A bailable warrant was today issued against Justice CS Karnan of the Calcutta High Court by the Supreme Court after he had failed to appear in a contempt petition initiated against him because he had made allegations about corruption against certain judges. The case would he heard on 31st March.
The whole issue started when Justice Karnan had written an open letter to the PM dated 23rd January where he had named a list of 20 Judges who he alleged were indulging in corruption.
Needless to say, this allegation without any proof ruffled a lot of feathers and the Supreme Court acted swiftly against the judge. On 8th February a 7 member bench of the Supreme court issued a contempt notice to Justice Karnan and sought a reply from him by 13 February. It also withdrew all the Judicial and administrative work which was assigned to Justice Karnan. This order was a milestone of sorts as for the first time the SC had initiated contempt proceedings against a High Court judge.
The judge though didn’t take the order lying down and wrote a letter to the SC dated 10th February where he vowed of filing a criminal complaint against the Chief Justice of India for allegedly victimizing him (Justice Karnan) on the basis of his caste (Justice Karnan is a Dalit). He then failed to turn up for his contempt proceedings on 13th February for which he was issued a bailable warrant today.
This isn’t the first time Justice Karnan has been in the limelight and to say the least, his tenure as a judge which started in 2009 has been eventful. He alleged victimisation at the hand of few judges because of his caste and had written to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) in 2011 complaining of the same.
In 2013 he was the same Judge who had passed the controversial judgement about a woman being able to claim the social status as a man’s wife if both had engaged in pre-marital sex and marriage was promised to the woman. He also ended up issuing a gag order which prohibited any criticism of the judgement.
In 2014 he barged into a courtroom where a PIL was being heard about selection of judges and started arguing against unfair and biased selection of Judges.
In the same year, 20 of his fellow judges had sent a memorandum to the CJI asking for his transfer as they claimed he was difficult to work with.
In 2015 he had alleged dummy cases were being assigned to him and announced that he would be going on a long leave. He was transferred to the Calcutta HC in 2016 by the SC after the Madras HC approached it regarding an allegation by Justice Karnan that the collegium system preferred high caste candidates.
On 7th March 2016, 10 people were injured in an IED blast on-board the Bhopal Ujjain Express on 7th March. One of the suspects who had refused to surrender was finally killed in the early hours of Wednesday. The biggest shock about the attack came on 8th morning when MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan claimed in MP state assembly that the conspiracy was pre-planned and that the assailants who carried out the blast were influenced by the ideology perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or ISIS.
The ISIS angle to the whole story is growing, with reports coming out which claim that the bombs recovered from the accused had ‘ISIS-we are in India’ inscribed on them. It was also reported that the terrorists had even clicked a photo of the pipe bomb they had placed in the train and sent it to Syria. The MP police further arrested 6 more members of the ISIS module from whom 8 pistols and 1 ISIS flag was recovered. 4 other members are believed to be on the run. The motive behind the train blast is being reported as a practice attack in order to test the effectiveness of the explosives. The members of the ISIS cell were planning to carry out serial blasts at the shrine of Sufi Saint Haji Waris Ali Shah in Dewa Sharif, UP on 27th March.
This is the first time the name of ISIS has cropped up in a terror attack in this country. The warning signs about ISIS and its poisonous ideology gaining a foothold in this country have been out there for quite some time with various instances of people in this country leaving for ISIS controlled territories, modules getting busted, flags getting raised, so called lone wolfs getting intercepted being out there in the public domain. Here are a few key instances of the terror group’s influence in this country in reverse chronological order:
In January 2017 a temple in Himachal Pradesh was defaced with ISIS coming soon signs and similar slogans were smeared in that Army area which falls under the Solan district of the state.
In July 2016 the Kerala CM had announced that 21 youths from the state had left the country in order to join ISIS in Afghanistan. One of those youths was killed in a drone strike this February.
In June of 2016 a Hyderabad module of the ISIS was busted by the NIA leading to 11 people getting arrested. Arms, explosives and 15 lakh in cash was seized from the suspects. They reportedly wanted to carry out attacks in Hyderabad to proclaim the arrival of ISIS in the city. The true magnitude of the problem was reported in this NYT piece and this instance also somewhat busted the myth of ‘lone wolf’ attacks. As it turns out, for 17 months before the module getting busted, the main kingpin Mohammed Ibrahim Yazdani was in contact with one of the most influential ISIS recruiters named Abu Issa al-Amriki via the internet using a variety of apps which they changed at regular intervals. This contact with Amriki not just supplied Yazdani all the ingredients down to the bullets but also aided in the vetting of the new members. The group’s virtual agent organized the delivery of weapons as well as the precursor chemicals used to make explosives by directing the Hyderabad men to hidden pickup spots. These virtual contacts also acted as confidants and coaches who incited the recruits to embrace violence leading people to term such association as remote control attacks. Amriki was killed in April 2016 when a bomb hit his apartment in Syria.
