Tehelka TP 31 DEC 2021

TEHELKA SPECIAL: HOW A GROUNDSWELL OF SUPPORT KEPT THE PROTESTING FARMERS GOING 26
DECEMBER 31, 2021
Ground Zero Report
ANTI-AFSPA VOICES
BECOME LOUDER
IN NORTHEAST
Unprovoked firing by the Army upon a pick-up
vehicle resulting in the death of 15 civilians in
Nagaland’s Mon district has caused widespread
anger and outrage. 10
PROBE ON TO UNRAVEL THE DESERTIONS CONTINUE TO

MYSTERY BEHIND CRASH PLAGUE CONG AS PARTY’S 12
THAT KILLED GEN RAWAT 20 MLAs JOIN TMC IN MEGHALAYA 30
TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

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Editor’s Note
Nagaland Civilian killings: Need

to end impunity for justice
THE FORTNIGHT BEFORE the year end has been ment against security forces.
very tumultuous. India lost its first Chief of De- Notwithstanding the logic provided by the gov-
fence Staff, Gen Bipin Rawat along with 12 others ernment and the Armed forces, the unfortunate in-
in a helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu. cident obviously is the result of complete impunity
It was during this fortnight that the farmers called provided to the armed forces under the AFSPA. The
off their year-long agitation at Delhi borders after Act currently remains in force in Assam, Nagaland,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi unexpectedly con- Manipur, three districts of Arunachal Pradesh, and
ceded their main demands. It was also during this areas falling within the jurisdiction of eight police
fortnight that the death of 15 civilians in firing by se- stations of the State bordering Assam. The Naga-
curity forces in Nagaland sparked outrage not only land Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio and Meghalaya
in the Northeast but all across the country. Chief Minister Conrad Sangma have immediately
Tehelka in the current issue has extensively cov- demanded repeal of this Act. There is a need to un-
ered all these events. Our cover story this time is derstand that AFSPA must be brought to a halt and
the Ground Zero Report from Nagaland. It is clear the long-pending demand for its repeal acceded to
now that the tip-off about the likely movement of before the Act breeds political anger.
insurgents was half-baked, if not downright mis- Priority should be to ensure that the tragedy
leading. In no case, bad intelligence gathering can does not escalate into any further violence and in-
be a justification for killing of innocents. stability in Nagaland. The incident has the potential
The Army has ordered a Court of Inquiry, while to spoil the bonhomie and the fragile Naga peace
the Nagaland government has set up a Special In- talks between the Government and the National So-
vestigation Team to unravel the truth. There is a cialist Council of Nagalim. A high-level political in-
need to conclude the investigation rapidly to pro- tervention is required at this juncture. Prime Min-
vide healing touch to the hurt feelings. However, ister Narendra Modi may want to consider a visit to
it is a sad reminder that past inquiries have not Nagaland, with a message of regret about what hap-
inspired much confidence because no security per- pened and reassurance that it won’t happen again
sonnel under the AFSPA has till date been charged to restore civilians’ faith in security forces. This will
for killing civilians. Jammu and Kashmir is an ex- strengthen political credibility and show genuine
ample where during the past over two decades, the remorse.
Centre has not given prosecution sanction under
AFSPA in cases recommended by the State govern- CHARANJIT AHUJA
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Congress turns the job scam heat on Khattar govt
Haryana’s main opposition party decides to corner the govt over recently exposed job scam in the HPSC
18
7/ POLITICS/OPPOSITION 39/ INFRASTRUCTURE/ENERGY
Didi’s outburst against Cong Ladakh’s power woes

WB Chief Minister Mamata A demonstration project on
Banerjee may have jumped the gun space heating using geothermal
in questioning the existence of UPA energy kindles Ladakhis’ hope
22/ ART/INITIATIVE 42/ POLITICS/OPINION

Rescuing the Dhokra art Double standards galore
Bastar admn takes steps to help Why Muslims can’t react despite
Dhokra artisans command right being more than aware of the
price for their products prevailing realities
24/ CORPORATE/HIERARCHY 50 /VANITY FAIR/GLAMORATI
Nair joins the bandwagon Kriti shoots for ‘Shehzada’

With Leena Nair named Global After wrapping up the shoot for her
CEO of Chanel, more Indians movie Ganapath, the actor has now
climb to the top kickstarted her next project
COVER DESIGN VIKRAM NONGMAITHEM TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

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Letters tehelkaletters@gmail.com
HYDERPORA ENCOUNTER: J-K GOVT’S POLICY TO NOT RETURN DEAD BODIES DRAWS FIRE 20
Prime Minister’s gesture a law is passed in Parliament

DECEMBER 15, 2021
needs to be commended It also reaffirms the need to
With reference to the report “Climbdown on consult all stakeholders before a
Farm Laws” by Mudit Mathur (December 15)
law is passed in Parliament.
The PM’s announcement to
ASHA MEHTA
repeal the three agriculture
laws is a welcome move. I will
PM’s retreat proves politics
CLIMBDOWN not devalue the strength of the
is all about polls after all
ON FARM LAWS unity of the farmers by saying With reference to the report “Electoral compul-
PM’s surprise move to spike three that the government made the sions behind Modi’s retreat” by Anil Singh
(December 15)
contentious farm laws fails to end the
logjam between protesting farmers decision with an eye on gaining
and the government 8
political dividends in the forth- The PM’s announcement of the

coming Assembly elections. It repeal of the contentious farm
goes to the credit of the farmers laws is a victory for the agitat-
that they kept the agitation ing farmers. However the fact
peaceful largely. remains that politics is all about
The farmers have also dem- polls and can’t be overlooked.
PROPOSED
CRYPTOCURRENCY
BILL KEEPS onstrated to other people on As elections in Punjab and UP
INVESTORS ON
TENTERHOOKS 22
how to protest in the Gandhian near, the BJP needed a course

way to achieve their rightful correction.
1 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
demands. And with the SC staying the

But it must be said that it is implementation, the three farm
laws were as good as dead. The
GOVT CLIMBDOWN IS
a rare gesture for any govern-
ment which has a full majority ordinance route and rushed
VICTORY OF FARMERS in Parliament to eat humble pie
and repeal its own laws, more
passage to parliament was poor
optics.
With reference to the report “Climbdown on Farm Laws” by The greater political threat for
Mudit Mathur (December 15) so from a leader who is not
known to backtrack. The Prime the BJP stemmed from western
The farmers deserve to be Minister must be commended UP where BKU leader Rakesh
commended for running a for his gesture. Tikait was threatening to spread
the stir wider. This revolution will
prolonged agitation unitedly. VIJAY SHANKAR
remain etched in pages of history
They did it despite all kinds of Scrapping of 3 farm laws of Indian politics.
B.S. SODHI
provocations and unsuccessful nothing short of historic
The scrapping of the three farm
attempts to communalise the laws is historic and a result of BJP will reap ‘roll back’
agitation by a certain section of sustained and largely peace- dividends in state polls
ful agitation by the farmers. There were speculations that
the media. before the elections in Punjab
Their success has once again
It is the victory of farmers reaffirmed the power of using and Uttar Pradesh, some con-
crete declaration may appear
who protested patiently while Gandhian methods to wage a
regarding the three contentious
protest against repressive laws.
confronting scorching heat The farmers deserve to be agriculture laws.
and bitter cold and rain. The commended for running a The Government’s decision
prolonged agitation unitedly, is a smart move to reap po-
expectation of the government litical benefits in the upcoming
despite all kinds of provoca-
that the farmers’ agitation would tions and unsuccessful attempts Assembly elections and after
sensing the mood of electorate
fizzle out with the passage of to scuttle the agitation. The
following some setbacks in recent
success of the agitation marks
time went for a toss as they stuck another glorious chapter in by-elections.
to their just demands. They did the world’s largest democracy, Wisdom should have pre-
wherein the will of the people vailed much earlier, which could
not bow down to the violence have avoided embarrassment
prevailed over the arrogance of
unleashed by the government the ruling elite. for the Government and distress
It also reaffirms the need to and suffering for thousands of
consult all stakeholders before protesting farmers.
GANGA NARAYAN RATH VARUN GUPTA

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/TEHELKA @TEHELKA
Opposition should take a rencies in India. the country.

cue from farmers’ agitation The RBI is right to advise Some legal digital currency
With reference to report “An apology vs an Elec- caution, but it should recon- backed by the RBI should be
tion” by Kumkum Chadha (December 15)
sider its move to outrightly ban launched. Accumulated money
The Modi government’s U-turn
private cryptocurrencies. It is can also be used for illegal
on farm laws, dictated by cold
expected that around Rs 40K activities
poll calculation, is just another
crore is invested by Indians in D SETHURAMAN
instance of how shallow our
these private digital curren-
leaders are. We saw a year of
farmers braving the cold, rain
cies. Considering the nature of Biden-Jinping meeting a step
and heat with 700 of them losing
cryptocurrency, restrictions on in the right direction
With reference to the report “Biden, Jinping script
such transactions may end up
their lives, but not a single state- a new power game in contemporary world” by
having the opposite effect, push- Gopal Misra (December 15)
ment by the PM.
ing them beyond the realm of The Biden-Xi meeting yielded little
The lesson is that laws en-
scrutiny and making it harder to concrete results, but it is still an
acted by brute majority cannot
enforce the law in case of felony. important step in stabilizing rela-
be implemented without the
The government should not tions between the two countries.
involvement and the coopera-
make the mistake of ramming US-China relations came to a near
tion of the people.
this legislation through without total breakdown during the final
The Opposition must follow
detailed discussions like it did in year of Prez Donald Trump’s term.
the farmers’ strategy in fight-
the case of the three farm laws. And though Monday’s virtual
ing against wrong policies. The
astonishing unity among the
HEMRAJ GOYAL summit between the two leaders
farmers in carrying out their saw no substantive policy on key
The Bill on cryptocurrency is issues such as climate, trade, the
protests braving the sun, rain,
expected to clear the decks for pandemic, or arms control, it did
violence and deaths is what
ushering in a framework for the establish a dialogue that can be
made an authoritarian dispen-
introduction of digital currency built on, potentially easing ten-
sation bow down.
that is to be issued by the RBI. sions -- and allowing for a return
M JEYARAM
The move was preceded by RBI to a more constructive, stable
Governor rightly raising his relationship.
Govt should avoid rushing
concern. US-China ties have been rocky
Cryptocurrency Bill
With reference to the report “Proposed crypto- It is a good step as these in the past few years, with both
currency bill keeps investors on edge” by Anil currencies are not backed by sides clashing on issues ranging
Manocha (December 15)
any sovereign regulatory bank. from policies on trade to the origin
While the Bill on cryptocur-
If the same money was routed of the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s good
rency is a good move on the part
through a sovereign bank, such that the two leaders met. Things
of government, the fly in the
huge amount of money could be can only get better from here.
ointment is the govt’s intention
used in enhancing the GDP of SATISH KUKREJA
to prohibit all private cryptocur-
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COLUMN
Did Mamata overstep

the line in sounding
SPOTLIGHT UPA’s death knell?
KUMKUM CHADHA The Congress is the only opposition party that has a national footprint
and whatever the TMC’s feats may be, it still has a distance to cover. A
W
giant leap ahead of time may not be prudent for Banerjee
Kumkum is a political
journalist known for her ith West Bengal Chief Capital, New Delhi, Banerjee had skipped
no holds barred writings. Minister Mamata Baner- meeting Congress chief Mrs. Sonia Gan-
An author of several books, jee dishing out a shocker dhi: “It is not constitutionally mandated”
her latest “The Marigold announcing the demise she had said when asked why she did
Story: Indira Gandhi and of the Congress-led not meet the Congress President. Even if
Others”won critical United Progressive Alliance or the UPA as the battle lines were, then, a bit hazy, her
acclaim. Conferred several it is better known, a section of the Opposi- sounding UPA’s death knell has deepened
awards for fearless writings, tion is in a tizzy. The UPA, Banerjee had the political divide.
Kumkum also served on said, was virtually non-existent. Banerjee, it may be recalled, was a
the National Committee on The Congress’ coalition partners in Ma- constituent of the UPA when it was in
Jail Reforms harashtra, namely the Shiv Sena and the power between 2004 and 2014. She even
NCP, who Banerjee met during her recent served as Union Railways Minister during
visit to Mumbai, were in a bind because of Dr Manmohan Singh’s tenure as Prime
this outburst. Minister.
For the uninitiated, after a meeting Till 1998, she was part of the Congress
with Nationalist Congress Party’s Chief before she broke away to form the Trina-
Sharad Pawar, Banerjee had said: “What is mool Congress. At heart, she remained in-
UPA? There is no UPA?”. grained in the Congress ideology. She also
Earlier during her visit to the national enjoyed a special rapport with Congress
chief Mrs Sonia Gandhi.
However, of late the relation-
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee ship between the Congress and
with NCP chief Sharad Pawar the TMC has hit an all-time low.
The TMC has unabashedly wel-
comed well- known Congress
faces into its fold, particularly
Rahul Gandhi’s loyalists.
The Congress is crying foul
alleging large scale poach-
ing by the TMC that has not
confined itself to the home state.
If anything, it has extended its
footprint even in the north. This
is because Banerjee is now look-
ing beyond Bengal and there-
fore the need to rope in leaders
from states like Uttar Pradesh,
Goa, Haryana, Bihar and still
counting.
Apart from Sushmita Dev,
Mukul Sangma, both from the

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Sushmita Dev and Mukul Sangma Minister’s post to his bete noire Ashok
with TMC leader Derek O’Brien Gehlot.
Internal politics apart, this time
around, the Congress is pitched against
an ally turned foe: the diminutive
street fighter Mamata Banerjee who
is in a tearing hurry to unite anti-BJP
forces.
Immediately after her win, she
had signaled the need for Opposition
parties to come together to take on the
BJP. And she had made it clear that the
Time starts now.
In August this year, a few weeks
into the TMC’s spectacular win in her
home state West Bengal, Banerjee had
said: “Nothing can be done by a doctor
who comes after the patient has died.
The patient can be saved if treatment is
given on time. Now is your Time”.
Even while she sounded the Op-
position unity bugle, Banerjee was
unwilling to wait and watch. It is her
north east, the most notable induc- DNA to act and once she makes up
tions are from Uttar Pradesh wherein her mind then she pursues the course
the Tripathis have joined Banerjee’s
bandwagon.
Apart from irrespective whether others join in or
not. In this sense, she is kind of an akela
It is pertinent to point out that Dev Sushmita Dev, cholo or a solo politician. She can seek
was considered as part of Rahul Gan-
dhi’s “inner circle”. The Tripathis, on the Mukul Sangma, camaraderie but if it does not come
her way, so be it.
other hand, have had a long associa- both from the Nothing demonstrates this better
tion with the Gandhi family.
The erstwhile Railway Minister, north east, the than what she said recently: “What
do we do if one is not fighting? ...If
Kamlapati Tripathi, was Mrs In- most notable somebody is afraid, if they cannot take
dira Gandhi’s closest advisers and his
daughter-in-law Chandra Tripathi, too, inductions a decision, they just waste time and al-
low the BJP to become more and more
bonded well with her. The relationship
continued till Rajeshpati and his son
are from Uttar powerful… we will not allow that. We
are watching for the last six to eight
Laliteshpati, quit to join the TMC. Pradesh wherein years, but if somebody is not coming
Earlier Jyotiraditya Scindia had quit
the Congress. It is another matter that
the Tripathis have out openly, then somebody (else) has
to bell the cat,” Banerjee said. Even
he chose to join the BJP instead of the joined Banerjee’s though she did not name the Congress,
TMC. But when Scindia broke away,
the TMC was not in the reckoning.
bandwagon. the inference was clear.
Equally, when she referred to “holi-
Today, Scindia is a Union Minister, with days abroad” she did not name Rahul
the coveted Civil Aviation portfolio. Gandhi but it was clear that she was
Apart from recording a mere Gandhi siblings were also personally referring to Gandhi’s sudden, secret
sequence of events, it is important to close. and mysterious holidays at the drop
underline the fact that the Gandhis This perhaps is the reason why Jy- of a hat.
have given a short-shrift to people who otiraditya Scindia did not raise a ban- The Gandhi scion is known to be
have stood by them through thick and ner of revolt when he was upstaged abroad during crucial times including
thin. In fact, if Scindia could leave then by Kamalnath for the office of Madhya the farmers protests and the Congress’
anyone can. Pradesh Chief Minister. This was quite 136thFoundation Day celebrations:
Apart from the association going unlike Sachin Pilot who extracted a “You can’t be abroad most of the time.
back to Jyotiraditya’s father Mad- pound of flesh and bagged the post of Continuous endeavor is necessary in
havrao, the Scindia scion and the a Deputy while conceding the Chief politics,” Banerjee said during an in-

