Aamjunta’s Dilemma – whom to Vote in 2014 ?

We do acknowledge and understand that for ‘aam aadmi‘ folks to suddenly work on so many responsibilities (simultaneous or not) centred on the capital of India, there is tremendous pressure and hindrances around. But how can any ‘good’ party forget the usual law and order scenario, or even its very own principles ?!? Citizens should remember that nothing can change over-night; so also should any party holding the reigns of power, especially if it has no experience !

There is no point in comparing the present political parties in terms of ideology, political will, presence, discipline, transparency and leadership quality. None reflect any sincere ideology at the level of national consciousness. As an ‘aamjunta‘, I see no party having a true national agenda or any leader having the shades of a statesman. Almost all of them are interested to serve the nation – getting into power or remaining in power is the main motto. And the bad-taste remarks mutually hurled at each other by the political leaders are awfully making the puzzle dirty !!

Aamjunta is really in a dilemma…

Congress (UPA) – mired in multiple and mega scams /scandals and despite having enough time, absolutely nothing was done by it to redress those matters. With their able foreign policy, all our neighbours including Maldives and Bhutan are in ‘tu-tu main-main’ (squabbles) with us. Their idea of Swaraj and Social Empowerment is only limited to Rahul Gandhi’s speeches and their leaders are either busy in the coronation drama or with making derogatory remarks against Narendra Modi.

BJP (NDA) – still inducting back corrupt /indisciplined ‘netas‘ or being completely callous about rooting out corruption. It looks like the definition of India is still limited to some states in the north or central part of the country; with no or diminishing presence in the North-East region, Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, etc. ; even grass-root level politics is yet to evolve in many such states. Moreover, they cannot rely only on the charishma of Narendra Modi; fetching the magic number 272+ is still a huge task for them ! Major changes or re-structuring their vision should be their prime agenda while preparing for summer of 2014.

AAP – during its initial activism, very boldly raised several issues against corruption but never pursued any single matter to its solution; now the party’s daily stand on administration has made it synonymous with the term ‘U-turn’ !! And the jugalbandi with Congress is somewhat fishy ! Their leaders are still in dharanas, and/or verbal duel mode and their induction process is also not convincing. But the rise of AAP has definitely changed the political equations at the centre.

Third Front – for God’s shake this experiment should NOT be repeated; most disastrous governance in Indian history !! Their rise is definitely a danger to India’s democracy and growth.

If we want to standardize a yardstick in this regard, then (apart from tackling corruption, inflation, etc.) here are some more potential weights for us to assess:

(i) Is anyone really thinking of the nation or the society as a whole ? Has any national party or one aspiring to become so yet campaigned in or adequately spoken about the far-flung North-East region of India ?

(ii) How many have considered settling the issue of Indo-Bangladesh enclaves ?

(iii) Has anyone addressed these matters – growing incidents of rapes, juvenile justice system, human-trafficking, acid-attacks, improving care and financial aid for the orphans, old and destitute ?

(iv) Is any leader talking about revamping the current education system in the country ?

(v) How much has been achieved in diminishing judicial backlogs and increasing the police:public and judge:public ratio ?

(vi) What about the health care industry ?

(vii) Where do we stand in our external policy and defence preparations ?

The list can be endless but these are very basic current issues of the nation. Therefore, these must be substantially addressed by whoever wants to come to power or gets it. At this stage even, many ‘aamjunta‘ like me do not know with certainty whom to vote !

Does ‘right to reject’ or invoking ‘Rule 49-O’ of the elections conduct have any meaning ? Not really.

May be, we should be highlighting work of good performers like Mr. Naveen Patnaik, Mr. Manohar Parrikar, Dr. Raman Singh who have done really well; at least, in the recent past, if you consider the limited support and resources that they have got in-hand. Till date, they are not involved in any public spat ! So why don’t we speak in all positivity about their achievements and their desire to achieve more for the mass ? As some would have observed, these three men have known when a leader has to work at break-neck speed and when he has to go slow or even compromise for a greater cause.

Is there any way to give chance to such men at the centre ? Let us not forget for a single moment that what we choose today, we would be rewarding it to ourselves tomorrow and to our next generation(s) !!

Aamjunta – what do you say ?

Indo-Bangladesh Enclaves – Beyond the Boundaries !

