All the major political parties in the country seem to have tied themselves up in knots so tightly that it is not going to be that easy for them to untie themselves in the near future on the much-acclaimed and fancied Women’s Reservation Bill that was touted as the most historic one marking a milestone in the post-Independence history of India.
The euphoria that was witnessed on Tuesday thanks to the hyper-active media, the encomiums that were showered on the Congress chief Sonia by her courtiers and those in the media who pay regular obeisance to her, and the images of Left and Right in tight embrace after the passage of the Bill in the Rajya Sabha (I mean the rare scene of Sushma Swaraj and her principal political opponent Brinda Karat holding themselves together) have all vanished into thin air.
What we witnessed on Thursday was just an anti-climax to the celebrations the nation saw a day before. Congress henchmen and ill-tempered spokespersons of the party may hail their leader and her resolve to push through the Bill. But, the real victory for making the principal movers of the Bill to make a U-turn on its passage in the Lok Sabha goes to those “thugs” and “goons” who made a determined bid for sabotage.
There are reports that the Congress may go slow because of the likely backlash from OBC groups and Muslims. To that extent Yadav trio frightened the deity at 10 Janpath notwithstanding her bravdo before the cameras. Though Yadavs may not have the numbers even to move a no-confidence motion, they could succeed in browbeating the ruling party and not the ruling coalition, mind you. Partners like Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and the National Conference are also worried about their vote banks. The trio have cleverly played the Muslim card which is a potent weapon to beat the secular parties with. That is the reason the government is talking of consensus while it was averse to any consultation with its own allies like Trinamool, leave alone the Opposition without whose support it could not have dreamt of passing the bill.
Now, the issue before Sonia Gandhi is not ensuring the implementation of Rajiv’s vision as she put it before the television cameras which were repeatedly shown on the national channels to drive home the point to the national audience that the credit must go to Sonia. Even Sonia was graceless when she failed to acknowledge the role of the Opposition to push through the Bill in the Upper House. Be that as it may, her primary concern is the survival of the government especially when the Opposition parties are closing their ranks to corner the Treasury Benches on the Finance Bill. That explains Finance Minister’s overtures to the Yadavs. Stage is all set to see that Lalu Prasad walks free in the disproportionate assets case. Timing on the issue of summons to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi is also significant as the so-called secular parties have to think twice before joining hands with the “communal” BJP on the floor of the House. After all the BJP carries on its ranks a tainted chief minister. You don’t need to be a political pundit to see through the game of the Congress in splitting the Opposition so that the passage of the Finance Bill becomes a smooth affair.
So, despite the tall talk of Rajiv’s vision and Sonia’s resolve to ensure the passage of Women’s Reservation Bill as her gift to the nation and its womenfolk, the bottom line is survival of the government. One need not be surprised if the Congress succumbs to the Muslim card and modify the Bill, if Yadavs are able to mobilize Muslim MPs cutting across party lines. Already, the MIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi had warned that in case the Women’s Reservation Bill is passed in the present form, the Lower House will become “Hindu Lok Sabha”. In case the Congress succumbs to this pressure for quota within quota for Muslims, the next logical step is to demand reservation in the remaining 66.3% strength of the Lok Sabha. History will repeat. But who cares?
When compared with the ruling party, the main Opposition BJP seems to be in greater trouble despite its stiff upper lip. When it tried to put the ruling party on the mat on Monday for its poor floor management and lack of strategy, it did not perhaps anticipate that its own MPs are not on the same page as that of the leadership. It is not just the saffron-robed MP from UP who raised a banner of revolt. Other MPs are also opposed to the Bill for different reasons, either for rotation of seats, or use of marshals. All the Muslim MPs across party lines want quota within quota. Mamta Banerjee whose eyes are on the 2011 assembly polls in West Bengal would definitely like to please the Muslims without whose support she can’t think of entering the Writers Building. Can the Congress afford to ignore her? If the party is prepared to dilute the Bill, will it be acceptable to the saffron forces without whose support it is difficult to muster two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha. So, it is a catch-22 situation for the government.
Therefore, the political realities and compulsions might force those who are keen on carrying out “Rajiv’s vision” to allow the baby to go with the bath water.
