A watchdog needs teeth By Shanti Bhushan - Times of India | Bajrang vigilantes cry cow-slaughter, beat, humiliate Muslim trader - By Milin Ghatwai -The Indian Express

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A watchdog needs teeth

By Shanti Bhushan
Jan 7, 2012, 12.00AM IST

Contrary to the general perception that it was on account of the UPA's coalition partner, the Trinamool Congress, that the Congress did not proceed with the voting process in the Rajya Sabha on the Lokpal Bill, the truth is that it was the SP and BSP that were responsible for its humiliation.

The Congress was that great party which secured India its freedom, which fashioned its Constitution, which gave each man and woman one vote. This party rid India of untouchability and abolished zamindari, giving lands to tillers of the soil who were mainly OBCs.

But since the Emergency in 1975, the Congress hasn't looked like the party of Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Rajendra Prasad and Vallabh-bhai Patel. It appeared to become progressively more corrupt and arrogant. It was in reaction to the all-pervading corruption spawned under the Congress that the Lokpal campaign became so popular so quickly.

The Congress was forced to make a show that it was committed to a strong and effective Lokpal Bill. But the Lokpal that it proposed to set up would be appointed and suspended by the government. And it would not have its own investigative machinery; it would be forced to rely on government-controlled investigative organisations.

The Lokpal Bill was a government Bill piloted by a minister. The general discussion on it had been completed and the minister was replying to the debate. Clause-by-clause consideration would have begun soon. Amendments for a broad-based selection committee instead of a government-dominated one, and for giving administrative control of the CBI to the Lokpal, would have been carried.

If the minister thereafter moved for passing this amended Bill, an effective Lokpal Bill would have emerged. However, the government was not prepared to have this kind of a Lokpal Bill. If the minister refused to move for passing the amended Bill, it would have been seen by the whole country. People would have turned against the government.

Some politicians allege that the Lokpal envisaged by the Jan Lokpal Bill would be too powerful and would become a parallel government. The absurdity of this argument is evident from the fact that, firstly, the Jan Lokpal Bill proposes to establish a Lokpal at the Centre and 28 Lokayuktas, one in every state, each selected by different selection committees. Secondly, the only authority of the Lokpal would be to investigate corruption cases and send them for trial to the courts.

Moreover, the proposed Jan Lokpal would have been made the most accountable institution in the country. India's superior courts have far greater power to issue any direction or quash any order of any authority. Though these courts are totally unaccountable, the same people find no problem with them. They are not even willing to have corruption in the judiciary investigated by an independent investigative body.

Of course, there is no force in the contention of the BJP and the Trinamool Congress that the chapters relating to Lokayuktas are beyond Parliament's legislative competence. Even if one disregards the UN Convention on Corruption and does not invoke Article 253 of India's Constitution, Parliament's legislative competence is obvious: entries 1 and 2 of the Concurrent List relate to criminal law and criminal procedure, and the Bill is fully covered by these entries.

So long as the provisions in the Bill have a rational connection with criminal law or criminal procedure, Parliament will have the power to enact it even if some provision relates to an entry in the State List.

The only provision in the Lokpal Bill, which may be said to be remotely touching the state services, is clause 93. It provides that when - while making a prelimi-nary enquiry - a Lokayukta is satisfied that the continuance of a public servant in his post is likely to affect the preliminary enquiry adversely, it may recommend to the state government his transfer or suspension for a specific period. It is crystal clear that the chapters relating to the Lokayukta do not encroach on the power of the state under the Constitution.

The provision mandating that not less than 50% of Lokpal members shall be from among persons belonging to SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities and women is clearly unconstitutional. At least 50% posts are collectively reserved for specified categories. Article 16(1) of the Constitution says: "There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State." Article 16(4) says, "Nothing in the article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointment or post in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State."

The Lokpal is clearly an office under the "State" and Article 16(1) gets attracted. Reservation permitted by Article 16(4) is confined to backward classes of citizens. Even if some sections of minorities or women could be regarded as backward, the provision in the Bill is not confined to them. It is therefore unconstitutional.

No major party really wants an effective Lokpal. What kind of Lokpal we finally do get will depend on the kind of public pressure that the people will be able to bring to bear on the political class.

The writer, a former Union law minister, is a social activist.
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http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bajrang-vigilantes-cry-cowslaughter-beat-humiliate-muslim-trader/896817/0

Sat, 7 Jan 2012

PAGE 1 ANCHOR

Bajrang vigilantes cry cow-slaughter, beat, humiliate Muslim trader

MP [Madhya Pradesh] police rescue man, charge him illegal ferrying of cattle, put him in jail

Milind Ghatwai

Bhopal: 

 

A Muslim cattle trader’s son was beaten and part of his head, one eyebrow and half his moustache shaved off by alleged Bajrang Dal workers in Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh after he refused to give them money to allow him to ferry cattle which the attackers alleged were meant for slaughter.
Police rescued the 25-year-old victim, Anish Aslam Kureshi, but charged him with unlawfully transporting cattle for slaughter under a state law for preserving cattle, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. A sessions court in Chhindwara ordered his release on bail today.

