National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), India’s largest iron ore producer, has bagged five awards at the Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) Excellence Awards 2019, organised at Jaipur recently, where in more than 150 delegates from various PSEs, government agencies, media professionals deliberated on the theme—‘PR-What is the Big Idea’. Ram Charanji Bora, Member of Parliament, Rajasthan gave the awards and were received by Ch Srinivasa Rao, DGM(CC) on behalf of NMDC. The company won the Gold award for its CSR Brochure, Corporate Advertising Campaign (English) and NMDC Diary 2019. The other awards were given for NMDC wall calendar 2019 and television commercials. The chairman-cum-managing director of NMDC, N Baijendra Kumar, congratulated the team of Corporate Communications for their continued efforts for propagating and promoting the company’s activities and connecting people through electronic, print and digital media.

Courtesy & Writer: Pioneer

The Cong-NCP alliance has compelled BJP to be  accommodative of its ally, howsoever grudgingly

Despite utterances by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis about ideological commitment being the glue of the newly-sealed BJP-Shiv Sena electoral deal in the State —  25-23 sharing for Lok Sabha and 50-50 for the Assembly — but this is one of mutual sustenance and an expedient arrangement where Uddhav Thackeray has been able to put the stamp of Matoshri. And though for the BJP, this is an “all’s well that ends well” scenario, what with Maharashtra being a turnkey state for it in the Lok Sabha elections with 48 seats, it was a rocky road to a patch-up and one which taught party chief Amit Shah a lesson or two in eating humble pie once in a while, accommodating allies rather than pushing them away. In fact, the BJP, by virtue of being the larger party, will have a trying time, justifying the pared down seats to its cadres and candidates. The number game explains why the Sena is roaring like a tiger today. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP contested in 24 and won 23, while the Shiv Sena contested in 20 and won 18 seats. Going by this strike rate, the BJP ideally should have had more seats in its kitty but has almost ceded equal ground to its ally. Not only that, it is believed the BJP is withdrawing from a couple of seats in favour of the Sena, risking the displeasure and rebellion of  some partymen. And while the BJP went alone in the Assembly elections in 2014, picking up a big majority of 122 against the Sena’s 63, it has still agreed to offer equal space to a waning ally. Politically, the BJP has run out of options, what with the Congress and NCP striking a seat-sharing agreement much before and old warhorse and NCP chief Sharad Pawar carving out a new relevance for himself in the Opposition front. The Sena clearly moved in to take advantage of BJP’s angst about the Maratha strongman’s tactics with the latter reportedly engaging in backroom manoeuvres too, nudging the Sena leadership to bid for chief ministership. Or so the grapevine has it. Pawar may even return to electoral politics himself, muddying up waters even more.

Besides, the Sena has kept the BJP on tenterhooks over the last four years, volubly criticising the Narendra Modi government on every front, from Rafale to the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Even on the latest round of Pulwama attacks, the Sena mouthpiece Saamna criticised the BJP, saying that by appealing to people to vote for it so that it could avenge the terrorist act was akin to taking political mileage out of the death of soldiers. And just a few days ago Sena representatives joined TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu in protesting against the Modi government, the strongest visual threat that it could upset the cart if the BJP rolled it over the edge. It even heaved on the Fadnavis government to ensure 16 per cent quota for the Maratha community. It is through such sharp political manoeuvres and provocations that the Sena shored up its own value and caused insecurities in the central BJP leadership, which will need as many allies as it can to buoy it up for a second term. Back in 2014, Sena joined the alliance to prevent a split as the BJP was wooing its MLAs. This subsuming of the Sena’s identity was the real reason for the bitterness between the two parties. Now clearly the tables have turned and Sena has the upper hand.

Writer & Courtesy: Pioneer

According to a comprehensive survey by the Government shows, close to 70 million Indians need help for substance abuse

A certain scale of understanding is necessary to solve any problem in India. The sheer size of India’s makes the scale of any problem huge. Any issue might seem small in percentage terms but given a billion plus human beings in the country, the problem, even when it is a fraction of a per cent, becomes huge. Ergo, the challenge before the Central and State Governments in order to solve the addiction that millions of Indians have for narcotics and alcohol, will require some major intervention. Numbers are stunning — while 14.6 per cent of India’s population drank alcohol in the past, of that number, 19 per cent are dependent or abusing alcohol, which amounts to 57 million people. The numbers for cannabis dependence are five million, opioids another six million and a few more million for other drugs. A problem of this scale cannot be solved by mere prohibition orders or ‘drug-free’ campaigns alone. It requires state intervention.

What can the state do? We feel that there should be a move to fund more de-addiction centres across the country, and not just in urban but also in district and possibly even taluka headquarters in areas where the problem is severe. But this will highlight another problem, which is the lack of enough counsellors. We need experts to advise and help those individuals, who have been addicted for decades. While it might not be possible for governments, both Centre and State, to build thousands of centres across the country, they must associate themselves with non-governmental organisations, including religious bodies, to help tackle the crisis. Like it or not, religion plays a big role in the de-addiction process for some. George W Bush, former US President, had a self-admitted alcohol problem during his youth but he found God and then went on to become the President of the United States. Of course, most addicts do not come from as privileged a background as Bush but he is an exemplar of how a life can turn around when an intervention is made. And this is also an example of one other major factor, that of family support. Many who suffer from substance abuse are ostracised by society when what they often need most is family support. Substance abuse is often a cry for help. At the same time, some families keep the abuse problem within the walls instead of actively seeking help for a family member, worried about the ‘shame’, particularly in a country like India. Asking for help is a brave thing but families must remember that doing so is in the best interests of somebody seeking redemption. This will also require education and awareness. In fact, instead of trying to just tell the youth ‘don’t’, the Government should tell families that they should reach out  to helplines if they need help. Then there is that beautiful hypocrisy in the alcohol problem. Since State Governments make so much revenue from liquor sales, for them to give up the liquid lucre will be impossible. This is a challenge that will require some innovative thinking as well.

