The Centre and Targeted Violence

        

In recent months there has been an outcry against violence directed against identifiable interests. These interests have included  individuals not conforming to  extra-constitutional rules, activists working against vested interests and also minorities. In all these cases the attackers have been members of fringe groups of proclaimed or professed  Hindu adherents as a result of which the BJP governments at the Centre and in some States have come in for direct finger-pointing. Exacerbating this has been the continuous silence of the Prime Minister who has done no more than make oblique references  to the undesirability of such violence. The question asked and remains unanswered fully is how the brilliant oratory of the PM in India and abroad  has suddenly dried up in the matter of the unrestrained and targeted violence in some States.

The Central government has made no official condemnation of the series of incidents involving murder of an individual wrongly suspected of eating beef,  killing of writers and attacks on non-conformists who challenge the fringe group’s right to dictate. The response from the Centre which includes comments from the PM and some of his party leaders has cited the jurisdiction of the States over matters relating to law and order and the reluctance of the Centre to interfere with this jurisdiction.

Neither logic nor the Constitution justifies the Centre’s reluctance to condemn the many incidents and rein in the fringe elements that operate under cover of a religious ethos  shared with the ruling party. Articles 245 to 300 of the Conctitution deal with Centre-State relations and say that the residuary powers under it are vested in the Centre and not the States. The Constitution gives the Centre the power to exercise control over the legislation and administration of the States. Admittedly in extreme cases, the Centre can take over the administration of a State on the recommendation of the Governor. This is not without precedent.  Repeated violence bearing the same signature can turn into more than a mere law and order problem and public outrage against the Centre is understandable.

As for the logic of the present dilemma, we have seen the strident marketing efforts of the PM in countries abroad and these are based on assurances of many facilities, concessions and reforms. On what basis is Modi marketing India if his idea of a federal structure gives him no authority among the States ? His invitation is mostly to invest in India and this involves commercial and industrial activity which requires geographical space. Where does the Centre have this geographical space to accommodate favourable responses? It is obvious that the States have to cooperate. They are the direct beneficiaries of this effort which will have its ultimate impact on the national economy. The point is that, subject to political expediency, the Centre has various constitutional tools in its  bag to ensure State compliance and cooperation.

A very pertinent point  for the PM’s constant attention is that by  inviting foreign interests to operate in India he is also guaranteeing the safety and security of foreign personnel and property based here. If he is to say security is a law and order matter in the hands of the States  over which he has no direct control what is his invitation worth? Foreigners may have their faces blackened, their kitchens raided because their food  does not conform to some extreme Hindu code or their women attacked for  wearing  unIndian clothes. Foreigners have been subjected to violence and humiliation. Who will answer for such happenings ?

I am insistent that Modi should succeed as PM as he is the people’s choice by a huge margin.I have only written as a devil’s advocate to reflect the concerns of the likes of us on the sidelines which need to be addressed. I suggest that the PM ponder over all these issues before he goes on his next marketing tour with his  bag of new Indian ‘goodies”. I would like Modi to really be an active national leader besides being PM and assert he is in command. India deserves a break.

Is a Cow not a Buffalo

To tell a cow from a buffalo

Please tell me, dear fellow,

What is the real difference

Is there a book of reference ?

We here who live in UK

Complain we’re in decay

But when it comes to food

We take care, proper and good

We rear our herds of cows

And care for the bull, their spouse,

As without  a bull there ain’t new cows

And so ain’t no beef in the house !

I am off to India, heeding   Narendra’s call

To put my money there while rates elsewhere fall.

Red tape, he says, is all unwound

And red carpets everywhere abound.

But now tell me, dear fellow

How cow is not buffalo,

I know I sound so dense

But then In India I can’t cause offence !

