In a development that is bound to spice up politics in the state and within Biju Janata Dal, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik sacked senior party MP Baijayant Panda from the post of BJD Parliamentary Party spokesperson yesterday.
Patnaik removed Panda from the party post with immediate effect; a terse one-liner – signed by party vice-president Suryo Narayan Patro – announced the decision. The announcement did not cite any reasons why Panda was being removed:
Panda on his part too reacted rather economically with words, saying he “respects the party president’s decision”.
This development comes a couple of months after Panda penned an editorial in Samaja about self introspection by the party. His subsequent comments on social media over the need for course correction by the party in wake of BJP’s rising fortunes in the state have not gone down well with many BJD supporters and leaders.
Last week, Naveen Patnaik had announced Rajya Sabha nomination for Pratap Keshari Deb, former MLA from Jay Panda’s parliamentary constituency. Deb had been vocal against Jay Panda’s utterances on social media. He routinely advocated and advised Jay Panda to discuss party affair in party meetings and not to ‘wash dirty linens in public’.
The removal from spokesperson post is believed to be the first warning to the ‘erring’ MP for his ‘anti party’ rumbling in social and mainstream media. Apart from his editorial in Samaja, commenting on the recent joining of former BJD leaders in BJP, this is what Jay Panda had tweeted:
One gone yesterday, another today. Yet when i cautioned last week, was contradicted. Now large sections unrepresented, resentment everywhr ?
Earlier, we had told you how his routine outbursts in the social media were brewing a political storm in Odisha politics. Naveen is known to be a hard task master and doesn’t take any party indiscipline lying down. BJD MP from Cuttack, Shri Bhartruhari Mahatab was earlier served a show cause notice for hinting that BJD should join hands with Congress. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that CM has taken action against Jay Panda after his ‘repeat offences’.
However, it appears that these disciplinary actions are not working to the effect Naveen babu would have wanted. Bhatruhari Mahtab seems to ignore the warning and is continuing his rants against some party leaders, calling some of them ‘cockroaches who are daring to fly’, which was seen by some as veiled reference to new cabinet appointees by the Chief Minister.
Not just Mahtab, there are others too attacking fellow party leaders showing that rift within BJD is not about just one or two leaders. Jairam Pangi, Ex- BJD MP and former Koraput district president of BJD, had earlier raised his voice in the media against BJD’s Rajya Sabha nominee N. Bhaskar Rao. Also, he had termed BJD minister Rabi Narayan Nanda as ‘beimaan’ (dishonest).
Owning to these outbursts, he was suspended from BJD. Last week, he, along with hundreds of volunteers of BJD from Koraput district, joined BJP in the presence of Union minister Dhramedra Pradhan. Last week itself, another BJD leader Amar Nayak from Jajpur district had also joined BJP.
The recent cabinet reshuffle, supposed to have been done to send signals to non-performing members and to make the party stronger and more disciplined, has actually made matters worse. It has thrown up even more dissenters and disgruntled members.
Sundergarh BJD president threatened to mass resign along with district workers due to non-representation in the cabinet. Sambalpur MLA Dr. Smt. Raseswari Panigrahi showed similar concerns and her supporters staged a dharna. Even Jungarh MLA Dibya Shankar Mishra, who is also an official spokesperson of the party, came out in open to criticise the cabinet selection.
A common element in all these can be argued to be resentment of some party members and leaders against what is seen as unilateral decisions by the party high command. With BJP already getting in election mode in the state, coming days are going to be very interesting in Odisha politics.
Lalu Prasad Yadav has landed in a huge land scam in some of the most luxurious enclaves of the union capital, thanks to his daughter and son-in-law.
According to an expose done by Times Now, the land was purchased at Delhi’s Tony Sainik farms and Bijwasan luxury farm enclave under the name of Lalu’s eldest daughter and Rajya Sabha member Misa Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar under highly suspicious circumstances. The land transactions are reminiscent of the modus operandi followed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra.
Lalu’s daughter and his son-in-law had allegedly acquired a farmhouse at Bijwasan, near IGI airport, at a throwaway price of Rs 1.41 crore through mysterious business entities. Going by current commercial rates, the property should fetch anything between Rs 40-50 crore.
Further, the couple also reportedly acquired a farmhouse at Sainik Farms after an intriguing transaction with the owner.
In 2008-09, Mishail Packers and Printers Pvt Ltd, one of the companies together owned by Lalu’s daughter and son-in-law had purchased a farmhouse at 26 Palam Farms in Bijwasan for Rs 1.41 crore. The funds for the purchase of the land were arranged through sale of 1,20,000 shares of Rs 10 each in Mishail Packers at a premium of Rs 90. Within less than a year, the shares were reportedly purchased back by Misa and her husband at Rs 1 or Rs 2.
