J&K Statehood
By Insaf
Is the Centre putting the cart before the horse, is a question being asked in Jammu and Kashmir. This, as despair and cynicism continues among the political parties in the UT from proceedings underway in the Supreme Court over constitutionality of abrogation of Article 370. On one hand, the Centre asserted elections ‘can be held anytime from now. It’s for ECI and UT election commission to take the call…’, and on the other said ‘J&K’s UT status is a temporary thing…exact time frame for restoration of complete statehood can’t be given at the moment. It might take some time…’ This was in response to the five-judge Constitution bench asking ‘specific time frame’ to restore actual democracy. As ‘lack of electoral democracy can’t be allowed to go on indefinitely… This has to come an end…’ The principal parties, the National Conference and PDP have debunked the Centre’s stand as ‘diverting the issue’, ‘nothing new being said’ ‘elections without Statehood don’t mean anything’ and Apni Party seen to be close to Centre said, ‘it’s the same casual statement they have been giving for past three years!’
And while the Centre has been justifying its stand on removing the special status enjoyed by J&K, it’s also going at great lengths to claim that its steps to restore normalcy in the region are yielding results. These include: Rs 28,400 crore central sector schemes for industrial development; Rs 78,000 crore of private sector; Rs 2,153 crore actual investment done in 2022-23; of 53 projects sanctioned under PM’s Development Package, 32 are complete; terror-related incidents down by 45.20% compared to 2018; infiltration down by 90.20%, law and order events reduced 97.20%; incidents of stone-pelting and hartals are nil as against 1,767 in 2018; casualty of security personnel down by 65.90%, organised bandhs by secessionist groups down from 52 in 2018 to nil; tourism has footfall of 1.88 crore in 2022, and till date, over one crore people have visited the UT. Be that as it may, the region deserves restoration of its democratic rights, deprived for over five years, since the fall of the PDP-BJP government in 2018. Enough is enough!
Assembly & General Polls
Elections in five States — Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan by year-end may have the Centre now contemplating rolling out its pet project, simultaneous Lok Sabha polls (due May-June) and advancing these. Rumours to this effect are floating since Thursday last following the government constituting a committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind to explore the feasibility of ‘one nation, one election’, as was the case in 1967. How soon the committee meets and prepares its report is a question. Importantly, the decision comes 24 hours later after the government decided to call a special session of Parliament between September 18 and 22, with no agenda spelt out. This has made the Opposition bloc ‘INDIA’ meeting (the third) in Mumbai see urgency in finalising its strategy and setting up a coordination committee, sub-groups to work on common agenda, seat sharing, media strategy, joint actions for campaign and rallies etc. The aim being that it should be ready for all contingency plans to take on the NDA’s surprise element strategy and ‘gimmicks.’ A tall order alright. Doubling of efforts will depend till the secrecy of the special Parliament session being called is out in the open.
“Mockery” In Manipur
‘Stop mockery, let’s save democracy’ slogans in Manipur Assembly on Tuesday last were not off the mark. The one-day session was less than an hour and adjourned sine die! The blame was put on Congress MLAs for shouting slogans demanding the session be extended to five days to discuss the grave situation prevailing. Instead, the House passed resolutions among others to ‘resolve all differences among the people, till complete peace returns to the entire State, through dialogue and constitutional means.’ Clearly, dialogue isn’t working as all 10 Kuki MLAs, including BJP’s 7 were absent, making pale the resolution ‘to work for oneness and harmony of all the people of Manipur, irrespective of caste, community, region, religion or language.” The absentee MLAs reasoning being given Biren Singh’s failure in protecting lives of common people and officials, convening the session ‘is devoid of logic and rationality’. Apparently, the session was called to avoid a constitutional crisis as it must be convened every 6 months and the last was held in March. The exercise over, the government is at odds to restore normalcy. At least 6 persons were killed on Thursday last in firing going on for three days between Kuki-Zomi-dominated Churachandpur district and Meitei-dominated Bishnupur district. Perhaps it’s time for the BJP headquarters to consider replacing the Chief Minister as being demanded to instil semblance of some confidence among the people.
Punjab’s No To Corruption
‘Zero tolerance against corruption’, is Punjab government’s message to its employees. ‘Neither any corrupt element nor their sympathisers will be spared in the drive to make the system transparent, clean and effective in the public’s larger interest’, warned Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday last. A day earlier, ESMA was invoked, barring all government officials and employees from leaving their place of posting till October 31 or till further orders. The trigger: over 2,000 employees under banner of ‘Revenue Patwar Union’ and ‘Revenue Kanungo Association’ have called for a pen-down indefinite strike from Friday (September 1) over a corruption case registered a week ago against two revenue officials in Sangrur district. While the Unions say they aren’t buckling down, Mann tweets: “…they are free to go ahead with a pen-down strike, but the government will later decide whether to give them their pens back or not … we have many educated unemployed people who are ready to hold your pens. The people of Punjab will not be allowed to suffer.” Moreso, as revenue officials and staff are critical for disbursement of crop compensation to and relief material to farmers affected by the floods. Will Mann’s policy to wipe out corruption succeed? Easier said than done.
Delhi, Most Polluted
The nation’s Capital, Delhi, now holds the distinction of being the world’s most polluted city! A report, Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) by Energy Policy Institute, University of Chicago, warns its 18 million residents are on track to lose ‘11.9 years of life’ if current levels of pollution continue to be higher than the limit set by WHO and 8.5 years relative to the national guideline. If it’s any consolation for Delhiites, ‘all of India’s 1.3 billion people live in areas where the annual average particulate pollution level exceeds the 5 µg/m3 limit’; and 67.4% of these live in areas which exceed the country’s own national air quality standard. The country also was responsible for 59.1% of the world’s rise in pollution from 2013 to 2021 and is among only six others—Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, Nigeria and Indonesia where 3/4th of people lose ‘one to over 6 years of their lives because of the air they breathe’. While India declared a war against pollution in 2019 with its ‘National Clean Air Programme’, it failed to meet the target in those 101 cities. There’s a fresh target and fingers be kept crossed if ‘New India’ breathes clean air. — INFA