Junta's state managed Myanmar polls

World history is a testimony to the fact that the military rulers’ craving for power never allows democracy to take deep roots. Sadly, Myanmar is no exception. The democratic voices across the world rightly wanted Myanmar, also known as Burma, to look at India, the largest democracy, as a model as it unfolded its roadmap for elections. But to the discomfort of all pro-democracy voices, the military rulers of Myanmar chose to look at its giant eastern neighbor, China, for inspiration in place of its eastern neighbor, India. The world wants the military junta of Myanmar to free all political prisoners, who number more than 2000 before the November 7, 2010 elections and ensure their participation. However, the junta remains unmoved and is adamant to hold elections under an oppressive law, which bars all those convicted by courts from contesting the elections. If this was not enough, the military junta left the pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi led National League for Democracy party with no option but to boycott the elections. Critics have rightly called the November 7 elections a sham designed to cement the military rule.

It was exactly 20 years that the people had overwhelmingly voted in favour of Suu Kyi led National League for Democracy party in 1990. However, people’s mandate was subverted and the military usurped the power. The military junta has kept Suu Kyi under house arrest for more than 14 years. The Myanmar elections can not gain legitimacy without the participation of Suu Kyi, whose term for house arrest is expiring

on November 13, few days after the elections. It is rightly a big asking from the military junta to expect the world to give their stamp of approval to elections without the participation of Suu Kyi and her party.

A brief mention of the oppressive Political Parties Registration Law, which is exclusive in nature, will explain why the world community is livid at the military junta. This law excludes electoral participation by any member of a political party who has been convicted in court. This law called for Suu Kyi's party, NLD, to choose between honoring her as its leader and risking the party being declared illegal, or removing her from the party and contesting the elections. Naturally, the party chose to boycott the elections. Further, a 2008 constitution adopted under the junta's roadmap reserves 25 percent of parliamentary seats for the military and says more than 75 percent of the lawmakers must approve any amendments to the charter. Also, members of religious orders are barred from taking part in the elections. If they were not enough, tight rules have been laid down for campaigning, thus prohibiting parties from chanting, marching or saying anything at rallies that could tarnish the country's image. The critics have rightly pointed out that free and fair elections can not take place without a free media and expression.

However, the November 7 elections are all set to see a limited participation of political parties, which mostly belong to ethnic groups in the country. Forty political parties have registered to contest the elections, and six others are awaiting approval. Several of the parties are also linked to the military. A breakaway faction of the Suu Kyi led NLD has registered itself as a new party under the name “National Democratic Force” with Khin Maung Swe as its leader. Ironically, this party has adopted the symbol of a “Bamboo Hat”, which was the symbol of the NLD in the 1990 elections, though with a minor addition of two stars above the hat. However, Suu Kyi has expressed dissatisfaction through her lawyer with the breakaway party.

The world leaders have been exerting pressure on the South-east Asian grouping ASEAN to persuade Myanmar, a member country, to ensure free and fair elections. It is under this context that despite the sfated

policy of ASEAN not to intervene in the domestic affairs of the member countries, Vietnam, who chairs the group this year, issues a statement stating that the ASEAN encourages Myanmar to further accelerate progress in the implementation of the roadmap for national reconciliation and democracy.

The foregone conclusion is that the November 7 elections will be dominated by the USDP under the leadership of Prime Minister Thein Sein, who has relinquished his army rank. It is important here to mention that the junta’s powerful mass movement, the USDA (union solidarity and development association), has now been disbanded and its assets transferred to the USDP, having the manpower of 24 million.

The western world has been unreasonably looking upon India to exert pressure on Myanmar to hold free and fair elections. Such an expectation was raised again when Myanmar’s Head of State, Senior General Than Shwe, visited India from 25 to 29 July 2010. However, it is important to point out that such an expectation is unreasonable, given the kind of role being played by China in perpetuating the military rule in Myanmar.