It is interesting to note that the Mishail Packers and Printers Pvt Ltd was registered on December, 2002, at the address 25, Tuglak Road, New Delhi, which was the then official residence of Rajya Sabha member Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Misa and Shailesh – Lalu’s daughter and his son-in-law – allegedly used another front company called KHK Holdings to ‘buy’ the 2.8 acre farmhouse at H 27/1 Sainik Farms. The company was originally owned by alleged hawala operator Vivek Nagpal, who had reportedly transferred 10,000 shares to the couple at a price of mere Rs 1 lakh.
The revelations come following Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi’s allegations that Lalu Prasad used Mumbai-based AB Exports Pvt Ltd, as a “front company” to acquire prime residential property for his family members in one of the posh localities of Delhi. Stating that AB Exports was used as a shell company for purchasing properties only to be “acquired” by Prasad’s family along with assets later, Modi said “the quid pro quo behind the deals must be investigated to unravel the truth.”
Lalu Prasad’s family is also at the centre of another land scam – Patna zoo soil scam. Lalu’s son Tej Pratap Yadav, the incumbent Forests Minister of Bihar, had awarded a Rs 90-lakh contract in Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, also know known as Patna zoo, for earth-filling and construction of pathways work to a company named MS Enterprises in which the minister, his siblings and mother are shareholders.
Senior BJP leader Sushil Modi alleged that it was Lalu Prasad who influenced Patna zoo soil deal. Modi claims that the soil worth Rs 90 lakh was purchased by the zoo for construction of a pathway from MS Enterprises without floating any tender.
The BJP leader demanded a detailed probe and said that the investigation should look into all the aspects of soil purchase deal.
The Nitish Kumar government has been under tremendous pressure ever since the scam came to the light. On 6 April, Bihar chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh ordered an investigation into the scam.
A series of scams and mounting allegations of corruption against Lalu Prasad will have a big impact on the RJD-JDU coalition, political observers believe.
The Supreme Court, on May 8, had revived criminal conspiracy charges against the RJD chief in fodder scam cases. Lalu Yadav will be tried separately in each of the four fodder scam cases. Of the 55 cases filed in connection with the fodder scam, Lalu is an accused in five cases. The cases are at their various stages of trial.
The Supreme Court order came at a time when Lalu Prasad is in a tight spot after he was shown in an audio conversation with Mohammad Shahabuddin. In the audio tape, aired on Republic TV, the mafia don is heard passing on instructions to the RJD chief from the comfort zone of the jail.
Mother and Son duo of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were dealt a huge blow by the Delhi High Court after it gave a go-ahead for an Income Tax probe into the Young India Private ltd, which is involved in the alleged National Herald scam which amounts to about Rs 5000 crores.
Young Indian has approached the High Court to stay proceedings against it in the National Herald case. The High Court bench in turn asked Young India to approach the Income Tax assessing officer, after which the company withdrew its petition, and hence the High Court dismissed the plea clearing the path for the probe.
Before we go ahead, let us quickly recall the facts of the National Herald case, how the Gandhis are involved in the whole thing, and why the Income Tax probe may be a huge blow for them.
National herald was a newspaper which was founded by Nehru in 1938 and ceased normal operations in 2008. During this time, the paper mainly acted as the official mouthpiece of the party.
When the paper ceased normal operation in 2008, its parent company Associated Journal Limited (AJL) had a debt of 90 crores.
According to Subramanian Swamy who is the main petitioners against Young India, in 2011 a firm called Young India limited was created by Sonia and Rahul with a paid up capital of about Rs 5 lakh. In the company Sonia and Rahul each reportedly hold a 38% stake.
The new company then passed a board resolution that they would offer AJL a structure that it would arrange loans to wipe off all its debts. This in itself raises eyebrows as AJL was the owner of various prime real estate properties which amounted to a total of anything between Rs 1600 crores and Rs 5000 crores, hence the debt should never have been a problem in the 1st place.
Now apart from Sonia and Rahul, Oscar Fernandes and Motilal Vora too reportedly held equity in Young India and incidentally the Chairman of AJL was also Motilal Vora, which is a case of conflict of interest.
Swamy further alleged that in-return of Young India clearing all the debt of AJL, the latter would transfer all its shares to Young India (which means Young India will own all the Rs 5000 crore real estate properties).
It was further alleged that AJL was given an interest free loan by the Congress party at the direction of the treasurer who incidentally also was Motilal Vora.
What added another dimension to the whole story was the fact that after Young India took control of the National Herald’s properties, it rented out the Press Area property at about 60 lakh per month for various government services.
So to sum it up, after paying up just 5 lakh to form Young India, Sonia and Rahul allegedly managed to acquire about Rs 5000 crore worth of properties of National Herald and considering their shares in Young India, they each allegedly earned assets worth Rs 1900 crores. Plus they allegedly earned a rent of about Rs 60 lakh per month for renting out the press area property.
