October 2014 Issue English Magazine by News Bench

POLITICAL BIOGRAPHIES Tell-all books are in vogue

A SENSE OF HEAVEN 94 Ladakh: a dream moonscape ` 20

O C TO B E R 2 014

NEWS BENCH M

LABORATORY of

HATE? Is communal hatred really growing across India after Modi became the PM?

VOL-1, ISSUE - 5

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Editor: Anil Pandey Contributing Editor: Sutanu Guru Executive Editor: Gaurav Rathi Associate Editors: Mayank Singh, Sujit Chakraborty, Sadashiv Tripathi, Shubhra Singh Assistant Editor: Vikas Kumar, Devendra Gautam Special Correspondents: Avinash Mishra Correspondents: Narendra Yadav, Ranjeet Pandey Chief Copy Editor: Vikas Chaudhary Senior Copy Editor: Ravi Joshi (Web) Copy Editors: Anant Kumar Das, Santosh Kumar Dubey

this edition

OCT 2014

COVER STORY

DESIGN Consulting Design Director: Satyajit Datta Senior Designers: Rajendra Singh Negi, Lalit Bisht PHOTOGRAPHY Consulting Photo Editor: Rangnath Tiwari Photographer: Hariom Sharma Photo Researcher: Sanjay Kumar OPERATIONS AGM Operations: Aarti Gambhir Media Coordinator: Tanvi Tomar, Gulafsha Praveen SALES AND MARKETING Sr. Manager: Tushar Verma Manager: Sonam Gupta Assistant Manager: Neeraj K. Mishra Executives: R R Chaturvedi

LABORATORY OF HATE

CIRCULATION Head: Bhupendra Singh Bisht Executive: Chandan Srivastava, Vinod, Patras, Amar Singh Yadav, Arun Singh

Because of so called 'secular' politics of polarisation and Muslim appeasement, certain pockets in the country are witnessing a rise in extremism, which is taking the country towards a communal cauldron

LEGAL Legal Advisor: RAGHAV LAW MAX DISTRIBUTOR Central News Agency, New Delhi Owned, Printed & Published by: Kushal Dev Rathi 27/29/14 B, Near Karan Gali, Pandav Road, Shahdara, Delhi-110032 Published From: 27/29/14 B, Near Karan Gali, Pandav Road, Shahdara, Delhi-110032 Printed at: M P Printers, B-220 Phase-2, Noida-201301 Uttar Pradesh Editor: Anil Pandey (Responsible for the selection of News under PRB act) (All disputes shall be subject to the jurisdiction of Delhi courts only.) Editorial Office: G-22, Sec-3, Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Pin code 201301 Contact: 0120-2518800

FRONT OF THE BOOK

EDITORIAL

LETTERS

IMPACT INDIA

Indians dislike extremist ideologies, so hard core Hindutva won't work

Modi has to face tighter scrutiny of the English media and he cannot afford to make mistakes

PM'S financial inclusion programme is a step towards the betterment of poors in the country

14 16

POSITIVE INDIA Nishtaa, an NGO, in Uttarakhand, is doing a great job for women's empowerment

POLIWOOD TMC leaders are deeply involved in Shardha chit fund scam and Didi's political clout is waning

SPECIAL REPORT

GRAND ALLIANCE Fear of BJP has forced opposition parties to juggle up various combines and alliances

RNI NO. DELENG18740 TC

Cover Design By Satyajit Datta

OCTOBER 2014

NEWS BENCH

politics & states COLUMNISTS

42 SON SETS

Modi has ignored the sons of powerful party leaders, giving a strong message

ASHOK TANDON Roughly Rs 800 crore of Nizam's money is locked in London over a tripartite dispute

SKILLS MUST The government is focussed on improving professionals' skills to ensure economic boom

RAMESH MENON Speaks objectively of Modi's adroitness and his rise, in his biographical work

FOREIGN POLICY

PANKAJ JHA

Modi has shown deftness in playing the New Great Game in neutralising China

UP: WHO LOST?

Dwells on the issues related to China and how India should deal with the Dragon

SP's poll success in UP has exposed the media's biases as their predictions failed

32 BIOGRAPHIES These tell-all books by once trusted lieutenants are money spinners

SUSHIL MODI

RAMAN'S 3

Will his new OBC caste politics destroy the prospects of BJP in Bihar?

The story on how three smart bureaucrats helped Raman to win three straight elections

RAJNATH VS MODI Modi has done to Rajnath what Rajnath did to Kalyan Singh and cut the ground from under his feet

CAN PANKAJA?

ABKI BAR, NAI CAR

Her fast rise could become a hurdle for both Raj Thakerey and Uddhav Thakerey

Auto sector has shown signs of resurgence, which is truly a positive signal for the ailing economy

70 LEFT PENDULAM Left has consistently failed to learn and adapt in a more globalised world

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OCTOBER 2014

Life & style 78

REAL ESTATE Affordable housing is the new buzzword among real estate developers in NCR

INTERIOR DECOR Home buyers are not just buying property but spending lots on doing up their places, whether it terms of wallpapers to fittings and furnishings

88 MBA ASCETICS Young professionals are renouncing successful lives to become Jain hermits

90 FAWAD KHAN

SHAHPUR JAT A sleepy village in Delhi has emerged as a destination for fashion designers

The debutant Pakistani actor is now a rage amongst Indian audiences

92 FASHION Just a small twist to the usual stuff and Lo! you have a total new look on you

94 LADAKH, ETERNAL Three Himalayan ranges, blue, blue lakes at 18,000 feet... this remote destination is mesmerising

OCTOBER 2014

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FROM THE EDITORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DESK

Who Said Hindutva Works?

seats in 1991, 160 odd seats in 1996 and 182 seats in 1998 EFORE I write my next editorial, virtually no under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. one would be talking about the results of byeelections in Uttar Pradesh because Maharashtra Some analysts would say that this rise of the BJP is and Haryana would have elected new assemblies purely because it stoked and pandered to Hundutva and new governments. Till the bye-election results sentiments. At best, they would be partly right. The where the Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav has climax of the Ram Temple movement came about on made a spectacular comeback - were out, most analysts December 6, 1992, when mobs destroyed the Babri expected the NDA to comfortably win assembly elections Masjid. You could say that it was a moment of triumph in Haryana and Maharashtra. Now they are not so sure. for the hard line Hindutva elements of the BJP. But what happened after that? BJP governments in UP. It is futile to speculate what will happen. We will know MP, Himachal and Rajasthan were dismissed and fresh when the results are out on October 19. But there is one assembly elections were called. You might think grateful important thing I want to point out even as pundits keep Hindutva types would work extra hard to reward the debating the substance of the Modi mandate and the BJP with thumping electoral victories. future course the party will take. Some Actually, the BJP lost the assembly feel that BJP president Amit Shah has elections in UP, Himachal and MP and no choice but to keep pushing ahead INDIANS just about managed to form a coalition with polarisation. Some feel that the INSTINCTIVELY government in Rajasthan. And since Modi mandate was purely for economic SHY AWAY FROM that high, the BJP has been in terminal development (Sabka Saath. Sabka decline in UP till the surprise results of Vikas) and not for Hindu mobilisation. EXTREMIST the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Critics who detest the BJP, of course, say POSITIONS, SO The implications are very clear. Indians that the party has grown as a national RADICAL HINDUTVA instinctively shy away from extremist force only because it has espoused an positions and ideologies. That is why the aggressive Hindutva agenda. WON'T WORK Left parties in India have failed, despite In fact, so intimately is BJP associated extreme poverty and exploitation. with Hindutva and other labels like That is why hard line Muslim parties have never done 'urban upper caste' and 'Bania' that even seasoned well in elections, except in isolated pockets. And that analysts have failed to properly interpret the rise of the is why Modi chose to become an enemy of the VHP as BJP. The first fact is that the BJP - or its earlier avatar, the chief minister of Gujarat, because he understood that Jan Sangh - was a fringe party till the 1967 elections. It divisiveness simply doesn't work. The same can be said won 35 Lok Sabha seats then. A right wing pro-business about the performance of most non-BJP parties in 2014. party called Swatantra Party won 44 seats. Soon after They took divisiveness of the other kind - stoking the 1967, the Swatantra Party disappeared and most of its fears of minorities to an absurd level- and paid the price. voters veered towards the Jan Sangh. In the 1977 postemergency elections, it is estimated that the Jan Sangh Quite simply, the only things that will matter in the bloc in the Janata Party won about 80 Lok Sabha seats. future are good governance and development. And that is In the 1984 Lok Sabha elections after the assassination good for India. of Indira Gandhi, when the Congress won 404 seats, it is hardly ever mentioned that the BJP, which won a mere two seats, actually came second in more than 80 seats. There was no Hindutva agenda till 1984. Even in the 1989 elections, the BJP won 89 seats. When the Ram Temple Anil Pandey movement became a national issue, the BJP won 120 Editor

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OCTOBER 2014

DROPBOX

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR MODI HAS TO DELIVER The story on 100 days, 101 Barbs just has one message. It just shows that the media, especially the English media of the elite class is after his life, and in this condition, he has to ensure that he delivers. It is clear now that the victory he scripted is due to his agenda of development and promise to deliver. This is what the people had been begging for the last two decades. I am not a Congress baiter, rather I think that the Congress has given much to the nation, for all the development so far, especially in science and technology, has been under the Congress rule. However, its politics over the past ten years has been marred by ineffectiveness and corruption, which is why it could never hope to win convincingly. Now the nation has given a solid mandate to Narendra Modi, so if he fails to deliver, he will never get back to power, despite his bombastic claim that he will still rule in 2024.

Gautam Chandra Dovers Lane, Kolkata

HONEST EDIT

KEDARNATH CONSPIRACY

I am a regular reader of your News Bench magazine. I have started from the second edition as the news that such a magazine is being published reached me late. I rather enjoy reading it. I have seen many people comment on many of the articles, but this time I am perhaps most moved by the editorial, "Honest Politicos Are'nt Extinct". To say the least, it was a highly honest editorial, highly appreciable. It had a distinctly different flavour. You have raised a very valid point. It is truly beleived that a journalist cannot praise a politician lest he be called that persons lackey. But as you have rightly pointed out, what if some politicians are die hard honest? Shall we still shy away from praising them? The names you have mentioned are remarkably honest politicians. Especially reading about Manik Sarkar brought tears to my eyes. Are these people still living in the Satya Yug? In this context, as a reader from Bengal let me mention also Rezzak Mollah, who still visits his village every weekend, walks barefeet and mixes freely with villagers. Nayan Neel Basu Bashirhat, West Bengal

I read your article on Kedarnath. This is a terrible development. I cannot think why a senior scientist can rubbish his own huge finding and then say that the lake was a small one? Whether the lake was small or large, in a world where climate change has been proved again and again by scientists, was it not the duty of the Wadia Institute to keep an equally sharp eye on all the lakes? Why were the common men ignored when they complained of increasing heat? Is it because the scientists have become comfortable working in air conditioned workplaces? This is a real shame! Mohd. Rizvan Ramnagar, Nainital

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OCTOBER 2014

POOR ADVANI! I read News Bench magazine with a great interest. The report on LK Advani makes one feel really sad about the fall of a man of such heights to this nadir. If nothing, Advani was a dynamic and honest politician who can be easily credited with the BJP-led NDA coming to power for the first time. The ugly spat over the prime ministership was really a matter of shame. No doubt Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a great states-

man and leader of the nation, but what has now been done to Advani creates a kind of scare inside me? Is the world of politics so dirty, so heartless and cut throat that bit by bit a man who is now an octogenarian is consigned to the dustbin of history? What was wrong in Advani praising Jinnah? Afterall, it is very well established in history that Jinnah was liberal and progressive, and only certain fringe elements forced him to declare Pakistan an Islamic state. The question now is who is next? Your earlier cover story, I think in the first edition, on Modi's real enemies, listed some BJP leaders like Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh. Do you mean to say that someday Modi will simply kick them out? If the same kind of things happen to Swaraj or Rajnath Singh, will they be able to digest that? Brandon D'Souza Puducherry

EDUCATION BOOM I have been regularly and with growing interest reading the reports on education. The writer seems to specialise on education issues. Earlier he had written about how very soon we can sit at our

DROPBOX

WE SALUTE OUR SOLDIERS This is a letter from a few civilians from different corners of this wonderful country protected by many wonderfully brave men of the army and paramilitary forces. This is a letter to thank them for protecting us selflessly risking their own comfort, happiness and even lives. This we realised after we went through your extremely touching Cover Story, 2nd Class Martyrs, and we shared it among friends and decided to write a combined letter. We know how ever much we thank them, it is not enough. The legacy of their bravery has been carried on from past. Today our men in uniform are taking all the risks and trouble to save the people from the flood in J&K. And what they are getting in return? Criticism, abuses and stone pelting! One day these people may also gift a bullet to them. We know our men never help us expecting anything in return. I know they do their duty. But God knows whether they are something or not, whether they are getting any rest or not. Sir, today we realize the Thank you is such a small word. We Love our men. Anasuya Mitra Mandir Marg, New Delhi

EXPRESS@NEWS BENCH KIDNEY HORROR Reading the story on kidney theft in Orissa one feels a sense of abject nausea. How can people sink so low? Five hundred people cheated out of their body’s crucial organ is horrible. It is not as if I have not heard of it. Here in Malda district of West Bengal, this is done to extremely poor people, just as your report from Odisha says. I know of one case when a poor man was ‘recruited’ for a job in Delhi. God knows how they engineered this but after some months the man started complaining about stomach ache. The man was hospitalised in a zany hospital. His family was called and they were pleasantly shocked to see such good arrangements. They were told the man needs an operation, so they asked them to sign some papers. They of course gave their thumb impressions. Then, like in Odisha, the man’s kidney was removed and after a few days he and his family were given Rs 20,000 and put in an AC 3tier train and sent home. It was only after a few weeks that the man started having problem. But by that time the company had vanished. This is such an organized racket that no one can do anything about it.

FACADE

homes and still earn foreign degrees. In this edition he has offered such wonderful hopes to thousands of students about the fabulous private universities that are bringing in international tieups that are bound to enliven our campuses and improve the chances of our young students. This has become possible, and is the wonderful impact of a globalised economy and changing job skills, which is leading to the creation of many new careers that were previously not heard of and which have opend vast new vistas for the students. I must thank News Bench for such interesting coverage that generates hope Pawan Mitta Bazaar Chowk, Bhopal

Sushil Kumar, Samastipur, Gorakhpur

DESIGNED CHARACTER I see a sudden change in your magazine’s design elements. From June, when I first got to see News Bench, till last month, I should not say that the magazine was badly designed, but for sure this time around it is looking fabulous. It is clear that someone is putting in an effort to create a well-thought out product. It is easy for the lighter sections of what is called back-of-the-book, with things like new products or Bollywood pages look bright and chirpy. What is most difficult is to make the more serious pages look bright and appealing. I see that is what has happened in your last edition. There is an attempt to mark out five different sections of the magazine with separate colour grids. I hope this continues, because then I shall know exactly what I want to read and trace the section out easily instead of having to leaf through the entire book. The blowing up of pictures beyond the usual grid lines is also interesting, lending a different character to the magazine. After all, character comes from both content and style.

Mazhar Khan Bagh No. 3, Lucknow

LISTENING POST! Since we launched, we have been receiving a lot of responses, suggestions and advices. We believe in growing through consensus. We are sure you have some more wisdom to add. Please send your responses to feedback@newsbench.in or G-22, Sector-3, Noida, UP-201301

OCTOBER 2014

NEWS BENCH

ACTIONS

culture. It is a well known fact that lack of access to banking services for the poor also makes them vulnerable to the middleclass which takes these poor people for granted. At the same time, lack of access to institutional services What happened over the last month that makes them victims of private agents was historic and will have a lasting impact on such as moneylenders. India, politically, socially, economically or culturally? Most parts of rural India where banks have not reached are also Here are some of the latest developments! sparsely populated, and these places lack basic infrastructure as well. These are also places where banks run into costlier operations because most of the transactions are of small amounts. It is also a fact pointed out by many experts that people do not always subscribe to beneficial plans and services. This is a surprising fact that when pension plan was optional, enrolment ratio was quite low. To make this successful, the need of the hour is to make this mandatory. According to a research done by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, most of the rural labour households prefer to raise loan from the non-institutional sources, which is approximately 71 per cent of the total debt requirement of these households. in both rural and RIME Minister Narendra The borrowing cost is urban areas. Modiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s much publicised THIS IS THE also very high. Money This is the financial inclusion scheme LARGEST SCHEME lenders alone provided largest scheme of aimed at accomplishing the objective OF FINANCIAL debt to the tune of financial inclusion of providing basic banking facilities, rolled out by any with a debit card and in-built accident INCLUSION ROLLED about 44 per cent of the total borrowings. government in insurance, for poorer citizens of India OUT BY ANY Relatives, friends independent India. was a grand success. It was a very GOVERNMENT IN and shopkeepers If the government pleasant surprise that the target of have been two other succeeds, a vast opening one crore (10 mn) accounts THE WORLD sources which together majority of rural was overshot by 80 lakh (8 mn) on the accounted for about 19 population will very first day itself. per cent of the borrowings. be able to use banking facilities for The facilities include Rs 5,000 According to independent research various purposes. The canvas of the overdraft for Aadhar-linked accounts done by scholars Haroon Sajjad and scheme can be imagined from the fact and RuPay Debit Card with in-built Chetan in November, 2012, it was that as many as 7.25 lakh emails have Rs 100,000 accident insurance cover. found that 48.6 per cent of the farmer been sent to bank officers informing There is also a minimum monthly households were reported to be them about it. remuneration of Rs 5,000 to business indebted. And, there is an urgent need The success of the scheme will correspondents who will act as the last to accelerate the process of financial change the entire savings behaviour in link between the account holders and inclusion. hence so far, this is a good rural areas where there is hardly any the bank. The scheme aims to open beginning. bank branch and there is no savings accounts to all uncovered households

IMPACT INDIA

FINANCIAL INCLUSION STARTS WELL

NEWS BENCH

OCTOBER 2014

CONSEQUENCES

SCHOOLS TO FOCUS ON MATH, LANGUAGE

NE of the main criticisms of the UPA government was its inability to kickstart infrastructure projects. The key issue was delays in the entire process of issuing apporvals for projects. The good news is that the ministry can now amend the Model Concession Agreement (MCA) for highway projects and mode of project delivery. MCA is a legal contract which lays down the terms and conditions under which road projects will be executed. At present, any change in MCA needs approval from a inter-ministerial group: the ministries of road, ﬁnance, law and the Planning Commission. After that it has to be approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). All this takes a huge amount of time, resulting in major delays in the road projects. This has been the main reason behind the below par performance of National Highways Authority of India. All this will change, as now the surface transport ministry can easily implement changes in the MCA and this will attract private players. This is important, as in the past two years, more than 20 projects worth Rs 27,000 crore have failed to attract investments. This may now change, and hopefully, the road ministry will be successful in attracting better private participation.

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MORE POWERS TO NHAI

ANY academicians in various fora have expressed concers about the falling standards of students in math and languages. The 2013 Annual Status of Education Report by Pratham, an NGO, says that the most children though attending schools but their basic knowledge in mathematics and languages is not satisfactory in most students. To address this problem, the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry has launched a new

SC ADVICE TO CLEAN POLITICS

N a historic 'advice', the Supreme Court of India says it is the sole discretion of Prime Minister or Chief Minister to choose ministers, but they should avoid appointing people having criminal background. The apex court’s judgement dismissed Manoj Narula’s petition seeking direction against criminalisation of politics. The five-member bench was

unanimous in tendering this advice. Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Madan B Lokur stressed on the fact that if persons having questionable integrity can be barred from civil services, why should the same principal not apply to politicians. Though, this 'advice' is optional, yet, it will serve as a benchmark while inducting people in the cabinet.

scheme across India to improve the standards of students in these two core areas. In this scheme, every year about 500 hours will be spent to improve language at elementary level and 300 hours will be spent on maths. The HRD Minister, Smriti Irani has launched this project. The government has also decided to fill the gap in infrastructure in all the schools through active participation of Corporate Social Responsibility funds. The ministry has also directed the states to concentrate on female literacy in backward and rural areas. This will have big impact in times to come, as India is lacking good talent in mathematics and languages at higher levels, because of the lack of good talents at an elementary level. OCTOBER 2014

NEWS BENCH

INDIA

POSITIVE INDIA Beyond the usual, high decibel screeching of television news about scams, rapes, murders and suicides, there is a very positive India, where life often seems worth living...

SIDHANT PICKS THE RAGPICKERS

Sidhant is interested in low-cost IDHANT PAIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S bold idea is technology solutions to problems that being appreciated. It is to drive are persistent and large scale, prior to economic development across his work on Protoprint, Pai has worked India by equipping waste pickers with on development projects in Nicaragua, low-cost technology to recycle plastic Tanzania and also in his own country. into low priced 3D printer filament. He also founded the Sidhant has started Protoprint, a social Sidhant wants low cost NGO Social Seva, which solutions to problems works to provide broad enterprise based in India, that are persistent and access to educational that empowers urban are of large scale instruction for underwaste pickers with the privileged communities. technology to convert Sidhant has a degree in environmental waste plastic into 3D printer filament. engineering from the Massachusetts The Pune-based startup, the first of Institute of Technology. His academic its kind in India, has tied up with rag interests focus on air quality, atmopickers who bring in the waste that spheric modelling and climate change. they collect from various parts of the Sidhant is a 2014 MIT D-Lab Scalecity to a site run by Pai's Protoprint in Ups Fellow. the city.

'AARAMBH' IS WELL BEGUN

ARAMBH is a non-proďŹ t organisation based and working in Navi Mumbai to provide educational and vocational skills to underprivileged children and women, along with care and support for elderly people. This NGO was created as a community service centre for marginalised families living in slums and also in rural areas. The organisation has begun

NEWS BENCH

OCTOBER 2014

HOPE - FULL

UTTARAKHAND: NISHTAA SERVES WITH DEDICATION

adopting local schools, beginning with the local Samata Hindi Vidyalaya, Turbhe, where the poorest migrants send their children. The school building was in a shambles with holes in the roof, broken windows, cracked class room walls, etc. Funds were raised and materials from many kind and generous individuals were collected. Thus, some of the major renovations at a cost of Rs 150,000 were carried out. Aarambh is arranging to provide for drinking water,

toilets and a computer lab for the children, which is going to require an additional expense of Rs150,000/Every community has its share of elderly people who have worked hard their entire lives, providing for their families, educating their children, etc. Aarambh begins its support for these old and inďŹ rm suffering from various ailments and health problems like joint pains, anemia and vision failure. To these underprivileged, becoming bedridden is the biggest

with a Canadian organisation which will provide children online computer course with a certificate in the end of the course. Also, Gupta says, a survey is being conducted to understand the competence of each student and then help them to complete the training as fitters, mechanics, and computer operators, to enhance their skills and employability. Such nishtaa (sincerety) can take the country a long way in making its needy women and children self-dependent.

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ANY a little makes a mickle are today trying to resettle. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are providing education to 312 children is what one remembers and they are right from standard when one gets to know seventh to Bachelor of Arts. We are of the positive work being done by giving them free education which Nishtaa, an NGO dedicated to the includes computer education,â&#x20AC;? says welfare of women and children in the Adarsh Gupta. Also, this organisation difficult areas of Uttarakhand. has taken the responsibility to help Nishtaa NGO works towards 72 ladies to become self dependent Health care for the poor, supporta and it is through its endeavour that children's and adult education and these ladies are learning to make fruit creating environmental awareness in juices and pickles. Things do not stop the community. Members provide here, as the organisation has tied up books, educational materials, etc., to needy students and schools, organise a regular programme for providing basic education to adults, medical assistance to the needy, and relief work undertaken in case of natural calamities. Nishtaa members plunged to help alleviate the pain of the people who survived the disastrous flood in Uttarakhand. They chipped in with food, shelter and other basic amenities which were a necessity for survival. Today this organisation believes that The NGO is training the real work is still in people in various process, as children and courses to make them self-dependent women who were left at the mercy of nature

fear, since their families are very poor and cannot afford expensive medical care for the elderly. Here enters Aarambh to keep these people healthy and happy in the twilight years of their lives. They conduct several health camps for the elderly, which include eye camps, anemia control, bone density camps, etc., followed up by treatment at the local private hospitals. It is this initiatvie which has given these people a happy and healthy life.

