Shinde On Hindutva Terror: Terminological Confusions – By Ram Puniyani (Jan 28, 2013, Countercurrents)

Protests are being organized and threats to stall the proceedings of next Lok Sabha session are being dished out to oppose the Home Minister Sushil Kukar Shinde’s statement about the Hindu terrorism, its links with BJP and RSS. (23 Jan 2013). There are two major components of this statement. One is the use of the prefix Hindu for terrorism, and two about RSS-BJP links with terror training camps. What Shinde called Hindu terrorism has also been called Saffron terrorism or Hindutva terrorism. This prefix is to point out to acts of terror indulged in by the likes of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Swami Aseemanand, Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit, Kalsangara, Sunil Joshi and many like them who were either actively associated with the ideology of Hindutva, or even were organizationally associated with RSS. Others were at that time or previously linked with some progeny of RSS like ABVP, Bajrang Dal etc. Many of them were part of organizations like Sanatan Sanstha, Abhinav Bhararat, who again aim at the goal of Hindu Nation or are ideologically inspired by the agenda of RSS.

The home minister’s remarks are based on investigations done Anti Terror Squads of different states and by National Investigation Agency. Earlier the announcement was made by the former Union home minister P. Chidambaram, in July 2010, to Parliament that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will probe the terrorist attacks on the Samjhauta Express and examine the conspiracy behind the attack, including the links of the accused in terrorist attacks at Malegaon (September 8, 2006), Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad (May 18, 2007) and at the Ajmer dargah (October 11, 2007). He had used the word Saffron terror. Various such acts of terror in which these people have been involved have been coming to light from last ten years or so. In 2003, in Parbani, Jalna and Jalgaon districts of Maharashtra; in 2005, in Mau district of Uttar Pradesh; in 2006, in Nanded; in January 2008, at the RSS office in Tenkasi, Tirunelveli; in August 2008, in Kanpur etc.

Few of the details of some of these acts are very revealing : 1. On 6th April 2006 two Bajrang Dal workers died when making the bombs. The place where they died belonged to the RSS worker and saffron flag was hoisted atop the hose. There was also a board of Bajrang Dal Nanded Branch on the wall of the house. 2. In Thane on 4th June 2008, two Hindu Jagran Samiti workers were arrested for planting the bombs in the basement of Gadkari Rangayatan, due to which 7 people got injured. The same group was involved in the blasts in Vashi, Panvel also. 3. In Goa a bomb kept in a scooter went off on the eve of Divali (17th Oct 2009) in Margao. It killed Malgonda Patil and seriously injured Yogesh Naik. Another bomb was detected in Sancoale in a truck carrying 40 youth for Narkasur competition. Both the activists belonged to Sanatan Sanstha. The second aim of this blast was to create communal tension in Margao, which has a history of communal violence. This group takes inspiration from Savarkar (Hindu Mahasabha) and Hedgewar (RSS) and indoctrinates its members into hating Christians and Muslims. 4. On 24th August 2008 two Bajrang Dal activists died in Kanpur, while making bombs. The Kanpur zone IGP S.N. Singh stated that their investigations have revealed that this group was planning massive explosions all over the state. 5. Indian Express, 23 Oct 2008 reports that those involved in the bomb blast in Malegaon and Modasa (Sept 2008) had links with Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Similarly in Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu pipe bomb attack on RSS office (Jan.2008) was projected to have been done by Jehadi Muslims.