Look at the flip side. There will be no stomach upset for our chief minister Rosaiah once again!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
SONIA MANIA
UPA’s second incarnation, which is to complete a year shortly, has floundered – and unbelievably so - right from the word go and every step was a faulty and clueless step with the avoidable ruckus over the Women’s Bill being the latest. Though it is a coalition of parties, purportedly sharing same ideological platform with some differences of course, there was no apparent cohesion in the functioning of the coalition and it was in complete disarray.
Forgetting the fight by the DMK for sharing the spoils of power by trying to induct the entire first family of the party even before the swearing-in of the government, none of the other allies like Trinamool Congress, NCP were on the same page. Mamta is acting like a paramour of the UPA and she can’t stand even a suggestive wink at the Left by the Congress. Congress is supposed to be leading the coalition; but the turn of events makes it appear as though the allies or those who provide crutches from outside were setting the agenda. Otherwise, why should the Congress go to the rescue of Lalu in the disproportionate assets case after all the drama that he enacted?
When the coalition partners are pulling in different directions it is obviously the power that is acting as a glue to bind them together. We have seen it while our Prime Minister committed blunders at Sharm-el-Sheikh when he agreed to include Balochistan in the Indo-Pak talks and to delink terrorism from talks and he had to fend for himself on the floor of the House. The Opposition went for his jugular for acting under US pressure. But, none of the allies came to his rescue. Of course, the Congress party was also distancing itself from the joint statement. The excuse was that the statement was poorly drafted. Ironically, the inept draftsman is now the National Security Advisor!
Price rise is another area where the government has been put on the mat by the allies of the ruling coalition. DMK and Mamta are out have their pound of flesh for their support. Sharad Pawar, though not for his failure to control the prices of essential commodities, atleast for his ridiculous statements, must have been shown the door. First, he said that he was not an astrologer to predict when the prices would come down. He followed this up with a series of insensitive statements like middle class can afford the prices; rise in the income of rural population led to price rise; global phenomenon etc. Because of the mounting pressure from the Opposition, the Prime Minister had to confess there was failure in containing the price of sugar which, according to some, was the result of a scam. But, he couldn’t do a thing to his colleague whose colossal failure on the price front has done great damage to the government.
Home Minister Chidambaram’s mid-night statement on Telangana must take the cake for the government’s inexplicable haste, poor communication and lack of political foresight. The entire state of Andhra Pradesh has been pushed into the precipice of a cliffhanger. A state which was in the forefront of development has come to a standstill. Employment generation in manufacturing, IT, infrastructure and construction are all down in Hyderabad with companies putting their plans on hold due to political uncertainty, according to a national daily which quoted the outcome of a survey conducted among 1000 companies across 11 industry segments. Leave alone the adverse impact on the economic front, the Congress party itself is hopelessly divided and the partymen are speaking in different voices and are bold enough to cock a snook at the high command. Even on Telangana issue, the allies were not on the same side as that of the Congress.
Now comes the Women’s Reservation Bill which greatly embarrassed the government for its abysmal performance in the Rajya Sabha. If we have to believe Mamta Banerjee, even allies were kept in the dark. It was not just poor floor coordination or lack of strategy that led to a ruckus in the House. It was the Congress party’s arrogance and greed to corner all the credit for the passage of the Bill - a historical event and a milestone in the nation’s post-independence journey - made it to come out with egg all over the face on Monday. There was no choice for the government but to push through the bill on Tuesday as otherwise the damage to the image of the government would have been colossal.
A government which is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha and which does not command comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha should have taken into confidence all the parties – national or regional – before the passage of the Bill. But true to its culture it did not want to take everyone on board. The sycophantic party that wanted to “empower” the party’s first family head with all the credit thought that they could take other parties for granted. Quite deservedly, it was humiliated due to its vote bank mindset and greed for browny points.
In fact, in the absence of two-thirds majority for itself, the Congress was dependent on the BJP and the Left, especially when its own outside supporters like SP, RJD deserted the party leaving aside Mamta’s tantrums. In such a scenario, the government should have carried all the parties with this exercise so that the successful passage of the Bill would have given credit to the will of the people and sense of the House. But, it was so graceless on the part of the Congress spokespersons to shower encomiums on their leader. When the national channels, known for their sycophancy to 10 Janpath, rushed to Madam for exclusive, she was only talking about Rajiv’s vision and thanked her partymen. She did not have the decency to thank the Opposition for their unconditional support. The problem with the Congress culture is that anything good can happen to the nation only because of the Gandhi-Nehru family. Thank God, the Women’s Bill was not named Sonia Gandhi Women’s Reservation Bill just like every scheme/programme/institution is named after one or the other members of the family.
