Who Gains from the Shashi Tharoor Episode in Congress

Now that it is curtains down on the unseemly episode of disciplining parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor in Congress, there is a collective sigh of relief within the party and its allies in the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, while their opponents in the BJP and Communist Party of India (Marxist) might be a tad disappointed that it has come to a sudden closure.

But it is time to ask questions: Who lost and who gained in the series of developments and what really prompted these apparently uncalled for flexing of muscles within the Congress?

The biggest loser is the Congress party itself, which has a long history of internal debates and expressions of differences in public, giving it the image of a democratic political entity with a culture of arriving at consensus through long and bitter debates and public squabbles. This is a tradition that dates back to the twenties of the last century, when Gandhi and his critics in the party had openly clashed on the approach to be taken on many crucial issues in the fight for freedom.

Kerala, Opinion, Politics

By N P Chekkutty

August 31, 2019

A Brief History of Judicial Perversions

Subsequent to the Emergency, it could be argued that the judges in the higher levels of judiciary have recovered their lost self-respect but that trend is being reversed steadily. The less said the better about the judges in the lower courts. The recent episode of a judge’s tussle with that Russian tome War and Peace made me sit down to string together a bunch of rambling that have made the general public squirm in embarrassment at the way the judges conduct themselves.

Following the furore that the comments of Justice Sarang Kotwal, of the Mumbai High Court, caused across the country about War and Peace, he lost lost no time in trying to save whatever remained of his reputation: “No, I didn’t mean that way…actually I was not referring to War and Peace…it’s a classic I know, but only reacting to the lists of CDs and books seized….” Justice Kotwal had sternly demanded the previous day as to why Vernon Gonsalves, facing trial in the Bhima Koregaon case, was keeping such objectionable books as War and Peace.

The next day Yug Chaudhary, an advocate representing another accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, helpfully told the judge that the media had wrongly reported that the court raised questions on the accused keeping a copy of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace whereas the book found in the punchnama was War and Peace in Junglemahal: People, State and Maoists by Biswajit Roy; not War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Now if that had been the case, why would the judge have observed, “…War and Peace is about war in another country. Why were you keeping these books at your house?” Are we to understand the judge didn’t know where Junglemahal existed?

Law, National, Opinion, Politics

By T N Gopalan

August 23, 2019

Kashmir: A Hindutva Love Story

Is this love, is this love, is this love that I am feeling? –Bob Marley.

The love-bombing of Kashmiri Muslims began within minutes of Prime Minister Modi announcing the scrapping of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which deprived Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) of its much-maligned, though by now largely fictional, autonomy. 30,000 additional troops had moved in, apart from restrictions on mobility and the imposition of a total communication blackout, as J&K was converted into an open-air jail overnight.

The Prime Minister himself, along with cheerleading news anchors, embedded journalists and social media influencers all took up the narrative that this unconstitutional act was an act of love for Kashmiris, especially its Muslim population.

National, Opinion, People, Politics, Satire, Society

By Subir Sinha

August 21, 2019

The Annexation of Kashmir

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dramatic decision to abrogate the special status of Jammu and Kashmir enshrined in Article 370 of the Indian Constitution seems to have taken the world by surprise. It is an extension of the strategy adopted by Narendra Modi in his statecraft, where the dominant factor dictating his policies is its impact on the Hindutva constituency, who openly root for India to adopt a majoritarian character.

Since 5 August 2019, the situation Kashmir Valley, which has been on a lockdown, is tense. While the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Hindutva backers are rejoicing over the decision, many others are justifying it by arguing that Article 370 had not been able to bring peace in the Valley for seven decades, and how this decision could bring about a change. This argument is problematic, as nowhere in the world has a country brought sustainable peace in a region bedeviled by separatism by taking away whatever limited autonomy that the region enjoyed.

This sort of arbitrary centralization has only two outcomes—a violent insurrection leading to the independence of the territory or brutal state repression resulting in massive human rights violation of the rebelling population. As regional geostrategic political environment dictates such outcomes, the first possibility appears bleak in the case of Kashmir, at least at this point of time. Thus, the second outcome is most likely.

National, Opinion, Politics

By Ashok Swain

August 21, 2019

Behind Modi Government’s Activity Overdrive

The Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has gone into an activity (and legislation) overdrive ever since its re-election. Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) has been reorganized, and its special status withdrawn, triple talaq has been criminalized, amendments have been made to the Right to Information Act (RTI) and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a position of Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) has been announced—also, there is a concerted push towards closing the Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid case.

