Nitish ka 'Bhi haar'‏

It is often said - 'in the game of the fool, it is tragedy for the poor'.  Bihar has come to be that.  Governance in Bihar has become a game of the fool, alternating between Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar, with its people remaining poor and denied of any reasonably good livelihood. This resource rich state has been run as if an underworld enterprise is run by mafia lords.  Even in the election propaganda, their main issue was each other.   In fact, the JDU and RJD have held Bihar like their own inherited fiefdom.  The State that once was the seat of our ancient civilization has been reduced to an under-developed backyard of the nation, lorded by an insensitive and arrogant Chief Minister.

Nitish Kumar's arrogance did not end at lording his State to misery.  He often day dreamt of becoming India's Prime Minister.  Without a shred of ideology, he hobnobbed with Mulayam Singh , Mamta Banerjee and the likes, exhibiting an opportunistic political behavior and calculating his chances of occupying South Block.  He befriended Pakistan in order to appease the Muslims of the State.  He failed to address the Naxal threat or understand the needs for holistic development.  Carrying forward the legacy of RJD, he kept Bihar as one of our most backward States and denied it the benefits of 21st century India.

In spite of all the foolishness he exhibited, he might have been among the first people in India to recognize that Mr. Modi could surely become the Prime Minister.  I think that was the reason why he so violently protested when Mr. Modi's name was announced by the BJP as its Prime Ministerial candidate.  Then he made his worst political mistake of severing ties of JDU with BJP, mainly because his own ambition of becoming the PM would not be supported by the NDA as BJP had already announced their choice for the PM.  He over-estimated himself and grossly under-estimated Mr. Modi.

And now that Mr. Modi has swept the nation with his wave of patriotism and developmental vision, Nitish Kumar slid down the hill of despondency and resigned.  His resignation does not come in the background of any ideology or in acknowledgment of his inability to change the fate of Bihar.  It comes from his personal disappointment that Mr. Modi would now be the PM and from his personal embarrassment of not being able to face Mr. Modi in Delhi.

Good riddance.  Bihar is liberated now from the likes of Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav.  Bihar too can now share the delight of joining Indian resurgence and hope to elect a development oriented Party and Chief Minister in the next election for the State Assembly.  A beginning has already been made by wading into the Modi wave and kicking out an opportunistic Chief Minister.

VK Saxena
NCCL
Ahmedabad

Shameless Mulayam: Rape of civility

When you thought that civility is returning to public space at last after the nationwide protests against the fatal Delhi rape and the brutal Mumbai rape, here comes the most 'Shameless' statement of all.  A visibly senile, politically beguile and intellectually infertile Mulayam Singh Yadav of Samajvadi Party, now says - boys can make mistakes, suggesting that bestial rapists are just boys and the destruction of women's honour can easily be understated as mistake.  So, he nursed this obnoxious judgment all along in his mind and came out with it at a time when India is looking for change, a higher order of livelihood and an ascent on the ladder of civilization.  How could he say that?  And how could he nurse such thoughts?  And how could he be still a leader in our public lives?  Is this the so called 'Samajvad' that he professes?  

My mind goes back to 'Ramnagar Tiraha' incident of 1994 in Muzaffarnagar district, when Uttrakhand movement was at its zenith and the same Mulayam Singh was UP's Chief Minister.  The Uttrakhand activists were going to Delhi peacefully and in the middle of the night, Mulayam ordered the police to beat up young men, fire and kill the activists and rape women that were young or old.  From what he is saying today, all that happened in 1994 was just a small mistake.

In October 2013, Mulayam's boy Azam Khan unleashed his wrath in Muaffarnagar that resulted in a spate of mindless killing and rape.  Mulayam Singh did not even go the place till day before yesterday as he found it all just a mistake by his boys.  And at the help of affairs in UP is his own little boy, and some small mistakes of taking a few lives or raping a few women are not even noticeable by Mulayam.