The common pattern of these acts of terror has been twofold. One, that in few of such cases the activists related to Bajrang Dal or fellow travellers were killed while making the bombs. Second these acts of terror were targeted to kill the Muslims, so these acts were organized at times when the Muslims congregations take place, at the time of namaz or festivals like Shab-e-Barat in Malegaon, or in Ajmer Sharif where they come in large numbers or Samjhauta express where the major number of travellers is Muslims. While in the initial phase police authorities working under the prejudice that ‘all terrorists are Muslims’ misdirected their probe, the probe came on the proper track after the Malegaon blasts when the motor cycle of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the former activist of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a wing of RSS, came under the scanner and her links with many of those who have been named above and are currently in jail, came to the surface. These facts came to light due to the initiative and immaculate investigation done by the then chief of Maharashtra ATS, Hemant Karkare. Karkare pursued the investigation professionally putting together the threads due to which today most of them are in jails. While pursuing these investigations Karkare came under immense pressure from the politicians belonging to BJP and its close cousin, Shiv Sena. During this time Narendra Modi said that Hemant Karkare is an anti National, (Deshdrohi) and Bal Thackeray in his Saamana wrote that’ we spit on the face of Karkare.’ Later Karkare got killed in the Mumbai terror attack of 26/11, 2006.

The people involved in some way were associated to the affiliates of RSS or RSS itself. Mr. Singh, Home secretary has given some of the names from RSS stable who have been allegedly involved in acts of terror: 1. Sunil Joshi (dead), he was an “activist of RSS” in dewas and Mhow from 1990s to 2003. 2. Sandeep Dange (absconding), He was “RSS pracharak” in Mhow, Indore, Uttarkashi and Sajhapur from 1990s to 2006. 3. Lokesh Sharma (arrested) He was RSS ‘nagar karyavahak’ in Deogarh. 4. Swami Assemanand (arrested), He was “associated with RSS wing Vanavashi Kalyan Parishad” in Dang, Gujarat in 1990s to 2007. 4. Rajender alias Samunder (arrested), He was “RSS Varg Vistarak.” 5. Mukesh Vasani (arrested), He was an “activist of RSS” in Godhra. 6. Devender Gupta (arrested), was a “RSS pracharak” in Mhow and Indore. 7. Chandrasekhar Leve (arrested), was a “RSS pracharak” in Shajhanpur in 2007. 8. Kamal Chouhan (arrested), was a “RSS activist.” 9. Ramji Kalsangra (absconding), was a “RSS associate”. This is in addition to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Swami Dayanand Pandey, Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, Retd Major Upadhyay, who have been close to them. While some beans were spilled by many of these accused the whole picture was pieced together by Swami Aseemanand, when he decided to confess in front of the magistrate. In his confession Swami gave the details of the whole set up raised under his coordination and involving many RSS workers and their associates. …

http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani280113.htm

SEE ALSO:

• Think, Shinde, think – By Ashok Malik (Jan 27, 2013, Deccan Chronicle)
  http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130127/commentary-columnists/commentary/think-shinde-think
• The Great Divide On Terror – By M Shamsur Rabb Khan (Jan 17, 2013, Countercurrents)
  http://www.countercurrents.org/rabbkhan170111.htm
• Cases Full Of Twists And Troubles – By Toral Varia Deshpande (Feb 4, 2013, Outlook)
  http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?283698
• Hindutva Terror: Concrete Action Needed – By Concerned Citizens (Jan 24, 2013, Countercurrents)
  http://www.countercurrents.org/cc240113B.htm

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The BJP and Nathuram Godse – By A.G. Noorani (Jan 26, 2013, Frontline)

The Bharatiya Janata Party and its ancestor, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, have always felt embarrassed and uneasy about Nathuram Godse. They very well knew that Gandhi’s assassin had strong links to their parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). As Gandhi’s Boswell, Pyarelal, records in his memoirs, “members of the RSS at some places had been instructed beforehand to tune in their radio sets on the fateful Friday for the ‘good news’, and sweets were distributed by the members at many places” (Mahatma Gandhi: The Last Phase; page 750). There was another reason besides. V.D. Savarkar’s acquittal notwithstanding, many were convinced that he was privy to the murder; most notably Bombay’s Home Minister Morarji Desai (vide the writer’s article “Savarkar and Gandhi’s murder”, Frontline, October 5, 2012). But Savarkar was also the BJP’s ideologue. He was the one who coined the term Hindutva and distinguished his theme of hate elaborately from the ancient and noble faith of Hinduism. L.K. Advani began his bid for the Prime Minister’s office in 1990 with the cry of Hindutva which he developed in speech after speech. Fate willed otherwise, not least because of his opportunism, tactical blunders caused by an excess of zeal and, of course, an obscene exhibition of ambition which the country does not like. Advani has fallen by the wayside. To his dismay, a protégé has emerged to lay claim to that very office and on that very plank of Hindutva—Narendra Modi.