In 1947, when India got partitioned, the princely states of Cooch Behar went to India and Rangpur to Bangladesh (the then East Pakistan). With this, the people of these two princely states also became citizens of India and Bangladesh respectively. The border was marked by Sir Cyril Radcliffe in a haste and nonchalant manner, without  understanding the ground realities !! The line drawn in the map by Sir Radcliffe has many complexities, which are yet to be addressed by both the countries. There are villages, where the border is drawn in such a way, that sometimes the verandah of one house lies in Bangladesh, whereas the kitchen lies in India. Both the countries have owned the people living there but without providing them rights to live with dignity and as human beings.

Out of many villages in Cooch Behar and Rangpur, 162 were caught on the wrong side of the border; small Indian islands are surrounded by Bangladeshi villages and vice-versa; these 162 villages are the Indo-Bangla enclaves or chitmahals (paper palaces). Historically, these enclaves are the result of gambles between the Kings of the then Cooch Behar and Rangpur, which were never sought for clarification while drawing the border on the map. At present, about 100,000 people live in these 162 enclaves, without any basic living conditions. The worst part is their national identity ! No one has a clear national identity; neither Indian nor Bangladeshi – mostly known as the “nowhere people“. They do not have any identity, no passport, no voter-card, no water, no electricity, no hospital, no school, no sustained mode of income, no roads and no civil society. They are like foreigners staying in another country, without any link with their own country. Even, they are not entitled to get a birth and a death certificate, let alone access to medicines, healthcare and other facilities.

Out of these 162 enclaves, 51 Bangladeshi enclaves are inside the Indian territory and the rest 111 are Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh. Both the countries do not want to give up their rights on these enclaves so far as the land mass is concerned. The irony with the fate of these people is that their respective countries also do not treat them well; mostly, they are labelled as spies and harassed, or are branded with all types of anti-national tags and always looked down with suspicion. Due to the Indo-Bangla fences (roughly 2,400-mile) recently built by India, their lives became tougher. They can go to their own country only in the day time, and have to stay back in the foreign country in the night ! This, not without harassment at the border posts and or paying a bribe. Out of this 2,400-mile border, due to the enclaves, there are 21 miles (34.5 km) that cannot be fenced, cannot be flood-lit or gated and in many cases is simply not policed at all.

This has become a major diplomatic stand-off for the last 66 years, without any major change on the ground. Efforts are sporadic from both the sides, without any clarity of thoughts and political will, mainly due to vote-bank politics. India backs the people who want to stay in India, despite the fact that they are legally Bangladeshi. The same stand is also maintained by Bangladesh. But it is yet to be ratified by both the countries. After  1947, though there was a political desire to de-enclave this and both India and Pakistan (then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh) agreed in 1958 for a political solution, it could not be ratified due to various reasons. Nothing happened again till 1971 when Bangladesh was formed, as both India and Pakistan were mostly at war. In 1974, both India and Bangladesh agreed either to exchange the enclaves or at least to provide easy access to the enclaves; Bangladesh quickly ratified but India could materialize only a little.

In reality, neither India nor Bangladesh have allowed the people of the enclaves to choose a side (nation) solely on their own conviction, though there are accords signed recently (September,2011) between both the countries. The reason – India gets less land and more people as compared to Bangladesh which gets more land with less people. With major political parties opposing in India, the impasse is understandable. Moreover, it is yet to be ratified by the Indian Parliament also, which is mostly non-functional these days due to huge corruption issues. Referendum is also completely ruled out due to other demands and political or social or legal implications.

Then, what should be done to bring justice to these long-neglected people ? Don’t you agree that it is a humanitarian issue, irrespective of Indians staying inside Bangladesh or Bangladeshis staying inside India ? One ought to visit the enclaves to realize how awfully unconcerned or inhumane we are, by not taking a firm decision and not giving them their basic rights. It is definitely not a matter of patriotism, or a political win or loss, or a country’s win or loss. Rather it is an issue of delivering basic human rights to people living in abysmal conditions and to set them free from all sorts of burden, bondage, slavery, suspicion, hate, and rights violation. Moreover, with this cul-de-sac, both the countries are also violating the very essence of their respective Constitution- failing to guarantee the fundamental rights of their people.

Aamjunta – what is your opinion ? How long can we impose this political embargo on our own people ? By doing this, we are also encouraging criminal activities through Maoism, Terrorism and Fundamentalism in these enclaves that has already started spreading its vicious tentacles to other parts of the Indian subcontinent. Therefore, with utmost sincerity, I urge the politicians, bureaucrats, social-activists and citizens of both the countries to look into this matter with a big heart and resolve the issue of the enclaves for the sake of humanity at least. Otherwise, our future will never forgive us. Let us live and let live beyond the boundaries.

“The love of one’s country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border ?” – Pablo Casals

-Jai Hind