April 2009

Exactly a week ago, on April 16, the process of the 15th general elections was set in motion when 124 Lok Sabha constituencies in 17 States and Union Territories went to polls in the first phase of the massive electoral exercise. These included six States—Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Orissa—through which passes the Maoist ‘Red corridor’. After the voting, the Election Commission estimates put the poll percentage “around 58 to 62 per cent”.
However, (…)

Dear Friends,
I am sure you know that Mallika Sarabhai is standing as an Independent candidate from the Gandhinagar constituency, opposing Shri L. K. Advani. The challenge as well as the significance of Mallika’s effort is relevant not just to those of us in this constituency but to any citizen concerned about the future of Indian democracy. Gujarat is on a roll with its hype on industrial advancement at any cost. Yet the State’s human development indicators remain appalling. Worst (…)

It was sheer delight to watch your performance in the TV interview with Mr Karan Thapar. Your clipped upper-class monosyllabic replies warmed up the heart of an old Anglophile. After all, the British did not rule this country in vain. Today we really have an Englistan, as the Mahatma prophesised one hundred years ago in a small booklet called Hind Swaraj (which, in his own words, was the production of a fool), rather than Hindustan, in India.
Your understated replies, like the (…)

The following is the text of a letter written by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, the former Supreme Court Judge, to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, dated April 17, 2009.
I would like to bring to your attention a case of grave injustice which is a cause of much shame to Indian democracy: that of Dr Binayak Sen, the well-known paediatrician and defender of human rights.
This good doctor has been incarcerated in a Raipur jail for nearly two years now uner the Chhattisgarh State Public (…)

Why is it that as the date of polling gets closer, the politicians’ tongues tend to break all bonds of decency within which they have long been tutored to remain? It is indeed disturbing for us to witness all this day in and day out. To say that ‘it is disturbing’ may perhaps not convey the full extent of those responses which arise deep within every common Indian and overpower his or her senses. It is even possible that no word in the language is capable enough to express our emotions which (…)

Recently there has been a heated public debate on TV about donations being made by the corporate sector to various political parties for elections, mainly to the Congress and BJP and to some others—depending on which area a particular company has more stake. Previously there used to be somewhat hesitancy in admitting the corporate-political monetary axis. But no longer, one industrialist unashamedly boasting that he gave donations to both the parties but of equal amount. Another donor was (…)

In the hurly-burly of day-to-day politics, Tibet has receded quite a distance in our horizon. Even when we talk about the political environment in our neighbourhood, Tibet rarely figures in it.
In the discussions with the Chinese, whether in official or non-official capacity, at the governmental or political level, we have practically ceased to raise the question of Tibet and the Tibetan people. But the Chinese always make it a point to impress upon us the benefit of Chinese rule for (…)

In the midst of a general election, it is obviously unfair to predict who or which party is going to emerge victorious or be in a position to form the next government. This is doubly true in a situation facing us today in which no party can claim to win outright the majority of seats in the Lok Sabha. The absence of a ‘wave’ or a definite issue round which the election campaign has centred makes all forecasts mere guesswork. However, there are certain trends which are noticeable that may (…)

This must be one of the dullest elections held and the most uncertain in terms of the outcome. People have walked in and walked out of parties. Winnability and notoriety have been equated. Past performance has ceased to matter. Ideology has been thrown out of the window. The dividing line between parties has been changed to the uniting line of ticket-seekers who like an army of mercenaries are willing to cross to any side that accommodates them. Coalition politics has made the walkover (…)

The forthcoming elections to the Lok Sabha have witnessed the emergence of a kaleidoscopic pattern of electoral competition which is baffling the Indian voter. The pattern of frequently changing political alignments has made her/his confusion all the more confounded. The old alliances are cracking and new alliances are mushrooming. Besides, their constituents keep on changing alignments. Moreover, they are present in separate alliances in different States.
The alliances that emerged (…)