UP goes Bihar ways

People in Uttar Pradesh never missed a point during the campaign trail, that the state has no leaders like Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. Though lacking in leadership, UP still went on the lines of Bihar, which had trouched caste politics about seven years ago. There is a change in UP now but it will take time to know if the change puts the state on the path of development oriented politics or not.

UP has clearly become a turf of regional parties. This is bad news for national political parties. The state appears on the course to unveil a revolving door politics on the lines of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is in the winter of his health. Therefore, Akhilesh Yadav could become the chief minister at the earliest. In such a scenario, Akhilesh will have an opportunity to do a Nitish in Bihar. Even people in West Bengal rue the fact that though they elected Mamata Banerjee to get rid of the Left rule, they still do not have leadership to take pride in.

The Congress needs to get rid of the coterie of sycophants surrounding party scion Rahul Gandhi if it at all wants redemption at the earliest. Politics has no place for an angry young man. Though this was known to all on the street, the coterie of sycophants kept egging on the Congress scion to indulge in theatrics. The party needs to know sooner than latter that the people are not that fool, that they could be lured by acts of theatrics. 

The BSP chief Mayawati is not wrong in suggesting that the Congress gave the plot to the SP to win the elections by propping up the issue of reservation for Muslims. The issue hogged the limelight throughout the campaigning. However, the SP outsmarted the Congress in appealing to be more sincere to the cause of the Muslims.

Mayawati's image of an arrogant and megalomaniac clearly paved the way for the SP to ride on a massive anti-incumbency wave. The UP mandate is more against Mayawati than for Mulayam. Poeple appear to have no better choice but to vote in the SP into power. However, democracy still has space for leaders like Mayawati, Jayalalitha and Mamata, who centralise power and fuel perception of them being dictatorial. Though people always have the last laugh, they still vote in such leaders and therefore it may not be an end of the road for Mayawati too.

The BJP appears to be a ship adrift in the high sea. A host of top leadership were busy in ensuring that the party candidates were defeated. BJP's chief Nitin Gadkari's gamble of hoisting Uma Bharati upset them, while his ploy to piggyback ride on BSP discards (Babu Singh Kushwaha and Badshah Singh) clearly went against the sentiment of the people in the state.

However, the Congress and BJP have one glimmer of hope, that the Parliamentary and state polls may be delinked. People appear to have voted in the SP, as no other party was seen defeating Mayawati. But people will have to choose in between the Congress and BJP in 2014. Thus, the state of politics in UP is clearly in flux and the national political parties would better be advised to effect course correction to stay relevant in the state which elect 80 Lok Sabha members.       

Syrian angst

Voice of sanity appears to be struggling for audience in Syria. The Arab spring has clearly left deathly trails in this Middle-East country so much so that a civil war may not be ruled out. The world community is rightly shocked to see the extent of humanitarian crisis in Syria.

Though the Arab Spring accounted for a near peaceful end to totalitarian rules in Tunisia and Egypt, the massive loss of human lives in Libya should act as a caution for the western world and Arab League apparently seeking a swift regime change in Syria. Regime change through external intervention is clearly not in sync with the spirit of Arab Spring.

Even as leaders of a host of nations gather in Tunisia to find a way out to curb the violence in Syria, their immediate challenge should be win a ceasefire. This should be uppermost in the agenda of the leaders, as reports coming out from Syria clearly tell a sickening tale.

Worse is unabated loss of lives of journalists in Syria, with the popular saying, that you should not shoot the messenger, clearly having no takers. One must commend the valour of journalists who have sneaked into Syria to inform the world of the scale of humanitarian crisis unfolding there. Amidst strict clampdown against foreign journalists, reporters are staking their lives to sneak into Syria from Lebanan and Turkey through local contacts.

The opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria has pegged death toll in Syria at about 9,000 so far. Reports suggest that the besieged city of Homs is witnessing unprecedented violence. The UN officials have, however, said that they are not in a position to update death tolls in Syria. Besides, residents in Homs are stated to be without critical supplies for weeks and are unable to move to other city. It’s said that the Syrian army is shelling the city of Homs and people are starving as well.

Therefore, the International Committee of the Red Cross has rightly sought from authorities and rebels to agree for daily ceasefires so that life-saving aid can reach civilians in hard-hit areas, including Homs. "It should last at least two hours every day, so that ICRC staff and Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers have enough time to deliver aid and evacuate the wounded and the sick," quote unquote ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger.