Courtesy & Writer: Pioneer

With the absence of Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi, Dravidian parties have so far managed to tide over the political slugfest by national players. But will their strategy work this time?

There is one striking similarity between Carlos Bilardo, manager of the 1986 World Cup winning Argentina national football team, and the late J Jayalalithaa, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) supremo. Whenever Bolardo was asked about the composition of his team for the World Cup matches, he had a standard reply: “My team will feature Diego Maradona and 10 other players. That’s all I have to say.” Such was his trust and confidence in the Argentine superstar.

At the time of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa’s exhortation to the voters was somewhat the same: “There will be a candidate contesting in the two leaves symbol of the party. Please elect him/her.” This was the essence of Jayalalithaa’s election campaign speech. During the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had fielded A Raja, the 2G Spectrum tainted former Union communications Minister from the Nilgiris, which the party felt would be a safe constituency. Jayalalithaa sprang a surprise by nominating C Gopalakrishnan, a political lightweight from Nilgiris.

When asked about his fate in the contest against the DMK heavyweight, Gopalakrishnan  replied: “Sir, I am going to win hands-down because I was hand picked by Amma. She had asked the electorate to vote for me and they would oblige Amma.” Gopalakrishnan won by a margin of more than 1,20,000 votes. While J Gopikrishnan of The Pioneer, through his superb investigating reports, unseated A Raja from the Union Council of Ministers, Gopalakrishnan demolished the “halo” around the DMK leader by waving Jayalalithaa’s picture.

However, these are things of the past. Cut to 2019, and there is neither Jayalalithaa nor Karunanidhi around. While the disintegration of the AIADMK has picked up momentum, the DMK’s end, too, is not far off. It will be reflected in the Lok Sabha election results of 2019. MK Stalin, the DMK chief, who succeeded his father Karunanidhi (the undisputed party president for almost five decades) is nowhere near the latter’s intelligence. His only unique selling proposition is his hatred for Hindutva and the BJP. His only offer to the people of Tamil Nadu is that he would bring in a stable and steady Government. Stalin feels that by humiliating the Hindus, he may be able to consolidate the minority votes of the State.

Despite an image make-over he underwent as per the directives of his son-in-law, Stalin  remains the same old self. Unlike his father, who could charm the crowd with his one-liners and dramatised dialogues, Stalin is a poor communicator. Despite wearing black goggles, Karunanidhi was a success with women voters among the crowd, whom he could amuse with spicy and witty dialogues. While Jayalalithaa did not bother to groom a second-line leadership in the AIADMK, Karunanidhi did not allow anybody outside his immediate family raise their heads in the party. Though he wanted to anoint MK Muthu, his elder son born to Padmavathi, his first wife, Muthu ended up as a wayward youth, finding solace in alcohol. He had everything at his command. An obliging father, whose only mission was to see Muthu emerge the numero uno in DMK politics and finally as the Chief Minister to keep the family flag flying. Karunanidhi ousted MGR from the party to facilitate Muthu’s entry into the top league of the DMK. But MGR retaliated by launching the AIADMK and the people of Tamil Nadu, who were fed up with the kind of politics played by Karunanidhi and his family, elected the former with a huge majority. Since 1977, when MGR became the Chief Minister, till his passing away in December 1987, Karunanidhi was in political wilderness.

There was a split in the AIADMK immediately after the demise of MGR and this helped the DMK bounce back. In the Assembly election held in 1989, the DMK bagged 150 seats on its own. The faction of AIADMK headed by Jayalalithaa won 27 seats while the faction headed by Janaki Ramachandran (widow of MGR) had to contend with just two seats. But the women saw the writing on the wall that the split in the AIADMK would benefit only the Karunanidhi clan. They buried the hatchet, merged the factions and Janaki made a dignified exit from politics. Karunanidhi thoroughly underestimated Jayalalithaa and joined hands with secessionist forces operating in the State. Following the murder of Rajiv Gandhi, who was electioneering at Sriperumbudur near Chennai during the Lok Sabha election of 1991, by the hired assassins of the LTTE and the all-round failure of law and order situation in the State, the Karunanidhi Government was dismissed by the then Chandrasekhar headed Union Government.

The truth is that people elected Karunanidhi in 1989, 1996 and 2006 out of anger and angst as they had no other option. Karunanidhi saw to it that the Congress, which ruled the State uninterrupted till 1967, became weak and ridden with groups. The only option for the electorate was the AIADMK, which had a semblance of nationalism and democracy in it. For the DMK, democracy began and ended at the Gopalapuram residence of Karunanidhi and in the houses of his other two wives and nephew Murasoli Maran.

But Karunanidhi kept his obsession for dynasty under cover, thanks to his expertise in double-speak. Whoever questioned the legality of Stalin’s emergence as his heir, ended up outside the party headquarters. The list is long and includes Vaiko, the eternal rebel and V R Nedumchezhiyan, described as the man with a golden tongue. Now, Stalin is surrounded by acolytes and a cabal of wheeler dealers.

Karunanidhi, who had vehemently opposed Hindutva and the BJP, did not think twice before extending support to the BJP in 1989. The DMK can never survive without the life support it gets from the power of office. Karunanidhi and Stalin are always willing to join hands with any forces which offer them uninterrupted “power”. That’s why they jumped from the National Front Government of VP Singh in 1989 to the Deve Gowda Government of 1996 and then to the NDA Government led by Vajpayee in 1999. When they saw that the possibility of the NDA coming back to power in 2004 was bleak, Karunanidhi crossed over to the Congress’ camp and emerged as the “critical component” of the UPA. For the next nine years, the DMK was in charge of the money spinning Ministries, popularly known as Any Time Money (ATM) ministries.

Since 2011, the DMK has been out of power in Tamil Nadu while in New Delhi, it remains out of Government since 2013. Stalin hopes that the weakening of the AIADMK would help him regain power in Tamil Nadu as a split in AIADMK votes would benefit only the DMK. As pointed out earlier, the Congress is a weak entity in the State though there are ‘paper tigers’ like P Chidambaram and Mani Shankar Aiyer. “There are more leaders and groups in the Congress than the party cadre,” said N Kalyanasundaram, chronicler of Tamil Nadu politics. The Congress had survived in Tamil Nadu over the years only by riding piggyback on the shoulders of either the Dravidian parties — the DMK or the AIADMK, according to O Panneerselvam, deputy Chief Minister and AIADMK leader.