OCTOBER 2014

NEWS BENCH

SOME RUMOURS

POLIWOOD Politics is not just about votes and social engineering. There are diverse aspects of politics that may not make huge headlines but are exciting, nevertheless. Here's News Bench's platter

DISMAY FOR DIDI

HE unthinkable might well happen by the end of this year, or early next year if some sources in Delhi's power corridors can be believed. As the gory details of the Saradha chit fund scam unfold one step at a time, it is becoming clear that senior leaders of Trinamool Congress were deeply involved in the operations of the Saradha group. Apart from swindling of public money, there are now serious charges of money laundering from the scam being funneled by a TMC leader to fundamentalist and terrorist groups in Bangladesh. Kunal Ghosh, who was once the blue eyed boy of Mamata Bannerjee has been behind bars for a long time now and is singing like a canary, trying to drag Mamata's name to save his skin. So far, leading lights of the party have been successful in shielding their leader from uncomfortable questions about her relationship and dealings with the main accused Sudipto Sen. But as the can of worms opens even wider, investigative agencies like CBI and the Enforcement Directorate appear to be seriously considering how to ask a few questions from

NEWS BENCH

OCTOBER 2014

Mamata. After all, she is a sitting chief minister and investigative agencies are quite worried that Trinamool cadres might unleash violence on the streets if she is interrogated by sleuths. But then, Mamata Bannerjee will not be the first sitting chief minister to be interrogated for alleged wrong doings. The current prime minister Narendra Modi was grilled for over nine hours by sleuths about his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots when he was the CM of Gujarat. To that extent, Modi and Didi can exchange notes on the subject.

FRISKY WITH ROBERT

OON after the new government took over in Delhi, there was a lot of talk about the possibility of the airport privileges of Robert Vadra, the husband of SPG protectee Priyanka Gandhi Vadra being withdrawn. Vadra is exempted from frisking at all Indian airports and can actually be driven straight to the aircraft without any customs or other clearances. The new Aviation Minister Gajapathi Raju had dropped broad hints that Vadra might have to go through security checks and frisking like an ordinary Indian. This had prompted an angry Priyanka to write a strong letter to authorities stating that she is not interested in any airport or security privileges for herself and her family. It is now being revealed that Priyanka's letter was not the main

JOKER IN JUNGLE L LE

OR close to two decades, JD(U) D D(U) leader and former Bihar chief i ief minister Nitish Kumar keptt accusing one time friend and then n rival Lalu Prasad Yadav of unleashing h hing a jungle raj in Bihar and destroying n the ng state. Since 1994, he has been a sworn w worn enemy of Lalu and even tied up with wiith the BJP in the late 1990s to be ablee to defeat Lalu. The "jungle raj" finally a ally came to end in 2005 when the JD(U)( (U)BJP alliance swept to power. Nitish h

SOME TRUTHS

reason for the NDA government to hold the decision. Apparently, the real reason is the desire of many so called powerful leaders of the NDA to get VVIP security and the paraphernalia that comes with it. The race became more intense after BJP MP Sangeet Som was given Z category security because of a perceived threat to his life. Since a whole range of NDA leaders want similar security and corresponding privileges when they take a flight, it has become difficult for authorities to finalise a list of people who will get airport privileges. The PM Modi might be advocating a no nonsense and no fuss approach to these issues. But who can stop so many NDA leaders from dreaming VIP dreams?

HIS on and off battle between the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalaitha and the maverick and outspoken BJP leader Subramanyam Swamy is getting nastier by the day. Recently, the Sril Lanka navy arrested many fishermen from Tamilnadu and seized their boats. That keeps happening. Then Jayalalitha wrote to the PM demanding help to release the fishermen and the boats. Swamy made a trip to Colombo and made a grand announcement that he had successfully negotiated the release of poor fisher-

men and their boats with the government there. That was not enough. Swamy leveled allegations that Jayalalitha was interested in securing the release of only a certain category of mechanised and expensive boats and trawlers because they were actually owned by her long time associate Sasikala and her family members. Jayalalitha promptly filed a defamation case and Swamy has been asked to appear in court. Unfazed, Swamy has vowed that he will uncover and expose the illegal assets and properties that Jayalalitha has acquired over the years, particularly in the Nilgiri Hills. It may be recalled here that Jayalalitha had become highly unpopular as chief minister during her first tenure between 1991 and 96, mainly because of the allegedly corrupt activities of Sasikala. Cases of disproportionate assets filed against her in those days are now heading for a final denouement.

emerged ev even ven st stronger, and even a possible candidate can ndida for prime minister when the NDA alliance won a in 2010 wh hen th victory massive vic ctory iin the assembly elecand an end to tions. Good d governance gove jungle raj were w the th slogans that Nitish used repeatedly repeattedly and very successfully. But after the shock defeat during the sh elections, survival instincts Lok Sabha electi hands again with forced him to shake sh Lalu Yadavv and ccontest bye elections as junior partner. The success the de facto o juni venture has prompted many to of this vent ture h push for a merger between seriously pu ush fo

RJD and JD(U). This group says that JD(U) is after all a breakaway faction of RJD and should come back to the parent party. If that happens, there can be no doubt that the alliance will give a formidable challenge to the BJP in Bihar in the 2015 assembly elections. But it will almost certainly be curtains for the political career of Nitish. There is a joke doing the rounds in Patna that like LK Advani, Nitish might be "promoted" to a "Margdarshak Mandal" of the merged entity. How times change! OCTOBER 2014

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FACADE

JAYA VS SWAMY: 'FISH'TICUFFS

HISTORY TALKS

NIZAM’S WEALTH FROZEN IN QUEEN’S LAND (The author was the Media Advisor to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was also the London Bureau Chief and Diplomatic Editor of PTI)

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HERE is no dearth of the tales of the British Empire plundering the Indian treasures. But this one is a bizarre story of a greedy finance minister of the wealthiest former Indian princely state of Hyderabad who, soon after the partition of India, handed over to the British, virtually on a platter, more than £ one million from Nizam’s bank account in London. Sixty-six years ago, Moin Nawaz Jung, a loyalist of the seventh Nizam Osman Ali Khan, transferred the booty into the account of Ibrahim Rahimtoohla, Islamabad’s high commissioner in UK when Sardar Patel was conducting “Operation Polo” in Hyderabad in September 1948 to force the dithering Nizam to accede to the Indian Union. The too clever by half finance minister of the Nizam had conspired to reclaim the bounty after escaping to the newly born state of Pakistan. Jung’s misadventure resulted in a perpetual litigation over the riches, which now stand at a whopping £80 million (approximately Rs. 800 crore), remaining frozen in the London bank where no one has been allowed to lay hand on it so far. Applying the colonial tactics of divide and rule, the British government has turned this “Hyderabad Funds Case” into a saga of one of the longest and fiercely fought and yet unresolved legal battles over sharing of an illegal bank transaction involving India, Pakistan and the heirs to the erstwhile state of Hyderabad. The curious story goes that after the merger of Hyderabad state into the Indian Union, the Nizam sent a cable to the London bank claiming that the transaction was illegal and without his knowledge and filed a civil suit against Jung as well as Rahimtoohla and the

bank froze the account. Before the dethroned Nizam could win the case and retrieve his money, Pakistan also joined as a claimant in 1957, and the British House of Lords stayed the proceedings. In its ruling that same year, the British House of Lords’ Judge, Lord Denning, concluded that the account could only be unfrozen with the agreement of all the parties. The Nizam died on February 24, 1967. Since then, the surviving heirs to the Nizam, together with the government of India, have been trying to resolve the issue through diplomatic channels. But Pakistan’s claim of beneficial entitlement to the funds has failed to make any headway. The bank has also made it clear that it will not release the money unless the British courts specifically pass an order directing it to release the funds in favour of any one of the claimants. The Indian government too has been making serious efforts to retrieve the

FACADE

ASHOK TANDON

Nizam Osman Ali Khan (left) magniﬁcent Nizam Palace (above) in Hyderabad is still a treasure house and a rich museum

cash. But the Pakistan government is refusing to withdraw its claim. New Delhi unsuccessfully tried for an out of court settlement with Pakistan and the surviving heirs to the Nizam in 2008. The only way forward was intergovernmental negotiations between India and Pakistan. Nawab Najaf Ali Khan, grandson of the seventh Nizam, who is president of the Nizam Family Welfare Association, has now become a party to the case representing the

the dispute is making the British law Nizam family. Nizam's two other grandsons, Prince firms richer by the day. The Nizam, and later his heirs, Mukarram Jah and Prince Muffakam have suffered heavy financial losses in Jah, are also claiming the amount. multiple legal disputes with the British In 2012, Nizam's family members government and Pakistan on one hand appealed to then Pakistan president and with bitterly fighting descendants. Asif Ali Zardari to find an early settleAccording to one estimate, during his ment to the case to help the members days as a ruler, the seventh Nizam was of Nizam family who are financially reputed to be the richest man in the distressed. world, having a fortune There are reports that estimated at US$2 bilthe late seventh Nizam THE SEVENTH lion in the early 1940s produced over 100 NIZAM WAS THEN which in today’s terms illegitimate children from 86 mistresses THE RICHEST MAN could be to the tune of and some of them are IN THE WORLD WITH $33.7 billion. British seem to be also laying claim to A FORTUNE THAT rejoicing the Indothe fortune as rightful WOULD TODAY BE Pak sub- continenbeneficiaries. One of the Nizam’s grandson SOME $34 BILLION tal politics as their rivalry is denying the lives in Istanbul in a two developing nations small apartment while a handsome amount both desperately the other lives in London. Both of need for developmental activities. them are reported to have engaged In the process the real beneficiary the same British law firm to fight their of this unending dispute remains the legal battle. London Bank which has kept the It seems no one is bothered about money in fixed deposits. Until India the enormous cost of fighting this and Pakistan and the Nizam family raging legal battle. Both India and members come to a mutually agreed Pakistan also have to engage legal settlement the money is likely to luminaries in London at a high cost. remain with Britain. The fee being paid by all the parties to OCTOBER 2014

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POLITICS

Bengal CM Mamata emerges as a key Modi enemy

ANYTHING TO STOP THE MODI MARCH The seeming success of the 'secular' alliance in the bye-polls in Bihar has triggered a flurry of speculations about similar alliances in many other states. Most of it is tall talk without any basis in basic ground realities of politics 20

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GRAND ALLIANCE

BY MAYANK SINGH

OCTOBER 2014

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HERE are some pundits who say that politics is the art of the possible. In India, one can perhaps claim that politics can also be the art of the impossible. Till May 2014, erstwhile allies turned foes Lalu Prasad Yadav of the RJD and Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) in Bihar were openly hectoring and abusing each other. Nitish kept saying how he had saved Bihar from the jungle raj unleashed by Lalu, and the latter kept accusing Nitish of being a shameless opportunist. And then the penny dropped on May 16, 2014, when the results of the Lok Sabha elections were announced. A tidal Modi wave had swept across Bihar, brushing aside Buddha Babu has snubbed Mamata's proposal for a shared battle against BJP the tall claims of the RJD, the JD(U) and the Congress. That was the day the politics of the impossible came into play. noted political analyst Ram Bahadur thousands upon thousands of former And it was nothing but survival strategy Rai: "The JD(U) had no choice but to Left supporters are making a beeline garnished with the familiar masala of abandon its so called principles and for the BJP. Till a few months ago, this secularism. Within a few weeks, the old form a tie up with the RJD. You really looked impossible. But now, Mamata no longer considers the Left Front, foes had cobbled up a coalition of the can't call it a grand alliance." fearful and added Congress to it. The The early success of this gang up whose goons have often physically fear was understandable: Modi and the against Modi experiment has triggered attacked her in the past, as the main BJP were threatening to speculation of a rash enemy. Her Voldemort is no longer bury the caste warriors of similarly almost former chief minister and CPM leader IN THE OLD DAYS, impossible alliances Budhadev Bhattacharya, but the Indian of Bihar. The hastily PARTIES TRIED stitched up coalition sprouting all across prime minister Narendra Modi. In a worked and won six of the country. In West gesture that astonished even the most AND FAILED TO the 10 assembly seats FORM STRATEGIC Bengal, having led her cynical of hacks, Mamata suggested that went for by polls party TMC to victory that her party may consider the once in July. Buoyed by their ALLIANCES AGAINST in an astonishing 34 sacrilegious idea of consorting with the A DOMINANT early success, some out of 42 seats in the CPM - of course, to save secularism in JD(U) and RJD leaders Lok Sabha elections India. Cynical hacks breathed easier CONGRESS are now talking of a and decimating the when CPM leaders promptly shot down possible merger. Top once mighty Left Front the idea as preposterous. Then again, leaders seem willing to swallow egos by restricting it to a mere two seats, the Mamata government in Bengal is and past humiliations in the name of Mamata Bannerjee and her supporters now engulfed by the Sharadha chit fund secularism. And they are gearing up should have been jubilant and dancing scam with investigations revealing deep for assembly elections due next year in on the streets of Kolkata. Instead, the and disturbing links between some top the state. Says JD(U) president Sharad chief minister of West Bengal was rattled TMC leaders, the scamsters and even Yadav: "Chief Minister is not an issue by the upsurge of support for the BJP. In terrorists. What if the BJP actually puts for the JD(U) or the RJD. We will have the Lok Sabha elections, though the BJP up a surprising performance in the some neutral face on which both of us won just two seats, it managed to get 2016 assembly elections? Will Mamata can agree." That this was a battle for more than 16 per cent of the vote share. and Budhadev then imitate Nitish and survival is clear from the comments of And since the election results were out, Lalu and bring that tired old horse

POLITICS

Congress as a side kick? Something even more fantastic is brewing in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP not only won three out of the six Lok Sabha seats on offer, but also emerged as the party with the largest share of votes. This was both unthinkable and impossible till recently. In a characteristically swaggering manner that is so typical of contemporary BJP, the party soon unveiled an impossible dream called Mission 44+. In case you have missed the hype surrounding this Mission 44+, it is not a commando operation against terrorists ordered by the Modi government. It is the new BJP president Amit Shah at his audacious dismissed this strategy as a fantasy best, or worst, depending on your computer game designed by aging ideology and prejudice! Quite simply, patriarchs at the RSS headquarters in the BJP wants to win a simple majority Nagpur. No longer. Add to the equation in the assembly elections of J&K due the disastrous floods that have ravaged by the end of this year. For close to the state and the pro-active manner in two decades, Mehbooba Mufti Sayeed which Modi has personally directed the rescue and relief of the PDP and Omar operations, largely Abdullah of the NC conducted by the have been at war with TMC AND CPIM armed forces, each other. But now HAVE HACKED EACH Indian and you get a situation both seem dismayed OTHERS' CADRES where the once by the astonishing rise of the BJP in the FOR LONG, SO EVEN impossible has now improbable. state. And they have IF PARTY CHIEFS become So don't be surprised reasons to worry. The AGREE, WILL THE if Mehbooba and J&K assembly has 87 Omar bury personal seats; 37 from Jammu, CADRES DO SO? as well as family feuds four from Ladakh and come together and 46 from the overwhelmingly Muslim dominated to stop the Modi juggernaut. The fact Kashmir Valley. The BJP strategy is is, even if the BJP fails to win 44 seats, simple: sweep virtually all of the 41 seats no government can function in J&K of Jammu and Ladakh on its own or without BJP support if it manages to through party-supported independents win anything close to 40 seats. Deep down in the south, some and crucially, win about five seats in the Valley, where Kashmiri Pandits vote in people are talking of similarly large numbers. Till recently, analysts impossible looking realignments at following Kashmir politics would have the political level. Ever since the death

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of former Tamil Nadu chief minister MG Ramachandran, Jayalalitha and K Karunanidhi (whose son MK Stalin now leads the party) have been sworn enemies. Both have sent each other behind bars while in power. But some analysts argue that Karunanidhi and the late MGR were once party colleagues (like Nitish and Lalu) and the DMK and AIADMK basically share the same ideology. But this fantasy will probably remain a fantasy because

GRAND ALLIANCE

OCTOBER 2014

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SP: "This Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) will not work in UP, as both the SP and BSP workers fight with each other at the booth level. All this talk is purely because of their fear of the BJP". Siddiqui hits the nail on the head not just about UP, but also the other states where grand anti Modi alliances are being planned. RJD and JD(U) party workers have traded charges of numerous murderous assaults on each other. Even the castes that support the two parties are openly antagonistic and hostile towards each other. Similarly, dozens or maybe even scores of TMC and CPM party workers have been killed during inter-party confrontations that have resulted in murderous assaults. Even if the party bosses manage to In this post-Lok Sabha polls political fantasy, Stalin will join hands swallow their egos and smoke the peace with Jayalalitha, while Omar Abdullah would smoke the peace pipe, how will party workers who have pipe with Mehbooba Mufti Sayeed. Most will not succeed seen friends, colleagues and even family members killed in political violence unlike in Bihar, West It won all five seats in Uttarakhand that come together? One senior Congress Bengal, UP, J& K and was part of UP till 2001. In effect, the leader who doesn't want to be named some other states, the BJP won 78 out of the 85 seats on offer quips: " This is like expecting the Indian BJP is still pretty much in the old UP. The previous best was 57 and Pakistani army coming together a marginal player in out of 85 during the peak of Atal Bihari to fight the jihadis. A bit far fetched, the state. Yet, the very Vajpayee's popularity in 1998. The SP don't you think?" Or as analyst Suvro Kamal Dutta says: fact that analysts are led by Mulayam won "How will this alliance speculating about five seats (all by his own at the national this reveals how far family members); the WILL THE NEED TO survive level when leaders the sheer desperation Congress managed to STOP MODI AND jostle with each other for survival can push save the seats of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi parties and chieftains! THE BJP BECOME A to become the prime It is this pure instinct in Rae Bareilly and MORE POWERFUL minister?"Regional party chieftains feeling for survival that Amethi respectively, URGE THAN besieged by Modi prompted speculations and the BSP, led by about a similar Mayawati drew a blank. PERSONAL ENEMITY would prefer not to answer that question realignment in the politically crucial Shocked out of his wits AND EGOS? right now. and volatile state of Uttar Pradesh. by this, Mulayam even The fact is: parties After publicly hugging his sworn publicly asked Lalu to enemy Nitish Kumar on a stage, Lalu persuade Mayawati to join an anti-Modi or even coaltitions do not do well or became a political advisor and asked alliance to, of course, save secularism. survive in the long by merely being Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati to But unlike a cornered Mamata, a opposed to something or someone. bury the hatchet and come together to vanquished Mayawati displayed more When the Congress was a dominant stop the relentless march of the BJP in gumption and faith in her own abilities force in national as well as state politics, UP. The Lok Sabha success of the BJP by publicly ridiculing and rejecting any many parties and coalitions opposed it, in UP was even more astounding than possibility of an alliance with Mulayam. but those who thrived in the long run the Bihar success. The BJP and its allies Says well known journalist and analyst are those which build a durable agenda won 73 out of the 80 seats in the state. Shahid Siddiqui, who was once in the based vote bank.

ECONOMY

SKILL IT OR KILL IT... ...the massive potential of a Youngistan, that is. NDA II has taken up the forgotten agenda of UPA II for a massive skill development drive to ensure a resurgent economy BY P P I Y U S H

POPULATION of 1.3 billion with about 0.8 billion in the working age, India in 2020 is surely something the world can look forward to. Economic predictions indicate that 2020 would usher in India's golden growth era in terms of demographic dividends. It is estimated that India would have enough manpower to meet its own needs, and perhaps extend it across its boundries as well. Quantitatively, the numbers may sound appealing. But there is a huge difference between creating a skilled workforce and an army of clerks. There is a need for quality manpower in today's knowledge-based economy and there is good reason behind skill development being crucial to economic development. Having steered the BJP-led alliance to power with an absolute majority, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now faced with some of his toughest challenges – that of putting the economy back on the growth track and creating jobs for the millions of unemployed youth. "There is an urgent need for manpower in the world," Modi told the Lok Sabha while replying to the debate on the motion of thanks on the president's address. He was speaking for the first time

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OCTOBER 2014

on the floor of the Lok Sabha. "Our neighbour China is getting older and we are getting younger. Our priority should be skill development in the youth," he emphasised. By 2022, it is estimated that unless action is taken, India will be staring at a gap of 10.3 crore skilled labourers in the infrastructure sector, 3.5 crore in the auto sector and 1.3 crore in healthcare. Survey after survey in recent times have pointed to the huge mismatch in the aspirations of graduating engineers and their job-readiness, and the problem only seems to be multiplying with each passing day. There are several questions to ponder over – Is India only running after producing graduates with higher degrees? Is there any effort to determine whether these degree holders will be fit enough to be employable in the future? And if yes, will they contribute in the national research and development process, which eventually can match up to the world’s standards? It is pertinent to add here a snatch of the speech delivered at Hyderabad University by the current secretary to the departments of science & technology and also of biotechnology, Prof K VijayRaghavan: “Our scholars are prized across the world as among the best, and they are welcome in any research organisation. My question is,

are our institutions among those that foreign researchers would like to work in?” He said that it is still not the case, so intellectually rich institutions have to be created. The government's emphasis on the need for skills and not just certificates is well-placed. According to a recent survey report released by Aspiring Minds – an organisation whose vision is to bring credible and genuine assessment to various aspects of education, training and employment out of the 600,000 engineers that graduate annually, only 18.43 per cent are employable as software engineers in the IT services, and a meagre 3.95 per cent appropriately trained to be directly deployed on projects. For core jobs

SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Human Resources Development minister Smriti Irani will be at the forefront of PM Modi's skill development programme

in mechanical, electronic, electrical and civil jobs, only 7.49 per cent are employable. Another survey conducted in March this year by the job portal CareerBuilder India has found that 78 per cent of the employers are concerned with the growing skills gap in India, while 57 per cent said they currently have open positions for which they cannot find qualified candidates. "The skills gap in India is an issue that is not going away anytime soon," says Premlesh Machama, Director, CareerBuilder India. No doubt then that there is a growing disconnect between the needs of the employers and the skills that are available in the job market today resulting in workers and companies

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between several key ministries. India has a mammoth challenge of skilling 500 million by the year 2022. "A dedicated department on skills development was the need of the hour, especially to engage the growing number of young people actively looking for employment opportunities," said RCM Reddy, Chairman, FICCI Skills Development Forum and Managing Director & CEO, IL&FS Education & Skills. "One of the important areas will be focusing on creating uniform funding across ministries and departments with higher incentives for capital expenditure intensive programmes, extend skills development within the scheme framework for the informal sector which could lead to self employment and entrepreneurship and fast track PPP initiatives for setting up of ITIs and Polytechnics," he added. Measures to create an institutional base for skill development in India at the national level are, however, not new. In 2008, under UPA II, a Coordinated Action on Skill Development with failing to realise their full potential and a three-tier institutional structure consisting of the PMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Council negative consequences for businesses. The new government has its task on Skill Development, the National clearly cut out and on the face of Skill Development Coordination Board it, does appear to be moving in the and the NSDC was created. But critics right direction. For the first time in point out to its lacunae: "The focus of the history of post-Independence government schemes is on bottom-ofgovernance, the new NDA government the-pyramid skill development, wherein immediately after has created an exclusive training, employment ministry to focus on ATTEMPTS TO is available. This, by skill development under definition, covers low Sarabananda Sonowal, FOCUS ON SKILL skilled and unskilled the 51-year-old BJP DEVELOPMENT â&#x20AC;? says Santanu leader from Assam. This PROGRAMMES IS jobs, Paul, MD & CEO, move triggered a lot of NOT NEW BUT HAD TalentSprint. hopes, as it was expected BEEN PUT ON THE However, one of to accelerate the pace of the key issues is the skilling for India's youth BACKBURNER under-employment of through coordination

ECONOMY

Skill development has suddenly graduates and lack of industry skills become a major activity in the among educated youth. "We know that economic ďŹ rmament over 70 per cent of the graduates are not ready for employment. Schemes focussing on this category, which is "According to plan, we are on target. highly aspirational, qualified but not But the fundamental basis of that plan industry-ready, need to be focussed presumes a certain growth rate of the economy, ecosystem and job creation," upon," he adds. In fact, several bodies such as the observes Dilip Chenoy, CEO & MD of National Skill Development Agency, the NSDC, adding that the rate of growth National Council on Skill Development of the economy had slowed in the and the Office of the Advisor to the previous years and that there is a need to get back to seven to Prime Minister on Skill eight per cent growth Development have THERE ARE HIGH rate so that jobs can be existed through the UPA HOPES FROM created. "Secondly, we II regime. What have had thought of sector been missing, though, THE PM AND HE skill and certification are the political will and HAS MADE SKILL programmes. If those determining the pace DEVELOPMENT are not allowed to at which India needs to ONE OF HIS PRIME function or curtailed, accelerate on this front. then we have to The roadblocks are TARGETS restructure how we go manifold - enrollment forward," adds Chenoy. in primary and higher Skill development is a massive education, quality of education being imparted, the quality of teachers, so on government programme with the funds and the work spread over 21 ministries and so forth. There have been other challenges too. including HRD, Labour and Rural In 2010, the National Skill Development Development that often end up working Corporation (NSDC) had put together at cross purposes. Add to that the a ten-year plan on how to skill people two-fold hike in budgetary allocation and reach a target of 150 million. for skilling to over Rs 10,000 crore a

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year and the consequential turf wars. However, what could prove to be the biggest hurdle in Modi's mantra of skill, speed and scale, the newly created Skill Development and Entrepreneurship ministry has expressed its inability to carry out this programme. According to sources, the ministry has said that it is not 'technically equipped' to deal with the skill development programme due to absence of 'domain knowledge'. The project is now likely to be put under a new department to be created in the HRD ministry. There are high hopes from the PM. Fixing the skill deficit that the country is faced with today is perhaps his biggest challenge. What he needs today is a dedicated team that is qualified enough to understand the intricacies of skill development and has ideas about the road ahead. Tokenism may not work at this crucial juncture. Moreover, with basic primary education facilities missing from most part of India, talking of skill development itself is a big ask at this point of time. It will perhaps be his greatest achievement if he manages to remove bottlenecks and synergise efforts and resources to provide for vocational education and skill development.