The Tattooed Goddess

I have seen The Hindu newspaper report of a visiting Australian couple being held up in Bangalore and threatened by a bunch of goons for having a tattoo on his shin.The goons , whose Hindu sentiments were deeply hurt, saw in that tattoo a resemblance to an unidentified Hindu goddess, a resemblane which I , also a devout Hindu, did not see in the picture. It was just a face with a strange crown with horns sticking out on both sides.

What is more alarming is the comment of the Dy. Commisiioner of Police who said it was a “trivial” incident and both sides had arrived at a compromise !  Where is the question of a compromise when the couple was forcibly detained, threatened and an apology was extracted from them with Police support. Apology for what and when did the Police become mediators in what is a criminal offence ? Bangalore is turning into a fearful city with no guarantee of personal safety. Foreigners are being targeted quite frequently. The DCP, an IPS officer for sure, has some explaining to do about what is being done about the goons and the complicit policemen who intervened and shared the view of the goons. .

On the one hand the PM travels around inviting foreign investment with promise of EVERY support.The CM also invites foreign investment  , even saying that the power problem of the State was a temporary phase, a statement we have been hearing from every government for years.  Against all this what we are seeing is a daily report on threats to basic personal safety. Who will give us an answer ?

Modi, Modi, "Mayday, Mayday"

Yes this is a desperate call for help. The PM is busy electioneering and holding huge crowds spellbound with his powerful oratorical skill. I have myself fallen under his spell just listening to him, but now, I am waking up to see fearful happenings around me. BJP and their supporting elements are  directly and indirectly  at the root of them.

Sixteen months on, the trust and the hope of the people have begun to sag. What is happening on the ground is frightening. Benefits promised for the well-being of the common man are still to come while what he is getting are  threats  to his very existence – his family life, how he lives, what he eats. Secularism is a bad word and in its place HInduthva is flaunted.  Instead of focussing on development  about which there is much talk even the BJP-led governments are  digressing into  areas which have so far caused no harm to the population but now seem to be  irritating the extremists of the ruling party who are openly threatening to plunder and to kill. They have begun to act on their threats and have to be reined in. The PM whom the  people chose with such acclaim  has not gone beyond giving oblique advice against  those threats.

All that the PM has to do –and do without delay – is to recall the oath he has taken to uphold the law of the land and do just that. There are some of his ministers and  party men-and women - who seem to forget that once they form part of the government they cease to have the same freedom to act as unrestrained party members. They are subject to the dictates of the Constitution  and the PM has to ensure this. He has to make it clear that  he would uphold the Constitution and act without fear or favour  to do so. He is the master of the spectacle and he should now  organise and preside over one in India.  Maybe it would be a good thing for him to call his MP’s and MLA’s  and have one big gathering to loudly repeat the oaths which they have taken last year. Till now he has raised a storm among NRI’s  abroad.It is time now for hin to  do the same here to forcefully demonstrate to those resident in India that the “Mayday”  call has reached him .

Changgu Changga !

Readers might wonder how a Punjabi element crept into the title. That was because Punjabi was the only language which could give me the exclamation that briefly and effectively described my recent visit to that tourist paradise, Bali , in Indonesia. As for Changgu, spelt Canggu in Indonesian, it was pronounced differently and fitted relevantly  into my title as my younger son,Mahesh, my
host in Bali, lived near Canggu beach !

I went for a swift visit of twelve days to join Mahesh’s birthday bash on  his fiftieth. He like me, was never known to observe these “special” days but then he in his Balinese element would naturally observe any day that ended in an evening of celebration and merry-making ! Mine was a reluctant visit to start with as I was engrossed in my activities  in Bangalore. However,once there in Bali,  I was swept away by  a tsunami of unbelievable hospitality of the locals –meaning a huge number of
foreign permanent residents  besides the irresistible Balinese – and an introduction to their profession, almost entirely tourism oriented. This meant that the line between business and
pleasure  was a very thin one.

