The recent news about separate toilets, one ‘only for Brahmins’, by Kuttumukku Mahadeva temple in Thrissur surfaced in social media. Thankfully, the temple authorities withdrew the decision after pressure mounted on them. It is high time the temple authorities annihilated such discriminatory practices that vilify the religion of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’
Discrimination at places of worship is not new to India. Irrespective of any belief systems, social prejudices, inequity and favouritism exist, though the forms and degree vary from religion to religion. However, it surprises us that such practices still exist and often gets patronised in the State of Kerala, which tops in almost all kinds of social parameters, including the Human Development Index (HDI). The issue becomes more serious, especially when practices of discrimination are observed in temples owned by the Devaswom Board, rather than by any individual or family or community.
The recent news about separate toilets being made available only for Brahmins by Kuttumukku Mahadeva temple managed by Devaswom Board at Thrissur in Kerala, surfaced in social media and was criticised by all. The temple authority had to withdraw its decision under pressure. True, we see the practice of separate toilets in most educational institutions for staff and non-staff (students or other visitors). But they are two forms of arrangements not based on any superiority of one type of people over others. The basis has never been caste, religion and race for such common facilities. Had the temple authority earmarked separate toilet for the priest or temple staff, the move could have been justifiable.
It is worth mentioning here that Devaswom Boards in Kerala were established with a noble purpose to undertake the management of the temples of Princely States of Travancore, Cochin and Malabar, to regulate their finances, maintenance and removal of pre-existing discriminatory practices (if any).
They were created by the Travancore-Cochin Religious Institutions Act (1950), regulated, empowered and expanded by subsequent laws passed in the State Legislative Assembly of Kerala. Though the establishment of Devaswom Board was considered to be an important reformative step, in reality, the temples owned by the Board have become one of the most discriminatory places for worship, persisting even in the 21st century. Several forms of social and economic differentiation such as separate queues based on payment, ban on the entry of non-Hindu devotees or visitors, priority to Brahmin for the post of priests, ban on entry on the basis of gender, removal of shirt, etc, continue to be practised in these religious institutions.
The price discrimination for Darshan (auspicious sight of a deity/idol) is found in Kerala only among the temples managed by Devaswom Board. The most visited Devaswom temples have provisioned separate queues based on payment, which simply means higher fee for entry into shorter and easier queues to save time, while ordinary people, who cannot afford to pay or do not want to pay at all, face longer queues to take the Darshan of the deities. Moreover, all the devotees do not get similar kind of Darshan in the temple, some form of product differentiation is also applied to justify differential price, where devotees can get Darshan of deities at a close range if they pay higher.
This practice is found in the Sree Krishna Swamy temple in Guruvayoor, one of the most popular religious centres in Kerala, where a VIP queue system exists with a payment of Rs 1,000 for “Special Darshan”.
In another surreal practice, most of Devaswom Board temples do not allow non-Hindus to enter temple. A controversy had erupted in the State in 2007 when purification rituals were performed by the temple authority after some religious ceremony of former Union Minister Vayalar Ravi’s grandson took place at the previously mentioned Guruvayur temple, since the Minister’s wife was a Christian. Similarly, legendary singer KJ Yesudas, a recipient of prestigious national awards such as Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan, who had sung some of the most popular devotional songs in praise of various Hindu deities, was not allowed to enter the Guruvayur and Kadampuzha Devi temple in Malappuram for being a non-Hindu. Later, he was allowed to enter the famous Sri Padmanabhaswami Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, which is not under any board, after years of waiting (Outlook Web Bureau 2017).
Similarly, Sabarimala Temple, another Devaswom Board owned institution, do not allow the entry of women aged between 10 and 50. One may call it diversity, but it could have been better if the restrictions were made wholly on a voluntary basis, by making people aware of the old beliefs and practices of this ancient temple, and allowing the devotees themselves to decide whether to visit the temple or not.
It can also be found that Devaswom temples have not been considering people belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes for the post of temple priest. Their first Scheduled Caste (SC) priest was appointed only in 2017, by the Travancore Devaswom Board (Balan 2017). It is noteworthy that Kerala had unique culture prior to the formation of Devaswom Board, where most of the temples were owned by a caste or community itself, who uses to appoint their own caste people as temple priest. This practice can still be noticed in many parts of the State where rituals related to marriage and birth are performed by own caste people, expert in mantra vidya (chanting hymns) rather than by Brahmins.
Hovever, there exists scores of private/trust run temples in Kerala which have been appointing persons from Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribal communities as their priests for many decades. Popular temples in Thiruvananthapuram such as Kollampuzha Devi temple in Attingal, Elambrakode Devi temple in Pallikkal, Mullanalloor Devi temple in Navayikulam have priests belonging to Paravar and Kuravar caste of SCs while priests of Venkamala Devi temple belong to Kaani community of Tribals.
Similarly, the medieval practice of verifying “janau” (sacred thread) of people by removing the upper wear (shirt) is still practised in the temples owned by Devaswom Board, especially in Travancore region. For example, Sharkkara Devi temple, Sreekandeswaram temple, Pallippuram Devi temple, all in Thiruvananthapuram follow this custom. Interestingly, this practice is abandoned or discontinued by non-Devaswom Board temples.
The pertinent question is whether Hindu temples are getting more rigid or more liberal over the time. The answer is both yes and no. We can notice wave of liberalism in temples all over the country, and the temples in Kerala are no exception of it. But we can still notice such discriminatory practices in most of the temples owned by Devaswom Board i.e. Pattambi Guruvayur temple and Mulayankavu Bagavathy temple (both in Palakkad), Vadakumnatha temple and Kadampuzha temple (both in Thrissur), Kalari Bagavathi temple (Maruthur, Pattambi, also in Palakkad), Angadippuram temple, Thirumittakodu temple, Thirunavaya temple, Thiruvilwamala temple, and Sabarimala temple. Such discriminatory practices are not only bringing bad name to the religion but to the State as well.