Now as a stay on the Income Tax probe has been denied by the High Court, all the allegations surrounding the case may soon end up becoming facts and Sonia-Rahul could be asked to pay taxes or penalties. It can further attract penalties on the party as a political party is not supposed to indulge in commercial activities.
The probe incidentally was ordered by the Patiala House Court, against which Young India had appealed in the High Court. So they may now appeal further in the Supreme Court hence there may be some time before the probe actually gets completed.
Also as a footnote, National Herald was revived by Rahul Gandhi in a digital avatar in November 2016 and it soon ended up in a controversy when it was exposed by people for publishing blatant lies.
The National School of Drama (NSD) is an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It is regarded as a centre of excellence in the field of arts and culture. Bollywood greats like Anupam Kher, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah are among the alumni from the NSD, which has also trained current crop of actors like Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
Current superstar Shah Rukh Khan also owes a bit of his training as an actor to NSD, as he used to visit the campus and work with actors there. His father ran a canteen on the campus, which gave him this opportunity. He had said that the experience helped him hone his skills.
Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah during their NSD days
NSD was registered as an autonomous institute in 1975, while it was given a deemed university status in 2005. However, in 2011, the deemed university status was revoked following a request by the NSD itself. The institute had argued that a deemed university status could undermine the flexibility and freedom a creative institute should enjoy, for it might have to follow too many government rules and regulations.
While it indeed is fine for a creative institute to seek freedom and flexibility in its operations, they should be limited to areas like training, education, and performance. But it appears that the NSD has taken this flexibility and freedom even to its admission process, where it is being accused of not adhering to the rules regarding excluding the ‘creamy layer’ form the seats reserved for the OBC (Other Backward Classes) candidates.
The issue came to light when some RTI activists and a group called ‘India Against Injustice’ were tipped off by a student of NSD in January last year. These set of activists then decided to dig deeper into the case and they discovered that the institute was way too lax in following the admission guidelines. The activists believe that only active collusion or malafide intentions can explain the laxity and incompetence they discovered through their investigations.
Rajesh Tandon, the convenor of India Against Injustice shared with OpIndia.com the documents related to this admission irregularity that he could retrieve with active support from RTI activists Nipun Arora and Shivkrit Rai, both of whom are also 3rd year law students.
Initial tip off that ‘India Against Injustice’ received was regarding the case of a particular 2nd year student who is the daughter of a high-ranking army officer. The girl was given admission under the OBC quota in the year 2015, even though her father, who holds a rank of Major General, surely was earning enough to qualify for the ‘creamy layer’ category.
“We did not blindly believe the tip-off and we carried out our own investigations for months. We even talked to administration members, faculty, graduates and students of NSD trying to extract information, after which we were reasonably convinced that this was a clear case where someone not eligible for reservation benefits was provided the benefits meant for the weakest among the weaker sections,” Rajesh Tandon told OpIndia.com about how this admission malpractice was unearthed.
After he was convinced that the admission to the girl was in violation of the ‘creamy layer’ rule, Rajesh wrote a letter to the NSD Director on 21st June 2016, with all the details. He suspected that either the girl had provided wrong information or the NSD authorities were complicit in violating the rules. However, he didn’t even receive any acknowledgment, let alone any promise of looking into the complaint.
“Our group has been working on similar cases with other top institutes and I can tell you that some NSD officials acted very arrogantly and irresponsibly. NSD runs on taxpayers’ money and 50% of the total no. of students studying at NSD are from reserved category. I expected better conduct and accountability,” Rajesh shared with us his experience.
India Against Injustice complained to the Ministry of Culture a month later on 21st July 2016 seeking high level inquiry into this malpractice. Fortunately, the Ministry took cognizance of the matter and issued a letter on 10th August 2016 to the Registrar of NSD seeking comments from the institutes on priority.
Rajesh Tandon claims that NSD did not provide much information or update over the case despite the Ministry of Culture letter. His attempts to seek responses or information were stonewalled most of the times in the following months. This is when he was joined by RTI activists Nipun Arora and Shivkrit Rai, who decided to use the RTI act to elicit information.
“We filed four RTI inquiries in December 2016 seeking information about not only this particular case of the army officer’s daughter, but about all reserved category students. However, even our RTI queries were responded with ‘information is being collected and will be furnished shortly’ kind of messages, that too after the mandatory 30 days period – basically they were not providing information promptly for some reason,” Nipun told OpIndia.com
The National School of Drama, Delhi.
In February this year, Nipun complained to the NSD about not receiving proper responses to his RTI queries, and on 28th March he complained to the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) complaining about the same.
Finally, they started receiving some pieces of information, which they claim hint at massive malpractices being followed during admissions to the National School of Drama.
