Architect of modern

India and our first

Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru

observed once that

an empire or a

dynasty collapses not because of

the weaknesses of its army but its

inner social contradictions . In

simple words, it would mean

howsoever militarily strong a

nation might be, it would not last

long if it did not treat its own

citizens fairly .

I feel the contemporary

political command in India needs

to keep this Nehruvian message

of caution in its mind constantly.

Constitutionally, India today is

much better than most of the

other nations in the world in

treating its citizens. But all is not

well. Due to the lack of

governance, the predicament of

the masses in the country

remains pitiable even after more

than six decades of our

Independence . ( Realpolitik, May

2015) . The tribals, Dalits, women

and minorities are in a bad

shape.

Authentic studies indicate that

lakhs of Adivasi families have

been displaced, turned into

migrants or, at best, into daily

contract labourers in mines that

have destroyed their forests,

lands and water. Although

certain individual elements

among the Dalits have gone up

the political, bureaucratic and

economic ladder, caste still

remains an institution of

oppression and social

discrimination.

The Dalit scenario finds its best

depiction in a recent letter

written by new General Secretary

of the CPI(M) Sitaram Yechury to

Union Parliamentary Affairs

Minister Venkaiah Naidu . The

Yechury letter (May 8, 2015)

reads : “The condition of Dalits

has worsened during the course

of the last two decades. Even

while the practice of

untouchability and different

forms of violence against

Scheduled Caste communities

takes place, the conviction rate of

people accused in such cases

continues to be low. Laws such as

the Scheduled Castes and the

Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of

Atrocities) Act need to be

strengthened and fully

implemented. The Manual

Scavengers Act is also yet to be

implemented. “

The letter adds , “Large

sections of Dalits in rural India

are landless workers without

assets. There is a huge backlog in

filling up reserved posts.

Development schemes lie

unimplemented. Dalit Christians

and Muslims have been denied

Justice to Dalits still afar cry !

Constitutionally, India today is much better than most of the other nations in

the world in treating its citizens . But all is not well. The predicament of the

tribals, Dalits, women and minorities is still pitiable. Our ruling elites cannot

afford to ignore this state of affairs if they really wish India to emerge as a

great, strong nation, contends Jagdish N Singh

Power Politics June 201538

REALPOLITIK

Architect of modern India and

first Prime Minister Jawaharlal

Nehru : The state must address

its inner contradictions .

CPI-M chief Sitaram Yechuri :

The condition of Dalits worse.

June 2015 Power Politics 39

REALPOLITIK

All is not well in secular India in

regard to the freedom of religion

too . Our Constitution guarantees

this right to all its citizens,

irrespective their caste, creed or

faith . But what happened to

certain minorities in Kashmir,

Punjab, Delhi , Gujarat and other

places in the past hardly needs to

be repeated . This says a lot about

the lack of proper governance in

our country.

According to the U.S.

Commission on International

Religious Freedom report (1999 ),

“animosities within and between

religious communities in India

have roots that are centuries old,

and these tensions – at times

exacerbated by poverty, class and

ethnic differences — have

erupted into periodic violence

throughout the country’s 51-year

history.”

The Commission’s annual

report ( 2015) states that

“incidents of religiously-

motivated and communal

violence reportedly have

increased for three consecutive

years.” It says religious freedom

and minorities’ condition in India

was far from being satisfactory

under the previous regime too

but has further aggravated since

the advent of the present political

dispensation.

The 2015 report says , “Since

the last election religious minority

communities have been subjected

to derogatory comments by

politicians linked to the ruling

party… Christian communities,

across many denominations,

report an increase of harassment

and violence in the last year.” It

has raised concerns over certain

“Hindu nationalist groups for

programmes of forced

conversion, ghar wapasi, church

attacks and hate campaign

against Muslims.

Objectively speaking , the

USCIRF report on India is not

totally devoid of substance.

Secularism constitutes the basic

character of our Constitution .

The government has to see to it

that it is not tampered with . We

have to honour the United

Nations Declaration on the

Elimination of All Forms of

Intolerance and Discrimination

Based on Religion or Belief ( 1981)

and Declaration on the Rights of

Minorities (1992). Former Prime

Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has

often stressed rajdharma-- that

is the duty of the rulers to be fair

to followers of all faiths. This has

to be adhered to by the rulers of

the day .

Rajdharam calling !

Former Prime Minister Atal

Bihari Vajpayee: Adhere to

Rajdharma .