DIPLOMACY

THE NEW

GREAT GAME Foreign policy is becoming exciting as the Modi government joins a new Great Game to contain the rise and rise of China. But will it work? BY MAYANK SINGH B

OME years ago, Indians who prefer page three stories were baffled by newspaper accounts of a Chinese strategy called so called ca "String of Pearls". Many thought "Stri it was wa an invasion of cheap and fake pearls from China. They are eve even more baffled when they now cha chance upon comments made by geo-political pundits on how geo-p Narendra Modi is implementing a foreign policy designed to defang and pol defeat that string of pearls strategy. Jokes apart, this is serious stuff and, if successful, will catapult Modi into the league of extraordinary players of the Great Game. Pundits of late have been comparing and likening Modi with Nehru because of the former's passion for foreign policy. The truth is: the admittedly risky Great Game that Modi is planning to make India play will completely destroy the foundations of Nehruvian foreign policy. Just as he has destroyed Nehruvian socialism symbolically by shutting down the Planning Commission. Xi Jinping will try very hard to ensure that the anti-China strategic alliance with India is not allowed to form

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In simple words, China has for long attempted to contain the rise of India as a regional player of some significance. It has strategically used India's neighbours to do that. Pakistan has for long been an all weather friend and proxy for China. In the last two decades, China has quietly courted countries like Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. Nepal and Maldives to build a series of strategic civilian or military projects that have surrounded and engulfed India. That, in a nutshell, is the string of pearls strategy. The goal was simple: to keep India tied up and bogged down with so many lingering problems with her neighbours that it would have no energy and ambition left to play a larger role in Asia. To a large extent, it has succeeded, thanks to the inexplicable follies of the previous UPA regime. In a series of masterful blunders, the UPA regime managed to antagonise Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and even Bhutan, as it sought a forever elusive peace with Pakistan. India antagonised Nepal and Bhutan by sending out silly signals of being the Big South Asian Brother. It enraged Bangladesh by reneging on a promise to work towards sharing of Teesta river waters just because Mamata Bannerjee displayed her visceral opposition to that. It infuriated Myanmaar by toeing

GREAT GAME

MAINSTREAM

Modi and Abe have developed a special rapport; (Below) Nawaz Sharif: Pakistan could become less important

the American line and giving lectures to that country on human rights. It almost lost an ally and friend in Sri Lanka by bowing to the wishes of political parties in Tamilnadu and the raising concerns over war crimes allegedly committed by the Sri Lankan army during its civil war against the murderous LTTE. All along, China was quietly watching and chuckling. It is not as if the strategic community in India was ignorant of the real intentions of China. But tragically, those who sounded warning bells and wanted India to adopt a more hard nosed stance towards China were usually dismissed as "hawkish warmongers". But many such analysts persisted despite the scorn of mainstream establishment as well as media. As late as March 29, 2013, strategic affairs analyst at the Centre for Policy Research, Bharat Karnad wrote in his blog Security Matters: "The Chinese strategy of alienating the neighbours from India and consolidating its own presence in the region is deftly prosecuted with soft words issuing in tandem with hard, well-thought-out

actions, with the Indian government, predisposed to doing nothing, lulled into inaction." Despite all the evidence of the warming water, the Indian frog seems determined to not feel the heat. National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, apparently oblivious to the developments adversely affecting Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vital national interests in the Indian Ocean Region, declared the other day

that â&#x20AC;&#x153;maritime rivalry with China is not inevitable". Such pronouncements do nothing, of course, to prevent New Delhi appearing foolish, confirming the Chinese estimation of this country as aâ&#x20AC;&#x153;pushover state.... It is time India joined Japan, Asean and Taiwan to impose on Beijing the costs of living dangerously. The process of reversing the heat to cook the Chinese frog in the South China Sea waters is long overdue." Many thought that people like Karnad were fringe elements who lived in a fantasy land when they advocated hard nosed policies. But miraculously, what was considered fringe till as late as 2013 has suddenly become mainstream. Modi surprised foreign policy experts by inviting all SAARC nation leaders to attend his oath taking ceremony. The media focus was almost entirely on the visit of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. But discerning observers were quick to realise that Modi was determined to up the ante and appear ready to join the Great Game. For one, China was not invited to the ceremony. OCTOBER 2014

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DIPLOMACY

More importantly, the Government of Tibet-in-Eexile was formally invited to the ceremony. Though not widely reported in the media, that single gesture rattled the establishment in China that had got used to dealing with an India that displayed a masochistic streak while dealing with the larger and more powerful Himalayan neighbour. Then came the historic Modi visit to Japan, about which much has already been written in painfully repeated detaila. But for those closely watching the evolving India-China equation that could well become the greatest rivalry of the 21st century, the real purpose of the Modi trip to Japan became clear in the few words he spoke officially there. Modi talked about how countries focused on the ideology of development must come together to stand against the ideology of expansionism. Virtually all neighbours of China ranging from Myanmar to the Philippines to Vietnam are clearly worried about the streak of territorial aggression and adventurism that China has been displaying in the 21st century. For these countries, Modi's words were like music. Even as the focus was on this high profile visit, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj was quietly beginning to implement this grand strategy of Modi to meet China on equal terms. She made several low profile but immensely successful visits to Bangladesh. Myanmar. Singapore and Vietnam to further strengthen the 'Look East' philosophy. In fact, old hands wonder if Modi has read recent history carefully and is sending signals to China that appear typically Chinese! Even as the President of China visited India and held a meaningful dialogue to expand business and trade relations, President Pranab Mukherjee, was paying a state visit to Vietnam to cement a new strategic relationship based on military cooperation and a mutual quest for energy supplies. India even announced it would help Vietnam explore oil and

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China has recently shown indications of emerging as an "expansionist" power. The Modi government will engage with both Obama and Putin to check that

GREAT GAME

OCTOBER 2014

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gas in offshore fields that are disputed potentially affect the entire world in territory between China and Vietnam. the 21st century, there is no dearth In 1979, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee of genuine and self-proclaimed stake had visited China as foreign minister holders who are closely monitoring seeking to improve ties, the latter had and trying damn hard to influence publicly humiliated him by militarily the contours and structure of this invading Vietnam even as he stepped relationship. The Modi regime will have foot in Beijing. But the sting in the a rough task handling these players tail was delivered by foreign minister that exercised an unhealthy influence Sushma Swaraj when she publicly over the UPA regime. Security analyst stated in September: "For India to agree Major General GD Bakshi (Retd) says: to a 'One China' policy, China should “In addition to the state actors, nonreaffirm a 'One India' policy." For state players are also active. NATO, the decades, China has openly questioned UN at one level and at sub-state level, India's sovereignty over Arunachal multinational companies, corporations Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and and conglomerates, non-governmental pressure groups, Sikkim, even as it has brow beaten India organisations, to accept Chinese claims over Tibet and diasporas, political factions, terrorist Taiwan. The Modi government is now groups and criminal organisations are all involved. This makes making it clear that the task in the hand of the era of being always concerned with the AN UNCHALLENGED the government very ” sensitivities of China CHINA COULD BE important. No one who may well and truly A THREAT TO ALL understands foreign be over. That doesn't policy can any longer mean that the Modi COUNTRIES IN that Modi has government is now THE ASIA PACIFIC deny embarked upon a considering China to be an enemy. Far from REGION AND THEIR Great Game with it. The successful and ENERGY SECURITY China. He appears willing to use all the businesslike visit of tricks of the trade. President Xi Jinping to India clearly reveals that Modi has There are inherent risks in this because learnt some basic tricks of the Great the Great Game has often descended Game quite well. And that basic trick into a Zero Sum Game in the past. is to keep and remain engaged with But strategic experts are happy at the potential adversaries even as you cold manner in which Modi is approaching bloodedly pursue national interests. Dr. this challenge. Even as all attention Pankaj Jha, Director, Research, Indian was focused on India's ties with Japan, Council of World Affairs says: “It is China and the United States, it is with important to comprehend that India Australia that Modi pulled off a strategic and China are both now significant coup. One of the biggest challenges powers with each having widening confronting India in the 21st century is geopolitical horizons, yet as adjacent energy security. China is already miles major states they both strive to stamp ahead in this regard. But by sealing a their authority on the same region. It civilian nuclear deal with Australia that has become significant in the current will result in supplies of uranium, Modi circumstances for India to be aware of has shown that he is more than happy working under the radar to achieve big its relative position among countries." Since the evolving relationship things even as the focus is on seemingly between China and India could big ticket issues.

POLITICS

NO KISS BUT TELL

BY S U TA N U G U R U

HE grey haired foreign minister Fuziama arranged a small dinner in a posh restaurant in typical Japanese style with geisha girls in attendance...We sat on mats spread on a quilted floor with a geisha girl on her knees behind each of us. As is the custom, women are not invited to geisha parties. So mercifully, Indira was not present. Nehru took it all in his stride and allowed himself to be fed by his geisha, and according to custom, he did not fail to feed her occasionally.â&#x20AC;? Most readers would not be able to recall who wrote these lines and in which book. This brief paragraph is a vignette from the official tour of Japan made by the then Prime

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Biographies and autobiographies spilling the beans are becoming bestsellers in India. This adds a new dimension to contemporary political analysis Minister Jawaharlal Nehru long ago. He was accompanied by MO Mathai who was private secretary to Nehru from 1947 to 1959. Soon after Indira Gandhi lost the post Emergency Lok Sabha elections in 1977, Mathai wrote a book called "Reminiscences of the Nehru Age" that created a firestorm of controversy in 1978. The para above that describes Nehru playfully feeding a geisha (Japanese for a courtesan) is perhaps one of the less salacious details. Supporters of the Nehru Gandhi dynasty had then slammed Mathai for being an ungrateful courtier

who betrayed his mentor's family when it was down and out. Of course, Mathai and his salacious controversies were soon forgotten. Why are we recalling an obscure historical figure who dared to write a tell all book about the Gandhi family in 1978 and died unsung and unheralded in 1981? The interesting irony is, 36 years after Mathai wrote his tell-all book, another Gandhi family courtier has written another tell-all book called "One Life is Not Enough". History has indeed repeated itself as a farce in this case. The Gandhi family is again down and out after an electoral drubbing in 2014, like it was in 1977. The author of the latest book, Natwar Singh, has been a long-standing Gandhi family loyalist and courtier. Like Mathai, Singh has chosen to reveal many unflattering

BIOGRAPHIES

Mathai. Even more ironic, the Natwar Singh book claims that Americans had infiltrated the Manmohan Singh regime at all levels; that Sonia Gandhi had a disproportionate influence over the mainstream media during the UPA regime and that family loyalists and moles kept her officially and unofficially informed about going ons in all ministries and departments. Quite clearly, this has been the

Clockwise from left: Natwar Singh, who once shadowed the Gandhi family, with Sonia Gandhi; Modi; and Vinod Rai

who love delicious snippets of history, the book 'One Life is Not Enough' says that Mathai, private secretary to Nehru between 1947 and 1959 was actually a paid CIA spy and that the American intelligence community had access to every file that went to or came out of the office of Nehru because of

the authors and books as opportunistic and vindictive persons out to settle personal scores and make money out of scandalous and unverifiable allegations. Even as the Lok Sabha campaign was reaching a climax in April 2014, two people who were at the heart of the UPA regime published books that sent shock waves across the establishment. Most insiders and senior journalists knew for a fact that all was not well

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details about his mentor. Mathai's target was Indira; Natwar Singh has targeted Sonia. Another family courtier Archana Dalmia slams Singh in a column for the UK-based Daily Mail: "Natwar Singh's book, 'One Life is Not Enough', has proved one thing to me: your closest friend can become your worst enemy." Changing channels and seeing him feel important through media interviews, it becomes apparent to me that the book was written to spew venom on the 'family' that he had been a loyalist of for so many decades - and quite frankly, it is done in bad taste. This kind of betrayal after four generations of proximity for self-promotion and interest could make the best of us cynical and distrusting. For those

year of explosive biographies and autobiographies that have generated tremendous controversy and shattered many ferociously held myths and reputations. The worst affected in the process have been the former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the Congress President and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Family loyalists and retainers have been fighting a valiant rearguard action to protect their reputations and slam

with the UPA regime, particularly in the second innings that lasted between 2009 to 2014, when allegations of scams engulfed and destroyed the credibility of the government. But these two books revealed that the rot at the top in the UPA dated back even to its early days, in the first term. The lesser known book was written by former coal secretary PC Parakh, who retired way back in 2005. His name had hit the headlines in 2013 because the CBI had registered an FIR against him in the coal scam. The CBI now wants to withdraw the charges. Published in April 2014, the book 'Crusader OCTOBER 2014

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Dr Manmohan Singh and his former media advisor Sanjay Baru

or Conspirator? Coalgate and Other Truths', makes serious allegations against Dr Singh. It says : "On August 17, 2005, I met the Prime Minister for a farewell call. I wanted to express my concern at the insult and humiliation that members of Parliament heap on civil servants and senior executives of public service undertakings,.. I do not know if the country would have got a better Prime Minister if Dr Manmohan Singh had resigned, instead of facing the humiliation of his own ministers not implementing or reversing his decision.By continuing to head a government in which he had little political authority, his image has been seriously dented by 2G scam and coalgate although he has had a spotless record of personal integrity." But the book that really sent shock waves across Luyten's Delhi was released just a few days before Parakh released his book. This one was called

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"The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh" and was written by journalist Sanjay Baru who was media advisor to Dr Manmohan Singh during the first term of the UPA. This book has done even more damage to the reputation of Manmohan Singh, even though Baru appears deeply sympathetic about the helplessness of Dr Singh in the book. The book officially announced what was gossip in Delhi for many years: that Dr Manmohan Singh did not really wield the powers that a prime minister should have and that most decisions were taken elsewhere, including 10, Janpath, the official residence of Congress President Sonia Gandhi. The book goes on to suggest that the joint secretary in the PMO, Pulok Chatterjee, who is known to be very close to the Gandhi family, used to often take official files to 10, Janpath for an unofficial stamp of approval from the real power behind

the throne. Even as supporters of Manmohan Singh (there aren't many left today) and loyalists of the Gandhi family tried their best to defend the two and discredit the likes of Natwar Singh, PC Parakh and Sanjay Baru, another bombshell was dropped in September 2014 by the former Comptroller & Auditor General of India, Vinod Rai, who became famous for exposing the 2G and coalgate scams in painfully detailed audit reports presented to the Parliament when he was the CAG. It is the CAG reports on the two scams that finally destroyed the image and the credibility of the Manmohan Singh government. Called "The Diary of a Nation's Conscience Keeper: Not just an Accountant", the book completely shatters the claims by Manmohan Singh and top ministers of the UPA government that the former prime minister was not aware of the scams taking place under his very nose.

BIOGRAPHIES

TV journalist Rajdeep Sardesai (right); former Outlook editor Vinod Mehta (far right)

writing the books. assembly elections in But publishers Gujarat in 2012 and THESE BOOKS rubbish these became a serious DO IRREPARABLE allegations. contender for DAMAGE FOR THE Says Vivek the post of prime Garg of Manas minister after PROTAGONISTS Publication that. Most of BUT EARN HUGE which published these books can MOOLAH FOR THE the P. C Parakh easily be dismissed book: as hagiographies AUTHORS because of their "Rupees 10-20effusive and unabashed lakh does not matter praise of Modi. But many to the kinds of writers who critical and well researched books have come out with the books which have made the headlines. In fact, have also come out. The latest one has this allegation that it all is a trick to been written by well known journalist make money is made by those who find and author Ramesh Menon, ands is themselves at the receiving end. There titled "Modi Demystified". The book are authors like PC Parakh, Parwez both praises and slams Modi as a Dewan and General Padmanabhan balanced book should. Menon, who who have already put in writing that the writes exclusively for News Bench entire royalty and other benefits to be in an accompanying piece describes donated to charitable trusts, I think this how it was a fascinating challenge to recent spurt in publication of tell-all get people in Gujarat to talk about books is good for the country. This will Modi. He thinks that this growing stop further damage and the revelations trend of political books, biographies will create fear among the corrupt. Also, and autobiographies doing well in it will make the public aware of what all the market place is a healthy sign. Of keeps happening inside. This was not course, he thinks Indians are still far away from being genuinely curious happening earlier." If political biographies are the about contemporary history, apart from flavor of the season, how can books an appetite for gossip. In the West such books have long on Narendra Modi be far behind? According to a recent estimate. There been a tradition and routinely become have been close to 80 books written on best sellers. There are journalists and authors Modi since he won his third successive like Bob Woodward who have literally earned tens of millions of dollars by selling millions of copies of their books. In a democracy like India where there are hardly any curbs on media freedom, it is a surprise that more such books have not acquired prominence. But it does look like the tide is finally turning. Never mind if those in power now live in mortal fear of these books! OCTOBER 2014

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Once again, Congressmen have put up a brave front and a stout defence of the former prime minister. But all these books do irretrievable damage. During his last press conference as the prime minister, Dr Singh had claimed that history will judge him more kindly than contemporary media has done. But if future historians use these books for reference, as they certainly will, it is difficult to see how history will be kind to Dr Manmohan Singh and to Sonia Gandhi. One interesting aspect of this rash of biographies and autobiographies is that they have become huge best sellers. According to sources and reports in the publishing industry, the Sanjay Baru book has already sold close to 100,000 copies and the sales of the Natwar Singh book have already surpassed 75,000 copies. Traditionally in India, a non-fiction book of this type was considered a big best seller if it sold even 10,000 copies. So writing these books is not just about getting things off your chest and providing a ring side view of contemporary history. It is also about lots of money. For example, well known TV journalist Rajdeep Sardesai has written a book on the 2014 elections '2014: The Election That Changed India'. Sardesai is aggressively using his fan base in the social media to promote the book and claims that it is already a best seller on sites like Amazon and Flkpkart through advance orders. The book is scheduled to be released in November, 2014. Many cynics and skeptics have accused all these authors of being more inspired by money rather than patriotism and a sense of duty while

OPINION

RAMESH MENON

“Modi is the smartest politician around”

HAVE narrated an incident when I first met Narendra Modi in the mid eighties when he was a quiet backroom boy working as an RSS pracharak. He told me that as a Hindu I should be supporting the Hindutva movement and not write anti-Hindu pieces in India Today. I told him that I was not a Hindu, but a journalist. My religion is journalism and it will always be so till the end. I was clear when I started on the book, that I would just report and be as objective as I can. I used all what I found during researching the book. The easiest thing to do was to write a book praising Modi, something that many have done. It was amazing. There was so much hype around Modi. Many of them who praised him hugely did not have the facts to prove what they said. There was so much of PR that was wonderfully orchestrated. What struck me the most was that government officials were just not ready to talk about Modi; they seemed so scared. Even retired bureaucrats did not want to talk. I have spent many years in Gujarat, but it was never like this. There was a pall of fear. I saw Gujarat completely polarised. Ahmedabad, for instance was divided into Muslim Ahmedabad and Hindu Ahmedabad. I felt driven to write a It is too early to figure out how he has fared as a Prime chapter called, The Tale of Two Cities. Modi is the smartest politician around. He understands Minister. It is only fair to give him more time. He has a tough the pulse of the people. He reaches out to specific audiences job on his hands and till now, he has tried to do everything by saying what they want to hear. He adroitly avoids any with care. He is already preparing for the next general election controversial statement as he wants the image of a statesman while his opponents in other parties are clueless. His master to emerge (while he lets radical elements say and do what move of addressing students on Teachers’ Day converted they want without pulling them up). So he wins the intelligent millions of first time voters who will exercise their franchise constituency and also caters to the radical elements who in the next election. He needs to be courageous to move into love rabble rousing. He focuses on projects where one can big ticket reform but will do that only when he shores up see results fast. This is precisely why in Gujarat he spent a numbers in the Rajya Sabha. He is working to a plan, there is no doubt about it. He is a long term player decade focusing on projects that show up and is not looking at one term. early results like the Nano plant, while The last election threw up new others like education, infant mortality and MODI FOCUSES scenarios. We saw a different India at social sectors were lagging behind as they ON PROJECTS LIKE work. The youngsters were enthused take years to show results. He is definitely as never before. So were NRI’s. They all authoritarian. Those who have raised a NANO WHICH PAY want a new promising India. They want to banner against him, have been effectively OFF IN THE SHORT know who their new leaders are and what neutralised or vanquished. He works with RUN, BUT NOT ON they are all about. Very little was known single minded purpose till he achieves CRUCIAL SOCIAL about Modi till very recently. That is what he wants. He understands the power why they are buying books to unravel their of publicity and social media and has used SECTOR ISSUES question. it as no other Indian politician has.

