{"id":179007,"date":"2021-12-11T02:15:12","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T20:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=179007"},"modified":"2021-12-11T02:15:12","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T20:45:12","slug":"wake-up-call-afspa-must-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2021\/12\/11\/wake-up-call-afspa-must-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Wake up call, afspa must go"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nagaland Tragedy<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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

The tragedy in Nagaland couldn\u2019t have been summed up better. Rajya Sabha member KG Kenye of Naga People\u2019s Front said on Thursday last: \u201cAll efforts, which have been put in by wise men, by leaders, by right-thinking citizens from all walks of life, have been destroyed in a matter of a few hours,\u201d referring to the recent killing of civilians in security forces a botched up operation, the aftermath mayhem and the enactment of AFSPA, \u201cwhich when brought on the floor of this August House, was followed by a marathon debate\u2026 which stretched for days together\u201d. MPs from different parts of the country, he said, had vehemently opposed it expressing grave fears about its \u201cmisuse and abuse,\u2026 they were prophetic and have been proven correct\u2026\u201d Indeed, the killing of 14 civilians and a soldier in three incidents since Saturday last has shattered the relative calm and the Centre\u2019s claim of better times. Worse, it has put uncertainty over so-called peace talks with New Delhi, with the key Naga group NSCN(I-M) declaring it a \u201cblack day\u201d for all Nagas; the Naga National Political Group blaming AFSPA\u2019s continuation for such incidents and even Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio stating the incident was \u2018misuse and abuse of the Act and a \u2018human rights violation\u2019. Precisely. It is not enough to have a high-level SIT investigation and assurance that justice will be delivered, the larger issue of AFSPA, which hasbrought \u2018animosity on all the people\u2019 of the northeast region, must be addressed. It\u2019s better to be late than sorry!<\/p>\n

Farmers\u2019 Victory
\nIt\u2019s finally over!Farmers will be celebratingSunday as \u2018Vijay Divas\u2019 (Victory Day), after their 15-long months of peaceful and sustained protest at Delhi\u2019s doorsteps. The decision to end the agitation was taken on Thursday last by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM),the umbrella organisation of 32 unions,following the Modi government sending a formal letter from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfareagreeing to their demands\u2014 to unconditionally withdraw all cases against protestors, including SKM representatives in the committee for MSP and giving compensation to families of 700-odd farmers who died during the stir. This after repealing of the three contentious farm laws was not good enough to call off their agitation. In fact, the SKM is being cautious and says it will hold a meeting on 15 January to review whether the government keeps its word. It must for it wouldn\u2019t want to revisit the time since November 25 last year, when farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, marched their way to Delhi border and protests were held in other States. The morchas are being lifted and protest sites getting vacated amidst jubilation. The big question is whether the farmers\u2019 gharwapsi (return home) will give the majoritarian governmenta good yield for its climb down, in the three States going to polls, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab.
\nMurder Resonates In Assembly
\nThe murder of young school teacher MamitaMeher in October in Kalahandi is haunting the Odisha Assembly and the ruling BJD. For the 7th consecutive day, it could not transact any business and was adjourned as the Opposition, BJP and Congress MLAs demand removal of Minister of Home for State D S Mishra for his alleged links to the prime accused, G Sahu, President, Sunshine English Medium School\u2019s managing committee, in the murder case. The protests range from slogan shouting, blocking of Assembly gate, beating gongs and bells and even sprinkling gangajal and cow dung for purification and absence of Chief Minister\u00a0Naveen Patnaik, who via video conferencing assured a fair probe but also asserted there was no question of Mishra\u2019s ouster for lack of proof. An exasperated government Chief Whip Pramila Mallik wants the Opposition to stop \u2018its theatrics\u2019 and get down to business, including introduction of bills and said \u201cHow can we proceed with the sessions just by ourselves.\u201d The Speaker Patro too wondered \u201cWhat actions can I take?…\u201d Hey, take a cue from Parliament, MPs could say. Bills are not just being introduced but passed within minutes without discussion, sans the Opposition!<\/p>\n

