by Praveen Davar

The following article is being published on the eightyfifth anniversary of Bhagat Singh's martyrdom; he was executed along with Sukhdev and Rajguru in Lahore on March 23, 1931.

The 85th death anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, the revolutionary icon of the freedom struggle, who attained martyrdom at the young age of 23, fell on March 23, 2016. Alongwith Sukhdev and Rajguru, Bhagat Singh was hanged to death less than a week before the commence-ment of the Karachi session of the Indian National Congress, on March 29, 1931, a landmark event of India's freedom struggle in which economic freedom was equated with political freedom.

The year 1928 was marked by an anti-Simon Commision upsurge everywhere in India. On October 30, 1928, the Simon Commission faced a large hostile crowd led by Lala Lajpat Rai at the Lahore Station. The Lala was severely beaten by the Police under J. A. Scott, the British SP, and later succumbed to his head injury. The whole nation was stunned by this savagery. As news of the attack on Lajpat Rai spread, the country reacted with anger. Jawaharlal Nehru asked the British to take concrete steps to atone for the insult to the nation. He described the savage treatment meted out to Lajpat Rai as a national humiliation. Bhagat Singh was appalled. He could not believe that a White man could dare take a stick in hand and set upon Lajpat Rai. The HSRA (Hindustan Socialist Republic Army) decided to undertake retaliatory action. On December 17, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and Chandra Shekhar Azad mistook the ASP, John Saunders, for SP J.A. Scott, as they pounced upon him and shot him dead.

A few months later, on April 8, 1929, Bhagat Singh and Batukeswar Datta threw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly Hall in Delhi. It was hurled from the midst of the packed gallery, not aimed at anybody, but to draw the attention of the House, the Indian people and the British rulers in India.

As Bhagat Singh and Batukeswar Dutt had planned not to escape after throwing the bomb, they were arrested. While Dutt was sentenced to transportation for life in the Assembly Bomb Case, Bhagat Singh, alongwith Rajguru and Sukhdev, was sentenced to death for the murder of Saunders in what became famous as the Lahore Conspiracy Case. While in jail, Bhagat Singh took up the cause of bettering jail conditions and commenced a hunger strike. The Jail Committee requested Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt to give up their hunger strike but it failed to persuade them to do so. As the fast continued indefinitely with no solution in sight, Jawaharlal Nehru visited Bhagat Singh and the other hunger strikers in jail. Pandit Nehru gives the account of his visit in his Autobiography: “I saw Bhagat Singh for the first time, and Jatindranath Das and a few others. They were all very weak and bed-ridden, and it was hardly possible to talk to them much. Bhagat Singh had an attractive, intellectual face, remarkably calm and peaceful. There seemed to be no anger in it. He looked and talked with great gentleness.”

Finally, it was Bhagat Singh's father who had his way. He came armed with a resolution by the Congress urging them to give up the hunger strike. The revolutionaries respected the Congress party because they were knew of its struggle for India'a freedom. They called Gandhi ‘an impossible visionary' but they saluted him for the awakening he had brought about in the country. Bhagat Singh said in a statement: “ In obedience to the resolution of the All India Congress Committee, we have today decided to suspend the hunger strike till the final decision by the government in regard to the question of treatment of political prisoners in Indian jails.”

As the days of execution of Bhagat Singh and his comrades drew near, appeals from all over India, from all sections of people poured in, usually addressed to the Viceroy, asking him to stay the execution. Gandhi met Irwin on March 19 and pleaded for the reprieve of Bhagat Singh and his two colleagues from the death sentences to which they had been condemned. He reinforced this oral request with a powerful appeal to the charity of a “great Christian” in Young India.

Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged to death on March 23, 1931. As the news of Bhagat Singh's execution spread, the nation went into mourning. There were processions throughout the country. Many went without food. People wore black badges and shut down their businesses to express their grief. A pall of gloom hung over the Motilal Nehru pandal at the annual Congress session in Karachi. When the session was scheduled for March 29, 1931 nobody had an inkling that Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru would be hanged six days ahead of schedule. A procession, to be led by President-elect Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was abandoned in grief.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru sponsored a resolution which was seconded by Madan Mohan Malaviya. According to Kuldip Nayar in The Life and Trial of Bhagat Singh,”Gandhi chose Nehru to pilot the resolution because he was popular among the youth. Patel was heckled. A part of the resolution read: ‘This Congress, while dissociating itself from and disapproving of political violence in any shape or form, places on record its admiration of the bravery and sacrifice of the late Sardar Bhagat Singh and his comrades, Sukhdev and Rajguru, and mourns with the bereaved families the loss of these lives. This Congress is of the opinion that this triple execution is an act of wanton vengeance and is a deliberate flouting of the unanimous demand of the nation for commutation.' What soothed the emotions was a speech by Bhagat Singh's father, Kishen Singh.” Delegates wept loudly and openly as Kishen Singh recalled Bhagat Singh's words: “Bhagat Singh told me not to worry. Let me be hanged. But he made a fervent appeal: ‘You must support your general (Gandhi). You must support all Congress leaders. Only then will you be able to win independence for the country.'”

Subhash Chandra Bose had told Gandhiji that they should, if necessary, break with the Viceroy on the question of Bhagat Singh and his two comrades: ‘Because the execution was against the spirit, if not the letter, of the Delhi pact.' Still, Netaji added: ‘It must be admitted that he (Gandhi) did try his very best.' Gandhi's secretary, Mahadev Desai, also quoted the Mahatma as saying : “I was not here to defend myself and hence I have not placed the facts as to what I have done to save Bhagat Singh and his comrades. I have tried to persuade the Viceroy with all the methods of persuasion I had. After my last meeting with the relatives of Bhagat Singh, on the appointed date, that is, 23rd morning, I wrote a personal letter to the Viceroy, in which I had poured in my whole being—heart and soul—but it has all gone in vain... Pandit Malaviyaji and Dr Sapru also did their utmost.”

Lord Irwin took the public into confidence on his reasons for rejecting Gandhi's appeal. Irwin's farewell speech on March 26, 1931, at a local club in New Delhi was very forthright and a sort of political stocktaking. In the course of the speech Irwin remarked: “As I listened the other day to Mr Gandhi putting the case for commutation formally before me, I reflected first on what significance it surely was that the apostle of non-violence should so earnestly be pleading the cause of devotees of a creed fundamentally opposed to his own, but I should regard it as wholly wrong to allow my judgment on these matters to be influenced or deflected by purely political considerations. I could imagine no case in which under the law the penalty had been more directly deserved.”

The jail diary of Bhagat Singh makes for an interesting historical reading. He wrote shortly before his death : “They (the youth) should aim at a Swaraj for the masses based on socialism. That was a revolutionary change which they could not bring about without revolutionary methods...” Bhagat Singh exhorts Punjab's youth to follow Nehru. He had seen the emergence of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose as a ‘redeeming feature of the freedom struggle' during the 1920s. Before his hanging he asked his lawyer, Pran Nath Mehta, to convey his thanks to Pandit Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose for their support. For all his revolutionary mind Bhagat Singh was deeply fond of his family. In his last letter to his youngest brother, Kultar, he quoted the popular Urdu couplet: Khush raho ahle watan hum to safar karte hain (Goodbye, dear countrymen, we proceed on our journey).

The author is a writer, an ex-Army officer and a member, National Commission for Minorities. The views expressed here are his personal.

From N.C.'s Writings

The last few months have witnessed the deterioration of Indo-Pak relations to the point of almost eye-ball-to-eyeball confrontation. Tempers have been stoked high and the fiercest propaganda bombardment has been going on between two neighbours born out of the same motherland.

The measure of this high-pitched tension was provided on the one side by Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's frenzied diatribe against India over the Kashmir issue, and by the disgraceful conduct of the authorities in Bombay forcing the cancellation of the Pakistan Consul General's official reception on the National Day of our neighbourning country. The plea that the responsibility for the shocking incident lay with the Shiv Sena does not in the least exonerate the conduct of the Maharashtra Government unless it confesses that it has handed over the fate of the metropolis to a gang of political goons.

The disconcerting fall-out of that shameful incident has been the Pakistan Government's decision to close down its Consulate in Bombay. If responsible quarters in the Capital feel, as they informally indicate, that this move on the part of Islamabad is to prepare the ground for reciprocal retaliation by forcing the closure of the Indian Consulate in Karachi, then one gets an idea of the enormity of mutual animosity that has been permitted to develop between the governments of the two countries.

It is precisely this dangerous state of the present phase of Indo-Pak relations that underlines the urgency of active intervention at the level of the public that has become imperative. It will be short-sighted to be content with the thought that since both the countries are today ruled by elected governments, they know what's best to do to meet the situation. The flaw in this argument lies in the fact that unlike other foreign-policy theatres deciding on the country's international relations, the Indo-Pak relations are unique and there is no parallel really with our relations with any other country. In fact Pakistan, by objective logic, is hardly a foreign land for us. Apart from the common bonds of history, social and cultural mores that bind the two peoples, the fact of the matter is that there are hundreds of thousands upon thousands of Indian citizens who have got near and dear relations in Pakistan. And the same is true of an equal number of those living in Pakistan.

And how do we treat the near and dear ones of the citizens of this country? Over the years the authorities in both the countries have spent their energy, resources and ingenuity in building up a structure of mutual quarantine. For the citizens of the two countries, a special type of visa is issued which imposes the strict condition on the visitor to report regularly to the local police, and movements restricted only to the particular town or district specififed in the visa itself. Tourists from no other country have to put up with such ignominy; only suspected criminals are to adhere to such restrictions.

What is amazing is that the government of the two countries have mutually consented to impose such restrictions knowing fully that a very large percentage of those who come with such a visa do not care to report or go back and it is humanly impossible to trace the truant because of their ethnic and cultural identity with our population. And exactly the same predicament prevails on the other side of the frontier, in Pakistan. Moreover, it is common knowledge that all along the frontier, stretching over thousands of miles, smugglers trespass with impunity.

No Maginot line nor Berlin Wall can keep the people of the two neighbouring countries in total incommunicado and yet the barriers that have been set up by the common consent of the governments of the two countries betray almost a diabolical determination not only to keep the people of both the countries physically apart with the utmost minimum of communication, but also to ensure that they are kept in the dark about the life and living, the perceptions of such ignorance about each other Newspapers from one country are not transmitted to the other, though in both the countries one gets journals from distant parts of the world. Very few newspapers in India get papers from Pakistan, and vice versa. Some of the newspapers keep correspondents in Pakistan—the number has dwindled to an almost token presence today—but their despatches are confined mostly to items about Indo-Pak official circuit or those that inflame passions against each other. By and large, a reader of the Indian press comes to know very little of what the public in Pakistan is thinking about their own problems, about the internal developments that beset the Pakistani people, about the issues relating to other countries as seen from Pakistan. The electronic media has been spreading the same poison and only the foreign satellite channels provide us with occasional glimpses of one another. In other words, the authorities in both the countries have done their best to build up the image of their immediate neighbour as a monster—a Frankensten, Dracula and King Kong, all rolled into one.

What is intriguing is that the two governments at times decide to relax the rules. Several times decisions were taken that newspapers of the two countries should be available to each other, and yet nothing has been done. Books of scholarship, exploring into the early history of the two countries—their common history—are hardly available to even scholars. While seminars and conferences are held in which participants come from both India and Pakistan, the number of such get-togethers is far less than those held with participants from, say, the USA or the UK. Perhaps the only wholesome item that has still been retained in this drive to preserve goodwill towards each other is the holding of mushairas. No doubt wholesome, but how few of this subcontinent are covered by such a gathering of poets?

In this unhealthy environment of mutual antipathy, it is the third party that gets the upper hand. There was a time when Pakistan's friendship with China was a subject of unrelieved suspicion in India. Perhaps the same was true for the Pakistan public about India's close relations with Moscow. And after the disappearance of the Cold War, both the countries seem to be looking up to the USA, each trying to plead with it against the other. We get het up whenever there is news of Pakistan receiving more arms from abroad, and it must be the same within Pakistan with regard to India in the perception of the public in general. It is but inevitable that if the two neighbours, so intricately bound to each other by history and geography, prefer to wallow in distrust and anger bordering on insanity, in such a situation, there is nothing surprising if any third party tries to exploit it to its advantage.

The time has come to break this vicious state of ignorance and hatred that blocks our common path. Even for breaking the chronic ill-temper at the official level, it is imperative that concerned citizens at all levels come forward and start a nationwide campaign for more news, more understanding of each other's problems, more interaction, more interface. There has to be an emphatic assertion at the level of the citizen for such contact, such interaction.

Yes, Kashmir is no doubt a sore point. But it will do both us and Pakistan a lot of good if we know how each of us looks at the problem. The situation in Kashmir or in India or in Pakistan will not be worse if we seriously try to get over the barriers that divide us. There is no real defence for either of us by massive military build-up. The real defence lies in changing our mindsets. Nowhere is it more true than in the case of our two countries, that conflicts and wars begin in the minds of men. And it is there we have to turn the focus of the concerned citizen at all levels—the media practitioners, academics, professional groups, the NGOs in hundreds.

The time has come to pierce the dam so that the flood will help to sweep away the bitter deposits of hatred and bloodshed—let us live as two countries governed by the same destiny.

(‘Political Notebook' in Mainstream, April 9, 1994)

COMMUNICATION

I would like to offer some comments on the Political Notebook by B.D.G., entitled “One Death: Several Questions”, that appeared in the Mainstream issue of February 13, 2016.

One. B.D.G. writes that “the Indian Army is at a strategically advantageous position” at Siachen because it occupies the “top of the glacier” while Pakistani troops are “down below”. It is true that Indian troops occupy positions that are higher than Pakistani positions, but those are on the ridge line between Siachen glacier and the mountains to its west, and that is a tactical advantage required to maintain control of Siachen glacier itself.

Two. The strategic advantage is occupation of Siachen glacier to deny link-up of Pakistani-held Gilgit with Chinese-held Aksai Chin. This is important since there is presence of China's PLA in Gilgit, and such a link-up will compromise the security of the Shyok and Nubra river valleys, making it easy for the Pakistan-China axis to pose a credible military threat to Leh and the Indus river valley.

Three. B.D.G. writes : “For India the strategic importance of Siachen is that it lies above Khardungla“. This is completely misleading since Khardungla is on the Ladakh mountain range, and is more than 100-km to the South of the southern (low) end of Siachen glacier.

Four. B.D.G. states: “The only way out is for Indian and Pakistan to agree to leave Siachen alone and remove their respective troops.” Firstly, Pakistani troops are not on Siachen glacier at all, but the Pakistani Army has been making out to its own population and government that it is facing Indian troops on the glacier, to justify its presence. Secondly, if Indian troops leave their present tactically commanding positions—won with much sacrifice of life and limb—it will leave these positions open to stealthy occupation by Pakistani troops and make India lose its present strategic advantage of preventing the link-up. Thirdly, once the Pak-China link-up between Gilgit and Aksai Chin is established, armed conflict to defend the Indus valley will involve Indian troops engaging Chinese troops, and this will widen the conflict to India's military and political disadvantage.

Yes, the Siachen conflict is costly in terms of the life and limb of Indian soldiers, besides of course the financial and economic costs, but if India's territorial and political integrity is to be maintained, India will have to bear these costs. Therefore, the nation needs to look after its military genuinely by restoring its rightful status, which has been steadily downgraded by bureaucratic machinations, including most recently by the shabby treatment regarding the One-Rank-One-Pension and the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations.

It is true that peace between India and Pakistan is highly desirable. But if there is to be a withdrawal of troops, let there be talks between India and Pakistan to first stop all Pakistani-sourced cross-border militancy and terrorism, and then commence de-militarisation beginning with borders with Gujarat and proceeding northwards, with constant monitoring to prove Pakistani sincerity. The doubt on Pakistan's sincerity is because India has been deceived more than once in the past and the price has been paid by India with the lives and limbs of its soldiers.

These comments are intended to place the questions raised by B.D.G. in perspective, so that readers get their facts right.

Mysore Maj Gen S.G.Vombatkere (Retd.)

B.D.G. responds to the above letter by writing: “My comment on Siachen was based on the following:

‘I took over as Corps Commander in August 3, 1983. In September-October, I briefed Prime Minister Indira Gandhi about the strategic importance of Siachen and Pak design to capture Khardungla and dominate Leh by bringing artillery and rockets etc. in Nubra valley and then link up with the Chinese at Aksai Chin.'

— Lt. Gen. P.N. Hoon, GOC, 15 Corps

.”

“The National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL), which operates under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, has introduced a form which requires authors of books NCPUL acquires annually to declare that the content will not be against the government or the country.”(http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/urdu-writers-asked-to-declare-my-book-not-against-the-govt-nation/)

The same source reproduces the form, originally circulated in Urdu, thus: “I, son/daughter of ..., confirm that my book/magazine titled ..., which has been approved for bulk purchase by NCPUL's monetary assistance scheme, does not contain anything against the policies of the government of India or the interest of the nation, does not cause disharmony of any sort between different classes of the country, and is not monetarily supported by any government or non-government institution.”

Urdu is one of the twentytwo “scheduled languages” of the country. It is the language of vastly more Indians than, for instance, Bodo or Santali or Sindhi. Historically, there is no doubt that it is an Indian language. Whenever people have suggested that it is a “foreign” language, I have responded with two questions. First, was Urdu born in Hindostan or in Arabia or Peru or China? Second, where except in the sub-continent is it spoken? I know it for a fact that, despite commonalities in semantics, no one in Jeddah or Tehran can follow sentences spoken in Urdu. This is because syntactically it is little different from Hindi, or from what is still called Hindustani, or from the Hindavi of Amir Khusro's time.