For all practical purposes, the Congress in Tamil Nadu has become the B team of the DMK. What about the BJP? The less said about the Hindutva party the better. Dravidian parties have succeeded in keeping the BJP in their arc through an intelligently crafted strategy. That and other details will be told in the next part of this series.

(The writer is Special Correspondent, The Pioneer)

Courtesy: Pioneer

Writer: Kumar Chellappan

With its economy on a southwards journey and given its failed inter-provincial relationship, Pakistan has no alternative but to spill out, and India seems to be the only destination.

Every week, this is news about how Pakistan is moving towards bankruptcy. While the buzz stands true, several countries such as China and Saudi Arabia have shown sympathy and extended financial aid to the country. However, if Karl Marx were around today, he might have said that loans are the opium of the classes. What could be true of the classes would be true of countries, too. It is too early yet to forget that in 1990, the Reserve Bank of India was sending gold to banks in London as pledge for loans in foreign exchange. The Pakistani crisis is far more serious because not only is there a financial paucity but also an impending economic collapse. The country is still essentially agrarian and feudal, and there has been little development since the British departed in 1947. In the meantime, the population has multiplied to reach nearly 180 million. Moreover, Islam commands a great deal of devotion from its followers but in turn, it does not encourage economic attention in contrast to the Protestant work ethic.

Since the advent of the Baghdad Pact in 1955 and SEATO in 1954, Pakistan has been the beneficiary of American military and other such aid, which helped the economy in general and imports in particular. That aid is drying up because of the country’s active association with terrorism, the Taliban and others. Cereals and other basic food items are not a problem yet, but Pakistan has run out of red meat. Way back in the days of Field Marshal Ayub Khan’s presidentship, it could be foreseen that the supply of beef would become a problem. He had, during his time in the mid-sixties, declared one-day a week meatless. Now with the shortage of foreign exchange, how can imports be sustained? All these developments and more are a concern for India, too, not merely out of human sympathy but also on account of self-interest. How? We must anticipate this to plan ahead.

Another grave weakness of Pakistan is its inter-provincial relationship. All the three other Provinces, namely Balochistan, North-West Frontier Province and Sind, resent Punjab, which holds two-third  of the population. Punjab dominates, if not monopolises the Army and the bureaucracy. There have been separatist movements in all three smaller Provinces. The Pathans or Pashtuns look to the Afghans as their brothers. Jio Sindh is not active at present but sentiments are alive. Balochs openly say they want to separate and killings take place frequently. Disunity does not augur well for Pakistan. Hence, Islamabad tries to divert everyone’s attention by stoking Kashmir as a daily issue.

India was partitioned in 1947 on demand of most Muslims of the sub-continent, who aspired that their new homeland would become a New Medina. The old Medina was the first Islamic state, founded by Prophet Muhammad in 622 CE after his hijrat or migration from Mecca. When he ascended to heaven, his representatives or Caliphs took over one by one. They were conceptually the spiritual as well as temporal heads of all Islam, effectively the Sunnis, who comprise 90 per cent of the world community, called the ummah. In 1924, Mustafa Kamal Ataturk, the new unquestioned head of Turkey, abolished the Caliphate and exiled the incumbent. That was the end of the symbolic head of all Islam. Muslims everywhere would like that institution to be recreated. The dream of the pre-1947 Muslims of India was that Pakistan would be the cradle of this recreated Medina.

The same sentiment in Arabia is reflected in the Islamic State (IS), which fought in Iraq against Baghdad and against the Syrian Government in the ghastly civil war that has just ended. Sentiment was so strong and widespread in India that Pakistan became a reality even with its two wings, 1,600 kilometres apart. Bangladesh broke away in 1971 and exploded the myth that Islam alone can bind any country together.

The same fissiparousness spread inside the western wing of Pakistan to emphasise that Islam cannot alone be the binding factor of any country or its parts. Followers have been too ambitious to expect religion to be a total prescription for life and not merely a spiritual path to connect man and God.

There must be leaders in Pakistan, who now realise this truth as well as recognise that but unfortunately, no other ideology or political basis has been allowed to sprout and grow. In short, Pakistan has allowed itself to get trapped in a blind alley.

The only way out is to explode and that holds a grave danger for India. If the people have no alternative but to spill out, India is the only destination. What Bangladeshis did to India in yesteryears, Pakistan could do in the years to come. To be deceived once is ignorance but to be deceived again is lunacy. Fencing one’s border is a wise measure. US President Donald Trump is building a wall across the southern border of America against the wishes of the Congress, which refuses to grant him a big enough budget. But how can one fence the sea shores?

Migrations by boat people are legendary, whether in Asia out of Vietnam, into Europe via sea or America from Haiti.

Over and above, to fence the land borders, there has to be alert by internal security who must be helped by watchtowers on the entire border, sea or land. The Aadhaar card is alright as a negative check but all adult citizens must be issued domestic passports to be okayed only after strict inquiries, much stricter than before giving out passports to travel abroad. With a passport, a person can settle in permanently. With India’s diversity, there would be no alternative but comprehensive vigil. Sooner or later, surreptitious infiltration is inevitable in large, medium or small measure.

Hence, above all, supreme deterrence is needed. Remember, Pakistanis would have friends and relatives who have been in India since time immemorial. Very few Bangladeshis had this advantage; their allies were politicians with their eyes on building vote banks.

Further help to the agonised and otherwise helpless people of Sindh, as well as Balochistan, should be contemplated. Remember, Sindhi locals hardly played any part in driving out the Hindus. That unfortunate role was played by the Mohajirs after they landed in Karachi and had to either live in camps or sleep on the streets. In fact, Sindhis were nowhere near the forefront of the demand for Pakistan, and their leadership had wondered as to how their economy could function efficiently without Hindu Amil officials and Bhaiband businessmen.