Advani’s palpably false denials in his autobiography, My Country, My Life, reflected the embarrassment. Two, in particular, need to be nailed to the counter: One is that “the RSS had some differences with Gandhiji regarding his approach to securing India’s freedom. But these were minor, which never detracted from the high regard the Sangh had for the Mahatma.” The RSS’s bible is Bunch of Thoughts (1966), written by its longest-serving supremo, M.S. Golwalkar. He pours out his contempt for Gandhi and the Congress in shrill denunciations of both. Advani could not possibly have been unaware of the book. Here are those passages. There were, Golwalkar wrote, in the main “two types of movements against the British rule in our country”. One was the armed revolution by the revolutionaries. “The other movement led by the Congress has had more disastrous and degrading effects on the country. Most of the tragedies and evils that have overtaken our country during the last few decades and are even today corroding our national life are its direct outcome.” That was the Congress led by Gandhi. A few pages later the reference becomes more pointed even though the name is avoided for tactical reasons. The references are to Gandhi’s plank of Hindu-Muslim unity and to his advocacy of non-violence: “Those who declared ‘No Swaraj without Hindu-Muslim unity’ have perpetrated the greatest treason on our society.” So much for Advani’s claim of “the high regard the Sangh had for the Mahatma”.

The attack on Gandhi becomes stronger when Golwalkar turns to non-violence. “They have committed the most heinous sin of killing the life-spirit of a great and ancient people. To preach impotency [sic] to a society which gave rise to a Shivaji who, in the words of the great historian Jadunath Sarkar, ‘proved to the whole world that the Hindu has drunk the elixir of immortality’, and to break the self-confident and proud spirit of such a great and virile society has no parallel in the history of the world for sheer magnitude of its betrayal. …here, we had leaders who were, as if, pledged to sap all manliness from their own people. However, this is not a mere accident of history. This leadership only came as a bitter climax of the despicable tribe of so many of our ancestors who during the past twelve hundred years sold their national honour and freedom to foreigners, and joined hands with the inveterate enemies of our country and our religion in cutting the throats of their own kith and kin to gratify their personal egoism, selfishness and rivalry. No wonder nemesis overtook such a people in the form of such a self-destructive leadership.” The Sangh Parivar is haunted by imagined and ancient wrongs which it is sworn to correct by attacking Muslims and Christians. What is meant by self-destruction? Two decades after the assassination, the RSS mouthpiece (Organiser), then edited by K.R. Malkani, could remember Gandhi, on January 11, 1970, only in these terms in its editorial: “It was in support of Nehru’s pro-Pakistan stand that Gandhiji went on fast and, in the process, turned the people’s wrath on himself.” So, Nathuram Godse represented “the people” and he perpetrated the murder as an expression of “the people’s wrath”.

In 1961, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya said: “With all respect for Gandhiji, let us cease to call him ‘Father of the Nation’. If we understand the old basis of nationalism, then it will be clear that it is nothing but Hinduism.” The Times of India editorially noted on October 17, 1989: “Mr Advani, while holding forth on ‘Bharat Mata’, now goes so far as to deny that Mahatma Gandhi was the Father of the Nation.” On October 5, 1997, Organiser published an advertisement by a Delhi publisher for six “Readable Attractive New Books”, two of them by Gopal Godse: Qutub Minar is Vishnu Dhwaja and Gandhiji’s Murder and After. The third book advertised was May it Please Your Honour, the assassin’s statement in court. Another was by the judge who ordered the locks of the gate to the Babri Masjid opened on February 1, 1986, in flagrant breach of the law.Organiser is hardly likely to accept advertisements for books critical of the RSS. On Nathuram Godse, Advani asserts that Godse had “severed links with RSS in 1933… had begun to bitterly criticise the RSS”. This was flatly contradicted by none other than Godse’s brother Gopal, who was also an accused at the trial for conspiracy to murder. He published his book Why I Assassinated Mahatma Gandhi in December 1993. Speaking in New Delhi on the occasion of the release of his book, Gopal Godse revealed what many had suspected—they had both been active members of the RSS (The Statesman; December 24, 1993).