To my knowledge, neither the Ministry of Human Resource Development nor any other arm of the government has imposed a similar condition on any of the other twentyone “scheduled languages”. Clearly, Urdu has been singled out because of its association with Islam. Going further, because Urdu is the official language of Pakistan, it is stupidly assumed to be the language of “pro-Pakistan” people in India. This stupidity is a fundamental part of the ideology of the Sangh Parivar, which now rules over India. And these worthies see Pakistan not as just a neighbour but as an “enemy nation”.

This explains the main clause of the declaration demanded, “does not contain anything against the interest of the nation”. It is assumed that those who write in Urdu, given that they are chiefly Muslims and given that Pakistan is an “Islamic republic”, are by definition (in the currently popular expression) “anti-national”: specifically, they are Pakistani spies or agents.

The fear of “anything against the policies of the government of India” is, in a democracy, laughable but also sinister. It takes away the right of free speech, one of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. It is the consideration which governed the actions of the sarkari censors during the Emergency of 1975-77, when fundamental rights were suspended.

But this leads also to the question: Are we a democracy any more?

The author is a writer, editor and photographer.

WOMEN'S WORLD

by Bidyut Mohanty

Introduction

Persistence of structural violence has been culturally ingrained against women in all stages of their life-cycle and in everyday life both in the family as well as in the society at large. This is mostly due to the value system of patriarchal belief in apparently less valued division of labour sanctioned by the Dharm Shastras. Recently due to rising consciousness regarding gender equity several international and national laws have been implemented to increase the prospects of women's education, dignified labour, income and safety as well as to raise the political and social visibility.

In the case of India, two major policies, namely, political representation and micro-credit programme (in 2013 it became a law and is known as the National Livelihoods Mission applicable to both urban as well rural areas) have been formulated since 1990. Rural and urban women have been given political representations in the local government system since 1993 to raise their status in the society. Easy loans are given to women self-help groups to earn some additional income. Both these legislations were also initiated with an aim to reduce all forms of violence against women. The policies had twin objectives, namely, by giving space in the political field, so far excluded to rural women, it was thought that their image in the public would change from that of objectification to decision-maker at the grassroots level. Secondly, it was also visualised that as leaders they could take active part in conflict resolution along with developmental work. These noble objectives would get more teeth because of easy loan to augment an additional income. Thus being empowered with political and economic power, women's social power would increase, it was presumed. But in reality the statistics on violence show that the incidence of violence against women is on the increase in spite of the presence of more than one million women leaders in the local government system.

The Institute of Social Sciences, during its annual Women's Empowerment Day Cele-brations, 2015 conducted a random survey on the ‘Perception of Violence through the Lenses of Panchayat Women'. The following report, based on a survey with 260 respondents, the elected panchayat leaders, revealed some social reality. They came from Chhattisgarh, Maha-rashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Manipur, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh.1

Socio-Economic Composition of the Respondents

The percentage-wise respondents comprised 32 ward members, 24 Sarpanches, 16 Block Panchayat presidents/members and nine Zila Panchayat members respectively. Since violence is endemic among all sections of women due to the existing traditional social moorings, it was justi-fied for taking them as the target groups. [. . .]

See complete PDF version here:

How do Panchayat Women perceive Violence? A Survey Report

by Bidyut Mohanty [Mainstream Weekly, 26 March 2016] PDF version

The Idea of India

The “Idea of India” is itself a relatively new concept epitomised in catch phrases like “Incredible India”, “Shining India”, “Make in India”, etc. It has been marketed so as to convert India as a preferred destination for tourism and foreign direct investment, in consonance with the holy grail of economic development through GDP growth based upon aggressive and unquestioned industrialisation-at-any-cost. Arguably, the “Idea of India” is promoted by the adherents of neo-liberal economics which effectively dictates politics.

Indians with formal education have an understanding of India in its cultural, geogra-phical and political senses, with variations according to their socio-economic environment, exposure and experience. Many people with, say, only primary school education also have their own “take” on what is India. But the pertinent point is that, whatever the manner in which an Indian understands “India”, what is (are) the feeling(s) that he/she has for that idea. A person who has never seen a map of India, and does not know of the existence of most of the States and the multiplicity of languages that make this diverse nation, would not begin to understand the country “India”, leave alone the nation “India”. What feelings can one expect such a person would have for India?

Feelings for India

A majority of India's 1.25 billion citizens eke out a miserable existence on Rs 20 per day, and have little “national” interest beyond looking for the next meal. Noting that in 50 years starting 1950, over 50 million people have been displaced for dam-canal projects alone, millions even today are annually being added to this majority as forest and agricultural land is being taken from them for “infrastructure” projects including extractive and production industries. They do not understand India-the-nation (with its Constitution) or India-the-country (from its territorial map), but they certainly understand the power of the state which displaces, dispossesses and pauperises them, often accom-panied by police violence. True, an under-standing of the power of the vote has reached the remotest corners of India, but people who vote, only vaguely understand what the State Assembly or Parliament means to them. They have zero access to persons in power to speak about their needs and problems, leave alone their aspirations, even assuming that persons in power are interested in listening.

However, many such people do know that they live in so-and-so State (for example, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, etc.), know that the ultimate power over their lives lies with the “sarkar”, and that government official—local bureaucrats, forest officials, police officials—are the arbiters of their fate. But more importantly, even if they did fully understand the idea of India-the-country and India-the-nation, they cannot possibly have kind feelings for an “India” which deprives them of what they have, and abandons them to an uncaring, often hostile, social system which operates on caste, commu-nity and language bases.

It is well to repeat that this concerns a majority of Indians who live in forest and rural areas and urban slums. To them, “nation” may mean the society to which they belong and with which they interact, including especially the aforementioned government officials. When an individual is a victim of economic violence, gets little or nothing from society, and keeps getting depressed socially and economically, (s)he can have little love for that society. It does not take much imagination to understand that herein lie the seeds of discontent, protest, militancy and terrorism.

Threat to the “Idea of India”

Social and economic inequalities are glaring in our Indian context. The gap between the privileged and the deprived, or between the powerful and the disempowered, or between the wealthy and the poor is large and increasing. The “upper castes” bear down on “lower castes” and “outcastes”, and society continues to give more to those who are already better off, and less to those who are needy. And even though the Constitution of India assures every citizen justice, equality and liberty, the elected persons who are sworn to implement its lofty principles are mostly in its wilful breach or neglect.

At the top end of the spectrum, members of a minority (perhaps the “top-five-per-cent”) uses its power and wealth to govern, and unhesitatingly uses means, fair or foul, legal and illegal, to increase their own wealth and influence, and seek luxury, physical comfort and personal enjoyment. It is this top-five-per-cent, very influential section of society, many prominent members of which are involved in monstrous corruption scams, which prescribes what is patriotism, and demands patriotism from everybody else. It decides what is development and rejects other ideas as anti-development, it decides what is the national interest and brands all else as anti-national. And most regrettably, a tiny section of this top-five-per-cent uses its influence and power to raise mob sentiments and target those whom they see as threat to their selfish designs.

The threat is the common and sometimes not-so-common (wo)man who dares. S/he speaks truth to power (for example, Medha Patkar), questions decisions (for example, Soni Sori), expresses radical points of view (for example, Teesta Setalvad), expresses dissent (for example, S.P. Udayakumar), or holds alternate opinions (for example, G.N. Saibaba). Such persons are dealt with by using the force of law—as distinct from the protection provided, sometimes but not always, by justice—by filing criminal, including sedition, cases, and subjecting them to prolonged legal processes, including detention and torture, and denial of bail. Some inconvenient persons (for example, Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, M.M. Kalburgi) are eliminated by self-appointed vigilantes, or through extra-judicial killings or “encounters” arranged by shadowy and unaccountable agencies of the state. Of course, dissension and alternative points of view are also witnessed in the three levels of legislative governance, but this is increasingly seen as shadow-boxing or sparring between parties which seek to perpetuate the power system.

Patriotism, Love for India, and Nationalism

A soldier, who serves in difficult border areas and risks his life and limb (and many lose them) in defending India against intrusions and attacks from neighbouring countries, and is also constantly deployed in internal security and disaster relief, is the epitome of a patriot. True, some errant soldiers commit crimes, but that does not devalue the national service of the members of the defence forces, which are the last resort of the Government of India. A soldier meets people from all over the country since he is posted all over the country and serves with other soldiers hailing from all over the country, and understands India-the-country. For him, the national flag represents everything for which he fights, and routinely faces risks and hardship in the service of what he understands as India-the-nation.

The soldier exists to defend the nation against its enemies, but we need to remember that the “enemy” is defined by the state, namely, the national executive-legislature-judiciary. If this definition includes or targets those who question government decisions and policies, and dissent with its executive and legislative actions, then the soldier willy-nilly becomes an instrument of misuse of state force. Sadly, the civil instruments of state force, namely, the State and Central Armed Police Forces, have been in the unenviable position of being “tools of coercion” over past decades of governments in the States and Centre ruled by different political parties.

Enter JNU

At a students' meeting at JNU, held to mark the anniversary of Afzal Guru's execution, slogans against India and favouring Pakistan were heard. The anti-India content of the slogans have been condemned by one and all. The ABVP accuses the Leftist JNU students (and in particular, Kanhaiya Kumar, its Students' Union President) with raising these slogans, and condemns their holding a meeting to “support” Afzal Guru, who was tried, convicted, condemned to death and executed. In response, the JNUSU President and others stoutly deny using such slogans, allege that persons who uttered these slogans were ABVP infiltrators, and maintain that the meeting was not to praise Afzal Guru but to protest the death sentence awarded to him, and criticise policies and actions of the Union Government.

Forensic examination appears to show that some of the videos (apparently shot with mobile phones) of the meeting which were used to “prove” that anti-national slogans were raised by JNUSU students, were morphed. The Delhi Police, directly under the Union Home Ministry, moved in on a tip-off (some allege prior infor-mation) by the ABVP, and arrested Kanhaiya Kumar and others for sedition under IPC Sec 124-A. The Union Home Ministry maintains that anti-national activities must and will be dealt with severely. On the other hand, most JNU teachers and some Opposition political parties, which have jumped into the fray, maintain that even if anti-national slogans were raised, it cannot justify police action in a university, and anyway certainly not charges of sedition. They argue that protesting against the government is not anti-national, and is a part of democratic tradition in keeping with the Constitution.

Battle-lines Drawn, Soldiers Involved

The foregoing is not to justify or vilify one or another side of the affair, but to show that battle-lines have been drawn. On the one hand, there is the ABVP claiming to protect the nation against anti-national people. On the other hand, Left-leaning JNUSU students claim that they respect the Constitution of India, are not anti-national, and are determined to continue protests against the government. Thus we are presented with a so-called binary, with one side claiming to define what is anti-national and the other side demanding the right of dissent and democratic protest. This binary has been emphasised by the ABVP and its parent BJP, by holding up the very recent example of Lance Naik Hanumanthappa, one of the ten casualties of an avalanche on the Siachen glacier, to show up the Left-leaning students as anti-national for supporting Afzal Guru while being uncaring for the patriotism of soldiers who sacrifice their lives in the service of the nation. Thus, the patriotic Indian soldier has been willy-nilly dragged into a position of getting counterpoised against “anti-nationals”.

This is particularly sad as well as dangerous, since the serving Indian soldier is the most secular Indian citizen. He is an Indian first and foremost, and religious institutions of all religions (temple, mosque, church, gurudwara) are maintained in units, and all soldiers, regardless of their personal religious faiths, take part in all religious functions and celebrations of all the religions. Soldiers are, by law, prohibited from becoming members of any religious association while in service, though they are encouraged to attend religious institu-tions within the units and headquarters, as mentioned above, and can (and do) worship at temple/mosque/church/gurudwara when on leave.

It is well to recall a quip which was doing the rounds recently. A civilian friend asked: “What is the percentage of Muslims in the Indian Army?” The answer he received was: “Zero.” The response went further to say that there were also no Hindus in the Army nor Christians, etc., because there were only Indians in our Indian Army. That is to say that when a Hindu soldier dies, he does not die for the Hindus of India, and when a Muslim soldier dies, he does not die for the Muslims of India; all soldiers serve, fight and die for all Indians of India.

Threat to the Constitution

In furtherance of defining “national”, the ABVP called on retired soldiers (Veterans) to join them in meetings and marches under the national flag in various places across the country. This is perfectly legal because a Veteran is at liberty to join any religious, social or political association according to his wish and choice. But, and here is a capital BUT, the strong existing organic bond between the retired and the serving soldier can very easily cause serving soldiers to begin taking sides on the basis of religion. This will irrevocably destroy the secular nature of the strictly apolitical Indian military, bringing it under the influence of religious leaders, and compromising its control by the civilian government. This (hopefully un-thought-out) move of the BJP can easily slip into a situation like in Islamic Republics in India's neighbourhood, where the military is virtually under the control of the mullahs. This would definitely be violative of the Constitution of India, which defined India as a secular Republic, even before the word was inserted into its Preamble in 1976.

Back to the Idea of India

The current face-off between the self-professed pro-nation BJP and the allegedly anti-national Leftists, brings into sharp focus the question of what India-the-country and/or India-the-nation means to the common Indian. It really begs for a more accurate description of who really is the “common Indian”. Statistically, one might “define” the common Indian as the person with the average (mean) wealth. But with 140 Indian dollar billionaires, whose aggregate wealth exceeds 25 per cent of the national GDP, and around 70 per cent of the Indians living on less than Rs 20 per day, the statistical “mode” would be much more representative, and perhaps fall close to the Rs 20-per-day segment. And we have already discussed how a person from this stratum of society would understand and view India-the-country and/or India-the-nation.

The created binary situation also calls to attention the questions whether the idea of “India” is open to interpretation and ownership by one or other person, group or political party.

Receding Democratic Scenario

The Constitution decrees that no person shall be deprived of life and liberty except with due process of law. Accordingly, rightly or wrongly, Kanhaiya Kumar has been charged with sedition, and he will be duly tried in a Court of Law. Notwithstanding, two persons have publicly offered cash rewards (prize money) to any person who will deprive Kanhaiya Kumar of his life and liberty — Rs 11 lakhs for shooting him dead, and Rs 5 lakhs for cutting off his tongue.

The rule of law has collapsed as the Delhi Police, under the Union Home Ministry, has merely booked the Rs 11 lakh donor with defacing public property for pasting his printed posters on walls. The Rs 5 lakh donor has been expelled for six years from his political party. What is common among the two “offers” is that both gentlemen belong to the Sangh Parivar, and the Union Government and the party which runs it have effectively treated these “public offers” as infringements, without condemnation of the spirit behind the “offers” and their potential to cause death and consequent public disorder. Thus vigilantism by incitement to violence is blatantly visible in broad daylight.

During the earlier UPA dispensations, a dissenter had only to be wary of the government with which argument in Court against a charge was possible. But today, argument with a vigilante mob is impossible, especially as the government is a silent (and not disapproving) spectator. An extra-legal entity can now decide on conviction for a “crime” defined by itself, and pass a death sentence with impunity. The idea of a democratic India with the rule of law appears to be a rapidly receding scenario.

Bottom Line

The JNUSU and its Left supporters dissent with and decry the economic policies of the Union Government as being crony-capitalist, anti-poor and pro-corporate, and the cause for mass population displacement, farmers' suicides and pauperisation of millions. They have not, to the best of this writer's knowledge, considered the possiblity of destruction of the secular nature of India's military, and consequent majoritarian militarism in India, which will inevitably destroy democracy.

The BJP, on the other hand, continues to allow, if not actually orchestrate, its loose cannons to make blatantly anti-constitutional and illegal statements, perhaps claiming that it is righteous anger against “anti-national” behaviour.

The current situation calls to attention whether the idea of nationalism is open to inter-pretation by one or other person, group or political party, and whether the “Idea of India” is open to brand ownership, especially when a majority of citizens cannot conceive of India-the-country or India-the-nation.

Major General S.G. Vombatkere, VSM, retired as the Additional DG, Discipline and Vigilance in the Army HQ AG's Branch. He holds a Ph.D degree in Structural Dynamics from IIT, Madras. With over 460 published papers in national and international journals and seminars, his area of interest is strategic and development-related issues.

Lately, a number of people have been described as anti-national by the Hindutva lobby. Most shocking is their definition of anybody who worships ‘demons' from Hindu mythology as also anti-national. The mythological figures belong to a distant past when the concept of nation-state was not there. Nation is a modern concept and it is defined by our Constitution which, in the wildest of imaginations, has no place for mythology. Only an insane person would confuse the two things. It is a pity that even government institutions, like the police, are falling in this trap of the Hindutva campaign.

It appears that the Hindtuva lobby is assuming that India has become a Hindu Rashtra merely because the BJP has come to power at the Centre. Now deceased Vishwa Hindu Parishad President Ashok Singhal had described the Narendra Modi Government as the first Hindu Government after the Mughal and British rules. But this is the illusory world of the Hindutva brigade. It is only by considering India as a Hindu Rashtra that one can go to the ludicrous extent of calling people worshipping demons as anti-national. This is similar to the application of the blasphemy law on people who denigrate Prophet Mohammed or the Quran in a Islamic state. Does this mean that we're headed towards being a theocratic state? This should be a cause for concern by people who value democracy, secularism and freedom of speech.