In February 2016 a pro ISIS cleric Abdus Sami Qasmi was arrested by the NIA for delivering provocative and inflammatory speeches in favor of the Caliphate.
The anti-national activities inside JNU in February 2016 had also reportedly caught the eye of some ISIS recruits who wanted to infiltrate some of the subsequent protests calling for freeing jailed Kanhaiya Kumar and burn vehicles plus oil tankers under the garb of prostesting.
Apparently the profession of journalism too didn’t remain untouched. In August 2015 a man who claimed to be a journalist was intercepted in Delhi after he had put up social media posts, professing his intention to join the Islamic state. At the same time, there were reports of another journalist from Kerala joining ISIS. He though didn’t directly go from India, around 8 months prior to that report he had taken a job in the Gulf and from there gone to Syria.
Jammu & Kashmir, the place in this country most associated with radicalization and dissent has also seen fair share of ISIS sympathizers. ISIS flags had first appeared in the state in June 2014. Since then there were instances of flags flurried after Friday prayers. In June 2015 when VHP people burned a flag of ISIS, the incident triggered protests in J&K because the flag had Shahada ascribed on it.
In April 2015, the first ISIS module was intercepted in the city of Ratlam in MP after the arrest of 5 reported operatives.
One of the earliest signs of growing ISIS influence in India were found in December 2014 when a Hyderabad youth was arrested for running a prominent ISIS supporting handle on Twitter. The handle named ShamiWitness was being run by a Mehdi Masroor Biswas who worked as an executive in some Indian conglomerate and had been living a dual life. Apparently before the ISIS thing came to the forefront, Shami was described as an activist by The Telegraph and The Daily Mail.
In May 2014, it was reported that 4 youths mostly from Kalyan, Maharashtra had traveled to Iraq on 23rd May 2014 to join the ISIS. It was reported that three of them were engineering students. One of the youths named Arif Majeed was killed in Iraq sometime in August of that year. It was also reported that when the youths reached Iraq they saw 13 Indians already working for the Islamic state.
Apart from these there are other similar instances of people getting intercepted for ISIS related activities, it remains to be seen if we get to see further arrests in the coming days.
Jansatta, a Hindi newspaper from the Indian Express group stooped to publishing lies to support leftist agenda of discrediting and maligning people who disagree. It published a report bashing filmmaker Ashoke Pandit for his tweet to a lady named Shehla Rashid, who is the former Vice President of the JNU Students Union.
The whole affair started when Shehla Rashid blamed Ashok Pandit for the deeds of Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani. Not just leftist lady tried to make Mr. Pandit guilty by association, she called him names:
This was a clear case character assassination because Mr. Pandit is known to be a vocal critic of Pahlaj Nihalani. So much so that he had termed Nihalani a “tyrant” and has disassociated himself with Censor Board chief’s actions many times, such as this one:
Nihalani’s action should not be a reflection of my choices. I feel it’s a mockery of the freedom of a filmmaker. #JamesBond#Spectre#CBFC
However, since Ashoke Pandit is a Kashmiri Pandit – a community hated by the ‘bharat tere tukde honge‘ gang – he is often targeted by groups that support separatist elements in Kashmir valley. Mr. Pandit has made a movie titled Sheen, which captures the atrocities Kashmiri pandits had to suffer at the hands of Islamic terrorists.
Knowing that he is targeted by JNU groups that support characters like Umar Khalid, Mr. Pandit tried to convey the same in his reply, though his choice of using the phrase “sleeping around” was not the finest when taken in literal sense:
As expected, Mr. Pandit was accused of being abusive by using the term in literal sense. However, the leftists didn’t stop there and decided to drag his daughter into this. This comes close to the incident where a Samajwadi Party spokesperson had dragged children of a columnist when losing a debate.
The leftists created a fake tweet of Ashoke Pandit’s daughter and circulated the same. The fact that the tweet was fake was acknowledged by the account that created it in first place:
And when I respond in their language – they photoshop tweets, harass my daughter, abuse my family, to “make me realize how it feels”. (2/n) pic.twitter.com/A4522M6TTU
But despite being known that it was a fake tweet, Jansatta carried a whole report and published the fake tweet as a genuine comment by the daughter of Mr. Pandit.
