[Reader-list] FW: Gujarat Governor returns bill on voting

[A.K. Malik]

Hi Rajendra,
             Well sometimes it does seem simlarly to me but since they can't stop the reply to the person you are responding to, a counter reply appears before your cc to sarai-list.So that serves the purpose. 
Regards,
 
(A.K.MALIK)


--- On Wed, 4/21/10, Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi <rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi <rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] FW: Gujarat Governor returns bill on voting
> To: "Bipin Trivedi" <aliens at dataone.in>
> Cc: "sarai-list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2010, 9:48 PM
> Bipin, this list does not like the
> ids like mine, is censored and mails
> posted are monitored by the moderator, and then rejected,
> for my expressions
> do not seem to find favour as my thoughts are neither
> leftist, nor rightist,
> but as I percieve them, hence now onwards, i will be only
> reading, not
> responding.To be seen in the list, one has to be either
> ridiculing the
> faiths, praise the naxalites terror, and any other thoughts
> are censored.!
> regards, rajen.
> 
> On Wed, Apr 21, 2010 at 4:31 PM, Bipin Trivedi <aliens at dataone.in>
> wrote:
> 
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From: Rightstandup [mailto:rightstandup at gmail.com]
> > Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 1:20 PM
> > To: aliens at dataone.in
> > Subject: Gujarat Governor returns bill on voting
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >  <http://hildaraja.wordpress.com/>
> Hildaraja's Blog
> >
> >
> > Gujarat Governor returns bill on voting
> >
> >
> >
> > April 20, 2010
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > The Gujarat Governor Dr Kamla has returned unsigned
> the Gujarat Local
> > Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2009 which had
> sought to make voting in
> > all self governing bodies compulsory. This on the
> basis of three objections:
> >
> > 1-Compulsory voting is a violation of Article 19 of
> the Constitution which
> > gives the citizens freedom of speech and expression.
> > 2-The second one which relates to a punishment to
> those who do not turn up
> > to vote is also related to the first in that it
> violates the Right to
> > Freedom of Speech and Expression.
> > 3-The third one points out that this compulsory voting
> was a failure in
> > different parts of the world.
> >
> > With due respect to the Governor Dr Kamla let me
> exercise my freedom of
> > speech and expression to question the validity of her
> objections. Freedom of
> > Speech and Expression is given under the Constitution
> but of what use will
> > this be if the people do not participate in the
> operation of the
> > Constitution; namely in making democracy valid and
> vibrant especially at the
> > local levels? Does the Right to Freedom of Speech and
> Expression mean non-
> > expresssion non participation and non- articulation in
> that vital sphere of
> > governance? If voting is a right then it has an
> obligation-to cast that
> > precious vote. This is a very negative way of reading
> into Art 19-Freedom of
> > Speech and Expression in operation means not voting-in
> operation means an
> > indifference to the whole process of electing people's
> representatives. What
> > is the use of a Constitution which cannot make people
> constitutionally aware
> > of their Rights in a positive way-namely t
> > When it came to the business of Hussain then one found
> this Right very much
> > articulated and Hussain was defended on his right to
> the Freedom of Speech
> > and Expression-even if meant committing jihad through
> his brush. Does
> > Freedom of Speech and Expression mean indifference and
> non-involvement in
> > the affairs which deal with one's daily business of
> life? If one does not
> > express this in the form of voting then how does one
> express
> > approval/disapproval of functioning of the government
> at the local level? If
> > one does not care to express through voting who should
> represent one in
> > governance then what is democracy? Why then have a
> whole process of electing
> > representatives when people are totally indifferent to
> this and now this
> > indifference legitimated as a Right! Be it positive or
> negative Freedom of
> > Expression in this specific case is expression through
> voting and does not
> > by any stretch of imagination mean indifference. Why
> only
> > To put in more succinctly it is taken for granted that
> the Constitution
> > sleeps or at least is inactive and non-operational
> until and unless it is
> > awakened. It suits most of the politicians that it
> sleeps. For example the
> > oaths taken by all the Constitutional heads-
> governors, judges and the
> > Ministers on the solemn promise that they would
> function without fear or
> > favor. But this is not so in reality. Starting from
> the highest in the
> > Judiciary-we have judges who instead of upholding
> justice was busy grabbing
> > land, and refusing even to vacate the chair. We have
> the Prime Minister who
> > looks on indifferently even when one of his cabinet
> ministers was
> > absconding; he tells the Parliament that he is not
> aware of the whereabouts
> > of the man . Now after years of the case against Sibu
> Soren just two days
> > prior to the culmination of the long drawn case and
> the pronouncement of the
> > verdict -the judge resigns. This would mean that the
> ne
> > How are these related to Governor Dr Kamla's sending
> back the Act passed by
> > the Gujarat Assembly? Constitutional heads, taking of
> oaths in the name of
> > the Constitution and Constitutional Rights are all
> inter related. Well the
> > constitution also envisages the role of Governors. The
> institution itself is
> > a legacy of the British Raj. It has to go by and large
> by what the CM and
> > his council of ministers and the Assembly passes
> because the Governor is not
> > the representative of the people and is not
> accountable to the people- The
> > CM and his ministers are. So when Governor Dr Kamla
> points at the
> > Constitution I am wondering how constitutional correct
> is she in citing the
> > Art.of Freedom of Speech and Expression to send back
> an Act which the