The Hindutva lobby represents a very narrow worldview which is not shared by a large segment of the Indian population including Dalits, tribals, minorities, sections of Other Backward Castes, atheists and secularists. Together these groups would easily constitute more than half of the population. The BJP has come to power with less than half the number of votes. Hence they may have a majority in the Lok Sabha but they certainly do not enjoy the majority support.

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If there are people who worship Durga in this country, there are people who worship Mahishasur. If there are people in this country who worship Ram, there are people who worship Ravan. If there are places associated with gods, there are places associated with demons. When Smriti Irani says that she is hurt by the pamphlet brought out by the Dalit, tribal, OBC students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University on the occasion of the ‘Mahishasur Martyrdom Day' which is offending towards Goddess Durga, does she even conceive that there might be people in this country who're offended by the acts of Goddess Durga? In any case, how does she think that by virtue of being a Durga devotee she is a more righteous citizen than her less privileged fellow citizens whose only fault is that they chose to worship somebody who is opposed to her deity?

This country is known for its diversity. The Sangh Parivar is bent upon destroying this diversity and wants the upper-caste point of view to prevail. Ordinarily, people believing in different thoughts have learned to co-exist in this country. When two religious communities have events on the same days, the local District Magistrate makes influential people from the two communities to sit down and works out a mutually agreeable plan so that both communities may observe their events peacefully. The BJP Government is conveying that only what is agreeable to the upper-caste point of view will be allowed in this country. The rest would be categorised as anti-national and their only place will be in jails. Hence the Hindutva mindset poses a threat to the diverse thoughts of this country as well as its democracy.

But there is an interesting twist to the whole debate. The upper-caste notion of a demon is someone possessing muscle power and also who indulges in worldly pleasures. Demon represents evil. In our democracy when people have a choice between a simple, honest, straightforward candidate who is a paragon of virtue and a criminal, mafia, domineering candidate who uses ill-gotten wealth to win the election, people have shown their preference for the latter because the common people believe that their representative should be materially and muscularly strong. These candidates are akin to demons as they have various criminal cases pending against them and have acquired wealth illegally. Does this not mean that we are a demon-worshipping people? If this is true, then by the definition of the Hindutva brigade most people of this country should fall in the category of being anti-national. Except for some bright spots like the Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption movement, most of the educated people in this country most of the time end up supporting corruption. People also don't have problems with criminals, especially if they belong to their own caste or religion. Shouldn't all these people be considered anti-national? If the Hindutva lobby had its way there would be more people inside the jails than outside.

When Narendra Modi ran for the post of the PM, he did not inform the people that the Hindutva brigade will have a free run in the BJP rule. He won the election on a secular agenda, promise of achche din, which everybody thought would be good governance. The people did not bargain for imposition of the Hindtuva agenda on the country. Hence Narendra Modi must seek a fresh mandate if he wants to unleash the Hindutva forces in society. The BJP Government has allowed its supporters to build an atmosphere of fear in society for anybody who doesn't agree with the Hindutva ideology. The people of India have been cheated in a democracy by a group which simply doesn't believe in democracy.

Noted social activist and Magsaysay awardee Dr Sandeep Pandey was recently sacked this year from the IIT-BHU where he was a Visiting Professor on the charge of being a “Naxalite” engaging in “anti-national” activities. He was elected along with Prof Keshav Jadhav the Vice-President of the Socialist Party (India) at its founding conference at Hyderabad on May 28-29, 2011.

The judiciary in India has a long way to go to retrieve its reputation. One judgment by the Allahabad High Court which said that dissent should be “protected” cannot rub off the stigma it acquired during the Emergency. This is still beyond my comprehension, even after some 35 years since the judgment was pronounced.

The judiciary caved in and upheld that Parliament could suspend the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. Even the imposition of the Emergency was justified. Only one judge, Justice H.R. Khanna, gave the dissenting judgment but he was superseded. It is another matter that the country punished the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, when she was ousted from power lock, stock and barrel after the elections were held. Similar was the fate of her son, Sanjay Gandhi, an extra-constitu-tional authority.

What disappoints me is that the Supreme Court has never passed a resolution or done anything to register its criticism against the judgment which gave the judiciary a bad name. Even now it is not too late. The Supreme Court has liberal judges on the Bench. They can still dilute the situation by passing a resolution that its predecessor bench was wrong in endorsing the Emergency.

At least the Narendra Modi Cabinet, with a liberal Law Minister in Arun Jaitley, should say sorry for the excesses committed by the earlier government during the Emergency. At that time, Indira Gandhi had detained one hundred thousand people without trial. The then Attorney General, Niren De, had argued in the Court that even the right to live was forfeited during the dark days of the Emergency.

There was so much fear that practically all lawyers in Delhi dared not to speak. A lawyer like Soli Sorabjee from Mumbai and V.M. Tharkunde from Delhi argued the habeas corpus petitions. My petition was argued by both and they had me released after three months in jail.

The two judges, Justice S. Rangarajan and Justice R.N. Aggarwal, were punished for having given the verdict. The first was transferred to Guwahati where people still remember him for his impartiality. The second was demoted and sent back to the Sessions Court. But this did not deter them and they carried on their work independently.

Probably, the pressure on the judges has lessened in recent years because of a vigilant media. But the worse is happening. Appoint-ments to the Benches are being made according to the wishes of the rulers. It began with the Congress Government at the Centre and has continued even during the Bharatiya Janata Party Government.

The process was really started by Indira Gandhi. She superseded three judges—Justices J.M. Shelat, K.S. Hegde and A.N. Grover—to appoint Justice A.N. Ray as the Chief Justice. She was unseated from Parliament and disqualified for poll malpractices for six years. Instead of accepting the verdict, she imposed the Emergency and amended the law itself.

The excesses she and Sanjay Gandhi committed during the Emergency may be a part of history. However, it is still remembered by not only those who suffered but also those who support democracy. It was the Janata Party which came to power after defeating Mrs Gandhi that changed the Constitution to make the imposition of the Emergency impossible. And Justice Khanna's dissenting judgment—that the basic structure of the Constitution cannot be changed—was accepted as the norm. This has ensured the parliamentary system of governance and deterred every ruler since then not to tinker with the judiciary.

Ultimately, the independence of the judiciary depends upon the quality of judges and this is where I have begun to develop doubts. In the US, the biggest democracy, the Supreme Court is divided between the Republican judges and Democrats. But since the tenure of the judges is for a lifetime, the appointees of one party have risen above their old loyalties and become independent and impartial.

In India, we had the best of judges when the government appointed them. But now party politics is creeping in and at least in High Courts it is seen that the party in power has not appointed the best of lawyers but those who had owed allegiance to it. Even in the Supreme Court, some appointments come under the shadow of doubt.

Take the case of former Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium whose appointment to the Supreme Court was stalled by the Narendra Modi Government. Blaming the government for blocking his appointment, Subramanium said his “independence as a lawyer is causing apprehensions that I will not toe the line of the government. This factor has been decisive in refusing to appoint me.” He subsequently withdrew from the race.

In fact, it was at his instance that the Gujarat Police were forced to book a murder case in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter matter. Then when the prime witness, Tulsiram Prajapati, was liquidated under suspicious circumstances, Subramanium had recommended the transfer of the case to the CBI. Significantly, Subrama-nium also admitted that it was on his suggestion that the Supreme Court, while granting bail to accused Amit Shah, now the BJP President, had barred him from entering Gujarat.

When the story of Ishrat Jahan's encounter case comes to light fully it would be apparent that politics had got mixed up with criminality. I do not want to apportion blame on one political party or the other, but there is an increasing tendency to politicise certain issues where a party member is arraigned before the Court.

The remark by the Allahabad High Court Chief Justice is telling. Justice C.J. Chandrachud, during the High Court's anniversary function, said: “Law tends to follow precedents. But it must be kept in mind that administration of justice also necessarily involves interpretation of laws that may have been laid down ages ago, in accordance with contemporary needs and challenges.”

Ironically, things start from the Allahabad High Court. It changed the legal history when Indira Gandhi was unseated by it and it has now given a new lead to the judiciary. Probably, this is the time when Prime Minister Modi's statement that outdated laws should be done away with is given a legal shape.

The author is a veteran journalist renowned not only in this country but also in our neighbouring states of Pakistan and Bangladesh where his columns are widely read. His website is www.kuldipnayar.com

“People must everywhere learn to defend themselves against misbehaving individuals, no matter who they are. The question of non-violence and violence does not arise. No doubt the non-violent is always the best, but where that does not come naturally, the violent way is both necessary and honourable. Inaction here is rank cowardice and unmanly. It must be shunned at all cost.”—M.K. Gandhi's statement in Sevagram, June 22, 1942; published in Harijan, 28/6/1942; Collected Works, Vol. 1, LXXVI

The above quotation may sound un-Gandhian for many, and shock his devout followers. But Gandhi indeed made that statement in support of the railway hawkers who set up self-defence squads to resist depredations by British and US soldiers posted in India during the Second World War. It assumes relevance today, particularly now, when students, artists, human rights activists and other sections of Indian society are facing the Hindu nationalist Sangh Parivar's formidable armed squads, which enforce Narendra Modi's agenda of creating a national state of mind much like his own, and that of his political parent, the RSS. Despite occasional reports of the RSS headquarters' impatience with Modi's egocentric actions, both the parent and the son share the same demented singlemindedness in turning India into a Talibanised Hindu Rashtra.

The recent events in the academic institutions and universities all over India (from the Pune Film Institute to University of Hyderabad, to JNU and Jadavpur University), indicate an ominous trend. The present regime is planning to entrust the administration of these institutions to men of miserably meagre talents from within the Sangh Parivar, who with fanatical determination are pursuing the Parivar's agenda of ruthless suffocation of the atmosphere of healthy debates, suppression of the growth of scientific inquiry among the students, stifling of dissenting views which challenge the conservative status quo, whether on gender issues or Kashmir (which had always enervated the atmosphere of these institutions).

What is even more alarming is the impunity with which the goons of the Sangh Parivar defy the judiciary—which at times remains a mute spectator, if not a collaborator. Led by their MLA, one O.P. Sharma, the BJP lawyers assaulted students, journalists, and even hurled abuses on a group of Supreme Court-appointed lawyers in the premises of Patiala House Courts complex in New Delhi during February 15 and 17. The police force posted there colluded in the entire shameful act by remaining passive. No wonder, since their boss, the present Delhi Police Commissioner, in his eagerness to satisfy his super bosses in the Modi Cabinet, concocted a story of linking the JNU Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar with the Pakistan-based terrorist leader, Hafiz Sayeed, based on some fake twitter message! Curiously enough, the lower judiciary let off the BJP MLA, O.P. Sharma (who was caught on video assaulting a student), on bail, immediately after his arrest, but it chose to put Kumar behind bars, even though there was no concrete evidence of sedition against him. So much for the independence of the members of the lower judiciary!

The BJP's Game-Plan—Premonitions of an Emergency-like Situation?

The Modi Government's authoritarian inter-vention in the academic sphere, its manipulation of sections of the media in its favour by creating a hysteria that falsely depicts the universities as dens of Pakistani agents, and its defiance of the judiciary—are all of a game-plan. It is a plan to whip up a national frenzy of patriotism in the name of protecting the sovereignty of the Indian nation, and pretending to be the only custodian of that responsibility. Under that cover, Modi intends to suppress all dissent—whether Left or liberal—by branding it as ‘anti-national' and the dissenters as Pakistani agents. Apart from using colonial laws in his powers as a Prime Minister, to arrest protestors on the charge of ‘sedition', Modi, as the leader of the BJP, is unleashing his foot-soldiers (the goons of the ABVP, RSS, Bajrang Dal and other similar outfits) to attack any expression of protest against his policies.

The NDA Government is deliberately preci-pitating a situation of violent conflicts in various States—along religious communal lines (as evident in the active participation of the Sangh Parivar leaders in Muzaffarnagar, Dadri and other places). It then attributes these conflicts to local Muslim youth, who are arrested and branded as ‘Pakistani agents'. Even dissenters among the Hindu community who challenge superstitious religious practices are hauled up on charges of ‘hurting religious feelings', and are entangled in long-drawn legal cases. The government is thus trying to discourage and threaten voices of dissent, by holding the Damocles' sword of both the colonial sedition law, and a host of other draconian laws that the post-colonial Indian state had enacted. By branding every protest (whether in the universities or elsewhere) as ‘anti-national' and tracing it to Pakistani support (as by trying to morph Kanhaiya Kumar's image against a pro-Pakistan map—in some TV channels), the NDA Government is planning to create a public paranoia about ‘anti-national‘ elements who are supposedly out to destroy the Indian nation!

Watching the TV anchors' hysterical body language, and reading the hate messages on the social media, that echo the violent acts of the Sangh Parivar thugs and their psychopath leaders, one can understand how easy it is for a BJP-run Centre to mould public opinion through a subservient media, and persuade a substantial section of Indians, and even its educated elements, to sanction lynching of Muslims (branded as Pakistani agents), persecution of dissenters from within the Hindu community on the flimsy ground of ‘hurting religious sentiments', and even killing of rationalists who dare to oppose Hindu superstitious beliefs and practices.

At the same time, Modi is putting up a brilliant masquerade as a global entertainer—trying to induce foreign investors, and impress the starry-eyed NRI diaspora. Whether the Indian media-hyped rhetoric of Modi's promises will be translated into the shape of funds pouring into the sagging Indian economy is yet to be tested during the remaining years of his tenure.

Urgent Need for a Multi-pronged Strategy of Resistance

Meanwhile, India will have to suffer the Modi Government for the next three years. Our electorate are paying the price for allowing themselves (or at least one-third of them) to be used as a bargaining chip in a cynical political showdown between a corrupt and inept UPA II Government and a cunningly opportunist BJP ready to jump into the vacuum of public disenchantment. Through the present first-past-the-post electoral system, the BJP-led NDA managed to swindle its way into the Lok Sabha and put in position of power a banal personality as the Prime Minister, who is one of the iconographers of fascist Hindutva with the ghastly record of presiding over the massacre of Muslims in his own State of Gujarat as its Chief Minister. Narendra Modi's elevation to the position of India's Prime Minister is one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the country's parliamentary democracy.

In order to get rid of this government, we have to wait for the next general elections in 2019—or if a situation arises on the waves of a national mass movement which forces the Modi Government to resign and face a mid-term poll. Either way, we have to prepare for a multi-pronged set of strategies and tactics.

The immediate need is to resist the armed thugs of the Sangh Parivar, whenever they disrupt public meetings, debates, discussions, film shows, theatres and exhibitions which assert freedom of expression of secular ideas and democratic rights. Since we cannot depend on the police—which acts as an agent of the ruling BJP—we have to build up our own mechanisms of self-protection. But the prerequsite for that is the twin task of creation of public opinion and mobilisation of vast sections of the people in the streets against the hoodlums of the Parivar. The first task involves a widespread campaign to (i) expose the Parivar's hypocritical claims of patriotism by disclosing the treacherous role of their leaders during the national movement—beginning from Savarkar's abject surrender to the British Government in his petition from Andaman Jail (dated November 14, 1913), where he promised to work as its agent if released, to Atal Behari Vajpayee's confessional statement to a Magistrate on September 1, 1942, naming two friends of his who participated in the ‘Quit-India' movement, which led to their arrest and conviction; (ii) reveal the opportunist role of the RSS leaders, like Balasaheb Deoras, who, when jailed during the Emergency, wrote a letter to Indira Gandhi (dated August 22, 1975) begging her to lift the ban on the RSS, and offering in exchange the services of his followers to implement the Emergency. Equally shameful was Nanaji Deshmukh's open statement in support of the Hindu killers of Sikhs in 1984, where he said that the Sikhs deserved their fate for their departure from the orthodox Hindu fold (reproduced in the Hindi journal, Pratipaksh, November 25, 1984); and (iii) nail the BJP-led present government for its failure on every front—economic, social, cultural—a record of stunning incompetence by a gang of uncivilised leaders, irredeemably orthodox in their beliefs and vulgar in their manners.

The next stage is to organise self-defence squads from among the citizens in urban mohallas and rural clusters, industrial hubs and educational institutions, to resist the Sangh Parivar's thugs. If necessary, we should be prepared to face them with armed resistance. Let us not be squeamish about the use of violence at certain times. I began with a quotation from Gandhi's writing, and continuing in the same vein, let me end with another quote from him. On November 6, 1946, Gandhi on his way to Noakhali in East Bengal, met in Chandpur a deputation of Hindus who were at one time armed revolutionaries, and who now sought Gandhi's advice as to how to resist the communal onslaught. Gandhi said: “I have not asked you to discard the use of arms (to resist it)....”, but then he added a note of caution: “Even violence has its code of ethics. For instance, to butcher helpless old men, women and children is not bravery, but rank cowardice....Use your arms well, if you must. Do not ill use them...” (Pyarelal—Mahatma Gandhi, The Last Phase, Part I, Vol. IX, Book Two, Navjivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1956, pp. 16-18).

The time has come to “use our arms well”.

Sumanta Banerjee is a well-known writer, journalist and columnist with a deep commitment to the Left and human rights movement. Some of his better known books incude In the Wake of Naxalbari:A History of the Naxalite Movement (2008), The Parlour and the Streets: Elite and Popular Culture in NineteenthCentury Calcutta (1998), The Wicked City: Crime and Punishment in Colonial Calcutta (2009), Crime and Urbani-sation: Calcutta in the Nineteenth Century (2006).