Soon thereafter, in an interview to Frontline (January 28, 1994), he provided the details and angrily scotched Advani’s attempts to disown them: “All the brothers were in the RSS. Nathuram, Dattatreya, myself and Govind. You can say we grew up in the RSS rather than in our home. It was like a family to us. Nathuram had become a baudhik karyavah[intellectual worker] in the RSS. He has said in his statement that he left the RSS. He said it because Golwalkar and the RSS were in a lot of trouble after the murder of Gandhi. But he did not leave the RSS.” Asked about Advani’s claim that Nathuram had nothing to do with the RSS, Gopal Godse replied: “I have countered him, saying it is cowardice to say that. You can say that RSS did not pass a resolution, saying, ‘go and assassinate Gandhi’. But you do not disown him [Nathuram]. The Hindu Mahasabha did not disown him. In 1944, Nathuram started doing Hindu Mahasabha work when he had been a baudhik karyavah in the RSS.” It was a foolish attempt by Advani to whitewash a sordid record. A similar attempt was made by Ram Jethmalani, on April 13, 1981, at Kochi. Godse and Gandhi “shared the same political philosophy [sic] of a United India” ( The Times of India; April 14, 1981). He was then vice-president of the BJP. Not surprisingly, he is now a staunch supporter of Narendra Modi’s ambition to become Prime Minister.…

http://flonnet.com/fl3002/stories/20130208300208900.htm

SEE ALSO:

• Who Is Afraid of Tipu Sultan? – By Subhash Gatade (Jan 26, 2013, Countercurrents)
  http://www.countercurrents.org/gatade260113.htm

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The Saffron String – By Prarthna Gahilote (Feb 4, 2013, Outlook)

Now that Rajnath Singh is set to become BJP president, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s Delhi plans may face a new obstacle. An outward show of geniality is likely, but the Rajnath-Modi relationship has a history of rancour. Rajnath, as party chief in 2006-09, had thrown Modi out of the BJP’s parliamentary board. By now the RSS ambivalence on Modi is strong-and Rajnath is a Sangh choice. So Modi may not necessarily find an eager cheerleader in him. The real inhibiting factor, of course, will be the RSS, which believes it was pushed to a corner during the party president’s election. It was forced to select by elimination. Now, RSS stalwarts are likely to vet and veto appointments to all BJP positions. “In recent times, we have taken a different approach: we don’t tell the BJP what needs to be done, we tell them what should not be done,” says a senior Sangh functionary. So even if a reluctant consensus emerges in the party about Modi as prime ministerial candidate, the Sangh could try to scuttle it. Rajnath, as party chief, will be the one talking to the allies-and can cite their opposition. A strong scenario is that Modi could be offered the ambiguous post of election committee chief, with the decision on his entering the prime ministerial race reserved till after the elections. Modi is unlikely to accept this and could stay out. Besides, Rajnath himself can be a prime ministerial candidate-as can be a few others.

There was a fair bit of drama in the way his predecessor’s re-election bid came unstuck on the home stretch. Just hours after the notification for presidential elections in the BJP, on January 22, it was learnt that the income-tax department had raided companies linked to Nitin Gadkari. Providence had smiled on lobbies opposed to him-indeed, there were sly hints of a friendly hand in government doing a good turn to someone. Anyway, what had seemed like fait accompli now had to be stalled-a second term for Gadkari was now out of the question. In Delhi, the Sangh’s pointsman in the BJP, Suresh Soni, considered close to both Arun Jaitley and Rajnath, lost no time in taking the cue. He rallied all hands on the deck. Urgent calls were made to Rajnath, who rushed back from a journey to his constituency Ghaziabad. Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar, all assembled in Jaitley’s office. In Mumbai, senior party leader L.K. Advani told RSS deputy chief Bhaiyyaji Joshi that the presidential election the next day would not be smooth, with Yashwant Sinha threatening to contest. Bhaiyyaji struck down Sinha’s name, saying he was a “rank outsider”; Rajnath’s name was proposed as the consensus replacement for Gadkari. Support for Rajnath came not just from Soni, but also senior leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj and Ananth Kumar. Sources also say that Modi and Jaitley had earlier put their weight behind Naidu, known to be close to both of them.

