Communities Have To Come Out Of Shells

Recent arrest of Himayat Baig, a Muslim youth in connection with the German Bakery blast has again put the Muslim community in city under scanner. Muslims in Pune have hitherto been living peacefully without any type of scrutiny. The past record of the community also served as a substantial reason for it to mingle with others just as any other community lives. But all this changes two years ago, when Mansoor Peerbhoy, a software engineer was picked up by the Anti-Terrorist Squad in connection with bomb blast in July 2008.

Since then, three young members from Muslim community have fell into police net. After Peerbhoy, Mohsin Chaudhary, a young graduate from Kondhwa made his way into police records as involved in terrorist activities. Himayat made it a hat-trick of sorts.

Himayat's arrest came as a stark contrast to the efforts put up by the Muslims in Pune. Just some months before Peerbhoy was arrested in blast case, Muslim scholars from all over Maharashtra gathered in Pune to deliberate the issue of extremism in Islam. 'Terrorism is anti-Islamic,' proclaimed the scholars.

A Muslim organisation in Pune had taken the initiative to repeat what was hailed as the historic declaration in Deoband in February 2008. An anti-terrorism conference took place in the city. The conference saw many scholars and activists from Muslim community debating the issue deeply.

All Maharashtra Rabta Madaarise Dinia, Pune was the organization which had organized that one day conference. However, it seem some community members have not received the message from that conference. It is upto the community now to take the initiative further.

On this background, it was reassuring that the Pune witnessed an all faith meeting. The meeting was conducted in a Ganesh pandal, which makes it more special. In view of eagerly awaited judgment from Allahabad High Court, the leaders from all communities appealed their respective members to keep calm, whichever way the verdict comes. Pune needs such initiatives.

The communities have to shed their shells and come out in open. In an ideal society, the communities should take backseat and rational or practical thinking should the driver engine. However, it goes without saying that our society is far from being like that. So the building of bridges should be taken into hand by the community leaders. Fortunately, Pune has a history of comfortable co-living, allowing a beneficial dialogue between the groups. We should expect more such initiatives in future, then.

Specially in this environment where a mere rumours about impending court orders are enough to ignite passions, sending government and administrations into frenzy, it is especially binding on the learned ones to come forward and establish an orders in seemingly disordered matters of faith.

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Democracy- A Forgotten Procedure

Sometimes, I am tempted to say that not many people truly like the idea that India is a democratic country. India may have a constitution proclaiming the virtues of the democratic system, but the general tendency of the populace is directly opposing to the spirit of the democracy. Chief among them are the coteries within political parties who benefit most from such a system.

Take for instance recent developments in the Maharashtra congress. A new head of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee is to be chosen by the partymen as Manikrao Thakare, present president has completed his term of two years. The Committee members gathered two days ago in Mumbai to arrive upon a name to head the state unit of the party which is enjoying power at center as well as in state for almost a decade. (The Congress lead government at center completed one full term and is into its second year of existence. )

However, the partymen chose not to tread the path which obliged them to exercise their own intellect. Instead of deciding a leader as president of the MPCC from among a plethora of candidates, the politicians relegated their voting powers to Sonia Gandhi, the national president of the party. The resolution to this effect was approved by the newly elected district presidents of the party.

Evidently, the party leasers to not think it necessary to follow democratic procedures to elect their president even at state level, let alone national level. It is funny how these same people go to public at the time of elections to legislature and parliament. We have come to accept this as a routing fact of social life. Voters even have forgotten to find any flaw in the system. Appointment has replaced the election and favour has replaced popularity. It is hardly surprising then that those at the helm do not necessarily find themselves figured in the popularity charts. And people hardly find their 'chosen ones' representing them at the important affairs. This is current affair of our state!

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Less Sympathy For Chandrababu This Time Around

Not many days have passed since Chandrababu Naidu staged a brilliant political drama in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. He brought an entire entourage of his party, Telugu Desam, legislators and workers first in Nanded district. He was arrested and later shifted to Aurangabad where he continued his theatrics in true blood AP politics style.