> > representatives of the people have passed? So like the
> oaths made by all the
> > constitutional functionaries from the top to the
> bottom do we want a
> > Constitution which in substance means nothing-whi
> > Democracy is based on numbers. It is the rule of the
> people for the people
> > and by the people. But it has come to become the rule
> of a few by a few for
> > all the people-Participation in democracy is the hall
> mark of making it
> > vibrant-nay even valid. It is towards this that
> Narendra Modi's government
> > was working towards.
> >
> > As for the second reason which is also linked to the
> Art. of Freedom of
> > Expression and Speech to hold out a punishment to the
> people who do not make
> > democracy valid and get involved in the governance at
> the local level seem
> > to be sensible and does not negate Art 19.Carrot and
> stick is the method.
> > Rights and obligations go together. But in India we
> have taken the easy way.
> > This is precisely why our Public sectors are sick
> while the private sectors
> > are minting money. The government is unable to pull up
> the babus who through
> > their indifference, and don't care attitude create
> such heavy losses. Even
> > the government is a big defaulter in this respect. A
> small instruction to
> > all ministers and officers to use only the Air India
> when on official work
> > the GOI has failed to issue-result the AI is in red.
> Don't punish, don't
> > reprimand, don't streamline, let things go on-take it
> easy after all it is
> > people's money and hence not accountable for. The same
> can be said of the
> > CBI and the SIT. These are statutory bodies which the
> government uses as
> > agencies of harassment against the political opponents
> or when it wants to
> > take cover for
> > All this and more calls for making the Constitution
> valid and
> > vibrant.People need to become aware of their
> obligations not only Rights.
> > How can the very Constitution which is the foundation
> of our democracy
> > become valid if people are indifferent to casting
> their votes? Can democracy
> > be democracy if a large section of the population not
> vote? To make is clear
> > let me give an example-In any one ward/constituency
> (of say 1000 people) if
> > only 45 percent(450) casts their votes and this get
> divided between the 10
> > contestants one with even just a 45 votes wins. He/She
> represents the 1000
> > voters and we call it democracy. Is this a valid
> democracy?
> >
> > One must not make a mockery of democracy.Somehow we
> have done that.It is to
> > stop such a mockery that Narendra Modi's government
> came up with a Local
> > Authorities Laws(Amendment) Act to make voting
> compulsory. Let democracy
> > become more meaningful, at least at the local levels.
> It could be tried out
> > and later amended to make it more viable. Instead the
> Governor sending it
> > back and pointing at the failure of other countries as
> one of the reasons is
> > not very encouraging for upholding of democracy in
> this country. As pointed
> > out earlier the big question is- do we have a
> democracy? No country in the
> > world claims to have a democracy as we do. Failures in
> other countries on
> > compulsory voting are no indications that in Gujarat
> it will fail. Why not
> > put it on trial?
> >
> > Other countries have rejected the Electronic Voting
> Machine.Will our
> > Governor Dr Kamla on the same basis make a case to the
> CEC to discontinue
> > the EVMs? One can enumerate any number of reasons and
> cite examples to
> > substantiate just one point; that anything good and
> new coming from Narendra
> > Modi's government must be rejected by the Centre and
> the Governor is an
> > appointee of the Centre. This is the hard truth. I am
> using my right to the
> > Freedom of Speech and Expression positively-without
> fear or favor-to state a
> > truth. Even a law passed against the organized
> criminal activities in
> > Maharastra was found valid and was approved by the
> President. But when a
> > similar law was passed by Gujarat government there was
> opposition-by the
> > Home Minister and a whole lot of Modi bashers were
> picking holes in it. The
> > UPA2 advised the President against giving assent to
> it. The President sent
> > it back. So here again democracy becomes valid in f
> > There are two yardsticks in this country which is a
> violation of the
> > Constitution. When the Governor falls back on the
> Constitutional Right of
> > the Freedom of Speech and Expression and state that
> Local Authorities Act is
> > a violation of the Constitution I am stunned to
> speechlessness because of
> > the contradiction. Equality is a Right in the
> Constitution but why has the
> > GOI segmented people on religious basis for benefits?
> Is that not a
> > violation of the Constitution so blatant and using
> people's money towards
> > operating it? Can any citizen be discriminated on the
> basis of religion? Yet
> > the GOI has a whole ministry to uphold and finance
> this violation of the
> > constitution. Does it mean that the Government under
> Manmohan Singh can
> > violate the Constitution with immunity? It all points
> at one single
> > motive-block all that Modi proposes.
> >
> > It is a fact that Raj Bhavans in many States are
> becoming
> > anti-constitutional in functioning.We in Gujarat are
> proud that the Raj
> > Bhavan in Gujarat has not and will not fall into that
> category. Because
> > Gujarat stands heads and shoulders above all States in
> India in its
> > development and in its stewardship in administration
> inspite of the
> > anti-Modism prevailing in some quarters, a concomitant
> of vote bank
> > politics. We fervently hope that Dr Kamla our Governor
> would strengthen the
> > vibrant Gujarat's upward mobility built so judiciously
> and with such
> > hardships-thanks to the untiring efforts of Narendra
> Modi the duly elected
> > popular Chief Minister of our State.
> >
> >
> >
> > Dr Mrs Hilda Raja,
> > Vadodara
> >
> >
> > You may leave your comments  <
> > http://hildaraja.wordpress.com/2010/04/20/gujarat-governor-returns-bill-on-voting/>
> > here
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Rajen.
> _________________________________________
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