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Kashmir’s mahagathbandhan depends on Mehbooba, Omar (Column: Political Circus)

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There has been an element of unseemly haste and even recklessness in some of the recent acts of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Such hurried initiatives have been seen in its impetuous bid to start the construction of the Ram temple as soon as possible and now in the peremptory dissolution of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.

What is more, the motives for these rash steps are so palpable that it does little credit to the party’s capacity for hiding its tracks.

In the case of the temple, for instance, it is obvious that the rush for starting work is related to the BJP’s and the Sangh parivar’s belief that the only way to bolster the party’s seemingly dwindling electoral fortunes is to lay the foundation stone for the temple.

In Kashmir, the swiftness of Governor Satyapal Malik’s step to dissolve the assembly can be easily ascribed to the possibility of the BJP’s opponents in the state being able to form a government by cobbling together a mahagathbandhan (grand alliance).

It appears that the BJP did not foresee the likelihood of the three constituents of the alliance — the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the National Conference (NC) and the Congress — coming together to form a government, presumably because the PDP and the NC are not the best of friends.

Since their combined strength of 55 members, comprising the PDP’s 28, the NC’s 15 and the Congress’s 12, gives them a comfortable majority in the 87-member legislature, dissolving the House was the only option left to the Governor and the BJP to stop them even if it does not meet a judicial challenge.

One of the explanations which Malik has given for his hasty act was to prevent “horse-trading”, an euphemism for the crossing over of the MLAs of one party to another.

But the three claimants to the seat of power had no need for horse-trading since the numbers were on their side. If any horse-trading was indeed taking place, it was probably at the BJP’s behest as it tried to wean away MLAs from its erstwhile ally, the PDP, and even the NC in order to form a government with the willing assistance of Sajjad Lone of the People’s Conference.

It is possible that the PDP and the NC decided to pre-empt the defections from their parties by coming together despite their long-standing mutual animosity. To strengthen their position, they also roped in the Congress even as the latter displayed its habitual caginess by saying that the unity move was only a proposal.

How upset the BJP was at the likelihood of Kashmir suddenly slipping out of its grasp was evident from the normally level-headed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pointsman in the BJP, Ram Madhav, seeing Pakistan’s hand behind the gathbandhan.

Although he later backtracked on being challenged by the NC’s Omar Abdullah to prove his allegation, the insalubrious episode again showed how eager the saffronites are to brand their opponents as anti-nationals.

In Kashmir, the anger of the Hindutva brigade may have been all the greater because they were on the verge of being outmanoeuvred by the “anti-nationals”, thereby frustrating all of the BJP’s efforts to maintain its grip on the state which started with the appointment of Malik, a former member of the party, as the governor in place of the neutral bureaucrat, N.N. Vohra, who could not be expected to play a partisan game.

Malik, on the other hand, was apparently posted in Srinagar to oversee a transition of power to a BJP-friendly government when the unthinkable happened with “enemies” becoming friends as Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah joined hands.

If the current understanding between these two former adversaries survives till the assembly polls and beyond, then the idea of a mahagathbandhan may strike roots in the state and even exert a favourable impact on similar endeavours elsewhere in the country.

Prima facie, a PDP-NC-Congress alliance should have little difficulty in winning in Kashmir, thereby beginning a new and unexpected chapter in the state’s politics which can go some distance in dealing with the threat of terrorism and lessening the alienation of large sections of the youth from the political system in the Valley.

The coalition will also have to bring the pro-BJP “Hindu” Jammu closer to the “Muslim” valley, a divide which has become wider ever since the BJP’s politically successful (though socially divisive) entry into the state.

For the present, all eyes will be on seeing whether the two young leaders, Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, are able to let bygones be bygones and chart a new path together for their parties and the state.

They cannot deny that the BJP’s presence and its use of the Governor’s office a-la the Congress of yore helped them to come together. There is nothing like a formidable and cynical adversary to concentrate the mind.

[IANS]

Rupee’s falling value with age of Modi’s mother : Raj Babbar

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Congress leader Raj Babbar’s remark comparing the rupee’s falling value against the US dollar with the age of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mother kicked up a controversy on Friday, with the BJP demanding an apology from the opposition party’s president Rahul Gandhi.

