The past few days have seen the most widespread and energised mass protests since the fascists came to power in 2014. And it hasn't been a great few years. People died in bank queues and trillions were wiped off the economy by the great masterstroke of demonetisation, but there were no large scale protests. There was anger and sympathy when Kashmiris were suddenly demoted to fourth class citizens, but that too didn't translate into large demonstrations across the country. The Citizenship Amendment Act, however, seemed to break a spell.
Students have been particularly courageous in protesting this Act, facing violence and demonisation, and demolishing the notion that India's youth have all been numbed to idiocy by years of relentless and repetitive propaganda. The scale of the protests have clearly taken the government by surprise. In Orwellian style, hate-monger-in-chief appealed to people not to let "vested interests" divide society. "Vested interests" presumably refers to young people some of whom wear vests. (Some also took off their vests.) And "society" presumably refers to the NDA, some of whose junior members are starting to feel a little awkward.
The appeal for unity came hard on the heels of one of those wry, clever little claims he likes to make now and again: "those lighting the fire can be identified by their clothes". Gone are the days of "Hum Paanch, Hamare pachchees". Being the dignified statesman he is now, he only whistles to his dogs these days when he is feeling a bit nervy and needs a bit of Bhakt-love. So this particular whistle adds to the sense that the protests took him and Chanakya a.k.a. Motabhai by surprise. For any dogs hard of hearing, others translated the whistle into images, sharing doctored or decontextualised videos of Muslims and violence. (Yes, he was talking about Muslims of course - didn't you get it?) European neo-nazis who despise Asians but apparently adore Modi jumped on the bandwagon, retweeting and amplifying the message.
In the midst of this mayhem, India's one incorruptible institution, the Supreme Court, came to the rescue of democracy, addressing the demonstrating students who had been subjected to unprovoked police violence. If you take to the streets, don't come running to me, the Chief Justice of India wagged his finger. The law is for good girls and boys.
So what do we learn from all of this? That you have to be brave and resourceful and rely on each other. All the institutions in the land are not going to save you right now. But if you are together you might just save the institutions. And us all.
Tuesday 17 December 2019
Wednesday 20 November 2019
Is the Narendra Modi government the most corrupt in India's history?
To answer this question we first need to define "corruption". Definitions of corruption can be more or less broad. The Merriam-Webster defintion is perhaps the broadest: "dishonest or illegal behavior especially by powerful people"[1]. Wikipedia adds some detail: "corruption is a form of dishonesty or criminal activity undertaken by a person or organization entrusted with a position of authority, often to acquire illicit benefit, or, abuse of entrusted power for one's private gain."[2] The notions of dishonesty and abuse of power for gain are common to most definitions. Although bribery is sometimes mentioned, the definitions do not insist that the gain must be financial. Thus, most people would agree that gaining political power, status, or sexual favours through dishonest means involving the abuse of power is corruption. While some definitions include the phrase "private gain", this seems mainly to clarify that the benefits of the dishonest practices do not come to the public at large.
Creating a climate where abuses of power can go unpunished has been central to the Modi government's programme. Necessary for corruption to flourish are measures to reduce transparency, diminish accountability, and weaken institutions which could otherwise provide checks and balances against abuses of power.
Let's begin with transparency. Key to the government's drive against transparency is the availability of information and data. Statistics about politically sensitive and important issues such as violence against minorities and lynchings, animal welfare, crime, rural distress, and the economy are suppressed or tampered with[3, 4, 5]. When it comes to the economy, the government does not hesitate to lie about numbers in parliament[6]. While misleading the public and denying us information, the government is also busy obstructing people's right to information (RTI), making the uncovering of abuses ever more difficult[7] and dishonouring India's RTI martyrs, people who have been killed seeking to unmask abuses by the powerful[8]. By weakening the right to information, it seems the Modi government is desperate to ensure that the only information available to the public is what is released by its own propaganda machine and fed to a largely pliant media.