Balochistan, until late in 1948, had an Embassy in Karachi, which clearly showed that in terms of British tradition, the region had a distinct status and did not need an accession to either dominion, India or Pakistan. Nevertheless, the Khan of Kalat came to Delhi and officially called on Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and requested for Balochistan to be taken over as a part of India. Nehru politely declined. If either or both of these Provinces can release themselves from Islamabad’s clutches and become autonomous again,  they can be of much help to New Delhi.

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Writer: Prafull Goradia, a well-known columnist and an author

While the Centre need to devise a careful strategy to get back at the nuclear-armed Pakistan, before we take any actions, there is a lot to fix at home.

As the Indian Government unravels the conspiracy behind the recent attack on a CRPF convoy on February 14, 2019, it must consider civilian supporters of terrorists, especially stone-pelters, as accomplices. Pulwama has shaken the soul of the country; we can no longer tolerate human rights vultures while losing worthy citizens. In a little noticed episode on February 13, 2019, an explosion at a private school in Narbal, Pulwama, injured 16 students. Yet, the police team that arrived to investigate the incident was pelted with stones. Apparently, a student of class X was carrying explosives in his bag, which exploded after others fiddled with it.

This message should also be strongly conveyed to the Supreme Court, whose judges last year ordered that FIR be filed against soldiers when civilian casualties occur, and who dismissed a petition by over 300 serving soldiers asking the court to define where their duty ends and crime begins in their operations against anti-national forces. The petition was an appeal to the apex court not to act as protector of the human rights industry; sadly, it fell on deaf ears and the PIL business continues to flourish.

It was a mistake to ask Northern Army commander, Lt Gen DS Hooda (of Uri surgical strikes fame) to publicly apologise when jawans at a check post fired upon a civilian, who refused to stop for a routine security check, smashed through two check posts and was moving through the third when stopped by a bullet (April 2016). The provocation was to the jawans, not the other way round, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), infatuated with its alliance with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), humiliated the men in uniform.

Fortunately, the Government stood by Major Leetul Gogoi when, during the violence in Ultigam (Srinagar bypoll) in May 2017, he grabbed an alleged ringleader of stone-pelters and used him as a human shield to save the lives of Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel. In the violence that day, petrol bombs were hurled and boulders thrown from rooftops. It follows that while finalising its policy on Pakistan, the Government must enunciate a policy regarding civilian perpetrators of violence (those not officially affiliated with a terror outfit) in Jammu & Kashmir. There has been enough charity; now zero tolerance must begin at home.

We must also speak some harsh truths to the nation, and particularly to Jammu & Kashmir. What is the purpose of inane dialogues to integrate Kashmir with India? Does the nation know that Maharaja Hari Singh repeatedly offered to accede to India prior to 1947 but was rebuffed by Jawaharlal Nehru, who insisted that power be handed over to Sheikh Abdullah as a condition for accepting the sensitive border State? That Mountbatten knew of the Pakistani aggression but withheld aid for four critical days? That after 1947, Central funds allotted for the entire State were cornered by the Kashmir Valley to the detriment of Jammu and Ladakh?

The myth of artificial alienation of the Valley has to stop somewhere. Four lakh Kashmiri Pandits were terrorised, brutalised and forced out of the State in the biting winter of 1989-90, and the Lutyens fraternity shamelessly blamed Governor Jagmohan when he had barely entered the State. Now, as Pulwama shatters the national stupor, false stories of Kashmiri students being terrorised in some places are flooding the social media. Has any Kashmiri politician or human rights activist wondered about the careers of non-Kashmiri students of the National Institute of Technology, Srinagar, who objected to Kashmiri students celebrating India’s loss against West Indies in World T20 series (March 31, 2016); they were thrashed by Kashmir police for chanting nationalist slogans and waving the tricolour and left the State in fear of their lives.

The Centre has to think carefully about how to punish nuclear-armed Pakistan, which has also developed tactical (small, easily deployable) nuclear weapons. An Uri-like action may not be feasible; perhaps terror kingpins like Saeed Hafiz and Azhar Masood can have a “bad accident”.

But before any action in or against Pakistan, there is much to fix at home: Repeal Article 370 through Presidential Order; the President alone has the power. Repeal Article 35-A that was smuggled into the Constitution by Presidential Order in 1954 at the insistence of Jawaharlal Nehru, despite Dr Rajendra Prasad’s objections.

The State flag must go without further ado; Urdu (official language of Pakistan, which led to its break-up) must no longer be the official language of a State with a rich civilisational heritage and classical language, Kashmiri. Jammu and Ladakh must be allowed to adopt Dogri and Bhoti (Bodhi) as language of education. It is true that the Centre has granted Ladakh a Central University and Divisional status, but the long-neglected Jammu and Ladakh regions now deserve attention and national resources.

Major world capitals and neighbouring countries condemned the Pulwama attack and stood by India. In a significant statement, Washington, which needs Islamabad to extricate itself from Afghanistan, said: “US condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack today on an Indian CRPF convoy in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir”. This is the first time the US has unequivocally called Jammu & Kashmir an “Indian State”.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed, which was behind the attack on the Indian Parliament (2001) and Pathankot air base (2016), has claimed responsibility for Pulwama. But what deserves attention is the timing and purpose of the attack. Iran has accused Pakistan of supporting Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) terrorists who are behind a suicide bombing that killed 27 troops on February 13, 2019. Revolutionary Guards Commander, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, has threatened retaliation if Islamabad does not punish the culprits and warned that the action would not be ‘limited to its borders’. He blamed two other Middle Eastern nations for complicity in the attack.

Pulwama continues a series of Pakistani provocations against the Indian armed forces: Pathankot (January 2016); Uri (September 2016); Nagrota (November 2016); Sunjwan (February 2018). But what could be the reason for Islamabad — which has always feared a two-front war — opening hostilities on two borders at the same time? Its greatest backer, China, does not want to alienate Tehran or New Delhi, even if Beijing is not supporting India in having Azhar Masood declared a ‘global terrorist’ at the United Nations.