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HOME MINISTER RAJNATH SINGH DOB: 10 July 1951 Place of birth: Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh Qualiﬁcation: Masters in Physics POLITICAL CAREER 1964: Joined the RSS at the tender age of 13. Participated in the JP Movement; was arrested during the Emergency in 1975 and was freed in 1977, when he ﬁrst became a state legislator 1983: Became the state secretary of UP BJP. As the education minister in the Kalyan Singh government he got the state law against cheating in examinations enacted 1997 to 1999: Remained state president in Uttar Pradesh BJP. Became surface transport minister in NDA I, and during his tenure the Golden Quadrangle programme was launched. 28 OCTOBER 2000: Was made the chief minister of UP, and remained so till 2002 DECEMBER 2005: Became the president of the BJP after LK Advani resigned on Jinnah issue 2009: In the Lok Sabha polls, BJP lost and its overall seat count too went down by 22 2013: Was again made the president of BJP 2014: Won the Lok Sabha polls from Lucknow and was made the Union Home Minister

Humpty Dumpty ...Rajnath Singh, just a year ago, seemed the unassailable leader in BJP, but with his schemes against Modi getting caught, the PM's ensured his rival’s crucifixion 38

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BY SA DA S H I V T R I PAT H I

T is said of former president of Bharatiya Janata Party and currently Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, that he is one of the most cunning political players. He does not patter around too much himself, but makes others the pawns in his game-plan, so whether the game ends in a success or failure, he remains unsullied. And that is how he reached the top in Uttar Pradesh and then, top of the party. However, after the resounding victory of the BP in the 2014 Lok Sabha

polls, the chemistry within the party soured to such an extent that Singh’s political fortunes have hit a stretch of quicksand. The fact is that someone else, who applied the same tactic as Rajnath, has travelled all the way from Gujarat to the New Delhi’s prime location, RCR. And the entire BJP is now watching the Rajnath versus Narendra Modi circus with baited breath. These two players share two qualities: embrace to kill, and sacrifice anyone for his own sake. The singular difference between the two is that Modi shaped himself up as a leader of the people,

RAJNATH DOOM

PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI DOB: September 17, 1950 Place of birth: Vadngar, District Mehsana, Gujarat Qualiﬁcation: Masters in Political Science POLITICAL CAREER 1974: Joined RSS. 1975-77: Was underground during Emergency 1987: Entered the mainstream politics of BJP 1995: Became the National Secretary of BJP 1998: Promoted as General Secretary of the party OCTOBER 2001: Appointed Gujarat Chief Minister DECEMBER 2002: Swept to power as CM MAINSTREAM

2007: Elections also saw BJP garner a vast majority 2012: Won a landslide victory and became the state’s chief minister for the fourth time 2014: Was declared the prime ministerial candidate by the BJP. Bagging 336 seats, the NDA came to power, with the BJP alone scoring 282 2014: Was unanimously elected as the head of the NDA and also of the BJP parliamentary party and took his seat as the 15th Prime Minister of India, the ﬁrst who had been born after Independence

had a great FALL ... whereas Rajnath Singh has no connect with the grassroots. Singh is a darling of the RSS, which is why he could warm the Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s seat in 2000. The then Joint Sarkaryavah of the RSS, Madandas Devi, negated all odds to make Rajnath Singh the state’s chief minister, and then there was no looking back for Singh. He cooked up such an equation with the top brass of the party’s central leadership and with the leaders of RSS that no skulduggery by his opponents worked. In 2005, Singh was made the party president after the ‘Jinnah episode’

(in which LK Advani, then BJP president, praised Pakistan’s founding father as a liberal and secular politician), Rajnath Singh was foisted as party president to beat down Advani. The latter’s guillotining was undertaken by the then RSS Organising Secretary Sanjay Bhai Joshi. But when the ‘CD episode’ involving Joshi brokeout, Singh never tried to save him, so as to prove his loyalty towards Advani. The latter was not the party president then, but Singh would take all decisions, small and big, only in consultation with Advani. In fact, all the sittings of the BJP in those

days used to take place in Advani’s residence. To placate an unhappy Sangh Parivar, Singh even floated a plausible theory that he had protected Advani to safeguard the party’s future. And the Sangh found this explanation acceptable. The narrative above shows clearly that the fall of Advani was partly his own fault, but Rajnath Singh also had a role to play in this. Till 2009, Advani meant everything to Advani. Beyond these two phases, Rajnath Singh’s political rise saw a third phase OCTOBER 2014

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in 2013. In January that year, the scam This is why a thumping victory with refused tickets by other parties. surrounding then BJP president Nitin 280 seats in BJP’s kitty was actually the Political commentator Sudhir Gadkari regarding his corporate deals reason for Singh to be unhappy. Richharia says that just after the election crept out of the woodwork, and Singh The scuttlebutt in BJP is that after victory, Rajnath Singh realised that he had to take over as party president for Advani, it is now Rajnath Singh’s turn was in Modi’s crosshairs. And this is the second time. It was said at the time for the guillotine. On condition of why Singh hurriedly ensured that he that Singh’s choice was ‘unanimous’ anonymity, a senior party leader says bagged the seat of a senior minister. He within the party, but the entire thing that Modi, with his massive control over first secured the slot of the Union Home had been orchestrated by the RSS. both the party and the government, has Minister and then got himself declared This tenure of Rajnath Singh as party planned to push Rajnath Singh to a as deputy leader of the BJP in the Lok president was completely opposite to the corner from where it will be impossible Sabha. It is the hallmark of Modi that earlier one. It was now Modi who had for him to make a comeback. The scam he apparently granted Rajnath’s desires become central to the party. From the involving Singh’s son is the first such and then started hacking him. atmosphere within the party it seemed development. The manner in which Those in the know say that the as if Modi’s becoming the PM was the both the party and Modi defended decision of not letting relatives or close onus of Singh. Then followed a series Singh’s son’s corruption allegations associates of ministers to become their of events, such as the developments in clearly shows Modi’s plan of action. private secretaries was aimed specifically the Goa executive committee at Singh. This was a step to cut out meeting, Advani’s resignation, Rajnath’s closest ally Sudhanshu and Singh’s refusal in placating Trivedi. Next, Modi drove out Advani and instead, going off the negotiator that Rajnath had for a nationwide tour. On the selected for Nagaland issues and face of it, Modi and Singh were got his own person appointed. in tandem but none trusts the Besides, traditionally all cabinet other. appointments were announced When the slogan “Defeat through the Home Ministry, but Rajnath to Make Modi the ministry has been robbed of PM’, cropped up, the party that honour. From now on this officially refuted it as a baseless will be the sole preserve of the opposition campaign. But the Prime Minister’s Office. reality surfaced during the And it did not stop at that. Rajnath and Advani: Both are against each other, and Modi is against both very first press meet of the BJP Instead of talking directly with after the resounding victory Rajnath Singh on home affairs, of the party in the Lok Sabha the PM and the PMO are doing polls. The national media did not fail First the leaking of the news, and then so through the Union Minister of State to notice that the president of the party the defence, this has been Modi’s ‘style’ for Home Affairs Kiran Rijiju. All these that had won a landslide victory was of killing Singh’s political future. Party are pointers to the fact that Rajnath clearly unhappy. Everything that had brass is asking why Modi was so active Singh’s heydays are over, a cloud is been dismissed as ‘rumour’ during the in this instance of alleged corruption fast approaching. He might consider elections was being proved right. when he has been totally silent in most himself a senior to Modi in politics, but A senior party leader reasoned: could other issues of the same nature. today he is in a trap so miserable that Modi be unaware of things that even In fact, Rajnath Singh went on the he cannot even share his pains with the common man on the street was wrong side of Modi when his son anyone. This is precisely why despite talking about? The issues that had irked Pankaj Singh was seen throwing his being the country’s home minister, he Modi were many: the interference of weight in ticket distribution in Uttar had to make a statement to the media Rajnath’s son in distribution of tickets Pradesh before the Lok Sabha polls. On that his relationship with Modi is fine, for the Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha seats; several seats, the BJP candidates who and shall remain so. And having taken the clear attempt by the Rajnath Singh were given party tickets were bound both the party and the government in and others to keep the total number of to lose because they had compromised his grip totally, Modi has become so seats low; and the fact that both Singh with the rival party. Some tickets were powerful that even the RSS is not in a and Advani were eyeing the PM’s seat. being given to candidates who were position to help Rajnath Singh.

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NO ‘FAMILY FIRST’ Apparently, heirs apparent in the BJP are not the flavour of the season. And there could be a deliberate Modi strategy behind the seeming sidelining of inheritors BY MAYANK SINGH

N this day and age of hysterical and hyper 24 X 7 coverage of breaking news, the media often loses sight of the big picture. There was breathless coverage and faux analysis when the new BJP president Amit Shah dropped Varun Gandhi as the party General Secretary when he went for a reshuffle of the organisation. Then there was an explosion of gossip, innuendo and rumour about Pankaj Singh when his father and the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh went literally to town to defend him. Some astute analysts did wonder about the stance prime minister and BJP supremo Narendra Modi would take against a host of BJP dynasts who have been elected to the Lok Sabha. After all, every time Modi snidely uttered the words " Shehzade" or " Ma Bete ki Sarkar" during his election speeches that sent his supporters in raptures of wild applause, he was launching a direct assault on a fault line of Indian democracy: the amazing ability of sons, daughters, nephews and assorted relatives of a powerful politician to become successful politicians. Modi has repeatedly stated that dynasty politics is not healthy and bad for the future of Indian democracy. So how does he deal

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with the dynasts in his own party? Even the most ardent Modi supporter will not deny the fact that even the BJP is becoming a victim of dynasty politics. Just a quick list that is not comprehensive will indicate how deeply the dynasty disease has infiltrated the vitals of the party. In Jharkhand, the former Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha ensured that his son Jayant got a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls. The former chief minister of Karnataka BS Yeddiyurappa won the Lok Sabha elections. He then 'managed' to get his son contest the assembly seat vacated Gopinath Munde’s by him. In the daughter Pankaja, recently held (right), won’t take her father’s seat. bye-elections in Varun Gandhi (top Uttar Pradesh, the son of BJP left) may have taken his position for leader Lalji granted; and Pankaj Tandon got Singh has made his a ticket. In father highly uneasy Ma harashtra, Pritam and Pankaja Munde are all set to inherit the legacy of their late father Gopinath Munde, while their cousin Poonam Mahajan has won the Lok Sabha seat in Mumbai that was once held by her father the late Pramod Mahajan. In Delhi, the son of the former chief minister the late Sahib Singh Verma got

a ticket and became a Lok Sabha MP. In Rajasthan, Dushyant Singh, son of chief minister Vasundhara Raje became a Lok Sabha MP. In Himachal Pradesh, Anurag Thakur, the son of former chief Mimister Prem Kumar Dhumal, contested the Lok Sabha elections and became an MP. And then there is Abhishek, the son of Chattisgarh

BJP DYNASTIES

REMOVING VARUN GANDHI FROM A KEY BJP POST HAS SENT SIGNALS THAT NOTHING CAN BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED

chief minister Dr Raman Singh, who was given the Lok Sabha ticket in a controversial decision. As pointed out earlier, this list is neither complete nor comprehensive. But it gives an idea of the extent of dynasty politics in BJP. This can only be bad news not just for the kind of politics and governance that Modi wants to

bring forth, but also for the country as a whole. In mature democracies, it is rare to find children of politicians following in the footsteps of their parents. A truly rare contemporary exception to this rule has been the Bush family in the United States. The original George Bush was a war hero who slogged his way to the top. The senior Bush was

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the director of the Central Intelligence Agency and worked in several key posts before becoming Vice President and then getting elected as the President. He will be known in history as someone who successfully stopped Saddam Hussein from conquering half of Middle East. His son Jeb Bush became the governor of Florida and the other son George W Bush, who was a self-confessed alcoholic turned bornagain Christian became the governor of Texas. He also became the president of the US. The horrific 9/11 happened under his watch and history will now forever look at him in contempt for the manner in which he dragged America to disastrous invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. In global politics, if there is one symbol of how terrible dynasty politics can be, it is George W Bush. Bush was an aberration. But in India, in fact, in South Asia, children of politicians have usually found that politics is the best career even for them. Not much need be said about the Nehru Gandhi dynasty of India. In Sri Lanka, three generations of the Bandarnaike family ruled before a Modi-style leader Mahendra Rajakapsa took the pole position. Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, many of his family members now occupy key government posts. In Pakistan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged in 1979 and his daughter Benazir Bhutto assassinated in 2007.

POLITICS

Asif Ali Zardari, husband of Benazir, became the president of Pakistan, and now their son Bilal Bhutto is the leader of the political party PPP founded by his grandfather Zulfiqar. In Nepal, the Koirala family has been somewhere at the top of politics and government for decades. In Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and a widely admired politician. But many forget that she happens to be the daughter of the first president of independent Myanmar, or Burma as it was known then. In Bangladesh, the widows of two assassinated leaders Shiekh Mujibur Rehman and General Zia-ul Haq have been alternately ruling the country for decades. Given that kind of backdrop, Modi has a tough challenge in trying to cure India of the disease of dynasty politics. Or even family politics for that matter. But to give credit when it is due, he is

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MODI IS WARY OF CRITICS PAINTING THE BJP AS A CONGRESS REPLICA THAT PRACTICES THE WORST KIND OF DYNASTY POLITICS

trying to do that at least within his own party. Former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha’s son Jayant, or Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh’s son Abhishek were not able to find place in the Narendra Modi-led Union Council of Ministers. Jayant won the Lok Sabha elections from Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh constituency while Abhishek emerged victorious in Rajnandgaon seat. Similarly, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s son Dushyant, who won from the Jhalawar-Baran seat of the state, also could not get any ministerial berth. The BJP won all 25 Parliamentary constituencies in the state, thanks to Raje's efforts. The most talked after person who

was kept out of cabinet was Maneka Gandhi's son Varun, who won from Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur seat. However, Maneka was swornin as a Cabinet Minister. The same has happened during the bye-elections when wards of some powerful BJP leaders were eying seats to improve their standing were not allowed to have their desires fulfilled. The prominent among them is the name of Pankaj Singh, son of Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The list of such parents who are influential and big leaders of BJP but whose children are being kept out of powerful posts are former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh’s son Rajbir Singh and former Delhi

BJP DYNASTIES

Neither Dushyant Singh with mother Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister of Rajasthan, nor Anurag Thakur (far left), son of former Himachal CM PK Dhumal, could manage ministerial seats under the Modi dispensation

Chief Minister Sahib Singh Vermaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s son Parvesh Verma. There is also no place under Modi's dispensation for Anurag Thakur, young BJP leader and son of former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, in the central ministry. There are some interesting things happening in Indian politics that we tend to ignore. Patrick French wrote in his 2011 book 'India: A Portrait', that if the trend continued the country will again be ruled by a "hereditary monarch and assorted Indian princelings". He had predicted that the 2014 next Lok Sabha - the lower house of parliament to which 543 MPs are directly elected - would be a "house of dynasts". But it seems he has been proven wrong. New research by political scientist

Kanchan Chandra of New York University actually points to a fall in the number of dynastic MPs in the new parliament, formed after this May's general elections. Professor Chandra found that 21 per cent of the MPs in the new parliament have a dynastic background, down from 29 per cent in the last parliament. Also, 24 per cent of India's new cabinet, led by Modi, is dynastic in nature, down from 36 per cent in the previous Congress-led government. This decline in numbers of dynastic MPs in the parliament can be attributed to the massive victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is considered to be less dynastic than the Congress party it replaced in government. The BJP has 282 of the 336 MPs in the

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National Democratic Alliance. The reason for rise of individuals is said to be because of the propagation of social media which provides a democratic tool to not only establish contact but also inform people about the good work or if required even the wrong doings. As Baijayant Jay Panda, an MP from Biju Janta Dal has said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;For me the decline in numbers of dynastic MPs is significant," and he expects it to fall further as he thinks, "When you are a dynastic politician you easily inherit the network that helps you win election. But the advent of the social media shows that this advantage is breaking down and politics is becoming a more level playing field." In economics, there is a term called entry barriers. It basically means that existing players in a business usually gang up to prevent a new entrepreneur with new ideas and better products to enter and succeed in the market place. Every time you become angry with things like poor services and customer support from telecom, DTH, insurance and other companies, you think about how entry barriers damage your well being. Exactly the same kind of entry barrier works in Indian politics. Parties and politicians have ganged up to ensure that "outsiders" do not get entry to this privileged club that offers a world of power and all that flows from it. Narendra Modi, in that sense, is the first " outswider" who has barged his way into power despite all the entry barriers erected against him. But he is also has to win elections. One of the most fascinating battles in the near future will actually not be between the BJP and the Congress. It will be between Modi and the dynasts in his own party.

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Laboratory of Hate? Is communal hatred really growing across India after Modi became PM?

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PROLOGUE

War of Words & Worlds by SUTANU GURU

OWARDS the end of July, 2014, when communal riots suddenly erupted in the western UP town of Saharanpur, Gaurav Sawant, the strategic affairs editor of Headlines Today, released a series of tweets. One of them said: "When an IT professional was killed in Pune, we screamed about his religion. Why is religion of those killed in Saharanpur riots a state secret?" Sawant followed up with some more tweets. One said: "National crisis when a Roza person is force fed a roti nod no issues when Roze dars gather in front of a place of worship and riots start". This was a rare occasion when a mainstream journalist openly raised some uncomfortable questions about communalism and how we Indians approach the issue. The punch line came from another Sawant tweet: "Secular silence as dangerous as communal violence. Covering up sins of one and highlighting crimes of others by 'seculars' is playing with fire." Like an esoteric novel based on magic realism and surrealism, the communal issue seems to be running in two parallel universes. One is the stark reality of rising communal tension. Including riots and minor incidents in UP, with a lot of hype about the so-called Love Jihad adding more grist to the mills of innuendo and malice. Political leaders like Yogi Adityanath, the BJP MP from Gorakhpur have suddenly become warriors of Hinduism; admired by supporters of hard line Hindutva and reviled by proponents of secularism. In the other universe, journalists, intellectuals and analysts are waging their own secular versus communal wars. All hell broke loose when the Sawant tweets came out.

Both seculars and the saffron brigade get swayed by their own ideological prejudices 48

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Famous television journalist Rajdeep Sardesai - who has joined Headlines Today as consulting editor tweeted: "Reading tweets of a senior TV reporter, truly fear the profession has lost its moral compass. Wake up before it is too late folks." Many mainstream journalists joined Sardesai in condemning Sawant for his "brazenly communal" rants. He actually ended up deleting his tweets. But the war in Twitter and other social media platforms was allegorically no less violent and vicious

LABORATORY OF HATE

Gaurav Sawant (top left), Azam Khan and (below) Yogi Adityanath

Tears have dried in her eyes, and yet, in the end Savita Devi asks: "If everyone gets scared, who will fight for the country

than the communal riots that have wracked the state of UP for some time. The simple reason for the communal mistrust, abuse and violence at the ground level in UP could perhaps be politics and elections. After all, there were bye-elections to 11 assembly seats in UP and it was assumed that an aggressive BJP led by an even more aggressive party President Amit Shah was hell bent on polarising UP voters. Hence, the inflammatory

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speeches of the likes of Yogi Adityanath and the concern over Love Jihad. Of course, bye-elections were also held in 22 other constituencies in states like Gujarat, Telengana and West Bengal and not much was heard about BJP adopting communal tactics in those places. There are no simplistic reasons for the rise in communal temperature in UP and both the secular forces and the saffron brigade seem to be swayed by their own ideological prejudices while talking about it. Coming back to the vicious war going on in social media, developments in far away Iraq and Syria triggered "virtual" communal riots on Twitter. Well known Marxist activist Kavitha Krishnan issued a tweet after the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) went on a rampage killing Christians and Yazidis: "ISIS does to Islam what RSS does to Hinduism". Now there are millions of Indians who completely disagree with the RSS world view and oppose it. But even they were compelled to gently point out to Krishnan that she was stretching things a bit far by comparing a bunch of murderous thugs with the RSS. The saffron brigade, of course, went ballistic. But there was more to come. In August 2014, the ISIS beheaded freelance American journalist James Foley and released the shocking video on the internet. Most human beings were disturbed and shocked by the sheer brutality and barbarism of the act. Yet, inexplicably, well known activist Teesta Setalvad who has acquired global fame for her sustained attacks on Modi over the 2002 Gujarat riots, released a shocking tweet. The tweet had two words Chilling Reality and displayed images of Godess Kali beheading Foley and Lord Krishna using his Sudarshan Chakra to do the same. This gratuitous and grossly insensitive tweet created such a firestorm of outrage that the controversy surrounding it made it even to mainstream newspapers and TV channels. Teesta was compelled to delete the outrageous tweet and issue a half hearted apology. The truly disturbing thing that emerged from this series of virtual communal riots on Twitter and other social media platforms was stark and only the willingly ignorant and blind chose to ignore it. The sad fact is, those who slammed Gaurav Sawant for his

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economic prosperity. provocatively communal tweets did not raise Pratap Bhanu Pratap Bhanu Mehta of the Centre for Policy their voices against the needless abuse inflicted by Mehta (left), Research is one of the more respected social and Krishnan and Teesta. And those hailed Sawant as Irfan Habib; Teesta Setalvad political analysts of the country. This is what he a hero for speaking the "truth" and defended his (centre) and wrote in a column in April 2013: "Being secular right to free speech and opinion did not extend Ram Gopal used to be identified with a historical orientation: the same to Krishnan and Teesta. The emerging Verma subscribe to the one single Congress-Left narrative fault lines at the ground level in Uttar Pradesh of Indian history. This was a paradoxical position. and some other parts of India are dangerous; the emerging fault lines in the so called public arena of debate and It recognised that avoiding religious strife was an important political task. But it went about this by disavowing the idea disagreement is even more dangerous. The questions to ask are quite straightforward: has communal that there could have been genuine religious differences and intolerance and majoritarianism grown alarmingly after conflict in the past. It sanitised, almost as if to say that the Narendra Modi led the BJP to a historic and unprecedented truth of Indian secularism needed the lie of Indian history. win the 2014 Lok Sabha elections? The second related Where secularism lost out was that both secularists and nonquestion is: will this lead to minorities feeling so unsafe and so secularists were fighting on the terrain of the past... between persecuted that they will resort to violence, even of the Jihadi opportunist cant and ineffable virtue, the institutional variety, to defend their religious interests? Honest answers to foundations of the idea (secularism) long disappeared." What India is witnessing today is the unfortunate result these questions will determine whether India will manage to become a reasonably successful country with rising levels of of this lopsided war between two sets of deeply prejudiced groups. No sane person will deny the fact that Hindutva types of the more prejudiced kind have suddenly resurfaced all over India to make statements that would threaten minorities. They forget the simple fact that the Indian voter has given a mandate to Modi on the agenda of development; and not on some obscure vision of Akhand Bharat. They also conveniently forget the simple fact that an overwhelming majority of Hindus do not subscribe to their prejudiced views. Fortunately for India, these elements have remained on the fringe. Just as fortunately for India, a majority of

India is witnessing a lopsided war between two sets of deeply prejudiced groups 50

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Muslims in the country are not terribly excited with the idea of violent and bloodthirsty Jihad and the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate in India. Sure there are Muslims in India who support the ISIS. But they remain a fringe. Yet analysis remains lopsided. When the BJP scripted a massive victory in the Lok Sabha elections in UP, analysts said that the Amit Shah's gamble of religious polarisation had paid off handsomely. And when it lost most of the assembly seats in recent by polls, the same analysts said polarisation has failed. But where the words of Mehta begin to haunt and taunt mainstream public discourse over communalism is what Gaurav Sawant raised in his "communal" tweets. Because of some inexplicable obligation to being politically correct, or because of plain simple prejudice, the secular brigade in India has shied away from slamming Muslim communalism even as it slams Hindu communalism day in and out. The consequences of such an approach could be disastrous. England is a classic case of what could happen when secularism becomes an ideology that closes our mind even to facts. In a small town called Rotterham, it has now been revealed that Pakistani gangs sexually exploited more than 1400 girls-some as young as 11 years- over more than 15 years. Welfare officers, politicians and the police kept rushing aside this monstrous crime against children because they wanted to be politically correct and not appear racist. They also wanted to preserve the image of England as a bastion of multi culturalism. That seems to be a failure not just because of the 1,400 rapes; but also because England is now waking up to the fact that many of its citizens who enjoyed a multi

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Fortunately, majority of the Muslims are not excited about a bloodthirsty jihad cultural upbringing are now hardened ISIS fighters. And don't think India doesn't have those dangers. An obscure Maulana in Lucknow recently announced that he is willing to send half a million Indian Muslims to Iraq and Syria to fight the good war. It is not enough to rebuke and revile extreme saffron voices who live in a fantasy world where people of other faiths must accept their "Hindu" roots; though it is necessary and important. But every time we slam the likes of Sakshi Maharaj for their rants, we must also slam the Maulana who supports the ISIS. Calling a spade a spade, whether that spade is Muslim, Hindu, Christian or Sikh is necessary. So far, the greatest failure of the so called liberals in India has been their blatant selectivity and prejudice in defending secularism. Perhaps the time has come when the communal wars in social media will eventually lead to common sense prevailing at the ground level. Of course, common sense has been in severe short supply for decades. OCTOBER 2014

