Jarwas Controversy: AND-AM-AN admirer

My heart bleeds: AND AM AN admirer

Scene 1: I went to Andaman Islands with my wife and under the clearest of skies ever known to me and the before the prettiest of beaches ever known to my eyes, I forgot the hustle bustle of mainland India and transported myself to a state of bliss.  I drove through forests that wriggle down strands of light through the thick canopy and felt blessed.  While travelling to Barataang Island from Port Blair in a convoy on 6th January 2012 to see unique limestone caves, I saw the Jarawa families cross the road that wind through thickets.  That was a glimpse of life lived in harmony with nature - pristine, unspoilt, innocent and true to their traditions that are centuries old. Before start of convoy we were strictly told on loudspeakers by the police not to feed Jarwas or even stop or slow down the vehicles if they come on road.  

Scene 2: I sat cozily before the Television yesterday and watched Times Now.  Jarawas were made to dance to the dictats of a policeman/forester to entertain tourists who apparently bribed him.  The same shocking video appeared on the website of the British Newspaper Guardian.  It was portrayed in vulgarity.  A panelist spoke about voyeurism that propels Andaman tourism.  It brought Jarawas close to the half clad dancers of a B grade movie shot in the red light districts of our slums. 

Now,

What a shame to the abysmal levels of journalism that knowingly or unknowingly has destroyed the fiber of innocence that binds this legendary tribe!  The Andaman administration, anthropologists, social workers and local communities have been working for years to gradually bring this aboriginal society to the main stream of national life.  They have been collectively trying to educate, uplift, emancipate and rehabilitate this small group of natives who have unfortunately been left behind by the train of civilization.  It has been a challenge to bring them into mainstream life while restoring and respecting their deep traditional values, cultural traits and customs. The Andaman administration deserves wholehearted appreciation

I am pained that a few unscrupulous elements of society like  some individuals of public, some tourists and some tourist operators have been hand in glove on this mindless messacre of cultural identity by portraying the natives in a bad spirit that satisfies voyeurs.  And repeatedly showing it on national television, putting on websites and holding insensitive discussions are no contribution to the society.

This is a crime against humanity.  Those responsible for this utter impropriety should be identified, brought to books and punished.   How could a journalist record a video with such impunity and unprofessional intention by paying 200 pounds? It is definitely an immoral act on the part of this foreign journalist and deserves exemplary punishment.   And each one of those should be identified and punished in order to send signals to the society that the civilization intends to provide equal opportunities to all those who are part of its heritage.

Jarawas are not articulate about their rights and traits in a modern society.  They are silent in the cacophony portrayed by the assassins of ancient cultures.  They are unaware of the deviant thoughts and actions that crowd the margins of a civilized society. They need our voice, our protection and our love, if justice that they don't demand but deserve - is to be bestowed on them. 

After visiting Andaman Islands, I feel that in few years this place can give a  tough competition to the neighboring Island countries and  it was a calculated attempt by a  foreign journalist to paint Andaman in bad taste so that neighboring Island countries are benefited.

V K Saxena 

President

 National Council for Civil Liberties 

Ahmedabad - 380 009 

web: www.ncclindia.org

e-mail: nccl27@hotmail.com

BLOG: vksaxena-nationfirst.blogspot.com

Anti- Kudankulam agitation -The lynch mob democracy‏

After committing over Rs 14,000 crores in investment to contribute over 9 Gigawatts of power to the national grid, the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is in the limbo because a small minority of people perceive it to be unsafe against immense arrangements made for its safety.  Science, technology, polity, social justice and distribution of resources to rightful populace is all a package that does not now weigh up to even half of the weight of an odd number of people's perception.   The media, NGOs and social activists have directly or implicitly supported the 'perception' lobby through their activities or expressed views.  Reason has been slaughtered by surmises.  National plans are being massacred by irrational conspiracies.  It is an understatement to say that our future is at stake.

Let us widen this debate a little farther.