The following is the latest article written by Kobad Ghandy, the noted Marxist-Maoist thinker, now lodged in Tihar Jail 3. He first sent it to The Indian Express requesting them for publication at the earliest as it is topical—linked to the JNU issue; however, since he did not hear anything from them, he sent it to us for publication. We are thus carrying it at the earliest possible opportunity for the benefit of our readers.

What is real nationalism/patriotism? Quite naturally, love for one's nation/country. But this is not some abstract concept. The nation comprises our land and people. So love for our land and mass of people would be the starting point for true nationalism. To seek the flowering of our land and people, and with a deep empathy for them, would be the essence of genuine nationalism.

This I could only appreciate when I was in Britain to study CA (Chartered Accountancy) in the late 1960s. As it was there that I witnessed that we, Indians, were being treated in a racist manner by the Whites, it made me look for its cause. I discovered its roots lay in their colonial mentality. So I began reading about colonialism/imperialism and the history of our freedom struggle. Dadabhai Naoroji's great treatise threw much light on how a rich India had been ruined by two centuries of colonial loot. R.P. Dutt's book, India Today, gave insight into the sacrifices of thousands who fought for our freedom, and the brutality of the British who sought to crush the people's aspirations, and divide them through a policy of divide and rule. The roots of the present Hindu-Muslim divide could probably be traced to this colonial policy which helped divert people's anger away from the British rulers.

Finally, after four years of doing CA with a potentially rich career, I threw up my studies and came back to India to serve the nation. I was faced with a dilemma: either to become rich and powerful, or to serve the nation, particularly its oppressed sections. I chose the latter path, possibly due to a strong nationalist surge within me.

It was a difficult decision, but never regretted. Though it has entailed giving up the luxuries of a CA's life, it has given an enormous personal satisfaction through serving the helpless. Unfortunately, at the fag end of my life I was arrested for the first time under colonial-type laws and have now spent six-and-a-half years in jail with little sight of release, though I am 68 with numerous health problems. If I had followed my CA career I would have been living a five-star life, but to feel for the wanton destruction of our land and people, and to act on it, has resulted in this cruel incarceration reminiscent of colonial times. But it was difficult to stay unmoved by the veritable rape of Mother India taking place on a daily basis. It makes one weep to see the dreams of our freedom fighters being crushed to dust even after nearly seventy years of independence.

A brief picture of the destruction being wrought on our land and people, together with the direction of economic growth, will give an orientation on where our nationalism needs to be focussed. First, let us look at our land, then the state of our people, and finally, the economy.

Witness the extent of destruction. The bulk of our top soil is destroyed due to chemicals resulting in poor water retention which in turn results in floods, droughts and poor seepage, drying up our water acquifiers and making them saline. Additionally, in a mere 15 years, between 1999 and 2013, 15 per cent of our total forest cover has been destroyed, and in the following two years (2013-15) a further destruction of 2500 square kilometres of prime forest land has taken place. This is the main reason for poor and erratic rainfall resulting in successive droughts and unseasonal rainfall, playing havoc with our crops. Finally, notwithstanding the clamour about Swachh Bharat, India generates 36,875 million litres per day of untreated sewage, turning our pristine river systems and coasts into glorified gutters—killing our fish and resulting in five lakh deaths a year due to water-borne diseases.

Now let us turn to our people. Of the rural populace 45 crore live as agricultural labourers and another 20 crore as marginal farmers (having less than 2.5 acres). The bulk of these cannot even buy sufficient food; and now with prices of basic food items—pulses, onions etc.—sky-rocketing, the little they had is being snatched from their mouths. But this is not all—it is the relatively better farmers who are also in deep crisis with farmers' suicides peaking this year at over 10,000—that is, 28 every day. Finally, even the urban population, roughly 50 per cent or 15 crore, live in the most unhygenic slums with no livable jobs available.

So we find that even after nearly seventy years of independence, 80 crore of our people (65 per cent) live in sub-human conditions. And as for the 30 crore odd middle classes, they too are being squeezed out due to lack of jobs, inflation and huge expenditure on sicknesses. And in spite of their declining conditions, the latest Economic Survey (February 28, 2016) plans to snatch a gigantic Rs 1 lakh crore from them through reduction on subsidies, while leaving the Rs 5 lakh crore subsidy to big corporates untouched. It is only the top two-to-five per cent who are thriving, but it is they who control the power and media.

Over-and-avove all this, we are a sick nation with epidemic levels of illness hitting both the poor and middle classes. According to govern-ment reports, 52 per cent of all households face severe malnutrition and, in fact, the protein intake has dropped 10 per cent in the last two decades. Sixteen lakh children (under five years of age) die every year, there are 1000 TB deaths per day and malaria/dengue continues to cause havoc. And to these infectious diseases are now added the new-age diseases like cancer, heart, lung etc. The Health Ministry states that 6.5 crore people are pushed into poverty every year because of expenses on healthcare. In the year 2011-12 alone, 4.3 crore people faced “catastrophic expenses on health”. Yet, our government's expenditure on health is one of the lowest in the world—at about one per cent of the GDP (China's is three per cent). Is not this de facto mass murder—nay genocide—as surely increased government expenditure on healthcare, hygiene and a reduction of pollution would save thousands of lives every year??

This destruction of land and people is linked to the nature of our economy which is in terminal decline yet generates enormous black money. The rural economy is in dire straits, manufacturing is in the doldrums, banks are de facto bankrupt, the rupee is crashing, exports are contracting as never before and sky-rocketing inflation is eating into real wages. Let's look at the economy first.

Farm growth has now plunged to one per cent. Industrial production has been continually declining and ‘growth' in November 2015 (at -3.2 per cent) went to a four-year low. Value added in total manufacturing output declined from 25 per cent in the 1990s to 18 per cent now. Manufacturing contributed to a mere six per cent to total labour productivity growth, compared to 32 per cent in China. Banks are on the brink due to corporate defaults, surviving mainly on account of huge infusion of funds by the government. While the big corporates continue their seven-star lifestyles, they refuse to meet their huge debts with the government bailing them out. Finally, we see that the rupee has crashed to a 28-month low, and that exports in 2015 contracted by a massive 18.5 per cent—the worst since 1952-53.

The economy could not be in a worse mess. Only the black economy flourishes.

According to a report of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, submitted to the then Finance Minister in December 2013, black money constitutes 75 per cent of our GDP. In other words, Rs 120 lakh crores of black money is generated every year. Even at 25 per cent taxation the government is losing Rs 30 lakh crores in tax every year. This gigantic sum would be more than sufficient to develop agriculture, to invest in manufacturing, and invest heavily in healthcare and education.

So it is this black economy that is not only retarding the development of our land and people, resulting in lakhs of deaths each year, but also corrupting the morals of an entire nation. No social upliftment can be successful as all get mired in corruption. Our nationalist fervour, for a start, needs to be directred in this direction—that is, to shame the corrupt officials publicly, punish the big offenders and extract from all of them the vast sums looted. So, for example, instead of targeting Aamir Khan whose films and TV programmes show concern to national problems, one needs to focus on the Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi-types who are reported to have fleeced our country of thousnads of crores. While Aamir Khan only ‘considered' leaving India, Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi etc. are believed to have already fled to the UK, probably wallowing in the vulgar luxury of hawala money. Meanwhile 80 Marathwada farmers committed suicide in just this one month of February 2016. A lot of these lives could have been saved if just one day's expenditure of Mallyas/Modis on their five-star yachts could have been diverted where it actually belongs.

Who, then, are the real anti-nationals??

(February 29, 2016)

EDITORIAL

Today is March 23, the eightyfifth anniversary of Bhagat Singh's martyrdom. On this day in 1931 three intrepid revolutionaries—Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru—were hanged in Lahore Central Jail by British imperialism, an event that left a deep scar in the minds of our people. As Ajoy Ghosh, the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (the last topmost leader of the united Communist Party), a close associate of Bhagat Singh and one of the accused in the Lahore Conspiracy Case alongwith him, wrote in his memoirs of the immortal hero of the Indian youth in the 1930s and 1940s,

Always passionately fond of studying, Bhagat Singh spent most of his time in prison reading socialist literature. Perhaps the first among us to be drawn towards socialist ideas, he was an avowed atheist and had none of the religious beliefs of earlier terrorists....

Like a meteor Bhagat Singh appeared in the political sky for a brief period. Before he passed away, he had become the cynosure of millions of eyes and the symbol of the spirit and aspirations of a new India, dauntless in the face of death, determined to smash imperialist rule and raise on its ruins the edifice of a free people's state in this great land of ours.

Today also happens to be the 106th birth anniversary of the stormy petrel of the Indian socialist movement, Dr Rammanohar Lohia. But since his birthday coincided with the day of martyrdom of Bhagat Singh and his comrades, Lohiarji directed his followers not to observe or celebrate the occasion.

As we remember those outstanding freedom fighters today, we cannot but recall the rich legacy of our national movement which is currently being sought to be tarnished by the present crop of leaders running the country. They are hell-bent on changing our Constitution to destroy our pluralist ethos. A series of developments since mid-2014 when these persons assumed power at the Centre bears testimony to their vile attempts on this score.

The objective is to weaken and undermine the foundation of secularism that has given a distinct identity to India and reinforced its national unity and cohesion while further strengthening the democratic character of society. In essence these eleements want to establish a Hindu Rashtra based on religious fanaticism that would turn India into a Hindu Pakistan thus besmirching the ideals that have guided the nation since the dawn of independence whose seventieth anniversary we are due to observe in a year's time.

The assault on secularism accompanied by vicious attacks on the minorities has been the dominant characteristic of the current dispensation. A false sense of patriotism is being sought to be forcibly imposed on the people at large by those who never had any record of having participated in the national movement; this is being done not for the purpose of strengthening nationalism as is being claimed but only to invent the ‘enemy' to settle petty political scores. The myopic vision of the persons in power today is bound to recoil on the country in the long run unless it is replaced by a clear-sighted comprehension of the real problems before the nation. That is precisely why all secular democrats need to unite to reverse the present-day rulers' suicidal course which is in direct conflict with the freedom fighters' idea of India.

The legacy of freedom fighters of the Bhagat Singh mould must be preserved at all cost if India has to advance in the days ahead and become the beacon of hope for the international community.

March 23 S.C.

by Arunava Narayan Mukherjee

“Work culture has to come from within”, “China and Japan have progressed owing to their work culture, while we cannot progress as we do not possess it to their level.”
Division Bench of Arun Mishra, Chief Justice, and Justice Joymalya Bagchi of Calcutta High Court, February 8, 2013 during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the Court's intervention to maintain normal conditions during the two-day nationwide strike from February 20, 2013 (The Statesman, Kolkata, February 9, 2013)

Long ago Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy made the following comment about the national character of the Bengalis:

“We should not conceal our national character. Bengalis are quite clever and adept in deceitfulness and cleverness. They even resort to deceitful means in passing the examination. In the field of employment and work this deceitfulness is equally evident—being indifferent to hard work, unwilling to learn that tact of business. Intriguing and cleverness in every sphere—as the saying goes the more you are clever, the more you become destitute—Bengalis are really destitute in all walks of life.”

A true relationship between private interest and public essentials is the foundation of economic development which gets duly reflected in the work culture of a particular place or community. What debilitates the social fabric of West Bengal is its generic failure in instilling a specific consciousness of a functional reciprocity between individual aspirations and public good. The pervasive practices of negligence, avoidance, absenteeism, and lack of seriousness among the entire working community, particularly the officials of public service in Bengal, reflect a dissonance in identifying private interest to be preferably in harmony with a dynamic public space and testify to a firm hold of the untamed notion of one's own well-being which is completely detached from the collective ambit and remnants. The Bengali's peculiar worldview misses a very basic point that caring for one's own well-being can scarcely be devoid of one's caring for the society and surrounding public— a social trend reinforced by the global consumerism. (Maharatna, 2008)

An all-encompassing indifference, carelessness and indolence towards work and job responsi-bilities characterise the prevailing state of ‘work culture' of government offices and Public Sector Units of West Bengal. People are commonly believed to be oblivious of punctuality; typically slack on their job responsibilities and duties. The majority of the working population is allegedly habitually late in coming in and early in leaving the workplace; they appear to spend a lot of time gossiping and even socialising within prime duty hours; there is also a common complaint regarding their intermittent disappearance from the office desk on various private and non-official pursuits. All this is popularly perceived as manifestations of the usual ‘work culture' in West Bengal. (Maharatna, 2001) The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) came down hard on the much-hyped ‘do it now' mantra of the then Marxist Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, once again exposing the lethargic work culture prevailing in State Government offices and Public Sector Units of West Bengal. (Goswami, 2007) Ranking of the State of West Bengal in social and economic infrastructure has slipped back during 1981-91—signifying a distinct relative retrogre-ssion in social and economic infrastructure development. (Maharatna,2007) Therefore, decline of work culture is the manifestation of a facade of overall decadence of the socio-economic life of West Bengal.

Roy (1995) tried to explain the nature of ‘Bengali Leftism' which he holds to be solely responsible for the present state of poor work culture in West Bengal in the following manner:

According to Roy, the primary characteristics of ‘Bengali Leftism' is showing indifference to, rather ignoring, the formal authority.

Secondly, Marxism-based oversimplified analysis of ‘classified' society divided into ‘Haves' and ‘Have Nots' where being idle at work is a revolutionary step by which the ‘Have Nots'—workers—are teaching a lesson to the ‘Haves'—the entrepreneurs or owners of the business or, for that matter, their representatives.

Thirdly, so far as the role of the revolutionary trade unions are concerned, to achieve the ‘Earned Rights' is more important for them than doing the work or assigned duty.

A few very common phrases which a consumer or customer citizen listens at any government office or Public Sector Undertaking in West Bengal when she/he interacts with the officials of those organisations for the purpose any work:

“Pare asben. Aaj habena. Ektu byasto achhi.”

(Come later. Today the work cannot be done. I am a bit busy.)

Or

“Deri habe.”

(It will take time to do your work.)

Or

“Onar aste deri habe.”

(The concerned person will be late in coming to the office.)

Or

“Uni aaj asen ni.”

(The concerned person is absent today.)

This environment leads to the formation of ‘vicious circle of poor work culture' where members of different work organisations reciprocate with each other being charged with a sense of destructive retaliation.

Very peculiarly, the traditional Bengali psyche, influenced by Leftist ideology, considers the idea of improving the standard of living a dishonest one, the archetypal rationale being one honest person cannot be successful and well-off. One should not confuse it with the great ideal of ‘simple living and high thinking'; rather, this is a typical manifestation of the emotional Bengali character romanticising, rather glorifying, poverty under the cover of a pseudo-idealistic romanticised notion choosing an easy escape route from “hard work”—an essential ingredient for an ideal work culture. At the same time the Bengalis are no exception to the general Indian character which has been wonderfully explained by Kakar (1978, 1981):

‘The heightened narcissist vulnerability of the Indian.....a clamour for attention, exhibitionism, hypochondria or in the extreme of psychosis, a cold paranoid of grandiosity.”

A combination of all the aforesaid factors finally leads to the formation of a dehumanised, destructive work culture.

Although seemingly unbelievable, it is, however, a fact that out of 365 days of a year the government or, for that matter, PSU employees enjoy 179 holidays. This can be explained in the following manner:

Source: Panchu Roy, letters to the editor, Desh (Bengali Magazine), 1995

There is hardly any government office in West Bengal where the office timing is maintained and employees have genuine concern for maintaining office hours. In the decade between 2001 and 2010, no office of the Government of West Bengal remained open for 240 days in a year. (Anandabazar Patrika, February 18, 2011) Irrespective of its political affiliation in West Bengal, the political leadership motivates the workers to make demands and to be aware of their rights but never highlights their duties and infuse in the workers the sense of responsibility and obligation towards work. The trade unions spearhead the culture of getting their demands fulfilled by “stopping” the work.

This idleness, rather inability to work, leads to insecurity resulting in narrow-mindedness, inferiority complex which gets manifested by way “institutionalisation of indecency at the workplace” (as well as in society in general) preventing the constructive approach to work.

It is really a paradox; the people who are very careful, meticulous, vigilant about work and work-related issues in domestic and personal front, at the workplace as government officials the same people are equally careless, negligent, indifferent towards their work.

Now a very pertinent question: has there been any perceptible positive change in the work culture of West Bengal with the change of the political vanguards in the State?

The answer does not carry hope, rather it cannot. Although there are certain indications but how far they turn out to be a reality, marking substantial change in the work culture of West Bengal is quite uncertain. There are sporadic instances of improvement in the employees' morale and productivity in organisa-tions like the State Transport Corporations, Mother Dairy which may be suggestive of change in specific sectors. However, the government's propaganda machinery is out to prove the change in work culture with the change of political regime. “There has been no case of strike in the major industries of West Bengal; neither has there been any disturbance in the Tea Plantations. Only three Jute Mills remained closed out of 50 Jute Mills and only four tea gardens remained closed out of 281 tea gardens at the end of the Financial Year 2012-13.” (Labour in West Bengal, 2012-13, Annual Report, Government of West Bengal) According to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, “The loss in mandays in West Bengal was 66 lakh during 2010-11 and it dropped to 66,000 in 2011-12.” (The Statesman, Kolkata, July 27, 2013)

The above mentioned figures may be indicative of a mechanical change but the question is: how much of this change is spontaneous and how far is it sustainable? Change in political or government structure may initially bring about certain positive outcomes—even it happened in India during the dark days of the Emergency too. But the success of the change depends on certain factors. There is a need to understand whether the change is holistic, spontaneous and deeprooted.