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POLITICS
teraction with civil society during her In an editorial in its mouthpiece too a spectacular one has given her
controversial Mumbai visit. Saamana, the Shiv Sena said that bigger dreams and there is no reason
One cannot fault Banerjee for being strengthening the UPA is the only why she should let anyone trample
enraged at the Congress’ inertia. What option before the Opposition parties. over them, least of all the Congress.
others can clearly decipher, the leader- The editorial came a few days after Hence the need to reinvent her Party
ship seems ill-equipped to decode. Banerjee’s No UPA remark. and go beyond the Bengal-boundary
There is a large-scale exodus from Technically, Raut is right. The Con- as it were.
the grand old Party, which is not so gress is the only Opposition Party that To be fair to Banerjee, she is not
grand anymore. Those who chose to has a national footprint and whatever suggesting that the united Opposition
stay back are also restless because the Banerjee or the TMC’s feats may be, should be Congress-less. If anything
Party is doing little to assuage feelings they still have a distance to cover. she is advocating a strong alternative
or address concerns. At the macro Banerjee may be in a hurry to do so force: “We want everyone to join the
level, it has failed to comprehend the but a giant leap ahead of Time may be fight,” she is reported to have said. This
challenge posed by the BJP. imprudent. was reiterated by Sharad Pawar who
This is Banerjee’s angst and hence In a Party to Party comparison, the said that the intention is to have a plat-
her outburst because she is unwill- Congress is way ahead and despite the form of “collective leadership”.
ing, and rightly so, to stake her or her TMC trying to enlarge its footprint, it Unlike Pawar, Banerjee’s problem is
Party’s future at the whim and fancy still has a long way to go. that the Congress does not appear to be
of the Congress. Her political upbring- For starters, it would have to shed in the fight. Irrespective of the ground
ing and fiery spirit has taught her to its Bengali Party tag and pitch itself as reality, perception is a crucial factor in
seize the moment and this being the one which is sensitive to the aspira- Indian politics and on that count, the
opportune time she is raring to go. Not tions of the non-Bengali people who Congress is on a weak footing.
the one to mince words, Banerjee has, live outside Banerjee’s home state. For Raut’s other salvo was to declare that
therefore, made her stance and obser- this it would have to adjust its mental he had asked Rahul Gandhi to take the
vations about the Congress and its heir geography. lead in discussing the strategy for the
explicitly clear. Those who are familiar with Ba- 2024 national elections.
Enter Shiv Sena’s trouble-shooter nerjee’s style of functioning are also Even if this is not about leadership,
Sanjay Raut dangling a dramatically aware that even as Union Minister her pitching the Gandhi scion against Ba-
changed script: from No UPA to there national boundaries started and ended nerjee is bad politics. They would never
cannot be any Opposition without the with West Bengal. be on the same page. They think differ-
Congress. Of course the recent win, and that ently and their working styles are poles
apart: Rahul elite and suave while
Banerjee rustic and ordinary: actu-
ally a common person’s version of
what an Indian politician should
be.
Add to this, her street fight-
ing instincts and she can easily
be shaped into a mould which is
perfect to take on Prime Minister
Narendra Modi: the recent West
Bengal elections being a curtain
raiser to the final drama waiting to
pan out in 2024. In this battle of the
giants, Rahul has little place.
It may be too early to project
Banerjee as a national alternative
to BJP’s Modi. But then the elec-
tions are not tomorrow. On the
other hand, Banerjee needs to take
one step at a time rather than pre-
cariously positioning herself at the
edge, from where a premature leap
can prove fatal.
tehelkaletters@gmail.com
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata

Banerjee with Shiv Sena leaders TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00
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Aditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut
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ELECTION 2018
CoverStory
Ground Zero Report

ANTI-AFSPA
VOICES BECOME
LOUDER IN
NORTHEAST
Unprovoked firing by the Army upon a pick-up vehicle
resulting in the death of 15 civilians in Nagaland’s Mon
district has caused widespread anger and outrage ,
reports NAVA THAKURIA

11 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
CoverStory
V
oices against the brutal Armed Forces
Special Powers Act 1958 (AFSPA) were
never thin in northeast India. Years
back, Manipur witnessed massive
uprising against the draconian law
that empowers the security personnel,
engaged in counter insurgency
operations, to act according to their conveniences in
disturbed areas with all impunity from the civilian
courts. T Manorama Devi and Sharmila Irom Channu
emerged as almost deities in the Meitei society during
the uproarious anti-AFSPA situation in the region.
Lately the issue became alive and flashier with
the incident of Oting village in Nagaland, where 14
civilians lost their lives under the complicity of AFSPA.
From local villages to State level organizations, north-
eastern to national and international institutions
have now come forward raising voices against the
six decade old Act urging its urgent repeal and some
putting a unique challenge to the Union government
in New Delhi for implementing the law in terror-
stricken central Indian provinces.
Disturbing news broke from Nagaland’s Mon
district on 4 December 2021, where the security forces
opened fire on a vehicle carrying a group of village
youths from daily work at Tiru valley coal mine. The 21
para-commandos of Indian Army, following an input
about the movement of some armed insurgents in
Tiru-Oting rural area, laid an ambush. Soon the vehicle
of youths arrived there and the security personnel
ordered it to stop. But the vehicle reportedly did not
slow down and so they fired at it suspecting that
insurgents were travelling in it.
Six passengers inside the vehicle died on the spot
and two were seriously injured. Soon after realizing
the mistake that no passenger was carrying any
arms or ammunition, the security personnel took the
injured villagers to a nearby hospital. But the incident
created massive uproars among the villagers and they
even targeted the security forces in different places.
Within two days, eight other villagers were killed in
the protest demonstrations whereas one Assam Rifles
soldier also lost his life. Residents of Oting, which
lost 12 villagers in the series of incidents, came out
under the apex body of tribes (Konyak Union) with
the strong demand to revoke AFSPA immediately.
Joining the chorus of civil society groups, human
rights organizations, political party leaders of the
region besides Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio
and his Meghalaya counterpart (Conrad K Sangma)
also demanded its repeal.
Paying tributes to the victims, Rio made a strong
statement against the AFSPA. Rio termed the Oting
killings as a clear example of misuse and abuse of
AFSPA. Condoling the demise of 14 Konyak villagers,
he urged the people to remain restrained and said that

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UNREST

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CoverStory
it was the time to defeat ferocity with non-violence. apology from him alleging that the Union home
Meghalaya CM Sangma, even though the AFSPA minister misinformed the Parliament about the
is not enforced in his State, also called its repeal and Oting massacre. Shah has to clarify, apologise and
stated that he would personally take up the issue with ask for forgiveness from the Konyak people and the
the Union ministry. Sangma said in a clear voice that residents of Nagaland, it stated in a media release. It
the Mon incident proves that there is no place for went ahead urging Shah to understand the meaning
AFSPA in today’s society. of an ambush first. The forum of Konyak people also
The issue reached the Parliament, where Union expressed anger that some media outlets including
home minister Amit Shah made a statement admitting the satellite news channels based in mainland India
that it was a case of mistaken identity. Shah also stated tried to present it as a frontal confrontation between
that the situation in Nagaland remains critical but fully the security forces and NSCN rebels.
under control. He added that the Centre expresses Earlier, the Army authority expressed its regret
regrets over the incident and offers condolences to over the incident. It also constituted a probe into the
the victim families. A special investigation team was incident that could spread a negative message to the
formed to investigate the matter, which was asked to peace initiatives taken up by New Delhi. Nagaland
submit its report within one month, he informed. police lodged an FIR against the security forces over
However, the Konyak Union vehemently opposed the incident and the government in Kohima declared
the statement of Shah and even demanded an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to each victim’s family. Even

14 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
UNREST
the Governor of Nagaland (also Assam) Prof Jagdish shadow of AFSPA. The notorious act gives the security
Mukhi also officially condemned the incident. personnel (even a non-commissioned officer) the
Now the Governor is expected to summon a license to arrest, shoot and even kill any individual
special session of Nagaland legislative assembly on on mere suspicion, stated the armed outfit adding
December 20 to discuss the AFSPA with the backdrop that Nagas had the bitter taste of AFSPA on numerous
of Mon civilians’ killings. The special session, for occasions till date and for any reason ‘blood and
which demands were raised by various Naga political talks cannot go together’.
groups including Naga Mother’s Association, Naga Quoting a survivor of the fateful incident, Morung
Students Federation, etc, may pass a resolution for Express newspaper from Nagaland, reported that the
repealing the AFSPA. Earlier an emergency cabinet justice asked by the victims would be the revocation
meeting of the Rio government on December 7 took of AFSPA, so that no such incident can take place in
future (neither in Nagaland nor anywhere in the
The Governor is
expected to summon
a special session of
Nagaland legislative
assembly on Dec 20 to
discuss the AFSPA in
the backdrop of Mon
killings. The session may
pass a resolution for
repealing the AFSPA.
a unanimous decision for repealing AFSPA from
Nagaland immediately. “AFSPA has brought only pain country). Mr Manlei, who is still undergoing medical
and suffering to our people. No reason can justify treatment for injuries, claimed that he was shot by a
the killing of civilians,” said Nagaland’s former chief security person for just questioning about the dead
minister TR Zeliang, adding that when the Naga bodies. He was soon taken to a Mon hospital by fellow
people were waiting for a final breakthrough in the villagers. Manlei revealed that his younger brother
ongoing peace process over Naga political issues, the Shomaang was one of the eight youths returning
Mon incident came only as a negative shocker. home after work in a pickup vehicle who faced the
Even the Nagaland BJP chief Temjen Imma Along, bullets of security forces. Shomaang along with five
also a minister in Rio’s cabinet, termed the incident others died on the spot. Manlei arrived at the location
as a genocide. Konyak Union Kohima president H later and found that the vehicle was splattered with
Angnyei Konyak called for revocation of the AFSPA. blood. Initially he along with a few others could not
Meanwhile, a Naga Hoho delegation led by president find any dead body, but later those were recovered
HK Zhimomi visited the Oting village to extend its from a military truck.
solidarity to the villagers. They were unanimous in Northeast Students’ Organization (NESO) along
their demand to repeal the draconian law. with its affiliated State units including All Assam
Insurgent outfit National Socialist Council of Students’ Union, All Manipur Students’ Union, All
Nagaland (NSCN-IM) promptly commented that the Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union, Khasi Students’
ongoing peace talks would not be fruitful under the Union, Garo Students’ Union, Mizo Zirlai Pawl,

15 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
CoverStory
Unbridled powers enjoyed

by security forces under
AFSPA have always been a
source of unease in N-E
Twipra Student Federation, etc recently organized Political analyst Adip

demonstrations against the ruthless acts of security Phukan also asked the Centre about the validity of
forces taking advantage of AFSPA provisions. Some AFSPA, which is now 63 years old. How long it will be
of their slogans included “Repeal AFSPA, Punish enforced in Northeast to terrorise and kill innocent
Guilty Security Personnel, Stop Neglecting Northeast people with full impunity to the security personnel,
and We Want Peace in Northeast.” Participating Phukan raised the pertinent question in the show.
in a television debate, anchored by journalist “The 21 Para Commandos carried out the genocide
Manas Pratim Deka of ND24 news channel, the was not because of a mistaken identity, but it was an
AASU general secretary Shankarjyoti Barua intentional act, reasons best known to the security
made a critical comment that New Delhi still believes forces. When the first batch of victims were returning
‘there is no India after Kolkata’. He declared that the home from their work, the security personnel, who laid
indigenous people of Northeast stand in solidarity the ambush, did not ask to stop their vehicle, but started
with the residents of Oting who have every right to firing indiscriminately,” said a Kohima-based journalist,
live with dignity. The student leader even questioned who wanted anonymity.
the Centre, why the AFSPA is not enforced in terror Speaking to this writer, he even alleged that initially
affected regions of mainland India. the security personnel tried to cover up the dead bodies
Another panelist Palash Changmai of Asom with camouflage dresses, but the villagers who had
Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad warned that the already arrived at the location immediately identified
people of Northeast would not tolerate atrocities the victims. They also engaged in verbal confrontation
anymore. He urged all the north-eastern chief with the security personnel. It led to the unfortunate
ministers to come together to seek repeal of AFSPA. killings of seven more persons and injuring a few others.

16 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
UNREST
“21 Para Commandos were not familiar with the houses, when the villagers spotted the vehicles of
localities and its residents. But they probably did not the unit, they were told that they were being taken to
inform the Nagaland police and even the Assam Rifles hospital. On checking themselves, the villagers found
(which is engaged in security duty in those areas) dead bodies and it was there that all hell broke loose,
about the ambush. In haste, they fired at the vehicle ending in a repeat firing and killing of a soldier,” said
following their inputs (which was seemingly not ACHR.
accurate). But later the Assam Rifles’ camp had to face Terming the act as a colonial relic which provides
the villagers’ anger. All these facts should be out in the the security forces, deployed in disturbed areas, power
to take any action under the section 4 of AFSPA, the
commission observed that ‘maybe this time the
The tragic incident of government of India tries to understand not only
the illegality of such a draconian act in its rule books
Mon killings triggered but also the sentiments of the people, including its
political allies and shows the political will to repeal
several other events of it’. Nagaland Post, a popular English daily of the State,
editorialized the issue saying that while Christians
across the world are preparing to celebrate the birth
arson, rioting and attack of Jesus on Christmas and then to welcome a new year,
people of Nagaland are still trying to come out of the
on soldiers and Assam shocking 4 December incident.
For the people of Oting village in particular
Rifles camp, resulting and Mon district in general, time stands still. They
cannot get over the massacre of civilians by a unit
in more injuries and of the special forces of 21 para-commandos. For the
victim-families no amount of ex-gratia or offer of
deaths, including that of

employment can lessen their deep grief or make them
forget how their dearest ones were gunned down
without any reason.
a soldier, said an NHRC “The pain and grief caused by unnatural deaths
has also shocked and pained not only the State or
statement. Northeast but beyond. It shows the magnitude of the
incident which has catapulted the draconian Armed
Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 to limelight,” stated
the editorial adding that bringing the guilty unit
probe,” he asserted. of security forces to the court for justice is another
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC, important aspect of the tragedy.
New Delhi) issued notices seeking a detailed report For the people of Nagaland, the AFSPA is a living
from the defence secretary & Union home secretary testimony of the brutalities which have been inflicted
and Nagaland chief secretary & police chief over upon them for over 60 years and such a draconian
the killings of civilians in the Mon army operation. and black law should have no place in a democratic
The incident triggered several other events of arson, country. In the aftermath of the 4 December massacre,
rioting and attack on soldiers and Assam Rifles camp, the response of New Delhi was like adding more salts
resulting in more injuries and deaths, including that to the injury, it added.
of one soldier, said a NHRC statement. Later the Hong “From all accounts including those who survived
Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (ACHR) the massacre, the vehicle (targeted by the security
also issued a statement over the Nagaland incident, forces) was fired upon without any warning and
where it meant that the special unit (of security without any provocation,” claimed the editorial adding
forces) involved in the operation killed the unarmed that the Centre should set the record straight and
civilians returning from work in cold blood flouting withdraw the
the standard operating procedures. They opened fire controversial part of Amit Shah’s statement (that
without any warning (to the passengers travelling in of mistaken identity of the travelling village-youths),
the vehicle), it observed. even if it may be too little too late.
“When the kith and kin of the miners set out to look
for them once they did not return in time, the second tehelkaletters@gmail.com
round of gory killings unfolded. As reported by media

17 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
Cong turns the job scam
heat on Khattar govt
The ruling BJP-JJP coalition government in Haryana may hate to admit it, but the state’s main
opposition party Congress seems set to unremittingly embarrass the government for the recently
exposed job scam in the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC), reports rajesh moudgil
T
he high-profile job scam the services. tember by the state vigilance bureau in
in the Haryana Public Ser- The dismissal order issued by Hary- a close operation with the intelligence
vice Commission (HPSC) ana chief secretary Sanjeev Kaushal wing of the chief minister’s cell on the
has not only blighted the on behalf of the Governor reads that basis of a secret tip-off. A first informa-
state Bharatiya Janata Party competent authority had decided to tion report (FIR) was registered on
(BJP)-Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) coali- award punishment of dismissal from November 17 last while Nagar, who
tion government led by Manohar Lal service to Anil Nagar for bringing was overall in charge of the examina-
Khattar which had been tom-tomming severe disrepute to the state govern- tion, was suspended the next day and
its fairness in recruitments, it has also ment. It also meant disqualification dismissed from service a few days ago.
given the opposition Congress ample from future employment under the According to official information,
ammunition to incessantly embarrass government. a cash amounting to Rs 3.5 crore has
the state government. Nagar was arrested along with two already been seized, while a handwrit-
This is despite the arrest of some of others, Ashwini Sharma of Jhajjar and ten list of roll numbers of Haryana civil
the main accused and the arrest and Naveen of Bhiwani, by the Haryana services (HCS) exam candidates was
the dismissal of the deputy secretary of vigilance bureau for their alleged role also recovered from Nagar. Accord-
Haryana Public Service Commission in manipulating answer sheets of the ing to information, of the total 32 roll
(HPSC) Anil Nagar, an HCS officer, from candidates. They were nabbed in Sep- numbers, 15 were of HCS (of whom five
had cleared preliminary examination)
and 17 of dental surgeon candidates of
whom 13 had passed.
This has given ample ammunition
to the Congress, the main opposition
party in Haryana to go all guns blazing
after the ruling government. While
its leaders have torn into the govern-
ment alleging a bigger conspiracy with
the involvement of some top officials,
they have also held demonstrations to
highlight the scam.
Cong to raise the issue in House

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP)
in its recent meeting held under the
former chief minister and the Leader
of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh
Hooda has also decided to raise the
HPSC recruitment scam - besides the
issues pertaining to shortage of DAP
and urea, deteriorating law and order
situation, interference in university
recruitments, vacant posts of differ-
Haryana Chief Minister ent departments, especially in health
Manohar Lal Khattar with
Deputy Chief Minister
Dushyant Chautala TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00
18 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
Congress leader Randeep Singh
Surjewala during the Congress protest
against the recruitment scam.
POLITICS
the upcoming session. Stating that the

