Skip to main content

Ram Kathakar Murari Bapu forgets Nayi Azadi secured in 1977 is being snatched away once more

Counterview Desk
Gautam Thaker, General Secretary, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Gujarat, has shot an open letter to Morari Babu, well known story teller on Lord Ram. Text:
Due to your certain statements during religious discourses - Ram Katha - Manas Shankar, held last month at Kedar Nath, I felt surprised and shocked. Of course as a citizen of India, you have a right to say what you want to.
However, in the context of your emphatic utterances that the current, three years' regime of Indian government is the best, and free from scams and corruption, I, as a citizen, am prompted to write this letter.
I have been bred and molded out of the anti-corruption agitation by Jayprakash Narayan launched in the year 1974. I have thoroughly assimilated and digested the ideology of Jayprakash Narayan, Gandhi-Sarvodaya and the philosopher M.N. Roy, for over 40 years. Hence, I cannot assent to ideology of any of the present political party. This clarification is necessitated just to prove that this letter is not written as a spokesman of any political outfit.
In the context of your assertions that during the last three years, there have not been any scam, corruption or financial malpractices, my averment is that, to probe into that, various provisions have been made in the Constitution consisting mainly of agencies such as Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), Vigilance Commissioner, Public Accounts Committee, Public Undertakings Committee, Information Commissioner, and clear mention is made of role of the respective agency.
All these agencies by their investigative analysis, probe into charges of corruption and financial frauds.
Now I would like to inform you about Indian government's regime, that neither all these agencies have been vested with full powers nor adequate officers are recruited during these three years. Especially if one looks at the report of the CAG then one feels that CAG has unearthed many irregularities. In short, if you go through the last three years' reports of these agencies then it shall be clearly evident that there is no 'Good Governance' in the country.
Civil liberties and human rights activists like us apprehend that "New Independence" (Nayi Azadi) in 1977 which was secured, is going to be snatched away once more. Democratic values, fundamental rights, freedom of speech, expression and press and independence are gradually annihilated. During last three years, civil liberties, fundamental rights and human rights are visible nowhere.
Freedom for peaceful, non-violent, collective resistance or for demonstration has also been grabbed away through suppression and excesses by the police. Violation and breach of various human rights of the dalits, weaker section, down-trodden and deprived masses are seriously tangible during these years. It is quite well known that Gandhiji had struggled for their cause, all throughout his life.
Gandhiji and Jayprakash Narayan maintained that a human being should also have liberty. Man's life is incomplete, handicapped and atrophied without the liberty. Present rulers have not proffered liberty to the people. To talk of rights of minority is quite out of place. Hence, how can one call it 'Good Governance'?
Social worker Anna Hazare had spearheaded a massive agitation in the year 2010 at Delhi, for appointment of a Lokpal, and based on that, Lokpal Act was passed on January, 16, 2014. In support of it, present rulers had stood together to extend all out support but even after lapse of three years since the NDA regime has come to power, appointment of Lokpal has not been made.
The rulers are afraid that if appointment of Lokpal or Lok-Ayukta is made then they may be shunted out of power and that their corruption may get exposed. If the government makes appointment of these two, then their corruption or financial malpractices may get exposed. The Supreme Court had to reprimand the Govt. on this matter.
Much more can be written or brought to light about the ruling Govt. but only six points given below, appear to be of relevance and importance.
All the steps aimed at employment generation have turned out to be hopeless. As against assurance of one crore jobs, hardly 2.13 lakh jobs created in the year 2016. There is also
  • Complete failure on the front of women's security
  • Failure in checking or controlling inflation. Unbearable rise in the prices of food grains and essential commodities, hitting hard, middle-class and poor people
  • Failure on the front of foreign policy, resulting into obstinate, arrogant stand by Pakistan, China and other countries
  • Failure in establishing peace in Kashmir
  • Flop-show of Demonetization plan. 
Issues of black money, corruption, terrorism, counterfeit currency notes have remained as they were before.
So much has been written but veracity of all that can be vouchsafed by a learned man and political analyst like Nagindas Sanghvi (Nagin-Bapa) who is with you and he can very well do so. Please excuse me if any thing improper has been mentioned in the above.

Comments

TRENDING

'Enough evidence' in Indian tradition to support legal basis for same-sex marriage

By Iyce Malhotra, Joseph Mathai, Sandeep Chachra*  The ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage provides space for much-needed conversations on issues that have hitherto remained “invisible” or engaged with patriarchal locker room humour. We must recognize that people with diverse sexualities and complex gender identities have faced discrimination, stigma and decades of oppression. Their issues have mainly remained buried in dominant social discourse, and many view them with deep insecurities.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Victim of communal violence, Christians in Manipur want Church leadership to speak up

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ*  The first eleven days of May 2023 have, in many ways, been a defining period of Indian history! Plenty has happened in a rapid-fire stream of events. Ironically, each one of them are indicators of how crimes and the criminalisation of society has become the ‘new norm’; these include, the May Day rallies with a focus on the four labour codes which are patently against the rights of workers; the U S Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its Annual Report on 1 May stating that conditions for religious freedom in India “continued to worsen in 2022”; the continued protest by the Indian women wrestlers at Jantar Mantar for the expulsion of the chief of the Indian Wrestlers Federation on very serious allegations; the Elections in Karnataka on 10 May (with communalism and corruption as the mainstay); the release of the fake, derogative and insensitive film ‘The Kerala Story’; the release of World Free Press Index on 3 May which places India

Polygamy in India "down" in 45 yrs: Muslims' from 5.7 to 2.55%, Hindus' 5.8 to 1.77%, "common" in SCs, STs

By Rajiv Shah Amidst All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) justifying polygamy, saying it “meets social and moral needs and the provision for it stems from concern and sympathy for women”, facts suggest the the practice is down from 5.7 per cent of Muslim families in 1961 to 2.55 per cent in 2006.

India joining US sponsored trade pillar to hurt Indian farmers, 'promote' GM seeds, food

Counterview Desk  As many as 32 civil society organisations (CSOs), in a letter to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and India joining the trade pillar, have said that its provisions will allow the US to ensure a more favourable regulatory regime “for enhancing its exports of genetically modified (GM) seeds and GM food”, underlining, it will “significantly hurt the livelihoods of Indian farmers.”

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam*  The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

Modi govt 'wholly untrustworthy' on Covid data, censored criticism on pandemic: Lancet

By Rajiv Shah*   One of the world’s most prestigious health journals, brought out from England, has sharply criticised the Narendra Modi government for being “wholly untrustworthy on Covid-19 health data”, stating, the “official government figures place deaths at more than 530 000, while WHO excess death estimates for 2020 and 2021 are near 4·7 million.”

Undermining law, breastfeeding? Businesses 'using' celebrities to promote baby food

By Rajiv Shah*  A report prepared by the top child welfare NGO, Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI), has identified as many as 15 offenders allegedly violating the Indian baby food law, the Infant Milk Substitutes Feeding Bottles, and Infant Foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act 1992, and Amendment Act 2003 (IMS Act), stating, compliance with the law “seems to be dwindling by the day.”

Delhi demolitions for G-20 summit: Whither sabka saath, sabka vikas?, asks NAPM

By Our Representative  Well-known civil rights network, National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), even as expressing solidarity with “thousands of traumatized residents of Tughlakabad and some other bastis in New Delhi whose homes have been demolished and whose lives have been ravaged both prior to as well as in the lead-up to the G-20 Summit”, has said this is in utter disregard to “their minimum well-being and gross violation of their rights.”