Monday, September 3, 2018

Vox Populi Issue 247

                                      'Raid-Raj' On Freedom Of Speech

  The arrest of the 5 activists with supposedly Maoist leanings along with 2 already in custody is a black mark on democracy in India. The coordinated arrests across India where these activists were located smacked of 'raid raj', this time not on tax defaulters but on those who consistently hold up their right to freedom of speech. As the Supreme Court rightly said while striking down the arrests and converting it to house arrest, dissent is an important part of democratic functioning. Otherwise democracy will grow in the manner that we have seen as in the way interpreted by those who govern us and in the absence of feedback and dissent will grow misshapen and may also get stunted in some areas in that process. It is clear from the information coming out that the Maharashtra police have acted in haste. Based on flimsy evidence they have arrested the activists and are now trying to defend their action desperately by exposing some of the evidence selectively to the public . For this they have already been pulled up by the Bombay High Court for holding a press conference when the matter was sub-judice. The unnecessary need to go public with information is clearly an attempt to justify their actions. However this attempt has boomeranged in their face since the evidence put out is amateurish and bizarre. In this day and age when the genre of spy stories and conspiracy theories are so popular the fact that intelligent and educated people will use terms like 'Rajiv Gandhi style of incident' in open letters and e-mails is in the realm of fiction. Even the assassins who killed Dabholkar and Gauri Lankesh used code words not only for the targets but also for the weapons that they were using and this information has been released by the police only. Thus the charge that the police is using planted or fabricated evidence against these activists seems likely to stick. There is no question that we need to go after those that tend to disrupt the tenor of our society but that should be done on both sides of the table, pro-government and anti-government, and even then on the basis of credible and irrefutable evidence. The present action against the 7 activists seems to be an over-reaction to the news that there is a plot to assassinate Narendra Modi. At his level these rumours should be a part of life since there will be many serious and non-serious elements thinking of such action. But it is up to the SPG to sift the wheat from the chaff and chase down the serious threats and the people behind it. In an election mode  that we are in for 2019 in the incident Modi will be open to the charge that he is trying to do this to get the sympathy of the voters since no one in their right minds would like him to be killed since he is the living embodiment of vanity and stupidity and is of more nuisance value alive than dead. Postscript: The fever about being killed has caught on with Shivraj Singh Chauhan, the MP CM claiming that there is a plot to kill him after his 'chariot' bus on campaign was pelted with stones. Nothing happened, no one was hurt and only a windowpane was broken. Now you will see one after another the BJP leaders, big and small will claim that there is someone out there plotting to kill them in a #meToo - Kill Scare campaign. 

               Chronicling Emergency Like Actions In India Since June 2018

Since 29.6.2018, I have been posting weekly on Facebook an update  of what I personally think are events that reflect the Emergency in this current government & in the BJP's actions as also on another head related to Law & Order inclusive of Crimes Against Women (this listing will follow in a subsequent issue of Vox Populi). I propose to continue this until the 2019 General Elections :

Emergency:
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12. The arrest of the 5 activists last week is nothing short of a 'raid-raj' on freedom of speech in this country. The tendency to muzzle dissent was apparent from 2014 when secularism was mocked and intolerance promoted. Then it was the turn of students at JNU & Osmania University among other universities whose voices were proposed to be stifled with the intention of pursuing the intolerance agenda and looking to have the BJP youth wing to control the voices of these students through their unions. In the interim the raid-raj continued with the IT Dept. and the ED chasing down industrialists and businessmen. In India there is no person in business who can claim that he has nothing to hide. Thus the voice of the business community was clamped shut and there was nary a whimper from them on both Demonetisation and the GST launch, both of which were done shabbily. It then was the turn of the cow lynch brigades across India but mostly in BJP ruled States where indiscriminately and without verifying the antecedents people were killed, mostly Muslims and Dalits, for stealing, transporting and slaughtering of cattle. Some of these cases were avoidable since the victims were involved in their legitimate businesses. Now after a limited sojourn against journalists, it is the turn of activists to be branded as Maoists and victimised. Thus a state of 'terror' is being created to stop people from raising their voice and to generate a wave of opinion about the intentions of some people or groups of to de-stabilise the present government and to kill their leaders.  Is this not enough and more fertile grounds for the imposition of an Emergency? 