HPSC chairman and HSSC chairman,
and members of both the commissions
had not been questioned yet, she asked
if there was an attempt to cover-up.
Alleging that as many as 32 papers
were leaked in the last seven years and
every job was put on sale, Randeep held
that the future of Haryana’s youth had
been pushed into an abyss of darkness.
A series of protests
Meanwhile, the Congress workers and
several legislators held a demonstra-
tion during which they were detained
by the police and let off after about two
hours last week. The leaders who par-
department amid Covid spread - in the the Governor to not conduct an inquiry ticipated in this protest included Hary-
upcoming assembly session. against Anil Nagar. “Is it because it may ana Congress party affairs in-charge
Hooda has also demanded an investi- lead to a bigger conspiracy coming Vivek Bansal and state party president
gation into the recruitment scam under Kumari Selja and AICC general secretary
the supervision of a sitting High Court Randeep Surjewala besides several for-
judge. He maintains that an official of mer ministers and senior legislators.
the rank of the deputy secretary of the The Congress Addressing the gathering Bansal
HPSC alone cannot carry out such a
huge recruitment scam. Led by Hooda,
Legislature Party alleged that corruption flourished under
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Jannay-
the Congress MLAs have also submitted (CLP) in its recent ak Janta Party (JJP) combine government
a memorandum to the governor and
demanded a high-level inquiry into the meeting held in Haryana. Referring to the recent
HPSC recruitment scam, he alleged that
matter. under the former the government was fully involved in
The memorandum said that apart
from the said recruitment scam, the HCS chief minister this recruitment scam.
Selja also alleged that this recruit-
officers selected in 2004 were chosen and the Leader ment scam seemed bigger than the ones
of the Opposition
and appointed in 2016, despite various of the past. Further alleging that HPSC
irregularities. The Congress legisla- and Haryana Staff Selection Commis-
tors also sought an inquiry into these
appointments which they alleged were
Bhupinder Singh sion (HSSC) had become a hotbed of re-
cruitment scams and were playing with
made in disregard of the inquiry report Hooda decided the future of the unemployed youth of
of the state vigilance department.
Hooda says that the scam has also
to raise the HPSC the state.
Alleging further that these commis-
exposed the tall claims of the govern- recruitment scam sions had proved to be incompetent,
ment about transparency, honesty
and recruitments-on-merit. He also
in the upcoming she sought that new commissions be
formed and all the disputed recruitment
lambasted the government for distanc- assembly session examinations, re-conducted. She held
ing itself from the corruption in the that over 30 paper-leak cases had come
recruitment and asked that if the people to light during the seven-year tenure of
sitting in the government did not have the BJP government led by chief minis-
any involvement in this scam, why is to light, where top officials could be ter Manohar Lal Khattar, who claimed
the government not getting a high-level exposed?” Randeep asked. all the recruitments were far.
judicial inquiry conducted into the Randeep further asked that when A few days earlier, led by state Youth
matter? the record of dental surgeon and HCS Congress president Divyanshu Budhi-
The Congress general secretary recruitment with Nagar have been raja, several of the YC members had also
Randeep Surjewala along with Tosham declared invalid, then why the recruit- held a demonstration in front of the
MLA Kiran Choudhry also alleged a ment has not been cancelled. Kiran said HPSC building against the said scam.
bigger conspiracy in the wake of the she had moved an adjournment motion
HPSC chairman and members advising on job scams in the HPSC and HSSC in tehelkaletters@gmail.com

19 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
Probe on to unravel mystery
behind CDS chopper crash
The nation has bid farewell to Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat as he was laid to rest with
full military honours, and as per protocol, he was accorded a 17-gun salute at his funeral. However,
questions remain as to what are the possible reasons for the chopper crash, writes sunny sharma
T
he Black Box has been found equipped with the latest generation of off from Sulur at 11.48 am, considered a
while the Indian Air Force night vision devices. Equipped with an grey zone due to unpredictable weather
has ordered a tri-service in- on-board weather radar and the lat- in Nilgiris after 11 am in winter.
vestigation led by Air Mar- est generation of night vision devices, The pilots of the ill-fated copter car-
shal Manavendra Singh, Air the chopper was reportedly flying at a rying General Rawat and his entourage
Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Train- low altitude in foggy conditions when it had radioed to Air Traffic Controller
ing Command, into the Mi-17 V5 chop- crashed in a valley, leading to the death (ATC) that the copter was descending
per crash in which Chief of Defence of 13 persons. to land at Wellington helipad, but had
Staff Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others However, what is intriguing is that not given any distress call. The copter
of the armed forces were killed. The there was no distress call and ATC that took off from Sulur (Coimbatore) at
inquiry team has already reached Wel- contacted to confirm landing in seven 11.48 am was slated to land at 12.15 pm
lington and started the investigation, minutes. The IAF chopper was to land at Wellington, but the ATC lost contact
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told at Wellington by 12.15 pm but the Sulur with the copter at 12.08 pm. Reportedly,
both Houses of Parliament. The ill-fated Air Traffic Controller lost contact with the copter established contact with the
Mi17V5 helicopter, manufactured by the copter at 12.08 pm, 20 minutes af- ATC to confirm landing in 7-8 minutes.
Russian Helicopters’ subsidiary Kazan, ter take-off, Rajnath Singh told Parlia- The IAF, meanwhile, has recovered
had an onboard weather radar and was ment. Actually, the chopper had taken the flight data recorder (Black Box) of
the copter. The flight data recorder and
the cockpit voice recorder will ascer-
tain what happened between the call to
the ATC informing that the copter was
descending to land and the crash. The
chopper carrying CDS Rawat also had
his wife Madhulika Rawat, Brigadier
LS Lidder and Lt Col Harjinder Singh,
among others, onboard. The Chief of
Defence Staff was headed to Defence
Staff College in Wellington where he
was scheduled to take part in an event
along with Chief of Army Staff Gen MM
Naravane. A total of 13 individuals on
board the Mi-17V5 chopper, includ-
ing Gen Rawat and his wife, died in the
crash.
According to a fireman who was
among the first to reach the site, Gen
Rawat was still alive after the mis-
hap and was taken to an ambulance
wrapped in a bed sheet. The CDS died
on the way to hospital, as per the res-
cue worker. The condition of Group
Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor

20 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
CHOPPER CRASH
that have emerged after the crash. Many

social media users alleged China could
have orchestrated the incident, given
the ongoing standoff with Ladakh. Many
of these conspiracy theories referred to
a similar accident in Taiwan last year.
In early January 2020, Taiwan’s chief of
general staff general Shen Yi-ming and
seven others were killed when the heli-
copter they were travelling in crashed
in mountains near Taipei. Shen was the
senior-most official in the Taiwanese mil-
Gen Bipin Rawat itary and a key figure in its air force. The
helicopter that crashed was a US-made
UH-60M Black Hawk.
Eminent strategic analyst Brahma
of the IAF chopper crash, is critical but find out if Chief of Defence Staff Gen- Chellaney was among those who re-
stable, and undergoing treatment at the eral Rawat was told about the possible ferred to the Taiwan crash as he tweeted,
Command Hospital in Bengaluru. He is a bad weather en route. A road cavalcade “Gen. Rawat’s death has an eerie parallel
decorated officer and was on board the was kept ready for them to use at Sulur. with the helicopter crash in early 2020
Russian-made chopper as the liaison While the chopper carrying CDS Gen that killed Taiwan’s chief of general staff,
officer for the visit of Gen Rawat, India’s Bipin Rawat crashed in an area away Gen. Shen Yi-ming, and seven others,
senior-most military officer, to the De- from human habitation, there is specula- including two major generals. Each heli-
fence Services Staff College in Welling- tion that it might have been entangled in copter crash eliminated a key figure in
ton. He was conferred with the Shaurya power lines. The Indian Air Force (IAF) the defence against PRC’s aggression.”
Chakra in August for averting a possi- However, he emphasized the crashes
ble mid-air accident after his Tejas light were not necessarily connected. Chel-
combat aircraft was hit by a major tech- Eminent strategic laney wrote, “The strange parallel doesn’t
nical accident last year. mean there was any connection between
analyst Brahma the two helicopter crashes or an outside
Possible reasons of crash Chellaney was among hand. If anything, each crash has raised
However, some possible reasons have important internal questions, especially
emerged that might have led to the those who referred about maintenance of military helicop-
chopper crash involving CDS Gen Bipin to the Taiwan crash ters transporting top generals.”
Rawat. Initial reports suggest that bad Interestingly, China’s state-run Global
weather may have led to the crash of
as he tweeted, “Gen. Times took note of Chellaney’s Tweet.
the IAF’s Mi-17V5 chopper. Low visibil- Rawat’s death has an The Global Times handle claimed Chel-
ity owing to foggy conditions may have
caused the crash. The initial assessments
eerie parallel with laney’s view was akin to suspecting the
US was involved in the crash that killed
from eyewitness accounts suggest that the helicopter crash Rawat due to its opposition to India’s
the copter may have hit a “terrain”, in in early 2020 that decision to buy the S-400 missile sys-
this case the hills. The helicopter debris tem from Russia. Global Times tweeted,
was strewn over a large area of the val- killed Taiwan’s chief of “This view is like suspecting the US
ley, suggesting it hit a hill before hurtling general staff, Gen. Shen played a role in the crash because India
down and catching fire, sources said. and Russia are moving forward with
Weather reports suggest there was sud- Yi-ming, and 7 others. the delivery of a Russian S-400 missile
den clouding in the area. The helicopter defence system, which the US strongly
took off from Sulur after 11 am — consid- opposed.” Chellaney accused the Global
ered a grey zone because of the unpre- Times of misusing his tweet and argued
dictable weather in the Nilgiris after 11 has initiated an inquiry that will likely its response “sadly points to the depraved
am in winter. determine the height at which the chop- mindset of the CCP folks”. He had noted
Also, it will be established if the mili- per began its descent before crashing in the death of Rawat during the “warlike
tary plane carrying General Rawat from the Katteri-Nanchappanchathram area situation along the Himalayan front”
Delhi to Sulur was delayed, hence delay- in the hilly Nilgiris district. could not have come at a “worse time”.
ing the take-off from Sulur beyond 11 am Enquiry reports would be eagerly
– the grey zone. Investigators will also awaited in view of conspiracy theories tehelkaletters@gmail.com

21 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
Bastar admn takes steps to
prop up age-old Dhokra art
The formation of the Bastar Kala Gudi, an artisan producer organisation, is expected to help Dhokra
A
artisans command the right price for their products.. A report by deepanwita gita niyogi
wahi is a quintessential Bastar extremism. These include the establish- house, Kashyap explained the painstaking
village, but tucked away in its ment of home stays for tourists to art cafes and long process involved to create each
dusty lanes are skilled tribal for the promotion of the artistic tempera- exquisite piece.
artisans who create magic ment in youth. Support is also being pro- To start with, a clay model cast has to be
with their hands. Here, about vided to established artisans. created from red mud sourced from river
10-12 craftsmen work on Chhattisgarh’s fa- One such person, Sonadhar Kashyap, beds. Sometimes, animal shapes like that
mous Dhokra or bell metal art which has is a resident of Alwahi. Kashyap has been of deer or elephant are made. After dry-
connoisseurs all over the world. making Dhokra craft pieces since his ing the clay model in the sun, thin layers
Of late, developmental activities are youth. A fine Dhokra item mainly used for of blackish wax threads are used to cover
taking place in Bastar district in southern decoration purposes can take two to three it and give the required design. There is
Chhattisgarh once infamous for Left-wing days to make. Sitting in the courtyard of his a second round of mud application. “Fi-

22 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
nally, the item is baked in the fire at
high temperature which melts the
wax and then molten brass is poured
through a cavity which takes the
shape of the wax imprint,” the artisan
said. For this artisans set up a tradi-
tional kiln or ‘bhatti’ using wood pel-
lets and coal.
Expert artisans like Kashyap make
various Dhokra items, both big and
small, and send the finished products
to Bastar district headquarters Jagda-
lpur and other urban markets in the
district. One small Dhokra art piece
costs Rs 300 in the retail market and
prices can go up to Rs 12,000 depend-
ing on the size and craftsmanship of
the piece. However, Kashyap admit-
ted that smaller pieces sell faster than
larger ones.
Interventions to help artisans

Artisans in Alwahi admitted that
Dhokra is in high demand among
customers. To help them continue
the age-old craft and reap profit, the
Bastar district administration has
launched several measures. faction with the Bastar Kala Gudi which To make things even more lucrative
One of the steps has been the formation he feels will help artisans to a great extent for artisans, the latest push is towards the
of the Bastar Kala Gudi Hasthshilp Pro- in the time to come. Nag, who earns Rs creation of utility Dhokra items which
ducer Company Limited, an artisan pro- 10,000-12,000 per month, said that ear- were missing as most artisans were in
ducer organisation, to promote artisans lier artisans failed to get the desired rates favour of making traditional showpieces.
like Kashyap who had been traditionally and a lot of bargaining happened with Modernisation in techniques, especially in
making less profit till recently. Apart from middlemen. Nag is interested in visiting the heating and firing processes, are also
ensuring standard rates for raw materials the Bastar art cafe where he feels artisans welcome as artisans have to work hard en-
like brass and offering artisans best rates would be able to devote more time with a gulfed by smoke.
for their finished products, the organisa- greater degree of concentration. The arti- Bastar district collector Rajat Bansal
tion will also help absorb shock if products san makes products amounting to 30-50 said under the Bastar Kala Gudi, artisans
are not sold immediately. Bastar Kala Gudi kg every month. have been registered and tie-ups have
chief executive officer Suhail Sheikh said been entered into with major online sites
most artisans have small set ups at home Overcoming problems to provide them the best platforms to sell
and thus the production is quite slow de- Gaurav Kushwaha, one of the founders of products.
spite high market demand. e-commerce platform Lokabazar founded “The biggest challenge is the problem of
Besides launching the artisan organisa- last year in October to promote artisans positioning products in the market at the
tion, a space was also needed for aggregat- of Bastar, pointed out that brass, the most best possible rates to ensure profitability to
ing craftsmen where they can come, stay important thing needed to make Dhokra artisans. Most of them are not conversant
and work. For this, the Bastar Art Cafe, a art pieces, is becoming expensive. “Just a with online retail at all. They just hand over
Pondicherry-like place in the heart of Jag- year back, artisans used to buy it at Rs 300 their products in bulk to middlemen, who
dalpur, has been set up where small hut- per kg but now it has reached Rs 450-500 sell at premium prices but cheat artisans
ments have been created especially for per kg. Another challenge is that artisans of their due,” Bansal added. Kushwaha,
artisans. The cafe site where there used to buy scrap brass from various traders and who visits remote villages to connect with
be an old pump house dating back to the lack a fixed continuous supply chain from artisans, feels that positive interventions
colonial times is right next to the famous which they can purchase at a fixed rate,” like these can help traditional artisans
Dalpat Sagar Lake. Kushwaha said. He is hopeful that through continue the craft.
Dhokra artisan Narsingh Nag from the art cafe, the problem of accessing brass
Chilkuti village of Bastar expressed satis- would be solved. tehelkaletters@gmail.com

23 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
COLUMN
With Leena Nair named

Global CEO of Chanel, more
NEWS & Indians climb to the top
VIEWS Newly appointed Global CEO of French luxury group Chanel, Leena Nair
BHARAT HITESHI joins long list of Indian-origin executives who have bagged top jobs at large
A
tech firms. Parag Agrawal who was recently appointed as CEO of Twitter Inc
Hiteshi is an
independent journalist- nother Indian has landed the
turned-author and a top job with a global leader
political commentator. as Leena Nair who holds the
The views expressed distinction of being “the first
are his own female, first Asian, young-
est ever” chief human resources officer
(CHRO) of Unilever, has been named
Global CEO of the French luxury group
Chanel.
Unilever confirmed in a statement,
“Leena Nair, CHRO, has decided to leave
the company in January 2022 to pursue a
new career opportunity as Global Chief
Jack Patrick Executive Officer, Chanel Ltd”.
Dorsey, who is Only recently when Parag Agrawal
was appointed as CEO of Twitter Inc, it
a co-founder of had once again turned the limelight on
Twitter, announced Indian-Americans leading global technol-
that he was ogy giants.
Parag Agrawal was born on May 21, 1984
resigning as CEO in Ajmer, Rajasthan and his father was a
of Twitter, and senior officer in the Department of Atomic
Energy while his mother was a school
that Agrawal was teacher. He won a gold medal at the 2001
replacing him with International Physics Olympiad in Turkey
and obtained his engineering degree in
immediate effect. Computer Science from IIT Bombay and nu Narayen to IBM’s Arvind Krishna; from
This makes India then a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Micron Technology’s Sanjay Mehrotra to
Stanford University. On November 29, Palo Alto Networks’ Nikesh Arora; from
the crucible of top- 2021, Jack Patrick Dorsey, who is a co- VMWare’s Rangarajan Raghuram to Arista
notch management founder of Twitter, announced that he Networks’ Jayshree Ullal, the list of global
talent, almost was resigning as CEO of Twitter, and that
Agrawal was replacing him with immedi-
Indian technology CEOs is making every
Indian proud.
a CEO factory, ate effect. Little doubt that MP Shashi Tharoor
churning out This makes India the crucible of top-
notch management talent, almost a CEO
tweeted immediately thereafter that as
much as we are proud of India, India is
top-notch IT factory, churning out top-notch IT profes- proud of us and attached a list of top-notch
professionals to sionals to head global giants. This has add- Indians heading global technology compa-
ed a new dimension to India’s soft power. nies. Then there are many Indians leading
head global giants. From Microsoft’s Satya Nadella to Alpha- global firms in the non-tech space – Ivan
bet’s Sundar Pichai; from Adobe’s Shanta- Menezes, CEO of Diageo; Vas Narasimhan

