Killing of democracy through second rate armies(the indian police)

It has been in practice of the human beings that when a baby cries, the mothers’ heart beats faster, she gets worried and put her all efforts to comfort the baby. But have you ever read any fiction, heard the story from your grandparents or seen a mother feeding her baby, getting toys and buying clothes for her/him only when (s)he stops crying? If not, at least, you can get the holy ideas of parenting from our corporate Home Minister P Chidambaram, who keeps telling to the Adivasis these days that the government (parents) will do everything for them (kids) only when they stop resistance. He has taken for guaranteed that all the Adivasis living in the forests are Maoists or at least their supporters therefore he tells them, “Abjure violence and give me 72 hours” to do the miracle for readdressing the historic socio-economic, cultural and developmental injustices done to them for the centuries.It amazes me that how the holy idea of miracle of 72 hours impressed Chidambaram and made him so passionate about it? As far as the ‘miracle of 72 hours’ is concerned, it has ensured the pain, suffering and endless sorrow for millions of Indians. The Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Mode created a hell for the Muslims in those 72 hours, where more than 2000 Muslims were killed, thousands were attacked and many of them lost their shelters. Similarly, the terrorist attacks of 26/11 shook the Mumbai for 72-odd hours, created fear, insecurity and uncertainty in the lives of the millions of people across the country. However, P Chidambaram does not bother about whatever happened in the past and he just wants to create heaven for the Adivasis within 72 hours if he is given by the Maoists (he ratified that Maoist have come Messiah for the Adivasis). Frankly speaking, the Chidambaram’s miracle of 72 hours does not convince me, precisely, because he is playing a mighty double standards game. Suddenly, he took U turn on the issue of Operation Green Hunt (OGH), when there was immense pressure for withdrawal of the OGH, from the civil society organizations like the Citizens Initiative for Peace (CIP). On November 7, 2009, Chidambaram denied and even blamed to the media by saying, "There is no operation Green Hunt. It is a figment of imagination and creation of the media.” “Show me one government official saying this and I will take action", he dared. Ironically, on December 4, 2009, Dantewada-based DIG anti-Naxal operations SRP Killuri unmasked Chidambaram by telling to the media, “As of today, Operation Green Hunt is underway in districts like Bijapur and Dantewada.” Unfortunately, Chidambaram neither took any action against his officer (as per his earlier promise) nor stopped to the media for misusing (according to him) the right to freedom of expression. Secondly, how can one believe in the miracle of 72 hours when the victims of Bhopal Gas tragedy did not get justice even after 25 long years despite thousands of deaths (according to the government 3500 deaths and non-government sources confirm 20000 to 25000 deaths) and millions of sufferers, not a single person was punished? Similarly, the victims of anti-Sikh riots 1984 are still waiting for justice and protest in the streets of Delhi all most every year. And 30 millions displaced masses of India including150000 displaced of Hirakud Dam (1948) the Nehru’s Temple (Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, once said, dams are the “temple[s] of modern India.”) yet to be rehabilitated (though the Indian government does not care about them). Thirdly, the government authorities are blaming to the Maoists for everything. For instance, there are several state governments failed in ensuring the forest rights to the Adivasis according to the Forest Rights Act 2006, now blame to the Maoists for their failure. Similarly, in the failure of so-called development projects and justice delivery only the Maoists are alleged. Do the Maoists not allow the government to give land pattas (entitlement papers) to the Adivasis? Do we say that every Adivasis would have been prosperous if the Maoists would not have born in India? Can Chidambaram tell us why the corporate houses comfortably run their factories in those areas where the police can not even walk? Can he explain us why the roads of the state capitals and districts headquarters of many states are extremely bad despite huge expenditure made on these? Do the Maoists not let the government to build good road in the capital cities? Can he tell us why the benefits of the welfare schemes meant for the poor do not reach them? Of course, no one can deny the Maoist menace but can we blame them for everything? The fact of the matter is the state has completely failed in upholding the constitution and fears of backlash therefore the operation green hunt has been launched in Chhatisgarh and will be extended to the state of Jharkhand once the Assembly election is over, which is quite evident from the statements of Chidambaram given in the Parliament on December 3. He said, “Attempt was to restore civil administration and the follow it up quickly with development. The security forces being used only to reassert authority in areas where it lost control.” The statements clearly indicate about the security forces being used to regain the control in the Adivasis regions though he may not use the phrase ‘operation green hunt’, which would be materialized in the large scale from January onward, surely result as the mass torture, assault and killing of thousands of the Adivasis in the name of the Maoists, which needs to be strongly opposed by the people of the civil society who believe in the Human Rights of each and every one. Obviously, Chidambaram’s miracle of 72 hours is not really miracle to redress the grievances of the Adivasis but it is a strategy to get the sympathy of the civil society for the operation green hunt. He is essentially batting for the corporate with the intention to get the Adivasis’ land clear and hand it over to the corporate houses. He would also ensure the landing of the global investors, which would lead the India’s economy from 7 to 9 percent; of course, that makes no sense to the Adivasis. The Chidambaram’s miracle of 72 hours can only create hell for the Adivasis not the heaven indeed. “If you are to suffer, you should suffer in the interest of the country,” this is what Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of the modern India told to the Adivasis (victims) of the Hirakud Dam (Orissa) in 1948, which clearly means the Adivasis must have to suffer in their own country and the sunglasses (mostly invaders) are only born to enjoy their lives. Perhaps, Chidambaram’s miracle of 72 hours is to make sure the suffering of the Adivaisis continues. Gladson Dungdung is a Human Rights Activist and Writer from Jharkhand. He can be reached at gladsonhractivist@gmail.com Sources: www.countercurrents.org, www.orissadiary.com, www.newswing.com, www.worldproutassembly.org www.jharkhandmirror.org