Remaining on the theme of transparency, consider the question of political funding, key to understanding the forces at play behind political decisions. The BJP government introduced a widely criticised system of electoral bonds, effectively annihilating all hope of transparency in political party funding[9]. The BJP receives the vast bulk of electoral bond money, but we'll never find out from whom, and what these "donors" receive in return. While the very cosy relationship between the Narendra Modi government and certain big business houses is well known, the detail and scale of these transactions become harder to probe.
Lying and hiding information for political advantage are much easier if the supposedly independent institutions of democracy - investigative agencies, the judiciary, the media, educational institutions, the election commission, institutions charged with producing statistics - are all greatly compromised or weakened. And this is a key part of the Modi government's agenda. News items under the heading "institutions" on this site illustrate the great variety of ways in which the institutions of democracy have been attacked by Narendra Modi's government. These include restructuring or dissolving institutions, passing laws which reduce their powers or bring them under the control of the central government, packing them with corrupted or pliant individuals close to the ruling party, and harassing dissenting voices within institutions. This last theme of attacking dissenters was the subject of a previous post. A few instances were highlighted where threats and misuse of the law were used to make the lives of those who investigate or criticise the government miserable. Apart from deterring protest, the goal is surely also to reduce the likelihood of corruption and other abuses being exposed. A recent - and very serious - example of an attack on dissent involves the snooping on rights activists and critics of the state using a WhatsApp vulnerability[10].
In an environment where access to information is restricted and the media is fearful or compromised, propaganda goes unchecked. Corruption in the sense of "dishonesty for political gain" becomes rife. The government raises slogans about women's empowerment, while it welcomes supporters of sexual violence[11, 12, 13]. It makes noisy speeches about terrorism, while working hard to get its favoured terrorists off the hook[14]. It even found space in parliament for an individual facing serious terrorism charges, an unparalleled moment in politics[15]. Narendra Modi repeats in several languages to an NRI audience that "everything is fine" in India[16], either not knowing or not caring that every other child in the country is malnourished[17]. Fawning supporters are impressed, forgetting that a lie in eight languages is still a lie.
Yes, it is true that the political class has always been corrupt, using its power for financial gain and giving handouts to its cronies. This has continued under this government. The major names and incidents associated with this kind of corruption in Modi's India are well known. There are plenty of details in pieces on our news pages about corruption and crony capitalism. We haven't focussed on this kind of financial corruption and cronyism in this piece because, although they are important, they are a continuation and escalation of past tradition, not a break with it. However, when it comes to corrupting the very frameworks of democracy, naked abuse of power for political gain, the crushing of democratic institutions, and attacks on all dissenting voices, the actions of this government are unprecedented.
Is Narendra Modi's government the most corrupt in India's history? The answer seems self-evident.
[This post first appeared on Narendra Modi Facts. A version of this post is available in Hindi.]
Creating a climate where abuses of power can go unpunished has been central to the Modi government's programme. Necessary for corruption to flourish are measures to reduce transparency, diminish accountability, and weaken institutions which could otherwise provide checks and balances against abuses of power.
Let's begin with transparency. Key to the government's drive against transparency is the availability of information and data. Statistics about politically sensitive and important issues such as violence against minorities and lynchings, animal welfare, crime, rural distress, and the economy are suppressed or tampered with[3, 4, 5]. When it comes to the economy, the government does not hesitate to lie about numbers in parliament[6]. While misleading the public and denying us information, the government is also busy obstructing people's right to information (RTI), making the uncovering of abuses ever more difficult[7] and dishonouring India's RTI martyrs, people who have been killed seeking to unmask abuses by the powerful[8]. By weakening the right to information, it seems the Modi government is desperate to ensure that the only information available to the public is what is released by its own propaganda machine and fed to a largely pliant media.
Remaining on the theme of transparency, consider the question of political funding, key to understanding the forces at play behind political decisions. The BJP government introduced a widely criticised system of electoral bonds, effectively annihilating all hope of transparency in political party funding[9]. The BJP receives the vast bulk of electoral bond money, but we'll never find out from whom, and what these "donors" receive in return. While the very cosy relationship between the Narendra Modi government and certain big business houses is well known, the detail and scale of these transactions become harder to probe.