What Naidu did at that point of time, just days ahead to by-elections for 12 seats in Telangana area of Andhra Pradesh, was widely perceived as his bid to regain foothold in the border line area adjacent to Maharashtra. As Telangana is poised to get statehood sooner or later, Naidu could scarcely afford to miss presence of his party in the new state. Hence, the issue of Babli dam issue proved handy to him.

Alas! Naidu's gameplan did not worked out the way he liked it to be. TDP was routed in the ensuing by-elections. Still, the opposition leader in AP Legislative Assembly must be commended for his guts to take on a mighty ruling party like Congress head on.

However, the modern leader who once pioneered IT revolution in India failed to gain a place among the pro-Telangana workers. The fact is underlined before us with an attack on Naidu's convoy in Rangareddy district today. The pro-Telangana activists attacked his convoy.

Why I reminded of the drama Naidu created last month at the start of this article? It is because Naidu will get no sympathy from people of Maharashtra this time around. Just six years ago, Naidu's convoy was attacked by Naxalite extremists en route Tirupati. He was Chief Minister of AP then. At the time, there was widespread affinity in Maharashtra for a daring leader who heralded new techniques and means for the benefit of the people.

But the TDP chief has diluted much of the appreciation because of his misadventure last month. The Marathi media hardly take note of this incident in positive light.

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Ignorant Lot Make Insensitive Statements

Where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise. And where ignorant lot is given celebrity status, it is more so. Movie stars and Bollywood artists, who has become dear to media across the sub-continent were never famous for informed pronouncements. So it was hardly surprising when Salman Khan, least of all the uninformed and put-your-foot-in-mouth brigade went public with his completely misplace statements. Salman's statement is politically incorrect to the core, but what adds gravity of the situation is the fact is he spoke to a Pakistani channel.

It did not required a pundit to predict the uproar from all political quarters after the actor spoke what he should not have. Salman is notorious for being in soup many times on earlier occasions. A man who was accused of creating nuisance at his lover's house, making scene with colleagues at pub and most of all alleged to have killed deers while shooting for a film-is not expected to study the situation prior and after to 26/11 in Mumbai. The Pakistani media persons did their job skillfully. Now asking for an apology will do little good to Salman's image, adding one more embarrassment to his already overflowing repertoire.

During an interview to a Pakistani channel, Salman said that the 26/11 attacks were hyped up because "elite people" were targeted.

"It was the elite that was targeted this time. Five-star hotels and all. So, they panicked. Then, they got up and spoke about it. My question is why not before. Attacks have happened in trains and small towns too, but no one talked about it so much," Salman reportedly told Pakistan's Express 24/7 channel in an interview.

Salman's comments have been described as "anti-national" by parties like the Shiv Sena. Maharashtra's Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and Deputy Chief Minister Chagan Bhujbal, who will usually avoid making any comments where a Muslim actor is involved, spoke this time explicitly. According to Chavan,

“It doesn't matter whether a big or small person has died. It's very serious matter for the country when somebody loses his life in a militant attack. We need to work together to root out terrorism.”

Bhujbal, who called the statement "uninformed", was more to the point. He said:

"He is an actor. He does not have the information to make a comment on whether the Pakistani govt was involved or not. People travelling in taxis, constables, waiters, hotel workers, all lost their lives in the attacks."

Shiv Sena was more vociferous in its reaction, being a flag bearer of Hindu ideology. Party leader Sanjay Raut said,

The 26/11 attacks were a war against the nation. Salman should apologise for his remarks. Ambani was not staying at the CST, nor was Tata or Birla staying in Cama Lane

The Bharatiya Janata Party also criticised Khan for his unwanted comments. Ravi Shankar Prasad, BJP spokesperson, said:

26/11 attack was an attack on India. We cannot forget that Indian citizens were killed. This was not a small issue for Salman Khan to comment. This was an attack meticulously planned by Pakistan.

Special Prosecutor in 26/11 trial, Ujwal Nikam, described Khan's statement as naive.

It appears that without knowing the details of the terror attack, the actor made such statements," said Nikam, adding, "I shall say these are childish remarks. They (terrorists) don't make any distinction between rich and poor. It is judicially established that the outcome was a deep routed criminal conspiracy hatched in Pakistan and the targets were deliberately selected to wage war against India.