Forgetting the fight by the DMK for sharing the spoils of power by trying to induct the entire first family of the party even before the swearing-in of the government, none of the other allies like Trinamool Congress, NCP were on the same page. Mamta is acting like a paramour of the UPA and she can’t stand even a suggestive wink at the Left by the Congress. Congress is supposed to be leading the coalition; but the turn of events makes it appear as though the allies or those who provide crutches from outside were setting the agenda. Otherwise, why should the Congress go to the rescue of Lalu in the disproportionate assets case after all the drama that he enacted?
When the coalition partners are pulling in different directions it is obviously the power that is acting as a glue to bind them together. We have seen it while our Prime Minister committed blunders at Sharm-el-Sheikh when he agreed to include Balochistan in the Indo-Pak talks and to delink terrorism from talks and he had to fend for himself on the floor of the House. The Opposition went for his jugular for acting under US pressure. But, none of the allies came to his rescue. Of course, the Congress party was also distancing itself from the joint statement. The excuse was that the statement was poorly drafted. Ironically, the inept draftsman is now the National Security Advisor!
Price rise is another area where the government has been put on the mat by the allies of the ruling coalition. DMK and Mamta are out have their pound of flesh for their support. Sharad Pawar, though not for his failure to control the prices of essential commodities, atleast for his ridiculous statements, must have been shown the door. First, he said that he was not an astrologer to predict when the prices would come down. He followed this up with a series of insensitive statements like middle class can afford the prices; rise in the income of rural population led to price rise; global phenomenon etc. Because of the mounting pressure from the Opposition, the Prime Minister had to confess there was failure in containing the price of sugar which, according to some, was the result of a scam. But, he couldn’t do a thing to his colleague whose colossal failure on the price front has done great damage to the government.
Home Minister Chidambaram’s mid-night statement on Telangana must take the cake for the government’s inexplicable haste, poor communication and lack of political foresight. The entire state of Andhra Pradesh has been pushed into the precipice of a cliffhanger. A state which was in the forefront of development has come to a standstill. Employment generation in manufacturing, IT, infrastructure and construction are all down in Hyderabad with companies putting their plans on hold due to political uncertainty, according to a national daily which quoted the outcome of a survey conducted among 1000 companies across 11 industry segments. Leave alone the adverse impact on the economic front, the Congress party itself is hopelessly divided and the partymen are speaking in different voices and are bold enough to cock a snook at the high command. Even on Telangana issue, the allies were not on the same side as that of the Congress.
Now comes the Women’s Reservation Bill which greatly embarrassed the government for its abysmal performance in the Rajya Sabha. If we have to believe Mamta Banerjee, even allies were kept in the dark. It was not just poor floor coordination or lack of strategy that led to a ruckus in the House. It was the Congress party’s arrogance and greed to corner all the credit for the passage of the Bill - a historical event and a milestone in the nation’s post-independence journey - made it to come out with egg all over the face on Monday. There was no choice for the government but to push through the bill on Tuesday as otherwise the damage to the image of the government would have been colossal.
A government which is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha and which does not command comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha should have taken into confidence all the parties – national or regional – before the passage of the Bill. But true to its culture it did not want to take everyone on board. The sycophantic party that wanted to “empower” the party’s first family head with all the credit thought that they could take other parties for granted. Quite deservedly, it was humiliated due to its vote bank mindset and greed for browny points.
In fact, in the absence of two-thirds majority for itself, the Congress was dependent on the BJP and the Left, especially when its own outside supporters like SP, RJD deserted the party leaving aside Mamta’s tantrums. In such a scenario, the government should have carried all the parties with this exercise so that the successful passage of the Bill would have given credit to the will of the people and sense of the House. But, it was so graceless on the part of the Congress spokespersons to shower encomiums on their leader. When the national channels, known for their sycophancy to 10 Janpath, rushed to Madam for exclusive, she was only talking about Rajiv’s vision and thanked her partymen. She did not have the decency to thank the Opposition for their unconditional support. The problem with the Congress culture is that anything good can happen to the nation only because of the Gandhi-Nehru family. Thank God, the Women’s Bill was not named Sonia Gandhi Women’s Reservation Bill just like every scheme/programme/institution is named after one or the other members of the family.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
IS THERE SOMETHING LIKE ABSOLUTE FREEDOM?