The activists say that they came to know that NSD had formed a committee to look into their complaints after the Ministry of Culture wrote to them in August last year, however, this committee met for the first time only in February this year i.e. after RTI applications were filed, which perhaps sent a message to the institute that the activists were not to ready to give up on the matter so easily.
Early this month, through the RTI replies, they came to know of the following details:
The particular girl, whose case triggered the investigations, had applied for admission twice earlier. First in General category, and second time in OBC category. She was granted admission finally in 2015 under OBC category.
The girl’s caste certificate is not issued by any office of the SDM (Sub-Divisional Magistrate) or of the Tehsil or Revenue Department, whose certificates are considered standard and valid. Activists say that this means that this particular student has neither submitted an OBC certificate nor a non-creamy layer declaration.
The girl was issued a notice on 6th April this year asking her to declare non-creamy layer status within two days, to which she replied that she was not aware about this creamy layer ‘segregation’ at the time of admission and hence her caste certificate doesn’t mention so. She requested the institute to consider her matter in wake of this observation.
Apart from this girl, at least four other students – three of whom were granted admission in 2014 and another in 2015 – who were offered admission under the OBC quota had not submitted any certificates that prove that they don’t belong to the creamy layer.
Activists claim that when they went through the caste certificates (retrieved through RTI) of those granted admission, they discovered that there were also cases where non-creamy layer declarations were old or inadequate i.e. there were more cases where proper documentation regarding the ‘creamy layer’ rule was not followed.
RTI reply from the NSD listing students who had still not provided non-creamy layer information.
These findings clearly show that the NSD authorities have been completely careless and negligent in examining the documents and information furnished by the students. Whether this was result of incompetence or whether this hints at a scam, where these authorities were deliberately allowing admission to students who otherwise don’t qualify, is something that is subject of further investigation.
But Rajesh Tandon, Nipun Arora and Shivkrit Rai believe that this is not just a case of carelessness or lackadaisical attitude. Their suspicion finds roots in the fact that their attempts to get information was stonewalled for months at various stages.
“At least the case of that particular girl appears an open and shut case,” Rajesh said, “For some reason she is not willing to submit a declaration even after being asked so. She was applying for the third time so it is hard to believe that she was not aware about this condition as she claims. She can furnish ITR (income tax returns) copies of her father, but she is deflecting the issue to the caste certificate, even which is also not valid in our opinion. Now NSD says they will talk to the authorities who issued the caste certificate. This is bizarre. She is being given a long rope by the institute, which appears odd.”
“Government (DOPT guidelines) rules clearly state that anyone found to be from creamy layer of OBC in government offices or institutions should be immediately expelled or discharged from the services. She clearly fails the income test of creamy layer provision,” he added.
“Furthermore, the committee that is investigating the whole case has no independent members from the arts or theatre community. How can we trust any impartial or transparent investigation?” he further asked.
RTI reply from the NSD informing about the committee that is looking into the complaints.
“We are sure that irregularities of such level can’t happen without the involvement of an insider. That’s why it is a scam. Rich and people with influence from OBC backgrounds are snatching away the rights of the poor among the poorest. It is a crime!” Rajesh asserted.
Nipun too said that the attitude of NSD officials makes them suspect a foul play.
“I had asked them for an update on Monday itself,” Nipun told us, “But they are still giving standard replies that the issue is being investigated. They say that they have written to the authorities who have issued caste certificates. Isn’t it an attempt to further delay the case? An SDM or a Tehsildar will take his own sweet time. And they are not supposed to know the current income level of parents of the students. Remember, there are some students from the 2014 batch who will be graduating in some time and they have not yet submitted the required documents.”
OpIndia.com too talked to the Mr. OP Sagar, the Deputy Registrar of the NSD on Thursday, and he confirmed that there were some cases of students who had not submitted the required information about the ‘creamy layer’ status and the ‘matter was being investigated’. He confirmed that no final decision had been taken in this case by the institute.
The activists now demand that the entire period from 2006 to 2016 should be investigated and documents of those who were provided admission under the reserved quota should be checked. They believe that the institute is denying admission to rightful candidates by allowing admissions based on incomplete or faulty certificates. And there could be a larger story behind these irregularities.
If your vehicle’s brake fails, what would you do? Try to reduce speed somehow, minimize risk and reach home safely. Or go faster so that you reach home before accident takes place?
The Aam Aadmi Party has faced few very serious electoral setbacks recently and are in the middle of a crisis. One would expect them to choose option one i.e. go back to drawing board and regroup. But they chose option two and started casting doubts on EVM after loss in Punjab and Goa.
Following embarrassing defeats in Rajouri Garden by-polls and MCD elections, they escalated the offensive. During the live demo of ‘Toy EVM’ in Delhi Assembly, AAP has gone to an extent of saying that EC is hand in glove with BJP. Therefore even EC cannot be trusted with conducting election.