Lying and hiding information for political advantage are much easier if the supposedly independent institutions of democracy - investigative agencies, the judiciary, the media, educational institutions, the election commission, institutions charged with producing statistics - are all greatly compromised or weakened. And this is a key part of the Modi government's agenda. News items under the heading "institutions" on this site illustrate the great variety of ways in which the institutions of democracy have been attacked by Narendra Modi's government. These include restructuring or dissolving institutions, passing laws which reduce their powers or bring them under the control of the central government, packing them with corrupted or pliant individuals close to the ruling party, and harassing dissenting voices within institutions. This last theme of attacking dissenters was the subject of a previous post. A few instances were highlighted where threats and misuse of the law were used to make the lives of those who investigate or criticise the government miserable. Apart from deterring protest, the goal is surely also to reduce the likelihood of corruption and other abuses being exposed. A recent - and very serious - example of an attack on dissent involves the snooping on rights activists and critics of the state using a WhatsApp vulnerability[10].
In an environment where access to information is restricted and the media is fearful or compromised, propaganda goes unchecked. Corruption in the sense of "dishonesty for political gain" becomes rife. The government raises slogans about women's empowerment, while it welcomes supporters of sexual violence[11, 12, 13]. It makes noisy speeches about terrorism, while working hard to get its favoured terrorists off the hook[14]. It even found space in parliament for an individual facing serious terrorism charges, an unparalleled moment in politics[15]. Narendra Modi repeats in several languages to an NRI audience that "everything is fine" in India[16], either not knowing or not caring that every other child in the country is malnourished[17]. Fawning supporters are impressed, forgetting that a lie in eight languages is still a lie.
Yes, it is true that the political class has always been corrupt, using its power for financial gain and giving handouts to its cronies. This has continued under this government. The major names and incidents associated with this kind of corruption in Modi's India are well known. There are plenty of details in pieces on our news pages about corruption and crony capitalism. We haven't focussed on this kind of financial corruption and cronyism in this piece because, although they are important, they are a continuation and escalation of past tradition, not a break with it. However, when it comes to corrupting the very frameworks of democracy, naked abuse of power for political gain, the crushing of democratic institutions, and attacks on all dissenting voices, the actions of this government are unprecedented.
Is Narendra Modi's government the most corrupt in India's history? The answer seems self-evident.
[This post first appeared on Narendra Modi Facts. A version of this post is available in Hindi.]
Tuesday 12 November 2019
क्या मोदी सरकार देश के इतिहास में सब से भ्रष्ट सरकार है?
इस सवाल का जवाब देने से पहले हमें पूछना पड़ेगा: भ्रष्टाचार आखिर है क्या? "भ्रष्टाचार" शब्द की कई परिभाषाएँ मिलती हैं, पर सब के लगबग एक ही अर्थ है. विकिपीड़ीया के अनुसार[1] भ्रष्टाचार "सत्ता होने वाले लोगों के द्वारा बेईमान या धोखाधड़ी का आचरण" है. मतलब अगर सत्ताधारी लोग कोई फ़ायदे के लिए सत्ता का दुरुपयोग करे तो इसे हम भ्रष्टाचार कह सकते हैं. गौरतलब है कि यह फ़ायदा आर्थिक हो सकता है, सियासी हो सकता है, लैंगिक भी हो सकता है. अगर कोई विचारधारा फैलाकर अपना प्रभाव बढ़ाना सत्ता का मकसद है, और वह इस विचारधारा को बेईमानी और झूठ का इस्तेमाल करके फैलाता है, तो इसे हम भ्रष्टाचार ही मान सकते हैं.
मोदी सरकार अपने फ़ायदे के लिए बेईमानी करने में माहिर है. उदाहरण इतने हैं कि उनमें से चुनना मुश्किल हो जाता है.