Even as the media-generated debate on the “national shame” over Maqbool Firdaus Husain’s acquisition of Qatar nationality and the artistic freedom is on, there were two incidents, both violent, one in Karnataka and the other in Andhra Pradesh. They may be a coincidence, but the stark contrast in the attitude of defenders of artistic freedom cannot be overlooked.
A national daily carried on its front page a report quoting eminent artists that it (self-imposed exile of Husain) was a “national shame”. The artists implied that those who were responsible for driving away Husain out of the country were not punished. Interestingly, on the same day, the same daily carried another report from Khammam on the protest by Muslims against the publication of a book “Crescent over the world – is a boon or the silent holocaust”. Hundreds of Muslim youth staged violent demonstrations stating that the contents of the book hurt their beliefs and sentiments. The book is reported to have contained articles from Satanic Verses and Taslima Nasreen’s Lajja.
Responding to the incident, chief minister ordered the arrest of the author of the book. He informed the state Assembly that soon after it came to the notice of the government, books were seized, the author arrested and a case was booked.
The second incident was in Shimoga and Hassan two days later. Muslim organizations protested against the publication of an article written by Taslima Nasreen in a local daily on burqa. The protestors used petrol bombs and when the situation went out of control, Police had to open fire killing two persons. Mediamen were also attacked. According to the protestors, the article was against the religious sentiments of the minority community.
What happened the world over when a Danish daily published cartoons caricaturing the Prophet is part of history. Indian was no exception. There was a massive rally in Mumbai in protest against the cartoons which many rallyists might not have seen. A minister in UP government announced a reward for those who could get the head of the Danish cartoonist. After all, he was only following the model of Khomeini of Iran for issuing fatwa against Salman Rushdie.
Now, the question is this. Are there two sets of artistic and literary freedom, one for the majority community and the second for the minority community? Do the religious sensibilities and sentiments also differ between the communities?
Many Islamic scholars have opined that Burqa is not a must for all Muslim women. When fanatics objected to the photo identity card for Muslim women, Election Commission ruled out the objection. France has imposed a ban on veil in public places. What was the objection for the Muslim organizations in Karnataka? Does Taslima not have literary freedom to express her views on certain practices of a community? Where are the defenders of freedom of expression?
We are talking about the exile of Husain? But what was the fate of Rushdie? He had to be in hiding for years to escape from the “executioners” of Khomeini. How did we treat Taslima who sought asylum in India? She was hounded out of West Bengal and she had to be in hiding for sometime. Was it not a shame?
Coming to artistic freedom, is it an absolute freedom? Is there absolute freedom in any democratic society? The defenders of absolute artistic freedom cite two points. This is the land of Kama sutra, so nothing can be obscene. Second, when our temples have nude figures, nudity is part of our cultural tradition. So, what is wrong with Husain’s nudity and why should it offend the sentiments of Hindus when Husain paints gods and goddesses of Hindu pantheon in nude? First of all, those Husain backers should know that the temple sculptors were faceless people. Do we know the names of those sculptors who sculpted nude figures? They did not do it for money or fame or to assert their freedom. Temples were not mere centres of worship. They were symbols depicting all facets of life including all art forms. So, nudity was no taboo. If Husain could construct temples out of pure devotion, he could have paintings like we have in Ajanta or Tanjore embracing all aspects of life including nudity. But he can’t be selective.
What the defenders of Husain should also understand is that if someone writes a modern version of Kama sutra today, he can be booked under the law for pornography. That is what the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry did when it issued notices to television channels under the Cable Television Act which prohibits obscenity, on the Sachh ka Saamna episode. The ministry asked the channel to ensure that the “Indian ethos” is kept in mind. Even the producers of Big Boss-3 were reprimanded for showing content which was against good taste and decency. But the Ministry overlooks “Indian ethos” when it comes to Husain.
A school book in one of the North eastern states had the picture of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette in one hand and a beer mug in another. The book was immediately banned and case was registered against the publisher. But any action against Husain for offending the sensibilities of a community is violation of his artistic freedom! Husain did a series of paintings of Indira Gandhi during the Emergency. Had he painted her nude as he did in the case of Bharat Mata, what would have been the reaction of Congressmen and our secularists? Would they have accepted it as an art form? Will he do one on Sonia from Qatar? He knows discretion is better than valour. Hindu sentiments can always be trifled with. What did Hindus do when Yarlagadda Laxmi Prasad rubbished Draupati in his book? It was in fact recommended for Sahitya Academy Award.