It is very surprising that despite the fact that Communist Party of India (Marxist) and their allies, which claim to be religion-neutral and frequently proclaim themselves as a perennial supporter of social progress, did not initiate any reforms in the temples owned by State. It raises doubt on the intention of political dispensation if they want to continue these practices to vilify Hindu religion especially when these practices have been opposed by most of Hindus.
(Anish Gupta is an Assistant Professor of economics, Delhi University. The co-writer is a student of politics)
New York, Dec 5 (IANS) The US House of Representatives has unanimously pass a bill to establish several educational programmes and a foundation to promote the legacies of Mahatama Gandhi and Martin Luther King, the two great champions of non-violence. The bill, Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative Act, adopted on Thursday by a voice vote, was sponsored by the late civil rights leader, John Louis, last December and the co-sponsors included Representatives Ami Bera, Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal.
The bill seeks to set up exchange programmes for scholars and undergraduate and post-graduate students from the two countries on social justice and human rights and the Gandhi-King Global Academy within the US Institute of Peace. It also proposes setting up the US-India Gandhi-King Development Foundation to give out grants to NGOs in India for action on humanitarian, environmental, climate change and development issues. One of the features of the educational component, the "Gandhi King Scholarly Exchange Initiative," is the creation of an annual forum on the teachings of the two leaders.
The bill will now go before the Senate, where it will have to find a place amid the packed agenda in the final days of its current session. After Elliot Engel, the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee which had approved the bill in July, called for the suspension of the normal procedures for passing bills, the House approved it unanimously by a voice vote.
The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) welcomed the passage of the bill as an honour to the memory of Lewis. "It is a fitting tribute that his (Lewis's) bill institutionalising the legacy and teachings of both Gandhi and Dr King would pass in the 116th Congress and is on its way to becoming law," said HAF Executive Director Suhag Shukla. Lewis, who died in July, was one of the champions of the non-violent US civil rights movement led by King.
He was the chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and one of the organisers of the 1963 March on Washington at which King delivered his memorable "I have a dream" speech. The bill said, "The world will benefit from a stronger United States-India partnership." It added, "Leaders in both countries belonging to both major political parties have prioritised the United States-India relationship and on a bipartisan basis continue to support a strengthened United States-India partnership, recognising that it will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century."
"The use of non-violent civil disobedience is a shared tactic that has played a key role in defeating social injustice in India, the United States, and in other parts of the world," the bill said. The bill quoted King: "I am more convinced than ever before that the method of non-violent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity."
(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis)
In observance of World Soil Day, Sadhguru, Founder-Isha Foundation, has penned a poignant tribute in verse to soil. The poem, written in Kannada, has been released as a 75-second video set to Sadhguru’s compelling narration. It is subtitled in English.
The poem celebrates soil as the basis of all life on this planet. Sadhguru has launched several grassroots ecological projects whose objectives are to revive soil nutrients through nature-based solutions. Isha works extensively with farmers in natural soil revival programmes.
According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), soil degradation is one of the gravest ecological challenges on our times. Several countries including India have pledged to collectively restore 350 million hectares of degraded land in the coming decade. India will contribute 26 million hectares to this effort. The Cauvery Calling project alone will contribute more than 1 million hectares of restored land to support the country’s commitment.
Unless those rescued are empowered to assert their entitlements and claim accountability from offices at the ground level, the best of laws will remain on paper and have no impact on trafficking
In 2018, when the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) attempted to introduce a new Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, or TOP Bill, in the Lok Sabha, it triggered a strong debate both within the House and outside. While some wanted it to be passed, others were strongly opposed to it. Those for the TOP Bill lauded it because it aimed to have a single legislation to address all forms of human trafficking and rectify the current scenario where each aspect of the crime — from kidnapping, rape, sexual exploitation, forced labour and bonded labour — is separately covered by different sections in the law. This results in fragmented application of laws, flawed investigation and failed prosecution as is evident by the NCRB data on prevalence, prosecution and convictions of traffickers each year. The common law, supporters of the TOP Bill argued, would take away the arbitrary distinctions between sex, labour and other forms of trafficking, which are a product of moral biases against prostitution and non-recognition of the exploitation and torture in labour trafficking. Further, the new Bill, however flawed, was an improvement on the existing legal framework on human trafficking in India, they argued.
Those who were opposed to it countered that the Bill only strengthened the existing flaws in the laws and complicated them further. It pushed for a stronger criminalisation approach, rather than understanding that trafficking was an outcome of socio-economic problems, disparities in growth between regions that pushed for migration but did not provide a support framework. Activists feared that the already prevailing rescue-rehabilitation approach, which gave the police powers of arrests and incarceration of voluntary sex workers in shelter homes, was perpetuated in the new Bill and that it seemed to have learnt nothing from the failures of the past. A third group, also opposed to the Bill, pointed out that creating new laws confounds inefficient law enforcement and overburdens judicial systems even further. So they have no positive bearing on curbing human trafficking, on vulnerable communities, survivors or the implementers of that law and its policies. It cited several social legislations on juvenile justice and domestic, sexual and caste-based violence. Instead of creating new laws, the Government needs to allocate budgets and spend them, strengthen monitoring and implementation of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections that pertain to trafficking, the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (1986), the Juvenile Justice Act and the Bonded Labour Act.
The WCD Ministry has reiterated its intent to bring in a law on human trafficking and is engaged in revising the TOP Bill. Once the draft Bill is placed in public domain for comments and suggestions, will the stakeholders re-engage with a few fundamental questions that have always led to deadlocks between people of different political and moral ideologies? The central issues in this debate are likely to be around the matter of legalisation of sex work and discernment between sex trafficking and sex work, approaches in rehabilitation of survivors of trafficking, the prevention approach and its impact on migration rights.