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Writer: Sandhya Jain, Senior Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library

The recently announced 10 percent quota neither intends adequate or proportionate representation nor is a measure to eliminate poverty. The objective is to provide indemnity and insurance to unreserved populace.

The Modi Government introduced the Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill, 2019, in Parliament to provide reservation of 10 percent to the economically backward section in the general category in jobs and educational institutions, which was subsequently passed by both Houses in record time of two days. It will be only with great difficulty that we can recollect the name of any Bill that witnessed the passage in both Houses with such unanimity. While the Lok Sabha passed the Constitutional Amendment Bill with 323 AYES, 3 NOES; the Rajya Sabha passed it with 165 AYES and 07 NOES. This affirmative action also received the President’s assent. As the Bill deals with Fundamental Rights, it does not require the nod of State Assemblies.

Ever since the introduction of this amendment, numerous questions have been raised about its Constitutional validity, with references being made to the 1992 decision by the Supreme Court in Indra Sawhney versus Union of India; applicability of the economic criterion as the basis for reservation; reservation being an instrument to ameliorate poverty; and the inability of the Government to resort to alternate procedures like welfare programmes and policies for the welfare of the economically weaker sections from the unreserved strata.

There was no political immunity either to greater good intended or affirmative action. Criticisms were hurled at the Modi Government — the Bill was branded as “a step to do away with caste-based reservations” and a “populist measure to reap political gains” with the 2019 General Election in mind.

Undoubtedly, India’s social engineering that predates many centuries had noble intentions in the form of delineating occupations and services across caste groups, rendering those services among themselves and, thus, driving dependence among the groups to deliver social bonhomie. In the course of time, however, the noble intention took a hit and deteriorated into caste oppression and further to untouchability — social bonhomie transformed to social evil. The tales are different for the Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. The incessant social inequities drove these classes — Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Class — lower in the echelons of social order.

If reservations were not provided to these classes, meritocracy and efficiency would have been the order of the day with all likelihood that these classes are being under-represented. Post Independence, the Parliament recognised and eventually provided reservations — vertical in nature — through the Constitution to these socially and educationally backward classes of the Indian society; in 1950 to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; and in the early 1990s to the Other Backward Class. All of this to ensure adequate representation in educational institutions and Government posts; Scheduled Castes: 15 per cent; Scheduled Tribes: 7.5 per cent; and Other Backward Class: 27 per cent — all of which aggregated to 49.5 per cent.

The insertion of clause 4 in Article 15 and Article 16 of the Constitution provided the basis for reservation to the backward classes. Consequently, equilibrium established by right to equality and equality of opportunities was displaced. It is, therefore, apt to get Pareto efficiency, also referred to as Pareto optimality, into context: It is an economic state where resources cannot be reallocated to make one individual better off without making at least one individual worse off. Put it other way, it implies that resources are allocated in the most efficient manner but does not imply equality or fairness. This state of reallocation of resources was very well captured in the Indra Sawhney 1992 judgement.

So, in an attempt to create an egalitarian society and to normalise periodic agitations against the Mandal Commission report in 1980, the then PV Narasimha Rao Government issued an impugned Office Memorandum dated September 25, 1991, which stated that 10 percent of the vacancies in civil posts and services under the Government of India shall be reserved for other economically backward sections of the people, who are not covered by any of the existing schemes of reservation.

The Supreme Court’s response to the aforementioned memorandum is captured in the 115th paragraph of the Indra Sawhney 1992 judgement, which is as follows: “The impugned Office Memorandum dated September 25, 1991, does not say whether this classification is made under Clause (4) or Clause (1) of Article 16. Evidently, this classification among a category outside Clause (4) of Article 16 is not and cannot be related to Clause (4) of Article 16. If at all, it is relatable to Clause (1)”.

In the same judgement (paragraph 95), the Supreme Court emphatically declared that 50 percent rule is applicable only to reservations made under clause 4 of Article 16 and that reservations cannot breach the 50 per cent mark — on the basis of social and educational backwardness.

While the memorandum fell apart, agitations demanding reservations therein did not die down. The last decade is replete with instances of vociferous agitations, including violent protests from communities of the unreserved strata like Kapus from Andhra Pradesh, Marathas in Maharashtra, Jats from Haryana, Gujjars from Rajasthan and Patidars of Gujarat  among others. These communities have exerted pressure on previous dispensations as also on the current Union Government to provide effect to their economic vulnerability by way of inclusion in extended scope of backward classes. Likewise, in the last decade, various State Governments have either issued memorandums or passed legislations to harmonise with the aforementioned agitations and nudged the Government at the helm, including the present dispensation, to include those acts in the Ninth schedule citing judicial immunity.

Wisdom prevailed with the Modi Government and it has neither resorted to expanding the scope of the backward classes nor included the state reservation Bills in the Ninth schedule. A populist dispensation would have acted otherwise. So, the Union Government — with reference to the apex court’s judgement in Indra Sawhney (1992) — introduced additional 10 per cent reservation for the unreserved sections based on certain economic criterion while clause 6 was inserted in the Article 15 and Article 16 to acquire constitutional validity.

Seeing this from a different dimension, it can be emphasised that the Bill promotes social brotherhood and cohesion as well as prevents caste perpetuations. The Government does not believe in reducing the cut off marks or setting lower standards for clearing the interview process in order to uphold the top court’s judgement pronounced in the Indra Sawhney case: Service posts should ensure efficiency in the administration.

As per the Mandal Commission report, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Class classes represent 74.5 percent of the Indian population. A simple math would yield that 66 per cent population of these classes are covered under reservation. Evidently, only 40 per cent of the unreserved strata are covered under the current 10 per cent quota provision, which is vertical in nature.

So, this Bill neither intends adequate/proportionate representation nor a procedure to eliminate poverty. The objective was to graduate from doles, freebies and inefficient welfare programmes to the Constitution for providing indemnity and insurance to the unreserved populace. This affirmative action is a classic instance of Pareto improvement — change in allocation harms no one and helps at least one person, given an initial allocation of goods for a set of persons. The sabka quota Bill is definitely a stamp of accreditation to the secular credentials.

