Discrepancies in PAN details in Donor Details of National Parties: ADR

September 16, 2019

Four National Political Parties in the year FY 2017-18, , BJP, INC, CPI and CPM had not declared PAN details of 219 donations through which the parties collected a total of Rs 4.95 cr. Similar observations were made after the analysis of donations received by National Parties for FY 2016-17, FY 2015-16, FY 2014-15, FY 2013-14 and FY 2012-13. These are the findings of a report of the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Image Courtesy: News18

Background

This report, prepared by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), focuses on the incomplete disclosure of information such as undeclared, incomplete and incorrect PAN details provided in the Contributions Reports of National Political Parties covering the period of Financial Year 2012-13 to 2017-18, as submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

As per rule 85B of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, the Contributions Report is required to be submitted in Form 24A, before the due date for furnishing a return of its income of that financial year under Section 139 of the Income-Tax Act, to the ECI. Details of the contributions received by parties which are to be provided as per Form 24A include name, address, PAN, mode of payment and amount contributed by each donor who has made donation above Rs 20,000 in their submission. An analysis of donations statements filed by the parties with the ECI shows that there is incomplete, incorrect or non-disclosure of PAN information of donations in some cases as declared by National Parties each year.

ADR, in its latest report on Analysis of Donations received by National Political Parties – FY 2017-18, found that of the 7 National Parties, four parties, BJP, INC, CPI and CPM had not declared PAN details of 219 donations through which the parties collected a total of Rs 4.95 cr. Similar observations were made after the analysis of donations received by National Parties for FY 2016-17, FY 2015-16, FY 2014-15, FY 2013-14 and FY 2012-13.

Executive Summary

1. Year-wise donations (above Rs 20,000) with undeclared, incomplete or incorrect PAN details of donors

Chart: Donations with Undeclared, Incomplete or Incorrect PAN details in Contributions Reports of National Parties,

FY 2012-13 to 2017-18

Between FY 2012-13 and 2017-18, National Parties declared donations (above Rs 20,000) having undeclared, incomplete or incorrect PAN details, amounting to a total of 5569 donations worth Rs 453.61 cr.
During this period, National Parties declared a total of 5437 donations worth Rs 438.96 cr (96.77%) without PAN details.
A total of 132 donations worth Rs 14.65 cr (3.23%) were declared by National Parties in their Contributions Report, submitted from FY 2012-13 to 2017-18, with incomplete or incorrect PAN information.
During the FY 2014-15 when Lok Sabha Elections were held, National Parties declared the highest amount of donations with no PAN details worth Rs 275.76 cr or 62.82% (705 donations) and the highest amount of donations with incomplete/incorrect PAN details of Rs 6.887 cr or 47.01% (9 donations).

2. Party-wise donations (above Rs 20,000) declared without PAN details of donors

Chart: Donations declared without PAN details by BJP and INC, FY 2012-13 to 2017-18

Between FY 2012-13 and 2017-18, National Parties declared maximum donations without PAN details worth Rs 275.76 cr (62.82%) for FY 2014-15 followed by Rs 106.05 cr (24.16%) for the FY 2013-14.
Of the total donations declared by National Parties without PAN details during FY 2012-13 to 2017-18, BJP declared the highest donations amounting to Rs 281.55 cr (64.14%), followed by INC which collected donations worth Rs 150.59 cr (34.31%) and CPI with such donations worth Rs 5.07 cr (1.16%).
During FY 2014-15, BJP and INC declared maximum donations without PAN details in their Contributions Reports, amounting to Rs 203.772 cr and Rs 70.985 cr respectively.

3. Party-wise donations (above Rs 20,000) with incomplete/incorrect PAN details of donors

Chart: Party-wise donations with incomplete/incorrect PAN in Contributions Reports, FY 2012-13 to 2017-18

BJP collected the highest donations worth Rs 8.10 cr (55.29%), having incomplete/incorrect PAN details of donors during this period. 85.02% or Rs 6.887 cr of its total donations having incomplete/incorrect PAN were collected in FY 2014-15.
INC did not declare complete/correct PAN of donations worth Rs 5.614 cr (38.32%), second highest during the period from FY 2012-13 to 2017-18. 95.30% of its total such donations worth Rs 5.35 cr were collected in FY 2016-17.
No donations declared by AITC and CPI between FY 2012-13 and 2017-18 had incomplete/incorrect PAN details of donors.

4. Types of non-disclosure of donations (above Rs 20,000) with incomplete/incorrect PAN details of donors

Chart: Donations with missing/incorrect PAN details in Contributions Reports of National Parties, FY 2012-13 to 2017-18

Of the total donations, National Parties declared a total of 77 donations worth Rs 6.825 cr (46.59%) having incorrect arrangement of alphabets and numbers in PAN.
INC collected the highest amount of such donations of Rs 5.502 cr from 15 donations, followed by BJP which collected 25 donations worth Rs 1.09 cr having incorrect arrangement of alphabets and numbers.
Between FY 2012-13 and 2017-18, National Parties declared a total of 55 donations of Rs 7.824 cr (53.41%) having missing alphabets and numbers in their PAN.
BJP collected maximum number of these donations (28 donations) worth Rs 7.01 cr followed by INC which declared a contribution of Rs 11.2 lakhs from 13 donations in its Contributions Report.