24 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
CORPORATE
and was ranked the second most power-

ful woman on the Fortune list in 2015.
Then in 2017, she was ranked the second A look at the revenue
most powerful woman once more on reveals that many
the Forbes list of The 19 Most Powerful
Women in Business. Indian American CEOs
A look at the revenue reveals that lead US companies
many Indian American CEOs lead US
companies that generated the combined that generated the
revenue which was greater than the GDP combined revenue
of many countries. This augurs well for
Indian CEOs to live their dreams. Bank-
which was greater
ing is another space where Indians have than the GDP of many
of Novartis, Sandeep Kataria of Bata, Punit
Renjen of Deloitte, Laxman Narasimhan
significant global presence in leadership
– often attributed to Indians’ sharp minds
countries. This augurs
of Reckitt Benckiser, Sonia Syngal of GAP; for numbers. Think Vikram Pandit, Citi’s well for Indian CEOs to
Mahesh Madhavan of Bacardi Martini Global CEO between 2007-12; Anshu live their dreams.
and Sameer Suneja of Perfetti Van Melle. Jain who ran Deutsche Bank till a few
The rise of Indian CEOs is a strong reaf- years ago and Singapore’s DBS Bank CEO
firmation of the fact that the world recog- Piyush Gupta.
nizes meritocracy enabling the best talent Sundar Pichai | CEO, Alphabet | Google he co-founded Pictra Inc., a company that
to rise to the very top, irrespective of race, CEO Sundar Pichai was born in Tamil pioneered the concept of digital photo
nationality or humble background. Across Nadu’s capital Chennai and grew up in sharing over the internet. Narayan was
the globe, they reward merit; there is an the city. Pichai received a B. Tech from the also a member of former US President
opportunity for all; and if you keep your Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur Barack Obama’s Management Advisory
nose clean and work hard and produce and holds an MS in Engineering and Ma- Board. He received his bachelor’s in
results, they will let you rise to the top. terials Science from Stanford University electronics and communication engi-
Until the 1990s, there were very few In- and an MBA from the Wharton School. neering from the University College of
dian Americans in the top echelons of the He has been heading Google since 2015. Engineering, Osmania University, an
corporate sector but this glass ceiling was He had replaced then CEO and Founder MBA from UC Berkeley and his master’s
broken in the mid-1990s. By the 2000s, Larry Page. in computer science from Bowling Green
more Indian Americans joined the rank ◆ Satya Nadella, who replaced Steve State University.
of CEOs. Ballmer as the chairman of Microsoft, was ◆ Arvind Krishna | Indian-origin Krish-
In 2001, when PepsiCo named Indra born in Hyderabad on August 19, 1967. He na, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of
Nooyi as its CEO, she became the first graduated from Manipal Institute of Tech- Technology, Kanpur, joined computer
Indian American woman to head a nology, Karnataka in 1988 as an electrical hardware company IBM in 1990s. He was
Fortune 100 company. Nooyi, who was engineer. He then earned his master’s appointed as IBM’s CEO in January 2020,
born in Madras now called Chennai in degree in Computer Science at the succeeding Ginni Rometty. From holding
Tamil Nadu had made the country proud University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, the a General Manager role in Information
by becoming Chairperson and CEO of US in 1990 and MBA from the University management software and systems and
PepsiCo. She received bachelor’s degrees of Chicago Booth School of Business. He technology group of IBM, then serving
in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics started his career at Sun Microsystems. as senior vice president IBM Research
from Madras Christian College and Post He had served as Executive Vice Presi- and later as senior vice president of IBM’s
Graduate Programme from IIM Calcutta. dent of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise cloud and cognitive software division,
In 1978, Nooyi was admitted to Yale School Group, prior to becoming CEO. Krishna has been a pioneer for the com-
of Management and moved to the USA ◆ Shantanu Narayen | CEO, Adobe | pany’s building and expansion.
where she earned a Master’s degree in Hyderabad-born Shantanu Narayen is the ◆ Nikesh Arora - chief executive officer
Public and Private Management in 1980. CEO of Adobe Inc. since 2007, leading the and chairman of Palo Alto Networks. He
Beginning her career in India, Nooyi held transformation of the company, moving has served as the vice-chairman of Soft-
product manager positions at Johnson its creative and digital document software Bank Corp. and CEO of SoftBank Internet
& Johnson and Strategy Consultant at Bos- franchises. Before joining Adobe in 1998 and Media, Inc. (SIMI). He graduated
ton Consulting Group. She has consist- as senior vice-president of worldwide from the Indian Institute of Technology,
ently ranked among the World’s 100 most product development, Narayen worked Varanasi in 1989, with a Bachelor’s degree
powerful women. In fact in 2014, she was with Silicon Valley start-up Measurex in Electrical Engineering.
ranked at number 13 on the Forbes list of Automation Systems in 1986 and later
The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women moved to Apple from 1989 to 1995. In 1996 tehelkaletters@gmail.com

25 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
Unstinted public support
a vital cog in ryots’ victory
The farmers call off the stir following the repeal of 3 farm laws and acceptance of their key demands
including compensation to the kin of martyr farmers and withdrawal of police cases against them.
The government has agreed to form a committee to decide the MSP issue. reports mudit mathur
T
heIndian farmers once ing year-long of mass protests on the the government has kept its promises
again relived the spirit of peripheries around Delhi where thou- to unconditionally withdraw cases filed
Gandhian legacy inspired sands of farmers from Punjab, Hary- against farmers’ protests, disbursement
by Champaran Satyagraha ana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have of compensation to the kin of farm-
-- the power of peace, truth been camping since November 2020, ers who died during the protests and
and non-violence -- compelling Prime demanding withdrawal of three “black formation of a committee to ensure
Minister Narendra Modi to climb down laws.” However, the Union government that all farmers can avail remunera-
ahead of major assembly polls, for the did not concede their demand for sack- tive rates for their produces. Based on
unconditional revocation of three ing union minister of state for Home feedback on above issues, the farmers
farm laws and acceptance of all the Affairs Ajay Misra Teni, whose convoy, would take major decision –– whether
key demands of the agitating farmers allegedly, mowed down farmers merci- to campaign against the BJP in the up-
including compensation to the kin of lessly killing four farmers and a jour- coming UP and Uttarakhand polls or
martyr farmers, withdrawal of police nalist besides injuring dozens of farm- not? This is also a contentious issue on
cases registered against them during ers in Lakhimpur Kheri. which various factions of farmers’ un-
their movement by the Union and state The unions will meet again on Janu- ions have divergent viewpoints.
governments. ary 15 under the aegis of SKM in the Farmers’ leader Rakesh Tikait, who
Farmers unions announced end- capital to monitor and review whether spearheaded nation-wide movement
remained noncommittal over his plans
to campaign against BJP in upcoming
elections. “I will let my decision known
to my supporters at the earliest. I will
go in different parts of Uttar Pradesh.
Nobody can stop me,” he added. “If gov-
ernment does not fulfil our demands
we will resume our protests,” Tikait
clarified. “Our borders will be cleared
by 15th December. People have started
going back homes happily over resolu-
tion of their demands,” he added. “We
have nothing against government in
our hearts but only time can tell what
will they do for us,” Tikait asserted.
The first non-violent Champaran
Satyagraha of farmers’ uprising was
against un-remunerative forced cul-
tivation of indigo with barely any pay-
ment for it, coincidently, the history re-
peated itself after more than a century
when India faced just identical crisis
over last one year when Indian farm-
ers felt their existence threatened once
again with enactment of three farm

26 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
AGITATION
back their homes after celebrating a ‘Vi-

jayDiwas’ for their achievements. The
farmers’ unions performed Fateh Ardas
(victory prayer) and took out a Fateh
March (victory march) at Singhu and
Tikri protest sites on Delhi’s borders on
December 11 before they dispersed for
Punjab. Peasant leaders have planned to
pay obeisance at the Golden Temple in
Amritsar on December 13.
SKM thanked trade unions, women’s
organisations, youth/student groups
who struggled along with farmers in this
agitation, lawyers who extended legal
aid and solidarity, doctors who set up
medical camps and gave their untiring
services, various religious bodies that set
up langar and fed the protestors uncon-
ditionally and uninterruptedly, various
progressive organisations that stood in
support including human rights groups,
numerous artists who were there con-
stantly with the movement. Numerous
The farmers fought and won historic battle organizations continuously and consist-
against the government on the strength of ently responded to SKM calls for action.
the support of the people who provided all Highway dhaba owners and people who
gave space for the Kisan Andolan to run
logistic support and maintained supplies of its organisational meetings.
food and essential commodities in their camps They also thanked NRIs and interna-
tional farmers’ organisations and others
surrounding national capital Delhi. The ‘Langars’ who took up solidarity actions in their
organised by the Sikh community was also one own locations. The role of hundreds of
volunteers who participated by giving
of the decisive factors behind the longest and their support was also hailed..
historic protest in free India. The agitation was just called off on a
letter of assurance from the government
without any bilateral written agreement
with them. In a letter issued in the name
laws allegedly designed to help corporate of Champaran Satyagraha furnished a of the leadership of Samyukt Kisan Mor-
market forces as a part of majoritarian- blueprint of inspirations to Indian youths cha (SKM) by the Secretary, Ministry of
ism policies of the BJP government. The for achieving freedom through non-vio- Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Sanjay
movement emerged as one of the tough- lent methods, toppling British empire in Agrawal, the central government agreed
est challenges for Prime Minister Naren- India. to form a committee to decide the MSP
dra Modi. The farmers fought and won his- issue. The committee will consist of gov-
Champaran Satyagraha led by Mahat- toric battle with the government on the ernment officials, agriculture experts
ma Gandhi has been considered a unique strength of people’s support providing and representatives from the SKM, the
turning point in the history of freedom all logistic support maintaining supplies umbrella body of farmer unions that has
struggle as first uprising of the farm- of food and essential commodities in led this protest.
ers against feudal colonial oppressive their camps surrounding national capi- The Centre has also agreed to drop all
rule of Britishers in India. It took place tal Delhi. The “Langars” (offering of food police cases against farmers in connec-
in Champaran district of Bihar in 1917 to everyone in pilgrimage) organised by tion with their agitation and also those
during the British colonial period. The the Sikh community was also one of the filed by Haryana and Uttar Pradesh re-
farmers in Chamaparan were compelled decisive factors behind the longest and garding violent clashes with security
by European planters to grow indigo on historic protest in free India. Thousands forces over the past several months in-
at least 3/20th of their land and sell it at of protesting farmers camped out on the cluding complaints of stubble burning.
prices fixed by the planters. The success borders of Delhi for 380 days have gone It has assured the farmers that all cases

27 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
against them relating to the protests
will be immediately withdrawn and
has appealed to all states to do the same.
Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have
given in principle agreement to com-
pensation for farmers who lost their
lives, and Punjab has already has made
an announcement, the Centre’s letter
says. This is also being seen as a victory
for farm unions as the government had
told parliament just a few days back
that it had no record of the number of
farmers who died during the protests.
Farmers ridiculed government saying,
“They can count exact number of cau-
salities happened in the darkness when
the surgical strike took place in Paki-
stan, but they can’t see it with farmers
in broad daylight.” The Bill on electric-
ity will also be introduced only after
consulting all stakeholders, including
SKM, regarding the sections that affect
farmers.
The sudden announcement of re-
pealing the three farm laws on “Guru
Purab” by Prime Minister Narendra Dedicating the fabulous and historic victory
Modi in coming winter session of par- to about 715 martyrs during the year-long
liament failed to break deadlock. Hav-
ing repealed the three controversial struggle including those in Lakhimpur Kheri
farm laws, the Union Home Minister carnage, SKM congratulated, “all the protesting
Amit Shah initiated to break the im-
passe reaching out to the farmers by farmers, their supporters and citizens for
making just a phone call to discuss whole-heartedly waging an unprecedented
outstanding issues after their protests
continued despite the repeal of the struggle and for the magnificent victory.”
farm laws in Parliament. “We will hold
a review meeting on 15 January. If the
government doesn’t fulfil its promises, leaders. both in terms of size as well as unity and
we may resume the protest,” farmers’ In joint a communique of the SKM peaceful nature of the protest,” said All
leader Gurnam Singh Charuni warned leaders –– Balbir Singh Rajewal, Dr India Kisan Sabha leader Hannan Mol-
government when media persons Darshan Pal, Gurnam Singh Charuni, lah. “After today’s proposal from the
asked supposing if government did not Hannan Mollah, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, government, I feel we have achieved
follow the understanding later? Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Shiv Kumar 95% of the SKM’s demands,” added
Dedicating the fabulous and historic Sharma ‘Kakkaji’, Yudhvir Singh, Yo- Krantikari Kisan Union leader Darshan
victory to about 715 martyrs during the gendra Yadav –– formally announced Pal.
year-long struggle including those in suspension of current agitation with Surprised over the unexpected re-
Lakhimpur Kheri carnage. SKM con- the lifting of the Morchas surrounding treat from the PM Modi, many leaders
gratulated, “all the protesting farmers, Delhi borders on national highways left with the notes of caution as well.
their supporters and citizens for whole- and various other locations. “Battle has “Farmers have decided to suspend
heartedly waging an unprecedented been won and the war to ensure farm- this agitation for now, but the move-
struggle and for the magnificent victo- ers’ rights, especially to secure MSP as ment will not end. The fight for farmers’
ry.” “Farmers’ unity, peace and patience a legal entitlement for all farmers, will rights will continue,” said senior Punjab
has been the key to the victory, and this continue,” it added. leader Balbir Singh Rajewal, who heads
will not be allowed to contravene in “This is a historic victory for Indian his own faction of the Bharatiya Kisan
any circumstance,” vowed the farmers’ farmers after a historic movement Union. Gurnam Singh Chaduni, anoth-

28 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
AGITATION
er leader of Haryana-based BKU faction, whose families were given compensa- ernment in the state after the upcoming
warned, “We will resume our protests if tion and employment by the Punjab gov- assembly polls it would give Rs 25 lakh
the government does not keep its prom- ernment. “We found out that Punjab gov- to the families of each of the 700 farm-
ises”. Farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chad- ernment has paid compensation of Rs. 5 ers who died during the protests.“There
huni said, “The Samyukta Kisan Morcha- lakh each to the kin of more than 400 should have been a discussion on the
led farmers’ agitation is being suspended farmers. Of these 400 farmers’ families, farm laws, which have been repealed.
because the Centre has agreed to our 152 have also been given jobs also. I have While the BJP should have informed how
demands.” However, he warned that the one more list of 70 farmers from Hary- the repeal has benefited the farmers, the
agitation could be resumed if the Centre ana,” he added. Opposition could have a chance to raise
“backtracks from its promises.” Demanding a statement from the the issue,” Akhilesh remarked.
The demands include law guaran- government on the issue, Congress Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president
teeing Minimum Support Price (MSP), members along with DMK and NCP col- Mayawati urged for a proper law to de-
withdrawal of proposed Electricity Re- leagues walked out of the House raising fine the Minimum Support Price for
forms and Seed Bills and sacking of un- slogans against the government when crops. She hailed the repeal of the laws
ion minister of state for Home Affairs their adjournment motion was disal- as the victory of democracy but pointed
Ajay Misra Teni whose convoy mowed lowed by the chair. out that the Centre was silent on the de-
down farmers killing four farmers and Congress general secretary Priyanka mands of farmers on a guaranteed MSP.
a journalist besides injuring She called for a discussion in
dozens of farmers. They also Parliament about taking “solid
demanded withdraw of jail steps” for the upliftment of
term for stubble burning,
50% subsidy on diesel and
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh farmers.
Shiromani Akali Dal MP
withdrawal of filed against Yadav said if his party forms the Harsimrat Kaur Badal com-
farmers. In an open letter to next government in the state after mented, “I congratulate the
the Prime Minister, Samyukt farmers on their victory today.
Kisan Morcha sought im- the upcoming assembly polls it But 700 farmers lost their lives
mediate withdrawal of ac- would give Rs 25 lakh each to the during their year-long protest
tion against farm protesters against farm laws. We will al-
who “have been implicated families of 700 farmers who died ways stand with and for the
in hundreds of cases during during the protests.“There should farmers.”
this movement (June 2020 The future course of farm-
till date) in Delhi, Haryana, have been a discussion in the House ers’ agitation would depend
Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh on farm laws,” Akhilesh remarked. on the wisdom of the govern-
and several other states.” ment, particularly, of Prime
Raising their key de- Minister Narendra Modi, who
mand on MSP, the SKM let- is positioning himself to re-
ter said: “Minimum Support Price based Gandhi Vadra alleged that Prime Min- gain reins of power in the general elec-
on the comprehensive cost of produc- ister Narendra Modi’s statement two tions of 2024. But he has to overcome full
tion (C2+50%) should be made a legal weeks ago announcing the repeal of the blown anti-incumbency factors already
entitlement of all farmers for all agricul- legislation was hollow as the Bill with- boggling the minds of his committed
tural produce, so that every farmer of the drawing the laws was cleared without electorate. People have started question-
country can be guaranteed at least the a discussion on farmers’ demands re- ing his performance results over his tall
MSP announced by the government for garding MSP and the Lakhimpur Kheri promises doubling farmers income and
their entire crop.” “massacre”. promises of employment to the youth.
Former Congress president Rahul Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge So, the time has come to heal the wounds
Gandhi in the winter session of parlia- too followed the party lines while con- of farmers who were attempted to be
ment asked the Union Government to gratulating the farmers who fought for isolated with all sorts of tarnishing jibe
provide compensation and jobs for the their rights and attained victory. He re- trolls -- Khalistani, Terrorist, Maoist, Tuk-
next of kin of farmers who died during iterated the support for the demand of de-tukde gang -- to discredit their non-
the year-long agitation against the three compensation to the bereaved families of violent and peaceful non-cooperation
farm laws on the borders of the national over 700 people who lost their lives dur- movement for safeguarding their rights
capital. ing the year-long protest.“We will contin- to have remunerative support price for
Moving an adjournment motion on ue to fight for farmers’ issues,” he added. all the agriculture produce.
the farmers’ issue, Rahul Gandhi tabled Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Ya-
a list in Lok Sabha of deceased farmers dav said if his party forms the next gov- tehelkaletters@gmail.com