AAP has come up with crazy theories to show how EVM can be hacked, I wonder what makes them believe that VVPAT will not be susceptible to hacking? If a determined hacker can rig EVM why can’t they do the same to a VVPAT machine?
If someone can change motherboard of lakhs of EVMs, why can’t the printer of VVPAT machine be rigged (reprogrammed)? Just write a program that forces VVPAT to show a dummy slip to user but in reality it generates rigged slip and drops in the attached box. Done!
Maybe I have given AAP supporters the idea to indulge in the next level of conspiracy theory when they lose the next elections. Or maybe they can take a break and reflect on a few things.
There are three aspects of any system; People, Process and Technology. Together they complement to build a system that functions properly. With complete disregard for the security controls and processes built around polling process, AAP has targeted the technology and people.
They have built their narrative around the fact that EVM is a machine that runs on software, therefore it can be hacked by people. As a remedy, they are gunning for introduction of another machine (which by the same logic should be equally vulnerable for hacking). If I can go as crazy as AAP supporters, I can also argue that the same people who were replacing motherboard of EVM, will now come armed with motherboard of EVM and chip of VVPAT. You don’t solve one problem only to create another one.
Where does this craziness stop? AAP’s current position is that they will not accept any other than either going back to paper ballot or 100% VVPAT integrated EVMs. If we have IITians who claim to know 10 ways to tamper EVM, their friends in Bihar know 100 ways of booth capturing.
VVPAT integration is something EC is already on track to achieve this in 2019 LS elections. Following SC’s direction in 2013, EC decided to implement VVPAT in phases and finish by 2019 LS. In fact, Goa became the first state to deploy 100% EVMs with VVPAT during recently concluded assembly elections where AAP lost deposit in virtually all the seats.
If you are wondering why AAP is going on this path despite knowing that EC is working towards achieving 100% EVMs with VVPAT, answer lies here: When EC comes out with assurance that all EVMs will have VVPAT by 2019 and AAP will claim moral victory for forcing EC to go for VVPAT.
Next, a decision about disqualification of 21 MLAs and the issue of falsification of account books submitted to Income Tax Department will come. AAP is very likely to be found guilty on both the counts. Arvind Kejriwal will play the victim card coming up with arguments like “since we exposed EC and forced them to implement VVPAT, they are taking revenge from us.”
Note: The much talked about Hackathon will not help. EC will ask hackers to operate within the defined security controls (as things happen in real election situation, with all observers and stakeholders keeping watch) and AAP will argue that EC is not giving them the freedom to replace the the EVM’s motherboard and walk out of it.
As our nation continues to be plagued with issues like compromised national security highlighted by recent cross border attacks, threatened internal security highlighted by the recent Maoist attack and a not so rosy job environment as evident by the recent layoffs in IT, there are a lot of issues on which the opposition can constructively corner the government to ensure remedial action.
But instead, the opposition has been hell bent on creating a cacophony over the issue of EVM tampering after the recently concluded assembly elections. The opposition has chosen to question the electoral process rather than accepting the verdict delivered by the people of India.
In order to further the elaborate conspiracy theory of ‘EVM tampering” the opposition has spread some heavy duty lies.
This began when AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal, who nowadays is riddled with corruption charges, desperately spread a lie that VVPAT equipped EVMs in Bhind, Madhya Pradesh were registering votes in BJP’s name regardless of the button pressed. It was debunked by us and the whole controversy had begun when low IQ (possibly) journalists took a joke cracked by the Chief Electoral Officer on face value. It was confirmed by various sources that VVPAT machine did not print lotus (BJP symbol) twice even though different buttons were pressed on the EVM.
This propaganda was taken forward by Aaj Tak when it reported that in Dholpur by-polls of Rajasthan, Congress had thrown a tantrum as votes were getting registered in BJP’s favor when people were pressing the Congress’s button on the EVM. This again turned out to be false as the Congress leader himself clarified that there was only issue of an EVM not working, and that there was no case of votes going to BJP regardless of buttons pressed.
Apart from these two incidents, which still are being repeated as truth, another incident cited to cast doubts over the EVMs is a reported case where an independent candidate of BMC had alleged that he received zero votes at his own booth even though he and his family members had voted in his favor. The candidate then called for an investigation in the matter over this ‘suspicious’ incident.
This is what the candidate named Shrikant Shirsat was quoted as saying:
In the last assembly polls, I got 1500 votes. Now, apparently, I have got 44, and from my booth, zero. I voted for myself, my family voted for me and so did my neighbors (on 90-feet Road in Saki Naka) – where did those votes go?
This has also reportedly been quoted by AAP leader Manish Sisodia when he and his party indulged in the live EVM ‘hacking’ in the Delhi assembly on Thursday.