A fake tweet reported as true statement
So for the leftists and their supporters in the mainstream media, targeting Ashoke Pandit’s daughter is a fair game. Unfortunately, no Barkha Dutt or Rajdeep Sardesai will condemn it or call it misogyny or bullying.
Meanwhile Mr. Pandit and his daughter are fighting a lonely battle against this harassment and character assassination. While no support from the media was expected (as media itself was a party in this harassment), they have received no support from Twitter as well:
2 days since a detailed email with reports has been shared with @Support, about targeted harassment against me. Zero response! @TwitterIndia
President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte has launched a war on drugs and this war has been bloody. More than 7000 people, mostly addicts and drug pushers, have been killed by the police and the vigilantes ever since Duterte came to power eight months ago.
We have another politician much closer to home who has launched a campaign against alcohol with the same sense of purpose as Duterte. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s prohibition campaign has not spilled that much blood as has been spilled in the Philippines (though there have been cases like this). But it has definitely managed to rob 35000 people of their liberty.
This is no doubt a staggering number. With so many people behind bars, the Bihar government has been forced to consider the expansion of jails. Although the overburdened courts are hearing large number of bail applications related to prohibition violations daily, there are thousands, including poor women, waiting for freedom for as minor a violation as a liquor bottle found near the wooden chulha.
So what are the reasons for this deafening silence regarding the incarceration of thousands of our citizens when even the arrests of terror suspects cause much debate and discussion in our media and polity? Let us analyse:
Silence of the alliance partners: Nitish has been in power in Bihar in alliance with his foe turned friend Lalu Yadav and former adversaries the Congress party. Despite having more number of seats in the Vidhan Sabha than JD(U), Lalu has accepted the leadership of Nitish for the sole purpose of establishing the next generation of his family in politics.
Many liquor traders have lost businesses and thousands of jobs have been lost after prohibition as government licensed liquor outlets had mushroomed around Bihar in the previous Nitish led government. Many of these people left unemployed are voters of Lalu. But when the careers of the sons and daughters are at stake, it is difficult to imagine that Lalu will make job losses an issue.
Congress party, which prides itself in its liberalism going to the extent of defending the freedom of expression of even separatist elements, has conveniently forgotten the right to liberty of thousands behind bars or the right to choose the food and beverages of the millions of Biharis for the sake of power.
Silence of the opposition: The principal opposition party in Bihar, the BJP is suffering from a huge dilemma. While BJP leaders have opposed the draconian nature of the prohibition laws and the singular focus of the Nitish government on prohibition, the party is still analysing the electoral costs of an all-out opposition to prohibition.
The moral angle of prohibition in a deeply conservative society as well as the fear of antagonising women voters has dissuaded BJP from opposing prohibition strongly, despite the fact that governance and development work in Bihar have taken a backseat due to priorities attached to prohibition.
Matters have been further complicated by Prime Minister praising Nitish Kumar for enforcing prohibition in Bihar, perhaps as a reciprocal gesture to the support he received from Nitish on demonetisation.
Silence of the bureaucracy: Bureaucracy in Bihar is under deep depression. Last one year has seen major scams in Bihar; in intermediate examinations, recruitment in an agricultural university, as well as in the most recent case of examination paper leak which led to the arrest of a senior IAS officer.
The IAS Association of Bihar has the grouse that while politicians involved in these scams roam freely, it is the bureaucrats who have to face the music. There is also much debate around the rivalry between the two All India Services – IAS and IPS.
In these difficult circumstances for the Bihari bureaucrats, the government has brought further stringent provisions regarding prohibition for government servants. Now, anyone serving the Government of Bihar cannot consume alcohol anywhere on this planet without attracting disciplinary action. So for the next tipple, the civil servant from Bihar will have to travel to Mars. Or perhaps the extra-territorial application of prohibition laws is also valid for Mars.
Not a murmur of protest was heard from the civil servants regarding the introduction of these new provisions. Nitish has definitely managed to put the civil servants in their place.
Silence of the media: It is the primary responsibility of our ‘fiercely independent’ media to bring to the fore any transgressions of the state. However, in the case of implementation of the harsh prohibition laws in Bihar, the media has generally failed.
