, but the matter related to the military department and the public had no opportunity of getting at the truth. However, as regards prisons this is a genuine grievance, and it has extended from jails to some of the military arsenals. Not merely has it been general in India but it has also penetrated to South Africa where passive resisters quite recently refused to submit themselves to this kind of treatment. The latest raid on the north-western railway YESTERDAY we briefly referred to the raid that was committed by Bunerwals on the Shahkot railway station and stated that the station-master was carried off by the raiders. Further particulars since received go to show the determination of Bunerwals to resort to reprisals for the punishment inflicted upon them by the Government. Shahkot is only a flag station on the Mardan-Durgai line, 22 miles from Mardan, and the station staff consists of a solitary station-master and two porters. The permanent incumbent being away on two months' leave, B.Thakur Singh was officiating for him; and this was the man who was kidnapped on the night of the 15th instant. The raid is rightly laid at the doors of Bunerwals who were recently punished by the movable column stationed at Malakand which is 12 miles from Shahkot. It now appears that a detachment of cavalry was at once sent in pursuit of the party and it succeeded in overtaking the raiders and their captive.
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Another coup in Pakistan unlikely When Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee visited Lahore, he assured Pakistan that it did not have to look for recognition because the country was its own identity. Vajpayee, still the most popular Indian in Pakistan, also went to the Minar-e-Pakistan, the place where the 1940 resolution for the creation of a separate Muslim state was passed in a Muslim League session. I too went there and heard Vajpayee repeating the words that solidarity and integrity of India was dependent on the solidarity and integrity of Pakistan. It is regretful that some extremist groups washed the Minar-e-Pakistan to "purify" it after his visit. Lahore has expanded eight times since independence. The city is prosperous and shops are full of goods and buyers. Still there are many beggars roaming around. The famous Mall Road is "down town." The defence area has expanded to accommodate the rich and the upper middle class people. Here the extreme disparities between the rich and the poor are visible like any metro in India. Punjab-Lahore is its capital-remains the backbone of Pakistan. Sindh is disturbed, primarily because of the ever-quarrelling Shias and Sunnis. Baluchistan has a national liberation movement demanding autonomy. During my five-day stay, I saw pictures in newspapers and television channels of marchers from Queeta to Islamabad to voice their demand for independence. It had taken them three months to reach Islamabad. India is blamed for supplying money and weapons to sustain insurgency in Baluchistan. The North Western Frontier Province is too engaged in fighting the Taliban from the area adjoining Afghanistan to have respite for development. I asked a leading lawyer what kept Pakistan together. He said straightaway: It was the military. This may well be true. Yet I do not think that there can ever be another coup. The process of democratic governance is deepening all the time and it looks impossible to undo it. People would come to the streets to resist a military dictator. Nonetheless, the military counts in the affairs of Pakistan. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's repeated calls for talks with India cannot be without the consultation of the military. I believe it has drawn a "Lakshman rekha" beyond which the government cannot go. In fact, if one were to follow the media in Pakistan, one would come to the conclusion that both newspapers and television channels stay away from any mention of the army. Otherwise bold and strident, the media would not cross the Taliban path too. Nawaz Sharif favours talks with them. Pakistan's biggest problem is terrorism. What was created to harass India in Kashmir has become a Frankenstein to trouble the country. Both the civil and military authorities are harassed by the Taliban from Afghanistan. Adding to their attacks by the Taliban in Afghanistan is the home-grown group called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). They can strike at anytime, anywhere and kill the ones they want. Fear of terrorists stalks the land. Lahore or, for that matter Punjab, is by and large safe. It is said that state Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has entered into an understanding with the TTP and "rewards" it for sparing the province. But some Taliban are not bothered about a dialogue with the central government. The lower courts at Islamabad were attacked by suicide bombers even when both the government and the Taliban had declared a one-month ceasefire. Pakistan had once declared Afghanistan to be part of its strategic depth. In a briefing, the army chief has reportedly told the media about the change in the policy. There is no strategic depth, he has conveyed. Maybe, this is because of Pakistan's inward-looking policy. The country faces a host of problems. The lengthening shadow of fundamentalism is only one of them, however important. What disappointed me most in Lahore was the absence of protests against human rights violations. Liberal voices are hardly heard. Nobody dares mentioning the killing of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, who voiced his opposition to the blasphemy laws. Back home, as many as 69 Kashmiri students in Meerut's Vivekanand University were suspended for cheering the Pakistani cricket team. They were first booked for sedition. The suspension evoked so much criticism that the students had to be taken back. However, this indicates the mindset on Kashmiris as far as India is concerned. The authorities which suspended the students were either a bigoted lot or a set of people who believed that they would be applauded for their anti-Pakistani step. Nothing like that happened. There was no reaction and even the media inured to sensationalise did nothing beyond reporting the university's step. Both incidents, the celebration and the suspension, emphasise the narrative before partition-the Hindu India and the Muslim Pakistan-has not changed. Deep down it is the same thinking that religion identifies the nations. Even after 67 years since Independence India has not been able to implant secularism as firmly as it has done in the case of democracy. Pakistan has little minority problem because the ethnic cleansing in the country has been substantial. Therefore, the quarrels are confined only to the Sunnis and the Shias. The Ahmedias, declared non-Muslims, bear the brunt and their graves are being dug to throw out the remains. As for relations between India and Pakistan, the hostility has worn off, giving way to a desire to befriend India. Were there to be relaxation of visas, the visitors from Pakistan would come in thousands. This holds good for India as well. The problem at this end is that the extremist fringe represented by the Jammat-e-Islami and Hafeez Sayeed is taken as the prevalent mood in Pakistan.