Barking idiot box

Being a print journalist, I have long avoided to comment on TV news channels. Though I stopped watching them long back, I tested if I could find some interests in them regularly, and have always turned against them more bitter.

This Friday, I reached home a bit earlier and thought of watching Zee TV for the Dance India dance Little Masters but was disappointed as the grand finale was in Saturday. I must add here that the talent of little boys and girls are just unbelievable. So, scrolled down and stayed with Times Now to see what it was saying on Commonwealth Games. What I saw left me with wonder how its anchor, Arnab Goswami, got a Journalism award from the Indian Express. I always had suspicions about such awards, and now I have more.

What did I saw was that Goswami was parroting Times Now expose for everything, that he was asking the man already in dock for a long time, the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chairman, Suresh Kalmadi. The way he was haggled in the so called interview by this TV channel, I found myself sympathising Kalmadi. Any budding journalist shall better watch out Goswami to learn how not to conduct interviews.

Then followed a short talk show, which the anchor must be regretting, after Kirti Azad tore into him. The poor chap did not get any support from the three other panelists as well, while he kept demanding from them that Kalmadi be executed right there. Watching this great barking tamasha, I recalled how Mani Shankar Aiyer had blasted the same anchor when he matched his shrillness by telling him on his face "you are a good prosecutor, but a terrible diplomat". This comment came when this anchor wanted to pass an instant judgement within seconds of the conclusion of the Islamabad Press Conference of Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers. 

Then tired of shrillness, which could even induce blood pressure among the viewers, I scrolled down further and found Nidhi Razdan on NDTV, who was nothing but completely at a loss of ideas in the company of Manish Tiwari, Swapan Dasgupta. Though she looked quite graceful, her show appeared nothing but a filler. 

  

I did not waste any more minutes to switch off the idiot box to take up a book "The Palace of Desire"  to read before I went for sleep. However, I felt a kind of headache, which I took some time to come out of to find myself engrossed in the book. In the meantime, I recalled a comment of a retired diplomat who refused to give a sound byte to an EEnglish News Channel by stating: "I will give you byte the day your channel comes anywhere near the BBC but seeing the current state it will take more than 100 years." 

Games slur: Kalmadi in dock, Sheila yet to be tested

The Commonwealth Games 2010 will leave one legacy for sure, that when it comes to loot of public money no one in the world can match the Indians. The Games are less than two months away but its managers are already muddied. If cash guzzler Indian Premium League for twenty20 uncovered a corruption czar in the form of Lalit Modi, the Commonwealth Games is heading towards getting the fame of mother of all scam, with Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi as its head. However, it's interesting to note that Delhi chief minister, Sheila Dikshit, continues to dock the kind of attack that Kalmadi is getting. This is to do with perception. The media honchos think that it's Kalmadi's Games, little knowing that more than Rs 20,000 crore out of the total budget (actual) of Rs 35,000 crores have been spent by her. Kalmadi needs to learn few lessons from Dikshit how to escape the censure.

As Lalit Modi managed IPL as his private limited firm, so did Kalmadi, with the same modus operandi. The two belong to the same class. They do not reveal anything new, except for confirming that given an opportunity Indians, particularly politicians, have to loot the public exchequer. What lies behind the loot in the spending of more than Rs 20,000 crores by Dikshit led Delhi government presents a new trend in corruption, which is the nexus of the government agencies and private contractors to collude right from the stage of conceptualisation of a project till its execution.

Once the limelight fades away from Kalmadi, the focus will surely shift to Dikshit. The beginning has already been made with the CBI reportedly registering cases in the procurement of low-floor buses at an inflated costs. The CAG in its report, which was tabled last year in the Delhi Assembly, had already rapped Dikshit led Delhi government for procuring low-floor buses at an inflated costs. This particular deal is part of the preparations of the Commonwealth Games also, as Delhi government had been working on a plan of complete phase out of blueline buses before the sporting events. However, even this effort has remained shoddy and the rogue blueline buses ram through the length and breadth of the capital with imputy, given their ownership pattern, which again shows a nexus of politician- police to hijack the transport system.

