Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
EDITORIAL
NOIDA/DELHI
RAKESH SOOD
Lessons from
Arunachal Pradesh
Nepal has once again been plunged into political uncertainty with the Maoist party
the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Centre), or CPN (M-C) withdrawing support
from Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Olis coalition, reducing to a minority the government
led by the Communist Party of Nepal (UML),
or CPN (UML). Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal
Dahal Prachanda announced last week that
Mr. Oli had not fulfilled the commitments
made earlier in May leaving him with no option. The following day, on July 13, a no-confidence motion against the government, carrying 254 signatures, was tabled in the National
Assembly. Speaker Onsari Gharti has fixed
July 21 as the date for taking up the motion for
consideration, followed by voting, unless Mr.
Oli chooses to resign.
A growing rift
These developments have been expected.
On May 4, Mr. Prachanda had carried out the
same threat, expressing unhappiness with
the Oli governments performance on postearthquake reconstruction and the lack of
progress on the constitutional amendments
process. Then too, he had announced that he
would lead a new government which would
be supported by the Nepali Congress (NC)
and Madhesi groups and urged the UML to
join in so that a national consensus government could be set up. However, Mr. Prachandas real source of unhappiness was that the
cases registered against the Maoist cadres
during the decade-long insurgency had not
been withdrawn despite repeated assurances
by Prime Minister Oli.
Within 24 hours, a patch-up between Mr.
Oli and Mr. Prachanda was put in place,
thanks to the eforts of UML leader Bam Dev
Gautam. A nine-point agreement was announced to address Maoist concerns which
included clemency to the Maoist cadres, provision of compensation to the injured, facilitation of land allotments, giving Maoists a
greater say in government appointments, etc.
In addition was an unwritten three-point
gentlemens agreement that Mr. Oli would
step down as Prime Minister within two
months after presenting the budget (Nepals
financial year begins on July 16) and the UML
CARTOONSCAPE
Turmoil
in Turkey
urkeys is a classic case of a coup-prone political system. The military is a relatively autonomous and popular institution. It has in
the past toppled civilian governments four times.
There had always been tension between the ruling
elite and the military establishment. But the relatively stable rule of the Justice and Development
Party since 2002 and the popularity of its leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan had projected a picture of military coups having become a thing of the past. The
developments that unfolded on Friday and Saturday bust this myth. Even President Erdogan didnt
foresee the attempt. His success in taking back the
reins of government is good for both Turkey and
the larger West Asian region. Turkey is important
for regional security at a time when West Asia is in
turmoil. Instability here is in nobodys interest.
However, the failed coup exposes the weakness of
Mr. Erdogans regime. The fact that it was not a minor revolt by a few soldiers, but an uprising by
thousands of troops, raises serious questions about
the coherence of the Turkish state. Mr. Erdogan has
contributed to the weakening of the state in many
ways: his disastrous foreign policy that has worsened the security situation; forced Islamisation that
has sharpened the contradiction between the Islamist and secular sections; and the push to rewrite
the Constitution to award more powers to himself.
The coup-plotters may have sensed they would
get support from the anti-Erdogan masses and the
secular political class. Sections of the population
have problems with Mr. Erdogans politics. At Istanbuls Gezi Park, thousands braved his brutal police force in 2013. Despite the government crackdown on liberal academia, opposition, media and
social networks, Turkey still has a thriving public
sphere where anti-Erdoganism is a common theme
for mobilising people. But they dont want the soldiers to solve their problem through force. That is
why thousands thronged the streets to defend the
government they had elected. That is why even Mr.
Erdogans fiercest critics in the opposition denounced the coup. The question now is how the fissures that have been exposed will impact Turkey. It
depends, in large measure, on the choices Mr. Erdogan makes. He could see the peoples commitment
to democracy and use the crisis as an opportunity
to reconsider his dictatorial policies. Or he could
use the military revolt as a pretext to purge more of
his enemies and get what he always wanted, which
is a more powerful executive presidency. His
choice will guide the future of Turkeys democracy.