Chart: Donations having missing/incorrect PAN details declared in Contributions Reports, FY 2012-13 to 2017-18

5. Sector-wise donations (above Rs 20,000) declared with incomplete PAN Details of donors

Chart: Sector-wise donations with incomplete PAN details declared by National Parties, FY 2012-13 to 2017-18

47 donations collected by National Parties from corporate/business houses having incomplete PAN details of donors worth Rs 13.67 cr (93.31%) while such donations from individuals amounted to Rs 98 lakhs (6.69%) or 85 donations.
BJP collected the highest amount of donations with incomplete PAN details from corporate/business houses worth Rs 7.55 cr (55.23%) from 29 donations followed by INC which collected 3 donations of Rs 5.42 cr (39.65%).
From individual donors, BJP declared 24 donations worth Rs 55 lakhs having incomplete details of PAN followed by CPM which collected 34 such donations from individuals worth Rs 20.8 lakhs.

Recommendations

The Supreme Court gave a judgment on September 13, 2013 declaring that no part of a candidate’s affidavit should be left blank. Similarly, no part of the Form 24A submitted by political parties providing details of donations above Rs 20,000 should be blank.
All donors who have donated a minimum of Rs 20,000 as a single or multiple donations should provide their PAN details.
The National Parties should, ideally, lead by example by filing complete and correct statements of donations to the ECI well in time for public scrutiny so as to encourage financial transparency.
It is suggested that the ECI publicizes on its website details of the action taken (if any) against political parties that fail to provide required details (such as name, address, PAN and mode of payment) of individuals, companies or entities making donations in cash.
Incomplete contributions reports having missing or incorrect PAN/mode of payment details must be returned to the parties by the ECI, to deter them from providing incomplete information.
The National and Regional political parties must provide all information on their finances under the Right to Information Act. This will go a long way in strengthening political parties, elections and democracy.
Annual scrutiny of donations reports of National, Regional and unrecognized parties should be initiated by a dedicated department of the CBDT, to discourage donations from shell companies or illegal entities.

Unravelling the Discourse on Kashmir

September 16, 2019

Government of India’s decision to alter the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir and break the state into two centrally governed territories has attracted applause as well as criticism. The decision has been challenged before the Supreme Court. A five judge constitutional bench will determine the constitutional validity of the Presidential Orders and the Reorganization Act in October. But a lot remains to be discussed and clarified with respect to the past, present and the future of Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional position, politics and the multifarious approaches of understanding these.

Image Courtesy: vifindia.org

To begin with, one needs to understand that there was nothing ‘special’ about the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir. The association of the word ‘special’ with the state of Jammu and Kashmir should have been revisited long back, at least in the academic circles. The only thing that was ‘special’ and rightly so, was the Constituent Assembly’s response to the wishes of the erstwhile Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, recognition of the State’s history and political inclination of the masses.

The inclusion of Article 370 in the Indian Constitution was representative of the fact that India’s federalism was accommodative and alive to political, geographical and historical realities. This should have never been understood as an aberration to the federal scheme, but hailed as an act which trusted India’s commitment to democratic ethics.

Kashmir and parts of Jammu have been under restrictions, with a massive crackdown on communications, for more than a month now. The atmosphere within the state and particularly Kashmir remains suffocating. While everyone in the country debates ‘Kashmir & Article 370’ the people and the media of Kashmir remain gagged. What contributes to the agony and pain of the people is that the discourse is one sided and misinformed.

In the current atmosphere the central government has been elevated to the stature of a ‘guardian angel’ for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, seeking to pull out the State from ‘backwardness’, ‘miss-rule’ and ‘family raj’. The Government has made assertions about lack of jobs & industry, absence social justice legislations and even low land prices. These assertions have been rebutted in and outside the parliament by opposition leaders, civil society members and sections of the media. While the ‘backwardness’ is debated, nobody can deny Delhi’s love for the two families who have never left any stone unturned to further Delhi’s interest in the State.

What is most unsettling is that these mainstream parties, which have always been there in support of Delhi, risking their own credibility amongst the masses, have now been equated with the separatists. With numerous political leaders & workers, including leaders of trade and business organizations detained, the government seems to have questioned their political choices. This may change the political landscape of Kashmir which may not necessarily guarantee peace and stability in the region.

While change of leadership in Kashmir may have been on the Government’s agenda, altering the constitutional position of the State wasn’t the only way it could have been done.

The Temporary Nature of Article 370

Everyone seems to be beating the drums about how a temporary provision of the Constitution survived seven decades. Article 370 was enacted with the Constitution of India and came into force in 1950. It was placed along with the temporary and transitional provisions, because it vested the responsibility to finalize the state’s constitutional relationship with the union, on the Jammu and Kashmir’s Constituent Assembly, which was yet to convene.