Babbar made the controversial remark while addressing a rally in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city on Thursday. Madhya Pradesh goes to polls on November 28 and results will be declared on December 11.

“(Before becoming the prime minister) Modi used to say that compared to the (US) dollar, the value of the rupee has fallen to a level where it is almost the same as the age of the then Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh),” Babbar, the Uttar Pradesh Congress chief, said.

“Mr Prime Minister, at that time, you had not taken his (Manmohan Singh) name out of respect. Although our tradition does not allow this, we wish to say that now the value of the rupee has fallen to the age of your respected mother,” he added.

Modi’s mother, Hiraba, is a nonagenarian.

The rupee has seen a continued fall against the US dollar this year, hovering a little over the 70-mark on Friday.

The BJP condemned Babbar’s remark.

The party’s national spokesperson Sambit Patra said it was not proper to use unparliamentary words or drag any person’s mother into politics.

“But the Congress’ attitude against the Prime Minister’s mother has been improper from the beginning and such language was used even against the Prime Minister,” Patra claimed.

“Rahul Gandhi should apologise and he should clarify whether he endorses such controversial statements,” he said.

 

C.P. Joshi apologises for ‘only brahmins know Hinduism’ remark

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Senior Congress leader C.P. Joshi on Friday apologised for his remarks a day after a video surfaced of him saying “only brahmins know and can talk about Hinduism”.

 

“Respecting the ideals of the Congress and the sentiments of the party workers, I express remorse for my statement if it caused any hurt to the sentiments of any section of the society,” he said in a brief statement.

In the video, he was heard saying that only pandits and brahmins knew about Hinduism and were learned enough to speak about it.

“Does anyone know what is the caste of Uma Bharti? What is the caste of Sadhvi Ritambhara? In this country, if anyone knows about religion, it is the pandits and the brahmins,” he said.

 

Joshi’s apology came after the Congress on Friday distanced itself from his statement with party President Rahul Gandhi asking him to apologise.

Could Mithali’s inclusion have saved India’s World T20 prospects?

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 India’s team selection in the 8-wicket women’s World T20 semi-final loss to England on Friday seemed to defy all logic even as skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s defence of having “no regrets” of keeping veteran Mithali Raj out of the playing XI hardly found any takers.

Going by sheer statistics, Mithali, with 2,283 T20I runs, is the highest scorer for the country in the shortest format, even surpassing the likes of her male counterparts — Rohit Sharma (2,214) and Virat Kohli (2,106) — and to that extent, the team skipper herself, who has 1,886 runs.

In the World T20, Mithali had opened the batting along side Smriti Mandhana on two occasions, and on both the former skipper had scored back-to-back half centuries while also bagging the Player-of-the-Match awards.

The veteran right-hander was dropped to No.8 in the order in the tournament opener against New Zealand, with stumper Tanya Bhatia partnering Smriti. Mithali was then rested from the last league game against Australia as she was unwell.

Cut to Friday’s toss at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium here. India won the toss and opted to bat and it was then that Harmanpreet announced that Mithali was not in the playing XI. She said that the Indian management had decided to back its winning combination.

Now coming to the outcome, Mithali’s replacement Tanya managed a meagre 11 before falling to England skipper Heather Knight while Smriti top scored with 34 runs, before a lower order collapse completely derailed India’s innings.

On a pitch that demanded the technical acumen of Mithali, and where stroke play wasn’t the easiest way to approach, the Indian team management’s ploy of excluding the former skipper cost it dear, which was evident from the fact that the last seven Indian wickets fell for mere 23 runs.

But in the post-match presentation, when Harmanpreet defended the decision, she hardly found any takers with many cricket experts terming it as a big mistake.

“India paid the price for two mistakes. One in planning, by dropping Mithali on this pitch. The other in execution, by rushing down the pitch to muscle the ball in front of the pitch on a very slow pitch,” former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar wrote on Twitter.

Noted cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle also criticised the move in a couple of tweets, in which he wrote: “If India can go in without Mithali Raj, this must be twice as good a batting side as any in the world!!! What is the story there?”

“Can understand, if you have to, that you leave out Mithali in a 180 game. But on a tough pitch? Then you play your best players and she is that,” Bhogle wrote.