That is how we celebrate artistic and literary freedom.
A national daily carried on its front page a report quoting eminent artists that it (self-imposed exile of Husain) was a “national shame”. The artists implied that those who were responsible for driving away Husain out of the country were not punished. Interestingly, on the same day, the same daily carried another report from Khammam on the protest by Muslims against the publication of a book “Crescent over the world – is a boon or the silent holocaust”. Hundreds of Muslim youth staged violent demonstrations stating that the contents of the book hurt their beliefs and sentiments. The book is reported to have contained articles from Satanic Verses and Taslima Nasreen’s Lajja.
Responding to the incident, chief minister ordered the arrest of the author of the book. He informed the state Assembly that soon after it came to the notice of the government, books were seized, the author arrested and a case was booked.
The second incident was in Shimoga and Hassan two days later. Muslim organizations protested against the publication of an article written by Taslima Nasreen in a local daily on burqa. The protestors used petrol bombs and when the situation went out of control, Police had to open fire killing two persons. Mediamen were also attacked. According to the protestors, the article was against the religious sentiments of the minority community.
What happened the world over when a Danish daily published cartoons caricaturing the Prophet is part of history. Indian was no exception. There was a massive rally in Mumbai in protest against the cartoons which many rallyists might not have seen. A minister in UP government announced a reward for those who could get the head of the Danish cartoonist. After all, he was only following the model of Khomeini of Iran for issuing fatwa against Salman Rushdie.
Now, the question is this. Are there two sets of artistic and literary freedom, one for the majority community and the second for the minority community? Do the religious sensibilities and sentiments also differ between the communities?
Many Islamic scholars have opined that Burqa is not a must for all Muslim women. When fanatics objected to the photo identity card for Muslim women, Election Commission ruled out the objection. France has imposed a ban on veil in public places. What was the objection for the Muslim organizations in Karnataka? Does Taslima not have literary freedom to express her views on certain practices of a community? Where are the defenders of freedom of expression?
We are talking about the exile of Husain? But what was the fate of Rushdie? He had to be in hiding for years to escape from the “executioners” of Khomeini. How did we treat Taslima who sought asylum in India? She was hounded out of West Bengal and she had to be in hiding for sometime. Was it not a shame?
Coming to artistic freedom, is it an absolute freedom? Is there absolute freedom in any democratic society? The defenders of absolute artistic freedom cite two points. This is the land of Kama sutra, so nothing can be obscene. Second, when our temples have nude figures, nudity is part of our cultural tradition. So, what is wrong with Husain’s nudity and why should it offend the sentiments of Hindus when Husain paints gods and goddesses of Hindu pantheon in nude? First of all, those Husain backers should know that the temple sculptors were faceless people. Do we know the names of those sculptors who sculpted nude figures? They did not do it for money or fame or to assert their freedom. Temples were not mere centres of worship. They were symbols depicting all facets of life including all art forms. So, nudity was no taboo. If Husain could construct temples out of pure devotion, he could have paintings like we have in Ajanta or Tanjore embracing all aspects of life including nudity. But he can’t be selective.
What the defenders of Husain should also understand is that if someone writes a modern version of Kama sutra today, he can be booked under the law for pornography. That is what the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry did when it issued notices to television channels under the Cable Television Act which prohibits obscenity, on the Sachh ka Saamna episode. The ministry asked the channel to ensure that the “Indian ethos” is kept in mind. Even the producers of Big Boss-3 were reprimanded for showing content which was against good taste and decency. But the Ministry overlooks “Indian ethos” when it comes to Husain.
A school book in one of the North eastern states had the picture of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette in one hand and a beer mug in another. The book was immediately banned and case was registered against the publisher. But any action against Husain for offending the sensibilities of a community is violation of his artistic freedom! Husain did a series of paintings of Indira Gandhi during the Emergency. Had he painted her nude as he did in the case of Bharat Mata, what would have been the reaction of Congressmen and our secularists? Would they have accepted it as an art form? Will he do one on Sonia from Qatar? He knows discretion is better than valour. Hindu sentiments can always be trifled with. What did Hindus do when Yarlagadda Laxmi Prasad rubbished Draupati in his book? It was in fact recommended for Sahitya Academy Award.
That is how we celebrate artistic and literary freedom.
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