His attackers, whom the police identified as Bajrang Dal workers, were also arrested, but were charged with minor offences. They were released almost immediately by the Bichhua police station.

On December 22, a tough new Madhya Pradesh anti-cow slaughter law providing for seven years in jail for eating beef, empowering police to carry out raids on mere suspicion, and putting the burden of proving innocence on the accused received presidential assent.

Kureshi was not charged under this law.

According to Kureshi’s father Aslam Kureshi who met Governor Ram Naresh Yadav in Bhopal today, his son was waylaid by a Bajrang Dal group at Sarangbihari in the small hours of December 31. The men demanded money to allow him to pass, and when Anish refused, they damaged the Bolero pick-up he was driving, and dragged him to Goni village some two kilometres away.

They took away the Rs 8,315, mobile phone and ATM card that Anish was carrying, and after tying him to a pole, beat and shaved him, Kureshi told the Governor. He was about to be paraded in the village when police rescued him, Kureshi said.

Kureshi alleged the Bajrang Dal workers had torn up the receipt that proved the cattle in Anish’s vehicle had been purchased the previous day from a fair in Chandgram. The cattle were meant for sale in Umranala bazaar, the family said, and denied that they were headed for a slaughterhouse.

“We often give them (the Bajrang Dal) money to escape harassment. That day they asked for Rs 20,000 and beat up and humiliated Anish who refused to pay,” Anish’s younger brother Salman Kureshi told The Indian Express.

“The local police had to plead with the Bajang Dal leaders to free Anish,” said the father.

Chhindwara SP Dr Ashish said both Anish and his attackers were in the wrong. He said the police booked seven Bajrang Dal workers for bailable offences because the Kureshis refused to share details with the police. In the light of new allegations, he said, he had asked SDOP (Saunsar) Bhupendra Sengar to probe further.

Both SP Ashish and SDOP Sengar said the Kureshis were into the illegal transport of cattle, and often sold them to a slaughterhouse in a neighbouring state. Anish was carrying no transport permit or medical certificates for the cattle.

Seema Chisti's take on Muslim reservations over Anna Hazare's Jan Lokpal campaign

The entire Anti-corruption campaign by Team Anna is centered on who is Anna Hazare. He is not born yesterday. He did arrive at Jantar Mantar recently. But he does have a long career in Maharashtra State, where he is known for his self-less struggle against corrupt politicians -- without any partiality for one or other of political parties. He had targeted Congress, BJP, Sena --- whereever he came across corruption and misappropriation of public funds.

It is correct that the way, RSS and Hindutva elements gathered around him when he first held forth at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. However, he is a tough idealist and does not harbor any weakness for any religious ideology.

I am writing all these details, as I am from Mumbai, Maharashtra and had been aware of Anna Hazare's long career in public life that had remained confined to the state of Maharashtra. This is first time ever, that he had ventured on national scene; mainly after the huge scams like 2G and Common Wealth Game were exposed. It would appear that he was enlisted by the Magsaysay winner group like Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi to lead the campaign for Jan Lokpal bill. That is another linkage that too has come in questioning. However, Anna is a hard-headed single goal idealist. If any of his supporters harbour the thought, that they can hijack and exploit him for their own agenda, they would eventually fall on their faces. Even at this stage of his Ramlila campaign, he is not fully relying on his immediate group members, like Arvind Kejriwal and others. He wants to deal direct with the top brass in Congress. And he knows his ways around corridors of power to get what he wants.

I would request all major Muslim organisations, who are traditionally based in the north and especially in New Delhi, to discuss his persona and any danger of his turning political and harming minorities and Dalits with their contacts in Maharashtra.

For me, as long as he is fighting corruption that is now running into thousands of crores of public money, while millions of Indians are suffering below poverty line, Anna is a person one can rely on for sincerity and probity and single-minded dedication to the mission.

Congress is fully aware of the threat that Anna poses to its corruption laden governance. It will procrastinate and dither using all the ruses in its arsenal to thwart getting Jan Lokpal any headway. And while common people are gathered around Anna, Congress is gathering all politicians around its agenda to fight for the status quo. The issue of undermining parliament or democracy raised by Congress is bogus, in as much as Congress is expert in getting its own bill passed even at the eleventh hour, through all the trickery at its command. Has Salman Khurshid not rushed Awqaf bill through Lok Sabha, on a Friday, when there was no Muslim presence in the house to register its objections? They are past masters of the legislative games and cannot be trusted to play fair as per the wishes of the lakhs of people protesting across the nation. After all it is the corruption money that sustains them. Let them come out with full disclosure of their own party finances.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai

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http://www.indianexpress.com/news/why-the-ramlila-surge-worries-minorities-and-those-on-margins/836750/0

Thu, 25 Aug 2011

Why Ramlila surge worries minorities and those on margins

Seema Chishti

Tags : Team Anna, Ramlila Surge, Ramlila Maidan, Anna Hazare, corruption, Jan Lokpal Bill

Posted: Thu Aug 25 2011, 02:16 hrs New Delhi:

 
In the unseen and unheard margins of Team Anna’s Ramlila Surge, there’s a growing sense of disquiet —especially among minority and marginalised groups.