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The Shocking Announcement …In More Sense Than One

On the eve of the Ganesh festival in Maharashtra, the police, Chief Minister and media all have come with this 'shocking' announcement…that two terrorists are roaming in the street and cause havoc. Now in a state where a history-sheeter with two criminal cases against his name and known links with banned outfit Students Islamic of India can roam freely for two years, it is not a news that two terrorists have arrived in Mumbai in a bid to carry out their violent plans.

Joint Police Commissioner Himanshu Roy told reporters that intelligence reports received by the police and state home department said the pair -- said to be a Bangladeshi and a Pakistani -- entered Mumbai sometime ago.

The police fear that the two may carry out attacks during the Ganesh festival, which is celebrated in Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra on a grand scale.

What was more dreadful for me was the manner in which the officials went public with the information which, as has come out, seems little helping towards nabbing the terrorists. Probably the administration was buoyed by the success in arresting two main conspirators in German Bakery blast cast, as was claimed just a day ago by the same police. Now if the officials could carry out that operation with such swift and silent moves, what stopped them from doing same in this case?

Exactly what type of precaution did the officials wanted the public to take while issuing the alert to citizens in this manner. Does the administration think that their alert will be consumed only by common public and not the men whom they are searching or who have given them the shelter? If they want to create panic, they have succeeded. Alert citizens are not made through panicky notifications. They are made through the consistent efforts, which sadly lacked all through these years.

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Inducing Them For Sycophancy

As he is a scion of the Gandhi family which has inherited a vast political legacy in the country, Rahul Gandhi was all in his right when he appealed the 1200-odd students gathered in front of him to join politics. Probably he was putting forth his own model as the one who has stepped in the widely perceived murkier field, when he could have easily chased brighter avenues. Add to this two most cruel sacrifices coming from his nearest ones. However, his message does not hold enough merit to attract the innumerable young persons in the country, who throng to in vogue areas like information technology, in a bid to attain the best possible lifestyle which was hitherto a dream for most part of the immediate history when Rahul’s party Congress, or his family members to be precise, ruled the country.

Rahul said, politics can bridge the gap between communities. This is a oft repeated sentence. But unfortunately, like a coin which has lived too long bearing the market forces, it has also worn out of its existence. There is hardly any field in country more divisive than the politics is. Rahul’s own party has consistently showed its preference for minorities, read Muslims, resulting in the alienation of Hindus from it. This gave rise to Bharatiya Janata Party, which enjoyed power for six years and became the only non-Congress party so far to have that long stint in New Delhi. More than that, the most important question one can pose is this – is the political environment in the country conductive enough for new and young entrants? Just recently, Rahul’s mother Sonia got elected to the post of party president. How many in Congress party itself remembered Jitendra Prasad, a politician from Uttar Pradesh, who was only one to challenge Sonia for the same post in 1998-99. He was washed away into the oblivion after the unsuccessful attempt, that nobody again dared to repeat the feat. Sycophancy reigns supreme in all political parties in India, it is the only currency in Congress market. By cashing this currency, the political posts are brought as is seen by almost each level of organization and power occupied by offspring of political leaders.

As Rahul himself admitted, he got so far just because he has Gandhi tag on him. Can the same privilege be claimed by innumerable youths in the country, who, god forbids, wish to join the politics? Can the same youth be ‘inspired’ to follow the path of sycophancy in lieu of their physical progress into realms of power? Unless political and social equality does not take their roots into parties, what logic allows anybody to induce a productive section of population into yoking themselves to one or other form of subjugation? The youths are performing better in whatever they do.

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Sorry Plight of Marathi Schools

Two separate agitations in two different cities in Maharashtra have brought to fore the sorry state of Marathi schools in the state. In an year when the state is celebrating 50 years of its formation, the government apathy is killing the language schools in favour of the English schools. The action of the government is in stark contrast to the numerous promises it has offered to public, both before and after the elections last year.

Thousands of students and teachers joined hand to protest against the closure Marathi schools on Saturday. “We have a right to learn through Marathi medium, the government can’t deny us the right to do so,” the statements written on the placards carried by students read.