More is on the anvil: Rollout of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) across the country; and, going by the prime minister’s Independence Day address, some action on the population control front. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has signaled that India’s long standing no first use (NSU) nuclear policy could be reviewed.

Almost all these moves and proposals have sparked huge debates. In fact, some of them have been on the table for years and remained un-acted upon, fearing either disruption of established arrangements and balances of power. It is fashionable to single out the Congress party, the party of governance for the longest time, for inertia, but Modi’s own party and the NDA’s largest constituent, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), too chose to park its core issues till an opportune moment came.

National, Opinion, Politics

By Manish Dubey

August 19, 2019

Is this the way forward for Communist Reunification?

It’s been nearly a month since Communist Party of India (CPI) activists including Muvattupuzha MLA Eldo Abraham and Ernakulam District Secretary P Raju got thrashed by the Kerala Police during a march to the Commissioner’s Office in Kochi. As a punishment, sub-Inspector Vipin Das has been suspended citing his failure to “recognize” the MLA but the CPI is pressing for action against the Njarakkal Circle Inspector and hasn’t been pacified by the token action. While CPI State Secretary Kanam Rajendran’s recent soft stance on the CPI (M) is being chiefly attributed to a setting of stage for a reunification of Communist parties, octogenarian academic and ideologue K Aravindakshan, whose association with the Left movement dates back to the 1950s, has his reservations. His guest column for The Kochi Post below

The oft-repeated slogan of Communist reunification or Communist unity has once again gained currency as a subject of political debate, particularly since the recently concluded National Council meeting of the Communist Party of India (CPI). The newly elected CPI General Secretary, D Raja, told the media that CPI has always stood for and still stands for Communist reunification as the first step for forging and strengthening Left unity.

But strangely enough, the statement has not received any response, either positive or negative, from the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Maybe they have yet to learn a lesson from bitter experiences from their rout, first in West Bengal, followed by the humiliating defeat in Tripura where the former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar enjoyed a clean image. Kerala is the only state in the country today which has a Left Front Government, led by the CPI (M), with CPI as the second largest partner.

Kerala, Opinion, Politics

By K Aravindakshan

August 13, 2019

Rahul Gandhi needs a creative agenda for Wayanad

This Bakrid, the people of Wayanad had a guest among them, whose own life and destiny appears to be inextricably interwoven with theirs in an unusual way. For one, Rahul Gandhi, being the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that overshadowed the destiny of India for much of the seven decades after its independence, was never expected to run for parliament from this remote tip of the vast Indian subcontinent.

Though Rahul Gandhi was rejected by his family’s traditional pocket borough of Amethi, Wayanad wholeheartedly accepted him, offering the greatest of winning margins ever enjoyed by any candidate in the Lok Sabha elections in the state. This week’s visit to Wayanad is the second one for Gandhi after the May elections, preceded by a brief thanksgiving tour immediately after his victory.

But this time, the circumstances have changed, and Gandhi returns to a people who are desperately fighting a battle for survival. Wayanad has been totally devastated—the floods and natural disasters that hit the state for the second year running, has hit Rahul Gandhi’s constituency the hardest. Whole villages have been wiped out and thousands of people have been rendered homeless.

National, Opinion, Politics

By N P Chekkutty

August 5, 2019

Justice Chitambaresh must Apologise or Retire forthwith

Lord Denning was the most well-known English Judge of the postwar era. His books and lectures on the law are read for their clarity of thought and simplicity of language, even today. He was appointed at a time when judges could decide their own ages of retirement. He was 83, when in 1982, he published a book titled – ‘What Next in the law?

Among the most controversial passages was the assertion that two leaders of the riots that broke out the previous summer, in the port city of Bristol, were not convicted because the defendants used their right to three pre-emptive challenges to determine the nature of the jury, which subsequently split along racial lines. “They are white and black, colored and brown,” the 83-year-old judge wrote. ”Some of them come from countries where bribery and graft are accepted and where stealing is a virtue so long as you are not found out. They no longer share the same code of morals or religious beliefs.”

Denning was denounced as a racist and despite his protestations of innocent intent, he had to choose to retire. He was given the customary honours due to his great service to the law, with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher attending his retirement dinner. However, even today, no assessment of his many and magnificent contributions to the law is complete without recounting the manner of his exit.

Kerala, Law, National, Opinion, Politics, Religion

By Sanjay Hegde

August 5, 2019

Criminalisation of Triple Talaq: A conflict of Civil Law and Criminal Law

On 1 August, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the Triple Talaq Bill, which criminalises instant triple talaq with provisions of a jail term of up to three years. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, commonly referred to as the Triple Talaq Law, is effective retrospectively, from September 19, 2018. The Ministry of Law and Justice notified it in the gazette of India on January 31 so that the law comes into force with immediate effect.