Does India need a new law on trafficking? The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA), that was formed in 1956 and last amended in 1986, has failed to combat sex trafficking. The ITPA’s approach of combating sex trafficking is on criminalisation of organised prostitution and providing for institutionalisation of survivors and their rehabilitation in shelter homes. The law does not directly criminalise sex workers, except for solicitation in public places. However, nowhere in India has any of the States reported a positive outcome of the law, either by way of reduction of sex trafficking of women and children, conviction of customers who demand children for sex or any consistent conviction of traffickers’ networks to break source-destination flows of victims for sexual exploitation. On the other hand, survivors, who have been through the provisions of the law, have reported grave trauma because of forced institutionalisation in shelter homes. Shelters providing them with non-formal education did not result in better educational qualifications. The in-house vocational training courses on book-binding, sewing, tailoring or jewellery-making did not lead to sustainable employment generation and when they returned home, they were left to fend off stigma, poverty and their health distress on their own. A 2014 research on the health status of survivors of sex trafficking, who had been rescued from Maharashtra, Delhi, Telangana and Karnataka, found that 86 per cent of those tested for psychological health were found to be suffering from dysthymia, a state of chronic depression and anxiety disorder that, the clinicians found, were a result of untreated PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). This indicated the inadequacy of the psycho-social counselling services provided in shelters.
India does not have a law on labour trafficking. While Section 370 of the IPC was to have provided us with a comprehensive definition of trafficking, it falls short of mentioning forced labour in its definition of exploitation. Survivors of labour trafficking across India report that there is systemic resistance in recognising them as victims of labour trafficking or of bonded labour. While there is systemic exploitation of inter-state migrant labour being trapped in brick kilns, small factories and sweatshops, construction sites using debt bondage, threats, intimidation and violence, the district administration and police resist in recognising this as trafficking and would rather interpret it as “ill-treatment of labour.”
One of the biggest lacunae in the system is the absence of any definition of “rehabilitation of survivors of trafficking” and what specifically a survivor may claim as entitlements for recovery and rehabilitation. The ITPA offers incarceration in shelter homes for up to three years and in-house service delivery without any ac-countability of the service provider towards recovery, employment or reintegration. The Bonded Labour Act provides for a Central sector scheme for rehabilitation of bonded labour, which focusses on financial benefits, mentioning nothing about recovery, repatriation, reintegration or rights of legal representation of victims of labour trafficking. What this creates is a system that can escape responsibility towards the future of the survivors by claiming that it has provided rehabilitation services but survivors were not able to benefit from them.
The ITPA and the Bonded Labour Act as well as the IPC fail miserably in prosecution of traffickers. The Global Trafficking in Persons Report, 2020, observes, “The Government decreased investigations, prosecutions and case convictions of traffickers. The acquittal rate increased to 83 per cent.”
A whopping 90 per cent of human trafficking in India is inter-state, and from villages and small towns to cities. The Ministry of Home Affairs had recognised the need to create an integrated and comprehensive investigation system in 2008 when it passed a directive to form Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTU) at the district-level, which could pursue investigations seamlessly between States. This would take the burden off from the general police stations. However, a recent report, AHTU Watch, found less than 10 per cent of the currently-existing 332 AHTUs to be notified and functional, with officers exclusively in charge of them. Non-notification of AHTUs means that they do not have the powers of investigation, rendering their roles largely notional. As a result, the bulk of the trafficking cases are investigated by officers from general police stations, who confine their probes to the areas in their jurisdiction. For example, the police team that rescues a survivor of trafficking from Pune would confine its investigation and prosecution to the local brothel but would not trace back to the traffickers in the source State where the victim was abducted. As a result, such prosecution based on poor probes can be easily challenged by the defence. AHTUs have yet to be recognised under any legislation and State Governments are under no obligation to implement their advisories.
Those who are worst affected by the inadequacies of the law are survivors of trafficking themselves. There is truth in the contention that unless trafficking survivors are empowered to assert their entitlements and claim accountability from offices at the ground level, the best of policies and laws will remain on paper and have no impact on the ground. NGOs have their own subjectivities, their ideological battles and limitations in challenging duty bearers.
Survivors of human trafficking can be the greatest resource in any anti- trafficking multi-stakeholder system. Their inclusion in national, State and district-level anti-trafficking committees will need to be endorsed by law and policy and not left to the goodwill of individual bureaucrats or leaders. It’s time that survivors of human trafficking were respected as equal members in the anti-trafficking ecosystem and not spoken for by activist NGOs.
(The writer is a researcher and advisor to the Indian Leadership Forum Against Trafficking)
Even if Trump fails at doing so, his predecessors remind Americans and the world what they are missing
Former Presidents of the United States, Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama or as they call themselves 42, 43 and 44, denoting which order on the line of succession they were, have volunteered to be among the first to take the vaccine for Covid-19 as they become available. This is not just a smart way to jump the queue, which anyway as a former member of a very select club they would have been at the head of, but also to give a vote of confidence for the vaccine. In that regard they are acting very Presidential, which the current occupant of the White House, for the next 45 days, President Donald Trump, certainly has not been. Far from it.
Unfortunately, the US has a significant number of conspiracy theorists who are called “anti-vaxxers”, people who believe that vaccinations will harm rather than heal. This number includes several celebrities, once including Hollywood comedy star Jim Carrey, although he has recanted his views. These celebrities, who have an outsize influence, have convinced many Americans that the vaccine will not work and unsurprisingly many of them are leading the anti-mask campaign as well. Partially some of this comes back to the “Live Free or Die” motto that many Americans live by. The last few years have actually seen the re-emergence of some diseases such as measles, which have even led to some fatalities. Clinton, Bush and Obama, with different political views, have realised that America is suffering immensely from misinformation and a trust deficit with those in power. They realise that in the past four years America has drifted towards chaos and it needs an injection, literally, of trust. Taking the vaccine first and demonstrating to Americans that the vaccine is safe will help the US economy and healthcare system to return to normal. It should also be a huge vote of confidence for vaccinations in general.