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Faced with a dilemma In dark pink, she was rather over dressed. Of average height and somewhat chubby, she could have been around thirty. "You can call me Prem", she said, flashing a smile. "And what is your good name?" Her diction betrayed her school dropout status. I noticed that she had put her knee against the gear stick. I sensed trouble. "Where would you like to be dropped?" I asked, ignoring her query. "To which side are you going?" came the counter-question. "West" I said, deliberately vague. "Same to same." My thinking went turbulent. She took out a toothpaste tube from her bag and offering it said, "It is foreign made; only 250 rupees." "No thanks." I was trying to keep panic out of my voice. I thought whistling would show nonchalance; twice I essayed, but could manage only a hiss. She repeated her offer with a shaving cream. "No, I do not have money for such expenses," I said, seemingly calm, though I was anything but. "Don't joke," she said pushing her knee further right, "that brief case is rich". She had obviously noticed it lying on the rear seat. Her sales charade went through a perfume, a fountain pen and some more. I had heard blackmail and extortion stories. "This was it". By now I was sure of what her plan was and that she could further it by any means. I felt trapped and scared at the frightening possibilities. "I have to do something… And fast". Many options came to mind but I had difficulty in reasoning. By the time I turned left towards Palam an idea had begun taking hold. "Where can I drop you?" I asked again. "Before that, you buy", she was getting more direct and demanding. "Actually", I said, "I am a police DIG going to Dhaula Kuan police station for a visit. Would you like to come?" The gamble worked. "Just leave me here", she said, pulling away her knee and hurriedly closing her bag. Her anger and frustration showed in the way she banged the car door, almost off its hinges. It had been close shave and I let out a loud phew as I sped off. Many questions came crowding. "Should I have purchased one of the wares? And would she have then left? Should I have raised the alarm? How else could I have reacted? Where did I go wrong? Was it a mistake to give lift to a woman on request? Would I ever do it again?" I did not have an answer to any of these questions. I still don't.
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Unrepresented half in Indian politics
While
India prepares for yet another election, one question continues to remain unanswered; the role of women in Indian politics. Typically, the answer is suffused with contradictions. On the one hand, India falls in the lowest quartile with respect to the number of women in parliament (9.1 per cent, 14th Lok Sabha) much lesser than countries like Rwanda (56.7 per cent), South Africa (44.5 per cent), Mozambique (34.8 per cent) and many others, according to the UN's 2008 survey of women in politics. On the other hand, representation of women leaders in the Panchayati Raj and other grassroots level institutions is nearly 50 per cent, with some states like Karnataka inducting women into rural politics even before it was mandated by the constitution. Several states, including Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand have increased the number of reserved panchayati seats to 50 per cent. The 15th Lok Sabha elections had delivered a record 59 women as members of Parliament, the highest since Independence, raising their parliamentary participation to 10.7 per cent with seventeen of these women being under 40 years of age. However, the problem of Indian politics is that reservations are made for women but women are not included in the policy making process es that affect their lives. Women are not given the opportunity to work on major political issues. Rather most often they are relegated to the "women's wing" of the party, and made to concentrate on what are seen as specifically "women's issues" such as dowry and rape cases. Occasionally, they work on more general concerns like price rise, which is seen to especially affect the "housewives". That brings us to the larger question — the future of women politicians in India. Is it too much of a coincidence that the women who really do well in politics are only those who head certain political parties? Else, they are related to the men in powerful political positions. More and more entities are recognising the power of micro-loans and how they can elevate an entire segment of society. And the route to the underserved is often through women, thanks to models based on Grameen Bank and others. But it fails to translate into a point of political advantage for women. Statistics reveal that India lags behind many countries, including its neighbours Pakistan and Nepal, when it comes to women's participation in politics. With only 10.8 per cent of women representation in the Lok Sabha and 10.3 per cent in the Rajya Sabha, India ranks 98 in the world, according to the data released by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), an international group that works for promoting democracy, peace and co-operation in the world.