What played out in Delhi was more the outcome of internal politics in the Sangh than infighting in the BJP. The Sangh has had its way, but some senior leaders are quite unhappy over the “manner in which Rajnath has been made president” and say it has dented the Sangh’s image. As things spiralled out of control on January 22, sources confirm that Bhaiyyaji told Gadkari to propose Rajnath’s name for presidency. Sangh sources also confirm that Soni had had his way, settling scores not just within the Sangh but also with Gadkari. For he was reportedly miffed with the Sangh for curtailing his role in coordinating between the BJP and Nagpur. Of late the Sangh had entrusted to Bhaiyyaji a lot of Soni’s work. Soni also held a grudge against Gadkari after the unceremonious removal of his aide, Prabhat Jha, as the chief of the Madhya Pradesh unit of the BJP. Senior BJP leaders confirm the infighting will only worsen after Rajnath’s takeover, given the meagre support he has within his own party. Singh’s only actual support comes from Sushma Swaraj; others are known to be opposed to him. As a senior party leader put it, “The slugfest has just begun.”

http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?283720

SEE ALSO:

• BJP’s ‘galaxy’ – more liability than asset – By Amulya Ganguli (Jan 26, 2013, Yahoo)
  http://in.news.yahoo.com/bjps-galaxy-more-liability-asset-064202201.html
• ‘Anti-Muslim’ aspires to be Indian PM, for a ‘lesser crime’ Muslim legislator finds himself behind bars – By M Ghazali Khan (Jan 25, 2013, Muslim News)
  http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/paper/index.php?article=6115
• Soorinje’s Story Has Been Playing Out Below The Radar Of National Attention – By Shoma Chaudhury (Jan 27, 2013, Tehelka)
  http://tehelka.com/editors-cut-soorinjes-story-has-been-playing-out-below-the-radar-of-national-attention/
• BJP vs rebels: The sorry saga continues – By V.S. Karnic (Jan 26, 2013, Yahoo)
  http://in.news.yahoo.com/bjp-vs-rebels-sorry-saga-continues-081002666.html

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Verma Committee Report: Police Reforms Are The Key – By Prakash Singh (Jan 28, 2013, Tehelka)

The infamous gang rape incident of Delhi has had reverberations across the world. The European Parliament, in a resolution, while welcoming the measures already initiated by government, called for a more coordinated response to gender-based violence. The IMF Chief, Christine Lagard, dedicated the “moment” to Damini (the Delhi gang rape victim) during her speech at the World Economic Forum. Within the country, there is, fortunately, a healthy debate on several important issues like governance of Delhi, the adequacy of existing laws on crimes against women, the justification of use of force on peaceful crowds which have a legitimate grievance, the apathy of citizens to victims of crime, et al. The Justice Verma Committee, which was appointed to suggest suitable amendments in criminal law to provide for quicker trial and enhanced punishment to criminals committing crimes against women, has come up with a useful report which should strengthen the criminal justice system in achieving gender justice. The root cause for the current “unsafe environment”, as pointed out by the Committee, is the “failure of good governance”.

A number of measures have already been announced to improve police response to crimes against women – more visible night patrolling, increase in the number of PCR vans, checking of private buses, more help lines, etc. These knee-jerk reactions would however not take us far. The police needs comprehensive structural reforms. This was appropriately emphasised by Justice Verma when he called for “full compliance” of the Supreme Court’s directions of 2006, and said that this was of “utmost priority to national welfare including the welfare of women and children”. The Committee urged all the states “to tackle systemic problems in policing” and deplored that the judgment had not been implemented so far. “Any political interference or extraneous influence in the performance of the statutory duty by a policeman”, the Committee said, could not be “condoned” and the accountability of the police is “only to the law and to no one else in the discharge of their duty”.