Whether it is incessant efforts in achieving the constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes or delayed decision to extend the creamy layer to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes reservations (Jarnail Singh, 2018 Supreme Court judgement), the Union Government has expressed unquestionable intent on the welfare of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Class. In the wake of this Bill, any mudslinging on BJP-led Modi Government, that it wants to do away with reservations, should be construed as a mere political hurl.

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Writer: Sandeep Vempati, Member, Manifesto sub-committee on Social Welfare, BJP Telangana

The Pulwama attack is a proof that India has still not understood the psyche of Pakistani nor its power structure.

February 14, 2019, will be remembered as one of the saddest days in the history of independent India. The killing and wounding of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans was tragic enough, but that wasn’t all. The casualties were of innocent men travelling to perform their duty. They would have ceased to be innocent once they donned their uniforms and slung their weapons on their shoulders. Well-led soldiers are seldom deceived. We hope we have at least woken up to the evil that the Pakistani rulers are.

Since October 1947, India and Jammu & Kashmir have suffered countless attacks — whether by soldiers, mujahideen or plain criminals. Thousands of lives have been sacrificed upon the altar of terrorism and several India-Pakistan wars have been fought. But Indian rulers have regrettably not understood the Pakistani psyche nor its power structure. An outstanding reason is that New Delhi interprets Islamabad through its eyes. Little wonder, we are deceived each time.

In Kargil, Pakistani soldiers entrenched themselves on hilltops during the winter; whereas we woke up to them only in spring. In 1971, the Yahya-Bhutto clique wanted to get rid of the majority eastern wing; whereas we seriously believed that Maj  Gen Niazi was sent to Dacca (now Dhaka) to defend and save what became Bangladesh.

In 1972, when the then Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto came to negotiate peace after the 1971 war, it was agreed that the Line of Control in Kashmir would become the permanent frontier between India and Pakistan. In exchange, 93,000 prisoners of war under Maj Gen  Niazi would be returned. But how could the poor Bhutto sign? After all, his country was in agony having just lost over half of Pakistan. In 1965, Pakistani tanks attacked Kutch to test Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri’s will to fight — if found weak, to invade Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab. Our Army was, therefore, surprised when the subsequent assault came in Chamb Jaurian. In 1947-48, Srinagar initially saw the arrival of the armed brigands but they turned out to be intended conquerors of the State of Jammu & Kashmir. Fortunately, Sardar Patel understood Qaid-e-Azam’s designs.

The Islamabad clique is a hydra-headed regime. In front is the civilian Government, next the Army and next to that is the Inter-Services Intelligence.  Whenever these three have to restrain themselves — it may be due to the inclination of Pakistan’s benefactors, world opinion or human rights — the Taliban or other terrorists are made to step forward. This was the case in the Pulwama terror attack by the Jaish-e-Mohammad, which is a non-state agency and can be claimed to be “beyond the control of the state”. How can anyone trust four different agencies if one could not believe even a single person, namely Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, on the Line of Control in 1972? Pakistanis are born and habitual deceivers. Indira Gandhi and her Panj Pyare led by PN Haksar naively believed Bhutto.

Before coming to the inner play among the hydra-headed agencies, it should be educative to note India’s acts of non-commission as well. We have all heard the many cries and slogans of azadi, autonomy and Nizam-e-Mustafa. But has New Delhi ever bluntly asked those agitators and their allies: What about the enormous subsidy that Jammu & Kashmir enjoys?

Kashmiris pay very few taxes and, therefore, live off subsidies from the Centre. Three years ago, on a visit to Srinagar, this writer happened to ask a highly respected journalist: What do you, as a Kashmiri, ideally want? He replied ‘autonomy’, except for four or five subjects. When asked whether he would be prepared to run the autonomous state without subsidy, he hesitated for a few moments and then replied: “Frankly, while we have worked out our political roadmap, we have not yet drawn up our economic roadmap”!

Surely, New Delhi should have encouraged discussions and debates on this contradiction. These would help dampen nefarious elements and their intentions. At the same time, it is equally important for New Delhi to declare unequivocally three blunt truths. That India cannot, for love or money, let Kashmir secede from the country for three solid reasons. Two of the country’s major rivers have their source not far from Srinagar. Two others pass through the Valley before entering Punjab. And the Indus begins in Ladakh. If Kashmir gets autonomy, why would other Muslims resident in India not expect the same privilege?

Incidentally, Justice Gopal Das Khosla, ICS, who was one of the three judges who sentenced Nathuram Godse, wrote in his book, Stern Reckoning, that an exchange of population was an integral part of Partition; this was not implemented. MA Jinnah had declared that Hindus and Muslims are so different that they could not coexist in the same country. If that be not so, where was the need for Partition? But today, there are more Muslim residents in India than either in Pakistan or Bangladesh. Third, if the Valley is granted autonomy, any other of the 30 States in the country could ask for a similar privilege. Politicians, whether of the Hurriyat or any other shade, would know these home truths but an average Kashmiri does not and is, therefore, vulnerable to being misled.

The Army in Pakistan enjoys near unquestioned charisma. There are four reasons that this writer is aware of; there may be more. One, is the series of discredited civilian Governments since the assassination of Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951. Two, is the mortal fear induced by the rulers that the common folk harbour an Indian threat. The third is the Punjabi apprehension that Pakistan may fall apart if the Army is not in the de facto saddle. Four, civilians have not seen their country’s Army being beaten soundly, except perhaps on the peripheries during the 1965 war. Kashmir was not in sight and Bangladesh (in 1971) was far away from the Pakistani mainland. The Inter-Services Intelligence is an integral part of the Army.

This inexorable factor will prevail unless and until the people of Punjab see their soldiers being defeated on the battlefield. This is the crux of the conflict with Pakistan, Kashmir being merely the akhada for its Army to wrestle with Indians. Players can be the Taliban or professional terrorists or paid and trained Indian Kashmiris. This is the merry convenience Islamabad will enjoy until New Delhi gets ready to takes serious action.

