Akali Dal-BJP has let the Punjabi youth sink deeper into crisis
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I found 3Es on the wish list of this section of population - education, employment and eradication of the drug menace. Aristotle once said, "Youth is easily deceived because it is quick to hope". The youths of Punjab believed Modi in 2014 but within less than two years they are repenting for the mistake they had done. It seems the prime minister forgot about the 3Ds - darkness, destruction and devastation - caused by drugs. They are wondering how the prime minister can conveniently close his eyes to the state's turmoil just for political mileage. What do the yo…
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Shame on Modi sarkar for abusing Rohith Vemula’s death
Why can't we have a world where people are known for their talent, their minds and not surnames? The nation celebrated the 67th Republic Day, but I am yet to recover from the trauma of the Rohith Vemula suicide. From Eklavya to the 26-year-old Rohith, the misery continues. If Eklavya had to cut his thumb and offer it as guru dakshina to Dronacharya - who never accepted him as his disciple - Rohith had to give up his life for the casteist bias of the university administration. Even a week after his death, the government is yet to take any visible action against th…
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President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh – A Manufactured Crisis
The elected government of Arunachal Pradesh was martyred on the eve of the Republic Day despite having a majority. The Centre is trying to defend their move under the garb of governor’s report about the alleged deterioration of law and order situation in the State. If the governor is fearing for his life in a peace loving state like Arunachal Pradesh, I doubt what he will have to say about Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra which are table toppers in the ranking of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) crime data. Article 355 and 356 should not be interpreted …
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PM MODI’S PAKISTAN POLICY LACKS CONSISTENCY
If there is extreme cold in Delhi, the temperature in Bangkok was suitable for our national security advisor and foreign secretary to break the ice with their Pakistani counterparts. Within 48 hours of NSA level talk between the two countries, our foreign minister visited Pakistan and held talks with her counterpart and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Prime Minister Modi is also scheduled to visit Pakistan next year with the focus on resumption of the composite dialogue process. In 2015 only, Pakistan has violated cease fire agreements more than 400 time…
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Modi’s Pakistan policy is confused
It is the right of people to know what is in the mind of our government. If there is extreme cold in Delhi, the temperature in Bangkok was suitable for our national security advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and foreign secretary S Jaishankar to break the ice with their Pakistani counterparts. Within 48 hours of the NSA level talks between the two countries, our foreign minister visited Pakistan and held talks with her counterpart and Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also scheduled to visit Pakistan next year with the focus on … -
Beyond Bihar verdict: A greater disaster waiting for BJP?
Thus voted the Bihari DNA. The Bihar verdict is a landmark not only for the landslide victory of the Mahagathbandhan but for the political implications this will have on the future electoral prospects. While some political pundits are of the view that the victory was because of the correct chemistry in the Nitish-Lalu-Congress alliance, the opinion on the other side is that the loss of the BJP-led alliance was because of arithmetic miscalculation. But, I see it as a consequence of both mathematics and chemistry laced with the ideological thread of socialism and se…
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AGRARIAN CRISIS IN PUNJAB- Need for Corrective Political Action
Gone are the days when Punjab had earned the title of “India’s bread basket.” The state was viewed as the most dynamic and progressive state of the country, particularly on account of its success in the agrarian sector during the green revolution. Of all the states of India, Punjab’s agricultural growth rate was the highest during the 1960s to the middle of the 1980s which was the first phase of the green revolution. Today’s Punjab is the storey of famers’ suicide, youth unrest and the storey of a dying civilisation. The Badal Government has put the …
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Death penalty is arbitrary and should be abolished
The recommendations of the Law Commission for graded abolition of death penalty has once again opened the debate on both the right of a State to take away the life of a person as well as effectiveness of death penalty as a deterrence against crime. The Commission is of the view that the notion of an 'eye for an eye' and 'a tooth for a tooth' has no place in our constitution and legal system. The Bhagavad Geeta has also taught us that there is no permanent labelling of human beings as good or evil. Even the man with most evil ways may chose to turn a new leaf, som…
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Parliament Logjam