Extension of provisions of the Indian Constitution with necessary modifications in their application to the state of Jammu and Kashmir was to be done with concurrence of the state’s Constituent Assembly, for matters that were beyond the scope of the Instrument of Accession. A temporary power was also given to the State Government to allow extension of provisions that fell within the three broad subjects provided in the Instrument of Accession. Justice A.S Anand also pointed out that the ‘temporary’ provision doesn’t mean that the article can be abrogated, modified and replaced unilaterally.

The second facet of the temporariness, is based on the amenability and revocability of the Article. The provision itself provided for the process to modify it or cease its operation. The role of the state constituent assembly was again pivotal in this regard, as its recommendation for either modification of the article or rendering it inoperative was required.

Therefore the provision had become permanent over time, particularly after dissolution of the State Constituent Assembly. It remained a ‘temporary and transitional provision’ perhaps because successive governments at the centre used it conveniently to extend provisions of the Constitution of India and other Central Statutes to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Permanent Residency and the State Constitution

Jammu and Kashmir is not the only state which had specific provisions for the permanent residents or domiciles. Other states also have such provisions, which are enacted upon legitimate exercise of powers. J&K had a local set of laws that protected the interests of the permanent residents by reserving for them, the right to buy immovable property, access to government jobs and scholarships. This was in the form of two notifications issued by the then Maharaja. The importance of these laws was recognized through the Delhi Agreement of 1952 and given protection through Article 35A, which formed part of the 1954 Presidential order, now superseded.

These notifications had come about only after an agitation led mostly by Kashmiri Pandits, Dogras and the affluent Muslims, who urged the Maharaja to protect interests of the local residents, in light of outsiders setting in the State during the 1920’s.

Article 35 A was a recognition of these concerns, which perhaps remain true for all isolated hilly communities. It merely protected the state laws on employment, acquisition of immovable property, scholarships or other forms of aid. If a state law existed on these subjects, it was protected from challenge on the grounds of discrimination, but beyond it the protective umbrella of Article 35A did not exist.

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir also looked into the Permanent Resident Law from the angle of gender equality. The court observed that Article 35A talks of protection from any challenge, to the state laws on permanent residency, by a Non-Permanent Resident on the ground of inequality. The court made it amply clear that Section 10 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir guarantees ‘right to equality’ and therefore the question of absence of inter-se equality does not exist.

Even then if there were concerns with regard to the definition of ‘Permanent Residents’, the same could have been addressed. The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir provided the State Assembly power to amend this definition.

The State Constitution & Flag

Concerns have also been raised with regard to the state having its own constitution. The call for ‘one nation one constitution’ flows from a flawed understanding of federalism. In a federal structure there exists a division of powers between the federal government and the federal unit. In the case of Jammu and Kashmir the division of powers was elucidated by the Instrument of Accession. Justice Nariman observed in Santosh Gupta’s case, that the State of Jammu and Kashmir has its own separate Constitution and it is through this Constitution that the State is governed in all matters, except those which have been “surrendered to the Union of India”. Therefore reflecting that the power has been given to the Union of India and not the other way around.

The judgement proceeds to point out that the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and the Constitution of India do not share equal status, as the State remains an integral part of the Union of India, something that the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir explicitly provided for.

It was through this Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, that the Instrument of Accession was ratified. It declared in the preamble that, the Constitution will further define the relationship of the State with the Union. It provided under section 3 that Jammu and Kashmir ‘is and shall be’ an integral part of India, a claim that has been questioned by many in Kashmir. The Presidential orders of August 5 and 6 blatantly disregard this relationship that was based on consent, at least of the Constituent Assembly of the State.

Similarly the State Flag of Jammu and Kashmir was a reminiscent of the struggle years of oppression. It symbolized the sacrifices of the people and in the words of Mir Qasim ‘the unity of the peasantry and the working class’. Bringing the flag down while unilaterally breaking commitments of the past doesn’t look good for a nation that prides itself of being the world’s largest democracy. There was absolutely no reason for anyone to feel insecure about either the state Flag or the state Constitution. They weren’t representing a sovereign state, and neither were they claiming to be superior to the Tricolour or the Indian Constitution.

What does the change mean to the people of Jammu and Kashmir

There is confusion and chaos in most parts of the state. People are apprehensive about what will happen next. People are thinking if there is more to come. But it is important to analyse whether or not this changes anything on the ground; whether or not this brings peace and development and more importantly whether or not it integrates people of Jammu and Kashmir with the union.

One needs to understand that the change affects only those, who believed that Jammu and Kashmir can share a constitutional relationship with the Union of India on the terms of the Instrument of Accession. It affects people who believed that the state could be a part of the Union with some autonomy. It affects everyone who argued for accession. But it certainly does not matter to individuals and political organizations who have been arguing to the contrary since 1947. The change in Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional status does not perhaps mean a thing to people who have questioned the instrument of accession in the first place. For people who thought that the state flag and the State Constitution furthered a unionist agenda, Article 370’s absence does not make a difference. Therefore what is clear is that we may lose the unionist voice from Kashmir.