Mulayam has exposed his grossly misogynistic male chauvinist mentality.  All those Heads of Khap Panchayats in Western UP and Haryana will now yell, 'didn't we always tell you that rape is just a mischief?  Didn't we tell you that it is always a woman's fault that she provokes men?  Didn't we also tell you that all women are liers and complain of rape just to teach men a lesson?'.  In one shot, Mulayam has brought back to life an era of jungle justice, turning all those beasts of men against women, with the large canopy of shameful protection he has given to the 'boys' of the world.

This speech is provocative, racist, sexist and a potential disruptor of public peace and social justice.  However high he stands on the political pyramid, Mulayam must be made to pay for this.  

This is a test of strength of Indian society.  Voting him out into an obscure political corner is the need in this election.

V K SAXENA
PRESIDENT
National Council for Civil Liberties

Ahmedabad

The Prime Precedence of Presidency

Some call it the political master stroke!

Let me examine.

The Congress, by which I mean its reigning queen, decided to field Pranab da and Ansari for the presidential race.  Pranab da - as a fixed deposit of self interest in Delhi for the Congress since they fear losing the next elections and Ansari  as the good old boring equation of appeasing some section of the electorate.  Then, the M&M kingmakers (Read Mamta and Mulayam not Mahindra and Mahindra) turn around and say that they would not support them, but propose the name of the serving Prime Minister of the nation.

For one, the M&M would not second Pranab da.  He is a master manipulator with die hard loyalty to Congress and may protect the interest of Congress in a subtle manner from the Rashtrapati Bhavan even when Congress is not in power at the centre, a reality that could dawn on us soon.  As such, he is the best bet for Congress but an unseemly horse for the pushers of the chariot of power.  

But why do M&M propose the name of the sitting Prime Minister?  Oops! Did I say 'sitting'?  I guess there is difference between 'serving' and 'sitting'.  In the present case, you don't need to be extra careful in deciphering the meanings.  Congress has followed an ancient tradition of asking an elderly man to sit.  That's fine with them - he is an apolitical person, maintains dignity of elephantine silence, does not have an ambition to promote his kins in politics, could be asked to vacate when the heir apparent of the Party decides to take the position, does not object to his colleagues taking orders from a naturalized alien and neither provokes anyone nor gets provoked by any amount of taunt or pinch.  It is impossible ever to find a person of impeccable academic record and integrity in public life of his standing to sit on the throne and not be anxious about money, power, politics, self respect and governance.  He is the most valuable but unambitious political asset a democratic party could ever get in its process of safeguarding the throne for a king in waiting.  

So, did M&M send a 'not so subtle' message that a sitting Prime Minister should be placated of his position when they proposed his name for the Presidency?  This leads to many interpretations:

1. The proposal recognizes that the sitting Prime Minister is ineffective and incapable as the executive head of the Government.  And as allies to the Government, M&M are not confident that they will gain value in electoral politics with such a man as the current Prime Minister in the high office.  
2. He can be taken for granted.  He need not be consulted nor taken into confidence before a proposal on his political fate and personal status is decided by his political colleagues.  The point that he has not reacted till now and that it is the Party which has rejected the proposal clearly shows that he neither has an opinion nor need to be consulted on matters concerning the highest offices of the land.  
3. For sure, the proposal will stir up the hornet's nest within the Congress Party and a struggle for power would ensue.  Now that it is acknowledge that the Prime Minister is ineffective, the internal debate in Congress will begin precipitating on his replacement.  Instability within the Party is the last thing that the reigning queen of the Party wants at the moment. And for sure, Congress will never be able to get someone who could sit so pretty in the Prime seat of South Block. 
4. Believe it or not, this move clearly means that the position of the Indian Presidency is that of a lame duck and only people on retirement are sent to occupy the Presidential seat.  If you want to placate a lame duck Prime Minister and crown him as the President, it is a loud acknowledgement that nothing is expected from the  Presidency of India.  

Well, M&M have shown their political mastery.  But at the same time, they have denigrated, dishonoured and deprived dignity of the offices of the Prime Minister and the President of India.  It is downright irresponsible.  But perhaps it is an irresistible mischief in the present scenario where both Mamata Banerjee and Mulayam Singh Yadav may have an eye on the seat of Prime Ministership of India.

V.K.Saxena

President 

National Council For Civil Liberties

Ahmedabad.

www.ncclindia.org