आम जनता तक सूचना और तथ्य पहुँचने ही नहीं चाहिए. सामूहिक हिंसा (लिंचिंग) जैसे महत्वपूर्ण मुद्दों के आंकड़ों को दबा देती है यह सरकार[2]. आर्थिक आंकड़ों के साथ भी खेल खेलती है[3] - अर्थव्यवस्था के बारे में संसद में झूठ बोलने से हिचकिचाती नहीं[4]. इसके साथ ही नागरिकों से सूचना का अधिकार छीनने में लगी है[5]. बस उनके प्रचार प्रसार तंत्र द्वारा फैलायी गई झूठी खबरें लोगों तक पहुँचनी चाहिए.
सूचना की बात करें तो एक प्रकार की सूचना लोकतंत्र में बहुत ही अहम है: सरकार को कौन पैसे दे रहा है? इस सवाल का जवाब छिपाने के लिए सरकार ने एक अच्छा तरीका निकाला: चुनावी बॉन्ड[6]. कौन क्या देता है और बदले में क्या मिलता है, यह अब छिपाया जा सकता है. जनता ना पूछे, “किसका प्रतिनिधित्व कर रही है यह सरकार? किसकी सरकार है यह?”
लोकतंत्र को कमज़ोर करने में लगी हुई है यह सरकार. देश के हर संस्थान में दखल देती है - चुनाव आयोग, मानवाधिकार संस्थाएँ, विश्वविद्यालय, मीडिया, आंकड़े जमा करने वाली संस्थाएँ, सीबीआई, न्यायपालिका, प्रशासनिक सेवा[7]... प्रतिरोध की आवाज़ों को कुचलने में भी व्यस्त है - चाहे कानून के दुरुपयोग से, हिंसा से, या धमकी से[8]. और अब मालूम पड़ रहा है कि स्पाइवेयर का इस्तेमाल करके सरकार के विरोधियों की जासूसी हो रही है[9].
बेईमान सरकार कहती कुछ है, करती कुछ और है. नारे लगाने में अव्वल है. बेटी बचाओ का नारा लगाती है, साथ में बलात्कारियों के समर्थन में सड़कों पर उतर आती है[10, 11, 12]. आतंकवाद के खिलाफ नारेबाजी और आतंकवादियों को बचाने के लिए कड़ी मेहनत[13] - आतंकवाद के अभियुक्त के लिए संसद में भी जगह बनाई सरकार ने[14]. अमरीका जाकर एनआरआई भक्तों के सम्मेलन से मोदी कहता है, "भारत में सब अच्छा है"[15]. जबकि भारत का हर दूसरा बच्चा कुपोषण का शिकार है[16]. शायद एक झूठ को अलग-अलग भाषाओं में दोहराने से वह सच हो जाता है.
हाँ, सच है कि देश का राजनीतिक वर्ग हमेशा से अपने निजी फ़ायदे के लिए - खासकर आर्थिक फ़ायदे के लिए - सत्ता का दुरुपयोग करता आ रहा है. रिश्वत लेना और देना, धन-संपत्ति बेईमानी से जमा करना, अपने दोस्तों के हित में काम करना - ये सब तो दशकों से हो रहा है. और मोदी शासन में भी लगातार होता रहा है - किसी व्यक्ति का नाम लेना ज़रूरी नहीं है - आप तो इन्हें जानते हैं - बड़े बड़े पद पर बैठे हैं. पर मोदी सरकार की बेईमानी और सत्ता के दुरुपयोग की कोई सीमा नज़र नहीं आती है. जिस तरह नागरिकों के साथ यह सरकार लगातार धोका-धड़ी करती आ रही है, वह अभूतपूर्व है. आप खुद फ़ैसला कीजिए - क्या मोदी सरकार भारत के इतिहास में सब से भ्रष्ट सरकार है?
[यह पोस्ट पहला नरेंद्र मोदी फ़ैक्ट्स पर प्रकाशित हुआ. आपको पसंद आया तो शेयर कीजिए.]
मोदी सरकार अपने फ़ायदे के लिए बेईमानी करने में माहिर है. उदाहरण इतने हैं कि उनमें से चुनना मुश्किल हो जाता है.