For an outsider, the imprisonment of thousands of people for a minor offence like possessing liquor bottles may seem very ‘North Korean’ and the silence of the media may be surprising. However, the print media in Bihar suffers from a unique problem. Because of very low levels of industrialisation and the small service sector, the major newspapers are mainly dependent on the government for advertisement revenues.
This weakness has been very deftly used by the government so much so that it has even embarrassed major newspapers. For example, the largest selling Hindi daily in Bihar, Hindustan carried the news of the hooch tragedy in Gopalganj, which killed at least 16 people, as deaths due to diarrhea, and had to change its tune only when its error was too glaring after coverage in other newspapers and TV channels.
Our national media, though not dependent on the government of Bihar, has generally ignored the problems related to prohibition in Bihar. Channels which pride themselves in fighting for the rights of the terror suspects have nothing to say about the rights of the thousands behind bars in Bihar.
While prohibition has its virtues and has made a positive impact on savings of the poor households and could have the support of women, the draconian nature of the law in Bihar has given it a bad name. Police can put one behind bars without bail on such grounds as possession of a bottle of liquor and even the property where liquor is found could be attached.
It also makes it easier for people and police to frame law-abiding citizens. There has already been a case of a house of a senior Department of Post official being raided on the suspicion of possession of liquor. It was an attempt to frame the officer and was a traumatic experience for the family. Anywhere else this will be considered as measures implemented in a dictatorial police state.
The ostensible social aim of the prohibition law is to protect the weak, the vulnerable and the poor from the dangers of alcoholism. However, it is they who are also facing the brunt of this very blunt instrument. It is safe to assume that out of the 35,000 people in jail in Bihar due to the prohibition law, majority consists of the weak, the vulnerable and the poor as they have little means to navigate our legal system to set themselves free again.
Saifullah, a terrorist with suspected links to the ISIS, was killed in a counter-terror operation in the outskirts of Lucknow on Wednesday. He was suspected to have played a role in an IED blast in Bhopal-Ujjain train and was reportedly planning other terror attacks at various targets.
His father Sartaj, who lives in Kanpur, was approached by the media for comments after Saifullah was killed and his identity known. An anguished Sartaj said that those who don’t heed to their parents’ advice meet such fate. He further announced that he won’t take his son’s body as a ‘traitor can’t be his son’:
From his comments, it was clear that Sartaj was not someone who suspected a foul play. In fact, he revealed that he had even beaten up Saifullah as he had strayed from the path. He did not sound like a victimised Muslim that the left-leaning media loves.
But today, The Hindu, a left-leaning newspaper with a history of twisting facts to suit an agenda, published the following news article:
How The Hindu twists sentiments of a father
The headline read “Bereaved dad wants terror charges proved”, suggesting that Sartaj was not sure that his son could be a terrorist (this despite him disowning his son earlier).
The sub-headline – ‘There was nothing in my son’s behaviour that suggested he could be a terrorist or even an outlaw,’ says Sartaj – (this despite Sartaj saying on records that he was angry with his son’s behaviour and had even beaten him up) further suggesting that Sartaj was someone who didn’t consider his son guilty, and by extension, the encounter was “suspect”.
It appeared a case of manipulation by The Hindu to suit an agenda – where every terror operation against Islamic terrorists has to be brought under the cloud of suspicion.
So much so, that they twisted the statement of a father, for whom Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had expressed gratitude and pride on behalf of the parliament and nation today.
It should be noted that the main body of the report also concedes that Sartaj was composed and has been sticking to his original stand of a ‘traitor not being his son’, but the headline tried its best to put the Lucknow counter-terror operation under the clouds of suspicion by using Sartaj’s name.
The report further quotes Saifullah’s brother Khalid, highlighting that his “composure” was not as remarkable as Sartaj’s (trying best to convey that the family didn’t trust the security agencies fully?), but as per the same report, even Khalid says that the family will not accept Saifullah’s body.
Nowhere in the report is a direct quote of Sartaj or Khalid where they are demanding that “allegations” made by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) should be “proved”. Hope The Hindu has an audio recording to back that claim? If so, one wonders why there is no direct quote in the report.
The only direct quote that is remotely similar to what The Hindu claims, is Sartaj saying that he didn’t notice any behaviour that could suggest that Saifullah was a terrorist. That may well be to explain why he didn’t alert the police earlier. No way that can be interpreted as a demand to “prove allegations”.
Despite the family not behaving or issuing statements the way The Hindu would have liked them to, the newspaper went on and published a headline that puts question marks over the Lucknow counter-terror operation. Is this a deliberate attempt to build a narrative to claim another “fake encounter”?