Without such action, it is unlikely that it would be possible to live in peace as good neighbours. In this context, the Ottoman Empire was a similar problem. It was economically sick since quite early in the 19th century as Pakistan now is. Yet, Turkey controlled large areas around itself and was capable of conducting a massive genocide five decades or more later in Armenia. The problem was solved only when the Ottomans were routed in the World War I and their empire taken down. The Sultan was soon exiled and the Caliphate was abolished.

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Writer: Pioneer

From embracing Korean pop music to adapting films and sitcoms, and showcasing web series on digital platforms and food festivals, India is opening up to Korean culture. Sangeeta Yadav reports

From Sanjay Gupta’s Zinda (adaption of Oldboy) to Mohit Suri’s Ek Villain (adapted from I Saw The Devil), or even if we talk about Mahesh Bhatt’s Murder 2 (adapted from Chaser); filmmakers from the tinsel town are eying popular Korean films to adapt them for the Indian audience with of course some Bollywood tadka.

“Their stories are not only high on family drama and human emotions but also violence, dark and gore. Where some films are based on mind games in their suspended thrillers, many showcases different shades of love and relationships. Their shrewd characters flaunting their six pack abs and action moves makes it more interesting for the Indian actors to experiment with all these elements,” Kim Kum Pyoung, director,  Korean Cultural Center in the Capital tells you.

Films like 3 Idiots, Dangal and My Name Is Khan were screened in Korea with the subtitles that got great response. This cultural exchange will not be expanded with a new collaboration with Doordarshan to air the channel in Korea and KBS World in India.

“We are soon going to launch DD India in Korea and KBS World channel in India. We have many Korean entertainment companies who are working on preparing the shows with the subtitles and also films to be adapted for Indian platform,” Pyoung reveals.

It is not just Korean film subjects that have grabbed eyeballs in India. Their web series are as popular and soon Indian viewers will get to see some soap dramas on the digital platform dubbed in several Indian languages.

“Korean drama on the digital platform will be launched in March as web series. Seven to 10 drama will be dubbed in several Indian languages with English subtitles will be aired,” Pyoung says adding this year, they will bring a big Korean star in India for the fans meet and greet and to take the movement forward.

Pyoung believes that remakes of Korean film do well than showcasing the originals with the subtitles. There is some gap in Bollywood and Korean films. We released Train to Busan in India but it couldn’t viewers as compared to the remakes of the Korean films starring Bollywood actors. Korean content is good but how to match the Indian taste is the challenge. That is why Indian directors are adapting. It is time to remake good content for Indian audience. Bollywood lovers are looking for Indian face.

“Two years back, we participated in IFFI Goa and got 10 Korean directors with their film which got good response. This time again, we are collaborating with PVR Cinemas to have Korean film festival In March — April that will showcase top 10 Korean films with English subtitles. If it works well, we will distribute the film as well,” Pyoung says.

Like Bollywood music, K-pop music is also known for quirky dance number and lyrics. That is why it is liked by a lot of people. It all started when PSY’s Gangnam song came out and spread like a wildfire. Not just PSY, South Korean band BTS has crazy fan following worldwide.

“We had organised our first K-pop contest in 2012, the same year when Psy became popular for his song Gangnam Style all over the  world. When we played the video during the event, people jumped up from their seat to dance and cheer. I never thought this would become so popular and have huge base. Many people said that India’s culture is quite conservative and might not be accepted in India. But that point, all the assumption was put to rest with this reaction,” Pyoung tells you.

Since then, the K-pop festival became a regular affair in the Capital. “Last year, we have had 500 teams from all over India and 2,000 participate. K-pop fans are growing by leaps and bounds. Like Bollywood style, Korean singers like to sing and dance as well which requires a lot of stamina and practise. The singers make the songs keeping in mind the worldwide audience and not just for the Korean fans or films,” Pyoung explains.

Many youngsters are enrolling to learn Korean language at the cultural centre and this gave another avenue for expansion.

“Since a lot of people are liking Korean drama and music and the rise in translation to Indian languages, it could be one of the reasons for youngsters opting to learn Korean language. Currently our centre has 380 students learning Korean language and also training them to become teacher to teach many others,” Pyoung says.

Its not just music, dramas and films, Korean food is as popular as well. With the rise in Korean restaurants in India, their traditional dishes are catching a lot of attentions.

“Korean foods are liked by a lot of people. Dishes like Miso soup, Bibimbap, Gimbap, Ramyeon, Kimchi, Tteokbokki, desserts like Bingsu, Kkul Hotteok paired with traditional Korean tea and coffee are a must to explore. Indian chef are trained in Korean cuisines and some learn it from YouTube to make the dishes,” Pyoung says.

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Writer: Sangeeta Yadav

The proposal by Russia’s to sell India MiG-29 aircraft is a clear illustration of the breakdown in our defense acquisition.

The Mikoyan Gurevich 29 fighter jet is an example of brilliant 1970’s technology; it is a fighter that is capable of extreme aerobatics and was highly effective as a weapon in its time. It was still regarded as a modern fighter even when India began to induct the plane in the late 1980s. But as the wrangling over the acquisition of 36 Dassault Rafale jets continues, India finds itself in a position where it does not have enough fighters to protect its airspace or the capacity to develop and build its own warplanes. And on this front, successive governments should take the blame than passing the buck.

Russia’s offer of 21 MiG-29 aircraft built anew on unused old airframes is a way for the Putin government to dispose of old assets. And given the critical situation of India’s air force fighter capacity, this ought to be taken up. But it should not be forgotten that India’s main requirement is for new fifth-generation fighter aircraft and these have to be acquired quickly. The  crashes of a Mirage-2000 and MiG-27 aircraft in just a couple of weeks highlight how critical the situation is for this country that has two well-armed enemies on either side. Besides, we cannot afford to lose any more pilots during something as routine as test runs.

