{"id":236743,"date":"2024-03-11T01:23:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-10T19:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=236743"},"modified":"2024-03-11T01:23:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-10T19:53:00","slug":"not-good-enough-for-polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2024\/03\/11\/not-good-enough-for-polls\/","title":{"rendered":"Not good enough for polls!"},"content":{"rendered":"

J&K ‘Breathing Free’<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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

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Jammu and Kashmir is \u2018breathing freely today\u2019. A message that Prime Minister Modi sent out from Srinagar, which incidentally took him four-and-a-half long years to pay a visit since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019! Addressing a massive rally at Bakshi stadium on Thursday last, he pledged rapid development in next five years, but steered clear on when the situation would be appropriate for UT elections. Recall, Supreme Court last December asked ECI to conduct Assembly polls by this September. Modi as always took opportunity to hit out at the parties in the region, saying it \u2018has been the biggest victim of dynastic politics since independence. Congress misguided the nation about Article 370 but who did it benefit, the people or a few political families?\u2019<\/p>\n

Predictably, the families hit back. PDP\u2019 Mehbooba Mufti post on X read: \u2018Disheartening to see employees being forcibly mobilised to paint a pretty picture that all is well post 2019 and that people here are celebrating their own collective disempowerment and humiliation,\u2019 This visit, she said was only meant to address and drum support amongst BJP\u2019s core constituency in the rest of India for the upcoming Parliament elections\u2019. NC\u2019s Omar Abdullah accused the administration of \u2018pulling out all stops\u2019 to ensure a crowd for Modi\u2019s rally and that BJP wouldn\u2019t be able to do so on its own in Kashmir. Time will tell which way the wind eventually blows. As said, the taste of the pudding is in its eating and the first bite should be of having a democratically elected government returning to the Valley.<\/p>\n

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Judicial Propriety<\/p>\n

Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay joining the BJP 48 hours after resigning from the bench, has raised a big question on judicial objectivity and propriety. \u201cToday, I have joined a new field. I am happy to join the BJP and will work as a party soldier. Our objective is to oust the corrupt TMC regime from the state,\u201d he said on Thursday last. The statement has given Mamata Banerjee a handle to stir up his controversial rulings, including on various education-related matters and orders which led to 14 CBI probes and arrest of four of its MLAs. Said she: \u2018While occupying the chair of justice, the BJP babu announced he would join the party. Can anyone expect justice from such people? Every single day, they accept a PIL and work under the BJP\u2019s instructions\u201d, adding \u201cI am happy their masks are finally off.\u201d Claiming his judgements were wrong, she warned \u2018the youths will not forgive you. We will ensure your defeat. From tomorrow onwards, the people of the state will act as the judge for your actions.\u201d Guess, his fight against TMC government will not be a cake walk, as he will no longer have the protection of the bench!<\/p>\n

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HP Damage Control<\/p>\n

Will Congress be able to put its house in order in Himachal Pradesh? Chief Minister Sukhwinder Sukhu flew into Delhi on Thursday last to hold meetings with High Command to douse the fire, allegedly lit by \u2018BJP and Centre to destabilise a democratically elected government.\u2019 Efforts are on to see the Cabinet\u2019s resolution \u2018state government completes a full five-year term,\u2019 works out, including Sukhu willing to reconsider disqualification of 6 MLAs who helped BJP nominee win the Rajya Sabha seat and bring them back. The big question is whether the \u2018rebels\u2019 are on the same page. One, former minister\u2019s, also removed as Secretary, AICC, Facebook post read: \u201cWhen high command turns blind and those in power become dictators, then I couldn\u2019t have remained silent like a coward. Our responsibility is towards fulfilling aspirations of people who elected us and we can\u2019t break their confidence.\u201d Another MLA, who resigned as state working president posted: \u2018Running from Sujanpur to Shimla and from Shimla to Delhi with folded hands for fulfilment of promises made by Congress in the run-up to last Assembly polls didn\u2019t yield results. I wished for justice but got only humiliation.\u2019 The High Command would do well to see the writing on the wall.<\/p>\n

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Breather For Kerala<\/p>\n

Kerala can heave a sigh of relief. The Supreme Court on Wednesday last directed the Centre to allow the cash-strapped state to borrow Rs 13,608 crore on an immediate basis. Plus, both parties should hold talks to sort out the issue of borrowings, as the State was struggling to pay salaries of government employees and pension to retired employees. Importantly, the court observed that fiscal mismanagement by states is an issue the Central government has to be concerned about as it impacts the nation\u2019s economy, while hearing a suit filed by Kerala government accusing the Union of India of interfering in exercise of its \u2018exclusive, autonomous and plenary powers\u2019 to regulate the state\u2019s finances by imposing a ceiling on borrowing. Importantly, the court didn\u2019t agree with Centre\u2019s condition the State withdraw the suit to consider its demand saying it\u2019s a \u2018constitutional right under Article 131\u2019, which allows it to deal with disputes between Centre and a state or between states. Further it advised, the dialogue must continue for \u2018that\u2019s the strength of the relationship between Union and the state.\u2019 A piece of advice which could halt the \u2018federalism\u2019 war unleashed by New Delhi, of course if accepted.<\/p>\n

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Failure of Justice<\/p>\n

Three cheers to Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court. It has made correction, albeit a decade later. Acquitting former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba and five others in an alleged \u2018terrorist\u2019 case in 2014, the bench trashed the prosecution\u2019s claims saying the sanction given under UAPA was without application of mind and the report recommending invocation of UAPA provisions was \u2018cryptic and a laconic half page communication.\u2019 The state had claimed the accused were members of banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) after seizing pamphlets and electronic data from the accused. This said the bench merely demonstrated they were \u2018sympathisers\u2019 of Maoist philosophy and can\u2019t be itself contemplated as an offence under the UAPA. Plus, the trial court\u2019s \u2018guilty\u2019 verdict was a \u201cfailure of justice.\u201d Indeed, as Saibaba on his release said \u2018\u2026Why has it drawn so long?\u00a0Ten years of my life and my co-accused\u2019s life. Who will bring them back?… I couldn\u2019t pull up, move out of my wheelchair, go to the toilet (on my own), take a bath. It\u2019s a wonder that I came out of the prison alive today.\u201d Unfortunately, it wasn\u2019t the case for the 6th person, who died in August 2022 awaiting a verdict. As rightly said: Justice delayed is justice denied. \u2014 INFA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

J&K ‘Breathing Free’ By Insaf Jammu and Kashmir is \u2018breathing freely today\u2019. A message that Prime Minister Modi sent out from Srinagar, which incidentally took him four-and-a-half long years to pay a visit since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019! Addressing a massive rally at Bakshi stadium on Thursday last, he pledged rapid […]<\/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-236743","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\/236743","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=236743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236743\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}