Even as the Arab League wants the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to quit his position, there appears no consensus till date among the western powers on the way ahead. While Morocco wants the rebels in Syria to be armed, which the US has not ruled out as an option, France has called for a NATO led air cover to reach out the humanitarian assistance. The Arab League has already imposed economic sanctions against Syria. However, China and Russia vetoed United Nations resolutions two times which were aimed to end violence in Syria. India has also expressed reservations, while citing example of Libya, that the UN principle of responsibility to protect is being selectively used to promote national interests and bring about regime change in the conflict countries instead of saving civilians.

The US is least likely to get militarily engaged in Syria in an election year, as its extended stay in Iraq had been openly questioned by the people. Iran, which is a firm ally of Assad, has apparently sent two warships in the backyard of Syria in a bid to provide training for Syrian naval forces. Experts assess that Iranian involvement in Syrian crisis could drag in other unwilling nations to back the rebels.

Besides, Russia and China back Assad's own program for reforms, which include plans for a referendum on a new constitution and elections. While Assad says that this should satisfy demands for more democracy, his opponents say the proposals are a sham. Assad’s assertions that the 11-month-old uprising against his rule is limited to the provinces are also not seen credible, as violence is reportedly taking place right in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

It’s worth mentioning that much of the opposition to Assad comes from the Sunni majority, while his support comes from minorities, including his Alawite sect. There is enough credence to the concerns of the neighbouring countries that violence could take on a sectarian slant.

Therefore, the western world and the Arab League need to practice the utmost caution and find a way out for peaceful negotiations for political resolution. The UN chief Ban Ki-moon has rightly said that he was searching for a candidate to name as a humanitarian coordinator for Syria, whose role could evolve into seeking a political solution to the conflict. There should be no second opinion, that the humanitarian support should be first reached out to the people and for that a ceasefire is a must.

Pakistan awaits Arab spring

The Arab spring was clearly the defining moment of the last year, which continues to find echo in all parts of the world. Even in Myanmar the military junta appears to have realized for better that the time for democracy has arrived and could not be further avoided.

So, when people all around the world yearn for true democracy, Pakistan too cannot remain unaffected. Therefore, it’s quite understandable why Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is so anguished for the nation still lagging behind in establishing a fully functional democratic set up. He rightly lamented the fact that while vibrant democracy thrives in India no elected government has been allowed to complete its term in Pakistan for many years. This is truly a very sad commentary on Pakistan’s state of affairs.

The world profusely prides in India’s vibrant democracy, which thrives on strong institutions and constitutionally defined separation of power. Executive, judiciary and legislature in India have done well tostay in their respective domains and honour rights of other institutions. Sadly, healthy democratic set up appears to be the missing link in Pakistan’s democracy. The overzealous indulgence by Pakistani army in the affairs of other institutions has been seen as the sole reason for weakening of democracy.

So, one can understand Gilani’s anguish when he said that though India and Pakistan were created on the same date, there was a stark difference in how they have continued with their democratic systems.

It’s noteworthy to mention that democracy has never been able to institutionalise in Pakistan, as the country witnessed a series of military coups starting from 1958. Besides, memories of last coup by Pervez Musharraf's overthrow of Nawaz Sharif's elected government in 1999 still remain fresh. The pitfalls of Pakistan having been under several decades of military rule are for all to see.

However, Gilani clearly gives a sense, that the struggle for democratic ways of life is still going on in Pakistan and one would wish all the success to the civil society there. The provocation for Gilani’s lamentation has apparently been due to his apprehensions of a number of conspiracies being hatched in the country to undermine his government. Notwithstanding internal squabbles in Pakistan, Gilani would do well to keep the fight for democracy alive. In fact, the era of military coups are now part of history.

Besides, Gilani deserves accolade for speaking his mind frankly and freely. In fact, true testimony of a leader is whether he can tell the people not what they want to listen to but what he thinks is right for them.

Therefore, Gilani quite rightly pointed out to the people in Pakistan that the country cannot afford to have wars in 21st century. This statement of fact is quite commendable, knowing well that Jehadi elements clearly backed by Pakistan’s agencies related to military openly indulge in war mongering on the issue of Kashmir. Pakistan has waged four wars on India on the issue of Kashmir, with the last one through intrusion in Kargil still being fresh in the minds of the people.