11. There is an issue of misinformation with the present BJP government which runs to epidemic proportions. But the more serious charge is that of suppressing information from the public which may be showing them in a bad light. This is tantamount to deliberate censorship which is against the fundamental right of freedom of speech. The example in this case was that recently some of the newspapers came up with the input that the decadal growth rates of the Indian economy during both the UPA-1 & UPA-2 governments were better than during the present BJP government. Within a couple of days of this news coming out it was seen that this information earlier available on the government website was quickly erased. A similar report was seen in the case of Jay Shah, Amit Shah's son, financial irregularities related to his business and property matters which was pulled out of the websites of the national media and a ban instituted on the matter by way of instructions to the media. 

10. An atmosphere of uncertainty and fear is again being created by the Kanwariyas violence first in Delhi and then Muzzafarpur where cars were vandalised and wrecked for just some contact with the pilgrims walking on the road. If you see the TV coverage of these two incidents, the driver in the Delhi case being a 25 year old woman and in the second instance not known, would be traumatised for life. The UP police have claimed that they are helpless to stop such incidents. The present government by their reluctance to take action is only encouraging more such incidents to take place since the perpetrators full well know that no punishment will follow for their actions. In the recent Alwar cow lynching case the accused have been seen making remarks openly on national TV that the government and police will support them to go scotfree. Ever since the BJP government came to power the same patterns have prevailed, first with the intolerance issue which had universities like JNU & Osmania in turmoil and then the cow lynching issue which has persisted with a footprint across the country for the last 2 years or more and now the Kanwariyas violence. This was what happened the last time that Emergency was seen in this country which is happening again with fear and uncertainty prevailing among the citizens as a lead up to another Emergency.

9. There have been a couple of situations relating to the construction of our highways around the country which smack of high-handed behaviour by both the State as well as Central governments. The incidents cited here relating to the above are also against the principle of federalism enshrined in our Constitution. It is reported that in the construction of another expressway between Salem and Chennai in Tamil Nadu, the police are using strong arm tactics to enforce the decision to acquire fertile agricultural lands from the farmers. Those unwilling to hand over their land are finding the police barging into their homes and forcibly evicting them. It is being said that such action is being done at the behest of the Centre by the present AIDMK State government which is now at the mercy of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for its survival. In another incident in adjoining Kerala the bypass for a highway near Kannur is being politicised in the face of farmers unwilling to part with their fertile land again and activist protests. The Centre had called for a meeting to resolve the matter by calling the pro and anti elements related to the project along with the Central Minister from Kerala but without the representatives or ministers of the incumbent CPM led government in Kerala. Ignoring the State government for an important project deliberately smacks of unilateralism and goes against the spirit of federalism. 

8. Bank deposits limited liability bill proposed to be moved limiting the payout to Rs. 1 Lakh irrespective of the size of the deposits with the bank in the event of it going bankrupt. In the context of all PSB's reeling under the NPA scams there is every chance of every PS Bank going bankrupt. Hence seems to be a deliberate attempt to shortchange depositor and hijack his money by the government. This is a personal worst case scenario prediction. With an Emergency likely to be imposed upon what the 2019 election results will show in the event of a hung result, the PSB's and some of the major private Banks like ICICI will put up their 'true' balance sheets showing the NPA's in their proper accounting method, as a consequence of which most Banks will go belly-up and into liquidation. It is then that the citizens Bank Deposits will be appropriated and you will end up getting a maximum of Rs. 1 Lakh irrespective on whether you are holding sizeable higher deposits with the bank. 

7. Government moving amendment to RTI Act to make it more difficult for citizens to get information from government. Introduced in July 2018 Monsoon session of Parliament but deferred upon objections from Opposition. 

6. An actor, Siddhartha Narayan of Rang De Basanti fame, was trolled by the rightist trolling mafia for tweeting against the Alwar cow lynching case of Rakbar Khan. Shows intolerance to personal beliefs and their projection on public platforms. Date: 25.7.2018. Source: National newspapers.

5. A Dalit man, Lovely Kumar was thrashed by a group of upper caste Jats in Quila Parikshatgarh town of Meerut Dist. U.P. And the act was filmed and posted on social media to instill fear in other Dalits. The man was forced to abuse himself, his community and Babasaheb Ambedkar by the assailants. Shows intolerance to lower class communities and not allowing them to go about their normal lives. Date: 25.7.2018. Source: National newspapers.