If we are to build a dam to distribute water to arid lands, irrigate drought-prone regions, provide drinking water to parched throats - the 'perception' lobby springs up a line of impediments.  Sardar Sarovar Project is a glaring example where thousands of crores of rupees of project escalation was one impact while the fear psychosis created by the anti-development mafia was a higher impact.  If we are to build some excellent road infrastructure, the 'perception' lobby raises the bogey of land acquisition and diverts national attention.  We can find examples for this in every state in the country.  If we are to put up nuclear power station, thermal power station, an assembly line to produce cars or any large project that could take forward the nation, it is certain that some lobby raises its cobra head and lunges forward to sting.  Media picks up the thread as negativism is always sensational.  The NGOs pick up the matter as most of them have assumed the position of 'principal opposition' to governance.  Both the proposition of law and opposition to policies have now become street activities and the Parliament or mechanisms of governance have become redundant, toothless and irrelevant.  Added to this is the senility of Government - both in age, actions and inactions.

It is a paradox that India has begun to use democracy to destroy itself.  Right to Information is misused, right to protest is misused, right to report is misused, right to govern is misused and the power invested in different institutions of democratic governance, whether they are governmental or non-governmental - are all misused, subverted and ridiculously applied.  As a result, the country has come to standstill.  Progress has been pared.  Future has been compromised.

We cannot continue like this forever.  It is a paradox that we are the third largest economy in the world but our infrastructure quality has been rated to be lower to that of Ivory Coast.  We need some sense of purpose in national life to build a common future.  And the lynching mob needs to be rightly guided and governed.  Otherwise, the status of 'most favoured nation' bestowed on us by Pakistan will come to mean that they like us because we are on the same slope of collapse like them and holding hands with them makes sense.  

V K Saxena 

President

 National Council for Civil Liberties 

Earthquake in Sikkim :The PHOENIX opportunities of life

 The Phoenix. What a spectacular life-form this bird example is!.  It lives for a thousand years and then the cruel act of fate burns it, its nest and every trace that it ever lived.  And then from those ashes of depredation - a new life form is born to flourish for another thousand years.

Although it is a paradox that re-creation has to stand on the rubble of devastation, it is a true fact of life.  Every natural calamity - be it a tsunami, volcanic eruption, cyclone or earth-quake, brings in a similar destruction around us.  And upon that tragic circumstance stands a social responsibility and an opportunity of resurgence.

Linking this thought to Bhuj in Gujarat is something I often do.  Ten years ago when Bhuj was razed to the ground by an abominable earth quake, we saw that thousands of people lost their life and hundreds of thousands lost livelihoods.  The city crumbled under the mud and pyres  burned for days.  The sights were so ghastly that no one ever thought that Bhuj will ever stand up again under the sun and its people would breathe a life of reconstructed hope.  But just  three years of hard-work, hope, support and good governance by Gujarat Govt, Bhuj is now a modern city of convenience and comfort to its people.  It is a lesson to all of us that any destruction, however tragic it may be, is a phoenix opportunity of rebirth, re-establishment and resilience.

Sikkim is now our unfortunate fate but is nothing short of a phoenix opportunity.  The beauty of life in this picturesque State has been delivered an unfair fate by the beast of nature.  The recent earth quake in Sikkim has reminded us of what Bhuj was a decade ago.  The mounds of mud and the burning pyres of Sikkim are still telling us of the tragedy of the recent earth quake and reminding us of the unforgotten sights of Bhuj.  While our hearts are yearning for resurgence of Sikkim, it is heartening to see that the Prime Minister has offered a thousand crore rupees for the purpose of reconstruction.  But, in the existing state of political confusion in the country,it is quite possible that this largesse is diverted and misused.  What we need now is a strong commitment, good governance, transparency of expenditure and a genuine effort like the Govt of Gujarat to rebuild the Sikkim  from its phoenix fate.

Since it has been shown to be possible once, it should be possible now to turn the phoenix fate of Sikkim to phoenix opportunity of rebirth and flourish.  

V K Saxena 

President

 National Council for Civil Liberties 

Twinkle of the twilight years of service --An advise to ANNA.

 

 When the bell of time rings anywhere between 55 and 60, the senior bureaucrats, judges and officers of any prominence in public service, rise to the call and fall in line.  It is the time of retirement blues.  Soon in a couple of years, they will be out of job.  Those cars with the privileged roof lights would soon stop ferrying them.  The minions and chaperones would turn away their face and begin to serve their new masters. . The free flights, phones, cars and the whole heaven of fully paid-up life would soon grind to halt.  So will the grand opportunity of wielding power, influencing files, collecting graft and living a life of unlimited luxury at the cost the poor countrymen.