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UTTAR PRADESH

A Simmering Volcano by VIKAS KUMAR

HERE is a small kasba four kilometres before the main Muzaffarnagar city. At first sight, this looks like any other sleepy suburb of a city, but once you dig deeper you will realise the dangerously swirling undercurrent of tension between Muslims and Hindus. There were a slew of large scale communal riots in the villages of Kawal, Malikapur, Shamli, Kutba-Kutbi, Phugna and few other places in September last year. Bitter memories fester like old wounds. And what is more disturbing is that animosity and hatred for the other bubbles up and spills over quite openly at the drop of a hat. Rajesh Joshi (name changed on request) who runs a small shop in the city says: “We are living in constant fear, as the Muslims in the locality have become very assertive. Doing business for us has become almost impossible and I am planning to pack my bag and baggage.” Rajesh is not an isolated voice. A senior Jat leader tells me not to use his name because he fears a backlash from Muslims. This feeling is reciprocated by the Muslims too. Media and particularly ‘secular’ English media dismisses this as politically motivated and even link this to Amit Shah and the Sangh Parivar hate machinery. They also term this as a growing sign of Hindu intolerance. But truth has many shades of grey. Rakesh Chaudhary (name changed on request), former journalist in a reputed newspaper in the region analyses the situation: “The area has traditionally been a citadel of the Jat leader Chaudhary Charan Singh. His party had a strong JatMuslim combination. Every Muslim leader who has gone to the

A police officer says this is more of a Jat Vs Muslim, not Hindu Vs Muslim affair 52

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top has a Lok Dal connection.” Jats have voted for Muslims in the past. However, there is now a growing realisation among the community that Muslims in the area have voted on religious lines. The community’s political clout in the region has waned drastically and this has led to bitterness amongst Muslim leaders. For instance, Said-uz-Zama, Said Murtaza, Munavvar Hassan and his father Hasan Murtaza - all had Lokdal connections in some way or other in the past, as did leaders like Quadir Rana. Traditionally, there has been a good Bypass of mistrust in rapport between Muslims and Hindus Malikapur in the region. Babu Hukum Singh, MP (right) and Kairana, and Munavvar Hassan come Gaurav's uncles from the same family. Earlier, in the case

Tears have dried in her eyes, and yet, in the end Savita Devi asks: "If everyone gets scared, who will fight for the country

Photos: Hariom Sharma

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of minor conflicts, people from both communities would sort it out through the local panchayat. But over the last decade, many Muslims have been influenced by the Tabligi Jamaat. They have been systematically brainwashed by the local Maulavis or madrasas. Former MP of Muzaffarnagar Shahid Siddique told News Bench: “The impact of the Wahabis has increased. Local maulavis get money from these Wahabis and chant their names. "After globalisation, many more Muslims are going for jobs in the Gulf countries and coming into contact with the Wahabis. Even Islamist states have denounced Wahabis. Muslims have to understand that if their names are associated with such things it will only denigrate Islam.” The contending claims act as markers of resentment. Shahid Luhari, an RTI activist, says: “Had the government arrested the killers of Sachin and Gaurav and taken suitable legal measures, I am sure riots would not have taken place. My question is, why did police let those boys whose shirts have blood stains go scot free? Police say that the blood had come from slaughtering animals. Even if that is true, it were the duty of the police to send these clothes for examination.” News Bench reached Kawal village, where the incident had taken place. A few residents of the village took us to Shahanwaz’s father Mohammed Saleem, who was then sitting on his charpoy. There was an uneasy silence in the air and nobody spoke anything for the first few minutes. However, when we asked about the incident, tears rolled down Saleem's wrinkled face and his body started trembling in deep agony. He tried to speak, but his words went down his dry throat. He said, finally: “Mera beta Shahanwaz ko in logon(Jaton)ne maar dala. Kya kusoor tha uska. Agar kuch galti ho bhi gai thi to mujhe bolte, main maafi maang leta. (My son was killed by the Jats. What was his fault? Even if he had done something, they could have told me... I would have apologised)." He settled down after a while and said: “Ladki ka mamla jhoota hai. Yeh to paanch din baad jabardasti daala gaya. (The accusation of eve teasing

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easiest job. Amit Shah and Modi were decaled to be the real men behind the Hindu assertiveness, and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was blamed for deliberate inaction. This is not the reality. Rajesh Chaudhary says: “Riots in Muzaffarnagar took place even before Amit Shah assumed charge of UP, so how can he be held responsible?” Narendra Mishra, a senior journalist and HOD of Mass Communication says: “Under the Bahujan Samaj Party government, the Jatavs had become aggressive and under the new BJP government certain fringe Hindu elements feel emboldened. Similarly, Samajwadi Party powers Muslim assertiveness. This is natural, and not a new thing.” Sources in the Samajwadi Party told this reporter: “Azam Khan has played spoilsport in this whole affair and it is because of him that Akhilesh Yadav's image has been tarnished. He fears that the emergence of Akhilesh Yadav would end his political career.” It is also true that most of the incidents responsible for damaging the image of the Akhilesh Yadav government have been attributed to Azam Khan. The Saharanpur riots too cannot be termed as a Hindu-Muslim conflict. Locals accuse Mohram Ali alias Pappu, along with Congress MLA Imran Life as usual... Masood, of inciting Muslims. Many Md Saleem local Muslims point their fingers at MP and daughter Muskaan. Raghav Lakhanpal, but he vehemently (Below) Qutub denied all the allegations when he spoke Sher Masjid to News Bench and claimed that it was is false and was imputed five days after the incident).” Five members of his family have been named in the killing of Sachin and Gaurav and they are still in jail, though he claims they have been falsely implicated. In Malikapur, we found the family of Sachin and Gaurav sitting on the chaupal. There were four or five villagers, and two police persons with arms. Chaudhary Tejendar Singh, uncle of Sachin and Gaurav, said: “Shahanwaz loafer kism ka ladka tha. He used to constantly tease the girls of our family.” There is complete mistrust in Malikapur and Kawal. People of this village don’t want to go anywhere via Kawal. And Muslims no longer take part in Ram Leela celebrations. unlike in the past A police officer, requesting anonymity, tells me that this is more of a Jat-Muslim conflict than a Hindu-Muslim one. When the riots broke out, Jat dominated villages went on a rampage destroying properties of Muslim families. According to this cop, other ethnic Hindus like Tyagis too feel dominated by the Jats. Mohammed Saleem says, “Jaton ki main khundak yeh thi ki musalmanon se ek mare aur hamare do kyun mare.I ne pehli baar tagra jawab mila. (The Jats are furious because we lost less men than them. They have got a solid backlash for the first time.)” In this cocktail of hatred, politicians sniffed an opportunity and within no time they jumped into the fray. Blame games started. In such a situation, stereotyping is the

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Traditionally, Hindus and Muslims had good rapport, many coming from the same family SELF DEFENCE Raghav Lakhanpal Sharma, MP Saharanpur

“I have always worked for the betterment of the people” Your name is coming in the Saharanpur riots... This is rubbish. This is complete politics. Those who conspire to create riots are alleging this. People of this area know me from a very long period of time. I have always worked for the betterment of the people of the region. those who make such allegations are perverts, politically speaking. Who is responsible for these incidents? All those people are responsible who were in the crowd. They did nothing to stop the incident. Local leaders of the Samajwadi Party and Congress are responsible for the untoward incidents. But the Muslim leaders are blaming you... Truth is that these Muslim leaders did nothing for Saharanpur. They did not even try to develop a second line of leadership. They feel insecure as BJP is doing a good job in the constituency, and what you see is just the frustration of the Muslim leaders.

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he who had pressed for the army to be called in. Sudesh Kumar Goyal, auto parts dealer, whose shop has been completely destroyed in the incident, is trying hard to bring his life back on track. Insurance inspectors are coming in to examine his damage claims and and demanding bribe. Angered over government apathy, he was also upset with the BJP: “ I am a vaisya (trader caste) and BJP has traditionally supported the baniya caste." But he laments the callousness of UP BJP chief Laxmikant Vajpayee who had sarcastically said: "Riots are a daily thing in UP... where all can I run around?” Signs of grief, disappointment, anger and disillusionment were writ large on Goyal's face. Gurpreet, another auto parts dealer says: “If these riots were not planned then how is it possible that the schools were closed down just before they took place? Rumours spread fast in the city. The worst part is that everything happened in front of the District Magistrate and senior police officials, but they did not act under pressure of top leader of particular community. Akhilesh Yadav was completely kept in the dark about what is actually happening on the ground. Many fingers have also been raised at the dubious role of NGOs. After the riot when the relief camps were festering, the government announced compensation and new housing for the victims. At that time, the NGOs incited Muslims to come in large numbers and not just stay in the camps but also create more new camps, so that a larger number of the minority community get financial benefits and even get new houses. This further escalated the mutual hatred between the communities. The demographic balance in some areas of western Uttar Pradesh has completely turned in favour of Muslims. Narendra Mishra says: “In Bijnore, they are in a majority in all 13 municipalities seats. In Saharanpur, aound 40 per cent of the population is Muslim.

It would be no exaggeration to say that that an entire belt from Mewat in Haryana to Moradabad in western Uttar Pradesh is sitting on a dormant volano. The undercurrent and potent influence of Deobandi Islam, well complemented by the Wahhabis, who are sending their petro-dollars to increase their influence in the region to satiate the greedy clerics have created an explosive mixture. Hate preaching and petro-dollar funding has begun to make its presence felt in the region. These Wahabis have sparked the imagination of creating ‘Mugalistan’ among illiterate sections of Muslims, giving a chance to their radical Hindu brothers to play their own radical hate cards. Shahid Siddiqui former SP leader, is still optimistic, and says that this country has seen riots in 1947 and 1992, Babri and these latest ones will also be forgotten. It is well to hope this will be true. But do we know what is going in the minds of Mohammed Saleem and Sudesh Tayal? OCTOBER 2014

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WEST BENGAL

‘Bangla’ going the UP way? by SUJIT CHAKRABORTY

HMED HOSAIN IMRAN is a Rajya Sabha member from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) from Bengal. Ahmed Hosain Imran is a cofounder of the now banned Students Islamic Movement of India. Ahmad Hosain Imran has been named in a secret police report as the architect of the biggest communal riot in recent times in Bengal’s otherwise peaceable communal history. What will Ahmed Hosain Imran do two days before or after Dusserah, when Bakri Eid comes? There are serious concerns that a flare-up might be triggered by him and others. Typically from a police report: “On the intervening night of February 19 and 20, a local Imam in southern Bengal from Ghutiari Sharif in Canning subdivision was returning from a religious gathering. It was 2.00 am when he and his companion were attacked at Jamtala by robbers. They killed him and robbed him, leaving his body by the way side. At dawn, the body was first noticed by a bus driver. Then the word spread, and then spread the fire and loot. About 200 Hindu houses were ransacked and looted. The communal flames swept across Canning, Joynagar, Kultali and Basanti. The secret police report says that Imran organised and orchestrated the conflagration, sending men, money and arms from the Muslim dominated Park Circus area in south Calcutta. Meanwhile, a major newspaper from the state has reported that chief minister Mamata Banerjee has sent huge funds to the Jamat-e-Islami in Bangladesh. The report also

The fringe elements of Muslim radicals have shifted base from CPIM to Trinamool 56

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says that first Mamata had taken money from the Jamat in 2011 to contest the elections and now she has donated money to the illegal organisation. What is the game plan? West Bengal as a state has a long history of communal harmony, broken first in 1946 in what is known as the Great Calcutta Killings, in which thousands from both communities lost their lives. This was followed by the Noakhali Riots starting from October 10. But since then the state (after partition from East Pakistan, what is now Bangladesh) has remained stable communally. That harmony snapped after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. But compared to the Great Calcutta Killings it was pretty small in extent (32 dead). However, ever since the TMC has come to power, and especially over the past three years, things have become very tense. There has been a trend. Most of the lower cadre of TMC today are turncoat communists. They infiltrated into the TMC after the CPIM-led Left Front was routed in the last Assembly polls. The Left had traditionally controlled the Muslim vote bank, but after the Rizwanoor death – allegedly the murder of a young IT professional by his Hindu wife’s industrialist family, and eventually hushing up by the then ruling CPIM – there has been a serious erosion. Mamata Banerjee had made a tremendous noise during the Rizwanoor case in 2007. Add to this the crazy images of a Mamata Banerjee wearing burqa in a public meeting, and offering namaaz, along with a host of schemes aimed directly to benefit the Muslim community. “In Bengal the Bengali Muslims are committedly against riots. The problem is with what is called Bihari Muslims, who are concentrated in places like Metiaburz, Chandni Choowk, Rajabazar and Park Circus areas of Calcutta. Though the BJP has made serious inroads in the state recently, they are not still in control of the hooligans, and without hooligans you cannot create a riot,” says Shankar Ray a senior journalist and Marxist analyst. Ray told News Bench that it would not be in the interest of the BJP or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to foment communal violence, for the usually left oriented populace of the state would only

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Mamata wearing a burqa and offering namaaz has created tension

Tears have dried in her eyes, and yet, in the end Savita Devi asks: "If everyone gets scared, who will fight for the country

galvanise against the party. But another piquant situation is arising in the border districts with Bangladesh. Samidh Chatterjee, a Congress leader from Malda told News Bench: “On an average 140 people enter from our district border every day and not more than 50 or 60 go back. The entire demographic of districts such as Malda, Murshidabad as well as North and South 24 Parganas has changed. The state government has not released the district-wise census for Malda for a decade to hide uncomfortable facts. In 2000, Indian intelligence filed a report with the Bangladesh government which exposed the plan of killing Sheikh Haseena, but which also showed how several Muslim clerics had visited Bangladesh to get arms training from Jamat-e-Islami.

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It has been realised that after the TMC coming to power, there has been a sudden hike in the number of Muslim organisations, mostly in the shape of NGOs. Alongside there has been a surge in the instances of communal flareups, 42 major ones being staged between February and August last year. Several new Muslim political parties have also come up, including the Welfare Party of India and the state unit of the All India United Democratic Front of Badruddin Azmal of Assam, known to be directly communal. And the much respected former CPIM leader Rezzak Mollah has launched his own Muslim and dalit-based party. Mollah, however, denied that Mamata is communal. “The Canning incidence is just that... an incidence, but Mamata is not communal. Asked why she reportedly donated money to the Jamat, Mollah asked News Bench: “Who has printed the report? What is its veracity?” Meanwhile, this year the Vijaya Dashami and end of Durga Puja comes just two days before Bakri Eid. Trusted sources say: “Though there is a general alert every year around Puja, this year there is some information that an issue can arise if the two communities do not handle the slaughtering of cows, which is only allowed in Calcutta, during Dashami, for the fringe Hindu elements could go hammers and tongs in that case, precipitating a crisis. If SIMI founder is encouraged by being sent to the Rajya Sabha, will his people not feel emboldened by the TMC’s support?” The real factor behind any future communal trouble will be the race between CPIM and TMC to control the Muslim vote bank, but the cause is not the concern. The results will be! OCTOBER 2014

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KERALA

Communalism of the ‘seculars’ by M RAJASEKHARA PANICKER

ERALA happened to be the first destination in India for Christians, Jews and Muslims. That is history. Today, pressure groups of various hues are setting their agenda of intolerance, bigotry and violence. Programmes of setting up schools, colleges, technical institutions and hospitals are giving way to divisive and communal politics, all in the garb of secularism. The three main communities in the state are Hindus (around 56 per cent), Muslims (25 per cent) and Christians (19 per cent). The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the main political force of Muslims, has been part of either the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) or CPI(M)–led Left Democratic Front. Christians later formed the Kerala Congress, of which the current Finance Minister KM Mani is the boss, nurturing Chief Ministerial ambitions. All of them swear by democracy and secularism, but invariably play the communal card. “Christian and Muslim communalism is growing in Kerala and it is hard to control,’’ VS Achuthanandan of the CPIM and former Kerala chief minister had said during a programme organised by the Kesari Memorial Trust when he was the Chief Minister. "Congress' secularism is a lip service." The Congress and Muslim League had strongly condemned this statement then. They accused the CPIM of inciting

An accused in terror cases, Madani is an example of secular parties' communalism 58

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communal feelings and appeasing majority communalism. “The CPIM is now experimenting the ‘Modi’ model in Kerala,’’ the industry minister PK Kunhalikkutty said. “The CPIM had extolled Abdul Nazar Madani, radical Muslim leader, and shared stage with the PDP, and worked together with the Jamat-e-Islami. Now they discover communalism in them. This change of policies is clearly to promote communalism of the majority community,’’ Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said. Madani, an accused in multiple terror cases, is a classic example of secular parties playing communal politics. The CPIM had no qualms in taking his help during the 2009 elections with party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan sharing a stage with Madani. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy didn't think twice about calling on PDP chairman Madani, an accused in the 2008 Bengaluru blasts case in custody in Karnataka since August 2010. The Kerala government called on the Karnataka government for his release. A resolution was also passed in the state Assembly. The fact is, the Congress government led

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MAINSTREAM

been established. The Bangalore blast was masterminded by T Nasir, and he enjoyed the backing of Muslim leader Abdul Nazar Madani. And there are many others like Nasir in Kerala,” NIA officials said last year. The protest of the Church against implementing the Gadgil Report proved how organised communal might could thwart the protection of Western Ghats. Coming down heavily on the Church, PT Thomas, former Idukki MP, said people would shortly understand the hypocrites under the veneer of spirituality. “The day when the people will spurn the stand of Idukki-Thamarassery archdiocese is not far. They have been spreading untruth after drawing the cross of spirituality,” he alleged. With the statements of a few bishops and the 'pressure politics' of Christian and Muslim communities, soft Hindutva is getting more 'reactionary' day by day. Amit Shah on his maiden visit to the state after assuming BJP presidentship alleged that the UDF and LDF are pursuing Tears have vote bank politics dried in her and “neglecting” the eyes, and yet, in the end state’s development. Savita Devi Addressing party asks: "If everyone gets workers he said: “When the LDF was in power, by Chandy is hopelessly dependent on the Muslim Oomen Chandy scared, who a resolution was passed by the state Assembly League for survival. (left); Madani will fight for unanimously for Madani’s release. Going a step And it succumbs to bizarre demandsthe from the (top left) and country further, the Congress Chief Minister Oommen Amit Shah (top League. Two recent events showcase this. Till the right) Chandy went all the way to Bengaluru to meet courts intervened and put a stop to it, the Kerala the PDP leader. Madani is actually a symbol of government, as demanded by the League, was the politics of communal appeasement pursued bent upon opening new schools on "communal" lines. Even more bizarre is the case of educational institutions by both the fronts,” he said. “It is surprising” that Congress, dancing to the tune of the League by replacing normal while boasting of being secular, has a partnership with blackboards with green boards in schools in the Muslim Muslim League in Kerala,’’ he added. BJP Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha candidate and majority Malappuram district. This has triggered widespread protests. “Replacing blackboards with green boards in schools former Union Minister O Rajagopal makes allegations that in Malappuram will have far-reaching consequences. This could either be serious or bizarre in typical Kerala fashion. kind of changes would have to be introduced on the basis of He accuses Congress president Sonia Gandhi of hatching a conspiracy with the Church to stop the BJP in Kerala. expert committee opinions,’’ Pinarayi Vijayan said. Kerala has a massive presence of the Indian Mujahideen According to him, leaders Oscar Fernandes and KV Thomas and the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). The NIA met the bishops when there were signs that the BJP might win had declared Kerala a Red Zone. “Be it any major blast in the that Lok Sabha seat. For the record, he lost the Lok Sabha seat country - the 2008 Gujarat blasts or the one at the Bangalore by a narrow margin of 7,000 votes. Welcome to Kerala style secularism! Chinnaswamy stadium in 2010 - a Kerala link has always

COVER STORY

TAMILNADU

Fringe Islamists on the prowl by N ASOKAN

2013; B. Suresh Kumar, a milk stall AST year the so called owner in Madurai, on June 26, 2013; operatives of Al-Umma, and Murugan, a BJP functionary in a banned radical Islamist Paramakudi, on March 19, 2013. organisation, Bilal Malik While this targeted killings of and Panna Ismail were arrested in a prominent members and leaders highly publicised police operation of the Hindu outfit leaders were while hiding in a house in Puttur, going on, Suresh Kumar, secretary a sleepy locality situated at of the Hindu Munnani's Tiruvallur Andhra Pradesh about a hundred district unit, was killed in the kilometres from Chennai. For good outskirts of Chennai while he was measure, the arrest was shown Live closing his shop. Here also police on television channels in the state. again arrested few islamic youths This arrest was preceded by saying that they are from the Althe prize 'catch' of another Umma Muslim terror outfit in the much wanted Al-Umma actvist state of Tamilnadu named, funnily though, as 'Police' YS Kannan a senior Hindu Fakrudeen. They were key suspects Munnani leader alleges a in connection with the planting Bilal Malik widespread conspiracy in Tamilnadu to target of a pipe bomb attack on the yatra route of being taken to Hindu outfit leaders. "It is not new that Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani near custody in a outfit leaders are being attacked. In 1984, Tirumangalam in Madurai District in 2011. much publicised Ramagopalan, founder of the Hindu Munnani, And they were also the suspects in the April police raid himself was severely hacked while alighting 2013 blasts outside the BJP office in Bangalore. from a train at Madurai. Somehow he survived The state Crime Branch - CID - sought their custody, arguing that these three were involved in multiple the attack. Basha, founder of Al-Umma organisation was murders of S Vellaiyappan, state secretary of Hindu arrested. First the islamic radicals targeted RSS and Hindu Munnani in Vellore on July 1, 2013; Dr V Arvinth Reddy, Munnani offices. Then they targeted high-profile Hindu Abhishek Mishra secretary of the Tamilnadu State Medical leaders in the state. Now they are targeting leaders who are Wing of BJP, in Vellore on October 23, 2012; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Auditorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; working in the ground level by which they become soft Ramesh, State BJP general secretary, in Salem on July 19; targets. We have lodged complaints to the police. We have got information that at least 100 radical Islamist youths are now being given assignments to target Hindu leaders in Tamilnadu." Communal tension in this state has been rare. The little that we see has its genesis in the 1980s when a large group of Dalits publicly converted to Islam. Since then, Hindutva elements have desperately tried to take their campaign mainstream without success. Meanwhile, radicalised Muslims, again a fringe element, have taken to killing Hindutva leaders. Will this spiral out of control?

Hindu leaders being attacked is not new here, and Al-Umma is behind most incidents 60

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LABORATORY OF HATE

INTERVIEW Shahid Siddiqui

“A stronger BJP suits Mulayam Singh Yadav” Is UP being polarised deliberately? If you go by the history, politicians have always tried to polarise voters. Before independence, Muslim league and Hindu Mahasabha had attempted this. This happens. In Britain, for example, the scores of parties were all lost and merged into just two parties as part of a natural process of polarisation, so this is a phenomenon almost everywhere. Congress, too, tried to polarise Muslims citing the fear of Hindu extremist groups. In a way, they have imposed a secular Jazia tax, you could say, on Muslims. It is said that Modi is a polarising force and Hindu communal forces have been emboldened after his becoming the Prime Minister... It has to be properly understood that a stronger BJP has always suited Samajwadi Party. Whenever BJP has become stronger, Mulayam Singh Yadav has also become stronger and the opposite is also true. Is polarisation responsible for incredible victory of Narendra Modi? No. I don’t think so. UP has hardly been developed. Bihar and Orissa have developed. There is hidden anger in the public. Modi tapped this anger by projecting credible development plan. I think if Arvind Kejriwal would not have left Delhi, AAP would have very easily won at

least 10 to 15 seats. People in UP were completely fed up with caste politics. There is media report that Azam Khan has pressured policemen to act in a certain way? The truth is that Azam Khan insults Muslims close to him. Most of the officers close to him are Hindus and they are with them for their own vested interests. It is equally true of Ram Gopal Yadav, Shivpal Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav.

MAINSTREAM

SHAHID SIDDIQUI has been a popular Muslim leader and journalist. He has been Rajya Sabha MP. VIKAS KUMAR talked to him on several sensitive issues related to communal polarisation

The division is very sharp in UP now This is even sharper than in 1992. Don’t you feel so? One mistake people make is of blatantly stereotyping. Not all Muslims have links to ISIS or al-Qaida or other Islamist terror organisations. People are talking about the Wahabi impact, but they have been in India for the last 200 years. You have to understand that Deoband has always taken its stand against them. Yes, but to a certain extent their impact has increased as more people are going to Gulf countries where they come in contact with Wahabis. They bring in petro-dollars and the local madarsas get funds from them and chant their names. Unlike popular belief, educated Muslims are more impressed with Wahabi ideology. However, things are being exxaggerated. Hindu -Muslim division was sharper in 1947 and after Babri-Mosque demolistion in 1992. Our country has strength to survive such things and we will come out of this situation also. Extremism is not in our blood.