It must be understood that police reforms, which essentially mean giving functional autonomy to the police, are not for the glory of the police. They are essentially to transform the colonial police into an instrument of service to the people, to metamorphose the present ‘Rulers’ Police’ into a ‘People’s Police’ accountable to the laws of the land and committed to upholding the Constitution of the country.

A reformed and restructured police is essential not only to uphold the rule of law but also to safeguard our democratic structure and sustain the momentum of economic progress. The gradual infiltration of criminal elements into the legislatures and the parliament is the greatest threat to our democracy. Insulation of police from extraneous pressures is absolutely necessary to deal with such elements. The Committee’s suggestion to disqualify a candidate, in the event of a magistrate taking cognizance of an offence against him, would go a long way in cleaning up the polity. Besides, economic progress can take place only in an atmosphere of good law and order.

The scope of police reforms should not be considered limited to the directions given by the Supreme Court. The Justice Verma Committee has rightly placed emphasis on certain other aspects of police functioning – the filing and registration of complaints, improvement in infrastructure at the police stations, adequate forensic support down to the district level, improving police welfare, community policing, performance appraisal based not on statistical figures but on yardsticks like public satisfaction, safety and security of women and success in preventing incidents of communal violence. The police, above all, must have a “moral vision” for the performance of its statutory duties.

http://tehelka.com/crimes-against-women-police-reforms-are-the-key/

SEE ALSO:

• Forcing the issue – By T.K. Rajalakshmi (Jan 26, 2013, Frontline)
  http://flonnet.com/fl3002/stories/20130208300213300.htm
• ‘The government has to choose between politics and the Constitution’ – Gopal Subramanium with Sandeep Joshi (Jan 27, 2013, The Hindu)
  http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/the-government-has-to-choose-between-politics-and-the-constitution/article4348761.ece
• Recast Traditions For Gender Justice – By R.B Sreekumar (Dec 30, 2012, Countercurrents)
  http://www.countercurrents.org/sreekumar301212A.htm

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To Be Or Not To Be United – By TS Sudhir (Jan 27, 2013, Tehelka)

Wonder if Sushil Kumar Shinde was punished at school for not completing his homework on time. Now in his avatar as Union Home minister, he faces a police case of cheating for not delivering on his promise of a decision on Telangana within a month. A court in Andhra Pradesh has ordered that a similar case be booked against Shinde’s predecessor, P Chidambaram, who promised statehood to the region on December 9, 2009 only to backtrack a fortnight later. The Congress party’s refusal to adhere to any deadlines on Telangana has provided that spark to this emotional struggle for a separate state. With elections just 14 months away, this has galvanised the two principal pro-Telangana parties, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) into action. Both hope to ride on the crest of the Telangana wave to maximise their electoral strength in the Assembly and the Lok Sabha.

The BJP, like an efficient marketing person, has sought to make itself look more attractive by reducing the time in which it will give Telangana. Last year, Sushma Swaraj had promised that her party will make Telangana a separate state within 100 days of coming to power in Delhi. Today Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi reduced that period to 24 hours. The TRS that does not quite appreciate the saffron party competing for space, has upped the ante, its tone more shrill, promising to write the political obituary of the Congress in the region. The demands have been familiar: resign from your posts and party. The only issue with it is that Andhra Pradesh has seen this charade being played out too many times, with MPs, ministers, MLAs resigning only to find the Speaker sit on it for long and subsequently rejecting them.

Seven of the twelve Congress MPs from Telangana have promised to resign on Tuesday but privately they admit to being pushed to a corner. A first-time MP told Tehelka that he still hopes that the Congress may deliver Telangana and a show of defiance may spoil his chances of getting the party ticket next year. Surprisingly, the Telangana ministers in Kiran Kumar Reddy’s cabinet have struck a defiant note, refusing to quit. Over the next few days, they will be subjected to physical attacks at their homes, like it happened on earlier occasions. The Telangana Joint Action committee is also mooting boycotting them socially in the districts though it is not clear how they will manage to implement it.