After getting through the Lok Sabha, where the ruling NDA commands a brute majority, the bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on 30 July, with 99 votes in favour and 84 against the bill. With a total strength of 240, the opposition, which still commands majority in the house of elders, failed to defeat the bill as 57 members stayed away.

Earlier, the Supreme Court of India, in Shayara Bano v. Union of India and others, had set aside the practice of talaq-e-biddat, which allowed Muslim men to divorce their wives instantaneously and irrevocably by pronouncing the word talaq (the Arabic word for divorce) thrice at the same time, on the basis that it violated the Constitution of India. The pronouncement could be oral, written, or, as in recent times, delivered by electronic means.

Law, National, Opinion, Politics, Religion, Society

By Arya Suresh

July 15, 2019

Progressive Kerala must hang its head in Shame

The historic legacy of University College, Thiruvananthapuram, in the heart of the capital, has been stained by bloody violence. The attackers belonging to the Students Federation of India (SFI), the students’ wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), had no qualms about driving a knife into the chest of a fellow student, even when they knew he was one of their own members.

It was only a couple of months ago that a female student had attempted suicide leaving a note detailing the torture she had to undergo at the hands of the Union leaders. The note had listed the names of those leaders but the police took no action against the accused. Even the FIR was doctored so as to save the perpetrators. Though the case was investigated by the Director of College Education, the report was recommendatory in nature and no stringent punishments were meted out.

As a result, human rights violations continued unabated in University College. The campus has been a haven for criminals for years—Incidents involving alcohol and drug abuse are all too common. Using the label of the SFI, they lock up students and attack them physically and mentally. The political leadership has no moral strength to terminate the activities of this group of criminals who contribute to the political and the organizational strength of the SFI and the CPI (M).

Education, Opinion

By M Shajar Khan

July 11, 2019

Resignation makes Rahul Gandhi more Powerful

When Rahul Gandhi conveyed his decision to quit as Congress President after its defeat in the 2019 general elections, it was generally assumed that he would be persuaded to withdraw his resignation. This confidence stemmed from the fact that politics in India does not demand accountability anymore. Even backstabbing political godfathers or family members to attain power has become fair game in Indian politics. In this era of power-hungry politicians, why would Rahul Gandhi voluntarily give up the leadership of India’s oldest political party?

Congress is not the only party which lost the 2019 general election to the Hindutva forces. The Left parties, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Trinamool Congress, Telugu Desam Party and Nationalist Congress Party et al lost out to the Bharatiya Janata Party. No top leader in these parties resigned nor did anybody care to ask for their resignation. With his resignation, Rahul Gandhi has shown that he is in politics not to pursue power but to uphold his ideals and to fight for an inclusive and tolerant India. Most of the commentators fail to see its long-term implications and confine their criticism to the short-term churning.

Rahul Gandhi’s resignation is being projected by the media as the end of the Indian National Congress. BJP is using this opportunity to poach several Congress lawmakers in different states to not only capture power but also create an impression of Congress Party melting away. No, Congress is not going to wither away like that. The crisis in the party is not an existential crisis; it is a management crisis at the leadership level. Like any other political organization, crisis brings opportunity—the opportunity to reinvent itself to meet new challenges.

National, Opinion, Politics

By Ashok Swain

July 5, 2019

Did Zaira Wasim succumb to religious Fundamentalists and Trolls?

Many years ago, I vaguely remember watching on Doordarshan a TV programme in which the sleuth, alerted by some noises inside a house, rings the doorbell pretending to be a postman. When the lady of the house appears, he slips a hand-written note to her in which he asks her if everything is fine. She takes a look at the paper and replies that all is okay, in writing. That’s enough for a discerning detective to smell a case there. As the investigator finds out later, the woman and her daughter were actually hostages in their own house whom he rescues.

Actor Zaira Wasim’s Instagram post announcing her retirement is much like the lady’s hand-written “okay” in the detective serial. It serves a purpose different than intended and raises more questions than answers. In her choosing to run a long and winding explanation to justify her decision lies the clue that needs deeper investigation.

Why did she take the trouble of penning the long post, when she always had the option to quit quietly by not taking up any new projects? Why the long-drawn-out explanations? Who is that note meant for— herself, her fans, or her trolls?

Culture, Gender, Movies, Opinion, Religion, Society

By Anuradha Sharma