With such an abominable prospect of retirement, the sword of Damocles, hanging over the head of those in high office, they soften.  They will work to please the political masters, so that a Governorship, ambassadorial assignment, Chairmanship of some Commission, deputation to UN/World Bank/IMF or some such plum posting is bestowed to them on retirement.  They will do everything possible to please their political bosses, be it fixing a judgement, allotting a contract or taking a favourable decision, so that the post-retirement plum does not evade them.

This possibility of acquiring favour in the post-retirement phase is the twinkle of the twilight years of service.  This is  one of the root causes of corruption in public life.  This possibility of reward for being the 'old faithful' - not only corrupts the senior public servants  and judges but also burdens us with senile Governors, Ambassadors and other high functionaries, not to speak of even the Presidents of the country. Hence there must be an age limit of 70 years for one and all  i.e  for bureaucrats and judges  after retirement and even  the for polititians to hold public office.  After the age of 70 years, no one should be allowed to hold any public office. There is already a provision that no government servant  can join private company for 2 years after retirement, but it lacks appropriate implementation.  It is now pertinent that the 2 year bench-sitting is strictly implemented to weed out corruption.

Anna's advisors and the Civil Society should include the provision of age limit avoiding this deep rooted evil  , when they finalize the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Parliament.  This can be avoided by placing a total moratorium  of atleast 2 years on post retirement re-employment to high positions .  Another way is to place a time-bar on re-employment, so that those over 70  years of age are given an honourable retirement exit from public life

  A revolution normally breaks the knees of establishment and brings it down to the ground.  But it is only the just legislation and a fair opportunity of wise advise that makes the vehicle of Governance move again on its wheels.  Therefore, it is important that the best alternatives and just provisions are incorporated into the legislation in the making.

V K Saxena

President

 National Council for Civil Liberties  

Ahmedabad - 380 009 

web: www.ncclindia.org

e-mail: nccl27@hotmail.com

Nationwide outrage on corruption

Desh mein andhera hai, chirag ek jala do

Sote hue Bharat ko utho phir se utha do

Is mulk ki mitti se jisse hai nai ragbat (pyaar)

Us shaks ki hasti hi is zamane se mita do.

Karta hai tafarke (desh-drohita) ki agar baat koi toh

Ta umra rahe yaad zuban uski jala do.

                   By Justice Tej Shankar (Retd.)   

VK Saxena

President

National Council for Civil Liberties(NCCL)

Ahmedabad

Bhopal: Dead have their eyes open and the living have their eyes closed

An extremely disturbing photograph, showing the face of a child half buried after the Bhopal tragedy of 1984, is so effective because the dead child has its eyes open. 

The years 2009 , 2010 and 2011 in India have thrown up the macabre spectacle of systemic failure of not just our justice system, but our administrative complacency, political negligence and an overall state of societal dysfunction.  We have failed ourselves and nobody else.  We have proven that we only ask questions, but never answer.   

Towards the end of 2009, we realized that the Liberhan Commission took 19 years to complete its investigation on a matter that very closely represents the duality of our social fabric.  Close on its heels came the revelation that it took over 19 years for a young girl’s molester to be booked under our criminal justice system.  And we now have the first rung of justice delivered for one of the largest tragedies of our times(Bhopal Gas), after 25 years of its happening.  While the debate on the adequacy of the result of these investigations or delivery of justice is yet another matter to review, what is appalling is that as a nation, we just do not have any sense of time,  any sense of empathy for the aggrieved or any semblance of civilized outlook on human values that should normally address the suffering of fellow countrymen.

It is also very disheartening that we are witnessing the denigration of contemporary political leaders.  It was at first shocking to see that  N.D. Tiwari walking into disgrace.  Now we see the rank and file of political leadership including . Arjun Singh,  Zail Singh, PV Narasimha Rao and even  Rajiv Gandhi being mentioned as those who are part of the national shame of bestowing honour to the exit of the prime accused of Bhopal tragedy, from India.  

 We have seen how  Barrack Obama has repeated that the buck stops with him and he is responsible for solving the unfolding tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico.  On the other side of the globe in India, we are seeing how in the system, we do not see anyone who would stand up and own the responsibility.  We are witnessing a phenomenon in the nation where the political leadership tries to see itself above ‘accountability’, judiciary asserts that its role is limited, the media lives in the glory of ‘hindsight’ and the society just does not care.

The 9/11 investigations took one year to complete.  World War II investigations reached decision in two years.  The Hiroshima atomic bomb investigations were brought before the world in eleven months.  More than all, those who suffered in all these enormous tragedies began rebuilding their lives with the help of society, media, administration and political leadership within a span of two years.