Civil society activists, including students and government employees, who thronged the protest venue at Indira Park have no choice but to go with the political forces that are marshalling the agitation, even though they are skeptical of them. They realise that the same TRS that is badmouthing the Congress today was hobnobbing with it in Delhi three months ago. TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao’s habit of abruptly switching off the agitations in the past too has created doubts in the minds of Telangana votaries about what exactly is happening behind the scenes between the party and the Congress. Politically, the procrastination is anything but good news for the Congress. It is certain to draw a blank in most districts of Telangana, both due to the T-factor and because its governance record has been very mediocre. The challenge for the party is to take a call on what is good for its political prospects as well as the state and the country. Coming clean on what it plans to do on Telangana would be better than taking refuge in redefining a week or a month, Ghulam Nabi Azad-style.

While the TRS will be the biggest gainer, it also realises that it cannot be in agitation mode for more than a year. The challenge will be to keep the gunpowder ready, to be able to reignite the movement any time it wishes to. Having won only 26 and 10 MLAs in 2004 and 2009 respectively, next year’s polls will provide it the opportunity to come of age. For the common man in the Telangana districts, and Hyderabad in particular, the days of police barricades, protests, bandhs and sloganeering are back. A matter of worry for parents and students since exam season is nearing. None of this will do any good to Brand Hyderabad.

http://tehelka.com/to-be-or-not-to-be-united/

SEE ALSO:

• The Return Of T-Rex – By Madhavi Tata (Feb 4, 2013, Outlook)
  http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?283700

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West Bengal: Politics of violence – By Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay (Jan 26, 2013, Frontline)

The brutal attack on Abdur Rezzak Mollah, a senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers, is evidence that the politics of violence in West Bengal, which has been on the ascendance since the Trinamool Congress came to power in 2011, is showing no signs of abating.

Mollah, a Minister in the previous CPI(M)-led Left Front government and a nine-time MLA, was attacked when he went to the Bhangar area in South 24 Parganas district after receiving news of a local CPI(M) office being set on fire. The attack was allegedly led by the local Trinamool heavyweight, Arabul Islam, and his followers, who were holding a public meeting in the vicinity. The assailants continued to rain blows on the septuagenarian Communist leader even after he collapsed. His car was vandalised.

The Trinamool leadership made light of the incident, with State Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim claiming that Mollah had got himself admitted to a private hospital merely “to get some rest in a beautiful house”. However, according to the hospital authorities, Mollah required stitches for facial injuries and even suffered a hairline crack in the spinal region.

The attack drew sharp criticism not only from a cross section of the political parties in the State, but also from a sizable section of Trinamool’s urban support base. Just two days after the attack, the Bhangar region was again on the boil when vehicles carrying CPI(M) supporters to a protest rally in Kolkata were set ablaze allegedly by Trinamool supporters. In the clash that followed, at least five people were seriously injured. Governor M.K. Narayanan described it as “goondaism”. This led to a war of words between him and ruling party leaders.

“With the panchayat elections approaching, attacks against our supporters and workers have been increasing. The State government, instead of trying to stop them, appears to be hand-in-glove with the culprits. None of the accused has been arrested,” Leader of the Opposition and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Surya Kanta Mishra told Frontline. According to the CPI(M), 85 of its activists have been killed and 5,743 injured and hospitalised since May 2011.

http://flonnet.com/fl3002/stories/20130208300213701.htm

SEE ALSO:

• Martyrs’ Parents Want Their Daughters-In-Law Dead – Just For Compensation – By Virendra Nath Bhatt (Jan 27, 2013, Tehelka)
  http://tehelka.com/widow-of-crpf-constable-runs-for-cover/
• Coalition collapse – By Venkitesh Ramakrishnan (Jan 26, 2013, Frontline)
  http://flonnet.com/fl3002/stories/20130208300204500.htm

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