CM
YK
ic was his inept handling of the post-earthquake relief and reconstruction efort, squandering the goodwill and sympathy of the
international community which had pledged
$4.4 billion at the international conference
held in Kathmandu a year ago. To date, not
even 10 per cent of the pledged amount has
come to the National Reconstruction Authority where key appointments were held
up on account of political jockeying.
Speaker Gharti is a Maoist, and despite Finance Minister Bishnu Poudels request, has
held up passage of the Finance Bill to deal
with the no-confidence motion first, further
increasing the pressure on the government.
Challenges ahead
According to the understanding between
the Maoists and the NC, Mr. Prachanda will
take over as prime minister for the next nine
months, following which, he will hand over
the prime-ministership to NC leader Sher
Bahadur Deuba. The local body elections
will be conducted during Mr. Prachandas
tenure and the provincial and general elections will take place under Mr. Deuba, possibly in November 2017.
According to most political observers, a
NC-Maoist combination could be a more stable political combination than a UMLMaoist combine because the two Left parties
essentially compete for the same vote bank.
Whether this calculation turns out to be correct will nevertheless depend on the maturity of the two leaders, Mr. Prachanda and Mr.
Deuba.
From all accounts, Mr. Prachanda is wiser
today than in 2008-9 when his coalition collapsed on account of his decision to sack the
then Army chief, General Rookmangud Katawal. He now publicly acknowledges that it
was a political mistake. He too had blamed
India for his debacle but now has his task cut
out to restore bilateral ties. The NC can be
helpful in this too. Mr. Deuba, a wily NC leader, has been prime minister thrice before but
will have to be pragmatic in accommodating
the Madhesi and Tharu demands on federalism and representation in a more generous
manner than Mr. Oli did.
Lessons for India
Out of the concessional funds amounting
to $1.65 billion pledged by India during the
last two years, the utilisation has been a
meagre $150 million. From the grant assistance of $250 million pledged last year, $100
million has been allocated for construction
of 50,000 dwelling units for the quake afected but the PPP model has yet to be worked
out. The balance grant amount remains to be
committed. In addition, $750 million was
promised for the Kathmandu-Nijgadh highway but the Oli government sought to review
the project after the contract was awarded to
an Indian consultant! Other development
partners have accumulated similar experiences. Getting implementation of long
stalled projects back on track should be the
priority for the new government.
The Narendra Modi government too needs
to introspect as to how its much vaunted
neighbourhood first policy went wrong.
The problem of too many interlocutors,
claiming to act on behalf of the political powers in Delhi and often conveying conflicting
messages, always existed with Nepal but has
become more acute during the last two years.
Hopefully, this can now be curbed.
A positive turn in relations with India will
work to Nepals advantage in reviving the
sentiment that was generated when Prime
Minister Modi visited Nepal in August 2014,
of a friendly and caring India, sensitive to Nepals concerns and generous in seeking mutually beneficial partnerships.
Rakesh Sood is a former diplomat who has served as
Ambassador to Nepal and is currently Distinguished
Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation.
Failed coup
The will of the people of Turkey to
resist an attempted military coup
against President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan reiterates the point that
elected governments are safe in the
hands of those who reairm their
faith in them by voting for them
(Over 250 die in failed Turkey
coup, July 17). The event may have
comes as a surprise to Mr. Ergodan,
but in one shot it establishes his
power. One must also credit the
Turkish people for defeating an
attempt at destabilising democracy.
B. Prabha,
Varkala, Kerala
Crowd control
The editorial, Learning to control
crowds (July 15), prompted me to
do a Google search of the phrase
more humane measures for crowd
control. There are innumerable
references. The first one, on
Wikipedia, gives a general
description of various non-lethal
techniques used across the world
such as the use of tear gas, pepper
spray, rubber bullets, water cannons
and even the Indian lathi. In
Kashmir, many are said to have been
injured by pellets. We should be
aware that these are people who
have been hurling stones at the
police who had to control them from
a distance. I wonder whether
methods have been developed to
control unruly crowds from a
distance. Another interesting
technique is the use of the stink
bomb.