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MEDIA

WHO LOST IN UP? Recent events have dented the image of activists and sections of the media in Uttar Pradesh for unduly tarnishing Akhilesh's image 62

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UTTAR PRADESH

BY AVINASH CHANDRA MISHRA

F one week is considered a life time in politics, then 14 weeks can be an eternity. Many pundits who have been hounding the fatherson duo of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav for long wanted the UP government to be dismissed after the BJP and allies won 73 out of 80 Lok Sabha

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more accountable." Perhaps the best -or worst - example of how media and activists can combine to hound a government was seen in the case of activist Chandar Mohan Sharma. A few months ago, all hell broke loose when a completely charred body was found inside Sharma's car in Greater Noida. His mobile phones and other personal belongings were found near the car. Everyone assumed the dead body was that of Sharma, though it was burnt beyond recognition. Activists levelled all sorts of allegations against the Akhilesh government and condemned it for allowing lawlessness to grow brazenly under his watch. The media gleefully aired all this with even gory half hour dramatised shows of how an honest activist like Sharma was murdered by criminals who were sheltered by the state and vested interests. Just recently, the police arrested Sharma from Bangalore Akhilesh (left) is smiling again where he was staying under a different while Azam Khan seems lost name with his girlfriend. It now seems that Sharma actually murdered and burnt seats in Uttar Pradesh. Many were busy a homeless vagrant to fake his own death writing obituaries of the Samjawadi Party and pursue his love affair incognito. and saying how the the party is finished His wife Savita who had registered an in the state. They were all embarrassed FIR against "powerful vested interests" by the voters of UP on September 16, was red faced. But far from expressing regret over the false 2014, when the Election hysteria they generated, Commission announced THE NUMBER OF activists and sections of that the SP had won 8 put REFUGEES IN the media behaved as if of the 11 assembly seats RELIEF CAMPS nothing had happened. that went for by polls. Says well known senior Suddenly it is not just SWELLED JUST journalist Ram Kripal the Akhilesh government AFTER THE Singh: "Sometimes that is under the scanner. COMPENSATION media activism borders Questions are now being WAS ANNOUNCED on anarchy. If similar raised about the often stories appeared in hurried and hysterical manner in which sections of the media other countries there would be serious and many activists have consistently defamation cases filed every day". The tendency of the media to act as tarred the image of the government. General Secretary of the Broadcast judge, jury and executioner was clearly Editors' body and senior journalist NK visible in the horrific murder of two Singh says: "Some efforts of the media young Dalit girls, whose bodies were are worth praising while others deserve found hanging from a tree in a village in criticism. The media should not be in Badaun. This time, an entire community a hurry to cover events. It needs to be was actually defamed and five members of

POLITICS

led to an implosion of against Raja Bhaiyya. AKHILESH HAD Prompt action This tendency to slam STOPPED A MUSLIM riots. by the administration the Akhilesh government RALLY OR ELSE IT actually prevented a becomes even more bizarre when the state WOULD TRIGGER A tense situation from actually does something SHIA-SUNNI RIOT, degenerating into a sensible to prevent BUT WAS BLAMED ghastly riot. But hey, not a single kind word violence. There is a long running feud between FOR BEING BIASED for Akhilesh. Recently, his government took Shia spiritual leader Maulana Kalbe and Azam Khan, a top the bold step of terminating the services leader of the SP who happens to be a of more than 10 judicial service officers Sunni. Recently, the Maulana announced because of adverse reports. yet, there was a rally against terrorism on the streets of hardly any praise, or coverage. This campaign of calumny really took Lucknow. His real target was Azam Khan. No matter who is right or wrong, a rally of off after the terrible riots in Muzaffarnagar this kind would have almost certainly led that resulted in scores of deaths, leaving thousands homeless. No sane person would deny that the Akhilesh government failed to initially assess the gravity of the situation. But many subsequent charges were bordering on the ridiculous. This was apparent when the administration was accused of bulldozing refugee camps there. The fact was that many fraudulent claimants had started registering as victims after the state government announced a generous compensation package. This also included land sharks. But then, activists and sections of the media had already made up their minds and were not interested in finding out what the real facts were. These allegations caused enormous damage to the public image of Akhilesh Yadav, something he will take a long time to recover from. Says Were all of them to Shia Sunni clashes and riots Ram Kripal Singh: "The job of the media candle light marches surely owe an apology to the people genuine refugees? on the streets of Lucknow. So is to inform people. Investigations are the One doubts when Akhilesh did not allow job of the police and justice is delivered they defamed needlessly." permission for the rally, he was by courts. But in India, the media is often Soon after Akhilesh took charge as the chief minister. There were slammed for succumbing to the dictates playing the role of investigative agencies allegations that the strongman Raja of Azam Khan. If the rally had been as well as the judiciary in delivering Bhaiyya, a minister in UP, was involved allowed and if riots had erupted, there prompt verdicts against people. This has in the murder of a senior police officer. is little doubt that the same activists and happened many times in UP. The bye election results have shown Raja Bhaiyya resigned and the case was sections of media would have slammed handed over to the CBI, but activists and Akhilesh for "total collapse of law and that forecasts about the demise of the media went to town saying now criminals order". Even in Meerut, allegations SP were wildly inaccurate. Will this lead held sway in the Akhilesh regime. The of Love Jihad, gang rape and forcible to at least a small bout of introspection CBI enquiry has not found any evidence conversion levelled by a young lady had amongst activists and the media?

this community were promptly arrested on charges of gang raping and brutally murdering the girls. The story was beamed across the world and Akhilesh was painted as a CM under whom crimes had gone completely beyond control. The criticism did not stop even when Akhilesh handed over the enquiry to the CBI. Now. CBI investigations have revealed that the girls were not gang raped and perhaps it is a case of honor killing by her own relatives. Once again there are no signs of mea culpa from activists and journalists. Says Abhishek Mishra, minister in the Akhilesh government: "All those politicians who miked this tragedy and all those activists who held

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POLITICS

BY KAFIL EQBAL

MEET THE OTHER MODI There already are loud whispers that Sushil Kumar Modi could undo all that the Modi wave did for the BJP in Bihar. Is he becoming a burden in Bihar? 66

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OR some strange reason, the surname Modi seems to revolve around controversies. Contemporary history will record Narendra Modi as the man who rose and towered above controversies to become the prime minister of the country. Then there is that person called Lalit Modi, currently living 'in exile' in London, whose name will forever be associated with both the success and the sleaze of the cricket tamasha called IPL. The least known is Sushil Modi, the BJP leader of Bihar who many feel is in danger of derailing and destroying the wave generated by the other Modi who happens to be the prime minister. Former Bihar minister Lallan Singh recently set the cat among the pigeons when he publicly denounced Sushil Modi as a bird who is so greedy that it devours its own eggs. These remarks came after the BJP hit a rude wake up call in the Bihar bye-elections when it managed to win just four out of the 10 seats that went to polls. Soon after the results of the Lok Sabha polls, in which the BJP-led alliance won 32 out of 40 seats, were announced even critics of the BJP were talking about the party forming a government for the first time in Bihar after the assembly elections due in 2015. But the speed with which former foes Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar tied up and did well in the byepolls has come as a shock. Most are laying the blame on the doorsteps of Sushil Modi, who is being described as duplicitous, power hungry, opportunist and a back stabber. When you talk of politics in Bihar, there is no escaping caste politics. And the most serious charge against Modi is that in his desperation to become the chief minister of Bihar, he is antagonising the powerful Bhumihar vote bank by systematically sidelining BJP leaders who belong to the Bhumihar caste. Two prominent

OTHER MODI

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caste leaders who feel sidelined and the JD(U) in the mid 1990s, the BJP has the freedom, the party did spectacularly angry are Chandramohan Rai and CP been successful in attracting a rainbow well. But in many other states, the Thakur, who was a union minister in coalition of voters cutting across caste absence of a powerful grassroots leader the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. and ethnic identities. During the Lok has hurt the party very badly. Even Says political analyst Vishwa Kumar, Sabha elections, the party compensated admirers of Sushil Modi will concede who has been tracking Bihar politics for the exit of the JD(U) vote bank by that he is not a grassroots leader in the for a long time: "It is foolhardy to attracting regional caste leaders like antagonise the powerful and dabbang Paswan and Kushwaha. It also struck a (belligerent)caste like Bhumihars. They chipboard with backward caste voters were very upset because not a single of Bihar by running a silent campaign caste member was given a ticket for about how Narendra Modi was a any of the 10 Assembly seats where backward caste leader. All that seems bye-polls were held. For instance, to be unravelling now. And things have Bhumihars play a decisive role in the Muzzafarpur constituency. Yet, the ticket was given to the son of Jay Narayan Nishad. The Bhumihar lobby aggressively supported Narendra Modi and the BJP during the Lok Sabha elections. But now they are feeling cheated. And this could prove costly for the party." When daggers are drawn and knives are out, rumors and innuendo inevitably start acquiring legitimacy. Some people have started recalling how Sushil Modi maintained a deafening silence when the supremo of the dreaded Ranvir Sena, Bramheshwar Mukhia was gruesomely murdered just outside his home. No one knows what Modi felt when Mukhia was assassinated, but all seems to be fair in love and political warfare. Then again, it is not just the Bhumihars who are unhappy After the BJP tidal wave, Lalu and his foe Nitish quickly forged an alliance with Sushil Modi. According to sources within the party even upper become even more difficult for the mould of Chauhan, Singh and Scindia. caste leaders like Rajiv Pratap Rudy are party with Lalu and Nitish forming a Perhaps that makes him insecure. terribly upset with Sushil Modi. The strategic alliance. Party insiders contend that the BJP sources say that Modi simply refuses The Sushil Modi problem is not would do well to project Nand Kishore to take them into confidence and has unique to Bihar. In states where the Yadav as the chief ministerial candidate started taking decisions on his own BJP has powerful grassroots regional in the next assembly elections since that with a small coterie around him. This is leaders, the party tends to do well. would undermine the charisma of Lalu not well for the prospects of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh Prasad Yadav in his own community. the long run. are classic examples where But then, even Nand Kishore Yadav has Traditionally, the BJP has been an Shiv Raj Chauhan and Raman Singh been sidelined. upper caste dominated party in Bihar. have held sway. Even in Rajasthan, Clearly, Sushil Modi is not as loved Ever since it formed an alliance with Vasundhara Raje Scindia was given and admired as the original one!

POLITICS

She is rapidly rising as a grassroots backward caste leader in her own right in Maharashtra, challenging the upper caste stranglehold over the BJP. But can she outsmart the Thackerays and become the first woman Maha chief minister? BY DANISH RIYAZ

YE witnesses say that even some security guards in her entourage shed a few tears that day in Bhagwangarh. Each year during Dussehra, the late BJP leader Gopinath Munde used to address residents of this village in Ahmednagar district, adjacent to his constituency Beed. This year, his daughter Pankaja,who garnered worldwide attention by lighting the funeral pyre of her father, launched her "Sangharsh Yatra" from the same venue. So powerful and moving was her oratory that the massive crowd of largely backward caste supporters started rooting for Pankaja as the next chief minister of Maharashtra. Pasha Patel is the chairman of Phoenix Foundation and an old associate of Gopinath Munde. He says: "The backward caste voters of at least 90 odd seats in the assembly are solidly behind her. There is no doubt that Pankaja has successfully inherited the legacy of her father. And why not? She is a classic people's politician and connects with ordinary voters". Maharashtra assembly elections are round the corner and results will be declared on October 19, 2014. After 15 years of uninterrupted Congress-NCP rule, there is little doubt that the BJPShiv Sena alliance is poised to sweep to power in the state. Two opinion polls - conducted by AC Nielsen and C-Voter - are predicting more than 200

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OCTOBER 2014

(Clockwise): Pankaja Munde, Raj & Udhav Thackeray

CAN PANKAJA MUNDE BEAT THEM ALL?

MAHARASHTRA

seats for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance out of a total of 288 seats. The signals are unmistakable because a series of small and big leaders of both the Congress and the NCP have started deserting their parties and making a beeline for either the BJP or the Shiv Sena. This is similar to the exodus of Congress leaders one witnessed before the historic 2014 Lok Sabha elections that swept Narendra Modi to power. Interestingly, Haji

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Arafat, a senior leader of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), the party led by Raj Thackeray, recently resigned from the party and joined the Shiv Sena along with thousands of his supporters. For an alliance dubbed as anti-Muslim, this has come as major symbolic boost before the elections. Political analysts here reckon that Raj Thackeray and the MNS played a major role in the 2009 assembly elections in splitting the anti-Congress-NCP vote and giving an unexpected victory to that alliance despite its huge unpopularity even then. This time around, it looks like this alleged Sharad Pawar "master stroke" has lost its value. When this correspondent visited the minority cell office of the Congress in Mumbai recently, he was surprised to see an empty, desolate looking set of rooms. Usually, such offices are crammed with visitors seeking last minute favours before elections are announced and the model code of conduct sets in. But one saw the cell leader Nizamuddin Raeen sitting in splendid isolation. In sharp contrast, the offices of the Shiv Sena and the BJP were buzzing with activity, enthusiasm and energy. Even as party workers jostled for attention, funds and tickets, there was non-stop gossip about who could be the next chief minister of Maharashtra. Till a few years ago, there was never a doubt that a Shiv Sena nominee would be the CM in the event of an election victory. But then till he passed away in a tragic car accident,

the backward caste BJP leader Gopinath Munde had emerged a serious and formidable candidate. It is in this context that the name of Pankaja Munde is doing the rounds. Of course, supporters like Patel admit that Pankaja does face strong opposition from the older generation of leaders. It must be mentioned here that the BJP was a minor upper caste party in Maharashtra till grassroots backward caste leaders like Munde expanded its footprints across rural Maharashtra. Today, many see the BJP as a stronger force than the Shiv Sena. In the 2009 assembly elections, it won more seats than the Shiv Sena despite contesting on lesser number of seats. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 seats while the Shiv Sena won 19 seats. Naturally, the younger generation of BJP leaders want to assert their dominance. But even if Pankaja Munde manages the improbable task of overcoming the stiff opposition of the old guard in the BJP in the state, she will have to contend with a resurgent and newly assertive Shiv Sena under Udhav Thackeray. Traditionally, Udhav Thackeray and his late father Balasaheb Thackeray have wielded the "remote control" in the party in a style similar to that shown by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi during the UPA regime. During the previous NDA government in Maharashtra in the 1990s, the late Thackeray had handpicked the chief ministers just as Sonia hand picked Dr Manmohan Singh as the prime minister in 2004. But this time, Udhav Thackeray has publicly stated on more than one occasion that he would be willing and ready to become the chief minister of the state if the political situation requires it. That might well happen after October 19. But just imagine the tantalising possibilities if Pankaja Munde manages the improbable. If that does happen, the three western states of India, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra will all have powerful women leaders as chief ministers. Food for thought for political pundits!

POLITICS

BY M RAJASEKHARA PANICKER

NE Step Forward, Two Steps Back” is one of the landmark books by Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov Lenin on communist strategy. Unfortunately, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPIM, is doing the same… not as a strategy but as knee-jerk reaction to the slap in their ‘red’ face during the recent Lok Sabha polls. Central Committee member and Kerala Member of Legislative Assembly, EP Jayarajan’s recent call to students for shunning education strikes, and the party’s promptly dismissing this line shows those jerking knees. Inaugurating the Students Federation of India (SFI, the CPIM students’ wing), Kannur district meet recently, Jayarajan had said: “The aim

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OCTOBER 2014

PENDULUM POLITICS The party of the proletariat now runs a massive financial empire, but will not accept the changed socio-political realities of a globalised economy of students should be to study and not strike. Students’ unions should not become the tails of political parties.” SFI all-India president V Sivadasan backed Jayarajan’s views. “We agree with Jayarajan’s suggestions. Strikes are not our aim. Yesterday’s means of protest may not be suited for today and today’s may not be suited for

tomorrow,’’ he said. Jayarajan’s statement could have brought some relief to the man on the street, who has been repeatedly shaken by violent student strikes in the past, but that was short-lived. The CPIM leaders find it very difficult to actually chuck their baggage of ‘class struggle’ so easily. The party’s Kannur district secretary

KERALA CPIM

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endemic. The party P Jayarajan damned EP Jayarajan’s Stalinist approach to CPIM IS GOING runs a financial empire line: “Education strikes are like trade counter Sangh Parivar. union strikes. None of these can be There is a strong THROUGH A PHASE worth around Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion), avoided.” CPI state secretary Pannyan resentment within OF EXISTENTIAL including amusement Ravindran also stormed EP Jayarajan’s the party against this DILEMMA. OLD parks, TV channels, stand. And N Arun, state president Kannur lobby and TIMERS ARE NOT rubber cooperatives and of the CPI’s students wing, All India its bloody ways. The many more such things. Students Federation also termed this party is yet to get ABLE TO DIGEST unfortunate. The existential dilemma over the trauma of CURRENT CHANGES Old time Marxists of the organisation is clear. Old timers the fallout of the TP like VS Achuthanandan cannot identify with the new party Chandrasekharan could not identify members. “Now only those students murder in which many party themselves with such changes, and who can’t make a mark in anything functionaries were held and recently he exposed the Pinarayi faction’s else migrate to students politics,” Sunil 12 have been convicted by the court. revisionism, a Marxist jargon for C Kurien, a former SFI activist said. deviation with the original party line. ProLater on the Special investigation team The crisis in the party is because CPM organisations like Purogamana (SIT) arrested P Jayarajan in connection of its inability to adapt to the post Kalasahitya Sangham,Adhinivesha with another crime: the murder of a globalisation scenario and make Prathirodha Samiti have also flayed Muslim Youth League worker, Abdul suitable changes in its slogans and the social democratic deviation. Shukkoor. wThe real reason why this agitations. The Jayarajan trio – EP Left economist and former Vicedisconnect between the grassroots and Jayarajan, P Jayarajan and MV Chairman of the State Planning Board the party has taken shape is because the Jayarajan forms the face of CPIM in of Kerala Prabhat Patnaik also called CPIM in Kerala, just as it was in West the Malabar area. There for interventions against the trend of Bengal once, has been are also differences in “hegemonised bourgeosis liberalism” massively corporatised. Party runs ﬁnancial the party about Kannur and “feudal Stalinism”. Jayarajan’s move Bribery at all levels and empire which includes type politics which water parks, IT park and stashing of riches by was considered a strategic deviation to cooperatives is often marked by a make amends in a globalised economic the leaders has become and political reality. But the party cannot afford allegations of leaving class struggle for “bourgeosis liberalism”.Interestingly, all recent CPM-led agitations have been flops and the party had to stop them abruptly, fuelling dissatisfaction among the cadres. Earlier, those who had ideological differences with the party would join Naxal groups, but this is changing. Recent prominent CPIM dissidents like KR Gowri, MV Raghavan, Abdulla Kutty and others landed in the Congress fold. While that shows how little different the two parties are, the next line of dissidents could well be heading for the Bharatiya Janata Party.

GOVERNANCE

RAMAN’S THREE Chhattisgarh has earned many kudos during the three terms of Raman Singh. It is said that this is primarily the work of three senior officers. Here are profiles of the chief minister's remarkable three musketeers BY ANIL DWIVEDI

AIJENDRA KUMAR is crisis manager par excellence. Two and half years ago, Raman Singh, the third-time Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh faced the biggest crisis of his career, when the naxalites abducted Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon. Raman Singh faced all-round criticism and was called names in public. Getting Menon released was a huge challenge. It is then that his trusted officer, Chief Secretary N Baijender Kumar, took over and finally got the man released after 12 days, but without paying any ransom or meeting any of the demands of the ultras. Was this an achievement of Kumar alone? A serving director general of police says that many officers were working on this release of Menon. But Kumar’s specific contribution was that he created a seamless coordination between the chief minister, naxalite leaders and their negotiators. And this he did without fear. The reason that he is the CM’s favourite is that he has long administrative experience and the advantage of having worked with chief ministers such as Arjun Singh

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He has chosen his lieutenants well and they have ensured his victories thrice

and Digvijay Singh. He is not known to have run away in moments of crisis; rather, the best in him comes out then. He is a man of supple logic and cool temperament, which has helped him take control of the administration. In fact, when some of his detractors used the media to give him a bad name through baseless allegations, the CM made him the Additional Chief Secretary and floored his opponents. The fact that Raman Singh’s government has returned to power for

the third time is the very successful implementation of all the positive programmes developed by the state. This is clear from a look at Baijendra Kumar’s portfolio of responsibilities. Apart from being the Chief Secretary, he handles trade and industry as well as housing and environment and is also the chairman of the city council of capital Raipur. The government has earned considerable praise in all these sectors. It has been successful in making available inexpensive homes to

CHHATTISGARH

talked of as Raman has been with Raman RAHUL DRAVID Singh’s policy framer, Singh from the time the APPRECIATED THE has only one mission: latter was the Central WORK OF AMAN to fulfil each word of minister of state for SINGH, BUT THIS promise that the chief commerce. There have minister has made to been many who have COULD BE SAID the 32 million people tried to break this OF ALL THE THREE of the state. Humane combine but none has CAPABLE OFFICIALS succeeded so far. and sensitive to the needs of the people, Basically from Bhopal, Aman Singh is one of the most effective Vikram Sisodia is a measured person. officials in the state. But when it comes He never misreads a person’s intent. to carrying out the work of the CM, he He handles all the VIP meetings with does not mind a bit of bulldozing! Raman Singh, his media management Says Manish Mishra, public relations and even his branding. A few months officer: “He is an official with a far before the last state polls, when there reaching vision. He alone must be was a cold war between the CM and credited with the establishment of the media, each firm on teaching the E-governance in the state and the other a lesson, it was Vikram Sisodia fact that Chhattisgarh has emerged who managed to break the ice. as a power-hub in the country.” And When he first became the chief minister, Raman Singh was known only within the state and its periphery. From there to get known as a celebrity has been the handiwork of Sisodia. He is a fine tennis player and has been responsible for brightening the career of sportspersons in the state through the CM. The result is the construction of a certified world class cricket stadium and scores of astroturf fields for hockey. Getting big Aman Singh, Baijendra Kumar and Vikram Sisodia: all the CM's men ticket IPL matches or tennis tournaments held in Chhattisgarh wish an IAS officer like you had been Mishra is not wrong. In terms of is the work of Sisodia alone. And as far there to assist my chief minister in running privatised E-governance shops as branding goes, never shall be there Karnataka.” Dravid’s statement had employing local youths, the Choice a celebrity visiting the state without been corroborated by a newspaper Centre programme he has developed Sisodia getting her or him to meet the that had named Aman Singh as one of has won kudos. And as power secretary chief minister. Vikram Sisodia is also a political the ten most powerful persons in the his work has earned Chhattisgarh the status of a power surplus state. animal and has deep insights and country. The third officer who has made a contacts in Congress and BJP. This has Dravid’s statement had found an echo, when this same Aman Singh had huge mark in Chhattisgarh is Vikram also come to aid whenever the CM has been named in a newspaper as one of Sisodia. He is quickly identified. Just run into the sands with any politician. It the 10 most powerful persons in the look for a six-feet-something man in is Vikram Sisodia that has bailed Raman country. Aman Singh, who is often a blazer and sunglasses to his eyes. He Singh out in such circumstances. OCTOBER 2014

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all sections of the people. Some of the biggest companies in the country have invested hugely in the state too. And the New Capital has been developed in such a manner that the Centre is now mulling making it into a Smart City. Now comes the man famously known as Aman Singh. Before moving on for more details on him, let us remember the scene when Raman Singh was headed towards the dais to take his oath of office and secrecy for the third time. Dressed in his signature saffron jacket, even before reaching the dais, Raman Singh shakes hand with a man dressed in his Nehru jacket. He is Aman Singh. But what about him? We need to rest a while here and remember what Rahul Dravid had told Aman once earlier, when the former Indian cricket captain had visited Chhattisgarh: “I