The BJP gets a booster shot of a win in the city’s municipal polls and is looking to get Telangana in 2023
Whatever the numbers are and whatever be the criticism about its undue hyping up of the Hyderabad municipal elections as a national prestige fight, the fact is the BJP has proved its point. That it can grow roots and sprout green shoots in a hostile terrain with a mathematical formula regardless of its status as a Central party or its cultural divergence. And that it can do without its one-time federal partner as a prop. Yes, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) may be the largest party yet in the Corporation but crashing from 99 seats and losing over 40 per cent of the seats has a sharper sting than defeat. And by nudging the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) off its comfortable perch despite the consolidated vote of a Muslim-dominated city, the BJP showed that its counter-polarisation can work anywhere in India, enough to separate strands of a blended culture in Nizami Hyderabad. Finally, by gobbling up the entire Opposition space, vacated by the lacklustre Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Congress, and winning almost over ten times the seats it had last time, it has undoubtedly emerged as the challenger to the TRS. And by 2023, it hopes to supplant the regional party, riding the anti-incumbency wave, and acquire a southern State beyond Karnataka. It can use Hyderabad as a toehold to pry the door open. Significantly, the city’s municipal limits include as many as 24 Assembly constituencies and touch upon parts of Lok Sabha seats, so no time would be better than now to lay the foundational bricks. And by treating the civic polls with as much seriousness as it would a general election, the top BJP leadership, which parked itself in the city intensely over a week or so, proved that it was committed to and valued each of its local units. That each State is important in its ultimate dream of “one party, one nation.” While every political pundit thought that Mission Bengal or defeating Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would top its agenda in 2021, the BJP’s laboratory culture is at work to reap dividends whenever its matters. In 2016, the BJP could win just four wards, against the TRS’ 99 and the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM’s 44. Even during the 2019 Lok Sabha election, it won four of the 17 seats. Perhaps the conversion rate between 2014 and 2019, from one to four seats, and its recent bypoll victory in the Dubbaka Assembly seat gave the BJP enough reason to hope and plan ahead. Dubbaka is adjacent to the seat that Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) won from and the BJP wants to encash the symbolism of it closing in on him. But more than everything else, it is what Hyderabad represents that is up for grabs. First, as a cyber hub, Hyderabad is cosmopolitan and is next only to Bengaluru in the I-T sweepstakes. Seen largely as a north Indian, heartland party that is given to the template of the cowbelt politics of caste, the BJP now wants to be seen as a party of the classes and not just the masses. To that extent, it needs the endorsement of the knowledge economy, echo the “digital citizenry” as it were. Besides, Hyderabad’s largely Muslim character and the Nizami hangover have held out against the BJP’s kind of Hindutva, which is about reviving ancient glory before the “history of the invaders.” After the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya — whose impact is largely confined to North India — it needed an ideological conquest in the south. Hence the call to rename the city as Bhavyanagar, which, according to the BJP’s narrative, was its original name, derived as it was from the Bhagyalaxmi temple. The fact that it is located near the Charminar, a monument that defines Hyderabad, unmistakably harks back to the party’s core temple politics. Most importantly, the BJP wants to get rid of Owaisi, who crafted his political survival by undercutting secular forces, saying that they shortchanged Muslims on real issues, earning him the tag of being a vote-splitter and the BJP’s B-team. Now that his appeal is no longer confined to Hyderabad and is expanding to Maharashtra, Bihar and Bengal, the BJP doesn’t want a counter-polarisation to happen pan-India among Muslim voters, who may look up to him as their true representative and not want to be traded for votebank politics. The BJP now wants to cut Owaisi to size. This is apparent from its leader Tejasvi Surya’s statements calling Owaisi an avatar of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and attributing his Bihar win to his clout in Hyderabad.
Of course, civic issues have been drowned out with the floods that swamped the city this year. The BJP has diverted attention from the encroachment of catchment areas and buffer zones around water bodies that has made the city particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events. And its weathervane is all about changing directions of the political current. Will Chief Minister and TRS Chief KCR be able to reclaim his political stock, now that the BJP has become his worst foe, by taking up real issues? There was a time when he could claim advantages by tacitly supporting the BJP, helping it in the passage of crucial Bills in Parliament and staying neutral on controversial issues. But the mammoth Lok Sabha verdict of 2019 means the national party doesn’t really need him as an ally and would rather have its own man in the State. KCR is gradually losing his tradeable ware and now Hyderabad has shown that being a local leader is just not enough to dim brand Modi. So he needs to rebuild himself as a leader who birthed the State, remind people he is its original creator and has led a social rather than a religious movement, championed their rights that no outsider can ever understand. KCR must realise that the BJP still has trouble ousting Trinamool Congress in Bengal or couldn’t dislodge the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi because both have mobilised people’s movements and made it their own, the former on land rights in Singur and the latter on clean governance. So he must avoid falling into the Hindu-Muslim trap set by the BJP and revive the social causes he stood for, something which he has ignored recently. He must rebrand himself as a State leader and not a leader who uses his State to transact his importance at the Centre.
Beginning with severe respiratory problems, long term exposure to coal dust can decimate both plant and animal life in a biodiversity hotspot
On the night of November 1, thousands of Goans gathered on the railway lines at Chandor, South Goa to protest against the doubling of railway tracks for enhancement of coal transportation from the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) to steel plants in neighbouring Karnataka. Currently, the State serves as a crucial link to coal transportation to Karnataka. However, despite the existing infrastructure, the Government is looking to fast-track the process by introducing three major infrastructure projects. Goa’s fate was sealed by the “devil’s dust” (fine particles of coal) in 2016 as the MPT led development programme, Sagarmala, received the Centre’s nod aimed at converting Goa into a coal hub.