आम जनता तक सूचना और तथ्य पहुँचने ही नहीं चाहिए. सामूहिक हिंसा (लिंचिंग) जैसे महत्वपूर्ण मुद्दों के आंकड़ों को दबा देती है यह सरकार[2]. आर्थिक आंकड़ों के साथ भी खेल खेलती है[3] - अर्थव्यवस्था के बारे में संसद में झूठ बोलने से हिचकिचाती नहीं[4]. इसके साथ ही नागरिकों से सूचना का अधिकार छीनने में लगी है[5]. बस उनके प्रचार प्रसार तंत्र द्वारा फैलायी गई झूठी खबरें लोगों तक पहुँचनी चाहिए.
सूचना की बात करें तो एक प्रकार की सूचना लोकतंत्र में बहुत ही अहम है: सरकार को कौन पैसे दे रहा है? इस सवाल का जवाब छिपाने के लिए सरकार ने एक अच्छा तरीका निकाला: चुनावी बॉन्ड[6]. कौन क्या देता है और बदले में क्या मिलता है, यह अब छिपाया जा सकता है. जनता ना पूछे, “किसका प्रतिनिधित्व कर रही है यह सरकार? किसकी सरकार है यह?”
लोकतंत्र को कमज़ोर करने में लगी हुई है यह सरकार. देश के हर संस्थान में दखल देती है - चुनाव आयोग, मानवाधिकार संस्थाएँ, विश्वविद्यालय, मीडिया, आंकड़े जमा करने वाली संस्थाएँ, सीबीआई, न्यायपालिका, प्रशासनिक सेवा[7]... प्रतिरोध की आवाज़ों को कुचलने में भी व्यस्त है - चाहे कानून के दुरुपयोग से, हिंसा से, या धमकी से[8]. और अब मालूम पड़ रहा है कि स्पाइवेयर का इस्तेमाल करके सरकार के विरोधियों की जासूसी हो रही है[9].
बेईमान सरकार कहती कुछ है, करती कुछ और है. नारे लगाने में अव्वल है. बेटी बचाओ का नारा लगाती है, साथ में बलात्कारियों के समर्थन में सड़कों पर उतर आती है[10, 11, 12]. आतंकवाद के खिलाफ नारेबाजी और आतंकवादियों को बचाने के लिए कड़ी मेहनत[13] - आतंकवाद के अभियुक्त के लिए संसद में भी जगह बनाई सरकार ने[14]. अमरीका जाकर एनआरआई भक्तों के सम्मेलन से मोदी कहता है, "भारत में सब अच्छा है"[15]. जबकि भारत का हर दूसरा बच्चा कुपोषण का शिकार है[16]. शायद एक झूठ को अलग-अलग भाषाओं में दोहराने से वह सच हो जाता है.
हाँ, सच है कि देश का राजनीतिक वर्ग हमेशा से अपने निजी फ़ायदे के लिए - खासकर आर्थिक फ़ायदे के लिए - सत्ता का दुरुपयोग करता आ रहा है. रिश्वत लेना और देना, धन-संपत्ति बेईमानी से जमा करना, अपने दोस्तों के हित में काम करना - ये सब तो दशकों से हो रहा है. और मोदी शासन में भी लगातार होता रहा है - किसी व्यक्ति का नाम लेना ज़रूरी नहीं है - आप तो इन्हें जानते हैं - बड़े बड़े पद पर बैठे हैं. पर मोदी सरकार की बेईमानी और सत्ता के दुरुपयोग की कोई सीमा नज़र नहीं आती है. जिस तरह नागरिकों के साथ यह सरकार लगातार धोका-धड़ी करती आ रही है, वह अभूतपूर्व है. आप खुद फ़ैसला कीजिए - क्या मोदी सरकार भारत के इतिहास में सब से भ्रष्ट सरकार है?
[यह पोस्ट पहला नरेंद्र मोदी फ़ैक्ट्स पर प्रकाशित हुआ. आपको पसंद आया तो शेयर कीजिए.]