BUSINESS

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ABKI BAAR... NAYI CAR...â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Aft A fteerr more more tthan han ttwo wo yyears ears ooff a ssustained ustaiined ddecline ecline aand nd sslump, lump, tthere here aare re clear clearr signals signalss that that the the Indian Indian automobile automobile industry industr y iiss ggetting etting bback a ck on the fast track. That's good news for the Indian economy

BY VI K A S K U M A R

N January 2010, after more than a century of global domination that inspired dozens of Hollywood hits and hundreds of pop songs, the United States of America surrendered and gave up its crown. Western news agencies like Reuters and Bloomberg carried a story that reverberated across the world for the whole year. In 2009, China surpassed the United States as the

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largest automobile market in the world with total sales of 13.5 million units, way ahead of the total American tally of 10.5 million units. This one figure was considered final confirmation that China was well on course to dislodge America as the largest economy in the world. The Asian century had finally arrived. There are people who marvel at the obsession of contemporary media with the auto industry. There is a body of

feminists that is convinced that the manner in which men obsess about cars and use sexist terms to describe them reflects their predatory and patriarchal mindset. There are green activists who are convinced this obsession with cars is a huge reason behind uncontrollable pollution, climate change and global warming. Then there are those who wonder how and why more than 1,25,000 Indians died in road accidents in 2013 while less than 100 were killed

AUTO INDUSTRY

EARLIER, THERE WAS TOO MUCH GOING AGAINST THE AUTO INDUSTRY, BUT THEN, THE MIRACLE DID FINALLY HAPPEN

New models are being launched regularly by auto companies

in globally publicised and debated communal riots. Whichever way you look at it, the auto industry matters. The simple fact is: every car manufactured, sold and serviced leads to five new jobs, directly and indirectly. And over time, the auto industry has become a definitive benchmark to measure not just the level of consumer confidence, but also the state of health of an economy. A decline in the fortunes of the auto

industry is almost always associated with slower economic growth and a sense of consumer pessimism and gloom. For more than two years, auto sales in India plunged down month after month even as the GDP growth rate crashed from almost 9% in the beginning of the decade to less than 5% in the previous financial year. And then something happened in May, 2014. It might be a coincidence but Narendra Modi won a historic mandate

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to govern India in May, 2014 amidst a wave of expectations that he will do something to fix the sinking economy. After a prolonged slump which looked endless as the previous UPA regime lurched from economic crisis to a new scam that further dented consumer confidence, auto sales actually saw a modest uptick in the month. Most analysts saw it as a freak month, perhaps a month when over enthusiastic Modi supporters bought a lot of cars and two wheelers. The consensus was: there was simply too much going against the auto industry in India to expect an early and sustained recovery. The consensus was that the auto industry in the country would once again slip back into its now habitual mode of reporting lower sales month after month. But miracles do happen. In the first week of September, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) released auto sales figures for the month of August. Even skeptics were finally impressed. For the fourth consecutive month since May, the auto industry had reported a growth in sales. This time around, you simply could not argue with the data. This is what the news agency PTI reported in early September: "Car sales in India grew for the fourth successive month, posting an increase of 15.16 per cent in August, prompting industry body SIAM to see a slow turnaround after two years of slump. According to the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile

BUSINESS

Manufacturers, domestic car sales in August added up to 1,53,758 units as compared with 1,33,513 units in the same month of 2013." The auto industry is seeing a gradual increase and even the cumulative numbers are seeing improvements month-on-month....We can see a slow turnaround happening,â&#x20AC;? SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur told reporters. In the April-August period this fiscal, car sales have grown by 5.24 per cent to 7,35,873 units as against 6,99,263 units in the year-ago period." This possibly sustained upswing was confined just to cars. According to figures released by SIAM, total two-wheeler sales in August 2014 grew by 19.22 per cent to 13,45,506 units from 11,28,631 units in the same period of the previous year. Positive growth was registered by both the motorcycle and scooter segments. This generated enormous enthusiasm in home grown two wheeler companies in India like Hero Motor Corp whose chairman Pawan Munjal aims to consolidate his company's status as the largest two wheeler company in the world. But by far the most significant and promising news delivered by SIAM was with regard to trucks. Since February 2012, the Indian economy has witnessed declining sales - month after month - of heavy and medium commercial vehicles, also known as trucks. A full 30 months after this tailspin began, truck sales finally registered positive growth in August, 2014. In fact, sales to heavy and medium trucks registered a healthy 20% growth to cross 14,000 units during the month. More than cars and two wheelers, it is the sale of trucks

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that directly reflects the Pawan Kumar Munjal upswing in truck sales. The state of any economy. wants to make Hero Indian economy was back Motocorp a true to its booming days again. It And an upswing in truck global leader might be simplistic to expect sales is an almost certain a repeat performance this signal that the economy time, but then the auto industry has is recovering. In the immediate time and again shown it is the best and aftermath of the global financial most reliable bellwether for the Indian meltdown of 2008, there was a big Economy. If the mining, construction, slowdown in the Indian economy and infrastructure and real estate sectors do truck sales simultaneously crashed. A recover from their prolonged slump, few quarters later, a sense of pessimism there will be a direct impact on the persisted even though truck sales sale of trucks. But more important started registering positive growth. than that, a recovery in key sectors like Lo and behold, within months of an

AUTO INDUSTRY

sales, which make to continue prodding up 25-30 per cent her company GM to THE AUTO of company annual help India emerge as INDUSTRY IS numbers. "First-time another automobile DIRECTLY AND car buyers are coming manufacturing hub in INTIMATELY back and it's the first Asia. That a positive sign of market revival," feeling is coming LINKED WITH THE Rakesh Srivastava, back was evident at FORTUNES OF THE senior vice president the annual meeting of INDIAN ECONOMY for sales & marketing SIAM in September. at Hyundai Motor Says a report filed India, told ET. "This by Economic Times (ET) Auto soon after the event: "The year we anticipate growth to be 5-15 mood of optimism was palpable at the per cent higher due to low base and a annual convention of Society of Indian slew of new launches." Automobile Manufactures, where The Prime Minister has already government authorities also extended launched his ambitious Make in India their full support to a sector with campaign that he had unveiled during turnover equivalent to 7.1 per cent of his Independence Day Speech. There India's gross domestic product. Heavy can be no doubt that the auto industry industries minister Anant Gete said will play a crucial role in this strategic the government has decided to extend effort to boost the manufacturing excise duty relief to the automobile sector in India. Along with textiles, the sector until March next year, instead of auto industry does offer the promise this December. RC Bhargava, chairman to replicate the manufacturing miracle of Maruti Suzuki, said he anticipates 25 that was seen in China. Ambitious per cent growth in its festival season plans and blue prints are already being prepared and finalized for this. As per the Vision 2026, prepared by ICRA Management Consulting There are distinct signs of a revival of the commercial vehicles segment Services (IMaCS) as an input for the Automotive Mission Plan (AMP) 2026, passenger vehicle sales will grow to 13.4 million units per annum from 3.1 million in FY14. It said that commercial vehicle sales will rise to 3.9 million units from 0.7 million in FY14; of two-wheelers, to 55.5 million units from 16.9 million, and of three wheelers to 3 million units from 0.8 million units. It is estimated that the Indian auto industry will grow to 75.8 million units by FY 2026 as compared to 21.5 million units in FY14. "Vision 2026 will enable the Indian auto industry to contribute around 13 per cent to GDP, generation of additional 100 million jobs and attract more than $ 80 billion in investments," it said. Who said that the promised Acchhe Din will remain elusive? OCTOBER 2014

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infrastructure, construction and real estate is. ritual guarantee that there will be an upswing the GDP growth rate. That is how intimately the auto industry is linked with the fortunes of the overall economy. Despite being battered and bruised over the last few years due to the prolonged economic slump, global auto majors remain up beat about the future of the Indian auto industry. Most of them are confident that the bad days are over and it is inevitable for the Indian economy as well as the auto industry to return to another era of high growth. This was made amply clear by Mary Barra, the aggressive global CEO of auto giant General Motors. During a recent visit to India, Barra met prime minister Modi and pronounced: "The Indian market is very important when you look at the fact that most expect it to become the third largest market in the world after China by 2020. To that extent, we see a lot of opportunities in the Indian market.". Barra also reiterated her commitment

BUSINESS

‘KHUL-JA SIM SIM’ As the middleclass is finally daring to venture out and buy homes, real estate players can’t miss hitting the ball with the middle of the bat, the so called ‘sweet spot’

BY VIKAS KUMAR

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PHOTOS : HARIOM SHARMA

RUN SAXENA, a midlevel manager in a private bank in Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, never dared to buy a home because of the perception of rising home prices. He, however, purchased a flat in Kondli last month in an under construction project and is now a satisfied home buyer. He is of the view that there are still lot of pockets in the National Capital Region where a middle income group person can buy his dream house. There are millions of persons like Arun Saxena in the country who want to buy a home but are afraid of media perceptions of rising home prices and builders are quite aware of the huge latent demand in the economy waiting to be tapped. This burgeoning demand for affordable housing presents a humongous opportunity for all stakeholders in the real estate ecosystem. The good thing is that after the change of government in 2014, things have started changing for the real estate sector, which is buoyant today. The recent steps such as extra floor area ratio, relaxation in population density norms and Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) taken by the government is expected to propel the market out of a long-standing limbo. In addition to that, the government is giving more incentive to construct houses for middle and lowermiddleclass group. This will also restrict the expansion of unauthorised colonies

REAL ESTATE

Geetambar Anand, CMD ATS Infrastructure Limited

Pranav Ansal, Vice Chairman Ansal API

There is a huge need of 40 million housing units in the country and we can’t afford to miss this opportunity.

There is 700 billion dollars of foreign money waiting to be tapped. It can be tapped in the realty sector, but are we ready for it?

HUBS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING Bhiwadi: It is an industrial hub in Rajasthan and is fast emerging as a satellite town of Delhi. Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation Ltd (RIICO) has taken lots of steps for the development of a huge employment base, and the exponential growth in population has led to a robust demand for housing and other social infrastructure. Proximity of Bhiwadi to Gurgaon and the IGI Airport, good connectivity and the relatively low prices of land make this an excellent location for affordable houses. Some of the notable real estate developers like Ashiyana Housing, Eldeco Group, Kajaria Infrastructure, Parsvnath Developers, Kingﬁsher, Avlon, Vipul, etc., have launched their projects here. Sonepat-Kondli: With better infrastructure development, Kundli, Sonipat and Panipat are fast emerging as desirable destinations for urban living. In comparison to other parts of the NCR, prices in these regions are still stable and promise good returns to investors. Many world-class projects such as the 5,000-acre Rajiv Gandhi Education City in Sonipat and petrochemical hub in Panipat have put these areas on the priority list of homebuyers. Several top realty players like TDI, Ansal API, Jindal Real Estate, Eldeco, Parker, Omaxe, Parsvnath, Vardhman, and Apex Developers have projects in the region and prices are still low as compared to Noida, hence offering better value for money. Dwarka Expressway: It has come on investor’s radar, but infrastructure issues are there in the region. However, it is expected to improve in the next few years. The biggest advantage of this region is faster access to the airport and good connectivity with the proposed new diplomatic enclave and the current Metro corridor. The Gurgaon-Manesar Master Plan-2012 has given a boost to the Expressway. Sectors near Dwarka.

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in the cities. According to a study on Real Estate and Construction Industry by KPMG-NAREDCO, “The rapid pace of urbanisation owing to the ruralurban migration is putting a strain on urban infrastructure, and the new policy will go a long way in bridging the demand-supply gap in housing for this particular income group.” India’s national housing shortage is estimated at 18.78 million homes, another study says, which poses as a big opportunity for developers. The main reason why affordable housing has been in demand is that lower, middle and upper-middle segments hardly get the option of homes available with basic requirements like schools, hospitals, parks, etc., within easy reach. Regions such as Noida-Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway, Sohna Road, Daruhera, Bhiwadi, Kondli, Dwarka Expressway and NH-24, etc., have emerged as favourable real estate destinations for buyers who are looking for options in the budget homes segment. These locations are becoming popular because of increasing connectivity to Delhi and developing infrastructure. Despite recession, over the last few years, these areas have offered a whole plethora of options for end-users as well as investors, as the prices of residential real estate surged across cities. Due to the lack of affordability of property in Delhi, end users and investors are now moving towards the suburbs of Ghaziabad and Greater Noida West. The fast emerging affordable housing segments have started attracting big builders and many of them, such

BUSINESS

Naveen Raheja, Founder, Raheja Developers

RK Arora, CMD, Supertech Limited

Things are improving. Changes will be visible in next six to nine months. But there is a dire need to digitise the whole process of approvals as soon as possible.

Noida is fast emerging as a hub of affordable housing, with good infrastructure and connectivity, so many more people are coming to this area.

as Jaypee, Eldeco, Ajnara, Arihant, Gulshan, Amrapali, Mahagun and Supertech have focussed on affordable homes. They have many projects in Noida and in other parts of NCR. Even top names like ATS Infrastructure are betting big on affordable homes. Talking to News Bench at a realty conclave in

infrastructure, the trend is catching up. It is also gradually coming out from the shadows of past controversies. Many builders and developers will deliver more than 20,000 flats by the end of the year and many other projects are under various stages of construction. Yamuna Expressway is the other fast

STEPS TO BOOST AFFORDABLES Simplify land acquisition process: Government must earmark land to make space for such residential units to come up. More clarity and transparency are required in land titles, so that the government can identify illegal ownership and free up additional inventory. In addition to that, urban centres must expand outwards to prevent property prices in cities from spiralling out of control. Infra status to affordable housing: It is one of the long standing demand of the industry and if these demands are met, developers will have access to cheaper financing options. This should be considered as a priority sector. Encourage developers: Providing extra floor space index (FSI) and transferable development rights (TDR) can act as boosters for low-cost housing. This must happen on a wider scale with more FSI/TDR benefits being linked to time-bound development of such projects. The government must also provide developers assistance on financing and clearances. Gurgaon, Geetambar Anand, CMD, ATS Infrastructure Limited said, “There is a huge need of 40 million housing units in the country and we can’t miss this opportunity.” Areas such as Greater Noida West (Noida Extension) have emerged as good locations for those who want to buy affordable homes. Due to good connectivity and fast improving

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emerging destination which is working its way into the imagination of investors and endusers. The entire region has been planned as a world-class city. The Yamuna Expressway Authority had a few launched affordable housing projects.In addition, many other builders have projects in the region

which are in the ‘reasonable’ range of the middleclass home aspirants. ECNON’S KingsCourt, Supertech Upcountry and Golfcountry, Grandcircuit, Sunworld’s Vandila, Oasis Grandstand, ATS Ellure are good options for buyers. Besides, many good builders have taken plots and will launch projects in the region during the course of the year. The Hindon stretch along NH-24 is the other realty hotspot that is abuzz with increased activity. The UP Awas Vikas Parishad has launched Siddharth Vihar project. There are many other builders such as the SARE group, Aditya group, Antariksha and Mahagun have launched their projects in the region. Though connectivity is an issue in this region (as the proposed widening of NH-24 has been pending) but the government is acting fast to remove the bottleneck. Ghaziabad has many options in the range of 2035 lakhs in the ready-tomove category in Mohan Nagar, Govindpuram, Crossing Republic and Raj Nagar Extension. Other regions in NCR such as Gurgaon have become costlier and buying homes in Gurgaon is certainly not possible. But, if you move from the city and look option in areas such as Dharuhera and Bawal, you can have plenty of options. Jhajjar is another area which has started to attract investment. It is emerging as a major freight and logistics hub in the region.

REAL ESTATE

These under construction sky scrapers are now a common sight all along the Yamuna Expressway

finance is available for the top few and many other builders have to take loan at higher interest rates. The government has taken many initiatives in the last budget that has increased optimism of real estate sector and builders are buoyant. Naveen Raheja, founder of Raheja Builders and Developers, said News Bench during a real estate conclave, “The things are improving and change will be visible in next six to nine months. There is need to digitise the who process of approvals. This will reduce completion time and reduce the project cost.” Raheja Developers will build around 30,000 apartments in the low-cost housing category in the National Capital Region (NCR) in the next few years in the price range within Rs 25 lakh. Affordable housing, if converted into a nationwide mission can have multiplier effect and make possible both social and physical infrastructure needs to be connected. Work-to-home connectivity is must for such projects to succeed and government should place this at the heart of its ambitious 100 Smart Cities project. OCTOBER 2014

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Many big companies are planning to For example, in the far northern areas have their warehousing facilities in this of Mumbai such as Boisar, or the eastern belt. A number of leading firms are also suburbs like Thane, Kasara, Shahapur, targeting the region for manufacturing and Khopoli, Karjat, Vangani, Neral and facilities. There is also planning to build Shelu in eastern districts of Mumbai special economic zone (SEZ) which is have good options. Similarly, many expected to create 1.5 million jobs in builders in Bangalore have launched the next five years. their projects in the affordable price Senior Vice-President Sunit Sachhar, range. Parswanath Builders, said during Builders are aware of the huge latent a panel discussion, “The trend of potential, but there are no systems at affordable housing is gathering pace. its place that can encourage builders To give it a boost government has to to take initiative in this sector. Land earmark a specified area away from the acquisition, project delays and lack of city for this purpose as it has happened options for cheap financing are major in Navi Mumbai. The region should handicap for builders. Pranav Ansal, have employment generation capability Vice Chairman Ansal API, says, “There and good connectivity with offices.” is 700 billion dollar of foreign money He further says, waiting to be tapped. “These areas should But, are we ready.” be dedicated for Geetambar Anand AFFORDABLE residential purposes says, “Risk provisioning HOUSING, IF serving as Special norms of RBI has CONVERTED INTO resulted in higher Residential Zones.” Not only in Delhi/ cost of borrowing A NATIONWIDE NCR there is a huge MISSION CAN HAVE that ultimately results demand for affordable in higher cost of the A MULTIPLIER housing in all over the product. We need country in the price access to cheaper mode EFFECT range of 15-40 lakhs. of finances. “Bank

LIFE

SHAHPUR

JAT

HOOKAH

&Art! W BY HARNIDH KAUR

HAT do Williamsburg (New York), Dalston (London), and Hauz Khas Village have in common? They have become synonyms for kitschy fashion, art and culture. Tucked in beautiful areas, these neighborhoods provide a refreshing escape from the gentrified, overpriced ‘mall culture’. An incubation center for creativity, these places have seen young, dynamic entre-

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OCTOBER 2014

preneurs set up art studios, galleries and boutiques. They’re a hub of ideas clashing, and melding into a mix that has been lapped up by those hungry for something unique and new.One such neighborhood that has been sorely underexploited is Shahpur Jat. A village lying amidst the ruins of the old Sultanate city of Siri, Shahpur Jat has been around since the time of Sultan Alauddin Khilji. The government acquired the open farmlands here in 1978, to create the posh colonies of the Asiad Village, Panchsheel Park and Hauz Khas. The already heavily compensated farmers the village landlords – the Panwar Jats were convinced to rent out space for enthusiastic start-up businesses and art studios. Today, Shahpur Jat has an

amazing array of Indian and European fashion boutiques, besides art cafes and décor studios. The fashion stores employ dyers and migrant artisans – all of whom live in the Shahpur Jat village. It’s a beautiful example of a self-sustaining viable and congenial work environment. Shahpur Jat's location, and inherent charm, is both a blessing and a curse. This urban village is home to everything from a power grid, to high-end boutiques, to cattle and a big garbage dump. 'Dastkar', arguably the most prolific name in luxury artisanal goods, jostles for space with local village elders smoking hookah. It’s dirty and dingy in parts, but as clichéd as it sounds, that’s what adds to its multilayered charm. This is a

SHAHPUR JAT

location with multiple identities. It has not only color, texture, beauty and aesthetics, but a definite reason and a goal. It beckons people who live and work for humanitarian cause; and it tempts artists and craftsmen. The narrow, muddy lanes are not the easiest to navigate. But that is also why the rents of the shops are low, giving reason and opportunity to a remarkable array of small artists and designers to display their work in low-cost showrooms. This has attracted a wide array of newcomers, and established people, who are shifting location from Hauz Khas Village and Khan Market following high rents and NDMC regulations. The burgeoning, reckless, and varied expansion has people itching to commercialise the area. However,

This amazing fresco is one of the many fantastic sights that greets the curious visitor to this medieval era village in the heart of Delhi

a majority of the designers and merchandisers want the village to stay the way it is. Most of them are smallscale production houses, and they feel that considering the consistent, rich clientele they have, an increase in footfall means little or no impact on their business. A major reason for their security are theJat owners, who, in the past 15 years, have only rented out property, never selling it out of their community. Keeping with the traditions, they staunchly refused all liquor licenses, making sure that only a commercially viable, well-heeled section of society finds itself stumbling through the tiny by-lanes. Shahpur Jat is a nightmare for mapreaders or people looking for directions. Locating the hotspots is practically impossible, even with the cutesy, illustrated maps most of the shops give out for free. Most of the rusted metal

signs that hang around have no arrows or directions. Many of them indicate places that shut shop, and some misdirect you. The only way to know exactly where you’re going, if you know what you want, is to possibly have someone who knows the area, with you. However, the beauty of Shahpur Jat lies in its ability to surprise you. Every nook and cranny holds a little surprise, as a day simply waking around the area can show you. Some of the Shahpur Jat staples are well publicised due to word of mouth, and due to the standards of quality they have managed to maintain. The first name that pops up, and honestly epitomises the sheer vastness of variety that this place can absorb is La Parisiennes. It’s like every little girl’s dream dress-up closet, but on steroids. A veritable jungle of dresses, décor items, and accessories, barely kept in check by the rather harried looking lady, and OCTOBER 2014

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PHOTOS : RANGANATH TIWARI

The historic village from the time of Alauddin Khilji is today a crazy mix of kitschy art, cute restaurants, cows and buffalos, gorgeous little studios and the landowners smoking hookahs amidst the art aficionado stumbling about

LIFE The real delight of Shahpur Jat is that just opposite a smart French restaurant you might ﬁnd a lady smoking the hookah

an in-house tailor. Almost a stereotype of everything that represents the idea of ‘French’ to a layperson, every single thing, including the little piano, is painted black. The cozy little Le Café is right in the center of the shop, but has the feel of a tiny, tucked in corner. The menu, although tantalising with its exotic French names, is limited, and is jotted down on a small black slate. The food may be fairly average, but the sheer twee charm of this place will pull you back for more. Founded in 2012, The Wishing Chair Store and it’s little café, the Mad Teapot, is one of the hidden gems every Shahpur Jat faithful will rave about. The journey down the veritable wonderland starts with the loo, with its classic chequered tiles, and beautiful black and white prints. The store’s quirky, unique style will appeal to anyone who enjoys and appreciates the slightly different.The café is a quiet revelation, with it’s adorable, distinctive style, and surprisingly good food. Vastly non-fattening, and perfect for a light lunch, the salads are a force to be reckoned with. A special mention to the freshly brewed iced teas, they’re perfect for the cruel Delhi summers. Nimai is the brainchild of Pooja Roy Yadav, who left her lucrative job as a brand consultant, did a crash course in

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OCTOBER 2014

jewellery design from New York, and set up shop in Shahpur Jat. Reminiscent of a grandmother’s jewelry box, this store is like a microcosm of the place itself. A little surprise in every corner. With 11 designers displaying their work here, the variety is stunning, and suits every taste and style. Starting at about Rs. 2000, it has something for everyone. Spending too much is rather difficult, as is pulling away with little money.. The Potbelly Rooftop Café and

store here, apparently. Shahpur Jat residents often called the poorer cousin of Hauz Khas Village, but it often loses out to the glitz and near painful show of indie-hipster styles in favour of a simpler, rustic charm. One rather underrated attraction here is the Tohfe Walla Gumbad, a 14th century ruin that is a shrine to minimalism. A quiet, beautiful place, it has little shaded alcoves that offer some respite from the heat, and a place to simply sit after a long day of walking around.