29 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
A string of desertions
dents Congress image as
Oppn’s pivot against BJP?
Already battered by repeated desertions, the Congress was dealt another blow when the 12 of the 18
party MLAs in Meghalaya jumped the ship and joined the TMC. Later, a political row erupted when
T
TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee questioned the existence of UPA. A report by amit agnihotri
he Congress losing lead- while the rivals will highlight the de- central leadership whereas factional
ers to other parties over the velopment to score a point. fights in the state units were the real
past years has thrown up a The Congress blames the desertions culprit many a time.
question if such movements as the handiwork of BJP as well as the The Congress is the only party in
could be dubbed as deser- TMC, with whom it works against the the opposition camp with a pan-Indi-
tions or riddance? saffron party in Parliament. The grand an presence. Yet, desertions from the
While the rivals allege that the Con- old party blames the BJP for engineer- grand old party have continued for
gress has been losing leaders as it can ing defections to weaken the Congress long and given rise to a question if the
no longer provide them growth oppor- and accuses the TMC of trying to dent organization has become complacent
tunities, the grand old party believes Opposition unity by luring away its since losing power at the Center in
such persons left for good. leaders. 2014?
In politics, it is natural that a party Over the past years, promising Whatever be the truth, the issue is
will play down its leaders joining other young leaders leaving the Congress once again being debated in the public
parties to cover up internal problems usually got painted as a sign of weak domain after 12 of 18 Congress MLAs
in Meghalaya ditched the party and
merged with the Trinamool Congress
making TMC the main opposition party.
The leaders who switched parties
included former chief minister Mukul
Sangma, who was Leader of the Oppo-
sition in the Assembly and was report-
edly unhappy with the central leader-
ship over appointment of Shillong MP
Vincent H Pala as state unit chief.
“Trinamool Congress has the po-
tential to be the real alternative to BJP,”
Mukul Sangma said after he joined the
TMC.
Before that, team members of poll
strategist Prashant Kishor were in
Shillong to weigh in on TMC’s options
ahead of the 2023 assembly polls. In
2012, the Meghalaya Pradesh Trinamool
Congress was formally launched with
an intention to contest 35 of the state’s
Abhijit Mukherjee, son of former
President Pranab Mukherjee, left
60 seats.
the Congress to join the TMC. Days after the lawmakers quit, the

30 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
DEFECTIONS
Congress received another jolt in Megha- hijit Mukherjee, son of former President senior leader Lalitesh Pati Tripathi left
laya when its youth wing president Rich- Pranab Mukherjee moved to the TMC, the party to join the TMC. Later, former
ard M Marak, a close aide of Mukul Sang- which had defeated the BJP. Haryana Congress unit chief Ashok Tan-
ma, quit the grand old party. Before the state polls, Congress vet- war, Delhi Congress leader Kirti Azad and
Marak, who was state Youth Congress eran PC Chacko joined the NCP, which former Janata Dal-United leader Pawan
chief, said: “I have been unhappy with the is part of the LDF alliance in Kerala. The Varma too joined the TMC in the pres-
party for quite some time now due to the LDF defeated the Congress-led UDF and ence of Mamata Banerjee. Tanwar had
way the INC has been functioning. There secured a second consecutive term in formed his own Apna Bharat party after
is a structural defect in the INC.” Kerala assembly polls this year. quitting the Congress.
“This has already been highlighted A four-term Lok Sabha MP, Chacko Indicating trouble in Jammu, around
many times in the past but there has has been in politics for at least four dec- 20 leaders belonging to the Ghulam Nabi
been no attempt to rectify this. Instead, ades. He started his political life as an ac- Azad camp resigned from the Congress
those who have pointed out these defects tivist of the Congress’s student wing Ker- recently. Azad, who has been touring the
have been vilified. The last stroke was the ala Students Union (KSU). He was elected region, denied he was floating a new po-
appointment of the current president as general secretary of the KSU in 1968, litical party but left everyone guessing by
(Vincent Pala) who has no regard for
the functioning of the party on Congress
principles,” Marak said. He claimed that Congress veteran
500 other workers had quit the party PC Chacko with
across Meghalaya. Sharad Pawar after
In fact, the trend of Congress losing joining the NCP.
state leaders had started in March 2020
when former union minister Jyotiraditya
Scindia moved to the BJP and played a
role in the fall of the Kamal Nath govern-
ment, which had come to power in 2018.
Scindia was rewarded with a BJP Rajya
Sabha seat and is now a Union minister.
After Scindia left, there was specula-
tion over another young leader Sachin
Pilot in Rajasthan, who had differenc-
es with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot,
switching sides. But, the two patched up
recently after a revamp of the state cabi-
net in which Pilot loyalists have been
accommodated.
In August this year, former Lok Sabha
member from Silchar in Assam and ex- then became the president of the Youth saying that nothing could be predicted in
All-India Mahila Congress chief Sushmi- Congress in Kerala in 1970. politics.
ta Dev moved to the Trinamool Congress. Chacko was first elected to the Kerala Recently, Azad had countered for-
She is now a Rajya Sabha member from Assembly in 1980 and became a minister mer union minister Salman Khurshid’s
TMC. in charge of Industries. He first became comparison of Hindutva ideology with
Other young leaders who left the Con- an MP in 1991. He was the Chairman that of Jihadist ISIS, saying it was wrong
gress before Sushmita are Jitin Prasada, of the Joint Parliamentary Committee and exaggerated. Khurshid had made the
who is now BJP minister in Uttar Pradesh which examined matters relating to Al- comparison in his latest book “Sunrise
and Pradyot Manikya Deb Barman in location and Pricing of Telecom Licences over Ayodhya: Nationhood in our times.”
Tripura. and Spectrum. His departure indicated Many in the Congress fear that Azad
When the Congress was in power at division in the Kerala unit of Congress. might be getting support from the BJP
the Centre, Jyotiraditya, Jitin and Sachin In September, former Goa chief min- just like former chief minister Amarinder
were made ministers in the UPA I and II ister Luizinho Faleiro left the Congress Singh is getting in Punjab. Amarinder,
governments to prepare them for future to join the TMC, which is trying to make who was forced to resign as chief minis-
roles. After the Congress lost power, they inroads in the costal state. Like Sushmita ter, quit the Congress in November and
played key roles in the party. Hence, their Dev, he too is a Rajya Sabha member of floated his own political party Punjab Lok
exit made news. TMC now. Congress, which is likely to join hands
After the Congress lost the 2021 The migration from Congress con- with the BJP for the 2022 assembly polls.
West Bengal assembly elections, Ab- tinued when former UP lawmaker and Punjab Aam Aadmi Party president

31 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
Bhagwant Mann too recently claimed leaders but it must take lessons from charge of half of UP along with Priyan-
that a senior BJP leader had offered him such episodes which indirectly affect its ka Gandhi Vadra to revive the party.
money and a place in the Union cabinet image at a time when the party is trying Scindia felt sidelined in the state unit
if he joined the saffron party. to put up the face of a strong national where former chief minister Digvijay
Without naming anyone, Mann, who opposition. Singh worked closely with Kamal Nath.
is Lok Sabha MP from Sangrur, claimed The youngster got impatient, joined the
the BJP had no base in Punjab and its The young guns bite the bullet BJP, helped the saffron party come to
leaders were not allowed to enter vil- Sushmita Dev headed the All-India Ma- power, was sent to the Rajya Sabha and
lages as they faced anger of farmers hila Congress but had differences with recently became a union minister.
over the farm laws that were repealed former Assam unit chief Ripun Bora Pradyot Barman resigned as Tripura
by the Centre recently. over alliance with AIUDF and distribu- unit chief following his differences with
The AAP, which defeated the BJP in tion of tickets in the Barak Valley, her state in charge Luizinho Faleiro and the
Delhi polls, is also vying for Goa to as- area of influence. She also cited lack of manner in which the party was being
sert itself as a strong anti-BJP player respect given to her by state leaders as run in the north-eastern state.
over the Congress. The Congress had one of the reasons to quit the Congress Sachin Pilot was deployed by Rahul
emerged as the single largest party in and move to the TMC. Now she is set to to revive the party in Rajasthan after
Goa in 2017 but the BJP forged alliances play a role in pushing TMC prospects in the 2013 poll debacle. He worked hard
with smaller parties and formed the BJP ruled Tripura. and resurrected the party, which won
government. Later, 10 Congress MLAs After losing the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the 2018 assembly polls but veteran
joined the BJP, when the grand old party Jitin Prasada had been sidelined in the Ashok Gehlot was made the chief min-
blamed the saffron party for murdering UP unit. Last year, he was given charge ister and Sachin got to play his deputy.
democracy. of West Bengal just a few months ahead Later, he felt sidelined in the party and
of the assembly elections in 2021. He government system, and led a rebellion
Uninspiring party show to blame? had started his own Brahmin Chetna in 2020.
The desertions could be explained to Parishad to build up a community sup-
the fact that the Congress has been out port base while still being in the Con- Mollifying the G-23 leaders
of power at the Centre since 2014 and gress. He is now a UP minister. Congress losing state leaders and a
has governments only in states like Jyotiraditya Scindia had been as- string of elections had led to unease in
Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh sured the post of Madhya Pradesh state the grand old party when a group of 23
while it shares power in Maharashtra, unit chief by Rahul Gandhi after vet- senior leaders wrote a dissent letter to
Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu. eran Kamal Nath was chosen as chief Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi
After ruling the Centre from 2004- minister in 2018. In 2019, he was given in August 2020, demanding a thorough
14, the Congress lost power to the BJP in
2014. The party’s Lok Sabha tally came Jyotiraditya Scindia being welcomed into
down from 206 in 2009 to 44 in 2014. saffron fold by BJP president J.P. Nadda
The tally marginally improved to 52 in
2019. In between the party lost power
in states like Maharashtra, Assam and
Haryana. Though it won Punjab in 2017,
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhat-
tisgarh in 2018, the party lost MP to BJP
in 2020.
In the assembly elections held this
year, the party lost in Assam, West Ben-
gal and Kerala again but managed to
share power in Tamil Nadu as part of
DMK-Congress alliance. In West Bengal
the Congress joined hands with the Left
front but stayed away from TMC.
This performance of the grand old
party could have forced some leaders,
who were dissatisfied over the state of
affairs, to seek greener pastures. The
central leadership may not be directly
responsible for the exit of these young

32 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
DEFECTIONS
revamp of the organization, a full time were left wondering if a long spell of iso- The high command was concerned
and visible president and elections for all lation awaited them for writing the letter. that any further delay in addressing the
party posts down to the block level. Azad’s membership of the Rajya issues raised by the seniors might push
The dissenters, who came to be Sabha ended in February this year and them further away from the grand old
known as the G23, were given a hearing with no key party role given to him since party and may even induce them to dam-
through an online meeting of the Con- August, it looked like the veteran would age the organization from within.
gress Working Committee, where they move to the margins till Sonia brought Party veteran Kapil Sibal, one of the
were targeted by Gandhi family loyalists him back on May 11 to head the Congress key G23 members, had questioned the
for questioning the high command, but Covid Relief Task Force. leadership over the Bihar assembly poll
were also given an assurance that their In the September reshuffle, another loss but did not attend the December
concerns would be looked into. veteran and signatory to the dissent let- meeting.
However, nothing much happened ter Mukul Wasnik, was made in charge The leadership issue is finally going
The dissenters, who

came to be known as
the G23, were given
a hearing through an
online meeting of the
Congress Working
Committee, where
they were targeted by
Gandhi family loyalists
for questioning the high
command, but were also
given an assurance that
Congress senior leader Ghulam their concerns would be
Nabi Azad, who sort of led the looked into.
G23, and Anand Sharma, at the
former’s birthday celebrations.
and things moved at a usual pace till an of Madhya Pradesh. Punjab Lok Sabha to be over in September next year when
organizational reshuffle was carried out member Manish Tewari, who too had the Congress internal elections will
in September in which a younger Jitin signed the dissent letter, had been ac- culminate.
Prasada, one of the signatories to the dis- tive in Parliament since 2019 but was not
sent letter, was picked up, promoted as much involved in the party affairs. Oppn unity: Cong has its task cut out
an All India Congress Committee Gen- He was made a member of the panel The Congress, which is facing desertions,
eral Secretary and given the uphill task reviewing the recent poll losses in As- still feels it is the natural anchor of a na-
of turning around the party’s fortune in sam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and tional opposition grouping against the
West Bengal, which was to have assem- Puducherry, the day Azad was named BJP but the TMC, which defeated the saf-
bly polls in April 2021. head of the Covid relief group. fron party in the West Bengal assembly
The others, including the then Leader In March, another G23 member and elections this year, is of the view that it is
of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha former Maharashtra chief minister more suitable for the role.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, who sort of led the Prithviraj Chavan too was given the sen- After winning a third consecutive
G23, and his deputy in the upper house of sitive task of screening the party’s candi- term as chief minister, Mamata Baner-
Parliament Anand Sharma, who headed dates for the high stakes Assam assembly jee is looking at a greater national role
the party’s foreign affairs department, polls to benefit from his clean image. and is expanding her party beyond West

33 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
Bengal. out of national politics will amount to The Congress and the SP had joined
To begin with, the TMC is focusing on strengthening the current fascist forces. hands for the 2017 assembly polls in UP
Tripura and Goa, which will have assem- It is understandable that (Prime Minis- but the alliance did not work out. Since
bly elections in 2022. The TMC made a ter Narendra) Modi and his BJP feel that then both the parties have been trying
late entry in Goa and had to start by rop- Congress should be wiped out. This is to recover lost ground. On her part, Pri-
ing in Congress leader Luizinho Fareiro part of their agenda. But it is more dan- yanka has been trying hard to revive the
as it lacked organization in the state. For gerous when those fighting against Modi Congress and present it as an option.
Tripura, the TMC roped in Sushmita Dev. and his ideology think that the Congress In Assam, the Congress joined hands
The two leaders joining the TMC has should be wiped out,” said Shiv Sena with the AIUDF for the 2021 assembly
miffed the Congress which feels that the mouthpiece Saamna. polls but later dropped the partner as
regional party is deliberately taking its Raut met Rahul Gandhi indicating the pact did not work out. Before the
leaders. The TMC argues that the two growing bonhomie between the two polls, the Congress lost some leaders to
Congress leaders were looking for a parties and said that the Shiv Sena-NCP- the BJP. Earlier, the Congress had lost 9
change and as a political party it gave Congress ruling alliance in Maharashtra lawmakers led by Himanta Biswa Sarma
them space. in 2014 to the BJP. Sarma
The Congress also blames was made deputy CM in
the TMC for dividing the anti- 2016 and was promoted as
BJP votes in Goa, while the The rift in opposition unity came chief minister this year.
regional party argues that the out in the open when West Bengal Earlier, in August this
Congress lacks aggression to year Congress chief Sonia
defeat the BJP.
chief minister Mamata Banerjee Gandhi had sounded the
Many in the Congress recently questioned the existence poll bugle for the 2024 na-
believe that poll strategist
Prashant Kishor, who had
of Congress-led United Progressive tional elections and urged
the opposition parties to
sought to join the Congress Alliance. Separately, Kishor also rise above their compul-
recently, is behind the for- took a dig at the grand old party sions and work together to
mer Congress leaders joining take on the BJP.
the TMC. saying it had no divine right to lead Before the Parliament’s
Kishor advised the TMC the opposition. monsoon session, it was al-
during the April assembly leged that the Congress was
elections in West Bengal, and delaying its leadership issue
is now a poll strategist with and was shying away from
the party. represented a mini-UPA. He also ques- playing the role of an opposition anchor.
The rift in opposition unity came out tioned the need for too many opposition Things further changed by the time
in the open when West Bengal chief fronts saying the one led by Congress the Winter Session of Parliament start-
minister Mamata Banerjee recently was enough. The Sena leader said he had ed on November 29 when the TMC did
questioned the existence of Congress- urged Rahul to take lead on this front. not attend an opposition strategy meet-
led United Progressive Alliance. Sepa- Though another Maharashtra ally ing convened by Congress veteran and
rately, Kishor also took a dig at the grand NCP has been an old friend of the Con- Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya
old party saying it had no divine right to gress, its chief Sharad Pawar remarked Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
lead the opposition. in September that the grand old party Kharge responded by saying it was up
As part of her national projection, was behaving like zamindars of yester- to the TMC to take a call in the matter but
Mamata Banerjee travelled to Mumbai, years whose lands had been taken away stressed that the need of the hour was
where she met NCP chief Sharad Pawar and who were not able to maintain their greater opposition unity. He further said
and Shiv Sena leaders Aditya Thackeray Havelis. there was no question of severing ties
and Sanjay Raut. Interestingly, in poll-bound Ut- with Trinamool Congress just because
However, Raut later said that no op- tar Pradesh the Samajwadi Party has Mamata Banerjee had questioned the
position unity was possible without the snubbed the Congress and refused to United Progressive Alliance.
Congress, to which the TMC responded forge a pre-poll alliance with the grand The response of the Congress veteran
by saying that it was only trying to pull old party. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s com- showed that though the grand old party
the Congress out of its inertia and was all ment that the Congress was likely to win might be miffed over Mamata’s jibes, it
for the larger opposition unity. zero seats in the coming UP assembly was playing down the rivalry for now.
“It is true that Mamata Banerjee polls, irked party in charge Priyanka
finished the Congress, Left and BJP in Gandhi Vadra, who quipped if the SP tehelkaletters@gmail.com
West Bengal. But keeping Congress leader was an astrologer.