One also needs to take note of the response from Jammu and Ladakh. Many, including the BJP leadership, are apprehensive about the fallout of this change. BJP leaders from Jammu and Ladakh seem to have now awaken to the need for protecting the interests of region. Some have suggested that the State could bring a law to protect agricultural land, while some are now urging for tribal status to Ladakh in order to protect its distinct culture. One fails to understand how the opposition to the protection offered by Article 35A goes hand in hand with such demands.

Article 370 and the Presidential Order of 1954, which provided for Article 35A, were negotiated, debated and discussed. These were remarkable features of the India’s federal character and represented the ideals of self-determination and democracy. These provisions signified anything but a ‘historical wrong’.

(The author has a Masters in Law and is currently working as a Legal Research Fellow in New Delhi )

1. A History of Article 370
2. This Parliament is being used to demolish democracy brick by brick

Black clouds over Saranda: Centre set to open up 43000 ha of Jharkhand’s forests for mining

September 16, 2019

State government is amending the Management Plan for Sustainable Mining to suit its agenda pushing the forests into a dangerous and irreversible cycle of exploitation’: the current BJP government in the state is all set to dilute many of these environment friendly provisions and make matters worse for one of the densest forests in India, a home to elephants and forest dwelling peoples

It is a policy move and development that has sent tremours down environmental human rights activists. The conservation/ no-mining zone in Saranda and Chaibasa in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand may be opened for iron ore mining. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has decided to form a committee to explore the prospect of opening up these zones.

The Saranda forests in the hilly regions of West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand are dense forests that stretch over an area of 82,000 ha. These forests were one of the most pristine in India, and are the largest Sal forests in the country. They support a large variety of floral and faunal biodiversity, and are an important elephant corridor. An expert panel appointed by the Government of India in 2011, identified 480 new species of fauna and flora in the region. The core area of these forests are also ancestral home to about 56 villages which are mostly composed of the Ho and MundaAdivasi communities. The 36,000 strong tribal communities have lived sustainably within the forests for centuries and have played a key role in the maintenance and protection of the forests.

The Management Plan for Sustainable Mining (MSPM) which came into existence in June, 2018 may be amended for the purpose of opening up the no-mining zones. Earlier, there have already been a flurry of modifications made to the MPSM like merging Zone I and II mining areas, removal of the clause for Impact Assessment and scrapping of the role of the forest department in creating the mining plan. These modifications also opened up mineral blocks in the no-mining areas of Ankua and Chidia. In the MPSM, the allowing of the 13 mines in this area was dependent on the government. However, MoEF has deleted this clause to bring these under the provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR).

Reportedly, the Jharkhand Chief Secretary, DK Tiwari wrote to the MOEF&CC in March 2019 and had sought a reassessment study to open up the conservation zone for mining.

Tiwari wrote to CK Mishra saying, “The conservation zone is a repository to huge iron ore resources and so the stipulation in the MSPM report for complete ban on mining in conservation zone should be revisited”.

“The reassessment study requested by the state may be carried out by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education with representation from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, and Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad in the study team,” the MOEF&CC wrote to Tiwari.

Per Down to Earth, the Jharkhand Chief Minister, Raghubar Das also wrote to the ministry seeking permission for Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL). He had argued that MSPM has affected SAIL financially as it had made huge investments to mine that area. Based on this, “the CM has asked the ministry to dilute the MSPM,” a state official told Down to Earth on condition of anonymity.

The MPSM was finalised in June 2018, soon after, the state government wrote to the MoEF&CC requesting to amend the plan on August 14.
As per the MSPM, the Saranda forest was divided into three zones- mining zone I (approximately 10,670 hectares), mining zone II (approximately 2,161 ha) and conservation zone/no-mining zone (approximately 43,000 ha). The no-mining area has mining proposals from SAIL, JSW Group, Vedanta Ltd and others.

A committee comprising MoEF&CC, Union Ministry of Mines, Union Ministry of Steel, Union Ministry of Coal and the Jharkhand government was created by MoEF&CC to look into modifications/ amendments to the MSPM. On February 4, the committee met and amended some provisions of the MSPM. It did away with the clause that mining zone II can only be accessed after the ores in mining zone I were exhausted. A detailed study was proposed by the state government. The purpose of the study was to undertake the reassessment of the biodiversity richness and ecosystem services rendered by the conservation area so as to extract iron ore to meet the future steel demands.

“Concern for SAIL is just a front, the state government wants to open up the no-go mining area because a major chunk of the good quality iron ore is just lying there,” the official said.

In 2014, the MoEF had stopped giving fresh mining clearances in the area after the Shah Commission report found major violation of the MMDR by the mining companies in the area. The MoEF had mandated that fresh lease would only be given after the MPSM had been created.