Nonetheless, realising that perhaps they went too far in pushing the agenda or twisting sentiments of a father, The Hindudeleted the story from their website. The same story, with an additional paragraph, is now available with a different headline. Take a look yourself:
Did The Hindu change the headline on the website to escape criticism?
Twitter is usually a place where people generally get into argument over a variety of issues, though the conflicts mostly arise between people who have different political, religious and ideological preferences.
This time a war of words broke out between noted columnist Shefali Vaidya and a Samajwadi Party spokesperson named Pankhuri Pathak. According to her Twitter bio, Pankhuri is a Media spokesperson of the Samajwadi party who calls herself a follower of Lohia, Ambedkar and Nehru.
The argument between them began over the sitting posture of Akhilesh Yadav and Narendra Modi while they visited religious places. Pankhuri was tying herself up in weak arguments when facts were presented to her. She claimed that Narendra Modi was sitting in ‘namaaz’ pose, whereas she was educated that it was a Buddhist pose only.
The fight got a bit heated, and as a response to a tweet by Shefali, the SP spokesperson retorted by outright bringing in Shefali’s kids as some form of twisted revenge:
@ShefVaidya good to see that female Bhakts r giving their make counterparts good competition in foul mouthing.your ‘triplets’ must be proud
The SP spokesperson tried to justify her act by claiming that she was “abused” because of being termed a “moron”. To which, Shefali defended her that the term was not abusive, but descriptive:
.@pankhuripathak, giving the definition of moron. Someone who cannot recognise the difference btn a temple n gompa n prayer n meditation. pic.twitter.com/O665s5H1Di
Leaving semantics aside, even if Pankhuri was called something more objectionable, it certainly doesn’t warrant or justify Pankhuri’s reaction of bringing in someone’s children in the debate and terming the children “bully”.
This behavior of the spokesperson naturally, irked many people who didn’t hold back in their reactions
@ShefVaidya@pankhuripathak When you can’t argue on facts, make it personal! Real classy. Classic left-lib approach.
Even Shefali Vaidya had strong words against Pankhuri’s behavior:
Another gem from the very erudite @pankhuripathak. Passing judgement on my kids who have NOTHING to do with either politics or my views! https://t.co/3Tz7uO60df
It does remain to be seen if any action is taken against the SP spokesperson who has not even attempted to delete her tweets or apologise for her behaviour. In fact, she went ahead and blocked Shefali Vaidya, maybe to avoid the uncomfortable questions she was asking.
Samajwadi Party leaders are not exactly known to be respectful towards women, or for that matter twoards anyone. Spokespersons are usually supposed to be people who provide some respectability to a political party through their augments and conduct, which surely is not the case here.
In the past few days, videos of army-men complaining about the ‘sahayak’ system, have become the new “in-thing” for Indian media. First we had the unfortunate death of an Army Jawan named Roy Mathew, who was working as a sahayak (helper). He had allegedly featured as an unnamed sahayak in a “sting operation” filed by website The Quint on 24th February, which talked about the menial jobs the sahayaks have carry out.
It appears that some clues to his identity were revealed in the now deleted report, which may have led the jawan to taking some drastic steps.
Next, we had CNN-News 18 carrying an interview of yet another jawan who claimed to be “sahayak” forced to do menial jobs:
An army press release later revealed that the said jawan was in fact never enlisted as a sahayak and had previously faced disciplinary action for not obeying orders. As was pointed out in this piece by a former soldier himself, such unverified, sensationalised videos do nothing for the cause, but promote a sense of insubordination and mistrust among the members of the army, rendering them demoralised. Basically, psychological warfare which the enemy might have wanted done, is being done by the media in India.