This claim though has now been debunked as a lie according to this Indian Express report. The Maharashtra’s Deputy Election Commissioner was quoted as saying that after an inquiry was ordered, it was found that he hadn’t got zero votes in any of the two polling booths where he was registered as a voter. As reported, he was registered as a voter in booth number 29 and 15. And in both booths he polled 11 and 2 votes respectively.
The official also stated that as he lived near booth number 29, he and his family might have cast the vote there. That is validated by the fact that he received 11 votes there which should cover his family and neighbors.
Also what is interesting is the fact that in his complaint to the state election commission, he had only raised suspicions over the EVMs and had asked for a re-poll. He never mentioned the ‘zero votes’ theory in his complaint.
Now when his lies have been called out, Shrikant Shirsat has stated that he does not wish to comment on the matter.
It remains to be seen whether the Election Commission now takes legal action against Shrisat not just for spreading falsehoods about EVM fraud but also for getting himself registered as a voter in two polling booths. Perhaps such lies need to be punished as they threaten to undermine people’s faith in democracy.
The absence of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in India has time and again been discussed and debated in the country. UCC in short is a collection of common laws for every citizens of the country that will replace the personal laws followed by various religions sects and communities of India.
The implementation of the Uniform Civil Code has been mandated by the Article 44 in our constitution which states that:
The State shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India
Recently there have been efforts by the BJP government to start a discussion about bringing in this code but this too has been met with extreme resistance by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. The laws which are governed by the personal law board mostly stem from the The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937.
This has ensured a conflict between the Personal Law Board and many Muslim women who continue to be subjected to regressive practices like Triple Talaq, Polygamy and Nikah Halala which are permitted under the Muslim personal laws.
This has raised a question many a times that when did the AIMPLB jump into the fray of preventing these set of reforms. A normal belief is that the AIMPLB existed before the Indian independence and after the Article 44 was introduced, has been opposing any effort of bringing in the Civil Code.
This though is a misconception and truth be told, the personal law board has existed just for 40-45 odd years and its enactment was triggered by this incident.
The Indira Gandhi regime of in the early 1970s was reportedly making continual efforts in order to reduce the dominance of the Sharia Law applicable to the Indian Muslims via a parallel legislation.
This was causing unease among the various Muslim religious leaders which reached a crescendo after the then law minister H.R. Gokhale introduced the Adoption Bill in the Parliament. This bill was reportedly touted as the first step towards the Uniform Civil Code.
This introduction of the Adoption bill was by their own admission a flash-point which triggered the formation of a unified law board for Muslims. According to the AIMPLB website, the introduction of the bill:
Successfully convinced the Indian Muslim community that the risk of losing applicability of Shariah laws was real and concerted move by the community was needed to defeat the ‘conspiracy’
This according to the board prompted Muslims belonging to various school of thoughts to come together on a common platform to defend the Muslim Personal Law. This resulted in a convention on 27-28th December 1972 in Mumbai. In this convention it was unanimously decided to setup the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
The board was formally established at a meeting in Hyderabad on April 7, 1973.
It is rather ironical that Kapil Sibal, a senior lawyer and leader of Indira’s Congress party, is today assisting the same board in fighting for retaining triple talaq.
Also as a foot note, even though the All India Muslim Personal Law Board may give out the feel that it strives to work for all Muslims, the reality is slightly different.
Even though under the Indian Law Ahmadis are recognized as a Muslim community, they are not represented on the All India Muslim Personal Law Board due to possible pressure from other mainstream Muslim sects.
Also the Shia community had formed its own personal law board in 2005. This personal law board has passed a resolution calling for a stringent law against the practice of triple talaq and has also issued a fatwa against cow slaughter.
Editor’s note: The article draws information from and was triggered by this piece written by senior journalist Kanchan Gupta in 2005.
At a time when Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal is facing a barrage of allegations from sacked minister Kapil Mishra, there is another scandal which has rocked the Delhi governmnt.
It has been alleged that Surendra Kumar Bansal, the brother-in-law of Delhi Chief Minister had indulged in corruption by violating the laid-down procedures in the civic projects awarded to him by the state government.
Mr. Bansal breathed his last on 7 May at Medanta hospital in Gurugram. Bansal reportedly died of a brain stroke.
As per documents received via RTI, it has been alleged that Bansal had submitted forged bills and invoices to the Public Works Department (PWD) to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore for carrying out a fraudulent project. The civic project, meant for building roads and laying of sewer lines in Delhi, was commissioned by the PWD Department, which is currently under minister Satyendar Jain.
The Renu Construction Company, owned by Bansal, was awarded a drainage project at Bakoli village along NH-44 in north-west Delhi in 2015. As per official records of the PWD Department, the Renu Construction had won the tender for “quoting the lowest bid”.