34 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
Has the much touted BBBP
scheme met its targets?
A report tabled by the parliamentary panel on the Empowerment of Women in Lok Sabha, has
said that the central govt has spent a gigantic amount of funds allocated for its flagship scheme Beti
Bachao Beti Padhao on the media campaigns. How has the scheme fared, finds out anil manocha
T
he panel on Empowerment cation and health envisaged under the the government with an aim to focus
of Women, chaired by BJP scheme”. on issues like sex-selective abortion
lawmaker Dr Heena V Gavit, Gavit acknowledged that the low and the declining child sex ratio in the
also noted that out of a to- spending by states did not “an up to the country. The programme is currently
tal of ₹446.72 crore released mark performance of the scheme.” “We operational in over 400 districts across
during the period 2016- 2019, “a whop- have recommended that the ministry India. The committee also reported on
ping 78.91% was spent only on media of women and child development im- the poor utilization of the total budget.
advocacy”. mediately takes up the issue with the Since its inception in 2014-15 to 2019-
The committee is headed by Heena states to ensure proper utilization of 20, the total allocated budget under the
Vijaykumar Gavit and the report is funds. The Committee has also said that scheme was Rs 848 crore. This doesn’t
named Empowerment of Women the nodal ministry must release funds include the COVID year of 2020-21. Till
through education with special refer- strictly on the basis of actual utilization 2019-20, a total of Rs 622.48 crore was
ence to Beti Bachao Beti Padhao. The of earlier release and after proper scru- distributed to the states however, only
panel recommended that “it is time to tiny of expenditure/ utilization of the 25.13 percent of the total money the
focus on other verticals by making am- previous funds,” Gavit said. states got was spent by them under the
ple financial provisions to help achieve The flagship scheme of central scheme. The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
measurable outcomes related to edu- govt BBBP was launched in 2015 by (BBBP) Scheme, launched by Prime
Minister Narendra Modion 22nd Janu-
ary, 2015 at Panipat in Haryana with
the objective of bringing behavioural
change in the society towards birth and
rights of a girl child, has resulted in in-
creased awareness and sensitization
of the masses regarding prevalence
of gender bias and role of commu-
nity in eradicating it. During the last 6
years the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB)
has improved by 16 points from 918
in 2014-15 to 934 in 2019-20. Gross
Enrolment Ratio of girls in the schools
at secondary level has improved from
77.45 to 81.32.
Government claims that during
the last six years since its inception,
the BBBP scheme has been aiming at
changing the mindset of the public to
acknowledge the rights of the girl child.
The scheme has resulted in increased
awareness and sensitization of the
masses regarding prevalence of gender
bias and role of community in eradicat-
ing it. It has raised concerns around the

35 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
bring the focus on important issue of
female infanticide, lack of education
amongst girls and deprivation of their
rights on a life cycle continuum. The
scheme has successfully engaged with
Community to defy the age old biases
against the girl child and introduce inno-
vative practices to celebrate the girl child.
◆ The BBBP logo has been much appre-
ciated and accepted by people. People are
using the BBBP logo on their own voli-
tion at various places such as school bus-
es, building, stationeries, transport vehi-
cles etc. to affirm their commitment to
the cause. Logo has also been mentioned
in popular Indian festivals like Lohri,
KalashYatra, Rakhi, Ganesh Chaturda-
shipandal, festival of flowers etc.
The frontline government employees
have been successfully collaborating at
the level of community for observing
the son centric rituals while celebrating
the birth of girl child i.e. Kuwapoojan,
As per the implementation guidelines described Thalibajana etc. Now mothers and girl
on the e-address of the Ministry of Women and children are being felicitated at commu-
nity level and in hospitals by Adminis-
Child Development, the two key components tration to establish the relevance of the
of BBBP include media campaigns and multi- girl child. BetiJanmotsav is one of the key
programme celebrated in each district.
sectoral intervention in selected gender critical The panel will now take up the issue
districts that perform poorly with respect to of a number of girl students dropping out
of schools amid the pandemic. As per the
child sex ratio. implementation guidelines described on
the e-address of the Ministry of Women
and Child Development, the two key
issue of declining CSR in India. As a result (2019-20), Mahendergarh (Haryana) components of BBBP include media
of the collective consciousness of the from 791 (2014-15) to 919 (2019-20), Re- campaigns and multi-sectoral interven-
people supporting the campaign, BBBP wari (Haryana) from 803 (2014-15) to 924 tion in selected gender critical districts
has found its place in public discourse. (2019-20), and Patiala (Punjab) from 847 that perform poorly with respect to child
Progress in terms of monitorable (2014-15) to 933 (2019-20), sex ratio. The report also mentioned that
targets: ◆ Percentage of 1st Trimester ANC Reg- the massive spend on advertisements
◆ Promising trends of improvement istration has shown an improving trend was clearly against the previously laid
in Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) have been from 61% in 2014-15 to 71% in 2019-20. down formula for utilization of funds.
observed at National level. SRB has im- ◆ Percentage of Institutional Deliveries Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, a
proved by 16 points from 918 (2014-15) has shown an improving trend from 87% member of the panel, said, “Our initial
to 934 (2019-20), as per the HMIS data of in 2014-15 to 94% in 2019-20. estimates suggest that more girl stu-
MoH&FW. ◆ Gross Enrolment Ratio of girls in the dents dropped out of private schools
◆ Out of 640 districts covered under schools at secondary level has improved during Covid. The possible reasons
BBBP, 422 districts have shown improve- from 77.45 (2014-15) to 81.32 (2018-19-pro- might be that lack of internet facilities
ment in SRB from 2014-15 to 2018-2019. visional figures) as per UDISE-data. hampered education or that parents
◆ Some Districts which had very low ◆ Percentage of schools with functional might be uninterested in paying fees
SRB in 2014-15 have shown huge im- separate toilets for girls has shown im- when the schools remained closed. Gov-
provement after implementation of the provement from 92.1% in 2014-15 to 95.1% ernment schools faced little problem as
Scheme such as Mau (Uttar Pradesh) in 2018-19 (2018-19 provisional figure, as education is free there. We will study this
from 694 (2014-15) to 951 (2019-20), Kar- per UDISE-data carefully,” she said.
nal (Haryana) from 758 (2014-15) to 898 ◆ The BBBP scheme has been able to tehelkaletters@gmail.com

36 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
COLUMN
Why Afghans should

suffer for Taliban act?
Afghanistan is in the throes of a major food shortage caused by the sudden
ASIAN DRAMA stoppage of funds by foreign agencies. India, which has historical ties with
A
SYED the war-torn country, should rally a global support for the suffering Afghans
NOORUZZAMAN
fghanistan under the Taliban 1996-97 in a confusion-filled scenario. They
is faced with a crippling crisis are now battle-hardened, reformed politi-
The columnist — former the extremists, perhaps, never cians, serious about successfully governing
Deputy Editor of The realised before. The country their country with a clear-cut objective of
Tribune, Chandigarh — is struggling to cope with a putting Afghanistan back on the road to
specialises in foreign major food shortage caused by socio-economic recovery. Therefore, the
affairs. With a career the sudden stoppage of funds supply from world community, instead of putting a
spanning 41 years, he foreign agencies, which must be addressed spanner in the works, should facilitate the
keeps close watch on by the world community before it is too late. task of rebuilding the country destroyed by
issues related to South The crisis is the result of the stoppage of the circumstances beyond anyone’s control.
Asian countries. The much of the financial aid the country had There is a major human crisis which must be
views expressed are been getting till the US-backed government tackled effectively.
personal was there in Kabul. Any kind of contribution to get people en-
United Nations Development Programme gaged in economic activity is bound to pro-
(Asia) Director Kanni Wignaraja said a mote peace and stability in Afghanistan and
few days back that the sudden dramatic beyond. Yet, in the midst of all that is going
withdrawal of international aid was an on there, the world needs to watch outside
unprecedented fiscal shock Afghanistan has forces like Pakistan that may be in search of
been suffering from after Taliban rule was opportunities to play negative politics.
re-established as a result of a long struggle of The recently held Delhi Regional Security
over two decades. Dialogue on Afghanistan, mainly aimed at
This has led to a situation when lives of discussing the evolving security scenario
nearly 23 million Afghans --- over 50 per and its regional and global ramifications,
cent of the country’s population --- including could not avoid expressing concern over
3.2 million children, are threatened, accord- the worst socio-economic and humanitar-
ing to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organi- ian crisis faced by Kabul. The unanimously
sation (FAO) and the World Food Programme agreed declaration issued at the end of the
(WFP). There is an opportunity for India, dialogue underlined the need to provide “ur-
which has historical relations with Afghani- gent humanitarian assistance to the people
stan and has already spent a lot on rebuild- of Afghanistan”.
ing of that country, not only to come forward The Delhi declaration also had it that “hu-
with more economic aid to save the Afghans manitarian assistance should be provided in
in distress, but also with a plan to persuade an unimpeded, direct and assured manner
the global community to ensure that the to Afghanistan and that the assistance is
people of the war-torn country should not distributed within the country in a non-
suffer if Taliban factions have recaptured discriminatory manner across all sections of
power in Kabul. This is the best way to make the Afghan society.”
China less attractive for the Afghans as also The participants in the regional dialogue,
to compel the Taliban to mend their ways to held in New Delhi at the initiative of India’s
become dependable for the outside world. National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval,
Experts are of the view that the Taliban included the NSAs from Iran, Russia, Kazakh-
rulers today are not what they were when stan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan
they first established their government in and Uzbekistan. China and Pakistan, not

37 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
surprisingly, preferred to stay away. immediately, it may save Afghanistan from mass migration in the region and the
The declarations that Afghanistan’s the catastrophic consequences it is likely to world which will consequently create fur-
territory should not be allowed to be used face under the prevailing circumstances. ther humanitarian and economic issues,”
for terrorism and efforts must be made The ultimate beneficiaries will be the Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan
to prevent radicalisation of society are people of Afghanistan. It is not the people’s Muttaqi recently said in an open let-
bound to get support from one and all. fault if Taliban factions happen to be ruling ter aimed at shaking the conscience of
But the prevailing circumstances demand the roost. Such gestures may make the Washington DC. The letter clearly told US
that the global community, as its top pri- Taliban undergo a major transformation to Congress members to make the Afghan
ority, must also focus on saving millions of the liking of the global community. assets accessible to Kabul, otherwise
Afghan lives, including those of children, “If the current situation prevails, the economic turmoil in Afghanistan could
which may be lost due to an acute food Afghan government and people will face lead to trouble abroad. He made an appeal
shortage in the landlocked country if problems and will become a cause for to the US again a few days back, seeking
timely help remains missing.
Realisation has ultimately dawned
on Pakistan, which has at last listened to
saner advice for allowing the transporta-
tion of 50,000 tonnes of wheat plus life-
saving medicines to Afghanistan from
India through its land route, part of the
blocked humanitarian assistance worth
Rs 5 billion, but this is not enough. More
needs to be done to save the threatened
lives in Afghanistan.
The prevailing food crisis in Afghani-
stan will become more acute as winter
fully sets in when most parts of the
country will be snow-bound, difficult to be
accessed by anyone engaged in humani-
tarian activities.
According to the WFP’s Deputy Re-
gional Director for Asia and the Pacific,
Anthea Webb, “The drought (second
drought in less than three years) has
reduced the amount of food that people
can grow; so crops are down by 40 per release of Afghanistan’s seized funds by
cent. Jobs have evaporated, and food ending the black lists and the sanctions
prices have gone up. And so, all combines It is believed that at a meeting in Doha (Qatar) with the US
to be a perfect storm for people who were much of Afghanistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.
already very poor and on the edge prior The new government in Kabul is un-
to the events of August (when the Taliban financial woes can come able to get sufficient financial aid from
recaptured power in Kabul).” to an end if the US de- abroad primarily because no country has
It is believed that much of Afghani- so far recognised the Taliban’s rule there.
stan’s financial difficulties can come to freezes Kabul’s nearly Not even Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Paki-
an end if the US de-freezes Kabul’s nearly $9.5 billion in assets stan which were among the few countries
$9.5 billion in assets belonging to the
Afghan Central Bank. But the Joe Biden
belonging to the Afghan which had come forward to establishing
diplomatic relations with the Taliban
administration argues that it cannot allow Central Bank. But the administration in 1996-97.
a Taliban-led government to access the
seized money mainly because the Taliban
Joe Biden administration The world cannot afford to keep quiet
while millions of Afghan lives remain en-
still remains on the US Treasury Depart- argues that it cannot dangered. A way must be found to ensure
ment’s “sanctions list”. This is what the allow a Taliban-led that the flow of foreign funds to Kabul is
Americans describe as a “technical” factor again there as a humanitarian gesture.
that comes in the way of Afghanistan’s government to access The cause of peace and stability in the
national funds being out of bounds for the the seized money world also demands it.
Taliban government.
If this “technical” factor is removed tehelkaletters@gmail.com

38 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
Steam gushing out of hot water
at one of the geothermal sites
Geothermal energy may provide

answer to Ladakh’s power woes
The Department of Science and Technology has set up a demonstration project on space heating using
geothermal energy at a local café in Ladakh. While the temperature dips to 15 degrees outside, thanks to the
T
nearby hot spring it remains a cosy 20 degrees inside the cafe. A report by raj machhan
hese days residents of Chuma- it.” The equipment for the demonstration ing system has a Heat Exchanger, located
thang, a village located on the project has been sourced free of cost from inside a small pumping station, as its main
banks of river Indus near the Norway and Iceland under the Indo-Nor- component. It acts much like the radiator
Indo-China border in Leh dis- wegian co-operation project. Scientists in an automobile. Water (average temper-
trict of the Union Territory of from the two countries visited Ladakh ature on-site at Chumathang is 78 degree
Ladakh, flock to a local café to keep them- and chose Chumathang as the most suit- Celsius) is pumped to the exchanger from
selves warm. The temperatures outside able spot. the hot spring located nearby. The heat ex-
often plummet to as low as minus 15 de- Apart from space heating, Geother- changer is connected to the café through a
grees, but thanks to the nearby hot spring mal energy is a major source of electric- closed loop, leak proof, insulated pipe. The
it remains a cosy 20 degrees inside. ity. Worldwide it produces 18 Gigawatts of system has a special fluid, which is heated
The relative comfort of the villagers electric power, accounting for 30 per cent by the exchanger. The fluid is circulated
has been made possible by a Demonstra- of total energy requirements in countries through the closed loop pipe into the res-
tion Project on Space Heating using Geo- like Iceland. Says Bhoop Singh, Director taurant and back to the heat exchanger. It
thermal Energy. The project is funded by (retd), Department of Science and Tech- is stored in a container in the café complex
the Union Government’s Department of nology, “Geothermal energy has huge to maintain its circulating volume.
Science and Technology with technical scope in India as well. It is clean energy. In The system has striking similarities
inputs from Geological Survey of Iceland Chumathang, we found water tempera- with the temperature mechanism of an
(ISOR), Norwegian Geotechnical Institute ture close to boiling point. We set up the automobile, but in reverse. The coolant in
(NGI), Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geol- demonstration project and it has been a vehicle cools the radiator whereas the
ogy, Dehradun, and National Institute of a good success, it is still functional. If you heating fluid in the geothermal system
Technology, Hamirpur. look at the geothermal map of India, you heats up the space where it flows. The café
Says Rajeshwar Banshtu, Principal In- will find plenty of places with massive po- has two heat radiators connected to the
vestigator from NIT Hamirpur, “We started tential for electricity generation.” pipe to transmit the heat within the space.
work on the demo in 2015 and it was ready How is geothermal energy utilized for Much of the Union Territory of Ladakh
by 2017. It has cost us about Rs 40 lakhs to heating closed spaces? The technology is a cold desert. On an average, Chuma-
put the system in place and to maintain involved is fairly simple. The space heat- thang gets electric supply only for four

39 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
hours a day during winters (October to
March) from a diesel generator. Often
the village has to go without electricity
for days on end. Sourcing electricity for
the pumping station was one of the chal-
lenges faced by the scientists. The problem
was overcome by harnessing solar energy,
which is available in abundance in Ladakh.
Scientists have installed 24 solar panels,
each with a capacity to generate 100 Watts
of electricity, to meet the power require-
ments of the pumping station. Says café
owner Zodpa, “My business has flourished
since I agreed to put the system in place.
Earlier, I owned just the café, but now I
have built up two more floors for hotel
rooms.”
Due to heavy snowfall, presently,
Ladakh remains cut off for long periods A view of the cafe in Chumathang
from rest of the country during the win- village where the space heating
ters. It has a population of 2.74 lakh with system is installed
a heavy Army presence owing to places
like Drass and Kargil in its territory. The
extreme winter temperatures often drop tones of CO2/ MWhr are generated from than 200 meters, though this is bound to
to minus 30 degree Celsius in Leh district. the diesel generators. The effect of CO2 decrease substantially as more projects
Geothermal energy could be the answer to on the glaciers in the Himalayan region are implemented. Then again, the tech-
its power needs. Says CP Dorjay, a geologist is already felt with most of the glaciers re- nology and equipment for the large scale
who resides in Leh, “Of late the electricity ceding at an alarming rate. Compared to projects needs to be sourced from the
station at Leh has been connected to the conventional energy, the geothermal ver- western countries, which further adds to
Northern Grid, so we do get power on nor- sion saves about 80% fuel cost and 8% op- the costs. Private initiatives to generate
mal days in the town. But the conditions erational cost in applications such as food electricity from geothermal energy have
are bad in the interiors, where people have processing and greenhouse cultivation. not been successful. In 2005, GeoSyndi-
to depend on materials like wood and cow Ladakh falls in the Himalayan Geo- cate Power Private Ltd planned to set up
dung to stay warm.” thermal Belt. The UT has three major 50 MWe power plant in Puga for generat-
Presently, most of region uses diesel, geothermal sites at Puga, Chumathang ing power as also set up systems for direct
kerosene, and other locally available ma- and Nubra. Banshtu says that as per scien- applications like greenhouse cultivation
terial to meet its power requirements for tific estimates the geothermal field at Puga and space heating. But nothing came of
electricity and space heating. As per a re- alone could sustain a 20 MW power plant it. Unlike solar power, geothermal energy
port by D Chandrasekhram and Varun at current available depth of 250 meters. is presently not on government prior-
Chandrasekhar of IIT, Mumbai, Ladkah Demonstration projects such as the one at ity list. Says Bhoop Singh, “I approached
uses 50,000 liters of diesel per day to run Chumathang could be scaled up to provide the then Army commander to utilize the
generators to produce 17 MWe, which space heating to the village and the Army freely available resource for space heat-
costs 2.92 billion rupees annually (as per establishment nearby. ing, but he chose to stick to the status quo
current price of diesel) to the Indian ex- With the growing population and an and refused citing budget constraints and
chequer. The total demand for electricity increased inflow of tourists, the energy the lack of provision for such projects.” Sci-
in Ladakh is 53 MW. The cost of diesel in needs of Ladakh could see a sharp up- entists hope that the scenario may change
Leh is twice that of Chandigarh as the fuel swing in the future. Scientists say that Ge- down the line as the advantages become
is generally airlifted from Chandigarh othermal energy is the most suitable and too obvious to ignore.
and Delhi in winters. Generators remain sustainable source to meet the demand. Just like Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh too
the only source of electricity. The report Apart from protecting the pristine envi- has abundant sources of geothermal en-
states that unlike solar and wind energy, ronment, it could give a fillip to the socio- ergy on rivers Alaknanda, Beas, Bhagirathi
geothermal energy is available 24x7, 365 economic conditions of the region. and Sutlej (Tattapani) among other places.
days per year. It emits 80% less greenhouse Challenges, however, remain. The cost It remains up to the state government to
gases compared to coal and oil and is not of production of geothermal electricity make the most of it.
affected by adverse weather conditions. A is high. It costs Rs 40 crores to produce 1
rough estimate shows that 28000 metric MW if the site needs to be drilled more tehelkaletters@gmail.com