One third of the Monsoon Session of Parliament is over without conducting any substantial legislative business. The hot and humid Delhi has become hotter and suffocating for the Modi Government inside Parliament. We have all seen how the Winter Session of Parliament had witnessed more pandemonium than productivity because of the conversion issue and notorious remarks of a Minister. The credit for Parliament's functioning and passage of bills during the Budget session goes to Congress as it respects the institution as a "responsible" Opposition. The adamant attitu…
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Faultlines: Jammu and Kashmir
When the Prime Minister was in Jammu, delivering speeches on political grammar, the valley was up in flare with Pakistan flags and presence of ISIS, depicting a clear picture that either both the Centre and the State Government have lost control over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir or some sort of political engineering is taking shape in the State, in connivance with the ruling alliance, which is detrimental to our national interest and the people of the State. The incidents in Kathua and Anantnag are still fresh in our memory. The terrorist attacks in Jammu &a…
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DIGITAL INDIA-CHALLENGES & CONTRAINTS
An ambitious plan for taking India forward on the digital map of the world is definitely a great idea but we need infrastructure, implementation and monitoring strategy and safeguards against intrusion into privacy. The limbo between the goal and the state of resources needs immediate redress. After the prioritising and setting of the goals, these detailed steps are very much essential and need to be articulated before taking the first step on the digital India initiative. Absence of a road map will only damage the prospect of the ambitious plan. We need to …
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PERFORMANCE AUDIT-MODI 1st YEAR
Modi’s moto during his election campaign was minimum government and maximum governance. He won the election promising good times (acchhe din) which meant freedom from poverty, corruption, jobs for all and a good standard of living for all Indians. He made a number of promises, more than the number of countries he has visited so far. If I can recall correctly, his most important five promises were recovery of back money from abroad, complete eradication of corruption, jobs and houses for all, absolute control on prices and tax rationalisation. In the past one ye…
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Faultlines J&K
First Kathua, then Anantnag, the terrorist attacks in J&K continue unabated. With temperature rising in the valley, snow is melting, so also the peace. If we are shocked by the anti-India and pro-Pakistan activities of Alam on our soil, we should not be because you cannot expect serenity and tranquility from an agent provocateur. But, the role of the BJP-PDP Government in the State and the BJP Government in Centre and the manner in which the entire episode was mishandled and continues to be needs scrutiny not only to dissect what went wrong but also to plan …
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Does the Government have no respect for livelihood of millions of farmers?
The Modi Government has shown its anti-poor and anti-farmer face by severely diluting the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 that ensured not only compensation and rehabilitation of the affected families but was an effective prevention against forcible acquisition of land. By the means of this Act, the UPA Government had bestowed the rights on the farmers to decide whether they want to sell their land or not. To be honest, BJP was very much a party to this landmark legislation. Now, with th…
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False perceptions and unanswered questions: Why Modi should let the Planning Commission be
http://www.dailymail.co.uk Ever since the new Government came to power, the future of the Planning Commission, a body that symbolizes the economic structure of our country, has become a subject of intense speculation. With the BJP in power, Nehru’s economic legacy is being dismantled. One of the first acts of Prime Minister Modi was to announce the unceremonious shutting down of the Planning Commission—that venerated pillar of old nation-building – and then to announce the proposal to set up a “Niti Ayoga”. Maladies A recent circular directed al…
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निवेश पर पंजाब सरकार के दावे झूठे : जयवीर
चंडीगढ़ (ब्यूरो)। पंजाब प्रदेश कांग्रेस कमेटी के प्रवक्ता जयवीर शेरगिल ने पंजाब सरकार के निवेश संबंधी दावों को कोरा झूठ करार दिया है। शनिवार को जारी एक बयान में जयवीर ने कहा कि उप मुख्यमंत्री सुखबीर सिंह बादल लगातार …
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Drugs are killing Punjab
www.dailyo.in Whenever I visit Punjab, one thing baffles me – whether the state can get rid of the drug menace. The eleventh Chapter of Shrimad Bhagavatam explains how the Yadu Vansh (the dynasty of Lord Krishna) was extinct due to extreme consumption of liquor and subsequent fight among themselves, of course several other factors were responsible for the event. I fear if the problem of substance abuse in Punjab is not addressed quickly and effectively in a long term manner, it may ruin the economy, culture and social fabric of one of the wealthiest parts of I…
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Drugs are killing Punjab
