[Reader-list] R. Jagannathan root based analysis

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear Bipin

I read the article. I think the entire article is based on presumptions
(which can certainly be true), but the article makes certain points which
can be laughed at:

1) Jagannathan says that:

" *It is interesting to note that the jholawala sympathisers of the
Maoists have attacked the Government of India and the states for their
anti-Maoist operations. They have criticised local resistance groups
like the Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh, but not Sonia or Rahul" *

First of all, the Salwa Judum is run by the Chhattisgarh government, and not
by Sonia or Rahul Gandhi. It's certainly true that Salwa Judum was initiated
by the then Leader of Oppositon in Chhattisgarh assembly, namely Mahendra
Karma, who belonged to the Congress. However, leaders of Congress in
Chhattisgarh like Ajit Jogi have also rejected this movement and have blamed
it for increasing casualties in the fight against Naxalism.

But now the movement has been taken over by the Raman Singh govt. So if I
feel that the movement is wrong and constitutionally invalid (which is what
even the Supreme Court has said), why should I be a 'jholawala sympathizer'
of the Maoists or a faithful of Rahul and Sonia Gandhi? Is the Supreme Court
also a sympathizer? And why should I criticize Sonia or Rahul Gandhi for it
when the thing is run by a BJP govt?

There are many other things to criticize Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi on,
but this is not one of them.

2)  Jagannathan says that:

"* It is not surprising that the government chose this moment to
resurrect the National Advisory Council (NAC) under Sonia Gandhi — an
unnecessary appendage and extra-constitutional authority that inhibits
real accountability in government" *

Mr. Jagannathan has not understood till now what this NAC has meant for the
poor, and will probably never be able to understand as well. This is what
you get as journalists if you don't understand your true responsibilities.
May be he can learn from another journalist named P.Sainath, who is an
expert in rural India.

The NAC not only had Sonia Gandhi, but had some of the most outstanding
names in civil society initiatives which tried to formulate not just schemes
but Rights of people in socio-economic field to bring about improvements in
the lives of people. Mr. Jagannathan would do well to read the book
'Development As Freedom' by Amartya Sen, the only Nobel-prize winner of
India after independence. The NAC implemented moves which make what Sen said
in his book, a reality for people on the ground.

The NAC consisted of Aruna Roy, Jean Dreze, Madhav Sawan etc. and even now
will consist of some of the most exceptional names in the civil society like
Harsh Mander and NC Saxena (Commissioners appointed by the Supreme Court in
the case filed by PUCL which introduced the famous 'Mid Day Meal Scheme'
compulsorily in all govt. or govt-funded schools for all children).

By the way, the NAC is not a Programme Implementation Monitor. It's a
council through which acts of popular demand among the poor or of grave
importance are discussed and drafted and put through Sonia Gandhi before the
govt. If Sonia was not there, these acts would never be even once read by
the ministers of Manmohan Singh govt, who just are there to serve the
industrialists including the PM himself, while for them civil society
initiatives are crap and need not be looked into or heard at all.

The shameful fact is that since the govt. is not transparent at all, an NAC
is needed. The NAC is the only organ which has worked with some amount of
transparency to bring about acts which can help millions of poor of this
country. Be it the Right to Information act, or the National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (now termed the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment
Guarantee Act), or even the Forest Rights' Bill, these acts were passed
because of the pressure of Sonia Gandhi, otherwise Manmohan Singh can be
known only for passing the useless and hopeless '123 Agreement' (Indo-US
Nuclear Deal) which is only going to create more and more problems for us
(in the form of bills like the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill). That is
exactly what is not wanted.

At the same time, Sonia can't escape blame for such scenes like the one
witnessed in the July trust vote in 2008 in Parliament. She has been
supporting the PM on such useless deals, whereas what is needed is known and
should have been tried out long ago. She can't escape the blame laid on the
govt's doorstep since it's her brainchild.

3)  " *You never hear a Sonia or a Rahul talking about fiscal prudence,
targeting subsidies better, implementing reforms, or public sector autonomy.
This does not serve their political purposes.*"

First of all, I least expect Sonia or Rahul Gandhi talking on these issues,
simply because they don't know about them at all. Infact, while Sonia not
becoming the Prime Minister is not an act of sacrifice, nor can it be termed
an act of great selfishness necessarily. The woman must have used a little
bit of idealism and a little bit of pragmatism in her ways to come to that
decision. The idealism is that what is the use of a post which she never
will be able to enjoy without any protests. And the pragmatism is that she
will be the centre of attack, and vicious protests will only lead to
problems plus cripple the entire country. And this way she can do what she
wants.

Which is why Manmohan is the PM. He knows these things better than both of
them. And which is why it's not just that Manmohan needs Sonia, it's also
that Sonia needs Manmohan since she can't trust anyone other than him for
being the PM.

I don't understand what people have problems with. If Sonia becomes the PM,
you protest. If Sonia doesn't become the PM, you protest. Similarly, if
Rahul doesn't become the PM, you have problems. And you will have problems
if Rahul becomes the PM also, since he is a dynastic figure. Please go and
vote in elections against them and also campaign against them to ensure they
don't win, rather than cribbing out here in articles.

4) Finally,

" *We certainly haven’t heard a single Sonia statement on Maoism that
backs the official stand of her government. At best we have had
non-descript statements deploring violence — something similar to what
the human-rightswallahs mumble when confronted with the latest Maoist
atrocities*."

So if the human right activists don't condemn Maoist violence (which is
never the case to begin with), they are criticized. And now when they
condemn violence, they are criticized. The basic assumption Mr. Bipin ji you
and others who talk about crushing Naxalism want to make is never stated out
here, and it's this:

*You and your subset believe that Naxalites have no human rights and they
should be treated like the way you treat others.
*
My counter to this is simple. I don't like Naxals. I want their violence to
end. But that won't end by violating the human rights of Naxalites. Even
strategically speaking, it won't. Instead violations will almost always
involve violations of the human rights of innocents as well, and ultimately
those people will take to Naxalism and further propagate violence.

Moreover, a policy of 'tit for tat' will never solve problems, unless the
aim is to finish off all human beings. That will include at some point of
time, you and me as well. Why should I lose my life because someone
somewhere indulges in violence and is wrong?

As for Sonia, yes she has saved herself from being answerable. But to make
the claim that she is responsible for the weak response needs proof. What
proof does Jagannathan have?

This is similar to saying that well, Praveen Swami articles are the best
piece of truth in the world. The reality is far from this. Swami quotes the
police always in his articles to write things. We all know how the Indian
police works. When we can't trust the Indian police to solve simple cases
like theft and robbery of banks, how do we trust the same police when it
comes to cases of terrorism? Some people don't trust the police, but trust
Swami who quotes the same police. This is nothing more than a joke.

The same Swami was quoting about the Mecca Masjid blasts many things. Later,
the local court acquitted all accused and one of the judges asked the police
to go back to training schools and learn how to conduct any criminal
investigation.

If you feel that Sonia is the problem, do protest by all means. But back it
with proof. I feel Manmohan govt is nonsense, and I have multiple things to
back it up with, be it the rice scam, wheat scam, pulses scam, corruption
and embezzlement of funds in Congress ruled states, telecom scam, scam in
ministries generally held by DMK and NCP, and also the Indo-US Nuclear Deal
and working under US pressure. And these are not scams of figment of
imagination, they are there in the public domain for all to read. You can
add govt's handling of internal security to it also.

But have some proof before blaming. Or some understanding.

Rakesh