Dalit, Patel agitation "shadow" over Vibrant Gujarat roadshows in Australia: Delegation considers issue "relevant"

Pankaj Kumar during roadshow in Australia

By A Representative
Social unrest, especially Dalit and Patel agitations, in Gujarat is beginning to find resonance abroad, with clear danger looming large over the powers-that-be that if the state government fails to handle them, these might vitiate the high-profile Vibrant Gujarat global investors' summit, planned for January 11-12, 2017.
First indications of this were available during the road shows organized by the Gujarat government in Australia, where senior Gujarat cadre IAS bureaucrat Pankaj Kumar has gone in order to elicit support for the biennial event. Beginning his roadshows in Mebourne on August 1, his plans included visiting Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane.
Known to close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kumar served in the chief minister's office (CMO) when Modi was chief minister. Begun as biennial event in 2003 by Modi as part of his effort to divert world attention from 2002 Gujarat riots, Vibrant Gujarat summits have been biennial events meant to highlight the state's "business-friendly" atmosphere.
During his road shows, say reports, sharp questions were posed to Kumar about whether the latest round of “social unrest” would affect Gujarat's business friendly image. Members of the delegation, which included prominent businessmen, agreed that the questions were “relevant” and needed to be answered.
While Kumar's presentation on Vibrant Gujarat focused on clean energy, clean technologies, mining and mining technologies, education, sports and sports technologies, research, design and financial services, a sharp question on social unrest from the invitees, who included Australian businessmen and consultants, took the Gujarat delegation aback.
“South Asia Times”, a prominent non-resident Indian (NRI) journal from Melbourne, reports in its news portal that during the question-answer session, Kumar was asked “about ‘social unrest’ in Gujarat and its effect on the business atmosphere in the state.”
While not denying that there was social unrest, Kumar reportedly insisted, “The Gujaratis have business in their blood and these things do not effect business”.
The portal comments, “The obvious reference was to the recent Patidar (Patel) and Dalit agitations in the state which, many media reports indicate, question the credibility of the current chief minister to handle them, in the light of coming state elections in Punjab and Utter Pradesh.”
Kumar is in Australia when Gujarat got further focus following the resignation of Anandiben Patel as the Gujarat chief minister, the portal indicates. Reflecting the view of NRIs in Australia, it says, “Some suspect, infighting within the ruling party (BJP) is playing a big role in Anandiben’s decision to quit.”
Anandiben declared her decision to resign a day after massive Dalit rally took place in Ahmedabad to protest against atrocities on Dalits, the July 11 Una incident, in which four Dalit youths were brutally beaten up after being tied to an SUV for suspicion of beef eating, even though they were skinning a dead cow, a hereditary caste occupation.
The top portal quotes a member of the delegation under Kumar, Manjula Pooja Shroff of Ahmedabad's Calorx Group, which has interests in education, real estate, hospitality and finance, has been quoted as saying the “question” raised on social unrest was “relevant”, though hastening to add, “But things are not as bad as it is sought to be projected.”
The Melbourne roadshow was addressed by Austrialia-India Business Council (AIBC) chairperson Sheba Nandkeolyar, who told the Gujarat delegation on how to form a “meaningful business alliances in Australia.”
The event was also addressed by Stephen Manallack, President AIBC Victoria Chapter; Manika Jain, consul-general of India in Melbourne; Amanda Pickrell a Victoria government representative, and Deepak Goyal, representing the top consulting firm KPMG, which organized the trip.

Comments

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Sardar Patel was on Nathuram Godse's hit list: Noted Marathi writer Sadanand More

Sadanand More (right) By A Representative In a surprise revelation, well-known Gujarati journalist Hari Desai has claimed that Nathuram Godse did not just kill Mahatma Gandhi, but also intended to kill Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Citing a voluminous book authored by Sadanand More, “Lokmanya to Mahatma”, Volume II, translated from Marathi into English last year, Desai says, nowadays, there is a lot of talk about conspiracy to kill Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, but little is known about how the Sardar was also targeted.

Bihar’s land at ₹1 per acre for Adani sparks outrage, NAPM calls it crony capitalism

By A Representative The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) has strongly condemned the Bihar government’s decision to lease 1,050 acres of land in Pirpainti, Bhagalpur district, to Adani Power for a 2,400 MW coal-based thermal power project.

Counterview

Search This Blog