Business consisted mostly of meetings every day in one or the other of the many authentic multinational, multi-cuisine restaurants run by foreign nationals. Wine and beer were driving influences on all good discussions over lunch while vodka was added to the list at dinner –which often was an extension of lunch ! The local streetside equivalents of our dhabas were also chosen venues and the food, the tidiness and the hygiene were impeccable.

The birthday party itself was so beautifully organised mainly because it was a combination of Mahesh’s and girl friend Trish’s planning plus whatever the collection of friends could contribute in effort and infrastructure. Danielle Van Poppel, a gracious Dutch friend gave Mahesh the free use of her superb  Villa Ylang Ylang resort and its six luxurious suites located on the Saba beach on the eastern side of Bali. Frangipani trees in full bloom skirted the huge pool and a grassy garden sloped into the beach where the three to four metre surf came crashing down during most of the day. The service and the food provided during our two day stay were divine. I personally was so flattered when  the chef surprised me with their superb beef rendang, something I'd die for, beef ban or no beef ban. All that and the beach with its black volcanic sand were a perfect venue for the birthday party.

The party was for an invited fifty or sixty and the general demand was for Indian food. Glasses of champagne and allied libation were generously circulated with a variety of kebabs and dinner was a biriyani one provided by the only Indian restaurant in Bali. After I had walked around and shaken hands with most of the guests, some of them who had flown in that day, I was seated comfortably as guests took turns to sit with me. That was pleasant and educative. 

A remarkable feature of the evening was  that at a certain stage I thought that the party was larger than the intended fifty or so. Even allowing for double vision which afflicts many well into a party the number looked large. It was after  a strange character in  over-casual clothes “shtaggered” up to me and introduced himself unintelligibly and wished me “Happy Daysh, Shir”   that I recognised the local licence of any passer-by on the beach to join any party they passed !Bali beaches are popular party venues at every sunset!

I am not a great tourist in conventional terms and really ought to be ashamed to say that this was my first visit to Bali although I lived in Singapore for six years and went to Jakarta every other month. On this visit I did what pleased me most – to meet people . Mahesh’s friends were generous wih their time and hospitality and besides, I was so impressed by the warmth and the humility that accompanied every greeting of the staff of all the restaurants we went to. The fact that Mahesh was a regular regular and a generous one at that cannot take anything away from the cultural and natural
goodness of the Balinese.

A feature of tourism in Bali is the popular use of motorbikes by tourists. Young couples ,mostly from Australia, but also from Europe and USA could be seen in various stages of dress and undress zipping (pun unintended !) around on hired motorbikes and  heading for the venues of their  preferred mode of enjoyment. Kuta beach,in particular, has been the busy hub of backpacker activities which, of late, have attracted the adverse attention of authorities.

The Balinese follow their version of Hinduism and Ramayana. There are temples and temple rituals. A multi-communal society lives in harmony and every religious festival is supported by all communities. I saw this myself when a nearby temple was celebrating a festival and the roads around were closed at certain times. The owners of the shops on these roads, non-Hindus included, accepted this closure without complaint knowing full well that this would be reciprocated during their festival days.
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Mahesh’s villa itself was a beautiful one with paddy fields stretching on one side. It had an open plan and the omnipresent frangipani trees were present here as well.  A touching and regular sight every day was of an old woman who collected the fallen frangipani flowers from the pavement outside Mahesh's wall. Whenever we bumped into her she immediately stopped picking the flowers and joined her hands  and bowed almost as if to apologise. The flowers went to her temple.

Kite-flying was a popular pastime which, like the Indian IPL has  assumed competitive proportions.. Framed in Mahesh's open picture window kites of all dimensions  and shapes occupied a lot of airspace and obstructed traffic  on the narrowerer roadswhile in transit to competition sites.

My twelve day plan was easily stretched to seventeen and  there was not even a feigned whimper

of complaint from me. But even seventeen days come to a close and I left Bali with a great feeling of having had an invaluable and fulfilling experience. What better expression of my Bali experience can there be than the joyous Punjabi “Bali Bali, Balle Balle”!!