H.S. Gopal,
Bengaluru
Vijender on a roll
Boxing ace Vijender Singh has once
again demonstrated that he is
second to none after outclassing
Australias Kerry Hope (Sport
Vijender scales new peak, July 17).
The champ packed quite a punch.
Though Hope took the fight to the
champion in the middle rounds, he
ran out of steam towards the end.
Vijenders seventh win on the trot is
sure to boost him. One hopes that he
goes on to fetch more laurels for us.
N.J. Ravi Chander,
Bengaluru
ND-ND
Concurrent monologues
are not dialogue
A couple of readers have argued that my columns often
stray into the domain of journalistic rules, codes and literature to discover reasons to justify the newspapers
stand and fail to accord the necessary weightage to their
criticism. They claim that I am silent about some of the
A.S.
criticisms that have a resonance in the social media. One
PANNEERSELVAN of them felt that having a personal and intuitive system of
classification of mails from readers is a divisive approach, and that it does not help in representing all readers uniformly and
without prejudice. It seems that they are not prepared to concede space for
domain expertise, which flows from the experience of handling complaints
on a day-to-day basis.
Are there compelling reasons for not addressing the criticisms that float
in the blogosphere and social media? Yes, there are at least three irrefutable
reasons that prevent me from tackling the rants in cyberspace. One, I am
mandated to address criticisms that emanate in the form of formal letters to
the Oice of the Readers Editor. Two, it is important to stay the course by
upholding the newspapers code of editorial values and not subject it to the
whims of vested interest groups who are hyperactive in cyberspace. Three,
as The Guardians editor-in-chief Katharine Viner recently observed, social media has swallowed the news threatening the funding of public-interest reporting and ushering in an era when everyone has their own facts.
Its the right word
Last week, this newspaper carried a first
lead story and an editorial on the Supreme
Good journalism has
Courts verdict on the use of the Armed
rules of engagement
Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA)
that are enhanced
against criminal action for acts committed
in disturbed areas. The respective headthrough dissent,
lines for the news report and the editorial
dialogue and debate
were: SC ends impunity for armed forces
and Ending impunity under AFSPA. A section of social media activists
thought that The Hindu had got its headlines wrong and that it failed to recognise the diference between immunity and impunity. They went to the
extent of lamenting the general decline of the quality of written English; the
sloppiness in todays prose, and the inadequacies of the news desk in handling copy.
Before explaining why the headlines given by The Hindu desk are perfect,
let us first understand both AFSPA and the recent verdict of the apex court.
Sanjoy Hazarika, who was a member of the Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee
to review AFSPA, has pointed out that it is a bare law with just six sections
and the most damning are those in the fourth and sixth sections. While the
former enables security forces to fire upon or otherwise use force, even to
the causing of death where laws are being violated, the latter says no criminal prosecution will lie against any person who has taken action under this
act. In other words, immunity was guaranteed to the armed forces by law for
certain forms of excess force in diicult situations. The Supreme Courts
judgment has neither revoked the law nor declared any of its sections contra-constitutional. What the court has done is to tear down the cloak of secrecy about unaccounted deaths involving security forces in disturbed areas. As the report in this newspaper records the judgment serves as a
judicial precedent to uphold civilian and human rights in sensitive areas under military control and removes the concept of absolute immunity from
trial by a criminal court if an army man has committed an ofence.
The two important takeaways from the judgment are that the AFSPA will
remain in the statute books confirming a certain amount of immunity for the
armed forces in the disturbed areas and that immunity cannot be a licence
for impunity. In this context, the use of the word impunity in the headlines
for the news report and the editorial is not only correct but also brings out
the essence of the judgment. The writers of this newspaper were not ignoramus[es] not to know the diference between impunity and immunity.
Ms. Viner succinctly explained the present reality. She wrote: Now, we
are caught in a series of confusing battles between opposing forces: between
truth and falsehood, fact and rumour, kindness and cruelty; between the few
and the many, the connected and the alienated; between the open platform
of the web as its architects envisioned it and the gated enclosures of Facebook and other social networks; between an informed public and a misguided mob.