As sports journalist Suprita Das put it: “Let’s just say the team got its strategy horribly wrong on a big day. The coach could’ve also had a say in this. It’s a bit baffling that India would decide to drop an in-form Mithali on a track like this. She’s our best bet to anchor an innings when in trouble. There’s no guarantee of course that she would play the anchor’s role today as well, but goes without doubt that Mithali’s calmness may’ve helped the team hold their nerves even while defending the total.”

“How India and the various stakeholders of the sport react to the current result is what will tell us whether we really care about women’s cricket in India or not,” Suprita, whose book “Free Hit: The Story of Women’s Cricket in India”, will release in early December, told IANS.

Till Friday, India remained the sole unbeaten side in the 2018 World T20 but like last year it was once again an England team that stood as a stumbling block to the Women in Blue’s pursuit of a title in a big-ticket event.

Congress demands EC probe into BJP becoming top TV advertiser

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 With the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data revealing the BJP to be the number one on television in the run-up to Assembly elections, the Congress on Friday demanded that the Election Commission take cognisance of the data and asses the impact of BJP’s advertisement spending on the ongoing polls in five states.

As per the BARC data, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) topped the rankings of advertisers across all TV channels for the week ended November 16, prompting the Congress to question its electoral funding.

“These advertisement spends by the BJP reflect a clear nexus between big businesses and big politicians… This is crony capitalism personified, this is the quintessential ‘suit-boot ki sarkar’,” Congress leader Manish Tewari told the media here citing the BARC data.

Flaying the Narendra Modi government for turning electoral funding “far more opaque” through the electoral bond schemes, the Congress demanded that the EC intervene, especially in view of the Assembly polls in the five states — Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Telangana and Rajasthan — the results of which will be declared on December 11.

“The EC must summon this BARC data and need to find out how much money India’s top advertiser (BJP) has spent on these advertisements.

“We demand the EC take suo-motu cognisance of the BARC data, translate it into monetary spends and see what is the impact on electoral process. The EC must take serious cognisance of its impact on the probity transparency and integrity of the electoral process,” said the former Minister of Information and Broadcasting.

He also said the electoral bonds scheme has made political funding very opaque giving rise to crony capitalism.

“The ruling dispensation has access to source and final destination of the bonds which acts as deterrence for any company to try and fund an opposition party, especially when this government has unleashed central agencies on opposition parties and leaders, media houses or anyone who dares to oppose them,” added Tewari

Classical musician Ustad Imrat Khan passes away at 83

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 Indian classical music doyen, Ustad Imrat Khan, known for promoting the sitar and the surbahar internationally, has passed away in the United States at the age of 83, his family said on Friday.

Khan breathed his last in a hospital in St. Louis on Thursday after a stroke. He was unwell for quite some time and was hospitalised last week. He had been living in St. Louis for well over two decades.

“No words can express the loss… May Allah bless his soul,” Khan’s bereaved nephew, Hidayat Husain Khan, said confirming his death. The funeral is expected to take place on Saturday.

He belonged to the Etawa Gharana, which traces its origins through an unbroken line of celebrated musicians to the 16th Century, where training was passed down from father to son for almost 400 years.

Khan was the younger brother of sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan and was born in what was then Calcutta into a family of musicians.

His father was Enayat Khan, recognised as a leading sitar and surbahar player of his time, as had been his grandfather, Imdad Khan before him. His father died when Khan was a child and he was raised by his mother, Bashiran Begum, and her father, singer Bande Hassan Khan.

In 1944, the family moved to Bombay (now Mumbai), where he learned extensively from his uncle Wahid Khan. In 1961, he performed at the Edinburgh International Festival. The year also saw his first concerts in Berlin and London and first recordings for BBC radio and television. He also performed at the Cannes Film Festival in 1970.

From then onwards, Khan had performed and recorded solo, playing both sitar and surbahar, and appeared at numerous music festivals across the globe.

The noted musician was disappointed that the Indian government never recognised his contributions, even as several of his juniors and those who trained under him were presented with Padma awards.

Khan had turned down the Padma Shri last year and expressed his disappointment publicly, saying that the recognition had come too late.

Kamal Haasan asks PM to visit cyclone-affected areas of TN

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 Back from a visit to some of the worst-affected parts of the cyclone-ravaged districts in Tamil Nadu, Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan on Friday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the state and see for himself the sufferings wrought on the people so that the Centre can come out with massive assistance to the state.