Saturday 9 November 2019
Punishing dissent in Modi's India
Here are a few recent instances of people being punished for speaking truth to power. Or just doing their jobs. There are, of course, many many more examples like this.
Government employees... beware of speaking up! (Or even just doing your job.)
Tripura government doctor, Kaushik Chakraborty, was suspended for some social media posts about Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb. Among other things, Dr. Chakraborty tweeted, addressing Deb: "there is no Nobel Prize for speaking nonsense!"[The Wire] If there were such a prize then Deb, who claims there was internet in the days of the Mahabharata, would be a strong contender.[Business Standard] But the competition for the nonsense Nobel Prize would be stiff: union HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal claimed that Ram Setu, the chain of limestone shoals between India and Sri Lanka, was built by Indian engineers.[Newslaundry]
Chennai Doordarshan official, R Vasumathi, was suspended for refusing to telecast a speech by the dear leader live.[The News Minute] At the cost of her job she gave DD viewers a much needed break. Her actions score 10 out of 10 for courage!
Department of Telecommunications (DoT) official, Ashish Joshi, was suspended for filing a complaint about a hate filled video posted by BJP MLA Kapil Mishra[The Wire]. Mishra is a well known hate monger and his most recent tweet compared Muslim children to pollution.[NDTV] The DoT claims he was expelled because he filed his complaint on letter headed paper!
Indian Forest Service officer Kallol Biswas was sacked after serving notices to a Karnataka BJP leader Gali Janardhana Reddy whose mining activities allegedly crossed permitted boundaries.[Deccan Herald]
Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa was a dissenting voice on several controversial decisions where the EC gave clean chits to Narendra Modi's campaign. By a strange coincidence, the Income Tax department is now probing his wife's income.[The Wire]
Teachers and students... be careful what you say (especially about Kashmir)!
JNU PhD student and Kashmiri activist Shehla Rashid was booked for sedition - and other crimes - for her tweets about the human rights situation in Kashmir after the revocation of Article 370.[The Wire]
Hindutva activists forced the suspension of UP headmaster Furqan Ali because his students recited in morning assembly the poem Lab pe aati hai dua by Muhammad Iqbal, author of Saare Jahan Se Accha.[Newsclick] Students at his school - Hindu and Muslim - walked out of their classes in protest and later officials said that the suspension would be revoked.[The Wire] Here is what some of his students said, according to the Indian Express: "When we read this poem in our Urdu book, we liked it and asked our headmaster permission to recite it. Both Hindu and Muslim students had asked him. He does not say no to us. And he allowed us to sing this poem on alternate days... We used to recite lab pe aati hai dua and woh shakti humein do dayanidhi. If he has been suspended for allowing us to recite the poem, then it is also the government's fault for making it part of our syllabus. Does that mean this government should be suspended?"[Indian Express]
Madhumita Ray, an assistant professor at a technology institute in Orissa, was sacked immediately and without warning after appearing on TV advocating peace with Pakistan.[The Wire]
Seven UP teachers were suspended for their social media posts. It is worth reading what these teachers were suspended for, to get a sense of how far authoritarianism in Adityanath's UP has gone.[Indian Express]
Six students from socially marginalised backgrounds in a Maharashtra university were suspended for writing to the PM complaining about mob lynchings, the clampdown in Kashmir, and the sell-off of public assets. The suspensions were revoked, perhaps in response to the publicity the case received.[Newsclick],[The Wire]
Four Kashmiri students at Aligarh Muslim University were served show-cause notices for raising slogans about atrocities by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir after the revocation of Article 370.[The Wire]
Kiruba Mohan, an Ambedkarite postgraduate student activist in Madras University, was expelled. The university claims his expulsion was because he failed to submit some documentation, but activities like protesting against visits by BJP leaders seem a more plausible explanation.[Indian Express] The student filed a case against the administration in the Madras High Court.[Edexlive]
Judges and police... beware of your decisions
Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, V. K. Tahilramani, was one of India's most senior judges. In 2017, while Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, she upheld life imprisonment sentences of 11 people convicted in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case during the Gujarat violence of 2002. The Supreme Court Collegium - which figures in the next incident too - recently made the decision to transfer her to Meghalaya. They refused to reconsider and she resigned in protest. After a backlash, including a strike by lawyers in Chennai, the authorities spread around a variety of reasons for her transfer. But her courage in punishing Hindutva violence seems the most likely reason.[Frontline]
It is not so long ago that Amit Shah was a triple murder accused: as far as the CBI were concerned he was essentially the head of an organised crime syndicate.[Reuters] Justice Akil Kureshi has the distinction of having sent Amit Shah to police custody - yes, you read that right - for Shah's role in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter. Currently the most senior judge in the Gujarat High Court, Kureshi was due to be appointed as chief justice of the MP High Court, but at the Modi government's insistence, the Supreme Court Collegium changed its recommendation to chief justice of the Tripura high court.[The Wire] This downgrade may not be enough to please the powerful enemies Kureshi made.[The Telegraph]
Earlier this year, another person punished for having had the courage to act against a powerful BJP leader was IPS officer Jasvir Singh. He was suspended after giving an interview to the media in which he claimed he had been sidelined ever since booking Yogi Adityanath under the NSA in 2002.[Newsclick]
And journalists... do not humiliate Adityanath!
Journalist Prashant Kanojia was arrested for sharing on social media a video in which a woman alleged that she had been in a relationship with Adityanath. According to the BBC, six people were arrested for tweets about Adityanath in three days.[BBC]
Five journalists were booked by police for reporting on how a Dalit family was allegedly prevented from drawing water from a hand pump in a UP village.[India Today] It seems that reporting on caste discrimination equates to provoking caste enmity.
The poor treatment of (poor) children in UP schools figures in two further recent cases. A case was filed against UP journalist Pawan Kumar Jaiswal who took a video of primary school children eating rotis with salt as their midday meal.[NDTV]. And UP journalist Santosh Jaiswal was arrested after he photographed students mopping the floor of their school.[The Wire]
[This post first appeared on the news pages of Narendramodifacts on October 29th 2019. If you like it, please share it.]
Government employees... beware of speaking up! (Or even just doing your job.)
Tripura government doctor, Kaushik Chakraborty, was suspended for some social media posts about Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb. Among other things, Dr. Chakraborty tweeted, addressing Deb: "there is no Nobel Prize for speaking nonsense!"[The Wire] If there were such a prize then Deb, who claims there was internet in the days of the Mahabharata, would be a strong contender.[Business Standard] But the competition for the nonsense Nobel Prize would be stiff: union HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal claimed that Ram Setu, the chain of limestone shoals between India and Sri Lanka, was built by Indian engineers.[Newslaundry]
Chennai Doordarshan official, R Vasumathi, was suspended for refusing to telecast a speech by the dear leader live.[The News Minute] At the cost of her job she gave DD viewers a much needed break. Her actions score 10 out of 10 for courage!
Department of Telecommunications (DoT) official, Ashish Joshi, was suspended for filing a complaint about a hate filled video posted by BJP MLA Kapil Mishra[The Wire]. Mishra is a well known hate monger and his most recent tweet compared Muslim children to pollution.[NDTV] The DoT claims he was expelled because he filed his complaint on letter headed paper!
Indian Forest Service officer Kallol Biswas was sacked after serving notices to a Karnataka BJP leader Gali Janardhana Reddy whose mining activities allegedly crossed permitted boundaries.[Deccan Herald]
Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa was a dissenting voice on several controversial decisions where the EC gave clean chits to Narendra Modi's campaign. By a strange coincidence, the Income Tax department is now probing his wife's income.[The Wire]
Teachers and students... be careful what you say (especially about Kashmir)!