It appears, the Modi Government has taken strong exception to truant media houses. In the past, we have seen brave and bold decisions by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, like the time they put “on hold” the “token” one-day ban on NDTV India for “compromising of national security”. In the present scenario, following bold moves have been proposed by the I & B Ministry:
1. Shri Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister, will give exclusive interviews to both The Quint and CNN-News 18
2. Defence Minster Manohar Parrikar will take part in a town-hall event organised by CNN-News 18 where he will make one or two off the cuff remarks which can be then spun by CNN-News 18 to attack BJP itself
3. Reporters of both The Quint and CNN News 18 will be allowed to do a show on the Indian army’s outposts and strategic preparations along the Line of Control, where-in some semi-sensitive information will be revealed. The media houses are instructed to learn from the Barkha Dutt brand of journalism:
On a post at Chenab River at International Border -a BSF jawan explains why water-minus a fence or sensors more vulnerable #TheBorderlinepic.twitter.com/O3e4LNCSFo
4. Shri Kiren Rijiju will subject himself to a third-degree interview on CNN-News 18 on which he will ensure he gets cornered on at least 3 issues
5. Advertisements of the schemes of the central government will be increased by 2.3 times to The Quint and 3.1 times to CNN-News 18
6. Any other media houses who will indulge in promoting insubordination and distrust amongst the armed forces will also be considered eligible for above package, and other benefits
The Government expects that after such strong action on erring media houses, especially one media house, whose journalist now faces a case for abetment of suicide, abetment of desertion of a soldier, causing death by negligence, mischief, and also committing an offence under the Official Secrets Act, will serve as a deterrent for the future.
In the Sahibabad area falling under the Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh, a girl studying in Class 10 was refusing to go to school even for her Pre-Boards. Her family was worried as she appeared overwhelmed with something.
When asked about the reason for her aloofness, she confided in her elder sister that one of her classmates named Firoz and his friend Ahsan used to threaten her with abduction as well as religious conversion.
Things took a turn for the worse on 18th February when the two boys harassed and teased her on the way to the school. This prompted the shocked family to lodge a complaint with the police as well as the headmaster of her school on 21st February.
The police meanwhile had only questioned the girl’s family and had yet failed to catch the assailants who had bolted their homes and fled. To make matters worse a prominent local goon turned up at the family’s home at about 11 PM on 28th February and threatened them to take back the case. This more than terrified the poor family and the girl whose father is a vegetable seller.
The police finally managed to catch the two accused on the night of 1st March, after receiving the tip that the accused were in the Arthala area of Gaziabad. They presented them in front of a Magistrate the next day and as the accused were underage, sent them to a correctional home. Apart from this the name of the girl’s classmate was also struck off from the school rolls after the family’s complaint.
The incident is yet another example of how Western Uttar Pradesh, even areas that are next to the national capital, has seen social frictions and tensions along communal lines, which are often triggered due to weak law and order situation.
It was in October of 2016 that I came across a Pakistani Parliament (Senate) committee report on the “Policy guidelines in the view of the latest situation developing between India and Pakistan”.
It is seldom that I find myself at a loss for words. I did that day, partly because I was amused at the juvenile ranting in that committee report which sounded like the members were a bunch of enraged 15-year-olds angry about India stealing their cookie, and partly because as I read along, I realised that Pakistan had decided to fight the war through a fifth column in India, and it appeared to be winning.
A fifth column is basically any group of people who undermine a larger group – such as a nation – from within, usually in favour of an enemy group. The committee report of the Pakistan senate juxtaposed with the narrative being set at home suggests that it’s happening exactly the way Pakistan wanted.
I’ll give you 3 major examples:
1. In the entire report, a sore point with Pakistan that stood out was India invoking the gross human right violations in Balochistan. Here’s one such excerpt:
No Balochistan please – Pakistan’s wish is command for?
So Pakistan does not want India to talk about Balochistan. Coincidentally, the same “suggestion” was given to Modi by many. Starting from opposition members like Salman Khurshid and many journalists who turned into foreign affairs experts in a matter of minutes.
One such article by a certain Ashok Swain went as far as to call the raking up of Balochistan, “diplomatic belligerence” and a “jumla”. He went on to say:
“Pakistan is very much aware of India’s limitations. By playing the Balochistan card, Modi is not going to deter Pakistan from meddling in Kashmir now or in the future. Balochistan only provides Modi with a diversionary plank to hoodwink his supporters at home about his imaginary 56-inch chest.”
and
“When one’s own house has caught fire and it’s spreading, prudency lies in not throwing fireballs at the neighbor’s house, even if you blame his candle for your fire, but in doing your best to put out your own fire first.”
Strange coincidence that what irks Pakistan has irked the commentariat in India. Pakistan wants no discussion around Balochistan, the Indian commentariat also argues against it.
2. Pakistan’s idée fixe with Kashmir is not new. It is thus not surprising that in this manifesto of hybrid warfare, their naked obsession was plain as the nose on your face. Relevant excerpt:
Narrative that Pakistan wants. Where have you read the same?