The Justice M. B. Shah Commission submitted its ‘First Report on illegal mining of iron and manganese ores (four volumes) in the State of Jharkhand’ October 14, 2013. In its first report on illegal mining in Jharkhand, the Commission said that despite a delay in renewal of the mining licence by the Jharkhand Government, miners continued to exploit the area leased to them without fresh green approvals. The Commission hadfoundand highlighted illegal production in 26 iron and manganese ore leases. These leases include iron ore mines of, among others, Tata Steel, Steel Authority of India Ltd, Rungta Mines, Usha Martin, Rameshwar Jute Mills, and Singhbhum Minerals Co.

As a response, the MoEF&CC awarded the carrying capacitystudy in Saranda Forest Division to Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun to suggest annual capacity for iron ore production. The ICFRE submitted its report on March 28, 2016, which was again examined by a committee constituted by the MoEFF&CC on April 4, 2016.Based on the committee’s recommendations the ICFRE report was accepted by the competent authority in the MoEF& CC. The ICFRE study was conducted to comply with the recommendations of Shah Commission of Enquiry.

Some of the observations included, “It was commented that IBM has approved mining schemes to increase production during the mining plan period without application of mind to the ingredient”

Further that, “For modification of mining plan, conditions mentioned in the Rules are required to be satisfied which was totally ignored and created multi fold environmental hazards to the Saranda Forest. The conditions have become more aggravated, since the mines are located in clusters and transport through common roads used by them. The roads cannot sustain this load and remain always in dilapidated conditions beyond repair, as observed by the Commission during its visit.”

In view of many such grave violations, the MPSM came up with an underlying principle “to divert minimum forest area for mining and producing maximum output depending upon the approved mining plan and Environment clearance (EC) under EP Act 1986”

The plan gave detailed outlines of forest area, conditions for sustainable mining etc.

However, the current BJP government in the state is all set to dilute many of these environment friendly provisions and make matters worse for one of the densest forests in India, a home to elephants and forest dwelling peoples.

Yusuf Tarigami – Kashmir’s Communist

September 16, 2019

The four-time MLA from Kulgam and his party, CPI(M), have worked hard to build their own support base in villages of a district that has been in the grip of separatists.

Image Courtesy: Tarigami Facebook

On Monday, Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami, 72, who was In Delhi for medical treatment after a court order, has been allowed by the Supreme Court to return home to Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). He was brought to Delhi from Srinagar, where he had been under house arrest.

Tarigami is a four-time Member of the Legislative Assembly, which had been dissolved by the Narendra Modi government last year. He is a central committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M). The CPI(M)’s general secretary, Sitaram Yechury, had twice tried to go to Srinagar, and then – armed with a Supreme Court order – was able to enter the city, see Tarigami, return to Delhi with the news that he was very unwell, and then – thanks once more to the top court – arranged his transfer to AIIMS, Delhi. Tarigami, the brave communist, who was shifted to J&K House in the capital, remains gagged by the government of India.

Communists are loath to talk about themselves. They see themselves as part of the tidal wave of history, just another person in a monumental struggle to make the world a better place. Tarigami, like other communists, is like that. He prefers to talk about the issues at stake and not about himself. Those who have met him or seen him talk on television, rightly assume that he is in his 50s. There is a youthfulness about him, not just about his personality but also about his physique. He is energetic, his hands flying in all directions, but his concern for the working-class, the peasantry, and – in broader terms – the Kashmiri people, remains steady.

Since 2014, Tarigami’s general demeanour has been less optimistic as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have taken an already belligerent Indian government position regarding Kashmir and made it toxic and dangerous. The framework of ‘national security’ has not made any positive impact on the people of Kashmir, who have been steadily alienated from New Delhi. Tarigami’s sober warnings should have been taken seriously. Now, the state’s future seems even more bleak.

Sabrangindia’s co-editor Teesta Setalvad had interviewed him in July 2016. The interview may be heard here.
Then again in 2018, as the BJP pulled out of the state government, we again spoke to this fiery communist from the Valley. That interview may be heard here.

From Tarigam

Tarigami was born in 1947 – which makes him not a man in his 50s but in his 70s. His family name, like that of other similar peasant families, comes from his village – Tarigam. This village is along the old road that links Shopian to Anantnag, an arc below Srinagar that lies near National Highway 44 to Jammu. The village is in Kulgam district, where Tarigami had four times won a seat to the J&K Assembly (1996, 2002, 2008, and 2014). It is a remarkable feat, since this district – and large parts of southern Kashmir – is in the grip of the Jamaat-e-Islami and other separatist organisations.

A walk around Kulgam’s villages, such as Arwani, Bichroo, and even Tarigam, shows the depth of support for the Jamaat and its former leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. But, Tarigami and the CPI(M) have worked hard to build up their own support in the villages of this district. He was able to win the seat first in 1996 because of his reputation as an honest and decent man, but also because the Jamaat and other separatists had decided – since 1989 – to boycott elections.

Over these decades, Tarigami has insisted on putting development ahead of any other issue, making sure that schools, hospitals, and roads reshaped the character of his district. It is on this platform of development that Tarigami emerged as a singular leader in the state. And it helped that there is not one whiff of corruption about him.