JNU PhD student and Kashmiri activist Shehla Rashid was booked for sedition - and other crimes - for her tweets about the human rights situation in Kashmir after the revocation of Article 370.[The Wire]
Hindutva activists forced the suspension of UP headmaster Furqan Ali because his students recited in morning assembly the poem Lab pe aati hai dua by Muhammad Iqbal, author of Saare Jahan Se Accha.[Newsclick] Students at his school - Hindu and Muslim - walked out of their classes in protest and later officials said that the suspension would be revoked.[The Wire] Here is what some of his students said, according to the Indian Express: "When we read this poem in our Urdu book, we liked it and asked our headmaster permission to recite it. Both Hindu and Muslim students had asked him. He does not say no to us. And he allowed us to sing this poem on alternate days... We used to recite lab pe aati hai dua and woh shakti humein do dayanidhi. If he has been suspended for allowing us to recite the poem, then it is also the government's fault for making it part of our syllabus. Does that mean this government should be suspended?"[Indian Express]
Madhumita Ray, an assistant professor at a technology institute in Orissa, was sacked immediately and without warning after appearing on TV advocating peace with Pakistan.[The Wire]
Seven UP teachers were suspended for their social media posts. It is worth reading what these teachers were suspended for, to get a sense of how far authoritarianism in Adityanath's UP has gone.[Indian Express]
Six students from socially marginalised backgrounds in a Maharashtra university were suspended for writing to the PM complaining about mob lynchings, the clampdown in Kashmir, and the sell-off of public assets. The suspensions were revoked, perhaps in response to the publicity the case received.[Newsclick],[The Wire]
Four Kashmiri students at Aligarh Muslim University were served show-cause notices for raising slogans about atrocities by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir after the revocation of Article 370.[The Wire]
Kiruba Mohan, an Ambedkarite postgraduate student activist in Madras University, was expelled. The university claims his expulsion was because he failed to submit some documentation, but activities like protesting against visits by BJP leaders seem a more plausible explanation.[Indian Express] The student filed a case against the administration in the Madras High Court.[Edexlive]
Judges and police... beware of your decisions
Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, V. K. Tahilramani, was one of India's most senior judges. In 2017, while Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, she upheld life imprisonment sentences of 11 people convicted in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case during the Gujarat violence of 2002. The Supreme Court Collegium - which figures in the next incident too - recently made the decision to transfer her to Meghalaya. They refused to reconsider and she resigned in protest. After a backlash, including a strike by lawyers in Chennai, the authorities spread around a variety of reasons for her transfer. But her courage in punishing Hindutva violence seems the most likely reason.[Frontline]
It is not so long ago that Amit Shah was a triple murder accused: as far as the CBI were concerned he was essentially the head of an organised crime syndicate.[Reuters] Justice Akil Kureshi has the distinction of having sent Amit Shah to police custody - yes, you read that right - for Shah's role in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter. Currently the most senior judge in the Gujarat High Court, Kureshi was due to be appointed as chief justice of the MP High Court, but at the Modi government's insistence, the Supreme Court Collegium changed its recommendation to chief justice of the Tripura high court.[The Wire] This downgrade may not be enough to please the powerful enemies Kureshi made.[The Telegraph]
Earlier this year, another person punished for having had the courage to act against a powerful BJP leader was IPS officer Jasvir Singh. He was suspended after giving an interview to the media in which he claimed he had been sidelined ever since booking Yogi Adityanath under the NSA in 2002.[Newsclick]
And journalists... do not humiliate Adityanath!
Journalist Prashant Kanojia was arrested for sharing on social media a video in which a woman alleged that she had been in a relationship with Adityanath. According to the BBC, six people were arrested for tweets about Adityanath in three days.[BBC]
Five journalists were booked by police for reporting on how a Dalit family was allegedly prevented from drawing water from a hand pump in a UP village.[India Today] It seems that reporting on caste discrimination equates to provoking caste enmity.
The poor treatment of (poor) children in UP schools figures in two further recent cases. A case was filed against UP journalist Pawan Kumar Jaiswal who took a video of primary school children eating rotis with salt as their midday meal.[NDTV]. And UP journalist Santosh Jaiswal was arrested after he photographed students mopping the floor of their school.[The Wire]
[This post first appeared on the news pages of Narendramodifacts on October 29th 2019. If you like it, please share it.]
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