Lax Maharashtra
\nA hard rap from the Supreme Court has got the Maharashtra government to get its act together. On Thursday last, the State, which has had the highest number of fatalities due to Covid-19, finally started the relief portal and disbursement of Rs 50,000 ex-gratia relief to the relatives of victims. The court saw red with the administration not complying with its October order, wherein compensation was to be provided within 30 days of applications being received. The explanation offered for the delay i.e. \u2018to link the website directly with ICMR data, which would help get all the details of the deceased through their\u00a0Aadhar card number\u2019, didn\u2019t go down well as Gujarat created a similar website \u2018within two days.\u2019 Of the 1,41,204 deaths due to Covid-19 till December 9, the Thackeray government has received 66,000 applications and only 1,600 families so far have got compensated. The court asked the State to \u2018publicise the scheme more, especially in rural areas.\u2019 And while the government will need to cough up Rs 700-odd crore as relief, families may want it to consider raising the ex-gratia as other States are offering a better compensation\u2014 such as Bihar Rs 4 lakh and Karnataka Rs 1.5 lakh. The Maratha pride should would want to do one better?<\/p>\n

WB \u2018National Security\u2019
\nWest Bengal\u2019s Raj Bhavan is alarmed over \u2018national security\u2019 this time. In a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday last, Governor Jagdeep Dhankharfired yet another salvo by expressing grave concern at her directives concerning BSF, at the administrative meeting at Ganga Rampur on Tuesday last. The police is said to have been told to ensure that the BSF doesn\u2019t cross its jurisdiction of 15 km from the international border and that\u201dYou also have to see that the BSF does not get into villages without your permission and get involved with anything. The BSF will do their work and you will do yours. Always remember that law and order is your subject.\u201d This, said Dhankar, is \u2018not in sync with law or the recent Home Ministry notification increasing BSF jurisdiction in the state from 15 km to 50 km\u2026Your stance has sent disturbing signals and is potentially alarming for federal polity and national security.\u201dThe letter shared on Twitter asked her to \u201ctake appropriate steps urgently and address the issue in public and national interest\u2026to ensure an environ of harmony and cooperation.\u201d Better the Governor should have asked for the moon, as he should know well by now Didiis far from obliging, rather the latest salvo gives her another handle to hit back!<\/p>\n

\u2018What I Eat Outside\u2019?
\nThree cheers to the Gujarat High Court. It literally cooked the goose of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation while dealing with its controversial order of removing handcarts selling non-vegetarian food. \u201cWhat is your problem? You don\u2019t like non-veg food, that is your lookout. How can you decide what I eat outside? Tomorrow you will decide what I should eat outside the house?,\u201dis what Justice Biren Vaishnav had to say while disposing a petition on Thursday last filed by 25 street vendors opposing the corporation\u2019s drive. The petition claimed that the drive began after a councillor from Rajkot \u201cgot offended that non-vegetarian food was being sold on the streets\u201d and their carts were seized \u2018despite there being no order to seize.\u2019 The Corporation counsel pleaded it was a\u2018misconception,\u2019 as, there\u2019s no such drive,rather its \u201cagainst encroachment on the road, which is a hindrance to public traffic or absolute blockage of pedestrian.\u201dNot convincing. The judge wondered whether the encroachment removal was being undertaken under guise of targeting non-veg sellers, but did give benefit of doubt. Disposing the petition, he ordered the carts be returned as per law. A lesson not just for Ahmedabad corporation, is it? \u2014 INFA<\/p>\n

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Nagaland Tragedy By Insaf The tragedy in Nagaland couldn\u2019t have been summed up better. Rajya Sabha member KG Kenye of Naga People\u2019s Front said on Thursday last: \u201cAll efforts, which have been put in by wise men, by leaders, by right-thinking citizens from all walks of life, have been destroyed in a matter of a […]<\/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-179007","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\/179007","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=179007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179007\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}