During the nationwide lockdown, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the National Board for Wildlife gave “virtual clearance” over a video conference to three interconnected infrastructure projects — four laning of the existing NH-4A (Goa-Karnataka Highway), laying a 400KV transmission line and doubling of an existing railway line from Mormugao to Londa. The three linear projects are situated within the same protected area. Reportedly, all three projects require felling of 70,000 trees and diversion of 216 hectares of forest and private land in Mollem National Park and Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary in South Goa. This forest is part of the Western Ghats, which is one of the eight biodiversity hotspots of the world and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The protected area is home to more than 721 plant species, 235 bird species, 219 butterfly species, 70 mammal species, 45 reptile species, 44 fish species and 27 amphibian species. This includes endemic as well as rare and vulnerable species such as the tiger, dhole, mouse deer, gaur and the Indian pangolin among others. In addition, there are 18 bird species that are endemic to the Western Ghats and seven bird species that are of high conservation concern are found here. This area was marked as an Ecologically Sensitive Area by the Madhav Gadgil Committee in 2012.
The Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National Park, part of a larger contiguous forest, is a treasure trove of flora and fauna and is an important tiger corridor between Goa and the adjoining Kali Tiger Reserve in Karnataka. Of 240 sq km, the sanctuary and the national park constitute the largest protected area in Goa. The Western Ghats are one of the most important tiger habitats in the world. Expanding the highway and doubling of the South Western Railways will leave the southern part of the Ghats disconnected from the north. This will lead to death and injuries to tigers and other numerous animals as they cross the tracks in their cyclic movements. The Tilari Dam and relentless mining have already decimated elephant habitats and other significant parts of the Ghats. Forests in the Western Ghats that have existed for thousands of years are irreplaceable. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report, 2019, shows that the Western Ghats are one of the most resilient ecosystems that will buffer us from climate change.
Roads and power lines are known to fragment habitats, impacting flora and fauna in incalculable ways. The habitat where these projects are proposed is also home to a newly-discovered dragonfly species. Dandeli and Goa are believed to be an elephant movement route. Now tigers and leopards are also likely to move through here. While there are eight or nine underpasses proposed for wildlife, there is little information on where these will be constructed, and even less is known about their scientific efficacy. Ironically enough, these projects have been cleared at a time when Covid19 has revealed how loss of forest land, wildlife and biodiversity can increase zoonotic diseases.
The Government’s move goes to show how India’s wildlife laws are openly flouted with little or no regard to consequences. According to experts, a thorough verification of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and project proposals is rarely done, showing regulatory bodies’ scant regard towards eco-sensitive zones. It is a sad reflection on the state of environmental governance that the MoEFCC and NBWL overlook crucial statutory requirements and have undermined the purpose of the EIA. The evidence put forth by naturalists, conservationists and the people living in these forests over centuries needs to be taken into consideration.
Coal dust causes a host of problems for wildlife. Beginning with severe respiratory problems, in the long term, increased exposure to toxic elements through coal dust can cause animals to suffer from a variety of life-threatening disorders and dysfunctionalities. According to the National Wildlife Federation, “Unless significant action is taken now, global warming will likely become the most important factor to affect wildlife since the emergence of mankind.” Climate change, to which coal burning and dust are among the prominent contributors, has the potential to significantly alter ecosystems and cause mass extinction of species. In underground and surface waters, coal dust can cause decrease in aquatic oxygen content and in light penetration. This reduces the growth of aquatic plants. In turn, this leads to manifold increase in mortality of fish and other aquatic species that are dependent on aquatic plants as a food source.
Coal dust also decreases the ability of plants and trees to photosynthesise. If this natural process is stymied, most plants would begin to die. Although they could hold out for a few days, or in some cases, a few weeks, how long they live would largely depend on how much sugar they had stored within their cells. Large trees, for example, may be able to soldier on for several years because of their energy stores and the slow rate of use. However, the majority of plants would die and so would the animals that rely on them for nourishment. With the herbivores dead, the omnivores and carnivores would soon follow.
Coal dust is affecting humans, too, as it is increasing incidents of respiratory ailments. In 2016-17, a consignment of 12.75 million tonnes of coal was unloaded at the MPT and carried across Goa to power stations and refineries. It is expected to grow to 19-21 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) by 2025 and to 34-40 MTPA by 2035. This will completely transform the face of Goa. Transport of such huge quantities of coal risks entire habitats, villages and towns; it is threatening the ecological resilience of Goa required to deal with the effects of climate change.
(The writer is Communications Associate, Wildlife SOS)
SC makes CCTVs and audio recordings must at interrogation rooms in police stations, agencies and jails to curb custodial excesses
Finally, a process has been set in motion to hold the police to account for custodial excesses and crossing the line. In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court has made it mandatory for all police stations and probe agencies — the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) — to install CCTV cameras with night vision and audio recording facilities. States, too, have to deploy cameras with audio at all police stations. The court has even detailed the placement of such tracking devices at interrogation rooms, lock-ups, entries and exits, lobbies, offices of the inspector/sub-inspector and even outside washrooms lest officials find a way of hoodwinking technology. The video and audio recordings have to be preserved for 18 months for evidence and an independent panel can periodically source them to assess claims of human rights violations. After this overarching ruling, the police will undoubtedly find it difficult to justify brute practices in the guise of extracting vital information or cover up inconvenient truths under political pressure. The ruling assumes significance following the brutal custody death of two men in Tamil Nadu that had outraged our collective conscience and given us our own #lives matter moment. A father and son in Tuticorin, who were booked for running their shop 15 minutes beyond closure during a lockdown — a minor infraction by any stretch — ended up dead after the local police subjected them to a long, brutal and sustained interrogation, torture and sexual abuse in custody. Fifty nine-year-old P Jayaraj and his son, 31-year-old J Fenix, were booked under Section 188 of IPC (Disobeying the time restrictions ordered by a public servant, Section 383 (Extortion by threat) and Section 506 (Criminal intimidation). However, disobeying Section 188 is not so serious an offence that requires sustained questioning and night-long torture in custody. Apart from that, there were no witnesses to back up the need for the police to book the two men under Section 383 and Section 506. But witnesses living 500 metres away from the police station, where the two men were held, did hear their screams and cries for help through the night. The next day, when the men were released from custody, their clothes were found ripped and they were bleeding profusely from their private parts, forcing them to change their clothes at least 10-12 times in a few hours. Yet, they were a given a clean bill of health by the doctor on duty who obviously did not want to incur the wrath of the all-powerful inspector. And then they died within hours for lack of critical care. This incident showed how common custodial deaths had become, particularly at the local levels of administration where the policing system had internalised the right to be judge, jury and executioner.