First Aid to farmers suicides

A budget for the urban rich, not farmersMarch 8 2008
CONTRARY to media hype, Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s latest budget does not set a new direction. Nor does it address the huge imbalances in India’s recent growth pattern. The decision to write off farmers’ loans worth Rs60,000 crores is a belated acknowledgement of the grave agrarian crisis, which has driven 150,000 farmers to suicide in a decade. The write-off is welcome. But it’s not enough.
Sounds uncharitable? Consider that the recent problem with the Indian economy hasn’t been lack of growth. It’s lack of equity — income inequalities, and sectoral and regional disparities. The United Progressive Alliance’s last full budget was to correct this. It has failed to do so.
The much-touted Rs60,000-crore debt write-off has disarmed and confused the Bharatiya Janata Party. This is undoubtedly the largest such write-off. But it pales into insignificance beside the various exemptions, rebates, incentives and concessions provided to corporate taxpayers and rich individuals.
Last year, the government wrote off taxes and duties worth a colossal Rs2.79 lakh crores in this manner! This mind-boggling amount is more than four-and-a-half times the one-time relief for farmers, and equals one-half of all taxes collected. It includes Rs1.48 lakh crores in customs duty exemptions, Rs58,655 crores in corporate-tax concessions, and over Rs38,000 crores in income-tax exemptions.
Yet, there was no furore or accusation of scandal over this — a terrible comment on India’s economic discourse!
Now, full waiver only applies to loans from commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperatives by farmers owning two hectares (five acres) or less.
But half such farmers borrow from local moneylenders. Seventy-seven per cent of marginal farmers owning less than 0.01 ha depend on moneylenders. So a majority of farmers are excluded from Chidambaram’s waiver.
Second, only the loans of farmers owning two ha or less are writen off. There’s 25 per cent debt relief to bigger landholders provided they repay the remaining 75 per cent. But it’s unrealistic, if not mean, to expect highly indebted farmers to repay that 75 per cent. They wouldn’t have borrowed the money unless they were desperate in the first place.
Third, a large proportion of India’s heavily indebted farmers cultivate unirrigated, low-quality land with small yields above the two ha ceiling. This is especially true, say, of the suicide belt of Vidarbha. A farmer owning five ha there is often distressed to the point of suicide. He/she stands to get virtually no relief.
A far better alternative would have been to write off loans in inverse proportion to holdings and yields — say, Rs30-50,000 for the poorest, Rs15-30,000 for the less poor, and a smaller sum for others.
This would also have taken some of the burden off the nationalised/cooperative banks, which are unlikely to be fully compensated for the write-off. It’s in nobody’s interest to weaken the public banks — unless the hidden agenda is to set them up for privatisation.
In contrast to his miserly approach to farmers stands Chidambaram’s generosity to rich income tax-payers, only 25 to 30 million people. Their taxes have been slashed to a point where they are the lowest in Independent India and among the world’s lowest.
A person earning Rs5 lakhs — thus belonging to the top two per cent — need pay no tax at all if s/he uses all available exemptions. And someone who earns Rs10 lakhs — and there are only three lakh such Indians, comprising one-hundredth of the population — will only pay a total tax of Rs 2.7 lakhs.
The tax regime has thus become even more regressive. To match this, Chidambaram has reduced taxes on cars, two-wheelers, air-conditioners, refrigerators, etc. This will encourage profligate consumption, and bloat GDP — thus creating a growth bubble, while adding to greenhouse emissions.
Chidambaram’s failure is glaring in six areas to which the UPA’s Common Minimum Programme gives priority: the public distribution system, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, health, education, social security, and reduction of regional disparities.
Instead of substantially expanding the PDS, he has raised its allocation by a paltry 3.5 per cent.
Forgotten is the goal of universalising it. The NREGA’s district-wise coverage has been doubled, but its allocation raised by just 14 per cent.
The budget’s health outlay is 17 per cent higher than last year.
But an annual increase of 35 per cent is needed over several years to raise public health-spending from the present miserable 0.9 per cent of GDP to the three per cent target.
As for social security, Chidambaram has ignored the thoughtful recommendations of the parliamentary standing committee on unorganised sector workers to give rights and entitlements, not flimsy schemes to which they contribute a premium. He has merely repackaged existing schemes for health insurance and passed them off as new. The UPA had promised to invest substantially in backward areas and states, and take urgent measures to reduce regional and subregional disparities in infrastructure, agriculture, industry and social development, which are now acquiring explosive dimensions — as the growth of Naxalism shows. The budget betrays this promise.
However, the budget has raised military spending by 10 per cent at a time when the defence ministry is returning about Rs4,000 crores unspent year after year. Including pensions, the defence allocation now stands at Rs121,160 crores — compared to a mere Rs34,300 crores for education.
Like the big tax breaks for the rich, this does not speak of balance or healthy public priorities.
Praful Bidwai is a senior Indian journalist, political activist and widely published commentator