Not even one- third India, the world's largest democracy, has now only 59 women representatives out of 545 members in the Lok Sabha, while there are 25 female MPs in the 242-member Rajya Sabha. While India shares its position with Jordan, it is ranked 47 places below Pakistan and 80 places behind Nepal. Women, who comprise nearly 50 per cent of India's population, continue to be under-represented in all aspects of politics including as elected representatives in the Parliament and Legislative Councils. The marginalisation of women from politics is clear as today women hold only 10.9 percent of the parliamentary seats and make up less than 1 percent of ministers and 4 percent of the negotiators in major development processes. There is growing momentum among governments and civil society to foster and ensure women's participation and leadership in the political arena, specifically within local governance structures. Establishing quotas for women's representation at different levels of government has been a strategic tactic in achieving this goal in many countries. In India, the Constitution (73rd Amendment Act), enacted in 1993, mandated the reservation of a minimum of one-third of seats for women (both as members and as chairpersons) within all of India's locally elected governance bodies commonly referred to as Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). The amendment also entrusted panchayats with the responsibility of furthering the agenda of economic development and social justice.
On development agenda Affirmative action to ensure women's political representation is needed to democratise local governance. However, it does not guarantee effective participation or ensure that issues of concern to the community and to women will automatically be addressed by the local governance structures. Such issues reflect women's practical gender needs as well as their strategic gender interests. Practical gender needs are immediate needs such as water and healthcare, and the importance of these issues cannot be undermined. There is a need then to better understand how politics can become more engaged and proactive around strategic gender issues and provide spaces to promote gender equity within an overall framework of gender responsive governance. Women's leadership and effective participation is increasingly on the development agenda of governments, bilateral and multilateral agencies, and non-governmental organisations, including women's rights groups. Evidence from programmes and research demonstrates the important role women play as key actors and decision-makers in the development process across a wide range of sectors. This poor picture of women's participation in politics in the country has led women activists to demand greater political representation and call for the passage of the bill that promises a 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament. The Women's Reservation Bill demands the political inclusion of women through a 33 per cent reservation of seats mandate through Parliamentary elections. This has been a long-standing demand of over 17 years which has routinely been treated with little seriousness from the political leaders. When the Parliament can pass the Telangana Bill despite stiff opposition, why can't they do the same for the Women's Reservation Bill? Why is the system so hostile towards empowerment of women?
Just a vote bank The male dominated political parties are interested only in the female vote bank and are not interested to promote female membership in the party beyond a certain limit. In all the major national parties there are separate sub-sections for women --Mahila Congress of the Indian National Congress, Mahila Morcha of the Bharatiya Janata Party, National Federation of Indian Women of the Communist Party of India etc. These wings are agitating against price rise, atrocities against women or such other issues, which any government should take up and address. But in practice, governments leave such issues unresolved and women keep making a little noise now and then and are silenced thereafter. Women too have to change their mode of approach to political participation, to aspire for substantial representation in the legislative bodies. Women from all strata of society should join political parties of their choice and correct the disparity in male-female ratio in the parties at the grassroots level, as well as in executive bodies. More women should take primary membership of the parties and be actively involved in local activities. Without improving the primary membership and grassroots level activities, not many women could rise to the senior positions of a party. In general women may have to face a lot of obstacles — gender discriminations, petty jealousies, scandals, economic constraints, discord in the family and so on. Without proper representation of women in the legislative bodies and political participation of women at all levels, issues concerning women will remain neglected. And women’s role in shaping mainstream policies will remain negligible. According to the Constitution of India, women being the weaker section of society having suffered centuries of oppression, they are eligible for reservation wherever necessary. So far, women's representation in the legislative bodies is literally being obstructed by male domination and it's high time that constitutional and political action plays its part in resolving this
problem. The writer, a well known activist on women’s issues, is Director, Centre for Social Research, New Delhi.
Can’t do with them, can’t do without them
Less is not equal
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I
WAS at Lahore when Pakistan defeated India in the Asia Cup cricket match. There were celebrations and firing in the air. This is understandable because a country which is one-seventh of India feels elated by vanquishing it in some field. Even otherwise, there is no love lost between the two. What surprised me was the running theme in the talks about victory that India has not accepted Pakistan. This is not true and politicians in Pakistan raise this slogan to frighten the voters for their candidature. But why Pakistan should seek recognition from India for its identity is beyond my comprehension.
The