Haasan, who has entered politics recently by floating the Makkal Needhi Maiyam (MNM), went on a whistlestop tour of a few hundred kms of Thanjavur and Nagapattinam districts and Vedaranyam town, which bore the brunt of Cyclone Gaja, on Thursday and described the situation there as “pitiable and abysmal”.

He accused the state government of being lax and not making a proper assessment of the destruction of homes and crops in vast swathes of land in these affected areas.

Haasan questioned the hurry with which Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy rushed to Delhi on Thursday and presented a memorandum to Modi seeking relief of Rs.15,000 crore.

“It (rushing to Delhi) was a knee-jerk reaction under criticism from political parties in the state of the state government’s inaction,” he told IANS in an interview.

The Chief Minister should have done more extensive visits to the affected areas and made a proper assessment instead of doing a half day tour before rushing to Delhi.

The actor said a visit by the prime minister would infuse new hope in the affected people and galvanise the machinery into doing relief work efficiently.

“The cyclone has been a great leveller. It has affected the rich and the poor equally without caste and religious discrimination. They are looking for succour. And the help is slow in coming. Food is being given to the affected only once a day and that too the quality is poor,” he said.

The state government gives an appearance of doing some work but it is confined mainly to highways and main roads where accessibility is relatively easy. Power is being restored mainly on the arterial roads, he said.

Haasan said the two districts he visited were a scene of total disaster with cash crops like tamarind, mango, jackfruit, cashew and palm trees laid waste by the cyclone while the state government was talking of only damage to coconut trees. The farmers have to be supported in a big way by the governments to get them back on their feet after the great losses they have suffered, he said.

He said while the local officials claim that about 2,50,000 people have been affected by the cyclone, his own estimate from various sources put the figure of those displaced and homeless at around 4,00,000.

The sea has eroded into the towns in various places and at one place 400 fibre boats have been pushed far into the woods by the tidal waves.

The damage has been huge to the fishermen and they needed urgent help to restore their lives.

He said his concern was also about the fear of epidemics spreading in these places which the government should attend to.

Haasan also said there is some kind of healthy competition among political parties to reach aid to the people. He expressed confidence that they would cut across lines and help the people and government in a difficult time.

He said activists of his own outfit have rushed 60 truck loads of food and other materials worth over Rs.1.2 crore to the needy.

IANS

Kashmir gunfight was a surgical operation: Army

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The army said on Friday that the gunfight in which six militants were killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district was a surgical operation.

Lt. Gen. A.K. Bhatt, the Commander of the 15th corps, termed the killing of six militants, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Azad Malik as a “surgical operation”.

Talking to the media in north Kashmir’s Baramulla town, Bhatt said the operation was very prompt and precise.

He said the operation was successful as the forces did not suffer any harm.

The corps commander said whoever will resort to the gun will be eliminated.

“There are more militants in south Kashmir than in north. The militants are terrorizing the people of Kashmir,” he said.

Kumarswamy inagurated Badavara Bandhu scheme

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Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday, November 22 inaugurated Badavara Bandhu scheme, a scheme aimed at lending financial aid to the street vendors who otherwise depend on money lenders for small finance to run their businesses.

Kumaraswamy had announced the scheme while presenting the state budget in order to  free them from clutches of money lenders charging high rates of interest to these small traders. As per the initiative the loan will be given to the small traders through a transportation vehicle, informed sources.

The traders can avail loans ranging from Rs 2000 to Rs 10,000 and repay the same within three months of time. Traders who are prompt in the repayments become eligible to get 10 per cent more loan next time.

There are about 4.50 lakh street vendors in the state, with over 80,000 in the BBMP limits. The local bodies are issuing identity cards to the roadside vendors in relation to this scheme. However, 1.80 lakh vendors in various local bodies and 24,650 vendors in the BBMP limits have received the cards. Apart from the identity card issued by local bodies, the street vendors should possess Aadhar cards, BPL ration cards, the photo of the place where they conduct business and zero balance saving bank account opened with banks.

Deputy Chief Minister Dr. G. Parameshwara, Co-operation Minister Bandeppa Keshempura, Mayor Gangambike and others were present.

 

HDK has claimed he will never speak to the media again

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On Thursday, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy vowed not to address the media anymore. The decision comes as no surprise to journalists, who have reported on the Chief Minister and his government for the last six months. In fact, it is the latest flashpoint in his tumultuous relationship with the members of the press.