India remains one of the largest military forces in the world without adequate home-grown technology or manufacturing capacity and while new defence acquisition processes try to redress that problem, it will take years if not decades to change. In the meantime, the row over defence deals, which may or may not be manufactured due to political expediency, is continuing and unless a bipartisan approach to acquire new hardware is taken, this will not change. On this front, adapting Indian parliamentary committees to be more similar to those in the United States will be a good move. Public committee hearings on big defence deals will help allay fears of corruption. In the Rafale case, for example, some accuse Congress president Rahul Gandhi of manufacturing a scam while others accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government of being arrogant. And in the last two years, this slanging match seems to have brought India’s acquisition process to a standstill while soldiers, aviators and sailors continue to deal with old, often dilapidated equipment that often lead to needless accidents.

As this newspaper has noted, even some of the most advanced military forces in the world use old equipment, the United States being a case in point. Often for economic reasons and also the fact that old weapons systems are the best suited for modern post-Cold War warfare. But they are modified extensively to keep up with modern technology. So even if we accept the Russian offer to boost our fighting force, we should ensure that what we get is not a throwback to the past but as modern as it can be. At the same time, come May, the future government of this country has to ensure that new defence acquisition deals are concluded fast and India’s home-grown abilities are bolstered.

Writer & Courtesy: Pioneer

Despite the focus being on BJP, Congress, and Third Front, the locus in government-formation is likely to be of smaller parties in/around the NDA

It goes without saying that Government-formation after the 2019 general election will depend on poll numbers. Not ideology, not alliances, and certainly not personal chemistry between political leaders; these will be played out during the election. The counting and final tallying of votes for the various political parties/groupings will decide the leader of the next Government of India.

Naturally, the issue itself will be rendered moot if any of the three players in the fray — broadly the BJP-ledNational Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the still amorphous Third/Federal Front comprising non-BJP/non-Congress regional parties — win 272 seats on their own. That, however, according to every credible, independent opinion poll, is unlikely. We are not arguing that it can’t happen by the time polling day comes along. Just that as of today the consensus among pollsters is that it won’t.

In fact, apart from pollsters and large sections of the media, there is another group of people whose assessment is similar and who are planning their next moves factoring this in. These are the smaller parties in and around the NDA or, as we term them, the potential jokers in the post-poll pack.

There should be no misunderstanding about what is being said. These parties, which bring a different play to the 2019 national electoral game, will quietly fall in behind the BJP as purportedly old and trusted allies or as regional parties resorting to that old trope of offering issue-based support to the party ruling at the Centre in the interest of the State if Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads his party back to power. But they also recognise that’s not the kind of certainty it was a year ago. So, they seem to be preparing a Plan B.

There are two clearly discernible prongs to this political-electoral strategy. For current NDA members, it is to push the BJP into conceding many more seats to its allies than the saffron party would have ideally liked to part with. Ever since the perception has taken root that the Rampant Modi narrative is stuttering thanks to the string of by-election and Assembly poll defeats for the BJP in 2018, this has become a feasible ploy. The concessions extracted by the Janata Dal United in Bihar, where the two allies have split the seats 50:50 despite the BJP having more sitting MPs, is a case in point.

It has also become a template for other NDA allies to emulate, as can be seen in the Shiv Sena arguing for a similar division of seats for Maharashtra with Big Brother BJP. JD-U vice president Prashant Kishore’s highly publicised visit to Mumbai to confabulate with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray last week can fairly be surmised to be a part of this effort. Only the Akalis are out of this matrix. And that’s because despite the temptations, the Shiromani Akali Dal leadership, which is the Badal family, shares a close personal relationship with the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah-Arun Jaitley troika and the party still faces residual voter resentment for its decade of alleged misrule in Punjab. So it is not expected to win more than a couple of Lok Sabha seats, if that, in 2019.

For currently non-NDA parties such as the Biju Janata Dal, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, YSR Congress and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam/Rajinikanth, and including the Asom Gana Parishad and other North-eastern parties, which have fallen out with the BJP over the Citizenship Amendment Bill, the idea is to contest the Lok Sabha poll on their own and/or with tactical adjustments to win the maximum number of seats. All of these parties, which are technically equidistant from both BJP and Congress, are highly unlikely to be tempted by the UPA and view, at least for the moment, the conglomeration of regional satraps that comprise the putative Third/Federal Front as fundamentally unstable.

Interestingly, however, nearly all of them have in recent weeks established informal contacts with the NDA’s current allies, hinting at a joint post-poll strategy if the BJP alone is unable to win 272 seats or come reasonably close to that magic number of seats in the forthcoming general election.

So, what a block of parties, including but not limited to the Shiv Sena, Janata Dal-United, YSR Congress, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, AIADMK/Rajinikanth, Biju Janata Dal and the North-east regional parties bring to the table are between 50 to as many as 100 Lok Sabha seats depending on how they perform at the hustings.

The BJP is aware of these developments but sounds confident of ensuring through various means the loyalty of this group of parties in/around the NDA. The Congress, on the other hand, with ambitions of re-building the party under Rahul Gandhi, knows that these parties operate in States where, bar say a Tamil Nadu, the potential for its rejuvenation going ahead is certainly there. It is the Third/Federal Front — for which the Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Telugu Desam Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, National Conference and Bahujan Samaj Party are currently doing most of the running — that perhaps needs most to fine-tune its strategy to deal with the emerging jokers in the pack.

For, the choices for these parties are actually more than for the three main players in the fray. They could back a Modi-led Government if the BJP numbers are good. They could back a non-Modi BJP-led government if the BJP is the single largest party but well short of a majority. They could, if their poll performance results in them winning closer to 100 seats as opposed to 50, even conceivably ask the BJP to back them in forming a non-BJP-led NDA Government. They could, finally, in the event of a hung House with no party/formation in even striking distance of the halfway-mark, open negotiations with the Third/Federal front to form a Government of regional parties backed by either of the two national parties.

Interesting times lie ahead.

(Ishan Joshi: The author is an independent journalist and commentator based in New Delhi)

Courtesy: The Pioneer