{"id":134682,"date":"2020-08-15T02:35:59","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T21:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=134682"},"modified":"2020-08-15T02:35:59","modified_gmt":"2020-08-14T21:05:59","slug":"politics-at-its-worst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2020\/08\/15\/politics-at-its-worst\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics at its worst"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bengaluru Riots<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\nBy Insaf<\/strong><\/p>\n

Riots and the aftermath give political parties a handle to settle scores, rather than heal the wounds. The country\u2019s digital capital, Bengaluru, is the latest example. Following mob violence in east Bengaluru, the police on Thursday last filed FIRs which include 16 accused as members of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), political arm of Popular Front of India. Denying it, the SDPI says it\u2019s being \u201cdragged just to cover-up police inaction against blasphemy and failure of state\u2019s intelligence unit.\u201d On Tuesday last, 3 youth were killed in police firing and about a dozen cops injured after a mob attacked a police station and targeted Congress MLA Srinivas Murthy\u2019s house over a social media with derogatory references to Islam by his nephew. The ruling BJP has accused the Congress of not being \u2018vocal\u2019 against the rioters, saying \u2018appeasement\u2019 seemed to be its official policy; the Congress and JD(S) instead termed the incident as \u201ca planned conspiracy\u201d and would set up a fact finding committee; the Government says it\u2019s considering banning PFI and SDPI; the Congress has advised ban RSS and its affiliates too, as these are \u201ctwo sides of the same coin.\u201d Such tu-tu-mein-mein has been heard before and will go on. Attempts to get communities together is nowhere on their agenda. They simply can\u2019t see the wood for the trees.<\/p>\n

Rajasthan Truce
\nForget, forgive and move on\u2014the truce finally brokered in the fractured Rajasthan Congress. A month after all hell broke loose between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former Deputy Sachin Pilot, the Congress High Command finally doused the fire, which could have brought its House down. Sachin and his set of 18 MLAs are back in the fold. Interestingly, Gehlot termed it as a \u2018win of citizens\u2019, and not of the party. Perhaps sharp enough to realise that the trust deficit between the two camps is far from being bridged. While both leaders met on Thursday last, there is unease in the Gehlot camp as his 100-odd MLAs are not ecstatic about taking the rebels back and opposed it. Not to say that the Pilot camp isn\u2019t edgy either, as in an interview he said \u2018most of his MLAs were scared\u2026we thought by going to Jaipur they will be harassed.\u2019 For the time being, the real patch-up can wait, as Gehlot and team prepare for the trust vote, with the BJP moving a no-confidence motion against their government. The crisis is now a \u201cclosed chapter\u201d, will a fresh one open? With details of the truce unknown, there could be many a slip between the cup and the lip.
\nPunjab Cong \u2018Revolt\u2019
\nOne door closes and another opens. Not of opportunity but trouble for the Grand old party! It\u2019s been over 10 days since senior Congress leaders Partap Singh Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo sounded the bugle of revolt against their Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, but the High Command maintains a stoic silence! Nagging tension is brewing among the elected MLAs as after Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the rebellion bug has bitten their State. What next, is the big question as the drama comes amidst rumours of a new political formation in the State. Amarinder camp suspects the BJP is behind SAD leader SS Dhindsa\u2019s attempt to form a new Akali Dal and that Bajwa\u2019s positioning is part of plans to join it, which he denies. The trouble began after Bajwa and Dullo, met Governor Badnore and demanding a CBI\/ED probe into the spurious liquor tragedy. State Congress President Sunil Jakhar views it as crossing the \u2018laksham rekha\u2019 and has written to High Command seeking their expulsion. Bajwa instead wants Amarinder\u2019s ouster and warns if it doesn\u2019t happen Congress shall be wiped out in Punjab. He insists the MLAs be called to Delhi to express their views in private about CM\u2019s popularity. Will Delhi oblige and if so, when?<\/p>\n

Devastating Landslide
\nGod\u2019s own country has more on its hands than it can handle. If dealing with fresh cases of COVID-19 was not enough, the rain god is playing havoc in Kerala. In Pettimudi, hamlet of Idukki, an entire region was washed away in the devastating landslide with very few having survived. Following a visit, Chief Minister Vijayan on Thursday last, assured the State would identify alternate land and build homes for those who have lost their \u2018layams\u2019, other than the compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the victims\u2019 families.. He also assured all educational expenses of some 12th standard students and few others pursuing degree course who survived in the initial hours would be borne by government. So far, 55 bodies were retrieved, 15 are still buried and only 12 persons were rescued. While the CM said the approach will be same as during the landslide in Kavalappara last year, claiming 59 lives, the moot question is why do these tragedies occur yearly? Serious introspection is vital as there are regions across the State vulnerable to slipping during heavy rain. Plus, it\u2019s not just Kerala, but other States wait for disasters to happen and forget the adage: A stitch in time saves nine.<\/p>\n

No Opening of Temples
\nEngulfed by COVID-19, Maharashtra simply can\u2019t handle more. On Thursday last, the government informed the High Court its machinery is \u2018overburdened\u2019 and it can\u2019t give in to the demand to allow Jain temples in Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Pune to open for Paryushan, August 15 to 23. If allowed \u2018there is an imminent danger of coronavirus that may result in loss of life,\u201d it pleaded. The two petitions, including that of Jain Gyanmandir Trust, sought \u2018if malls, marketplaces, barber shops, spas, saloons, beauty parlours and liquor shops could be operated with restrictions, then why couldn\u2019t the community offer prayers at its temples while observing social distancing norms.\u2019 Government countered saying \u2018if permission is granted for this, then there will be similar requests from other various religions, castes\/communities and if allowed it shall result in spreading of the virus and open floodgates of coronavirus patients.\u2019 The court refused to grant relief but decided to keep the matter pending, pass order next month when government issues new COVID-19 guidelines. \u201cLet us wait for a few days. God is with you and within you…..,\u201dthe bench said. Justified alright.<\/p>\n

Goa\u2019s Temple Compromise
\nVillagers of Guleli, in Goa can thank the almighty that the BJP government is in tune with them. On Wednesday last, the Cabinet readily agreed to their demand for land for a temple out of the proposed allotment for an IIT! Of the 10 lakh square metres for building an IIT campus, the Pramod Sawant government has now marked and diverted a land parcel of 45,000 square metres \u2018for religious activity in an attempt to pacify Guleli villagers who have objected to the construction of the campus amidst their village\u2019. In July, the government had announced allocation of the land for the campus, in the backdrop of New Delhi\u2019s initiative given that the IIT currently is sharing space with Goa Engineering College in another village, Farmagudi, in South Goa. However, there was a dispute as the villagers claimed the land was allotted for a temple and they needed it for the religious functions. But the government seems to have found a midway and is hopeful there shouldn\u2019t be any more resistance. Another easy justification would be that the IIT too is a temple \u2014of learning. \u2014INFA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bengaluru Riots By Insaf Riots and the aftermath give political parties a handle to settle scores, rather than heal the wounds. The country\u2019s digital capital, Bengaluru, is the latest example. Following mob violence in east Bengaluru, the police on Thursday last filed FIRs which include 16 accused as members of Social Democratic Party of India […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-134682","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134682\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}