According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) data, compiled over a decade till March 2020, 17,146 people were reported to have died in judicial and police custody, which is about five a day. The rights panel listed 914 deaths in custody, 53 of these under police watch alone, this year despite the long months of lockdown. Besides, there have been far too many reports of Dalits, the poor and the marginalised being at the receiving end of the police’s wrath lest they expose the ugly face of upper caste atrocities. Police torture has become routine simply because no errant officer has been booked since 2005. And considering that conviction in case of custodial torture is difficult because Government permission is required to prosecute public officials, who defend themselves saying they were just using a coercive tactic while discharging their official duties, there’s little hope for redress. Besides, there’s still no law against custodial excesses. Torture may have begun as a tested medieval ploy to get information out of suspects but has now become an intimidatory tactic by police who use it to settle scores, either on their own or at the behest of their political bosses, and close a case file according to a presumed, often pre-judged, course of events. The lack of policing reforms has meant that the forces are not trained in more modern and digitally-aided methods of interrogation and cross-examination that could do away with traditional methods of conducting an inquiry altogether. Besides, most deaths are attributable to the extended periodicity of custody. As the NHRC data shows, 92 per cent of the deaths were in judicial custody, which can extend up to 60 or 90 days. A person may be held in police custody for 24 hours but that can be extended to 15 days on the orders of a magistrate. Besides, not every custody death is reported though mandatory and “failure to report” is still not a crime. Over the last few years, rarely have errant cops been held accountable for overreaching their powers, especially in cases with a decidedly communal tilt, like those involving protesters against the new citizenship law. In the Mumbai of the 80s and even later, “encounter specialists” were treated as heroes of the forces for delivering instant justice and were even endorsed by civil society. Of course, the brutality during the lockdown isn’t the only example worth noting. The visuals of the ferocious crackdown on dissenting students of Jamia and Aligarh Muslim University during the anti-CAA row haunt thousands of families even today as we wait for those responsible to be held accountable for the heinous misuse of power against peaceful demonstrators. And while the cases drag on in courts, the offenders would never be put on trial or would have been moved out of the public eye to other posts. Simply because the police has been reduced to being a malleable tool of the powers that be and is increasingly being used to serve their political will and agenda. At least, the Supreme Court has decided the police can be policed, too, when required.
For politicians like Netanyahu, peace delegitimises their political appeal and instead provocation, tension and violence strengthen the same
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu is a stereotypical Israeli politician, who has served in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). Hailing from a military family that includes elder brother Yonatan Netanyahu, who commanded the daring Operation Entebbe and became its only Israeli fatality, Benjamin himself was a team leader in the Sayeret Matkal (Special Forces Unit) and took part in multiple covert operations in Syria like Operation Gift and Operation Isotope. He was also shot in the shoulder during an anti-hijack operation. But today, Benjamin Netanyahu is also a great political survivor and the longest-serving Israeli Prime Minister (1996-1999, 2009-till date). The politician par excellence also has an unmatched CV in escaping tight spots. Foremost among them has been surviving the difficult tenures of former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama (both of them were not policy hawks), surviving sex tapes, indifferent colleagues, accusations of media manipulation, ongoing criminal trials for fraud and bribery, and above all, facing yet another potentially complicated relationship with the incoming American administration under Joe Biden.
But it is yet another illustrious Israeli war hero and fellow-Sayeret Matkal colleague of Netanyahu’s, Ehud Barak, who throws insights into the mind of the political escape-artist. Barak himself is the former Israeli Chief of the General Staff and the most decorated soldier in Israeli history. Later, he replaced Netanyahu as the Prime Minister in1999. Barak, who has worked along with Netanyahu in the military and the Knesset, claims, “Netanyahu has shown that no legal regulations really interest him” and given the legal entanglements surrounding his fate, “he understands that he is going nowhere, and his priority will be anything that will get him out of a trial.” Barak assesses that a desperate, amoral and reckless Netanyahu could create internal and external circumstances that would galvanise his political popularity and make him irreplaceable. Barak is joined by over 300 retired officers from the Israeli Army, Police, Shin Bet Security Service, Mossad and multiple former IDF Chiefs of Staff like Gabi Ashkenazi, Moshe Yaalon and the temporarily aligned Benny Gaantz. Years ago, as the leader of the Opposition, Netanyahu had led infamous protests against the then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (who had just signed the Oslo Peace Accord), where he walked at the head of a mock funeral procession, featuring an empty black coffin and chants of “Death to Rabin.” Days later, Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by an Israeli opposed to the accord and that marked the return of extremist hardliners, among whom Netanyahu has been the most dominant player on the scene.
Now, Netanyahu has been bracing for a post-Donald Trump administration. The nomination of Anthony Blinken as the Secretary of State has accelerated his worries. Blinken is a known supporter of rapprochement with Iran, as also a rare critic of the controversial move to shift the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Netanyahu realises the inevitability of the looming change in the dynamics, as also of the very narrow window of a few weeks before Trump is eased out of the White House. Frenetic backdoor activities are in full swing to secure positions in the chessboard of the Middle East, among which was the not-so-secretive meeting between Saudi Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and Netanyahu at Neom. Beyond public posturing, political rhetoric and official denials, both Riyadh and Tel Aviv are more strategically aligned than ever before, and between them, the irreconcilable sectarian angularity of Iran is a unifying factor. The Iranians are militarily challenging the Saudis through their proxies in Yemen (Houthi rebels) and rallying against the Saudi-supported Sunni militia in the Syrian-Iraqi swathes whereas the Iran-backed Hamas in the West Bank and the co-sectarian Shia-Hezbollah in Lebanon are taking on the Israelis. Iran is the common dread and, therefore, the essential playground for accusations, intrigues and covert operations.
