On the Controversy involving Bharat Ratna - Sachin Tendulkar deserves respect, not political patronage

The controversy regarding the process involved and expedited for honoring Sachin Tendulkar, merely highlights how the UPA government and the Congress party have treated great icons of this nation. Sachin Tendulkar is India’s living legend, who has become a global celebrity and commands respect and love of masses across the world. He symbolizes the aspiration and hope of young India and has never courted any controversy concerning his personal conduct and certainly is not the one who would seek the ‘good offices’ of any politician, for any favours.

While the Bharat Ratna undoubtedly was a much natural and logical choice to acknowledge his illustrious career in the field of sports, the manner in which it was done seems to suggest a political one-upmanship of the scion of the Nehru Family, since another great sporting legend the late Major Dyan Chand’s name was unceremoniously omitted at the last moment. The UPA government could have conducted the entire process concerning the conferment of the highest civilian award of the nation, in a much more civic and dignified manner, rather than causing unwanted embarrassment to the icons involved and undermining the glory attached to such prestigious awards.

On the Government's order for giving priority to Hindi on official social media

Indians must cherish their polyglot identity

(My comments on promotion of Hindi,  in DNA, Page-4, 24 June 2014)

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?pgNo=4&edcode=820040&eddate=2014-6-24

The present hullabaloo over the alleged imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi socio-cultural groups has generated unwarranted controversy. The new government is merely trying to promote Hindi which is also the state language (Raj Basha) and this is a significant move since social media is making inroads and covering a substantial section of our society.   India has moved ahead and the movement for statehood on linguistic basis has now ironically transformed into statehood based on regional distinctness rather than linguistic homogeneity as vindicated by the Telangana movement. Every nation seeks to have a link language and Hindi is spoken by a substantial section and the exception to it has been the Northeast and Tamilnadu in the south. While other southern states have benefitted by the three language policy, the linguistic sub nationalism remains an easy political tool of convenience, in the political spectrum of Tamilnadu.

This issue must be addressed in a holistic manner lest a sense of second class citizenship emerges based on the linguistic affiliation, as perceived by some, about through the depiction of ethnic Marathi, Tamil or Bengali speakers, in the Mumbai based Hindi films. The central government at the same time must ensure promotion of languages like Marathi, Tamil and Telugu in the north, through kendriya vidyalayas, in order to promote our rich cultural heritage and polyglot identity. Moreover in an age of IT revolution no state in the world can afford to impose any language.

Credible opposition needs dedicated leaders

It is time for an honest introspection and shunning of politics of tokenism.

(My comments on opposition parties,  in DNA, Page-6, 21 may 2014)

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?pgNo=6&edcode=820040&eddate=2014-5-21

The results of the national poll of 2014 has presented in a spectacular development in the present scenario. While in the last three decades, we were witness to the coalition and consensus building in the formation of government at the centre, this time one would be perhaps be watching a coalition to form a political opposition to take the new government, under Mr Narendra Modi.

A credible opposition not necessarily requires a substantial number but a leader with credibility and one who is committed to the betterment of the nation at large. Earlier instances of Rajagopalachari, AK Gopalan, Piloo Mody, Atal Behari Vajpayee and LK Advani, were clear indicators that even a numerically small opposition had the capability of taking on a government to task o issues of governance and development.

While the present outcome is very positive in terms of having a stable government for the next five years, the defeat of the congress party clearly indicates a rejection of politics of patronage, misgovernance, corruption, factional politics and dynasty rule. So the debate on having a constructive and credible opposition must address larger issues confronting these parties, by a radical transformation like inner party democracy, credible public policy and social justice, and not in the manner as suggested by the recent détente between Lalu Yadav and Nitish kumar. 

AAP’s ambivalent policies continue to haunt it

 My comments on AAP fielding candidates facing criminal charges.

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?pgNo=6&edcode=820040&eddate=2014-4-04

The ADR report, which states that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), professed to be a party with ‘revolutionary zeal’, has fielded 15 candidates (out of its list of 78) with criminal cases, merely highlights its propensity to adopt all possible strategies to remain buoyant in the national political discourse. Ironically, it is the same AAP which had launched a crusade against corruption and had been invoking the need to have a clean political environment, which were seen as clinching factors for its impressive performance in the Delhi state assembly polls. This opened the floodgates of possibilities with its focus on issues that confront the day-to-day lives of the common people like the inclusion of a citizen-centric public discourse in the allocation of public resources like water and electricity, access to education and healthcare and confronting the corporate India over pricing of electricity and gas. However, its ambivalent policies which included vigilantism by its ministers, attempt to engage political rivals in street battles, studied silence on ideological issues and on representation of women continue to haunt it. The inclusion of candidates with criminal background must be seen in a broader perspective, since AAP in its quest to capitalize its short-term ‘sacrifice’ seeks to eye a national-level constituency. The party has become a safe haven for many aspirants including businessmen, artistes, journalists, NGO members and legal professionals who either had failed elsewhere or want to explore the new political platform. This has resulted in the present disconnect with its immediate constituency i.e. the aam aadmi.

It is too early to predict demise of conventional party politics in India

 My comments on AAP.

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?pgNo=4&edcode=820040&eddate=2014-1-02

The arrival of AAP symbolises the strengthening of Indian democracy. The preliminary indications suggest that public policy centric discourse is gaining importance.