Catching Dawood Ibrahim

I wonder what exactly New

Delhi’s policy has been towards

the terrorists who spread hatred

and violence across the country .

It is no secret that Dawood

Ibrahim is one of India's most

wanted for the 1993 blasts in

Mumbai that killed over 300. He

is number eight on the list of 50

most wanted terrorists India

handed over to Pakistan in 2011.

New Delhi has given Islamabad

the evidence of his involvement

in the Mumbai blasts. India has

submitted several dossiers in

‘proof’ that he lives on Clifton

Road in Karachi . Dawood has also

been on the Interpol’s most

wanted list and the US list of

global terrorists. The United

Nations Security Council too has

issued special notice against him.

But New Delhi has virtually taken

no action to catch Dawood and

others , including Daood’s right

hand Chhota Shakil, Tiber Ibrahim

Memon, 1999 Indian plane

hijacker Shahid Akhtar.

Ironically, a section of the

current government pretends not

to be aware of the presence of

Dawood in Karachi. Minister of

State for Home Affairs Haribhai

recognition as Scheduled Castes,

and are consequently excluded

from benefits to which

Scheduled Castes are entitled,

in addition to existing quotas.”

Will our ruling elites sit up and

take appropriate steps to foster

the development of all these

sections of our society ? Can the

India the founding fathers of our

Constitution dreamt afford their

alienation from the mainstream?

An uncertain project

Are New Delhi and Tehran

getting closer ? Knowledgeable

sources say the meeting between

Minister for Transport and Urban

Development of Iran Abbas Ahmad

Akhoundi and Union Road

Transport and Highways Minister

Nitin Gadkari was very meaningful

last month. They signed an inter-

Governmental Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) regarding

India’s participation in the

development of the Chabahar Port

in Iran. With the signing of this

MoU, Indian and Iranian

commercial entities will be in a

position to commence negotiations

towards finalisation of a

commercial contract. Under that

Indian firms will lease two existing

berths at the port and

operationalise them as container

and multi-purpose cargo

terminals.

The sources add the Chabahar

project would be highly beneficial

to India. The distance between

Chabahar and Gujarat is less than

Delhi and Mumbai. Located close

to the strategic Persian Gulf ,

Chabahar project would impart a

strategic leverage to India in its

access to Afghanistan and to the

energy-rich Central Asia bypassing

Pakistan. It would cut down transit

time by a third . India has invested

over $2 billion in Afghanistan.

It plans to link the Chabahar

port with the Zaranj-Delaram

road India built in Afghanistan

opening alternative access to

sea port for Afghanistan’s

connectivity to regional and global

markets.

However, the future of the

whole project seems to be

uncertain. The Chabahar deal has

long been pending due to the

current US-led sanctions against

Iran. Recently American

Ambassador to India Richard

Verma has cautioned against

“rushing in” with investments . He

has said the nuclear deal being

negotiated is not final. There is

need “to maintain the international

solidarity that has brought this

hard fought diplomatic victory ( the

recent nuclear deal between Iran

and P 5 plus one ).” American

Under- Secretary of State for

Political Affairs Wendy Sherman

has warned to every nation that

imports oil and wants business

with Iran , “ Hold your horses until

the deal is signed.”

Choudhary told Parliament last

month that he was unaware of the

whereabouts of the accused. He

said, "The subject has not been

located so far. Extradition process

with regard to Dawood Ibrahim

would be initiated once the

subject is located."

All credible nations deal sternly

with the enemies of their citizens

. The United States, the United

Kindom, France , Russia and China

have throughout been very harsh

to terrorists in their respective

regions. They don’t let the

terrorists escape their territories

and organize crimes from abroad

. The United States even went all

the way to raid the location of

Osama bin Laden in Abbotabad

and had him eliminated. New

Delhi, too, can be tough on the

issue .

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

has been talking of his

government as one of action .

Recently , his Home Minister

Rajnath Singh has told the Lok

Sabha that New Delhi has credible

information that the underworld

don is in Pakistan. He has said

that Pakistan has failed to take

any action against Dawood or

track him down even after "all

documents and overwhelming

proof of his presence" there have

been given by India. He has

declared, “Whether we have to

pursue Pakistan or put pressure,

we will not rest until we get

Dawood Ibrahim back." Will the

Modi government show guts to

take on Daood and the gang ?

Let’s see

American Under- Secretary of

State for Political Affairs Wendy

Sherman : Hold your horses until

the deal is signed.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh :

We will not rest until we get

Dawood Ibrahim back.

Power Politics June 201540

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