Unfortunately, the study of the social psyche of the Bengalis does not conform to the change syndrome of the post-Leftist era. Because the problem fundamentally does not lie with the prevalent political ideology, it rests with the Bengali psyche.

Bengalis are never good team-workers. Perhaps the Bengali team-work is confined to culture alone—Group Theatre, making great movies but since independence Bengalis cannot boast of producing an institution out of team-work—not an Amul, not a Lizzat Papad, not a JNU, not a Reliance, not even a Gramin Bank samething their Bangladeshi counterparts did.

To understand the phenomena, it is necessary to analyse its socio-psychological roots. Under the caste system, which provided religious sanctity to occupational division of labour based on birth, the members belonging to the upper castes of the Indian society constituted the dominant section. The dominant section was excluded from engaging in any of the difficult, labourious and unpleasant kinds of work but was entitled to a major share of the production from the efforts of the low-caste people who were bound to perform all kinds of work. Most of the work done by the low-caste people was looked down upon as disgraceful activities. While work was a duty of the low-caste people, without any corresponding claim for a return, the upper-caste people were conferred with rights to a share of the produce without any corresponding obligation to work. Thus so far work is concerned, the Indian system turned out to be soft towards the upper-caste people and harsh towards the low-caste people. A work culture with indifference to work on the part of the dominant classes was the outcome of such a system. (Joseph, 2004)

However, the nature of work and the manner of its performance were altogether different under the modern European industrial system. A new work culture with strong commitment to duty, collective orientation to work, diligent observance of work norms etc. were essential for the orderly development of modern industries. Since the industrial system is an offshoot of the technological processes and work practices which prevailed in Europe, a work culture conducive to the development of industries could emerge in the West as a spontaneous evolution from the existing work culture. Besides, the Protestant ethics, which accorded a dignified status to work, facilitated the smooth adoption of such a work culture in the West. On the other hand, India or, for that matter, Bengal had no such experience with machines or factories or the work norms expected under the modern industrial system of production. To the workers who were employed in the newly-opened factories, the work norms and practices expected to be adopted as well as the organisational arrangements under which they were bound to work were altogether new. Along with industries, Western ideas, the philosophies of liberty and equality, institutions like trade unions and ideologies like socialism also arrived in India. (Joseph, 2004)

The interaction of these various parameters forming part of the modern European industrialisation process with the pre-industrial work culture of India did not lead to the emergence of a work culture conducive to the development of modern industries following the European model under Indian conditions. Instead, the organised labour emerged as a dominant class inheriting the work culture of the dominant classes of the past, characterised by a soft attitude towards work. (Joseph, 2004)

Historically Bengalis are knowledgeable, preachers not doers, motivated by self-gain not by collective wellbeing. Even when it comes to self-gain, they are driven by the urge of preservation and recognition not by dedication to a cause. Here very aptly the views of Swami Vivekananda can be applied:

“Being active for self-preservation or recognition and being engrossed in conviction are two radically different processes.''

The inability to work together forgetting the differences is ingrained in the Bengali psyche. The “great responsibility” of inculcating this practice in every social stratum was carried on by the former Left Front Government. Its main objective was to mobilise “partisan” people—from education to industry, politics to sports, culture to society—no field was an exception to this trend. In fact non-cooperation with each other so that anything great cannot be made or built has become the character of the Bengali community. Bengalis are always scared of credit-sharing.

Allegorically, like crabs they pull down each other. The long Leftist rule has really consolidated these characteristics. The Leftists designed the strategy of encirclement of the government by the party and in this direction they adopted the disintegrative campaign of dividing the society between ‘we' and ‘they'. As a result of being in power for long the Leftists have helped in spreading this malignancy in the social body of Bengal; it is quite difficult, rather impossible, for the successor government to cure this social malady in a short duration.

Thus, on the floor of State Legislature (Bidhansabha) in the month of June 2014, when the Food and Supplies Minister of the Government of West Bengal, Jyotipriyo Mallick, admits there has been no real change in the work culture under the post-Leftist new political regime, it reflects the hard reality. (Anandabazar Patrika, June 28, 2014)

The society provides the human land to be cultivated for producing an ideal work culture. In the final analysis it can be said that the erosion in the human land of the Bengali society is a fact which cannot be denied.

People are everywhere embedded deeply in long-standing cultural, social and political institutional patterns. The rigidities in the political as well as socio-cultural and economic institutions in the State prompt us to look at West Bengal as a classic case of “institutional stickiness”. Clearly, the right institutions for creating a more enabling environment for work do not seem to exist. Not only do they not exist, but also their growth or emergence is frustrated by every existing institution. During the early 19th century the Bengali intellect learned to raise questions about issues and beliefs under the impact of British rule in the Indian subconti-nent. In a unique manner, Bengal had witnessed an intellectual awakening that deserved to be called a Renaissance in the European style. Today's West Bengal badly needs another Renaissance. A renaissance which should signify a kind of socio-cultural process associated with the ideas of revitalisation and modernisation of the Bengali community. There must be a genuine call of conscience for every member of the Bengali society to “Arise, awake, and stop not” till the goal of social regeneration is achieved. No political party, no leader, no guru, no god man will lead this task, it should be the outcome of the collective conscience; only a civil society movement can do that. It should usher in a cultural revolution in the true sense of the term, a revolution which must be able to fundamen-tally reconstitute the socio-cultural dynamics of West Bengal keeping its glorious tradition and ethos intact. “Institutional Rejuvenation” must occur following the principles as follows:

1. Restoration of values or Dharma in Society, which includes rule of law;

2. Practice of decency in public and private life; show of mutual respect, empathy and fellow feeling;

3. Striving towards limited rule and show of power, decentralisation of powers at all walks of life with a vibrant, participatory approach instead of centralisation of power and forming a coterie;

4. The role of the state is limited to effective regulation in the interest of free and fair competition as also on considerations of equity, fair play and sustainable growth;

5. Nurturing good and responsible leadership at all levels of society;

6. In the pursuit of the above objectives there should be integration of the goals of the individual and organisation.

[Text of the author's Research Paper presented at National Conference on Human Resource Development (NCHRD-2015) on February 14-15, 2015; the Conference was organised by the Faculty of Commerce, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in association with the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), New Delhi.]

REFERENCES

“Could Not Change the Work Culture—Admission of Food Minister”, Anandabazar Patrika, June 28, 2014.

Goswami, Tarun (2007) ‘CAG slams poor work culture in Bengal Government offices', The Statesman, April 6.

“HC comes down hard on poor work culture”, The Statesman, Kolkata, February 9, 2013.

“It's a mixed work culture”, The Statesman, Kolkata, July 27, 2013

Joseph, K.V. (2004), Culture and Industrial Development: The Indian Experience, New Delhi, Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd.

Kakar, Sudhir (1978), The Inner World: A Psycho-Analytic Study of Childhood and Society in India, New Delhi, Oxford University Press.

Kakar, Sudhir (1981) (2nd Edition), The Inner World: A Psycho-Analytic Study of Childhood and Society in India, Delhi, Oxford University Press.

Labour in West Bengal (2012-13), Annual Report, Labour Department, Government of West Bengal.

Maharatna, Arup (2001), ‘Work Culture: Myth and Reality', Economic and Political Weekly, January 6, pp. 17-19 (20).

Maharatna, Arup (2007), ‘Population, Economy and Society in West Bengal since the 1970s', Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 43, No. 8, pp. 1381-1422, November.

Maharatna, Arup (2008), ‘The Bengali Worldview—The Babu, Private Interest and Public Imperatives', The Statesman, August 31.

Roy, Panchu (1995), Letters to the editor, Desh (Bengali Magazine).

Roy, Tathagato (1995), ‘Work Culture', Desh (Bengali Magazine), April 22.

“The Leave Culture during Bandh now Boomerangs for the State”, Anandabazar Patrika, February 18, 2011.

Dr Arunava Narayan Mukherjee is a Professor of Human Resource Management and the Principal of a Management College affiliated to the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, West Bengal.

“There is bound to be lingering doubt at the end of the day whether President Barack Obama's trip to Cuba measured up as a ‘historic visit'. What is Cuba's history without Fidel Castro? Except for a last-minute drama, the possibility of Fidel receiving Obama at his home seems very remote. And that caps the optics of Obama's visit despite the red carpet welcome he received.”(Mail)

Washington put on a brave face saying no meeting with Fidel was planned; neither side sought one; and, the “correct arrangement” is that the two Presidents met. But Obama probably hoped that Fidel, who is famous for springing surprises, might just do that. He said he would have no objection to meeting the iconic figure —“just as a symbol of the end of this Cold War chapter”.

Curiously, Fidel had favourably commented when Obama was awarded the Nobel in 2009. The veteran Communist revolutionary wrote in a column that he had often disagreed with the choice of Norway's Nobel judges, but, “I must admit that in this (Obama's) case, in my opinion, it was a positive step”. Indeed, Fidel added a caveat: “Many believe that he still has not earned the right to receive such a distinction. But we would like to see, more than a prize for the US President, a criticism of the genocidal policies that have been followed by more than a few Presidents of that country.”

So, why didn't Fidel receive Obama? Fidel is too great a humanist to hold it against Obama that the CIA repeatedly plotted to kill him. Can it be that Fidel is dogmatic? Of course not. How unequivocally he did reconcile with the Church! Can it be that he did not want to overshadow his brother, President Raul Castro? But then, Fidel frequently received foreign dignitaries on official visit—and that invariably turned out to the high noon on the visitor's itinerary.

One reason why Fidel hesitated could be that he had no real option here so long as the US' embargo against Cuba continued. The heart of the matter is that the embargo remains a national humiliation for Cuba. Fidel often spoke and wrote about it. While Fidel wouldn't impede diplomacy to run its course or place impediments on the long winding road of US-Cuban normalisation, when it comes to the embargo, it is a matter of national honour. The 55-year old embargo was imposed in the wake of the Cuban Revolution; it was the most severe US trade embargo imposed on any nation except Red China; and, it is one of the longest running embargoes in US history. Raul Castro warned that the embargo is still in the way of normalisation of relations.

In all fairness, Obama is helpless here. The Republican-dominated US Congress intends to keep the embargo in place this year and it's a political season in America till November. Period. On the other hand, it is an embargo in name only and is riddled with as many holes as Swiss cheese, as someone pointed out. Besides, if Cuba wants something from America, it can always source it through a third party. However, it sticks out and retains a huge amount of symbolic value despite all the manoeuvres and presidential executive orders Obama issued to cut into it. In Raul's words, “The blockade remains in force. It contains discouraging elements and intimidating effects.”

This is where Obama's ‘working visit' to Cuba may help. A big faction of Republicans in the Congress is already on board with the idea of removing the sanctions, and, as Edward Isaac-Dovere wrote for Politico in the weekend, Obama's visit “will only accelerate the pace of shifting sentiments in the US. Obama's expressed skepticism about getting the embargo lifted during his presidency or at least before the expected lame duck session post-election. But with all the members of Congress and all the business leaders he brought with him (to Havana), and all the government changes and deals being announced as part of this trip, he's hollowed out what little obstacles are left.” (Politico)

However, that Obama left Havana without being received by Fidel underlines that the hype over the ‘historic visit' notwithstanding, US-Cuban relationship is a deeply wounded one and the healing will take time. The rapproche-ment is irreversible and the compass cannot change even under the new US President, because the US has understood essentially that it cannot decide Cuba's future. However, as the New York Times put it, “old grievances and disputes marred a groundbreaking (Obama-Raul) meeting and underscored lingering impediments to a historic thaw” (here). The tense joint press conference which witnessed some spirited sparring testifies to this geopolitical reality that much as Cuba welcomes trade and investment from the US, it is not going to make political changes for the sake of normalisation with the US. (Transcript)

Nonetheless, to be sure, this is a legacy visit—first by a US President to Cuba in nearly 90 years. Will Obama follow through with a visit to Iran—the first by a US President since the Islamic Revolution in 1979? Don't rule it out. You can never say never when it comes to this extraordinary American President breaking new ground in US foreign policy.

Ambassador M.K. Bhadrakumar served as a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service for over 29 years, with postings including India's ambassador to Uzbekistan (1995-1998) and to Turkey (1998-2001).

by R.G. Gidadhubli

Russia is facing a major economic crisis. The magnitude of the economic crisis is evident from the following. In 2015, as per official sources, the GDP declined by 3.7 per cent, while a few experts contend that the fall was nine per cent. During the last couple of years Russia has also been facing the problem of decline in investment by 8-10 per cent and has been suffering from a high inflation rate of over 11-15 per cent. In 2015, Russia's imports declined and the country became a net exporter. But this was not on account of economic growth but due to Russia's retaliatory ban on imports of food from the EU countries and USA and a weak rouble. It is important to note that the rouble lost its value against the dollar by 50 per cent since 2014, the present exchange rate being 69-70 roubles per dollar.

Some of the Western analysts and financial institutions, including Moody, have estimated that in 2016 Russia's GDP growth will be virtually negative below 0.7 per cent and that it might remain low for a few years to come.

Russia has been facing several economic problems since the last couple of years. The question arises as to what are the causes for the economic problems leading to the crisis. Firstly, the main reason for the economic crisis has been the sharp fall in global energy prices to below $ 35-40 per barrel that has very adversely impacted on the Russian economy. Russia has been over-dependent on the energy sector as oil and gas account for nearly 60 per cent of Russia's exports and 43 per cent of the government's revenue. Since 2014-15, oil prices dropped by roughly half from the levels of over $100 a barrel and have plunged to below 40 dollars a barrel since there has been a fall in demand due to the global recession.

In fact Russia's over-emphasis on the energy sector leading to dependence was a deliberate policy pursued during the last decade to emerge as the ‘Energy Super Power' when international energy prices were rising up to $ 145 per barrel bringing a huge inflow of petrodollars by exporting oil and natural gas. Russia utilised these hard currency resources for investment in the energy sector both in Russia and abroad, including Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, the Middle East and Latin American countries, rather than diversifying and modernising the economy.

Secondly, agriculture is the only sector of the Russian economy that has shown continuous growth during the last few years, but agricul-ture's share of the Russian GDP is just over three per cent and cannot solve the persisting economic problems. Thirdly, Moscow would like to rely more on exporting armaments. But that accounts for just about five per cent of the overall Russian exports. Similarly, Russia also has tried to export trucks and cars to the neigh-bouring countries. But that accounts for less than two per cent of exports. Moreover, external demand cannot be a significant driver of the Russian economy.

Impact on the Economy

The decline in oil prices has caused a reduction in Russia's fiscal reserves and rise in the budgetary deficit. Hence there is a possibility that Russia may have to borrow which might increase the debt burden for a few years to come, since oil prices might continue to be low. But Russia has become a victim of economic sanctions by the Western countries which have strongly opposed its alleged ‘illegal accession' of Crimea in March 2014. Hence borrowing from the West, which was a source to tide over the revenue deficit, will be difficult. This is evident from the fact that economic sanctions on Russia by the West did make a major adverse impact on Russian banks in 2014 when Moscow had to repay its foreign debt amounting to 10 per cent of the GDP. But by the end of 2015 this burden reduced to three per cent. Hence while some Russian analysts opined that economic sanctions had a limited impact on the economy, this is not supported by Western financial experts.

Thirdly, the Russian economy suffers from lack of competiveness since there are basic structural problems that the country has been facing for almost two decades. Technological levels of several sectors of the economy, including engineering, defence and aviation, have been lagging behind due to lack of modernisation. For instance, Moody is a well-known financial agency and its Vice-President, Kristin Lindow, has opined that the structural shock to the oil market has weakened Russia's economy and, most importantly, its credit profile.

Fourthly, persisting high inflation and decline in import of consumer goods, including food products, have worsened the economic plight of the ordinary citizens. In February 2016, the Levada Centre released its poll, according to which 80 per cent of the respondents have felt the burden of the economic crisis. As per the poll, 47 per cent of the respondents blame the crisis on the falling global energy prices, while 33 per cent blame it on corruption, 27 per cent on Western sanctions, and 26 per cent on “excessive” spending on defence and the bureaucracy. Equally important is the fact that more than 50 per cent have to cut their spending on food and other essential necessities which shows the magnitude of impact of the economic crisis.

Fifthly, contrary to the Western contention, the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has expressed his confidence that the economy will recover and that ordinary Russians will withstand the hardships brought about amid deteriorating relations with the West over his foreign-policy manoeuvres. But Putin's hope and expectation are not acceptable to the Russian financial experts, including Sergei Aleksanshenko, who was the former Deputy Chairman of the Russian Central Bank. In his opinion, the Russian economy might not grow in the near future.

Sixthly, under persisting economic problems facing the country, the middle-class population is struggling for survival since they have to spend more than half of their income on food and other necessities. In this context the Russian media has highlighted the sad plight of thousands of lower and middle-class Russians who, being victims of lack of employment opp-ortunities, are unable to repay the loans that they had taken for their survival and medical treatment. The magnitude of the problem lies in the fact that with about 142 million population, there are 42.5 million Russians with loans and credit-card debts. It is reported by Tom Adshead, a partner at Macro-Advisory, a Moscow-based financial consulting firm, that the problems of bad debts have worsened in 2015-16 due to the persisting economic crisis. The semi-urban and rural areas are the worse affected due to lack of healthcare and infrastructure services.