The CAG in its next report will surely dig out facts of omission and corruption in the execution of road and flyover projects. Their pathetic quality, with little rains leaving big holes on important roads, make even a layman to suspect if Dikshit led government has just gifted away tax payers' money.

It's to be noted here that the biggest spending in the name of Commonwealth Games has been done by Delhi government, followed by DDA and Sports Authority of India. However, it's also a fact that no one will be able to hound Dikshit the way Kalmadi is facing. The reason being that she will easily shift the blame to engineers and department heads and secondly for the reason being that the Congress will not dump its electorally highly successful chief minister due to the allegations of corruption, as that will have a high political cost which the grand old party can never bear. 

The Games will take place and it will be the worst, that too by giving too many pains to the people. All estimates of the organisers are already disappearing in thin air. They could not get worthwhile sponsorships. For the estimated footfall of about two lakh tourists, not more than 10,000 are expected to come to Delhi for the Games. There is no credible revenue model. All the much touted infrastructure legacy will also come to a farce, as the work has been short-sighted and amounts to a colossal waste of public money. The Games will leave just one legacy and that will be unbridled corruption.

Those who talk of hosting the Asian Games and Olympics must be raided by the income tax and CBI officials, so that the systemic cancer can be weeded out.

Can Manmohan do a Rao, derail Rahul Gandhi's PM bid by 5 yrs?

Skeleton is finally gaining muscle. The July 5 Bharat Bandh tactically called by NDA and Left in a way that about 17 Opposition parties took part and brought the country to a grinding halt. Price rise often rejected as am election issue just appears to have infused life into dead Opposition, with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh helping them revive through his "economic-bureaucratic" policies directly hitting the middle class where it hurts the most. The UPA has a mandate till 2014. Four more years to go for political churning to take place.

The reign of former Prime Minister Narsimha Rao had taken the Congress out of power for about eight years, with the NDA ruling for about six years. Though it will be a little premature to take a call on the outcome of 2014 elections, the young scion of the Gandhi family, Rahul Gandhi, who already turned 40, might have to wait a little longer to occupy the coveted post if the Opposition continues gaining muscles with fodder supplied by Mr Manmohan Singh.

There will be no Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh to repeat the resounding victory of the Congress in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. The Congress has lost Rajshekhara Reddy in AP. Kerala and TN are known for a revolving door mandate. People in Delhi are beating their chest for having voted the Congress. UP results in 2009 are all turning out to be a fluke, with the Dumariyaganj Assembly byelection result where the Congress came fifth though the party had bagged the Lok Sabha seat just a year back has already sent consternation in Rahul Gandhi camp. The emergence of the Peace Party in UP on the support of the Muslim constituency is only helping the BJP to limp back to life. With major states out of the kitty of the Congress, Mr Gandhi might have to just work a little extra for the revival of the party apparatus in Bihar, West Bengal and UP where it is not even among the top two contenders.

Former BJP leader and ex-UP chief minister Kalyan Singh after the 2009 Lok Sabha elections had given a long postmortem of the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Basically, he had two contentions. First, price rise is not an elections issue. This is now proving to be wrong, as a large section of population, including those who earn quite handsome salary, are being hit where it hurts the most. Also, the euphoria of the sixth pay commission bonanza has long subsided. His second contention was that it was suicidal on the part of BJP's L. K. Advani to have personally attacked Mr Manmohan Singh, who is revered by the middle class for probity and knowledge. Having spent six years in the office, the people could just now be losing faith in the "knowledge and leadership" of Mr Singh, which has only made the life difficult of many. People in India take a long time to discard their loved ones but when they do it gives a feeling of a bolt from the blue, as was the case with Mr Vajpayee.

Though there are four more years for Mr Singh for course correction, he, however, has unflinching faith in his medicine, that he would go on in the same way if Mrs Sonia Gandhi does not decide to install her son Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister in 2012 after the UP Assembly elections.