Sustaining meaningful dialogue
These arguments do not negate the need for a sustained dialogue with
readers. On the contrary, they reairm the importance of meaningful dialogue and the care one has to take to ensure that it is not derailed by the decibel level. From the myriad responses, I try to sift the real complaints from
the rants and good implementable suggestions from certain kite-flying exercises. In this evaluation process, the covenant between readers and the
newspaper is strengthened by mutual respect and constant dialogue. Good
journalism has intrinsic rules of engagement with the readers in which the
public sphere is not vitiated by acrimony, but enhanced through dissent, dialogue and debate. It is not a prime time manufactured outrage, which is fleeting in nature and seldom revisited, but an act of fostering common good.
readerseditor@thehindu.co.in
Morarji Commission
records evidence
The Administrative Reforms
Commission headed by Mr.
Morarji Desai continued its
hearings to-day [July 17] at the
Rajaji Hall [Madras]. Mr. K.
Santhanam, author of the report
known after his name dealing
with corruption and ways of
CM
YK
Limits to autonomy
Institutional autonomy cannot mean the freedom to operate independently of the government.
Rather, it is the freedom to deliver on mandates defined by the government and with consultation
choice of successor. In other words, people can legitimately difer on what constitutes autonomy in a given situation.
Mr. Subbaraos basic message is well
taken. It is important to safeguard autonomy in institutions such as the RBI, the
Indian Institutes of Technology and the
Indian Institutes of Management (IIM),
etc. But autonomy must always be married to accountability. The government is
accountable to Parliament and to the
electorate. Whom are technocrats accountable to?
We will soon have a Monetary Policy
Committee on which three out of six
members will be government representatives. The other three members will be
experts from outside. The government
will define the medium-term inflation
target. The RBI Governor will have to
find ways to meet the target and explain
any failure to do so. Thus, in respect of
monetary policy, we have a framework
for autonomy with accountability.
For a Monopolies
Commission
The Law Ministry has
recommended to the Cabinet to
constitute a Monopolies
Commission with mandatory
powers in respect of restrictive
trade practices only. In all other
respects, particularly relating to
the concentration of economic
power and monopolistic
practices, the Commission is to be
entrusted with powers of inquiry
and report in certain categories of
cases, which the Government may
from time to time, refer to it. The
advice of the Commission may or
may not be accepted. The
Ministries of Commerce,
Industry, Finance and the
Planning Commission have
concurred with the Law
Ministrys proposal. The Law
Ministry has suggested that the
Draft Monopolies and Restrictive
Trade Practices Bill, as
recommended by the Monopolies
Inquiry Commission, may be
modified.
Hanoi is prepared
for long-term war
| 11
PERSPECTIVE
NOIDA/DELHI
Q&A: It is the decline of Parliament as the voice of the people that has led to the
hardening of a monologic politics, with debate shifting to the fourth estate.
Picture shows the Prime Minister outside Parliament. PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY
ular ferment than most others. Therefore, the Prime Ministers reluctance to
take questions from the press and be
subject to even its minimal scrutiny is
particularly damaging to the largest democracy in the world.
In this, Mr. Modi, ironically, continues
the legacy of Dr. Singh, who was widely
criticised for his silence and who interacted with the Indian press collectively
only thrice during his 10-year tenure. But
Mr. Singh did speak with many foreign
media houses in his first term. That Mr.
Modi lags way behind Dr Singh in the
foreign realm, where he has sought to
create a definitive impression, including,
unprecedentedly, on the Indian diaspora
betrays the monologic nature of his
politics.
Anachronistic politics
Monologic politics is increasingly outmoded as the discourse of democracy,
equality and freedom cannot be wished
away as before. Besides, now we are in an
era when we have the technological
tools, like social media, which even
when their efects have not often been
benign, provide unique access to marginalised groups to question the powerful. Monologic politics of Mann ki Baat
is an attempt to turn back the clock. It resembles what the philosopher Jrgen
Habermas, before the era of social networking, had called the refeudalisation