Despite carefully choreographed images of Muslim children publicly breaking their Ramzaan fast with Anna Hazare, prominent Dalit, Muslim and Christian leaders are deeply suspicious of the faces on display and the voices emanating from the crowds.



They argue that Anna’s ends — fighting corruption — is undoubtedly justified, they condemn his arrest and the decision to send him to Tihar Jail. But behind his cause, they see a clear disdain for the very institutions crucial in safeguarding democratic freedom and rights. In Team Anna’s contemptuous indictment of Parliament, they see a tarring of representative politics and, in effect, an indictment of the vital safeguards of minorities.


In fact, so strong is the suspicion that even Prashant Bhushan’s left-liberal credentials as one who played a proactive role in the Gujarat riots cases isn’t dispelling these fears. Varun Gandhi’s much-hyped appearance at Ramlila today only reinforced these — in his hate-Muslim election speech in 2009, he had threatened to “cut the hand” of anyone who “raises a finger at the Hindus.”

Says Akhtar-ul Wasey, Director, Institute of Islamic Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia: “The issue of corruption is such that there’s tremendous pressure to join the crowd. Because if we oppose this particular movement, they will say we are corrupt. Price rise, corruption and unemployment have given a fillip to such forces. Corruption ki aarh mein, (in the garb of corruption) they want to push all kinds of defeated and empty slogans and agendas. Now the government’s timidity in the face of a crowd is fanning this instability. Muslims, of course, want corruption to end but don’t want to make common cause with elements that want to rock the system, the only preserve of our rights and freedoms.”

No wonder that Deoband’s new Mohtamim, Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani, has said that they have not supported this movement: “The movement is basically suspect. The security and protection of Parliament and (to honour the) glory of democracy is the duty of every citizen.”

Mahmud Madani, MP and a leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, the only prominent Muslim face among the 20 founders of India Against Corruption — Team Anna’s virtual platform — is now in Saharanpur and practically in communicado. Zafaryab Jilani, member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, has made it clear that the Board has nothing to do with this agitation. Says Maulana Ahmed Khizar Shah Kashmiri of the Tanzeem Ulema-e-Hind: “The idea behind this campaign is to weaken Parliamentary system and democracy and this is a blow to secular India.”

Maulana Umer Ilyasi of the India Imam Organisation has called the campaign a “political conspiracy” saying: “There is no question of any one person being above the country’s Constitution and Parliament. There is no question of Muslims being part and parcel of this.”

This chorus is heard the Urdu press as well. The Mumbai, Kanpur, Bareilly, Lucknow and Delhi-based Inquilab on August 17 interviewed several prominent community leaders, including chief of the Jamat-e-Islami, Maulana Jalaluddin Umri. Their refrain: We agree with the need for a strong Lokpal but not with the method of pushing it through.

Critics are also wary of those who have clambered aboard the Anna bandwagon. Ramdev may have stepped back but there are questions about the more urbane Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and his Art of Living and youth factions who shared the stage with the anti-reservation Youth for Equality. Less than 10 days ago, they took part in the Hindu Unity Day, in Texas. Also present was Subramaniam Swamy, most recently in the news for writing that Muslims should be denied voting rights if they do not accept their “Hindu legacy.”

Indeed, reflecting this unease, Dalit activists and writers including Udit Raj, Kancha Ilaiah, John Dayal and Joseph D’Souza, have argued for reservation in the Lokpal set-up for SC/STs, OBCs and minorities “to ensure that there is no injustice done to the backward and marginalised.”

The politics of Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi may be fuzzy but their association with certain “causes” has raised questions, too. Last year, Kejriwal and Bedi herself led the drive to target the Chief Information Commissioner and insist that Bedi be made the CIC. In fact, when then CIC Wajahat Habibullah resigned last year and there was a chance that M M Ansari (now Kashmir interlocutor) would take over, Kejriwal lobbied with Leader of Opposition L K Advani keen to ensure that his name not be accepted.

Kejriwal and Bedi have also shared platforms put up by Youth for Equality and Art of Living. On March 1 in 2009, for example, Kejriwal and Bedi addressed the Youth for Equality and talked of both terrorism and corruption. Youth for Equality has blamed reservation for shrinking opportunities.

Archbishop of Delhi Father Vincent Concessao, a founder-member of the IAC, is nowhere to be seen. Contacted, he told The Indian Express: “This is pressure and a fast unto death is suicidal...there is no way we will allow for our established Parliamentary practices to be bypassed. We are with the issue but not with the means. How can they say only one particular version of the Bill is to be followed?”