40 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
Journalist Nava Thakuria
bags international award
Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) has honoured Tehelka journalist for his relentless
initiatives to safeguard the rights of media persons in the south Asian country and also for defending
T
the press freedom in the region with an exemplary commitment. A report by tehelka bureau
he Geneva-based Press Em- parts of the world.
blem Campaign (PEC) has Starting his career as a reporter in
rewarded senior journalist Natun Dainik, a popular Assamese lan-
Nava Thakuria, a resident of guage daily in 1990, Thakuria shifted to
northeast India and a long- freelance journalism in English by 1999.
time contributor to us (Tehelka), for his His focus area of reporting remains the
relentless initiatives to safeguard the socio-political, cultural and environ-
rights of media persons in the south mental developments taking place in
Asian country and also for defending eastern India along with Bhutan, Tibet,
the press freedom in the region with an Myanmar and Bangladesh.
exemplary commitment. The Guwaha- The changing face of mainstream
ti-based working journalist was award- journalism after the advent of alternate
ed on 30th November 2021 remotely as media worldwide is also a primary fo-
it was difficult for him to reach Geneva cus area for him. Till now, Thakuria has
because of the Covid-19 restrictions. visited most of the prime localities in
Even a virtual interaction program with the media fraternity. At the same time, India and also Thimphu, Dhaka, Yangon,
a group of journalists there was also I greatly appreciate this award which Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Copenhagen,
cancelled at the last moment. draws attention to the situation of Chicago, etc for different events and
“It is the first time that the PEC re- journalists in my country,” said Thaku- professional assignments.
wards a journalist from India, the ria. Journalism, be it print, electronic Created in the Swiss city of Geneva
second-most populous country of the or digital, remains a hazardous job in in 2004 by a group of journalists, PEC
world. India has a strong democracy India. Most of the media persons are the global media safety and rights body
and a vibrant press. Last year however, deprived of due salaries in the Indian with the consultative status at the Unit-
a record number of 15 journalists were sub-continent and often they also face ed Nations, is devoted to strengthening
killed in India while six have been killed threats from both the government and the legal protection and safety of jour-
this year. Journalists are targeted docu- non-state actors including the anti-so- nalists around the world. Since 2009, it
menting abuses, corruption, criminal cial elements. The Covid-19 has severely has been awarding its annual prize
activities,” said Blaise Lempen, secre- impacted the Indian media industry, he to an individual or an organization, who
tary-general of PEC. added. works for the protection of journalists
In 2021, the media fraternity in In- Besides his home country, Thakuria and the press freedom on the ground.
dia was the most affected by the novel has also taken pains to document the The award had earlier gone to
coronavirus along with Brazil. The PEC media crisis in Myanmar (also known Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui
award also wants to pay tribute to some as Burma or Brahmadesh) and report- in 2020. In the previous year, the PEC
300 journalists who died throughout ed the detention of over 120 journal- awarded the Afghanistan Journal-
India with Covid-19 complications. The ists after the military coup in February. ists Center director Ahmad Quraishi,
largest democracy in the globe also lost Nearly 40 out of them are still behind whereas in 2018 the family of journal-
six journalists to assailants till date the bars in the military-ruled country. ist Daphne Caruana Galizia (who was
this year. A graduate from Assam Engineer- murdered in Malta in October 2017)
“Receiving the PEC award is a great ing College (under Gauhati University), received the posthumous award on her
honour and represents a strong incen- Thakuria contributes news-features to behalf.
tive to continue my work. I now feel various newspapers of India along with
more responsible for my colleagues in several media outlets based in different tehelkaletters@gmail.com

41 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
OPINION
Double standards galore

under the rulers’ nose
SIGNS OF The fact is that today the Muslims in the country are more than aware of
THE TIMES the prevailing realities. But they are not in a combative mood. “No question
F
of dissent…any charge can be thrown at us!”
HUMRA or us, the survivors of the day, two roam about freely and fearlessly, mouthing
QURAISHI distractions hold out. the unthinkable obnoxious stuff! No, they
Katrina Kaif-Vicky Kaushal have not been made to sit shut in a corner
The Delhi-based writer wedding with all its glitter and because they are directly or indirectly con-
and columnist’s books glamour and useless hype! nected to the ruling lot.
include Kashmir: The Big Boss and the loss of sensi- We have harassed and hounded this
Untold Story. She tivities. In fact, next year, the makers should comedian, who has no political brigades to
co-authored a series of bypass stars and starlets. Instead rope in come to his rescue. See, how genuine talent
writings with the late writers and authors. And then see what all can be so very severely crushed, where the
Khushwant Singh and gets written, far and wide! artist is left with no other option
her short stories are Seriously speaking, it will be one of those but to bid goodbye to his craft! How I wish
part of anthologies. impossible-to-miss off beats. Not to be the sane amongst us see to it that Munawar
The views expressed overlooked the core fact that writers keep Faruqui and his talent survives. Can he be
are her own to their own little space, far away from min- ‘allowed’ to perform in Kerala, West Bengal,
gling and inter-mingling with the rest. But if Punjab…Any State or region or locale that
and when thrown in the Big Boss scenario, has been left somewhat untouched by the
they could get all too hyper, and with that fascist forces.
react and overreact. I have been witnessing these double
But can all the distractions keep us standards for years, but they were not so
distracted enough to bypass the double very obviously spread out as they are today.
We have made standards hovering around! Way back in the early 90s, I’d more than
realized that blatant discriminations had
stand-up comedian No laughing matter! intruded right into the very system, when I
Munawar Faruqui Double standards are spreading out. The had visited Delhi’s Seelampur area, to re-
latest, of course, is this: We have made port on the reactionary rioting that erupted
sit in a corner but stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui sit in soon after the Babri Masjid destruction.
the Right-Wing a corner but the Right-Wing Hindutva lot Muslim men recounted they were made to
Hindutva lot roam strip in front of cops, to show the circumci-
sion marks. They were also forced to stand
about freely and apart from the Hindu men rounded up.
fearlessly, mouthing With that, they were made to feel more than
aware of their minority status.
the unthinkable And as the protests by the Karni Sena
obnoxious stuff! No, had taken off against the film Padmaavat
for what was labelled as a poor projection
they have not been of the Rajputs in that film, Muslims said that
made to sit shut in though they were also provoked to protest
against the distorted portrayal of Allaud-
a corner because din Khilji, but had to restrain themselves.
they are directly or “The fact is Khilji’s portrayal is completely
distorted in that film. Khilji, shown as a
indirectly connected meat-tearing, unkempt looking Muslim
to the ruling lot. Munawar Faruqui
conqueror, stands in contrast to his actual
personality. Yet we couldn’t dare raise our

42 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
OPINION
another hitting factor —Central and

State level ministers from the North
East can openly talk of their beef-eat-
ing traditions and get away with it, but
Muslim cattle grazers and traders get
killed and lynched on the beef alibi!
Though several Right-Wing politi-
cians have been publicly threatening
and abusing the Muslim community,
yet not one of them has been arrested.
In January 2020, in the capital city,
New Delhi, Muslims were openly
abused and threatened, and yet no ar-
rest warrants against the likes of Anu-
rag Thakurs, Kapil Mishras, Parvesh
Vermas.
Also, though news reports had de-
tailed that VHP and Bajrang Dal were
holding arms training camps, where
the young were getting trained to
voice, against that negative portray of out, detailed the prevailing double attack the ‘enemy’ in skull caps, yet no
Khilji. We would have been hounded standards: “Hindutva leaders have arrests of the organizers and promot-
by the cops, in an atmosphere where the freedom to raise private brigades/ ers of those camps! And one cannot
double standards prevail at the very senas. If Muslims would have done overlook the fact that the three — L.K.
governance level.” what these private brigades do, they Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma
And one late evening as news would be thrown in prisons. Have you Bharti —who were gleefully hugging
splashed on the small screen of the ever heard of a Musalmaan sena! And each other when the Babri Masjid was
removal of the then governor of though there is no ban on any of the getting destroyed by the kar sevaks,
Meghalaya, V Shanmuganathan, in the Hindutva outfits yet ban on the Mus- were allotted prime slots in the very
backdrop of news reports of sexual lim outfits. Why such blatant bias in governance of this county!
misconduct against him, there were no today’s governance? Double standards In contrast, stands out the State fury
dissections or debates or discussions also come to the fore, when encounter against activists and academics for
to his known links to the RSS. Several specialists are set free, yet doubts are their so-called controversial speeches.
viewers were provoked to comment, made to hover around those gunned Sedition charges slapped even on
“If by any chance this governor was a down in encounters. Many of those students. Stands out the blatant case of
Muslim then the godi media would be killed in the so-called encounters the Shaheen Public School in Karna-
all too busy holding unending discus- could be innocent civilians.” taka’s Bidar, where the school staff and
sions on his sexual encounters, along There seems no end to the double students and even particular parents
the expected religious biases and standards. During BJP’s 2018 elec- were subjected to sheer harassment.
slants. They would be busy lynching tion campaign in the North East, Sedition cases slapped on them be-
him on the small screen! Our blood Right-Wing politicians came up with cause prime minister Narendra Modi
boils at these double standards!” announcements of sending senior was criticized in the midst of a play
The fact is that today the Muslims citizens of Nagaland on religious trips, staged by the school children.
in the country are more than aware of all the way to Jerusalem! The Right- If the establishment genuinely and
the prevailing realities. With that, they Wing wooing the majority Christian actually wants to remove all possible
are not in a combative mood. They population of Nagaland by setting up traces of the so-called controversial
cannot afford to be aggressive. “No a senior citizen board which would or provocative teachings, it ought to
question of dissent…any charge can be annually select 50 members through look ‘Right’, right into the text books
thrown at us! The community leaders lucky draw for a free pilgrimage trip of the schools run by the Hindutva
should tell the community that we to Jerusalem. Not to be overlooked the lobbies. Also, it ought keep track of the
Muslims are second-class citizens and fact that at the start of 2018, the Central communal utterances of the Hindutva
with that we sit all quiet...not a mur- government had scrapped the Haj politicians!
mur from us! It’ll be better that way be- subsidy for the Muslim community of
cause then there’ll be nil expectations the country. tehelkaletters@gmail.com
from this sarkar.” They also pointed And whilst on double standards, yet

43 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
Nagaland killings rekindle
debate on AFSPA in Valley
T
he killing of fourteen civilians After all we live in a democracy and you
It is very unlikely that in Nagaland brought the focus can’t keep people together by using force,”
back on the need to repeal or at said Mufti during a media interaction in
the demand for the least modify the Armed Forces Delhi.
withdrawal of the AFSPA Special Powers Act. The debate Former J&K Chief Minister also ac-
has also resurfaced in Kashmir Valley cused the government of working with
from Northeast and J&K where it has all but faded out from public a colonial mindset. “J&K has become a
will find any traction at discourse in recent years. More so, follow- laboratory. They started the testing for
ing the revocation of Article 370 in August destroying the constitution with J&K by
the national level where 2019 since when it is seen as a holy grail, removing Article 370, then [through] NRC
there exists a near political an intrinsic fact of Kashmir’s life. (National Register of Citizens) and CAA
consensus about the Former Jammu and Kashmir chief (Citizenship Amendment Act).”
minister and People’s Democratic Party On the other hand, the J-K National
continuation of the law, (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti was the first Conference MP from Anantnag Hasnain
which is seen as necessary to ask for the withdrawal of the Act from Masoodi too supported the demand for
the North East and also from J&K. repeal of AFSPA in Parliament saying the
to reign in the militancy. A “AFSPA should be removed area wise law has impacted J&K the most.
report by riyaz wani where militancy has reduced. This can be However, it is very unlikely that the
a good start in northeast states and J&K. demand for the withdrawal of the AFSPA
from Northeast and J&K
will find any traction at the
national level where there
exists a near political con-
sensus about the continu-
ation of the law which is
seen as necessary to reign
in the militancy.
The AFSPA was en-
forced in the Kashmir Val-
ley in 1990, a year after the
outbreak of militancy, and
was extended to Jammu a
decade later. The Act gives
the armed forces immuni-
ty from prosecution while
operating in the internal
conflict zones. During the
campaign for the 2014 Lok
Sabha election, Omar Ab-
dullah and his father, Fa-
rooq Abdullah, had accused
the Opposition People’s
Democratic Party (PDP)
patron Mufti Mohammad
Sayeed of having enforced

44 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
KASHMIR
the AFSPA in the state when he was the “Any delay would allow him to get ber of the disappeared in Valley was
Union home minister in the VP Singh- away thereby nullifying the efforts of around 4000.
led government at the Centre. the Army to conduct pro-active ac- Case for AFSPA revocation in Kash-
But the army has consistently tions,” the Army note read. mir pivots on two main contentions:
stonewalled the bids to revoke Article But human rights observers in one, that is often advanced by the
370 by invoking worst-case security Kashmir argue that the AFSPA has tak- Valley-based political class in the for-
scenarios should the AFSPA be lifted, en a huge toll in Kashmir, among them mer state is the considerable decline in
even if partially. That was, even when the people who have been subjected militancy in recent years which in turn
militancy was at its lowest ebb in J&K. to enforced disappearance, in which has seen a corresponding reduction in
In 2011, with militancy-related fa- several security agencies including in counter-insurgency operations. J&K
talities down to 183, the then General a number of cases the militants are in- Police figures over the past six years
Officer Commanding of the Army’s 15 volved. The figures of the disappeared have estimated the number of militant
Corps in Srinagar, Lt General Syed Ata have varied in the state. While the hu- figures at around 200, most of them
Hasnain, had even highlighted the un- man rights groups put the total number concentrated in South Kashmir. Dis-
likely possibility of Kashmir becoming tricts like Budgam, Ganderbal, Baram-
an independent nation by 2014. This ulla and for that matter even Srinagar
escalation of anxiety has been typical
of the army whenever it has felt threat- The human rights and the districts in Jammu have wit-
nessed a sharp drop in the violence.
ened by the possible power vacuum observers in Kashmir Second reason is a widespread pub-
that the AFSPA lifting could leave be- lic perception of the AFSPA abetting
hind. Hasnain, in fact, put his foot down argue that the AFSPA human rights violations by the security
when many in the then UPA govern- has taken a huge toll forces. The law gives the army and the
ment, including the then home minis- paramilitary forces sweeping powers
ter P Chidambaram, were inclined to in Valley, with enforced to conduct their operations as “under
review the Act. disappearances being this Act, no prosecution, suit or other
In fact, the home ministry under legal proceeding shall be instituted,”
Chidambaram had even proposed one of its major fallout. against the security personnel acting
amendments to the law. Some of these
included dropping the phrase “even
The human rights in good faith in the line of duty.
And it is these two grounds that
to causing of death” as a permissible groups put the number the Valley politicians have tapped into
consequence of firing, or use of force
by the armed forces. It also proposed
of those who have gone to often fashion a political narrative
for the phase-wise rollback of the law
providing for a grievance redressal missing in the Valley - beginning with two districts each in
mechanism to address complaints re- Kashmir Valley and Jammu.
garding AFSPA abuse. Significantly, the at around 8000. The debate on the AFSPA is no
proposed amendment stipulated to set longer black-and-white. In many ways,
up a redressal mechanism under both what was once an undoubtedly draco-
civilian and armed forces administra- nian instrument of the state is seen —
tion to probe genuine complaints. The of missing at around 8000, the govern- at least in political, if not in humanitar-
amendments also stipulated that Army ment’s own number has wildly varied ian, terms — to have a context. National
carry out its operations in presence of a over the years. political parties see it as necessary to
civilian magistrate. In 2002, the then J&K home minis- not only ensure protection for the se-
However, the Army note which was ter Khalid Najeeb Suharwardy told J&K curity forces deployed in combat oper-
then circulated in Cabinet Committee Assembly that 3,184 people had dis- ations but also maintain their morale.
on Security didn’t largely go along with appeared in the then state from 1989 So, there is little hope that the un-
these proposed amendments. Army to 2002. The figure was subsequently ion government will even consider the
said Section 7 of the AFSPA offered pro- revised by the PDP-led coalition gov- modification of the ASPA let alone re-
tection to security personnel acting in ernment at 3,931 disappearances from peal it.
good faith in their official capacity, and 1989 to 2003. Ghulam Nabi Azad as the “Only way the law could be hoped
their prosecution is permitted only af- Chief Minister pegged the number at to be repealed if Kashmir as an issue
ter sanction of the Central government. 693 in 2006 and then Omar as chief is resolved sometimes is in future,”
The Army also reasoned that it was not minister while replying to a query in said Naseer Ahmad, author of Kashmir
practical to look for a magistrate dur- J&K House on March 31, 2011 put the Pending. “But that seems unlikely to
ing an encounter or to wait for a search number at around 113 people. However happen in the foreseeable future.”
warrant to enter a house where the talking to media as an opposition lead-
militant is likely to be hiding. er in 2008, Omar had said the num- tehelkaletters@gmail.com