Whenever I visit Punjab, one thing baffles me whether the State can get rid of the drug menace. The eleventh Chapter of Shrimad Bhagavatam explains how the Yadu Vansh (the dynasty of Lord Krishna) was extinct due to extreme consumption of liquor and subsequent fight among themselves, of course several other factors were responsible for the event. I fear if the problem of substance abuse in the State of Punjab is not addressed quickly and effectively in a long term manner, it may lead to ruination of the economy, culture and social fabric of one of the wealthies…
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Paradigm shift and Institutions
A functional democracy requires functional and effective institutions. Institutions being the nerves of a democratic order, their growth and autonomy are vital for smooth functioning of democracy – political, economic and social. History has witnessed how institutions have evolved over a period of time and contributes to the nation building process. History has also witnessed how key institutions have been weakened deliberately by forces not conducive to democratic affairs, consequently threatening the decline of democratic values in the society. The Indian …
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Institution Building Congress and BJP
A functional democracy requires functional and effective institutions. Institutions being the nerves of a democratic order, their growth and autonomy are vital for smooth functioning of democracy – political, economic and social. History has witnessed how institutions have evolved over a period of time and contributes to the nation building process. History has also witnessed how key institutions have been weakened deliberately by forces not conducive to democratic affairs, consequently threatening the decline of democratic values in the society. The Indian N…
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Hindutva Politics and Projection of Women
The relationship of women to religious politics is not only paradoxical, it is also complex. Traditionally, India had seen a woman as a member of the family or a group and not as an individual with an identity or right of her own. Discrimination against women in most parts of India emerges from the social and religious construct of women’s role and their status. Cultural factors significantly influence anti-female bias in India, both directly through preferences and by altering the economic constraints faced by households. Women have only been included symbolica…
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Economic crisis of Punjab
Allocation of resources between the Centre and the States has always assumed importance not only from economic point of view but from the political point of view as well. It would not be exorbitant to state that politicians and political planners show more interest in this subject than the academicians and researchers. In the General Elections, 2014, this has been used as a political tool by the non - Congress State Governments to castigate the UPA Government at the Centre with the hope that this will have a psychological impact on the voters in their favour and s… -
Drugs problem and women in Punjab
Substance abuse has been defined as the use of a drug or other substance for a non-medical use, with the aim of producing some type of 'mind-altering' effect on the user. The non medical use of habit-forming drugs is not a new phenomenon. Its extent and more certainly, its pattern and trends may have differed, but it has been with us for generations. However, the problem, in recent times, has assumed dangerous proportions. Among young people, the drug abuse has become more or less a part of their sub-culture, their way of life. The problem of drug abuse among t… -
Defection and Constitutional Propriety
Democracy’s credibility depends, to an important degree, on how its institutions work in practice. Sustainability of democracy depends not only on the constitutional principles but also on constitutional morality and constitutional propriety. Constitutional morality has been defined by Dr. Ambedkar as “a paramount reverence for the forms of the Constitution, enforcing obedience to authority, acting under and with a habit of open speech, of action, subject only to legal control….”. On the background of this, if we analyse and introspect present day politica… -
Defection and Constitutional Propriety – Letter
Advocate & National Spokersperson of the Indian National Congress, B-38, Defence Colony, New Delhi – 110024. 24 August, 2014 Dear Shri…………………… Sir, I am writing this letter with certain suggestions to improve the efficacy of the Anti Defection Law, Tenth Schedule of our constitution. It is needless to mention that sustainability of democracy depends not only on the constitutional principles but also on constitutional morality and constitutional propriety. Constitutional morality has been defined by Dr. Ambedkar as “a paramount r… -
Agrarian crisis and farmer’s suicide in punjab – need for corrective political action
Farmers’ suicide is a consequence of deep –rooted agrarian rural distress as well as of four important factors: technological, ecological, socio-cultural, and finally policy factors. Suicides by farmers were first highlighted by the media in the states of Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. These were attributed to the poor economic status of the farmers there, in view of widespread poverty. But then came the reports of suicides by farmers in the grain bowl of India-Punjab-which was perturbing and quite unexpected in such a prosperous region. So…