But official documents obtained by Road Anti-Corruption Organisation (RACO), an NGO that claims to monitor public works, in response to its RTI petition states that Bansal, on paper, had shown procuring construction material for the drainage project from a company called Mahadev Impex. Subsequently, the drainage project was cleared by Delhi’s PWD department, pending its completion. But interestingly, the said company Mahadev Impex is non-existent. In the process, Bansal has allegedly swindled the PWD to the tune of Rs 10 crore.
RACO had filed a complaint with Delhi Police in January in connection to the fraud. “The RTI replies stated that there were no purchases made by Renu Construction for the construction of the drain. In fact, there was no such company called Mahadev Impex in Rohtak, as was mentioned by Bansal’s firm,” Viplava Awasthi of RACO said.
“We demand a thorough probe into the PWD’s working. The chief minister doesn’t appear to be above board. He must also be subject to investigation into the forgery case involving his relative,” Awasthi was quoted as saying.
It should be noted that sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra also alleged that PWD minister Satyendra Jain had arranged a whopping Rs 50-crore land deal for Bansal. Mishra had also claimed that Jain had given 2 crore rupees in cash to Arvind Kejriwal. Mishra too is now demanding an inquiry into the incident.
“Should we stop raising questions about how the entire Bansal family, Bansal’s companies might have benefitted through wrongful land deals, illegal PWD bills just because he (Surender Bansal) is no more?” the former Delhi water minister was quoted as saying.
The Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police is probing corruption charges. The Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) of Delhi Police has registered three separate FIRs against Kejriwal’s late brother-in-law and senior PWD officers in connection to the case.
“Names of fake companies were used to clear the bills when there was no work done. We have registered the case against Bansal and senior PWD officials. Separate cases have been filed because the bills were cleared by different companies for different work,” ACB chief Mukesh Meena said.
Meanwhile, Viplava Awasthi of RACO has lodged an FIR at Delhi’s IP Extension Police Station demanding investigations into the death of Surender Kumar Bansal under “highly suspicious circumstances”.
पीडब्ल्यूडी घोटाले में केजरीवाल के साढ़ू सुरेन्द्र बंसल की संदेहास्पद मौत पर पुलिस को शिकायत कर FIR की माँग, आईपीस्टेट थाने में अर्ज़ी pic.twitter.com/Ug8lOaebYK
Maoist activities in Odisha, which were on the wane for the past few years, have revived again. Odisha’s Kandhamal has become the safe haven for Chhattisgarh Maoists following the 24 April Sukma attacks that claims the lives of 25 CRPF personnel.
Leading Odia daily Sambad has reported that at a time when the security forces are preparing to avenge the Sukma attacks, the Maoists in Chhattisgarh has chosen Kandhamal as their safe sanctuaries.
Though the local police have the lead about this development, they are yet to take any action.
According to the report, a group of 20 Maoists were seen behind Kalinga B.Ed. College in G Udayagiri area in Kandhamal.
The report suggests that the dense forests in Phiringia, Chakapada, Raikia, Daringbadi, Kothagad and G Udaygiri have become the new den for the Chhattisgarh Maoists.
Kandhamal’s tryst with Maoism is not new. The southern Odisha district has seen several Maoist violence in the past.
In 28 April, the security forces exchanged gun fire with Maoists at Jajasapanga forest under Phiringia block in Kandhamal district.
In 2016, five civilians, including a 13-year-old boy, were killed in Kandhamal in a cross fire between the Maoists and the security forces.
In 2012, the Maoists had abducted two Italian nationals – Claudio Colangelo and Paolo Bosusco – from Kandhamal-Ganjam border and held them captive for 11 days and 29 days, respectively.
In 2010, the Maoists triggered a landmine blast in Brahamanigaon area of Kandhamal, blowing up an ambulance and killing five civilians including a three-year-old girl.
In 2008, Vedanta Keshari Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati was brutally murdered by Maoists along with four of his followers during a spiritual discourse at his Jaleshpata Hermitage in Kandhamal. Sabyasachi Panda — who is currently in Berhampur Circle Jail — had allegedly carried out the gruesome crime through two of his key lieutenants – Azad and Uday. Azad is currently lodged in Jharpada special jail in Bhubaneswar and Uday is in Kandhamal jail.
The Maoists might have pulled the trigger on frail body of the 84-year-old sanyasi, but several intelligence inputs suggest that the heinous crime was committed at the behest of Christian missionaries. Intelligence sources further indicate that a US-based Pentecostal Church funded Maoists to execute the attack on the revered Hindu monk.
Swami Lakshmanananda murder is a textbook case of Maoist-Missionary nexus. Sabyasachi Panda said on record that most Maoist cadre in Odisha are Christians, pointing to a deeper Missionary-Maoist nexus.
A day before the results of the Delhi MCD elections, Kejriwal held a small meeting with his party members to assess the situation. The exit polls had come in and by all accounts the Aam Aadmi Party was headed for a humiliating defeat.