In fact in post-Soviet Russia borrowing loan has become a major socio-economic issue. Apart from borrowing from banks, a new social issue has emerged in Russia known as “micro-financing organisations”, which sounds like a euphemism for loan sharks, including small lenders, who pay little regard to banking regulations. While handing out short-term loans to poor and needy clients at high interest rates, they often resort to in-house debt collectors. Hence thousands of Russians have become victims of such debt collectors who have gone to any extent torturing them to get back their money. This is a most deplorable situation in contemporary Russia. There are cases of meagre debts of a few thousand roubles which they are unable to repay and become victims of torture by debt collectors. Highlighting this problem Russian journalist Vladimir Markin wrote on November 15, 2015, warning Russians about the perils of such borrowings calling those ‘Deadly Debts'. In this context he mentioned about the murder of a Russian worker by a collector after he was fired from his job and got stuck in a spiral of debt. It is important to note that such illegal ‘Collection Agencies' are still not regulated by the federal law and not licensed.

Seventh, in contrast to the hard life of a majority of Russian citizens, a new class of millionaires has emerged in Russia during the last two-and-a-half decades. As stated by Carl Schreck on February 26, 2016, there are five kings—Arkady Rottenberg, Gennady Timchenko, Kirril Shamalov, Leonid Mikhelson and Igor Rottenberg, son of Arkady Rottenberg—all Putin insiders who are reigning in government contract ranking. Hence there are accusations by critics in Russia as well, including social activist Navalny, that Putin has close economic ties with a few coteries in Russia who are taking advantage of getting state funding for their projects and have become rich. Among them is Kirill Shamalov, the son-in-law of Putin, who got a loan of about $ 1.75 billion in 2015 from Russia's National Wealth Fund at an unusually low interest rate for the Sibur Project which is Russia's largest gas and petrochemicals processor. It is alleged that several billionaires are also close to Putin who, according to some critics, is also a millionaire. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has disagreed with Navaly contending that government contracts are distributed on the basis of clearly defined rules and laws and those are ‘not arbitrary'. Thus while there are conflicting claims and arguments, the Russian economy continues to face persisting crisis.

Policy Alternatives

Considering the fact the Russian economy is highly dependent upon the energy sector, Russia's energy giants—Alexei Miller of Gazprom and Igor Sechin of Rosneft—have advised Putin that under the prevailing circumstances of a sharp decline in oil prices and the global demand for oil, Russia should work jointly with the OPEC countries to cut down oil production to prevent the persisting decline in oil prices leading to loss to the global energy producers. This is in contrast to the past when Russia derided this cartel and was competing with them in the world oil market.

Supporting this view, Russian leaders have tried their best for the first time to cooperate and work with other energy giants, including the OPEC countries, among those Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar etc., to shore up the global oil prices by agreeing to freeze oil production considering the fact that the glut in global oil production has caused depression in the oil prices globally. But Iran, though a close ally of Russia, has refused to cut down its production as it has no other alternative for generating income for its economic sustenance.

Secondly, one alternative for the Russian Government could be to privatise the state owned companies to raise resources in the domestic market to finance the budgetary gap. This may partly help Putin to bring back the Russian hard currency parked in the West during the last two decades.

Thirdly, since the last few years Russia has adopted a ‘Look-East' policy focusing on China for its geo-political and geo-economic objectives. Hence Russia's external trade with China has immensely increased. But from 2015 China has also become a victim of recession affecting Russia as well.

Fourthly, apart from the Crimean issue, Russia's involvement in the Syrian crisis for over a year and the persisting differences with the West on this issue have forced the country to spend heavily to support its ally, Syrian President Assad, despite its own economic problems. It is understandable that this was the price Russia had to pay for its geo-political ambitions. But there is some change in the situation and in fact the high economic burden could be one of the reasons why in March 2016 Putin at last decided to withdraw the Russian troops from Syria. Moreover, it was a shrewd policy initiative of Putin: declaring to withdraw from Syria to coordinate and improve relations with the USA and West as a whole.

Thus from what is stated above, Russia faces major challenges to deal with the economic crisis and socio-economic problems. If Russia continues to be over-dependent on the energy sector for a few years to come, it may not be possible for it to recover from the deep recession and crisis it is facing.

Dr R.g. Gidadhubli is a Professor and the former Director, Centre for Central Eurasian Studies, University of Mumbai, Mumbai.

by Sanhita Mukherjee

Recently there was a frightening report in a mass circulated vernacular daily of Kolkata. The report indicated that the Ghoramara island of the Sundarbans, situated just three miles away from the Bay of Bengal, is now on its way to obliteration as the advancing river is certain to gobble it up in the near future. Only 3000 bighas of land now remain out of the 29,000 bighas which constituted the island previously.1

The report should raise consternation as in the event of the destruction of the Sundarbans, the existence of Kolkata will also be threatened. Already there are reports that the city of Kolkata is also sinking. It is unfortunate that the Sundarbans, which could have been a treasure for the country in the age of global warming, have in fact been devastated by the myopic policies followed by the governments at the Centre as well as in the State of West Bengal since independence.

Obviously all talk of conservation and protection of environment does not hold any meaning for the Sundarbans as reckless immigration, which had started during the time of the colonial British rulers, is still continuing. Ghoramara was in fact one of those first group of islands that had served as British outposts in the Sundarbans. Here was situated the Sundarbans' first post and telegraph office and police station.2 The location of the island—just on the confluence of the Bay of Bengal and the Hooghly river—establishes that by going so deep into the Sundarbans' pristine forest the British had set in motion the process of destruction.

But very few people in the corridors of power are taking note. As early as in 2007, the School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University (SOSJU) had noted that Ghoramara had shrank in size by 41 per cent since 1969.3 Their prediction that the reduced and famished stretch of land might no more last beyond 2020 now stares upon the faces of the two governments at Kolkata and New Delhi. But more threatening is the SOSJU's assessment that by 2022 a dozen more islands in the Sundarbans will go under the sea.4

But another figure given by the SOSJU is more revealing and point to the real reason behind the present horrific plight of the Sundarbans. As per the report, the existing 3 km by 3 km land in the Ghoramara island now supports some 5400 marginal farmers, fishermen and daily labourers.5 This refers to a large pattern now prevalent in various other islands of the Sundarbans—increasing density of population per square kilometre. But the delta is completely unsuitable for human habitation and should have been left alone. The following portions of the article will prove that this could not have been possible without either the governments' initiatives or apathy.

Has the Central Government or the Govern-ment of West Bengal chalked out any strategy to fight the coming environmental disaster? Apprehensions have been expressed in certain quarters that much of the city of Kolkata will be under water in the next 50 years and this means submergence of the Sundarbans first.6 Ghoramara, along with two other already submerged islands, namely, Lohachara and Suparibhanga, has given the forewarning.

It has been observed that the rate of warming of temperatures in the rivers, creeks and at the confluence of the sea in the Sundarbans is much more than the average rate of global warming—a rise of 0.5 degree Celsius in every 12 years. It has been estimated that from 1980 to 2016 there will be a 1.5 degree Celsius rise in the water regime of the Sundarbans.7

It is really inexplicable why successive governments in independent India did not put a stop to the process of bringing people from outside and then settling them in different islands of the Sundarbans, a practice first started by the colonial British administration to ensure supply of food and cereals for the burgeoning European population of Calcutta. The British had an insufficient knowledge of the local geology and geo-morphology. So they cleared dense forests and settled cultivators in a region which is not meant for human population. The British wanted to put the clock back and make the Sundarbans prosperous again.

However, since the end of the medieval period the lower Gangetic basin has slowly changed its alignment from the west to the east.8 Thus the local rivers, the lifelines of the region, had become mere brackish waters of the sea and their connections with the Ganges, which itself had lost much of its water supply to the Padma, were severed. From this time onwards the flora and fauna in that part of the Sundarbans, which now falls within the present-day Bangladesh, became healthier due to the increased supply of sweet waters.

Very soon not only West Bengal, but some other parts of India as well may face a peculiar phenomenon called ‘environmental refugees' as the Sundarbans are now experiencing intra-regional as well as inter-regional migrations. Already a good number of such people have settled in the fringe areas of Delhi and Mumbai. Kolkata too is experiencing a steady trickle of people from the Sundarbans. This may become a major social problem of West Bengal in the days to come.

The Sundarbans cover around 2.05 million hectates of area out of which the major portion lies within Bangladesh. The Indian portion—falling within the districts of 24-Parganas (South) and 24-Parganas (North), West Bengal—comprises 0.79 million hectares. This largest delta in the world consists, in its Indian portion, of 102 low lying swampy islands formed by the principal tributaries of the Ganges, their numerous water channels and backwater creeks from the Bay of Bengal. The Indian Sundarbans are spread over 19 blocks from the two 24-Parganas. Out of the above mentioned 102 islands, 54 are inhabited.

But successive governments in India have allowed more than 40 lakh people to settle in 54 islands while the land available for cultivation is only 7,41,944 acres, mostly mono-crop areas, as the land suffers from salinity due to proximity to the sea. Not much attempt has been made to make the land fit for multi-crop cultivation and a second crop has been possible in only about 10-15 per cent of the cultivable area.9

But the most alarming aspect is the fact that migrants are being allowed to set up their habitations quite close to the Bay of Bengal—in areas which are completely at the mercy of nature. The Ghoramara island is situated in such a location. An inevitable result has been destruction of pristine forests, particularly mangroves, which act as the first solid buffer against severe cyclonic storms from the Bay of Bengal. It is noteworthy in this connection that cyclonic storms in the city of Kolkata are gradually gaining in intensity. Moreover destruction of mangrove forests—either for setting up of squatters' colonies or for prawn farming—leads to continuous erosion of land thus facilitating the process of churning out hordes of ‘environmental refugees'.

Population analyses reveal that the villages in the core areas of the Sundarbans have greater area sizes, greater human numbers but lower densities.10 It means that large areas are being allowed to be gobbled up for setting up a single village resulting in more destruction of forests. This is a continuous process and is going on for decades. In 1895 the Sundarbans had 20,000 square kilometres of forest cover.11 But in 1947 this had dwindled to 10,000 square kilometres of which only 4264 square kilometres devolved to West Bengal.12

Time has already passed for ringing the alarm-bell. The danger is quite close at hand. Surface-level temperatures of the seas surrounding the Indian subcontinent are expected to rise by about 1.5 to 2 degree Celsius by the middle of this century and by about 2.5 to 3.5 degree Celsius at the end of it.13 This is quite a staggering figure. But the rate of rise is much more on the Sundarbans' shore.

Various studies are going on in regard to the rise in sea levels and its temperatures. Some have predicted even grimmer pictures. Mean-while there has been more than 234 per cent increase of population in the Sundarbans. This cannot be possible unless large-scale immigrations from Bangladesh and other areas of India have been allowed. It has been estimated that the total population of the Sundarbans may reach the frightening level of five million by 2020.14

Governments in the State and at the Centre have tried some cosmetic measures only. In 1973 the Government of India declared 2585 sq km of forests in the delta as a tiger reserve. Then again 9360 sq km of the Sundarbans area was declared a bio-sphere reserve in 1989. But as later developments prove, these steps are hopelessly inadequate to address the not-too-distant environmental catastrophe.

References

1. Ananda Bazar Patrika, January 10, 2016.

2. Maureen Nandini Mitra, ‘Vanishing Islands', Down to Earth, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, 2007, p. 26.

3. School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, quoted in Maureen Nandini Mitra, ‘Vanishing Islands', Down to Earth, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, 2007, p. 26.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. ‘Kolkata Under Sea in 50 Years', The Statesman, March 26, 2009.

7. Ananda Bazar Patrika, January 1, 2010.

8. Sukumar Singh, Sundarbaner Itikatha O Asarkari Unnayan Sanstha (in Bengali), Kolkata, 2001, p. 10.

9. Barun De, West Bengal District Gazetteers, 24-Parganas, Kolkata, 1994, p. 715.

10. Anuradha Banerjee, Environment, Population and Human Settlements of Sundarban Delta, New Delhi, 1998, p. 293.

11. Barun De, West Bengal District Gazetteers, 24-Parganas, Kolkata, 1994, p. 715.

12. Ibid.

13. Ritu Gupta, ‘Global Warming and Sea Level Rise', Down to Earth, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, 2007, p. 27.

14. Maureen Nandini Mitra, ‘Vanishing Islands', Down to Earth, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, 2007, pp 28, 29.

The author is an Associate Professor of History, Rishi Bankim Chandra College, Naihati, West Bengal.

From N.C.'s Writings

Robin Raphel came and went as was expected at the present state of Indo-US relations. The visit of a junior officer of the US State Department was played up by a section of the establishment as if this country has chosen to downgrade itself to the status of a nondescript Timbuctoo, where everything short of a red-carpet and a presidential guard of honour was provided for.

The manner in which she had hit the headlines in the last few months—questioning the very accession of Kashmir to the Indian Union, attacking Indian authorities for human rights violations in Kashmir, and finally equating it with the civil-war crisis in Afghanistan—would normally have got her brickbats more than bouquets. However, despite all this media-hype, Robin during her New Delhi rounds must have got an idea of the fall-out of her impertinent pronouncements from the entire spectrum of public opinion from the Union Home Minister right upto the corporate sector luminaries like Raunaq Singh, who minced no words in telling her off.

Robin Raphel on her part tried to be circumspect in New Delhi, avoiding what she called, “to get into history” over the Kashmir dispute, focussing not on how it started but how it can be ended, through negotiations and political process. One got the impression that her provocative statements on Kashmir in the past were as calculated as the sweet reasonableness in New Delhi—stoking the confrontation posture and then playing the conciliator.

There is no reason to get excited, one way or the other, over Robin Raphel's performance in Washington or New Delhi. More important for us is to understand the US strategy in handling the South Asian situation, particularly the Indo-Pakistan crisis. Officially the US position is that it is anxious to defuse the eye-ball-to-eyeball confrontation between the two neighbours as this might touch off a nuclear war. The reality is that the Pakistani military establishment enjoys strong backing from the Pentagon.

Those who held the view that with the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Pakistan's importance in the US strategic map has gone down, are mistaken since the USA needs a strategic foothold in the region to oversee the entire spectrum from Sinkiang in the east to Iran in the west with the newly emerging Central Asian republics with their rich mineral deposits and proximity to the sprawling giant of Russia which might again rise from its present torpor—the new Crescent of Crisis, as Olaf Caroe would have called it. Despite the fiasco in Afghanistan where the US operated through its trusted military junta in Pakistan, there is no question of the Pentagon or the State Department abandoning Islamabad. Benazir Bhutto has an effective lobby within the Democratic Party which enabled the silent US mediation to bring about a rapprochement between her and the military junta, so that she could provide the democratic facade of an elected government with the military bosses ruling the roost.

It is in this context that one has to examine the latest US move to supply F-16 aircraft to Pakistan. There is no question that Washington has to placate the military brass at Islamabad. In fact, the morale of this junta needs to be boosted particularly after its failure so far in its active proxy war against India by despatching armed secessionists into the Kashmir Valley. The F-16s are thus very much needed to signal Pentagon's unwavering support for Pakistan's military bosses. Senator Larry Pressler has also exposed how the additional imperative of placating the Lockheeds has led the Clinton Administration to arrange for the delivery of the F-16 aircraft to Pakistan.

To cover up this dirty deal and to provide a respectable alibi for violating the Pressler Amendment which debars aid to Pakistan because of its nuclear weapons drive, the State Department argument—which Robin Raphel repeated in New Delhi last week—is that this would enable the USA to persuade Islamabad to abandon its nuclear-weapons programme. How hollow this American plea is can be gauged from the fact that Pakistan's entire nuclear bomb project—Bhutto's Islamic bomb—has been conceived and worked out over the years with the government there all the time denying it altogether. Nobody in the wide world—not even the US Administration—can take seriously any commitment by the Pak establishment that it would cap its N-bomb programme in exchange for a fleet of F-16s.

More sinister is the further move that the Clinton Administration is going to make—most likely through Strobe Talbott during his visit to New Delhi next month—that since Pakistan has agreed to cap its N-bomb programme, India must do the same. The Indian position, reiterated over and over again, is that India cannot abandon its nuclear option so long as there is the potential threat from a whole range of countries from China, the Central Asian republics right upto Israel, apart from Pakistan. There could be no discriminatory imposition of nuclear weapons non-proliferation regime on India which, on its part, would readily give up the nuclear option the very day that is done by all the other nuclear powers, particularly those which fall within the range of potential attack on this country.

So, the turning down of the US proposal by India would be exploited by the US that Pakistan Government could not be disciplined on the nuclear question because India refused to respond to the US proposal. Thus the tables are likely to be neatly turned against India on the nuclear question. As for Kashmir, it appears that the US strategy now is to force third-party mediation—that is, either Washington staging its own Tashkent (that is, a revised version of Camp David) or the good offices of the UN Secretary-General for a new version of peace-keeping.

It is in this background that the question of the Prime Minister's visit to Washington has to be viewed. Since last year, this question has been hanging fire. Washington put off the question until it found that the Prime Minister has not only survived the ordeal of the mini-general election in December, but is now about to complete three years in office. At the New Delhi end, there is considerable eagerness on the part of a good section of the present establish-ment that Narasimha Rao should soon pay a visit to Washington and call on the chief executive of the only remaining superpower, particularly in the congenial environment created by India's economic reforms which has earned a lot of kudos in the US corporate sector. Particularly conspicuous in prodding for this Washington trip by the Prime Minister is a well-known business house whose high visibility could be detected among the politicos since the Bofors scandal came into view. The buzz word of this lobby is that the access to the White House is easier via the corporate sector than the normal diplomatic channel.