4. Swami Agnivesh attacked, again by Bharatiya Yuva Janata Morcha (BYJM) goons while he was going about his normal activities in Jharkhand. This is an infringement on fundamental rights to pursue his beliefs and on freedom of speech. Date: 18.7.2018. Source: National newspapers & TV News.Z

3. Shashi Tharoor, MP for Thiruvananthapuram, office in the Kerala capital was vandalised by youths suspected  to belong to the Bharatiya Yuva Janata Morcha (BYJM), for his comments about the BJP leading India into a Hindu Pakistan if they happen to win the 2019 general elections. Issue relates to an attempt to suppress freedom of speech.  Tharoor may have been a bit out of line when he made that comment since we are not very comfortable with Pakistan analogies but there are other civilised forums for redressal rather than resorting to violence and intimidation. Date: 17.7.2018.Source: National newspapers.

2. For the PM's rally in Jaipur on 7.7.2018 security was not allowing anything with the colour black not even clothes or dresses into the venue for fear of spontaneous protests while the rally was in progress. Date 8.7.2018.Source: National newsspapers.

1.  Uttarakhand CM ordering the arrest of an elderly woman schoolteacher who had come to his Janata Darbar requesting for a transfer. Her offence - she argued with the CM. The police later released the schoolteacher on a personal bail bond. Related information, the CM's wife remains in the same school though she was promoted and transferred in 2008, 10 years ago. Date 29.6.2018.Source: TV News.


                Mud In The Face For Modi Over Failed Demonetisation Exercise 


The cat is finally out of the bag! The RBI has come out after two long years that 99.3% of the demonetised Rs. 500 & Rs. 1000 notes have come back. The counting process because of many variables may have some errors but taking the figures of RBI as the truth the government in terms of its stated objective to unearth and appropriate black money through the demonetisation exercise failed to even recover the cost of printing the new currency notes which was in excess of Rs. 10,000 crores. But even then some of the limited minds within the BJP are patting themselves on the back saying that the 0.7% of the demonetised notes which did not come back and which comprises about Rs. 10,300 crores is the black money that they have unearthed! They little realise that this amount is a drop in the bucket in the ocean of black money which runs into lakhs of crores and was reported once as equal to our GDP. With almost all the demonetised notes having come back, this puts Narendra Modi in a piquant position since from his promise of transferring Rs. 15 Lakhs to each citizen's account just after taking office in   2014 upon waging war on black money, he is left in an embarrassing position with no black money from abroad having come back and neither has he been able to unearth any of the black money within the country. The Rs. 10,300 crores as above will not even be enough to transfer Rs. 100 to every citizen. This once again shows that the present BJP government is full of bluff and bluster, tall in promises particularly during election campaigns but having to eat crow when almost every initiative of theirs having fallen by the wayside because of bad implementation and the inability to think through a process.  The fact that the demonetisation exercise failed requires that accountability for this should be established and even if Narendra Modi does not resign taking moral responsibility, Adhia should be summarily dismissed from service and Das' retirement benefits be immediately suspended for causing death and untold misery to Indian citizens during the putting through of this exercise. The fact that only Rs. 10,300 crores remained unaccounted shows again how nimble footed the black money holders are, keeping one step ahead always of the government's interception measures and its enforcement authorities. Postscript: Lately Arun Jaitley, our esteemed Finance Minister has said that the demonetisation exercise did at the least expand the tax base for income tax payers. That was not one of the objectives listed for demonetisation in 2016 when it was put through. These are all afterthoughts now to justify the exercise in the manner of a drowning man clutching at straws or using a sledgehammer to kill an ant. The primary objective of recovering black money by way of demonetisation has failed miserably. The tunes about the objectives for demonetisation are constantly changing from the originally stated in the format of a Remix Music Video and joining the chorus is Rajeev Kumar, Vice Chairman, Niti Aayog, who put the blame for the economic slump post-2016 squarely on the ex-Governor of the RBI, Raghuram Rajan and that too for pursuing the re-classification of NPA's. Rajeev Kumar was singing a different tune just 6 months before being appointed as Vice Chairman, Niti Aayog, about the needlessness of the demonetisation exercise and its implantation lacunae. But now ensconced in the official chair he is standing up on his hind feet and pleasing his masters. The government, Arun Jaitley and Rajeev Kumar may like to explain why from 2014 the NPA's have climbed from Rs. 1 Lakh Crores to an estimated Rs. 12 Lakh Crores now with our banking system. Why were the availers of loans conscious of paying up against the loans to avoid them becoming NPA's prior to 2014 and after that they suddenly stopped? Was it because of the lax approach of the new BJP government in not pursuing these people? Surely this needs to be examined. Narendra Modi has not learnt his lesson yet from his promise of bringing back a Black Money and Demonetisation, which both failed miserably and was just last week continuing to claim that every single Rupee of the NPA's he would recover! This is sheer stupidity but good entertainment. That's what Narendra Modi is all about. 
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