At the first glance, this excerpt is not different from the usual ramblings that Pakistan indulges in. Upon closer examination, one notices how its fifth column is building a narrative for them on our home turf. Let’s take the proposed “Kashmir narrative” by Pakistan point by point:
The media’s and oppositions support to elements like Umar Khalid and his entourage screaming “Aazadi” slogans directly helps Pakistan in building its narrative of “Kashmir’s right to self-determination”. I am reminded of a speech made by Umar Khalid, in which he says that freedom in India is not possible without supporting the aspirations of the people for self-determination which can also mean “freedom from India”. It is indeed reductionist to call these elements merely “ant-national”. They seem to be a part of Pakistan’s vital fifth column against India.
When Pakistan talks about “highest population to soldier ratio”, I am reminded of all the home-grown articles that peddled the dangerous narrative of revoking AFSPA, all of which didn’t fail to remind us of this ratio.
“Prisoners and wounded have certain rights” they say. Firstly, it’s quite rich when it comes from a country that is not only responsible for generations being wiped out in Balochistan, but also systematic elimination of minorities in Pakistan. Secondly, I am reminded of all those endless debates about pellet guns that were “blinding and wounding innocent civilians”. I wonder then, is Pakistan’s fifth column here in India helping Pakistan build baseless “atrocity literature”?
“Pakistan will pull troops employed to fight war against terror” sound laughable, but it is indirect threat to USA, whom Pakistan has been fooling by pretending to fight against terror and extracting millions of dollars in return. To make this fake fight against terror appear real, Pakistan needs a narrative that it is also a “victim of terrorism”. How many times have you heard that? And from whom?
The fifth and last part is even more laughable, but sinister. Pakistan would clearly not talk of Islamic radicalisation taking place in Kashmir, which is being actively orchestrated by Pakistan and people who follow their ideology of Islamofascim and two-nation theory. Their case is helped if one ignores role of Pakistan and the Islamist ideology and something else is peddled as the reason of “radicalisation of Kashmir youth”.
This is exactly what is being peddled through strings of op-eds being churned out. In one such article, JNU professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy blames the Indian state, the Armed forces and everything other than Pakistan or the radical Islam, over why the unrest refuses to die down.
It would have been deeply laughable if not so tragic and sinister when Ram Guha, who is presented as erudite historian in our television shows, goes on to blame Dadri incident for violence and radicalisation in Kashmir. Entire Kashmir problem is blamed on Hindu Right Wing, and Ram Guha says that “even if Pakistan stops exporting terror, we will still have problems in Kashmir”. Now go back to the fifth point in Pakistan’s Kashmir narrative.
Alternative history by Ram Guha. Subtle way of saying, Pakistan is not responsible.
Maybe Ram Guha is not a historian but a sci-fi writer who thinks Jihadists, who massacred Hindus in 1990s and carried out ethnic cleansing of the Kashmir valley, had time traveled to post-Modi India to record some videos.
Ram Guha’s article is not in isolation. An article written by Prem Shankar Jha goes on to suggest that Pakistan doesn’t have its eyes set on Kashmir – it’s an idea that RSS is fixated with. He writes:
“Unfortunately every single thing that the Modi government is doing in Kashmir is only exacerbating the tension between Pakistan and India. The BJP’s policy makers and their RSS overlords, are fixated on the idea that Pakistan is ravening at the mouth to swallow Kashmir. So it is taking advantage of the BJP’s ascent to power to stoke Kashmiri separatism, using paid stone pelters as its principal weapon.”
You see – it is the Modi government that is the culprit. We are being told to believe that “Pakistan is not ravening at the mouth to swallow Kashmir”.
As was pointed out by an article on OpIndia.com earlier, this narrative is the most pernicious and sinister, as it builds a Pakistan-friendly ground for another partition of India. It gives clean chit to Pakistan and Islamism.
3. It is common knowledge that Pakistan has historically, actively, tried to sabotage internal peace and security of India in order to implement its nefarious plans. But this this time, they declared it in the senate report:
Pakistan’s strategy to divide India by exploiting the fault lines.
I think enough has been said about how the Media and the politicians dangerously played with national security and peace, when they notoriously played up not only law and order issues in a communal manner, but sometimes created communal angles from thin air where none existed. An article by Mr. Ashutosh Muglikar had analysed it way back in 2016.
To Pakistan’s dismay, most of the propaganda via their fifth column didn’t have long term impacts. I imagine the frustration of failing to spark unrest in India was immense, and in a last ditch effort, Pakistan turned to try the same tricks on the Armed forces, the last bastion standing, untouched by fault lines.