A Communist in Kashmir

Politics did not come easily to Tarigami. His family was not political, even as Kashmir was swept into the centre of world politics within months of his birth. The shortened timeline for India’s partition by the British imperialists left the question of Maharaja Hari Singh’s Kashmir unsettled. It was Singh’s fear of the intrusion of irregular troops from the newly formed Pakistan that forced him to sign an Instrument of Accession to India. This entire episode remains deeply controversial, and one of the reasons for the tension between India and Pakistan.

Tarigami’s uncle – for some reason – would take his little nephew to listen to Abdul Karim Wani, an important communist leader in Kashmir. Wani’s lectures had an impact on Tarigami, who then moved slowly not only into politics, but more firmly into the world of Indian communism.

It is important to pause and consider that the early Kashmiri nationalism of the 1940s had intimate ties to communism. Founded in 1932 by Sheikh Abdullah, the All-Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference was renamed seven years later as the All-Jammu and Kashmir National Conference. This drift into secularism was derived from Sheikh Abdullah’s close association with communists such as B. P. L. [Baba] Bedi and Freda Bedi (the parents of the film star Kabir Bedi), Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Alys Faiz, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad and G. M. Sadiq, Ghulam Mohiuddin Qarra and Mahmooda Ali Shah (later an immensely popular principal at Government College for Women on MA Road in Srinagar). The communists had a powerful presence in Kashmir, not only amongst intellectuals but also amongst the peasantry, who desired above all else, land reform.

In 1944, the National Conference adopted the Naya Kashmir programme, which was essentially written by Baba Bedi. It called for the abolition of landlordism, extensive land reform, and ownership of the key industries by the Democratic State of Jammu and Kashmir. The NC took this message to the people, who wanted to throw off the wretched conditions of exploitation for something better. The communist influence on Sheikh Abdullah and the National Conference led to the creation of a militia in 1947 that both effectively overthrow the Maharaja and blocked the lashkar columns from taking Srinagar.

People like Wani emerged out of this world, and he would bring this cosmopolitan anti-feudal and socialist outlook to a very young Tarigami in Kulgam.

Tarigami’s political work began in Kulgam, when he and his friends took up the cause of farmers against the forcible procurement of rice. This was in 1967, when the Chief Minister was G. M. Sadiq – a former communist who broke with the party and drifted into an association with the Congress party through his Democratic National Conference, formed in 1958.

Fifty years ago, for his fight with the agricultural workers and peasants, Tarigami was taken to prison. Over the decades, Tarigami would frequently be arrested by the government and thrown into places such as the Sub-Jail Reasi (not far from Vaishno Devi) and the very dangerous torture centres of Red-16 and Papa II.

Tarigami was in prison when his wife died tragically in 1975; the government released him on parole for a month but rearrested him – cruelly – after three days. None of this broke his spirit. He continued to fight for the vision that he had learned from Wani – helping build the confidence of Kashmiri peasants and workers, fighting for miners and midday meal workers, addressing the basic, everyday issues of the people to unite them against the forces of division. It is the most powerful legacy of people like Baba Bedi and Abdul Karim Wani, and now Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami.

Tearing Apart Kashmir

Kashmir sits in the eye of the vortex, dragged in many directions, pulled by external forces and by internal forces, unable to find its equilibrium. Wars have been fought between India and Pakistan putatively over Kashmir in 1948, 1965, 1971, and 1999 – with endless border skirmishes and interventions by irregular forces.

Since 1989, Kashmir has faced an internal insurgency that has been the excuse for the Indian State to send in tens of thousands of troops; Kashmir now appears to be the most militarised place on the planet. Rather than bring the people of Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir together, the governments have put in place a dynamic that rips them apart. Political grievances are met with armed force. Dialogue has been set aside.

The Modi government has now literally torn apart the state, breaking it into Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir. The communists – like Tarigami – opposed all this. Tarigami called for dialogue between India and Pakistan, and a process of reconciliation inside J&K. The dialogue across the border is essential, he has said on many occasions, and it has been recognised across the spectrum – expect perhaps by the RSS and Modi’s section of the BJP. There can be no real political settlement for Kashmir if there is a refusal to hold talks across the Line of Control.

The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council could very well have provided an example to the rest of the state. It should have been a mechanism to devolve power to the people, and then use these locally rooted authorities to start a serious discussion between the relatively isolated sections of Ladakh, Jammu, and Kashmir. On the table for such a discussion would be the return not only of Kashmiri Pandits to the region, but also the young men who joined the insurgency and now live in limbo in Pakistan. Both should be given a pathway to return. All this has been raised by Tarigami in the Legislature. None of it has been taken seriously.

Several times Tarigami has said that despite terrible violence, and despite the presence of tens of thousands of Indian troops, dialogue between the Kashmiris and New Delhi provided the impetus for a majority of the population coming out to vote in 2008 and 2014. There is, he said, ‘accumulated anger’ against Delhi, but if there is any attempt to renew dialogue, the Kashmiri people have responded sincerely.