At the outset it is also being speculated by some that AAP represents ‘politics of entitlements, empowerment and accountability’ which will displace the conventional politics of socio-cultural and economic identity from the Indian political landscape. However, it is too early to predict the demise of the conventional party politics and the politics of accommodating the group interest. The fact that AAP has evolved from Anna led a movement and it getting formally institutionalised as a political party, vindicates the importance of party politics over NGO activism on the formulation of public policy and governance. A nation needs politics which takes care of the welfare of its people and also safeguards its socioeconomic and cultural values. India is confronted by many challenges which requires parties and political leaders, who can device strategies for the next generation, and not merely resort to piecemeal packages.

So, while the victory of AAP can be celebrated by people seeking alternatives to the present political order, however, it cannot be an end in itself.There are no fullstops, when it comes to Indian democracy springing up some more surprises.

Give all the icons of modern India their due

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?pgNo=4&edcode=820040&eddate=2013-11-08

The recent verbal duel between the Congress and the BJP over the legacy of Sardar Patel, India’s first home minister, attained a climax when it graduated into a public spat between prime minister Manmohan Singh and Gujarat chief minister and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, during the inauguration of the renovated Sardar Patel Museum.

The wrangling over Sardar Patel has certainly drawn some issues to the public domain, whilst providing certain tactical advantages to Modi, wherein he is able to set agenda in the electoral debates and as well as anchor it, around his personality while waiting for his political opponents to blink.

At the same time, it puts an enormous burden on the Congress to respond to the sense of historical injustice meted out to the historical personalities who do not belong to the Nehru-Gandhi family and stir itself out of the crisis. Great icons like Sardar Patel belong to the nation and cannot be confined to any kind of political or primordial categorisation.

This issue certainly raises larger questions not about appropriation or misappropriation, but of honouring the legacy of the builders of modern India and making the Congress-led government acknowledge their contribution.

Communal riots are taking place in a systematic manner

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?pgNo=4&edcode=820040&eddate=2013-9-12 

The recent spate of riots in Uttar Pradesh and polarization occurring on religious grounds communal harmony has gathered great attention in wake of the next national polls in 2014. While the INC, BJP, BSP and the Samajwadi Party led state government blame each other for the bloody conflict and the loss of lives, the larger point which is being missed is that communal riots have been occurring in certain parts of India in a systemic manner since its independence. It has flourished as an institution and gets activated as noted by the eminent scholar Paul Brass, ‘during periods of political mobilization or during the time of elections’. Hence these riots are far from being spontaneous and are produced in a theatrical style in terms of involvement of volunteers and adoption of certain strategies.

Ever since the ascendency of Ajit Singh, his party the Lok Dal has had a tumultuous journey with frequent shuffling of political partners and seeking alliances that would keep it buoyant in the murky politics of caste/clan and religion. While the Lok Dal’s political formulation has largely shrunk in the present scenario, it is yet to be seen if it is able to maintain its foothold, this time when the Jats and Muslims have emerged as the main participants in the ongoing conflict.

Containing the communal conflagration depends on the political will of other state governments lest their respective regions don’t get inflamed, but the larger question remains that the complicity of the state or political parties in communal conflicts strips them of their neutrality and legitimacy, resulting in various groups settling their disputes by an extra constitutional means. Hence the development of a sustained culture of negotiation, tolerance and accommodation is the need of the hour to address communalization and militarization of the society.

R Radhakrishnan, Political Analyst

The Telangana movement refutes the linguistic mantra for Statehood

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?pgNo=6&edcode=820040&eddate=2013-8-01 

The signals for the creation of Telangana, as the 29^th state of the Indian Union, is as a result of decades of relentless struggle of its inhabitants, who had craved for recognition as a distinct geographical and cultural entity. This also indicates that mere linguistic affinity cannot be the basis for carving out new states nor can it be held sacrosanct for maintaining the status quo of the existing states.

The votaries for a separate Telangana state have various reasons for having sought this political divorce from Andhra Pradesh. While Telangana is the largest of the three regions of the existing state of Andhra Pradesh state, the region was confronted with social backwardness and a less-developed economy than Andhra, but had a larger revenue base. Moreover in terms of the geopolitical fault line, the irrigation projects on the two major rivers left them in lurch, though they control the headwaters of the rivers, as a higher volume of water was diverted for use in Andhra.  While among the other major sources of concerns that had evolved over a period of time were signs of internal colonialism and regional deprivation, which was as a result of other regions having disproportionate representation in governmental and educational jobs.

In Telangana’s context what was missed by the viceroys of the Indian National Congress party is that the traditional patron-client system cannot help any political party anymore in sustaining its constituencies – the Congress had no choice but to swim with the tide of an idea and an arduous movement that had arrived. The hunger strike in 2009 called by Telangana Rashtriya Samiti, and the movement effectively managed by Prof M. Kodandaram, acted as a catalyst and had ensured that the movement is not enamored by the deviations of the spoil system practiced by the rulers in Delhi.

Once the movement arrives at its logical conclusion, what would be interesting is to note is how the Indian state under the present government, seek to address similar movements for statehood for Vidharbha, Gorkhaland, Bodoland and the call to carve out few more states from Uttar Pradesh.

(The above mentioned opinion is the original and unabridged text. There has been some inadvertent spelling errors in the print version after it was pruned by the editing desk of the DNA)