‘Give in writing that Punjab is not part of India and has to pay rent for protection from the Indian military’. How could an elected Chief Minister of an Indian state talk like this about the Indian military? That too the Chief Minister of Punjab. Does he not know about the dark chapters in the history of the state? Of course, he does. He just does not care.
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, we have to deal with the fact that Bhagwant Mann is now the democratically elected chief minister of Punjab. He gets to make the most important decisions about the 3 crore people of the state. Those are 3 crores of my fellow citizens. And when the Chief Minister of Punjab says ridiculous and dangerous lies about the Indian State, the State of Punjab and the Indian military, I am going to call him out.
So here are the four “lies” of Bhagwant Mann. And at the end of it, one cynical truth, which may actually be the worst of all.
(1) So Mr. Mann says he met Rajnath Singh over some kind of bill sent for the deployment of the Indian military to Punjab during the terrorist attack at Pathankot. But why? The terrorist attack happened in the early days of 2016 when Manohar Parrikar was Raksha Mantri. At the time, Rajnath Singh was Home Minister. He had nothing to do with the military. So it is an obvious lie that Mr Mann would have met the Home Minister on the issue of deployment of the military.
(2) Now, as many netizens have pointed out, Bhagwant Mann may have misspoken. When saying “military,” maybe he was actually thinking about the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF). First of all, how reassuring that a Chief Minister does not use words carefully while speaking in the context of a terrorist attack.
But even if you forgive that, how could Bhagwant Mann possibly say that he received a bill from the centre for the deployment of CAPF? Seriously? At the time, Mann was just a random MP. Anybody who knows anything about the structure of the Indian state would admit that he has to be lying here. Even if the Center has to collect money from the state govt, why would they address the letter to some random MP from the state?
(3) Now let us come to the issue of the Center charging money from Punjab for the deployment of CAPF personnel. The way Mann spoke, it seemed as if this is some kind of special tax that only Punjab has to pay. But that is not true at all. The rules apply equally to all states, not just Punjab. And yet, the Chief Minister chose not to clarify this point, leaving ignorant people to gather whatever mistaken impressions they might take away from this. Again, that too in Punjab, where the ghost of separatism is never far away. No words to capture just how irresponsible this is.
(4) Okay, but why did the Center want to collect money from Punjab for sending the CAPF? Even if you give Mann every benefit of the doubt, it sure sounds bad, no? After all, our taxes pay for the Central government. Are we not entitled to protection, especially in times of extreme need, such as a terrorist attack?
So why do the states have to pay? Because of the Indian Constitution. The Constitution makes it clear that law and order is a state subject. The Center has no control over it. That’s right, zero, zilch. Remember when Mamata Banerjee arrested CBI officers in Bengal? Yes, inside the state, the state government has total control over law enforcement.
One common confusion, because of the name, is that actions of “Central forces” such as CRPF, CAPF etc are dictated by the Center. No, they are not. When these “Central” forces are deployed in a state, they are placed under the control of the state police. Yes, you read that correctly. If you live in an Indian state, and you have an issue with the CRPF, please contact your local police station. The CRPF takes all its orders from there.
The Center merely keeps a reserve of “police forces.” These reserve police forces are paid by the Center but have no authority to do anything. When a state needs extra personnel for law enforcement, they have to explicitly ask the Center to send these forces. The State has to hire extra personnel from the Center. These hired personnel will be under the command of the state government. And that is why the state government must pay.
(5) So if Bhagwant Mann is “lying”, you could ask why not take action against him? This is an extremely sensitive matter. Should Mann not face some kind of punishment?
Well, remember how I promised you one cynical “truth” at the end? The fact is you can’t. Because Mann said all this on the floor of the Assembly. An elected representative speaking on the floor of the House enjoys total immunity with respect to speech. You can’t do anything about it. This is a key part of the privilege of the House. Even the court cannot touch it.
So you see. Bhagwant Mann has actually read about the constitution and the structure of the Indian state. Just the parts that help him with his pathetic propaganda.
I miss the old days when people would make jokes about Bhagwant Mann being drunk on alcohol. It is a lot worse now that he is drunk on power. Because this is no longer funny.