Kumaraswamy announced his decision to stop addressing press conferences at the launch of ‘Badavara Bandhu’ (an interest-free loan scheme for street vendors) in the APMC yard of Yeshwanthpur in Bengaluru. “I am scared to talk about anything these days. We are in a situation in which perhaps, a committee should be constituted to form guidelines on how a Chief Minister speaks to the media. From now on, I will speak to the media from the stage; but I will limit the interactions to just that. I have come to a decision that I won’t address the press for any reason,” he said at the event.

In his first six months as the Chief Minister of the state, Kumaraswamy has repeatedly clashed with the media over a number of issues.

In July, Kumaraswamy blamed the media for trying to divide the state by holding discussions on the demand for a separate North Karnataka state. “My media friends, you are responsible for lighting the fire for protests in North Karnataka with all the discussions on channels. I am not against farmers; I am only quoting the farmers in Koppal, who were protesting for the full farmer loan waiver,” he had told reporters in Bengaluru.

The demand raised by activists in North Karnataka was the subject of numerous articles and television discussions after a bandh was called on August 2 in connection with the issue. This appeared to have irked Kumaraswamy, who claimed that the media intensified the demand for a separate state. Eventually, the bandh was called off a day before it was scheduled to happen.

But the first signs of Kumaraswamy’s indifference towards the media, especially the television channels, had appeared barely two months into his tenure as the Chief Minister.

Around the same time, Kumaraswamy suggested that a separate room would be allocated to journalists to interact with the ministers at Vidhana Soudha. This was interpreted by sections of the media as a gag order to safeguard his ministers from being asked uncomfortable questions.

Kumaraswamy has also repeatedly complained that his statements have been misquoted and misrepresented by the media. In press conferences, he has often blamed the media of conspiring against him and portraying him in a bad light.

Another flashpoint occurred on October 25 when Kumaraswamy, while addressing reporters at the Vidhana Soudha, vented his ire against the media for reporting that the Chief Minister has ordered load-shedding in Gulbarga. Pointing towards a band-aid applied on his right hand, he said, “Look at this (band-aid). This is because of the stress your news is causing me. Without verifying the order with the department, a Kannada news channel announced that I am pushing the state towards darkness,” he said pointing his finger at a Kannada journalist, who raised a query.

He further probed the journalist to produce a government document proving that the state government had ordered load shedding and also asked media personnel to learn Kannada before trying to interpret government orders. “Instead of trying to damage my government’s work, you should learn Kannada and not publish anything that pleases you,” he added.

A week ago, Kumaraswamy’s disagreements with the media came to the fore once again, this time when he appeared to dismiss Jayashree Gurannavar, a woman farmer leader who questioned him about the protests raised by sugarcane farmers in the state earlier this week. The media highlighted Kumaraswamy’s indifference to the plight of farmers and accused him of disrespecting the woman who asked the question.

On Sunday, speaking on the issue at the University of Agriculture Sciences in Bengaluru, Kumaraswamy said, “What I meant was why have you woken up to the situation now? Were you sleeping? I would never disrespect women. These are not farmers who are protesting but these are sponsored protests.” He further raised question marks over the protesting farmers and described them as ‘goondas’.

Kumaraswamy’s comment was criticised by farmer leaders and the opposition BJP. This led to Kumaraswamy softening his stance on Monday. “I was hurt when some comments were made about me during the Belagavi protest. But my reaction did not have any mala fide intention. It’s unfortunate that my words were not understood in the way I meant it,” Kumaraswamy told reporters.

Later in the week, Kumaraswamy once again expressed his disdain for the media’s coverage of the issue by claiming that he was being singled out. He also reprimanded the television media for showing visuals of a group of farmers beating an effigy of him with an axe. “I want to ask the TV media what was the meaning of repeatedly showing an effigy of mine being beaten by farmers using an axe in Mudhol? What impact did you think this would have on the people?” he asked in a tone familiar to most journalists reporting from Bengaluru over the last few months.

Kumaraswamy has made no attempts to hide his displeasure with the media, particularly television channels, in his first six months as Chief Minister. He believes that the media has been unfair to him and has distanced himself from the press on a number of occasions.

TNM

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