Since 2014, with the BJP in power in the Centre, seriousness of purpose towards dialogue by Modi and his government has not been in evidence. Kashmir’s desire for a new beginning has been met with more troops, more pellet guns, more young men being tortured. ‘The average Kashmiri’, Tarigami says, ‘feels threatened’. No wonder that only 7.14% of the voting population turned out for the Srinagar by-election in 2017. There is no confidence in the process, none in New Delhi.

Harsh repression is not new to the Valley. Tarigami has experienced it his entire political life. In 1967, he went to prison. He went there again in 1975. And then, in 1979, he was the first person to be booked under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act of 1978. Legal protection for harsh violence traverses the security apparatus. The Public Safety Act is one such protection, while another is the Armed Forces Special Protection Act (AFSPA), which has been regularly condemned by the J&K Assembly. These laws are an invitation to human rights violations. They provide not only a shield for the violations once done, but also provide an incentive to torture. They create a view of the Kashmiri as a terrorist, creating the groundwork for the harsh crackdown and now for the endless curfew of the entire state.

People like Tarigami have insisted that there are not only two sides to this dispute, the side of the Indian State and the side of the secessionist insurgent. The State disregards him, preferring to see its adversary in Kashmir as the insurgent – whom it redefines as the terrorist. Tarigami appears out-of-focus to the State, which does not want to respond to the rational criticisms and proposals of the communists.

The insurgents – particularly the Jamaat section – are threatened by the communists, whom they know to be brave defenders of the Kashmiri people. To delegitimise them, the Jamaat says that communists like Tarigami are against religion, particularly against Islam. Several times Tarigami and Mohammed Khalil Naik – another communist leader – have been physically attacked. It is often not clear if the attack has come from para-military state forces or from the insurgents.

Either way, the communists – such as Tarigami – are seen as a threat by both. In 2004, as Naik campaigned in Wachi, he was attacked several times by grenade and gunfire. The next year, militants entered the heavily guarded Tulsibagh colony in Srinagar and attacked the homes of Tarigami and the Minister for Education Ghulam Nabi Lone. Lone was killed. Tarigami’s guards fought off the attackers, although one of his guards was killed. The day before this attack, the CPI (M)’s Ghulam Nabi Ganaie was assassinated in Anantnag. Last year, guns and grenades were fired at Tarigami’s home in Kulgam.

Suffocation

If matters were bad before 2014, since then they have been beyond terrible. Dialogue between India and Pakistan has broken down. The alliance between the BJP-RSS and the People’s Democratic Party alienated a population already alienated enough; faith in the political class went to zero. Meanwhile, as Tarigami frequently said, the anti-Muslim and anti-Dalit attacks across India and the disregard for the Sachar and Mishra Committees suggested to Kashmiris the fanatical face of the Modi government.

A few days before Kashmir was shrouded in the Modi curfew, Tarigami spoke to Frontline’s Anando Bhakto. The RSS, he said, ‘wants to change the demographics of the state’. A new cohort of Indian troops had arrived in the Valley, while the Indian government asked students from outside the state to leave in a hurry. ‘It appears as though somebody is at war with the people here’, Tarigami said. He knew that the repeal of Articles 370 and 35A was in the offing, and that the RSS-BJP government was eager to bifurcate the state and change its entire character. All this, he said, would increase insecurity and conflict.

In the days before the closure of Kashmir, Tarigami met with Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Ghulam Hassan Mir, Hakeem Yaseen, and others. All these political leaders agreed that the troop build-up presaged something nasty from the BJP. They were right. They are now all under house arrest and gagged.

The last few lines in Tarigami’s interview to Bhakto are worth quoting, because these are his last known public utterances: ‘Don’t forget that this [Modi] regime is more authoritarian and stands for more centralisation of power. Once they succeed in Kashmir, the impact will be felt in the rest of the country as well in the near future. That is my concern’.

Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute. He is the chief editor of LeftWord Books and the director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. The views are personal

Courtesy: News Click

Release our Leaders, Bhim Army launches attack against “fascist actions of BJP government”

September 16, 2019

Several key leaders and activists including Chief Chandrashekhar Azad remain incarcerated

Dalit- Ambedkarite outfit Bhim Army has called for a Press Conference condemning the “fascist actions of the BJP Government” against the activists who participated in protests opposing the demolition of the Ravidas temple in Delhi and have targeted subsequently.

It said, “Despite our repeated attempts, the 96 people unlawfully arrested on August 21 continue to be prosecuted. We demand the immediate release of these innocent people who are hounded and targeted relentlessly for the simple fact that they dared to stand up for the rights of the marginalised. We also demand that the temple be reconstructed at the exact same place.”

On August 22, the police resorted to lathi charge to disperse the protesters who had gathered to protest the demolition of the Ravidas temple, a revered place for Dalits. The protesters carried on a march from Ambedkar Bhawan in Jhandewalan to Ramlila Maidan in central Delhi. On the same day, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad and more than 90 protesters were detained.