While in principle, a meeting between India's Prime Minister and the US President is unexpectionable—in fact a normal practice in normal circumstances—Narasimha Rao has to take into account its impact on the domestic front. With Washington sending F-16s to Pakistan, and planning to pressurise India to abandon the nuclear option, the Prime Minister's trip to Washington at this juncture can earn him only negative dividends in terms of the government's standing before the public of other country. Both these items would help the Opposition to beat the government with. In this words, what can Narasimha Rao get out of the projected trip to Washington apart from political devaluation at home?

An extremely cautious person that he is by nature, and seasoned to sense the public mood, this is indeed a difficult choice for Narasimha Rao.

(Mainstream, April 2, 1984)

DOCUMENT

We, the persons listed below, a group of retired civil servants belonging to different All India and Central Services, who have worked in the Government of India (GoI), State governments and a wide range of governmental and other institutions, would urge all constitutional institutions in India, the media and general public to reflect upon the deeply disquieting trends visible in the public sphere and in our polity today. These developments are causing deep anguish to us as they question some of the fundamental constitutional principles and legal safeguards we have long taken for granted. Some of these are mentioned below:

1) The discrimination against Scheduled Caste students and an attempt to clamp down upon Ambedkar study groups as found in IIT, Chennai, and in the University of Hyderabad. The tragic suicide of Rohith Vemula has highlighted the unwarranted interference of the GoI in the University of Hyderabad and its targeting a group of students, who did not subscribe to a narrow concept of nationalism.

2) There is a systematic attempt to silence dissent using the outmoded law of sedition against young idealists like Kanhaiya Kumar and his colleagues, who have given India a wake-up call to address poverty and all forms of exploitation.

3) Law and order agencies like the Delhi Police used doctored videos in a blatantly partisan manner against the JNU students while an MLA and certain lawyers—who were widely caught on camera beating up Kanhaiya and journalists—were treated with kid gloves. Even the team of senior lawyers nominated by the Supreme Court to monitor the situation reported the atmosphere of threat and intimidation.

4) The atmosphere of intolerance is growing what with the murder of the rationalists and the regular threats of violence against minorities and all who do not accept a very narrow version of ‘nationalism'. Such a concept of nationalism is itself grounded in a biased view of history. This intolerance is a direct attack upon the freedom of speech and expression and is anathema to the pluralism of the Indian Constitution.

5) A Minister in the Central Government, a ruling party MP and local leaders have recently issued terrifying threats against Muslims but the GoI does not find anything objectionable in the Minister's statements. Other minorities have also expressed their sense of insecurity.

What is listed above is only illustrative. We feel that all told, there is a clear and present danger to the values of the freedom of speech, thought and expression as also the pluralism and the secularism that are basic to the Indian Constitution. We add our voice to the multitude of dissents already expressed and call upon all right- thinking people to register their protest at the current goings-on.

At the same time, we would like to point out that we do not condone similar transgressions by other groups—particularly on the extreme Left—which try in like manner to silence opposing views by vicious attacks on social media and/or violence.

We urge a return to the civilised and civilisational discourse of the Constitution of India and a renewed public commitment to the freedom of speech, thought and expression.

Niranjan Pant

, IA and AS (R), former Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General, GoI;

E.A.S. Sarma,

IAS (R), former Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, GoI;

Ruchira Mukerjee,

Indian P and T Accounts and Finance Service (R), former Adviser (Finance), Telecom Commission, Department of Telecom, GoI;

Kalyani Chaudhuri,

IAS (R), former Additional Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal;

Keshav Desiraju,

IAS (R), former Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, GoI;

Amitabha Pande,

IAS (R), former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI;

Ardhendu Sen,

IAS (R), former Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal;

Pranab Mukhopadhyaya,

IAS (R), former Director, Institute of Port Management, GoI;

Surjit Das,

IAS (R), former Chief Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand;

Anup Mukerji,

IAS (R), former Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar;

Vibha Puri Das,

IAS (R), former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI;

S.S. Rizvi,

IAS (R), former Joint Secretary to the GoI;

Sundar Burra,

IAS (R), former Secretary, Government of Maharashtra;

Harish Chandra,

IAS (R), former Prinicipal Adviser in the rank of Secretary, Government of India (GoI);

Kamal Jaswal,

IAS (R), former Secretary, Ministry of Information Technology, GoI;

Meena Gupta,

IAS (R), former Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, GoI;

Hirak Ghosh,

IAS (R), former Principal Secretary, Government of West Bengal.

While reporting on the lack of proper implemen-tation of important government schemes and programmes for weaker sections, it is not always possible to find out whether this is due to administrative problems or corruption or overall shortage of Budget funds. However, whatever may be the role of the first two factors at various places, at least this much is clear that as long as adequate funds have not been provided for meeting basic needs and the related livelihood support, the weaker sections will not get the badly needed help and support. This is why it is so important to monitor carefully the allocations in the Union Budget and State budgets from the point of view of whether adequate allocations have been made for various schemes and programmes which are of special importance and relevance from the point of view of the weaker sections.

Of course the full picture regarding the availability of adequate funds for such programmes and schemes will be revealed only by a combined appraisal of Central and State allocations but keeping in view the importance of Central contributions for several of these programmes and schemes (even after the higher allocations to States on the basis of the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission) a significant indicator can nevertheless be obtained by examining the allocations made in the Union Budget.

While the Finance Minister took care to repeatedly confirm the commitment of his government to the needs of weaker sections, particularly farmers, while presenting the Union Budget for 2016-17, this expression is not backed by adequate allocations. What appears at first glance as a significant increase in the allocation for the Department for Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers' Welfare is in fact the result to a substantial extent of merely an accounting change as certain allocations earlier attributed to the Finance Ministry have not been listed under the Ministry of Agriculture. An apparent increase of as much as Rs 15,000 crores is related to just this accounting factor. When the impact of this accounting factor is removed then the increase in the allocation for the Department for Agriculture is found in relative terms to be quite a modest one.

Keeping in view the fact that as many as almost 300 districts are affected by drought conditions a very significant increase in the allocation for the NREGA was expected but actually there has been only a very marginal increase. No announcement has been made for any significant allocation for separate drought relief works either. What is shocking is that in a year of serious drought the budget for the National Rural Drinking Water Programme has remained at a relatively low level—the allocation in 2016-17 is Rs 5000 crores compared to the Revised Estimate for the previous year of Rs 4373 crores and the actual expenditure of Rs 9190 crores in 2014-15.

In various relevant programmes there may be a few increases here and there while there may be a few declines elsewhere, particularly in real terms after providing for the impact of inflation. All these taken together do not amount to any significant gains and relief to the poor.

Bharat Dogra is a free-lance journalist who has been involved with several social initiatives and movements.

The following is the latest article written by Kobad Ghandy, the noted Marxist-Masist thinker, now lodged in Tihar Jail 3. He sent it to Mainstream for publication. We are accordingly doing so for the benefit of our readers.

For all the hype of 7.5 per cent growth in this year's Economic Review (2015-16), the real situation of the economy is precarious. The rural economy is in dire straits, manufacturing is in the doldrums, banks are heading towards bankruptcy, the rupee is crashing, exports are contracting as never before and sky-rocketing inflation is eating into real wages.

Farm growth has plunged to one per cent. Industrial production (IIP) is either contracting or is stagnant. Banks have been getting huge infusions of government funds to prevent bankruptcy due to corporate defaults. The rupee crashed to a 28-month low. And exports in 2015 contracted by 18.5 per cent—the worst since 1952-53.

Now, what does this latest Budget do to pull the economy out of the mess? In the reportage on the day after the Budget, it appeared there was a radically new approach with focus on the farm and social sectors. The corporate world displayed its anguish with the stock-exchange crashing. But the reality soon came out: the very next day the stock-markets boomed, indicating the big-business' pleasure. Apparently media rhetoric, with five State elections due, was exactly the opposite from the reality.

In fact the Budget analysis has turned boring for two reasons. Firstly, with economic reforms, no matter which party is in power, they have a three-point formula. What varies is the mere emphasis in these three points. These are: huge sops to the super-rich; increasing tax burdens on the middle classes; and big cuts in subsidies/expenditure on the poor and social welfare. Secondly, the Budget never gives the real picture, but only estimates, as nowadays most departments spend much less than the budgeted figure, and even of what is spent a large amount is frittered away in corruption. Anyhow, it gives a direction to the economy.

This Budget strictly sticks to the three-point formula. So here instead of confining myself to a mere Budget analysis, I will try and put forth an alternative which could result in robust growth compared to the lethargy of the past two decades under economic reforms. But first let us take a look at this Budget.

Sugar-coated Bullets for Farmers and Social Sectors

The rural infrastructure is crumbling, tractor sales have slumped and farm incomes are shrinking. Yet the allocation to agriculture was actually raised by 30 per cent while it was portrayed in the Budget to have doubled. The Agriculutre Ministry's expenditure of Rs 45,000 crores was padded with a figure of Rs 15,000 crores interest subsidy which already existed with the Finance Ministry and was now transferred. And with the expenditure on rural development stagnating at 1.5 per cent of the GDP, the Budget did not address the serious issue of the farmers' plight, which has resulted in a record-breaking 10,000 farmers' suicides last year. And as for the PM's statement of doubling farm incomes by 2022, this was mocked at by the Marathwada farmers who have seen the spate of suicides continuing with nearly 200 in the first two months of this year. The Marath-wada farmers said: ”Yes, farm incomes will double as the present incomes are zero and double is zero.” In fact the Budget has sought to reduce farm incomes by increasing input costs by reducing the fertiliser subsidy by Rs 2000 crores and reducing output prices by cutting the food subsidy by a huge Rs 5000 crores.

Now if we turn to social welfare, both health and education are in a pathetic state. The outlay has been the same for the last two years at one per cent of the GDP for health and 0.7 per cent of the GDP for education.

India has one of the worst health conditions in the world. According to the government's own reports, 52 per cent of all households face severe malnutrition, and 6.5 crore people are pushed into poverty every year because of catastrophic expenses on healthcare. The booming corporate hospital business is an indication of the fortunes being minted from the people's life savings.

In spite of these horrifying conditions, the Budget cut expenditure on senior citizens by 50 per cent and for women and child welfare (ICDS) by Rs 1000 crores. Expenditure on the most deprived sections was Rs 1375 crores less. The only hike was a 150 per cent increase in the Swachh Bharat campaign which needs to focus on treatment of sewage to improve hygiene. At present 30,000 million litres of sewage a day flow into our rivers.

In spite of India being the most diseased country in the world, public expenditure on healthcare is the lowest. While India spends a mere one per cent of the GDP on healthcare, China spends 3.1 per cent and South Africa 4.3 per cent of the GDP. In fact developed countries, which have eradicated most infectious diseases and have a fraction of our diseases, spend seven to 10 per cent of the GDP on healthcare. Even though the US spends as much as 8.1 per cent of the GDP on healthcare, in the ongoing Democratic primaries raising social welfare is one of the main issues of Bernie Sanders. And even of this budgeted figure, in the last financial year by end-Spetember, only four per cent of the Budget amount had been spent.

If one turns to education, the situation is even worse with the government following the WTO dictates to cut funding/scholarships and towards privatisation. No wonder last year by end-September, only 34 per cent of the Budget was spent. Again India with high levels of illiteracy and semi-literacy should be spending the maxmum. Even here in this Capital city in Tihar, a big proportion of the inmates are illiterate. But then education is massive business if one sees the Vyapam scam which has claimed over 40 lives, the Kota suicides and numerous other mafias operating in the entrance, passing and certification processes. Besides, why spend on education, as those ill-equipped with the tools of thinking are best for manipulation in electoral politics?—so goes the present hysteria against JNU.

This low expenditure on healthcare and education was sought to be cut further—through the back door—by squeezing the State govern-ments' finances. Both these items are on the concurrent list, where a bulk of the expenditure is by the State governments. Central taxes have to be divided between the Centre and States as per the Finance Commission. In the last two years the government has shifted a huge 12 per cent of collections from taxes to cess/surcharge collection depriving the States of a massive Rs 2 lakh crores. As it is the States are short of funds and besides paying their employees, health and education are the major expenses.

Besides health and education, another major social welfare expense is to the SCs and STs—Dalits and tribals. According to the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub-Plan, drawn up in the late 1970s, the SCs and STs should be allocated from the Plan outlay amounts equal to their percentage in the population—that is, 16.6 per cent and 8.6 per cent respectively. In this Budget the shortfall was a gigantic Rs 74,000 crores. Instead of getting 25 per cent of the Plan outlay, it was a mere 11 per cent.

Finally, let us turn to the middle classes, who have lost at least Rs 25,000 crores and were likely to lose an additional equivalent amount if the Provident Fund Tax had not been withdrawn under trade union pressure. A sum of Rs 20,600 crores will be extracted through an increase of indirect taxes on a host of items including mobiles, laptops, garments, air travel etc., while Rs 5000 crores will come from an increase in service tax. The government hesi-tantly withdrew the EPF tax, but its intentions were clear: to rob even the savings of the middle classes while not touching (as we shall see) the illicit and vulgar earnings of the super-rich.

So, we see an already acutely impoverished nation has been pushed deeper and deeper into poverty and sickness resulting in deaths, debts and suicides all over the country. It is the veritable spider and fly story where the spider (the government) weaves its net (the Budget) wide to entrap the flies the maximum and suck their blood. Lakhs and lakhs will perish as a result and crores will be debilitated through sickness and disease.

But there is a small section who have gained enormously from this Budget—one could say the top five per cent, particularly the super-rich and Central Government employees. Now, let us turn to this aspect of the Budget.

Unbelievable Bonanza for the Super-Rich

While seeking every possible method to tax the poor and middle classes, the levels in sops to the super-rich in the Budget are probably exceeding the levels of tribute extracted by the British in colonial times. The budgets have found all sorts of schemes, overt and covert, to grant sops, subsidies, exemptions, write-offs etc. to these modern-day robber-barons. And like in the colonial times, a lot of funds are siphoned abroad through legal and illegal means like hawala, P-Notes, under-invoicing/over-invoicing etc. etc.—and by, most importantly, turning a blind eye to the huge black-money generation taking place. We will deal with the black money later. Let us first see the gifts to the super-rich in this Budget.

The biggest gift in each successive budget comes under the category “tax foregone” hidden in a small corner of the voluminous Economic Survey. The current year's figure is a mind-boggling Rs 6 lakh crores, an increase of seven per cent over the previous year. The size of this figure can be estimated from the fct that it amounts to 42 per cent of the total government revenue of Rs 15.6 lakh crores. These exemptions, mostly to the corporate sector, de facto reduce the official corporate tax rate from 30 per cent to 22 per cent; and some favourites like the Ambanis are said to have been paying roughly two per cent. At a time when the government claims it has no money for small subsidies for food and fertilisers for the starving poor farmers, why does it “forego” such a gigantic amount?

Another huge amount uncollected is the undisputed tax arrears of another gigantic Rs 5.6 lakh crores, 50 per cent by the corporates. Instead of heavily penalising these defaulters, this Budget encouraged them by reducing the penalty on these amounts by one-third. When the tax authorities harass the honest taxpayers, why do they turn a blind eye to such defaulters, the bulk of whom owe large sums?

Another huge fraud on the people of our country is the gigantic bad debts owed by the big corporates to the Public Sector Banks (PSBs). Arun Jaitley recently said in Parliament that the bad debts (euphamistically called non-performing assets) came to a huge Rs 3.6 lakh crores at end-February—this figure had increased by a massive 29 per cent or Rs 1 lakh crore in just nine months to December 31, 2015. In fact the Supreme Court ordered the RBI to give it the names of the biggest defaulters, who lead “lavish lifestyles” after The Indian Express disclosed that Rs 1.14 lakh crores of bad debts had been written-off by the PSBs between FY 2013 and FY 2015. The sum of Rs 3.6 lakh crores is obviously what remains after these write-offs, and can be presumed will also be written off. The Vijay Mallya episode, where he is allowed to flee the country though he owes Rs 9000 crores to the PSBs, is only the tip of the iceberg. It is the Bank-Politician-Corporate nexus which is allowing such loot of the country with each getting a share of the spoils. With such an approach to these looters, already the banks are predicting that bad debts will further double to Rs 7.1 lakh crores by March 2017. If a middle-class person does not pay her/his car loan instalment in time the banks are known to forcibly seize her/his car, but the luxury yachts, palaces etc. of the super-rich are untouched. [A recent example was the arrest of 75-year-old retired Wing Commander C.K. Sharma (the OROP leader) for supposedly siphoning off a mere Rs 14 lakhs—that too on an unproven private complaint and not any official organi-sation.] On the contrary these loans are classified as ‘bad' and the debt written off, resulting in huge losses to the banks. These huge losses are made good by massive infusion of government funds euphamestically called ‘recapitalisation'—a massive Rs 25,000 crores gifted last year and another Rs 25,000 crores in this year's Budget. And the bank-bosses, instead of seizing the assets of these tycoons, were begging for more from the government. The employees of Kingfisher Airlines, who have not been paid their Rs 100 crore dues by Mallya, put it succinctly: “We knew a little about the rotten system of our country but thanks to people like you, the real scenario of our country is so helpless that it evokes nothing less than suicidal tendencies in the common man who regularly and sincerely pays tax with pride only to be looted by people like you in collusion with politicians/banks who are custodians of our hard-earned money.”