SHAHPUR JAT MAY NOT BE ON THE PARTY ANIMALS' LIST, BUT IT'S LIKE A LITTLE SANCTUARY OF VIBRANCY AND LIFE Kitchen takes something as humble, and relatively unknown, as Bihari cuisine, and turns it into an art form. On the slightly expensive side, the number of dishes on the menu will make you realise how little you know about your own country, while it will simultaneously whet your appetite. The littichokha, while not exactly the original, is a sophisticated twist on the classic. The chokhas served with it were interestingly flavoured, and the phish phingers were battered and fried perfectly. A satiating meal is always in

‘Shahpur’, as a word, literally translates to ‘The city of royals’, and that is exactly what Shahpur Jat makes a consumer feel like. The personalisation of every single thing, the humane aspect to every commercial venture, and the honest effort put in by every single place, large or small, leaves an impact. Shahpur Jat will probably not find itself on a partying crowd’s list, but it’s like a little sanctuary of vibrancy and life- one that makes you want to return and absorb the happy, slightly lazy vibe of the place, again and again.

INTERIORS

DIY home romance! For those who love to do every little thing with passion, designing a ravishing and gl glamorous r hhouse se is i a formidable f id bl taskk that h rrequires i a llot off research research, r h planning l i andd expertise ri

BY PARNEKA PAREK

MAGNIFICENT house to be transformed into amazingly beautiful cocoon is every individual's dream of a life-time that takes not only vivid imagination but a lot of planning, preparation and expertise goes into turning it to a delightful dwelling place. When it comes to pleasing the senses or mind, every nook and corner of the house has to be aesthetically forethought and designed. Right from the overall look of the building to the minute details like the illumination and plantation. And for those who love to do every little thing with passion, designing a ravishing and glamorous house is a formidable task that requires a lot of research, planning and expertise. And there are a plethora of options available in the

market for accruing to experts' guidance to raise the castle that is not only ultimate in luxury, style and class, but also flawlessly charming in every detail. Your new home must leave you in sheer love for the idea of dining in a dining room, living in a living room, reading in a library and not do everything in one amorphous space. A Do-It-Yourself (DIY ) approach - or availing high end services of expert interior designers - is a choice to be left completely to the individual preference when it comes to designing luxury homes and apartments. Availing to these high end products and services could involve a major chunk of your life time earnings. So if you have very deep pockets and don't mind spending a lot of loot to get your abode, there is no dearth of options in the market. The first thing that the visitors see is the architectural OCTOBER 2014

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design. So if you're starting from scratch, you have the onus of turning it into a neighbourhood star or neighbourhood dud. Decide materials and color as per the overall style of the house and personal taste. Victorian, Mediterranean and midcentury modern are a few major options taht you have. And then consider whether you want stone, wood, brick, steel or vinyl siding. When a house for a particular individual is being designed the ancient Indian science of building and architecture is Vaastushastra principles are being widely followed to reward residents in economic, emotional and spiritual ways. Placement of the building and its rooms are carefully planned according to their intended usage. As per Vaastu norms, the main entrance of the house should be from east, north and northeast. The master bedroom must preferably be in the south or southwest direction while the dining room placed in the west. The bathroom has to be on the east, the kitchen in the southeast or the northwest side, with fire element placed on the Southeast side. Specific norms are followed for generating and storing natural elements like fire and water, heating and plumbing. Even bathroom fixtures such as sinks and mirrors also have a particular placement. According to rules, north-east portion of the house is highly significant. It has to be kept beautiful and clean to attract luck and prosperity as it is highly surcharged with divine energies. A home has to be a well-defined space reflecting individuality and one's own sense of perfection.Wall paints play a prominent role to leave a lasting impression. In contemporary form of interiors, plain and light shades are most preferred with a wallpaper on any of the areas to be highlighted. White Delight, Natural Linen and Silver Trinket and similar shades are being liked with straight line furniture. In furniture, conventional and traditional forms like carvings, wood work are majorly being replaced by contemporary forms in which straight lines and lacquered coloured glasses by Saint Gobain are used. Walnut and teak wood along with Ducco and Pu high gloss finishes and even stone cladding are being used nowadays to give a distinct look to the furniture. A fusion of antique polish finishes with modern materials would give a rarefied unique touch. Lattice work (jaalis) with illuminations behind them are being done to highlight

The ancient Indian science of vaastu is being increasingly used to design homes for individuals to bring them spiritual rewards

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ceilings, walls and lobbies. In kitchen, a major chunk of your investment in decor goes into it. Instead of marbles and granites, corian, a solid acrylic surface, is being used in high-end kitchens which can be moulded in any desirable shape to be used even on kitchen cabinets. The markets are flooded with numerous fittings and accessories, even customised ones. Haffele, Hettich and Magppie are the most used ones, with soft close and touch fittings, offering complete solution for kitchen, other hardware and accessories. To begin with it would cost you Rs 3.5 lakhs to Rs15 lakh. For bathrooms Chinese, Italian and Spanish tiles are available. Cubicles with body jets and rain-showers in varied water flows are very much in trend. Hansgrohe, Artize from Jaquar are some of the good ones. It can start from Rs 1.5 lakh and cost as high as Rs10 lakh. Italian marbles, wooden floors and tiles from wide array of world class brands like Graffiti and Versace are being liked. Illumination is a significant factor in enhancing the ambience of the house. Varied ambience can be created using lights creatively. LED lights can be used mostly in warm white colour to give a soothing and serene mood. To add sophistication to the interiors, chandeliers can be widely used to render an elite and exquisite ambience to the house.

INTERIORS

Exteriors are now a major issue, with much to showcase about your class. The idea about exterior furnishing is to keep it as close to nature as possible

Antique, European and Middle Eastern patterns are the most preferred these days. Technology has rendered comfort to all areas of human life with home automation completely revolutionising the interiors. Good companies like Lutron, Legrand and Schneider provide complete solution that help you control all your electronic items including lights, curtains, appliances

COLOURS

and cameras, through a wi-fi enabled single gadget, like a smart phone or tab. For instance, if you wish to watch a movie, the projector screen will roll down, A.C. and specific lights will be switched on, curtains will be pulled with just a of click of a button and a complete environment will be created for your delightful entertainment experience. To refresh you from your monotonous work schedule is the fast catching trend of balcony garden or a terrace garden. It can serve as an energy centre, allowing you to relax and rejuvenate. There is an entire range of balcony or terrace garden with wooden deck flooring available in the market. A garden that is visible from the home's kitchen, dining room and living room, gives a very colorful and lush view. Plants, plots and indoor fountains along with traditional, geometric and versatile accessories are some of the stylish options in decor. For houses in mega cities with space crunch, numerous architectural solutions are available. For example, a floating dividing wall provides the home owners with the best of both worlds. This dividing wall successfully separates the dining room from living room without making either space too congested...a great solution for a small space. Whether you prefer modern and trendy or want to go for timeless classic, do make it a point to consider your location, overall sense of style, budget and current home layout before making final plans. Your house must be an epitome of elegance in a quiet way with efficiently forethought materials of design and decor. Strike a perfect balance between quintessential luxury and modern interior design.

Your home must reflect your individuality and sense of perfection. Your ultimate dream home must be a delightful dwelling place

OCTOBER 2014

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SOCIETY

BY S H IFALEE

HE serpentine lanes of Bhopal’s Chowk Bazaar are chock-a-block with people last month. A vast majority of them were headed towards the Digambar Jain Temple there. The town was agog with the news that of the 22 Digambar Jain munis, or naked ascetics, under the tutelage of Vishuddha Sagar Ji Maharaj, 18 have not crossed their fortieth birthdays, and all of them have been highly successful professionals in their past lives, which they chose to renounce! Some are MBAs, some engineers and architects, others hold masters degrees in various subjects. Sounds strange? But then this is not the age any longer of social failures turning their backs to the community and suddenly one night deserting their loving families, leaving may be a scrap of letter... “I am leaving him home to become a sanyasi, look not for me!” There seems to be a sea change in the entire concept of asceticism. Those mendicants of yore neither lived full lives nor gave themselves fully to their spiritual pursuits, with the images of their own failings and regrets dogging their esoteric quests. Today’s sadhus lived life to the hilt and then, having tasted all, have given up all. Last month was the end of Chaturmas, the holy four months of the rainy season, when Jain munis do not wander – as they normally do – but stay in a single location, in prayers and various kinds of sacrifices, so as to inflict the least damage to the tiniest of insects that surface during the rains. This is why the 22 ascetics were at the Digambar Jain Mandir. An engineer holding an MBA degree till two years ago, Rohit is now Shraman Muni Praneya Sagarji Maharaj. He had worked in Delhi for quite some time. Having satiated

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THE MBA ASCETICS They lived very successful ‘material’ lives after being trained as engineers, architects or MBAs, but then one day, the call came from within: “Enough is enough”... and they became munis himself with his material life, he joined the Digambar tradition. Two years ago in Agra he took the vows of celibacy and later got initiated as a Muni. Shri Praneya Sagar Ji is knowledgeable in Hindi, English, Bengali and Sanskrit. He is barely forty, but his depth of knowledge seems akin to that of a sagacious old man. Asked if he regrets having abandoned a successful life, he smiles benignly: “The only real regret is, why did I take so long to take up this

life! The life for which I was craving has come to me only now. First, I had thought that if I become an engineer, I shall get everything. Then I thought perhaps my mission is to become an MBA holder. I kept meandering restlessly, asking myself, what is that I really desire. And the day I received my initiation as a muni, my quest was finally over.” Amongst the other 22 saints at the temple, the most talked about are two twins. Chetan and Ketan. They were

NEW AGE MUNIS

The munis at their evening prayers (left) and (above) one of the formerly successful renunciators

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Pandits residing in Jammu strongly protested against the

born within half an hour of each other. But in spiritual life, the younger sibling took the vows before the elder one. Ketan, the elder one took his vows of celibacy in 2009 and then became a muni – named Astik Sagarji Maharaj in 2011. In his “material studies” - as the religious leaders term it - he holds a degree in pharmacology. “I have enjoyed my earlier life hugely. Just like other young man, I was a cinema buff. I had the choicest mobile handsets. So long as I was there, I lived life to the maximum. And yet, that life was clearly marked by a deep dissatisfaction, a strange quest for something else. Then one day I told my parents that I want to renounce the world. They happily blessed me. Fortunately, I received the initiation from Acharya Vidyasagar Maharaj. Today, I am totally at peace with myself,” says Astik Sagar Maharaj. These young men have chosen the path of spiritualism over the pleasures of youth, and this is a strange new development. The 18 young ascetics were all born after 1975. Subrat Sagar Maharaj has done his masters in humanities and he is now writing metaphysical treatises. Likewise, a master of English, Kannad, Prakrit and Sanskrit, Aditya Sagar Maharaj is also working on these lines. So did they ever feel the desire to get back to the previous life? Apramit Sagar Maharaj says clearly: “There is a sort of probationary period after taking the vow of celibacy. This is basically to ascertain whether we shall be able at all to bear the heavy life of penance and renunciation. After that one year is over, we are asked, in an open ceremony in front of one and all, to state whether any of us wants to leave. Those who decide to stay back have by then decided in their heart of hearts that the decision taken in youth is the mantra for the rest of our lives.”

TRAVEL

FAWAD, FAWAD

Everywhereâ&#x20AC;Ś

The incredibly handsome actor and model from Pakistan has already won the hearts of millions of Indian girls and is now slated to enter Bollywood in real earnest

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OCTOBER 2014

GLAMOUR

BY SHIFALEE

EMINDS me of the words of the poet Gulzar: “Early this dawn a dream knocked on my eyelids… I opened the door to find a guest from across the border. In his sling bag he had brought some molasses, the product of my farm of last year… it must have been a dream… we hear that last night there was firing across the border… we hear many dreams were killed across the border last night." Truly, at a time when the only news from the border is firing and skirmishes, just such a guest from across that border came tiptoed in such a way that we never knew when he entered our homes and then made a home in our hearts. And he said: “Zindagi gulzar hai… Life is blossoming”. He had become the heartthrob of millions in India. No one knows when or how 'Zaroon' Fawad Khan descended from the TV screen of channel Zindagi and arrested the hearts of Indian girls. Such is the attraction of this handsome actor that after ages there will be a change in the posters on the walls of the girls’ bedrooms! Zee Zindagi has opened a new window to look at life in Pakistan, their style of acting, screenplay, stories, music and dance, culture, lifestyle, sartorial tastes and food habits. Rare is an Indian who has gone across the border. Zindagi has given us that chance of almost touching life across the border, a chance to understand that people are troubled here, just as they are troubled there; there is practically nothing that is not the same on both sides of the border. Zee Zindagi has made the serial rooted in Pakistani reality, a very harsh reality. This is incomparably better than the Ekta Kapoor-style serials with their garish sets, stories dragging on unendingly and the nonsensical sound effects with the same scared looking or eyes

says: “It has been ages since such bulging face being shown three times in quick succession. It was such a relief crazed feelings are being expressed about any actor. There was not much for the Indian audience!. Zaroon had tension while launching Zee Zindagi. from the very beginning entered the hearts of the Indian audience. Fawad is We just wanted to see how the audiences would react to these actors and the only celebrity whose fan followactresses from across the border. But ing ranges from girls of 16 to women what happened is far above our expecof 35. He had never hoped for this, tations. It is an experience by itself. We though. In fact, in a recent interview realise now that the audiences are not he had expressed his initial reservajust mature but also very liberal. They tions of hitting Bollywood. are not bothered a story's country of The 32-year-old is not only a model origin, asking rather: is it a good story? and an actor, he is a singer as well. He “After launching Zee Zindagi, we first hit national fame with the serial have realised that if the audience is ‘Humsafar’, and in India, the serial ‘Zindagi Gulzar Hai’ changed his entire life. He launched himself into a film career in 2007 with the film ‘Khuda Ke Liye’. This went on to become the highest grosser of the year. And Fawad Khan is now gradually setting himself up in Bollywood. Film director Tanuja Chandra was always a great admirer of Fawad’s acting. She says: "Pakistani actors are usually good looking, but they are also good actors. Fawad has done marvelously in ‘Zindagi Gulzar Hai’. But there is a difference between films and television serials. TV acting is more casual. But acting in film needs a lot of energy and charisma. If Fawad has these qualities he will surely become a star." It is not too long since Fawad has entered Indian television, and yet, his TRP is high already. Actress Manisha Yadav, who is in the lead Fawad Khan's debut in Bollywood with role of the serial 'Jodha-Akbar' is "Khoobsurat" has been successful a huge fan of Fawad. Busy as she is with her serial, she does not get liking the actors at this level then the much time to watch 'Zindagi Gulzar serial must be very successful." Hai', but she never misses any chance As it is, Fawad was popular in of watching Fawad act. Manisha says: Pakistan, and now his fan following “I wish sometime I get to act with in India is going viral. The grapevine Fawad. Pakistani actors use their eyes has it that after debuting with Sonam more than stressing on words. Fawad Kapoor in the film Khoobsurat, Fawad is just such so, which is precisely what is slated to do a film with Kareena makes us crazy about their acting. Kapoor in a Yash Raj film. Now, that The chief creative special project will be something to wait for. of the Zee Group, Shailja Kejriwal OCTOBER 2014

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TRAVEL

A sense of HEAVEN! LLadakh adakkh of offers ffers the rrarest arest sscenario cenario ooff tthe he ddiverse iverse bbeauties eauties ooff Himalayan well tthree hree ddistinct istinctt H Himalay imalayan yan ra rranges, anges, aass w ell aass tthe he bbluest luest llakes akes most mesmerising monasteries and tthe he m ost m esmerising m onasteries aatt ffearsome earsome hheights eights

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OCTOBER 2014

LADAKH

BY DR. KAYNAT KAZI

The Shyok, Indus and Zanskar rivers ďŹ&#x201A;ow fast and furious in Ladakh

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S WE climbed to above 11,000 feet, past the Zojila Pass, I am forced to stop. In the Cold Desert of Ladakh there is barely any grass, and yet, a large flock of sheep go past the road, nibbling in the almost brown soil, taken care of by a single shepherd. It is an amazing scene. And the fabulous feeling is of all pervading peace. Welcome to the land of the lamas. The problem of a writer here is opposite to that of a photographer. The writer gets stuck to words like fabulous, mesmerising, awesome... and has to keep repeating them because the ethereal beauty of Ladakh is so varied that there are not so many words in English to describe them. The photographer, though, is left to just clicking the diverse scenery, which changes almost after every half a kilometer. Naturally, because this is the conjunction of three ranges of the Himalaya: the Zanskar Range, the Ladakh Range and the Karakoram. Perhaps no other Himalayan district has such a vast range. Between these ranges, the Shayok, Indus and Zanskar rivers flow and most of the population lives in valleys of these rivers. If you are asked where is Maryul, or Kha-chumpa, you will look foxed for sure. But yes, they are all old names of Ladakh. The original people who came here were of Indo-Aryan stock and were termed Dards. But over centuries they got mixed with immigrants from Tibet, Skardo, Purang and Guge also settled there. As you move about anywhere, you are greeted with long flags hanging from bamboo poles. These are the prayer flags with mantras written on them. The flags are of five colours, and the Buddhists say, as and when they wave about in the wind, the mantras for the benevolence of all sentient beings spread across the land. Ladakh is called the Hermit Kingdom due to its remoteness and inaccessibility. The region is primarily connected to the main land through two roads namely Leh-Srinagar national highway NH1D and Leh-Manali road. These two roads remain open only during summer months and during the winter it remains closed for more than 7 months due to closure of the passes (Zojila, Rotang Pass, Baralacha, Changla). Leh District is connected to the Block Headquarter, through a network of roads. Bus services and other means of communication are very poor. Border roads organization maintains most of the highway connecting the block head quarter and PWD maintains a road length of 1,060 kilometres. Some of the roads to the block headquarters pass through the world's highest motorable road, but it is frequently closed due to the avalanches and snowfall in the passes. Durbuk and Nubra blocks remain closed in winter months due to closure of Khardongla and the Changla Pass.

PHOTOS: DR. KAYNAT KAZI

OCTOBER 2014

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The palaces and forts are no doubt great sites, but the enduring love legend is

There are in Ladakh two genres of photos, each with an infinite variety. These are the scenic beauty and the cultural life, centred around the many monasteries. Buddhism travelled from central India to Tibet via Ladakh leaving its imprint here, where it is the religion of the vast majority. It is said that both Guru Padmasambhava, the originator of Niyngma Buddhism, as well as Guru Nanak blessed this land. Guru Nanak was a devout follower of Guru Padsambhava. Guru Nanak is known here as Nanak Lama. Associated with Buddhism are many holy lakes. Ladakh has such lakes which are also called as “Tso” in the local language. Popular among the lot is Pangong Tso which became famous after the ‘3 Idiots’ movie was released. A journey of six to seven hours from Leh town brings you to the beautiful landscape of Pangong Tso; this road journey is by a treacherous mountain which passes Changla pass at 17,500 feet and is considered to be one of the toughest biker treks. Pangong Tso offers all available textures of blue water which a human eye can behold. Needless to say it’s a photographer's paradise and if you are keen admirer of time-lapsed beauty then this is the place to be in. Then, of course, there is the Kargil War Memorial. A ride till Drass town in Kargil offers a fantabulous range of landscape frames, and you are a blessed traveller if it’s sunny day. The memorial fills you with a perplexing mixture of feelings: of joy, sadness, happiness and immense pride for what our boys

The Ladakhi people, originally of Indo-Aryan extract, live in a land of mesmerising beauty

had achieved. The sheer view of majestic Tiger Ill, Three Pimples, Rhino Horn Top, Batra Top and Tololing Top gives you goose pimples. This place does offer lot of frames but honestly, there are some places which just require silence to let the beauty sink in. Such is the feeling one would get while visiting Kargil War Memorial. From here the onward journey to Leh is just breathtaking, offering impeccable view of high altitude landscape, or call it a moonscape. The journey to Leh town is quite mesmerising, with key features such as Pathar Sahib, Magnetic Hills, etc. Leh town is liberally sprinkled with monasteries, including Shanti Stupa, Thiksey Monastery, etc, which offer a great insight into the Ladakhi culture and its continuous history over the last so many centuries, as if frozen in time. Hemis, Alchi, Lamayuru and Shey are some of the most popular monasteries of Ladakh which attract both domestic as well as foreign tourists. Pangong Lake (two-third in China) and the world’s highest motorable road - Khardongla (18,350 fts) - is the main attraction for domestic tourists. But as I go on clicking I am concerned. This place is such a stupefyingly romantic and ethereal that trying to write this is sheer adventurism. I kissed my camera. It had captured my dreamland.

PANGONG TSO, A HOLY LAKE, NOW FAMOUS AS THE '3 IDIOTS' LOCATION, OFFERS UNIMAGINABLE TEXTURES OF BLUE 96

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OCTOBER 2014

OPINION

D R . PA N K A J J H A

“ New Page in IndiaEast Asia Relations”

he Indian Foreign Minister’s visit to Vietnam has given considering international arbitration, the Philippines has put clear signals of how the country is going to launch up its claims of sovereignty over select islands in Spratly to the its Look East policy 3.0. After visiting Singapore for UN Arbitration Tribunal. China has dismissed these claims. launching year long functions celebrating fifty years Our Foreign Minister expressed the need for more cooperation of India-Singapore ties, Ms Sushma Swaraj visited Myanmar for in energy and defence sectors. India has been offered five more the all important ASEAN ministerial meetings with its dialogue blocks in Vietnam’s EEZ. India has offered $100 million line of partners, followed by East Asia Summit and ARF meetings. This credit for the purchase of fast patrol boats and also offered to train Vietnamese submariners on Kilo Class submarines and clearly projected a new vigour in India’s diplomatic outreach. Ms Swaraj met eleven foreign ministers on the sidelines of the Vietnamese Sukhoi pilots under a formal training arrangement. Following her visit to Vietnam, Prime Minister Modi visited main conclave, which shows the poise of the new government in terms of its international role and regional responsibilities. Her Japan in the first week of September and ushered a new era of speeches during the ministerial meetings clearly gave a polite strategic complementarities and mutual understanding. The but firm message that India supports UNCLOS and peace and two countries reinforced their common needs for security and peace in Asia while at the same time deepened their defence ties stability in its Eastern neighbourhood. The meetings highlighted India’s approach towards the through defence exports such as those of US-2 maritime aircraft and high technology exports from the Land larger community, and our priorities in its of the Rising Sun. economic, commercial and trade interests with these nations. With Canada, the meeting The Japanese businessmen also assured PM THE VISIT OF focussed on issues regarding restarting the Modi of more than US $35 billion of investment THE XI JINPING supply of uranium and nuclear technology in India in the next five years. Interestingly, HAS REFLECTED in power generation. India and Canada President Pranab Mukherjee undertook a visit have concluded negotiations for Nuclear to Vietnam just before the Chinese President WELL IN POLICY Cooperation Agreement. Xi Jinping was about to visit India, clearly CIRCLES, DESPITE During her interactions with her showcasing that India has developed that SOME PERSISTENT diplomatic and strategic adroitness which counterparts from Vietnam, Philippines SCEPTICISM and Indonesia, Ms Swaraj once again and can give the right kind of signals. Enhanced individually stressed that India supports defence and security cooperation with a rules-based order and adherence to the Vietnam along with cooperation in fields UNCLOS 1982. Expressing serious concerns related to instability such as culture, education and animal husbandry were the other in South China Sea, she made it clear that India supports ASEAN important milestones achieved during the visit. centrality and an early agreement on a Comprehensive Code of The visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping has reflected positively Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea. in policy circles, there is scepticism among many commentators The discussion with the Australian Foreign Minister dwelt on that China would offer an investment of more than $100 billion the likely conclusion of negotiations on the civil nuclear deal, to India and the Chinese president has showed keenness to and streamlining and prioritising trade negotiations between engage India in different sectors. But the moot question is that the two countries. She further expressed concerns regarding there are always differences between what China projects and Australia’s’ strict sanitary and phytosanitary laws. what the Dragon actually delivers. One last word of caution that Subsequently during her visit to Vietnam from August 24-26, still remains in the Indian policy discourse is that economic bon 2014, Ms Swaraj met the Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham homie must not subsume core strategic interests. Binh Minh and expressed India's concerns about maritime safety and security in South China Sea. The important aspect The writer is Director (Research), Indian Council of World was that the Indian Foreign Minister stressed on the role of Affairs. He has worked as Deputy Director with National international tribunals during the talks. While Vietnam is Security Council Secretariat, Prime Minister's Office

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