During a news conference at the Ministry of Defence in 2018, Netanyahu had spoken about and stood before the image of Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Pointing to the image, Netanyahu had chillingly warned, “Remember that name, Fakhrizadeh!” Last week when Fakhrizadeh was assassinated by unknown gunmen, the Iranians were unequivocal in blaming, “the mercenaries of the oppressive Zionist regime”, referring to Netanyahu’s Government. The timing was eerily ominous and Iranian President Hasan Rouhani alluded to the desperation of the very limited window of Presidential transition in the US when he said, “the enemies are experiencing stressful weeks.”
It has been acknowledged by the international watchdog agency, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), that while Fakhrizadeh was indeed the head of the Iranian nuclear programme, there were no alarm bells in the Iranian reactivation status as yet despite the unilateral pullout by the US from the Iran nuclear deal. Legally also, Iran was no longer bound to restrain its nuclear programme after the US had reneged on the deal, despite assurances from IAEA that Iran had fully complied with all commitments. If anything, Trump-Netanyahu had upped the ante with avoidable and provocative steps like killing the revered General Qasem Soleimani, who had played a pivotal role in destroying the dangerous edifice of the ISIL Caliphate in Iraq-Syria.
The killing of Fakhrizadeh cannot possibly make any material impact on the Iranian nuclear preparedness as it is not dependent on any individual, in any case, and the motives could only be purely political. This act looks intended to deliberately worsen the relations to draw retaliatory action from Iran, thereby prematurely stalling any thawing opportunities that are presumably forthcoming with the Biden administration. Details of Trump discussing a possible military strike against Iran just before the Presidential elections are already doing the rounds. From the same political playbook, heightened political tension between Tel Aviv and Tehran can also help shore up crucial and invaluable nationalistic fervour in favour of the much-cornered Netanyahu. For politicians like him, peace delegitimises their political appeal and instead, provocation, tension and violence, strengthen the same.
(The writer, a military veteran, is a former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands)
It is commendable that the US could control further terrorist attacks after September 11. India can learn a lesson or two from this
Amid the Coronavirus pandemic, the recent Indo-US 2+2 Dialogue between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defence Mark Esper and their Indian counterparts, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, has provided a much-needed impetus to a new roadmap in dealing with myriad security concerns and challenges posed by the overexpansionist Chinese mission. During the dialogue, India and the US signed five agreements, including the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) that will allow for real-time sharing of geospatial data. Besides, issues of global cooperation in the economic arena and public health along with the border security apparatus and geospatial information sharing remain a vital part of the pact.
This would certainly provide a huge platform for future Indo-US ties through diplomatic endeavours and be the beginning of a new era of defence deals. Although it is the third 2+2 Dialogue, it holds more importance as the BECA would enhance the chances of sharing information with regard to inner-satellite data, military and intelligence along with logistics facilities. This is vital as the rising tentacles of Chinese expansionism have raised serious concerns about the safety of the entire region. In fact, the Quad Group, comprising India, Australia, Japan and the US, recently held a joint naval exercise to counter the threat posed by China and to ensure security in the Indo-Pacific region.
The BECA would be helpful in developing international cooperation for fighting trans-national terrorism. According to analysts, it is a welcome development as it would provide a platform for multi-layered security cooperation that would deal with various other issues related to terrorism. Right from funding of terrorist activities, policing cooperation, dealing with cyber threats, secrecy through enhancing technological innovations and tightening the border to maritime security information-gathering exercise. Cooperation and coordination in aggrandisement of communication capabilities and management of security arrangements to deal with any kind of threat are the main objectives of the pact. The catch here lies in how to generate prudence to anticipate a possible threat from religiously-motivated bands of distraught people.
There would also be chances of increased cooperation under the Communication Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) between the security and defence establishments of the two largest democracies of the world. However, there has been a paradigm shift in the foreign policy outlook of nations. Countries have become more pragmatic in dealing with others and have started building one-to-one relationships. Therefore, the apprehensions of having an adverse impact on ties with either Russia, Iran or China are not going to have a place in strategic policy formulation in the present scenario.
Another important area, which requires immediate attention and cooperation, is developing a mechanism to deal with the chemical weapons in possession of the new breed of terrorists. Chemical weapons are not easily detectable and hence are easily transportable, as compared to conventional arms. International cooperation in terms of forming strict laws and regulations that prevent the acquisition of such weapons can provide a strategic management in dealing with terror.
The cooperation between India and the US may also develop a foolproof mechanism to put an end to the accessibility of RDX, Erythritol Tetranitrate (Penta) and sophisticated weapons like AK-56 and AK-47 assault rifles. Plus, cooperation in policing while dealing with the menace of drug trafficking will provide a strong mechanism to crack the nexus between terrorists and drug dealers in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Laos and so on.
However, the main challenge will be how to frame a strategy to deal with religiously-motivated terrorists. It is commendable that the US security and intelligence network could control further terrorist attacks after September 11. India can learn a lesson or two from this. Unless we develop a high-level intelligence network to anticipate such threats, the talk of combating strategies would only remain a chimera.
During the last two decades, the obnoxious nexus between drug smugglers and terrorists has posed a serious problem for internal security networks and compelled various nations to organise themselves and wage a relentless war against this. But mere implementation of vigorous drug laws cannot be effective unless the judicial procedure is modified to ensure speedy trials. This agreement is an opportunity to nip Pakistan’s trouble-making tactics and the narco-terror it is spreading in the region, as well as curb China’s expansionist plans.
There is a major transnational transition on account of a rapidly changing value system across the globe as well as a shift in world-level power sharing. Slowly, the old order is giving way to the new. The recent developments and terror attacks in different parts of the globe offer a few lessons: First, no authority can afford to ignore the popular aspirations of the masses anymore. Change and unrest are inevitable if the demands of people are not met.
The process of a new threat transformation has just begun. Therefore, the present initiative by the Governments of the US and India would provide a new framework of security-related information sharing and more chances of confidence building for a better future.