The issue was first raised by Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthhi Sena, student wing of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. The porganisation first objected to a Government Resolution brought out by the state government on June 19 which made running Marathi schools in the state illegal. First the government invited applications from the willing school owners for permitting the schools. When it received 9,000 applications, it conveniently allowed other schools while denying the same right to Marathi ones. Not stopping at that, it even threatened with criminal action for running schools without permission. Almost 4,000 schools all over the state are now facing the axe putting a question mark on the fate of the students.

The activists and lovers of Marathi are obviously concerned over the manner in which their schools are being sent into obscurity in a systematic manner. The Chief Minister himself and his council apparently have misplaced their priorities. In a state where 13 members of legislature have been elected on a strong linguist agenda and rejuvenation of the Marathi culture is evident everywhere, symptoms of Macaulay's mentality will be hard to digest. It comes as no surprise then that the opposition is growing stronger day by day against government policy. The state government will have to mend his ways.

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Politics of Settlement

Settlement has become the catchword of the Maharashtra politics nowadays. The thing was part of the political manners for a long period, probably dating back to pre-independence era. However, the personalities involved in the process always tried to avoid the utterances which might give any clue to this thing.

On this backdrop, it was surprising when Sharad Pawar, a veteran of settlementalsim went public with his displeasure over how 'some opposition members are blackmailing builders, threatening them with raising questions in legislature and thereby arriving at settlements'. Having spent his almost five decades of political career in more than three parties, forging alliances with thrice that number parties and boasting of innumerable friends in various political parties as well as businessmen, Pawar is undoubtedly a seasoned player in the way the settlements are done.

To take an example, one can remember how Chhagan Bhujbal, the lone Shiv Sena legislator in Assembly during late 80s fought single handedly against the illegal sale of 289 land plots all over the state. Bhujbal raised a storm of protest which has damaged Pawar's image, putting a stigma of 'land shark' which has refused to leave him since then. Pawar managed a Houdini act of political settlement when he brought Bhujbal into his fold just two years later. The latter has become a stauch loyal foot soldier of Pawar since then and continue to enjoy fruits of power till today.

On this backdrop, Pawar's statement drew a lot of criticism, which he intended, from the opposition quarters. Eknath Khadse, leader of opposition in Legislative Assembly, was at the forefront. Khadse has raised many issues pertaining to land scams in assembly, notable among them were irregularities in Lavasa and land scam at Pune.

Pawar had tried many times to repeat Bhujbal feat for Khadse but latter refused to budge. Again, NGOs and activists have shown with evidence how Pawar is involved in the Lavasa project. It was fitting then that when Pawar came up with his utterances, Uddhav Thackerey, Executive President of Shiv Sena replied him with 'a thief knows well the ways another thief uses'. It is a well observed convention in Indian polity that one politician does not reveal his cards, even after a game is over. So when Pawar disclosed the cards, it was evident that either he wants to change rules of the game, which is a Herculean task to say the least, or he simply want to dissuade others so that they are no longer interested in game.

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Festivals Are Among Our Few Healthy Signs

The mood in Pune is festive. With Krishna Ashtami tomorrow and arrival of Ganesh less than two weeks away, the rush of Ganesh Mandal workers has begun. However, as usual voices of protest against the 'pollution through jubilation' has begun already.

Citizens of Pune have tradition of raising their voices against the unnecessary noise pollution in tha name of the celebrating Ganeshotsav, which is arguably the biggest festival in the city. This tradition dates back to same era when the celebration began as an occasion to raise consciousness against British Raj. In an age when marketing consideration have taken precedence over everything else, the voices of opposition have not diminished in least.

As the economic situation of the country prospers, so does the level of enthusiasm among masses to find a way for collective recreation. Nothing can stop them. The dance, the blaring music, high walls of music, all these are only symptoms of the less sophisticated formation of the society.

People, especially the youths, seem uncontrollable when engaged in revelry. But they do so because almost all elements of Indian society vie for the pomp and superfluousness. Since the showiness is catchword of the day, it will be little wise to blame the youths for missing their ways during the festivities.

With so many problems and vices plaguing this country, it is one of the few healthy signs that so many people come together for whatever reason and indulge in non-destructive activities. On the contrary, the number of Ganesh Mandals doing one or another kind of social welfare work runs into thousands all over Maharashtra. Therefore, we should welcome, not despise the festivities.

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