We have reduced this nation to such a moral low that the dead have their eyes open and the living have their eyes closed.

V K Saxena
 President
 National Council for Civil Liberties ,
 Navrangpura, 
Ahmedabad - 380 009 Phone www.ncclindia.org e-mail: nccl27@hotmail.com

Teesta Setalvad - a river of collution

The name 'Teesta' invokes in me the pristine images of the river that springs out of the Himalayan splendour, flowing down the valleys of green purity and merging into the same expanse of water into which the holiest of our rivers debouch.  As I close my eyes in its remembrance, a calm serenity invades me.  That is 'Teesta' for me - a sublime flow of truth, which is unpolluted and 'un-colluded'.

But when I leave behind the rawness of nature and return to the harness of urban India, 'Teesta' is a different river for me.  It springs out Himalayan blunders, flows down the alleys of collusion and debouches into a ghastly pool of conspiratorial social space.  As I close my eyes in its remembrance, a violent shock pervades me.  That is 'Teesta' for you - a ruthless mix of untruth, polluted and colluded.

The origins lie in the now famous Best Bakery case following the ghastly tragedy of Godhra in 2002.  Teesta Setalvad, the more than active social activist of Citizens for Justice and Peace, a Mumbai based NGO spearheaded a movement on the post-Godhra riots and set the nation transfixed to the Best Bakery case with its prime witness Zahira Sheikh.  If there is any episode that collected more or equal TRP ratings on the Television other than 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi' in the modern times in India, it is the documentaries on the 'Best Bakery case'.  Thanks to Teesta for building a huge hype around this case and raising Zahira from her own personal tragedies to the national scene of expectation and anticipation.  But it is only when Justice Pasayat , Supreme Court severely reprimanded Zahira in 2006 and declared that "this is a classic example of a case where evidences were tampered with and witnesses won over, did the colours of Teesta begin to show up.  Zahira was sentenced to an year of imprisonment for the contempt of court, but Teesta remained a free flow - however much mudslides it gathered.  However, Zahira  urged the Hon'ble Court to probe the assets of Teesta  as she had forced her to give 'wrong testimony'.

Did this account confuse you?  The story does not end at that and is not as simple as such.  It raises far too many questions than it answers.  Why did Zahira Sheikh revolt against her benefactor, how did Teesta Setalvad manage to build an army of witnesses, what resources sustained the case, what were the broad political underlines for the case and why do people prepare webs of falsehood to create perceptions that appear to be truth in the initial stages?

Mr. Hiren Jhaveri of Ahmedabad began asking some of these questions and came up with startling answers.  

Mr. Jhaveri found out that Teesta  paid a total of Rs. 12 lakhs to 14 persons who were witnesses in the 2002 riot cases.  Ten of these people received Rs. 1 lakh each while four of the rest received Rs. 50,000 each.  They were all in the form of Demand Drafts (Nos. 567540 to 567554 dated 01.08.2007),issued by Punjab and Sindh Bank , Gol Market Branch, New Delhi .  In return, the recipients returned a signed receipt, thanking Teesta  for help.But in spite of all these, if all cats have not come out of the bag yet, it is because of the ingenious ways in which Teesta colludes and flows through the valleys of social conspiracies.

All these witnesses come from poor economic background and the money paid to them is no doubt a small fortune in their empty hands.  In a nation of empty hands and hungry bellies, you don't need a river of strength to erode the honesty and subvert the loyalty.  Teesta was too strong a current to oppose for these men and women and they were carried away by the lure.  But alas! The firm banks of the Court of Supreme Justice could not be eroded or breached.
.
Yes.  Many tributaries colluded with Teesta to flow in unison on the plains of dishonesty and vested political interest.  Teesta's main course was to erode the prosperous banks of Gujarat, undermine the rock stability of its governance and subvert the minds of millions of Indians on the horizon of modern India.  The river of collution is a brazen expression of enormous power of vested interests, their reach, ramifications and endless energy to erode civility and civic liberty.  The river of collution has no hesitation to flood the corridors of justice and public life.

Teesta - the river of collution is a serpentine strength of undeterred underflow in public life.  

V,K. Saxena

President

 National Council for Civil Liberties ,

Ahmedabad - 380 009 

web: www.ncclindia.org