(The writer is a Professor of Political Science)
The importance of curbing air pollution activities over reduction measures cannot be stressed enough. It is the most effective and economically-feasible option for the long-term
It is an unfortunate fact that breathing clean air, the most basic of human needs for survival, has become a luxury for many around the globe, and particularly in India, which houses 22 of the 30 most polluted cities in the world. Looking at the severity of the problem of air pollution and its consequences on the health of millions of people, animals and plants worldwide, dirty air is now being seen as one of the most serious hazards.
Ever since the issue of deteriorating air quality has been highlighted and documented, there have been growing concerns over its economic aspects, in terms of investments, technology development and the cost benefits of handling air pollution. This relationship between environmental degradation and economic needs has been the object of constant debate among environmental economists. During the last two decades, this debate has raised several questions about attaining sustainability by normalising environmental management and economic growth with the participation of inhabitants on the same scale.
Peripheral effects or externalities are one of the most basic concepts evoked by economists while looking at problems of environmental pollution. In economics, an externality is an important cause for market failure that arises when the production or consumption activities of an individual or a firm influence the well-being of bystanders. For instance, smoking a cigarette in a public place, an open kitchen in a hotel, or using conventional wood/coal-fired cooking stoves in rural households are considered to create a negative impact on the people in the vicinity.
Air pollution is essentially a negative externality as it imposes costs on people who are external to the transaction of a polluting product. While sustainability focusses on integrating economic activity with environmental protection and social problems, it is obvious that economic development, which ignores environmental and social impacts, could generate undesirable consequences on sustainability trends.
There is a general agreement that we must prevent pollution of our natural resources like air, water and land. On the contrary, there are considerable disputes over how controls should be designed and how much control is needed. From the Indian perspective, the pollution control laws and mechanisms adopted four decades ago in 1981 got amended over time. They tended to lean towards detailed regulation of technology, leaving polluters little choice in methods to achieve environmental goals. However, a rapid economic and social change challenge policy design and implementation. The need of the hour is to look for innovative solutions to avoid pollution rather than focussing on its control only. Addressing the root cause is the most probable solution left to us. India needs to strengthen its capacity, both ideologically and practically, through governmental actions and citizen participation. This would support economic development, promote the industrial set-up and result in employment generation.
Thus, understanding the severity of air pollution and its associated impacts, the Government of India released its strategic action plan the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in January 2019. It clearly elucidates that the technological drawbacks and limitations in expertise are considered as a major hindrance in achieving our environmental obligations. Thus, swift technology transfer mechanisms and effective capacity-building are the way forward for any collaboration in addressing persisting environmental issues.“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, said Sir Benjamin Franklin. The importance of curbing air pollution activities over reduction measures cannot be stressed enough. It is the most effective and economically-feasible option for the long-term.
Along with environmental benefits, pollution prevention practices could directly improve the nation’s well-being by providing a cleaner environment, which in turn increases productivity and the effective use of resources. Hence, in order to meet both economic growth and environmental protection simultaneously, it is necessary to widen the gap between emissions and economic output with judicious resource utilisation.
As cost-effective emission control has been in focus for decades in international air pollution regulations, the balance between market-based policies for prevention of air quality deterioration and economics of contamination reduction is expected to play a significant role in India’s economic road map, which aims to achieve the $5 trillion-mark by 2025. The experiences from developed nations have to be replicated in terms of India’s existing dismal air quality scenario, which includes technologies and mechanisms with short, medium and long-term effects and goals.
Emissions from the industrial and construction sectors are considered as major sources of particulate matter pollution in India, while the NOx (nitrogen oxide) emissions are majorly contributed by the transport and power generation sector. Thus pollution prevention needs to be initiated from these sectors as the first step towards clean air. With thoughts of shifting from coal-based energy to natural gas, the transition could provide a long-term answer to climate change with a significant decrease in CO2 and other air quality benefits. But the cost of technological development along with the implementation and industrial acceptance scenario needs to be accounted for.
In India, natural gas formed about 5.6 per cent of the country’s total energy supply in 2018. The deployment of a large-scale fuel switch from coal to natural gas is influenced by various factors viz. switching demand and supply constraints, infrastructure, technology adaptability, high upfront costs and skill capacity. On the other hand, the recent introduction of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME-II) policy, along with Bharat Stage Emission Standards (BS-VI) on technology and fuels, emphasises the Government’s efforts in curbing pollutants associated with the transport sector.
Moreover, subsidies in the purchase cost of electric vehicles (EVs) would increase cost-effectiveness and acceptance among people, which would be a huge step for the transport sector.
On the same lines, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) aims to provide 100 per cent Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) access to all households in India to alleviate the dire impacts of biomass/firewood use for cooking. The need of the hour is the effective management of the crop residue, burning of which by farmers has been a nuisance for some time now. TERI suggests an effective crop residue business model, which emphasises the decentralised use of biomass at the village and industry level. It creates an effective strategy for creating jobs along with crop stubble management.
The emergence of novel technologies curbing emissions has proven to be an effective tool in stimulating investments in clean energy technology at the source. Economic models project that the introduction of such measures at source would result in job losses in some sectors (fossil fuel) and job creation in others (renewable energy and so on). In the long-run, such environmental policies will favour the economy as they will stimulate more efficient use of resources and result in health benefits.
Reducing emissions is a wise, long-term investment that contributes to several development goals and ultimately will yield substantial benefits. Increasing urbanisation and economic development activities along with a lack of effective implementation are fuelling air pollution problems. Addressing the issue of a deteriorating air quality requires multi-level partnerships, incorporating the Government, the private sector, the industry, academia, research institutes, the civil society and associations with more cohesive efforts. The allocation of `460 crore for pollution-control schemes under the Union Budget needs to be smartly invested with equal emphasis on increasing public awareness and technology infrastructure.
(Iyer is Fellow, Kamaraju is Associate Fellow and Emmanuel is Research Associate, TERI)
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