45 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
COLUMN
In triangular global power

play, India dons new role
FAR & WIDE The developments of the past two years, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, coupled
with Chinese belligerence have led to the emergence of a triangular power play among
GOPAL MISRA
I
US, China and Russia, which India and other third world countries have to navigate
ndia appears to be repositioning grate the country with Europe by joining
herself in her new non-aligned NATO and forging a direct alliance with
A New Delhi-based avatar; the contemporary world is the United States. It is also possible that a
independent not bipolar, but a new triangular set powerful Europe could have diluted the
columnist offers an of world forces in which she has to USA’s status of the only Super Power on
in-depth study. The find her position. During the post World the earth. The olive branch from Rus-
views expressed are War-II years of the 20th century, India sia, maybe for this reason, was rejected,
his own had promoted the non-aligned approach and thus, it forced the Russian president
for surviving in the keen power compe- Vladimir Putin to regain the support
tition between the power blocks led by of the old USSR allies and the republics
USA and USSR (Union of Soviet Social- from Eastern Europe to Eurasia, which
ist Republics) respectively. The recent were once the part of the USSR.
developments of the past two years, espe- Apart from the impact of the deadly
cially during the pandemic of Covid-19 coronavirus on the mankind in 2020, the
accompanied by Chinese belligerence year is also to be remembered for the
have led to the emergence of a triangular final Chinese epitaph scripted on the vi-
power play among USA, China and Rus- brant democracy of Hong Kong. A solemn
The democratic sia, which India and other third world promise was given by the predecessors of
countries have to navigate. the present Chinese President, Xi Jinping,
regime in Afghanistan India’s proximity to the Russian that China would allow ‘one nation two
prompted by the Federation could be traced to the USSR systems’ for next 50 years after it gets
years, when India was liberally helped by the territory from Britain. However, in a
western powers was USSR leadership in her industrialization bid to assert a Super Power status, China
allowed to wither and also in strategic affairs. In spite of the
fragmentation of the USSR, India has re-
dumped its solemn commitment to the
dustbin of history. Within a year of his
away on August 15, tained close ties with the successor state, inauguration in the White House, US
2020 without offering Russia, as well as with the new sovereign
countries established after the break-up
President Joe Biden had to honour the
commitment of his predecessor, Donald
any resistance to of USSR including Ukraine. There was Trump, to pack up from Afghanistan. The
a time, when the Russian Federation American forces were withdrawn and
the Taliban forces. was seeking European identity, but its the democratic regime prompted by the
This humiliation of attempts were thwarted by the European western powers was allowed to wither
Union under the dominance of the USA away on August 15, 2020 without offering
the US-led western and Britain. Instead, they adopted both any resistance to the Taliban forces. This
powers, perhaps, has financial and strategic policies to wean humiliation of the US-led western pow-
away the erstwhile USSR allies to the ers, perhaps, has prompted both China
prompted both China western camp. It may be recalled that and Russia to flex their muscles on the
and Russia to flex during the tenure of Mikhail Gorbachev,
Russia was keen for setting up a mecha-
borders of Taiwan and Ukraine respec-
tively. Biden’s bid to avert further humili-
their muscles on the nism for a “common European home” ation is being seen in the recently held
borders of Taiwan and and a joint global leadership with the
United States. Even Russia’s first presi-
two virtual summits, he has had with Xi
Jinping and Putin.
Ukraine, respectively. dent, Boris Yeltsin, had tried to fully inte- For India, the most interesting event

46 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
DIPLOMACY
Putin of severe sanctions, if his forces

‘invade’ Ukraine. Similar warning
was given to Xi JInping, if the Chi-
nese army occupies Taiwan by force.
Meanwhile, Putin must be admired for
keeping the situation under control
on the Ukrainian borders. He has
already been empowered by the Fed-
eral Council, the upper house of the
Russian Parliament, to deploy forces
or if need be to send armies inside
Ukraine. He has so far refrained to
accord any diplomatic recognition to
the separatists of Ukraine; especially
in Donetsk and Luhansk, Dnipro-
petrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv,
Odessa and Zaporizhia, where they
are well-entrenched.
India’s elephantine memory

It is often stated that elephants never
during this high-power game on in social media and debates, Chinese forget; maybe, it is true about India
the world’s chessboard perhaps was maps from the Yuan dynasty during too. Indians are known for their
Putin’s five-hour visit to New Delhi. 1271-1368 are being often quoted. The elephantine memory. Indians even
It was scheduled just a day before his present city was founded in 1860 as a remember their ancient ties with
virtual meeting with Biden on Decem- Russian military outpost. China, which they wish to blossom in
ber 8, 2021. During his brief sojourn In 1872, the main Russian na- the contemporary world. The ar-
in India, he also set the agenda for val base on the Pacific Ocean was chaeological finds such as the etched
the crucial ‘substantial and meaning- transferred to it. It was ceded by China carnelian beads of Indus valley finds
ful’ strategic dialogues between the to Russia as a result of the Treaty of indicating common India-China her-
Russian defence minister and foreign Aigun of 1858 and the Treaty of Peking itage and their common roots to their
minister, Sergey Shoygu and Sergey of 1860. respective rich civilizations. They had
Lavrov, with their Indian counter- their roots in Western Zhou, Spring
parts, Rajnath Singh and S. Jaishanker Biden’s peace efforts and Autumn period, and these were
respectively. Thus, with formidable Biden’s interactions with Putin and Xi furthered during cultural exchanges,
Russian assurances, India is now Jinping are an effort to avoid wars in when Han and Jing dynasties ruled
poised to relive in a non-aligned envi- Europe as well as in Asia. It is possible China.
ronment, while the three formidable that the American exit from Afghani- Even in recent history, it was
world powers, USA, China and Russia stan might have emboldened both the timely Chinese help of enriched
try to work out their respective zones Russia and China to annex Ukraine Uranium that had enabled India to
of influences. and Taiwan respectively. Russia and keep her atomic reactors critical fol-
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s China may not annex them imme- lowing the sanctioned imposed on
observation on Putin’s visit as the re- diately, but their flexing of muscles her following the Pokhran-II nuclear
affirmation of the “Special and Privi- might destabilise the targeted coun- blasts in 1998. Earlier, China had
leged Strategic Partnership” between tries leading to their final collapse, refused to attack India during the 1971
the two countries also reminds the thus paving the way for their final Bangladesh War despite repeated
people about his visit to Vladivostok, merger with Russia and China. calls from the then US President,
which is called Yongmingcheng in the With a Russian peace initiative Richard Nixon and his security advi-
Chinese. A few years ago, Modi had that it has no intention to invade sor, Henry Kissinger. The declassified
attended the plenary session of the Ukraine, Putin has been able to White House records reveal that how
5th Eastern Economic Forum in this present himself as a symbol of peace. President Richard Nixon was plead-
far-east town of Russia, where he had On the other hand, Biden could not ing with China to ”menace” India; and
extended one billion USD credit line muster adequate support from his even had sent its Seventh Fleet with
for the development of the region. In- European allies to counter the Rus- nuclear bombs in the Bay of Bengal.
terestingly, China has so far not made sian forces by a joint military action .
any official claim on this region, but by NATO forces. He could only warn tehelkaletters@gmail.com

47 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
Chandigarh’s Harnaaz Sandhu
crowned Miss Universe
Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu made the country proud as she has won the Miss Universe 2021 competition
defeating South Africa’s Lalela Mswane and Paraguay’s Nadia Ferreira. Sandhu becomes only the third
A
Indian to win the coveted title after actresses Sushmita Sen and Lara Dutta, writes shveta mishra
t the Miss Universe 2021 pag- senting India so beautifully, for bringing Harnaaz Sandhu. !!!! Welcome to the club!!!
eant in Israel, India’s Tricolor back the Miss Universe Crown to India We’ve waited 21 long years for this!!! You
flew high as actress and mod- after 21 years (by a 21-year-old, you were make us SO SO proud!!! A billion dreams
el Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu was destined). May you enjoy every moment of come true!!!
declared the winner of the learning and sharing this incredible global Harnaaz’s victory has left her mother
competition. Apart from Harnaaz, South platform @missuniverse will provide you… speechless. She said “I don’t know how to
Africa’s Lalela Mswane was declared the May you reign supreme!!! My love and re- express my feelings. She made the whole
second runner-up and Paraguay’s Nadia gards to your Maa and family… bohut bo- Sandhu family proud. She is a determined
Ferreira was the first runner up. It was hut Mubarak #jaihind #duggadugga. Add- girl. She has been active and confident
the 70th edition of the prestigious annual ing to Sushmita’s words, a fan pointed out, since childhood. Today, her dream was
event. “That too in the year 2021. Means a lot 21 21 fulfilled. I could not thank God enough.”
Sushmita Sen, sharing two pictures of 21.” Another commented, “Queen congrat- Harnaaz’s brother Harnoor Sandhu
Harnaaz from the pageant, wrote on Ins- ulating another Queen.” A fan praised Su- added that they are planning a grand wel-
tagram, “#yehbaat ‘Har Hindustani Ki Naz’ shmita’s note and said, “@sushmitasen47 come for her at home. He said, “Dhoom
Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu #MissUniverse2021 - What a wonderful start (Har Hindustaani dhaam se hum Harnaaz ka swagat ka-
India. So proud of you! Congratulations @ ki Naz, *Harnaaz*) Love to you.” Lara Du- renge. (We will welcome her in grand
harnaazsandhu_03 Thank you for repre- tta Bhupathi too tweeted, Congratulations style). She deserves it. We all are proud of

48 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
PAGEANT
her. When she called us after winning the

pageant, we all started crying. It was an
emotional moment for all of us. With her
win, she has inspired millions of girls out
there,” He also revealed that they fondly
call her ‘Candy’.
The 21-year-old Harnaaz hailing from
Punjab and now settled in the State capi-
tal at Chandigarh was representing India
at the 70th Miss Universe event, held in
Eilat, Israel. She brought home the crown
21 years after Lara Dutta won the title in
2000. Apart from Lara and Harnaaz, Su-
shmita Sen has won the title back in 1994.
As per her Miss Universe delegate bio,
Harnaaz, a Punjabi, draws inspiration
from her mother, who “broke generations
of patriarchy to become a successful gy-
necologist and led her family”. “Driven to
support other women the same way, Har-
naaz grew up working with her mother at
health camps addressing women’s health
and menstrual hygiene. Deeply conscious
of the privilege her mother’s struggles
have gifted her, Harnaaz today is a strong
advocate for women’s empowerment,
particularly their constitutional rights to
education, careers, and their freedom of Chandigarh. Her mother, Ravinder Sand- the ramp as Miss Universe 2021. As part of
choice,” the bio reads. hu, is a doctor. She is currently working as
the top three rounds, the contestants were
asked, “What advice would
Who is Harnaaz Sandhu? you give to young women
She holds multiple pageant titles watching on how to deal
like Miss Max Emerging Star India Harnaaz, a Punjabi, draws inspiration with the pressures they face
2018 and Femina Miss India Punjab from her mother, who “broke today?”
2019, as well. She has also starred in To this, Harnaaz said,
Punjabi films like ‘Yaara Diyan Poo generations of patriarchy to become “The biggest pressure the
Baran’ and ‘Bai Ji Kuttange’, which a successful gynecologist and led youth of today is facing
will release in 2022. A Chandigarh- is to believe in them. To
based model, Harnaaz Sandhu has
her family”. Deeply conscious of the know that you are unique
won several beauty pageants in the privilege her mother’s struggles makes you beautiful. Stop
past. She has been crowned Miss
Diva 2021 and Femina Miss India
have gifted her, Harnaaz today is comparing ourselves with
others and let’s talk about
Punjab 2019. Harnaaz, in fact, was a strong advocate for women’s more important things that
also placed in the Top 12 at Femina empowerment. are happening worldwide.
Miss India 2019. Come out; speak for your-
She is currently pursuing her self, because you are the
Masters degree in Public Adminis- leader of your life. You are
tration. Harnaaz Sandhu is on Instagram the SMO Senior Medical Officer at Sohana the voice of your own. I believed in myself
and has 269k followers. She often posts Hospital. Her father PS Sandhu is in the and that is why I am standing here today.”
pictures from her photoshoots on the pho- real estate business. The contest was hosted by U.S. TV per-
to-sharing app. Her Instagram bio reads, Harnaaz was visibly anxious in the lead sonality Steve Harvey. Organizers said
“Shine like the whole Universe is yours”. up to her name being declared as the win- the pageant was expected to reach an es-
Harnaaz Sandhu did her schooling in ner as she held hands with first runner up, timated 600 million viewers via the FOX
Chandigarh’s Shivalik Public School. She is Nadia Ferreira. network in 172 countries.
currently pursuing her Masters from Post It was a surreal moment as Harnaaz
Graduate Government College for Girls, Kaur Sandhu made her final walk down tehelkaletters@gmail.com

49 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
•Kriti Sanon
starts shooting for
‘Shehzada’
Kriti Sanon has back-to-back projects
lined up, the actor has now kickstarted
the shoot for her next movie Shehzada. As • Bride-to-be Lokhande
per reports, as soon as the actor wrapped shares romantic pic
up the shoot for her movie Ganapath, with Vicky Jain
she flew to Delhi to commence the shoot TV star Ankita Lokhande
shared pictures from her
for Shehzada alongside Kartik Aaryan.
and Vicky Jain’s pre-wedding
Meanwhile, Aaryan had arrived in the festivities. In the pictures,
capital a few days before Sanon. The Mimi Ankita can be seen dressed
actor took to her Instagram and officially in a Maharashtrian bridal
announced that she had begun the Delhi look. She wore a green and
schedule for Shehzada. Kriti Sanon wrote pink saree for the occasion.
that she had kickstarted the shoot for her She simply posted a picture
upcoming movie Shehzada alongside Kartik with Vicky Jain, who she
has been dating for over 3
Aaryan. She shared a boomerang featuring
years and wrote: “Sacred.”
the movie’s clapperboard and wrote, “Shehzadi She added the hashtag
in the house.” The movie will mark Aaryan and #preweddingfestivities later.
Sanon’s second outing after the movie Luka Meanwhile, Vicky Jain posted
Chuppi which was a commercial success. Kriti a set of pictures from the
Sanon will next be seen in the horror-comedy ceremony and he wrote
movie Bhediya alongside Varun Dhawan. The in Marathi: “I love us but
principal shooting of the movie began in March picture abhi baaki hai mere
2021 and is scheduled to release on April 14, 2022. dost.” He added the hashtag
#AnVikikahani to his post.
Sanon had announced the wrap of the movie as Ankita Lokhande became a
she shared a motion poster. . She wrote, “It’s a household name after she
film wrap for team #Bhediya! Releasing in theatres started as Archana in the
on 14th April 2022. popular television show
Shehzada is the remake of Telugu film Pavitra Rishta, in which she
Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. co-starred with late actor
Sushant Singh Rajput.
‘MY ONLY WISH

• CAN BRADLEY COOPER AND IRINA SHAYK COME IS FOR AN
TOGETHER AGAIN? OPTIMISTIC
Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk have been at the
centre of reconciliation speculation, but it ap-
2022’
pears their status is simply platonic co-parents to
daughter Lea, 4. The actor, 46, and model, 35, split
in 2019 after four years of dating, but have been
spotted arm-in-arm around New York, leading some
to believe they’ve gotten back together; however,
a source has revealed that the two aren’t an item.
“Bradley and Irina are not getting back together,”
a source said. “They get together often for their
daughter but that chapter is over and they’ve both
moved on romantically. If they’re together it’s as Karisma Kapoor
close friends and parents.” (At the launch of a boutique
in Bangaluru)

50 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
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Eric Johnson Ashok Sachdev Jit Paul Deepak Kapur Arif Mohd Khan Jaaved Ahmed Jaaferi Colonel Rp Dhawan Gaurav Dalmia 51
Foundation For Demor- Ashok Sharma John Fernandes TEHELKA
Dilip Dsouza / 31 DEC 2021 00
51 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
Arindam Chaudhuri Jagdip Singh Color Chips India Ltd Gaurav Singh
PUBLISHED ON 16 DECEMBER, 2021
1 NOVEMBER, 2021 RNI NO. - DELENG - 2004/12605
1-15 NOVEMBER,
FOR THE FORTNIGHT 16-31 2021
DECEMBER,2021
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TEHELKA SPECIAL: HOW A GROUNDSWELL OF SUPPORT KEPT THE PROTESTING FARMERS GOING 26

DECEMBER 31, 2021

Ground Zero Report

PROBE ON TO UNRAVEL THE DESERTIONS CONTINUE TO

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

Nagaland Civilian killings: Need

WEB TEAM PRINTER & PUBLISHER

VOLUME 18, ISSUE NO. 24, 16-31 DECEMBER

7/ POLITICS/OPPOSITION 39/ INFRASTRUCTURE/ENERGY

Didi’s outburst against Cong Ladakh’s power woes

22/ ART/INITIATIVE 42/ POLITICS/OPINION

24/ CORPORATE/HIERARCHY 50 /VANITY FAIR/GLAMORATI

Nair joins the bandwagon Kriti shoots for ‘Shehzada’

COVER DESIGN VIKRAM NONGMAITHEM TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

Prime Minister’s gesture a law is passed in Parliament

political dividends in the forth- The PM’s announcement of the

how to protest in the Gandhian near, the BJP needed a course

demands. And with the SC staying the

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

Opposition should take a rencies in India. the country.

KEY CENTRES TO GET TEHELKA MAGAZINES

Did Mamata overstep

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata

Ground Zero Report

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Unbridled powers enjoyed

Twipra Student Federation, etc recently organized Political analyst Adip

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deaths, including that of

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Cong to raise the issue in House

the upcoming session. Stating that the

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that have emerged after the crash. Many

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

Interventions to help artisans

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

With Leena Nair named

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

and was ranked the second most power-

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

back their homes after celebrating a ‘Vi-

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

The dissenters, who

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00

TEHELKA / 31 DEC 2021 00