A time perhaps to reflect on everything that had gone so sour so quickly for the party that had won 67 seats out of 70 just two years ago.
Kejriwal’s response? A passionate threat : “If we don’t win tomorrow, if the exit poll results are true, we will take them apart brick by brick”.
The real imagery of what he said comes out in the original Hindi : “Eent se eent baja denge“.
At that time, this was taken by politics watchers to be a joke, more of the same bluff and bluster that the AAP supremo is famous for.
But what if it wasn’t? What if Kejriwal meant exactly what he said?
Anarchy has always been part of AAP’s DNA. The Delhi Chief Minister, during his 49 day government, had made headlines for proclaiming himself an “anarchist”.
Back then, the Delhi Chief Minister duly received heavy criticism for his “anarchist” remark. But, little attention was paid back then to the ominous subtext of what he was planning to do at that time, a week before Republic Day.
While most people would remember Kejriwal’s dharna of January 2014, it has mostly been forgotten that his original plan was to stop India’s Republic Day celebrations, by flooding Rajpath with lakhs of supporters.
It was never really about corruption. They always had ideas of challenging the authority of the Indian state and visions of overthrowing it. Listen to Rajdeep Sardesai relate how he discussed with Kejriwal about a “Tahrir Square” like event in India.
Tahrir Square. Arab Spring. Regime change. Can you hear it now?
Back in January 2014, Kejriwal did not go through with his Republic Day disruption plans. Because at that time, he was convinced that he could actually seize power at the Center within a few short months, though legitimate means. He resigned the next month, and AAP decided to fight Lok Sabha elections.
They failed miserably.
Kejriwal changed his strategy after the defeat. He apologized for resigning; went to the voters with a highly organized ground campaign, promising everyone the moon and requesting one more chance. He even reached out to Modi supporters with AAP trying ‘Modi for PM, Kejriwal for CM’ message. He swore not to leave Delhi for at least 5 years. Paanch saal Kejriwal!
It worked! He was given unprecedented victory in 2015. Power came to him through legitimate means.
Enthused by his huge comeback in Delhi, Kejriwal’s ambition again got the better of him. Delhi was effectively put under Manish Sisodia as Kejriwal began implementing his grand strategy for national domination. Punjab, Goa and Gujarat were named as prime targets.
He was determined. As he was in 2014. This time, his pursuance of power saw him collaborating even with the enemies of the state:
Of course
Not to mention that Kejriwal could not curb his natural anti-India instincts and sided with those raising slogans of Bharat ki barbaadi. Worse, he tried to undermine the Army after surgical strikes in September 2016 which made him a hero in Pakistan:
Result we all know.
By now, Kejriwal must have known that the aam aadmi is angry with him. He has been handed humiliating defeats in Goa, in Punjab, and in his home base of Delhi. In Rajouri Garden, the AAP candidate could not even save his deposit. MCD elections saw BJP scoring big victory.
A canny politician would have chosen to lie low, much like Kejriwal himself did after 2014. Right now, Narendra Modi overshadows everyone else in the public imagination. It’s time to consolidate for a long conflict rather than challenge him in open battle.
Then, why isn’t Kejriwal lying low? Why has he become even more aggressive?
Perhaps because he realizes that the gig is up. It’s all over. The people have figured him out. Arvind Kejriwal and his crew has already milked democracy for everything they could have. He’s never going to win an election again. Unlike 2014, it is useless to try. He will not bark up that tree any more.
For Kejriwal, it’s time to bare his fangs.
And what better way to undermine the Indian state than to spread mistrust in our voting machines? Delegitimizing our elected governments is the critical justification that Kejriwal needs to call openly for the overthrow of the Indian state.
Now that AAP’s official line is that EVMs are hacked, they have given themselves the intellectual room to demand anything at all. The Constitution and the Indian state don’t matter, because their claim is that all constitutional authorities have been elected illegitimately. They have given themselves the intellectual room to make the laws by force of sheer intimidation on the street.
Didn’t Kejriwal say “Eent se eent baja denge” ? Perhaps he meant every word of it. Why are we assuming otherwise?
History, of course, provides a warning in the “March on Rome” and we would be smart to read about this event carefully and draw comparisons. In the Italian General Elections of 1921, Benito Mussolini’s party had failed miserably. They had won a mere 35 seats out of 535. This massive defeat caused Mussolini, who had already failed in the 1919 elections, to give up on democratic means to capture power.
Instead Mussolini decided to capture power through sheer force on the street. Some 30,000 fascists were dispatched on a long march on Rome in October 1922. The capital was placed under siege. The Italian state simply folded in face of such ferocity and within a week, Mussolini became the Prime Minister of Italy.
One week!
Do you hear today’s protests outside Election Commission offices by the AAP supporters? Do you hear echoes of the impatient man who wanted to flood Rajpath with lakhs of supporters?