The Pakistani premier quite rightly stated that any issue, including Kashmir, has to be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy. While Gilani spelt out the reality, the message to Pakistani military is also quite apparent, that its grounds for intruding into democratic institutions are now obsolete and it should limit itself to its brief only. Experts have rightly diagnosed that the Pakistani army had been exploiting sentiments of the people by feeding anti-India hysteria there.

In fact, Gilani appears to be taking the bull by its horn, as he clearly stated that it was the democratic government, which closed NATO supply lines, got the US to vacate Shamsi airbase and boycotted the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan after NATO attack on Pakistani border. In the same breath, he also reminded that there were question marks about Pakistan's policy on Afghanistan as it was made by a dictator who wore four hats of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, the army chief, the President and the Chief Executive in a veiled reference to Parvez Musharaff.

Pakistan would rather do well to take note of the way how Bangladesh has embarked on nation building by single mindedly focusing on socio-economic advancement of its people, while also scripting a win-win partnership with India.

In nutshell 21st century has no place for war and hysteria and rather it’s for partnership and peaceful co-existence. Pakistani civil society has quite commendably been vocal in the recent past for its rights. Pakistan has to find a way out of the gray areas, which allow other institutions to trample with democratic ways of governance as a step forward.

Anna fills leadership vacuum

After about 240 hours of the fast of Gandhian Anna Hazare, there appears a clear sense that there is leadership vacuum in the country. The state of the affairs is such that the Parliament and government are not only paralysed but even discredited.

Anna Hazare is fighting a just cause. People in a spontaneous way have got behind Anna. Still, the government is searching for an escape route, as has been the tradition of the ruling party.  

For over five years there had been quite an astonishment among some, that why the people are so tolerant. The price rise has not only broken the backbone of the middle class but has confronted them with a number of existential questions. A spate of corruption came in a way as some floodgate has been opened. Still, the government had only one or the other explanation to give to find an escape route.

It appears that the Opposition parties failed to provide leadership to the simmering anger of millions of people. The leadership vacuum appears being filled in by Anna, who swears by the name of Mahatma Gandhi, whose ideals had caught the imagination of the youth of the country in an unexpected manner by Sanjay Dutt starrer Munnabhai MBBS movie.

Anna is in the midst of a serious business. It appears that the Jan Lokpal Bill is just igniting a people's movement to cleanse the very political set up in the country, which is not only muddied but has failed the aspirations of well informed people.

There is a similarity in the state of Yamuna in Delhi, which is a dead river here, and the political class, which claims to represent the people. Every year water flows into Yamuna during Monsoon, as is the case with MPs and MLAs at the times of elections, but the massive garbage stays at the bottom of the dead river as does the rot in the political system.

A report of the Lt. Governor of Delhi Tejendra Khanna to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about two years back had recommended physical cleaning of Yamuna along with creating a reservoir to ensure continuous flow of water into it.

The political system too requires a physical cleaning and regular flow of people of character and integrity to ensure that the rotting democracy comes back to life again.

The sad commentary on political class is the arrogance that the MPs have irrespective of the fact that they are the product of a flawed system. They have not bothered to introspect that none of them could inspire the youth of the country nor they have any answer to the burning issues of the mass.

Anna appears to have his fingers on the pulse of the people. He has correctly diagnosed the malaise. His solutions are not only logical but much needed. A Lokpal, which can deter the acts of corruption, has to be there. Madhu Kodas, A Rajas, Suresh Kalmadis are not individuals but representatives of the rotten system. 

Anna has rightly said that this is just a beginning. Much needs to be done. Electoral reform must come on the table next to ensure that politics does not remain the last refuse of the scoundrels.

The good thing about Anna's campaign is that it is blessed with right people who appear committed to their cause. An IRS officer friend of this author said Arvind Kejriwal used to tell them to forget relations when they joined government service so that they could remain clean. "If you are trapped in relations, you will fall in a pitless well of corruption," Kejriwal used to tell his fellow colleagues when he was in IRS.

One could just wish that the Anna bandwagon continue to roll till there is a complete physical cleansing of the system. May God give him long life.