The fifth column has been perhaps trying its best to divide the Indian Army on two plants. One, by ensuring that the citizenry start doubting achievements of the Armed Forces, and second, by dividing the Armed Forces from within.
Attempts to divide the Armed Forces is not new. But it has gained a feverish pitch in the last two years. From aspersions cast on the Armed Forces during the “terror boat” incident, to asking the Armed forces to provide proof of surgical strikes. From creating atrocity literature about “Indian army excesses” to peddling the line that the Armed Forces are fallible and deserve to be questioned.
From using the “but our soldiers are fighting at the border” mockingly to saying “our soldiers signed up to die”. We even heard journalists declare a soldier a “deserter” who crossed over to Pakistan due to “grievances”. Reality was that he had inadvertently stepped over and now back in India. Irresponsible reporting based on a WhatsApp forward most likely a Pakistani propaganda.
We recently saw a hideous case of criminal negligence by a portal called The Quint where they carried out a sting operation on an unsuspecting Jawan that lead to his suicide. A coordinated effort to create dissent among the Jawans by playing up the Sahayak system as an evil construct. There seems to be a systematic attempt to demoralise the Armed Forces and shake the citizen’s confidence in them thereby dragging the professional ethical institution of the Indian Armed Forces to the same level as that of the Pakistani army.
Congress had to tried to once divide the Army on religious lines by calling for the religious census of the Armed Forces which was thankfully thwarted. A renewed effort seems to be taking steam. We read endless articles about the travesty of Muslim soldiers not being allowed to keep a beard. The myths of the same were dismantled here, but not before it became a national narrative of communalism in the Armed Forces. There was also an incident where “Cobrapost” used a 5 year old video to demonise the Indian Army.
I could go on listing the numerous incidents where our home grown fifth column has tried to not only politicise but also demonise the Indian Army. It is therefore evident that the hybrid warfare has now turned to creating fault lines within the Armed Forces having failed to divide the nation on such lines.
It is thus unmistakable that India has entered a phase of composite warfare where risks to our sovereignty and peace don’t only come from external aggression at the border or by proxy war sponsored by enemy nation, but by activating elements in India who either work for Pakistan or sympathise with their “cause”. The senate report even ended with the emphasis to restart “track 2” talks which historically undermines the authority of the elected government and their actions.
The war, has reached the doorstep of every citizen. The government, Armed forces and intelligence agencies are not the only key members in this tussle. Every Indian is. It is therefore incumbent upon the citizens to differentiate between news and propaganda. To resist the urge to be sucked into the “aman fairytale” that might sound fantastical, but is perhaps the most potent weapon to weaken India’s resolve.
If we don’t wake up, we will lose this war. And then finally that placard will make sense – Pakistan didn’t … War did.
Over the past two days, Senior Advocate and former BJP member, Ram Jethmalani cross-examined Arun Jaitley in a civil defamation case filed by the Finance Minister against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The case relates to 2015, when Kejriwal and some other AAP leaders had alleged administrative irregularities and mishandling of finances of DDCA by Jaitley. Jaitley had denied all the allegations and filed civil and criminal defamation cases against Kejriwal and the other leaders. Jethmalani was representing Kejriwal in the matter.
On day one, the Court rejected 11 out of the 52 questions posed by Jethmalani to Jaitley. On day two, 2 of the 19 questions posed were rejected. The Registrar did not entertain any questions that were irrelevant to the outcome of the case, or that were already a matter of record and any questions which relied on Jaitley’s personal opinion. Here are some interesting questions and more interesting responses to the same:
(In all cases, the question is being asked by Mr Ram Jethmalani and the answer is given by Mr Arun Jaitley. In certain cases, the court has intervened)
A question to test knowledge of English perhaps?
If you don’t get the answer you want, keep repeating the question?
Time to play dictionary-dictionary again?
What’s life without some irrelevant spice?
Media houses also reported this question-answer back and forth, but it was missing from the transcripts:
Referring to Jaitley’s 2014 Lok Sabha election loss, Jethmalani rubbed it in saying a person who has lost an election should not talk about reputation. “What reputation are you talking about. You lost the election in 2014,” the senior lawyer said.
Jaitley hit back at Jethmalani in the same vein targeting his client Arvind Kejriwal. “Even Kejriwal lost in 2014. Elections are fought over party’s policies and not over one’s personal reputations,” Jaitley said.
Legal minds on social media were scathing in their commentary:
Line of cross examination shows AK & RJ are only trying to insult AJ. No substance in questions. Personally petty. Legally disastrous.