Of the above three items if we even consider a conservative 50 per cent of the latter two items, a phenomenal Rs 10 lakh crores was de facto gifted to the super-rich in the Budget. And this is merely considering three items in the Budget, ignoring the numerous other minor concessions given, like the big tax relief to the builders' lobby, reduction in direct taxes etc. But even all these pale into insignificance if one considers the gigantic sums lost to the country through black-money generation, the benefits of which go chiefly to the super-rich, politicians and officials and their hangers' on—barely one per cent of India's population. Here I am not including those who may avoid paying some tax as they feel the government anyhow is wasting their money through corrupt practices, wasteful expenditure and luxurious living.

The Black Bomb and the Total Tribute

According to a report presented by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) to the then Finance Minister in 2013, the black money generated every year amounts 75 per cent of the GDP. This means a gigantic Rs 120 lakh crores (roughly) of black money is generated year-in and year-out. While the BJP came to power promising action on this, they have done little. And in this Budget, instead of seeking confiscation of this vast wealth, they offer an amnesty, knowing full well all earlier amnesty schemes have failed miserably. If the government was able to get even half this sum and tax it at an average of 25 per cent, that would rake in a gigantic revenue of Rs 15 lakh crores yearly. This would mean that the total tax revenue of the government would double—giving sufficient funds to wipe out the fiscal deficit, reduce borrowings and significantly raise expenditures on agriculture/rural development, manufac-turing, health and education—the four prime focus areas for the development of our country. This huge sum is a veritable black bomb exploding on our people, taking the lives of thousands, nay lakhs, of our people, sucking their blood.

But if one considers the total revenue lost to the super-rich and their hangers' on every year, the figure would in addition include the earlier Rs 10 lakh crores, giving a grand total of Rs 25 lakh crores. In other words, nearly one-fifth of our entire GDP is being frittered away into individual pockets instead of being used for the country's development.

In colonial times the British would heavily tax our people and drain that wealth for the development of England destroying the Indian economy and people, impoverishing the entire nation. The salt tax, for example, was a symbol of this loot, extracted from every individual (even the poorest must buy salt), which the freedom fighters fought against. Today, this Rs 25 lakh crores is no less than what the British extracted, but instead of going to Britain, it goes into the coffers of individuals and foreign investors. Instead of one British Empire you get numerous mini-empires of the Ambanis, Tatas, Adanis, Mallyas etc. etc. The effect is the same—the country and its people are pushed backward.

And when one needs to keep such a vast impoverished mass in control, mere religious rhetoric will not do: it needs a steel frame backing the government and controlling the people. This is the Central Government employees that got the biggest wage increase ever. The government had little money for the impoverished farmers but it gave a massive bonus to those employees who are already very well-off.

Pampering the Steel Frame

In this Budget the 35 lakh Central Government employees distributed into 56 departments (including railways but excluding defence) have been given a massive rise in both wages and allowances of Rs 65,300 crores. Of this, the allowances are much larger giving the employees the advantage of these being not taxable. Now the total wage bill for the 35 lakh families will be a massive Rs 1.8 lakh crores, a figure nearly equal to all the subsidies for 80 crores of the population. Over-and-above this sum, a large section of these employees mint fortunes through corruption. Any individual who has to deal with any of these departments knows the level of harassment and humiliation she/he has to face to get even a minor work done!

It is this steel frame together with those at the State Government levels, who act as the main bulwark not only of promoting the views of the government but also defending it in every way.

Now, before presenting an alternative economic policy let us take a brief look at the taxation system, which is heavily loaded against the poor and middle classes.

The Taxation Policy

There are two forms of tax: direct taxes and indirect taxes. The former is on individuals and companies, the latter on commodities and services. The first taxes the rich and middle classes, the second extracts the maximum from the masses.

India, with extremes of the poor and rich, should have Iarger direct taxes and lower indirect taxes. Secondly, taxes should be relatively high in a backward country to be able to fill the development gap. Here too it is just the opposite: India has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios in the world—this would be quite obvious given the vast scale of the black economy.

India's tax-to-GDP ratio is a mere 16.7 per cent, compared to China's 19.4 per cent, the US' 25.4 per cent, Brazil's 34 per cent, Russia's 35 per cent and France's 45 per cent. Not only is the ratio the lowest, but India's GDP too is exceedingly low—one-fifth of China's.

Now, if we turn to direct taxes, we find that India has one of the lowest in the world here as well. The highest slab on the individual tax in India is 34.6 per cent, compared to China's 45 per cent, the US' 40-56 per cent, the UK's 45 per cent. So also the corporate tax in India is 30 per cent (de facto 22 per cent), compared to China's 25 per cent, and the US' 35 to 47 per cent.

In the Economic Survey, even after the low budgeted figures in 2015-16, there was a gigantic shortfall of Rs 45,000 crores of direct tax collection, but a huge excess of indirect tax of Rs 55,000 crores over the Budget estimates. The Union Budget 2016-17 continues the trend of proposing to mobilise additional revenue worth Rs 20,670 crores through indirect taxes, while foregoing Rs 1060 crores in direct taxes due to reduction in corporate tax.

It has been argued that by reducing the high tax levels black income will come down. It has been proved that there is no such co-relation, in fact it has gone up as there is no end to the greed of those in the upper echelons. No real development and growth is possible with such a skewed taxation policy. And over-and-above this the huge black economy, that is not touched by tax, drives the final hail into the coffin of development.

Now let us see what could be done to work out a true development model instead of mere talk of ‘development'.

Path to a Robust Economy

First some facts that need to be considered and kept in mind while chalking out a plan.

A major factor while planning our economy is to get a clear picture of the state of the world economy and its impact on India. The second aspect to understand is the internal dynamics of the Indian economy and how this retards real growth and development.

So let us look at these two points first—from which an alternative would logically follow.

First, the global economy is in its seventh year of sluggish recovery. If we keep in mind that in the last 50 years a global recession has on an average hit every eighth year and that since last year the basic indicators are all down, one can expect a recession anytime. In fact recessionary conditions have already hit the Indian economy—drastic drop in exports; crash in commodity prices (except oil) like steel, agricultural products etc.; falling currency levels etc. Also with a relaxation in quantitative easing and a rise in interest rates in the US, dollars are fleeing the emerging markets including India. In such a scenario it would be foolish to be dependent on foreign investments and markets, but more sensible to rely on our own internal strengths.

Now if we turn to the second point, there are three aspects to observe.

First, though we are a population of 130 crores, barely 10 crores would be drawn into the market for commodities. And this figure keeps declining due to the above budgetary policies as also labour policies and expenditures on diseases. The rest of the masses' major income would go on food, basic necessities and medicines. So, as only a small section is drawn into the economy, we find we are still a $ 2 trillion economy while China, with a similar population, is five times ours. Though both came on their own about the same time, China has reached a level of development equalling the West, but India continues to be a backward country like the ones in Africa.

Secondly, even of this population, due to stagnation of agriculture and industry, employ-ment opportunities are few, and even of the limited jobs available, the bulk are contractual giving poor incomes. As a result the major purchasing power mainly lies with the creamy layer of the population. The huge amounts of black money too lie with this section. That is why it is mainly the luxury market (and health sector) which is booming.

Thirdly, today, in the structure of the economy, a major factor in market expansion is not through wages but through wealth creation—like rise in property prices, gold prices, stock exchange etc.—and the black market economy. So, the focus becomes creating wealth through speculation and services and not through asset creation. This leaves an economy hollow, particularly a backward one.

Now let us turn to a possible solution.

A major aspect of this change would entail turning our vast population from being a liability to being an asset. By focussing on the development of agriculture and industry, incomes of farmers and labourers can rise subs-tantially and we can turn the country from being a service/speculative economy into an asset-creating economy. From being a hollow country, we can become a strong country with real development. This is particularly important at a time when the world economy is heading for a deep recession, even worse than the 2008-09 one. To continue depending on foreign invest-ments and markets, at such times, will be suicidal.

But such a change will not come on its own, it would require an entire re-orientation of the economy and budgeting. The primary step must be to divert the huge tribute to the super-rich back to our country and people. As, for 200 years of sucking our hinterland dry it would require substantial investment to put it on its feet again. This would primarily entail putting an end to the gigantic Rs 25 lakhs tribute to the super-rich and their hangers' on, and investing that in productive assets and in healthcare and education. By productive assets one means not only manufacturing, but in soil, rivers, lakes, forests, coasts, environment etc. etc. If this was done, overnight India could turn from a backward country into a rich one.

Meanwhile the RBI has put out the latest data of industrial production for January 2016: the manufactuing sector contracted for the third successive month—by 1.5 per cent; the capital goods sector shrunk by 20.4 per cent and that of consumer non-durables by 3.1 per cent. It is time for the policy-makers to wake up to the terminal decline that our economy is heading to. Merely padding up the GDP growth figures, like the Greeks did, will not change the reality. The Greek economy crashed, there was a run on the banks. And their currency crumbled, they had to mortgage themselves to the EU.

(March 13, 2016)

To,

Mr Prasanna Raghav,

AVP Strategy & Execution,

Zee Media Corporation Ltd.

Essel Studio,

FC-19, Sector 16-A,

Noida - 201301,

India.

Complaint against telecast by Zee News channel of programme titled “Afzal Premi Gang ka Mushaira” from 9-3-2016 onwards

Dear Sir,

We, the undersigned, hold a place of eminence in different fields of art and culture in the country. We are writing to lodge our complaint regarding an intentional, grave and repeated breach of the News Broadcasters Association's Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards, by a programme, titled “Afzal Premi Gang ka Mushaira”, aired on March 9, 2016 and many times thereafter in different versions by the Zee News channel.

On watching the aforesaid programme on Zee News channel on March 9, 2015 (hereinafter referred to as Zee News Programme) we are deeply aggrieved, as it contains reportage and commentary that is not only false, motivated, defamatory, derogatory but also incendiary and telecast with a view to incite hatred, ill-will against Prof Gauhar Raza and cause public disorder. The Zee News Programmes were framed in an aggressive, intimidating, and browbeating style, and was telecast with commentary and taglines labelling Prof Raza as ‘anti-national'. The links to some of the aforesaid programmes are given below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5 R4 is4PP3Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7 uVq1l33to

https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=KVJQifqNemk

Prof Gauhar Raza is a scientist of repute and a renowned poet. He is held in high esteem by us and others in society. Prof Raza commands a great degree of respect for his professional work, and his artistic and social contributions to society.

The Zee News Programme, “Afzal Premi Gang ka Mushaira”, telecast selective portions of certain poems recited by Prof Gauhar Raza on March 5, 2016 at the 51st Annual Shankar Shad Mushaira event held at New Delhi. The mushaira is an annual event held with the objective of promoting poetry and was initiated in 1954.

Three poems were recited by Prof Raza at the said event. One was written in 1989 about the murder of street theatre and cultural activist Safdar Hashmi; another was written in 2010 about the killing of two journalists in Iraq; and the third is written in 2016.

Using video clippings of the recitation of these poems by Prof. Raza at the aforesaid function, Zee News prepared programmes which have been repeatedly telecast since March 9, 2016, including on March 10, 11, 12, 2016. Zee News telecast these programmes with the misleading and incendiary “Afzal Premi Gang ka Mushaira”.

In the Zee News Programme, Prof Raza's recitation of his poems recorded at the Shankar Shad Mushaira is interspersed with video clips allegedly of slogans raised at JNU on February 9, 2016 and visuals of posters of Afzal Guru and Kashmir. It must be mentioned here that the video clips which the Zee News anchor has claimed are of slogan-shouting at JNU, have already been shown to be doctored through forensic analysis pursuant to an enquiry initiated by the Delhi Government. Your channel, Zee News, has however been intentionally and wilfully broad-casting these doctored videos, without exercising the due diligence and caution that you have a duty and responsibility to exercise. In the said Zee News Programmes the anchor, the commentary and the subtitles repeatedly refer to Prof Raza as a member of the “Afzal Guru Premi Gang” and “Desh Virodhi Shayar”. Further, the Zee News Programme says that Prof Gauhar Raza is part of a gang that is standing with those who support the break-up of India into many parts, “Yeh aisa gang hai jo Bharat ke tukde karne wali soch ke saath khada dikh raha hai.” These and similar highly inflammatory, derogatory, completely unfounded and baseless statements are made throughout the Zee News Programmes.

Violations

The Zee News Programme reporting is in gross violation of law, ethics and more particularly guidelines and standards laid down by the National Broadcasters Association, which Zee News as a member is obliged to respect and follow.

The Zee News Programme violates the principles of impartiality, objectivity and neutrality, prescribed by the News Broadcasters Association's Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards. The Zee News Programme has cast serious allegations on the character and integrity of Prof Gauhar Raza and caused harm to his personal and professional reputation. The Programme is intended to lower his moral and intellectual character in our estimation and others in society. The Zee News Programme has manipulated and distorted facts and circum-stances and indulged in malicious propaganda to incite hatred against Prof Raza, and project him as disgraceful and loathsome to the viewers. Through the multiple telecast of this Zee News Programme, branding Prof Raza as an “anti-national” poet in an extremely surcharged atmosphere in our society, has placed his personal security at risk and jeopardised his professional work. This is evident from the hateful, intimidating, threatening and abusive messages and comments that have been directed at Prof Raza through the social media and e-mail, pursuant to the telecast of the Zee News Programme.

The News Broadcasters Association has laid down that

1. Professional electronic journalists should accept and understand that they operate as trustees of public and should, therefore, make it their mission to seek the truth and to report it fairly with integrity and independence. Professional journalists should stand fully accountable for their actions. (Section 1, Fundamental Principles, Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards, NBA.)

The Programme aired by Zee News has displayed a blatant disregard for both professional integrity and truth. The commentary by the Zee News anchor distorts and manipulates Prof Raza's poetry to give it a different imputation and colour, with the intent to malign him and incite hatred, violence and ill-will against him.

The NBA has prescribed that neutrality is a fundamental principle of electronic journalism,

4. Broadcasters shall, in particular, ensure that they do not select news for the purpose of either promoting or hindering either side of any controversial public issue. News shall not be selected or designed to promote any particular belief, opinion or desires of any interest group.

5. The fundamental purpose of dissemination of news in a democracy is to educate and inform the people of the happenings in the country, so that the people of the country understand significant events and form their own conclusions. (Section 1, Fundamental Principles, Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards, NBA)

The principles for self-regulation laid down by the NBA place further emphasis on impartiality, objectivity and accuracy in reporting:

1) Impartiality and objectivity in reporting: Accuracy is at the heart of the news television business. (Section 2, Principles for Self-Regulation, Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards, NBA)

The NBA standards specifically direct News channels that,

...news channels must strive to ensure that allegations are not portrayed as fact and charges are not conveyed as an act of guilt. (Section 2, Principles for Self-Regulation, Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards, NBA)

The Zee News Programme falls foul of the above mentioned binding standards of self-regulation. The Zee News Programme is highly defamatory and repeatedly pronounces Prof Raza guilty based on its prejudiced and baseless conclusion. It is claimed by Zee News on its website that its programme is viewed by millions across the globe. The harm caused by the Zee News Programme is therefore very serious and substantive.

It is indeed unfortunate, that the Zee News Programme has systematically undermined the very purpose for which the NBA has prescribed ‘Principles for Self-regulation',

The purpose of putting together the principles of self regulation is to avoid compromising the genre of television news by broadcasting content that is

malicious, biased, regressive, knowingly inaccurate, hurtful, misleading,

or aimed at willfully concealing a conflict of interest. (Section 2, Principles for Self-Regulation, Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards, NBA)

The NBA rightly states that the media including electronic media plays a crucial role in ensuring a healthy democracy. The aforesaid programme aired by Zee News is however a shameful blot on India's high tradition of an independent and impartial media that promotes interplay between diverse and plural views, and encourages informed debate.

As socially responsible citizens, we are deeply invested in and concerned about upholding the Fundamental Principles and values enshrined in the Indian Constitution. We therefore reiterate that the baseless and politically motivated vilification and targeting of poet Prof Raza, is part of a pattern manifest in Zee News' reporting against artists, thinkers and public intellectuals who express diverse and plural opinions or points of view, which Zee News channel takes upon itself to label as ‘anti-national'.

Therefore, as concerned citizens, we request you to take the necessary, prompt action to:

• Issue a Corrigendum with respect to Prof Gauhar Raza, which is telecast prominently at the same timings as the aforesaid programme was telecast, and as many times as the aforesaid programme was telecast from 9.3.2016 onwards by Zee News.

• Issue a public apology for telecasting inaccurate information and malicious propaganda against Prof Gauhar Raza prominently on your channel.

• Give an undertaking that Zee News shall not telecast the aforesaid programme.

• Pay a compensation of Rs 1 crore to Prof Gauhar Raza as damages, for the intentional harm caused to his reputation and the incitement of hatred against him, by the multiple telecasts of the aforesaid programme.

We request you to take the aforesaid actions immediately, failing which we will bring the matter to the attention of the News Broadcasters Association.

Yours sincerely,

Ashok Vajpeyi, Poet; Ms Shubha Mudgal, Singer; Ms Sharmila Tagore, Actor;Naseeruddin Shah, Actor; Ms Syeda Hameed, Writer

March 5, 2016