The temple was demolished in earlier in August by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) which comes directly under the authority of the Central government. It was ordered to be demolished on the plea of encroaching forest land, even though the temple was nearly five centuries old. This 15th century temple located in a forested area was dedicated to Sant Guru Ravidas, a spiritual saint and a poet highly revered by many people and especially Dalit communities in North India.

The legal case of the land was pending for 27 long years and the Supreme Court order tried to end the old dispute by declaring the land as belonging to DDA. This angered Dalit communities who, along with the larger Ravidassia community in North India, have been on protests ever since the temple was demolished. Dalits followers of Sant Guru Ravidas who claim ownership of the land where the temple stood were asked to rebuild the temple on another plot.

Calling the approach of the government “anti-Dalit” and “anti-minority” Bhim Army also said that the government’s attitude is clearly visible in the events that took place in Saharanpur recently. Reportedly, as per the press note, a Babasaheb Ambedkar statue was vandalised by “anti-social elements”. The group alleged, “When Bhim Army activists protested against the same, 750 of them were booked under false charges, which includes the Bhim Army National General Secretary, Kamal Singh Walia. Chandrashekhar’s family members, who were not even present in the protest have also been charged. The fact that the present ruling party encourages and sponsors anti-social elements, and prosecutes the just is not a surprising one.”

The incident had triggered anger among the residents of the village, mostly from the Dalit community. The villagers, led by members of Bhim Army, staged a protest against the demolition on the same day. The protesters had also blocked the Behat-Saharanpur road and chanted slogans against the government. The angry protesters demanded that the people responsible for vandalising the statue be arrested immediately and also called for the installation of a new statue of Ambedkar.

Earlier, Bhim Army also declared that it will start a “Jail Bharo Andolan” on September 17 from Saharanpur and later they will take it across the country. As per the group, there are three reasons behind this andolan: Vandalism of BR Ambedkar’s statue, demolition of the Ravidas temple in Tughlakabad, Delhi and imprisonment of our 96 leaders including Chandrashekhar Azad. Three top leaders of the group, Chandrashekhar Azad, National President Vinay Ratna and Vice President Manjeet Singh Nautiyal still remain incarcerated.

Historic Chikhalda, temples, mosques submerged, activists ‘rescue’ Gandhi idol

September 16, 2019

The first farmer of Asia was born in Chikhalda, if one is to believe archaeological researchers. A historic village, 50 percent of its population is of Hindus and 50 percent of Muslims, yet it has always remained peaceful. Chikhalda has struggled to save water, land and people along Narmada river.

Here, farmers would cultivate wheat, cotton and corn on a very fertile land. It had an agricultural produce cooperative society, which ran its own warehouse. This is the place which would give away lakhs of rupeees as insurance premium.

Teak trees, banana cultivation, papaya orchards etc. abounded here. Fisherfolk lived along the bank of Narmada river, doing their fisheries business. On the other end, there were kutcha houses of 100 Dalit families.

There were 36 religious places in Chikhalda, some of them of 10th or 12th century – Neelkantheshwar, Narasimha, Shri Ram temples, to name a few. There were Masjid-e-Pir Dargah and Jamat Khana, also a Jain temple, belonging to the family of the beloved young sarpanch of the village, late Nirmal Kumar Patodi.

There were many government buildings, primary and secondary schools in the village… Children used to get education. Government doctors would compete with their private counterparts to provide best of treatment. Tens of shopkeepers would serve passengers on arrival of buses at the Chikhalda Chowk. The village is known to be supplying milk to nearby villages. Sweets produced here were equally famous.

On the banks of Narmada was situated a temple built by the family of Sakubhai Darbar. The family made its name in banana business. Many poor Bhil Adivasis and Dalits would earn a living working on the fields of cultivators like him.

Khaparkhera is just two kilometres away from Chikhalda. Devrambhai Kanaira, a popular activist of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), would live here. Every NBA activist or supporter would visit him, and none would be allowed to go without having meal. Even archaeologist SB Ora camped here. He was involved in excavation, digging out thousands of years old bird barns, utensils, other paraphernalia. This was widely covered in newspapers.

A spot which is known for hiding treasures of rich human history, Narmada became a point of attraction for well-known historian Romila Thapar, too. She said it needed excavation for 100 long years. There was a time when Narmada would be an attraction of institutions like Archaeological Survey of India, Anthropological Survey of India and Geological Survey of India. But now it attracts only ignorant ministers of Gujarat and the Centre, and their propaganda machinery.

Today Chikhalda is no more, neither farming, nor home. Submerged, only Gandhiji remained seated here. Led by Mohanbhai, the statue was recovered by us from the submerged village by activists with great difficulty.

It was donated by the Ranka Charitable Trust of Rajasthan and was installed in 2018 in the presence of charismatic activists like Sawai Singh of Rajasthan, Vimalbhai of Uttarakhand and Namdev of Gandhi Bhavan in Bhopal. Thousands of people were present at the time of installation of the beautiful statue.

The pillar on which the statue stood was constructed in 1996, when Baba Amte had come here. It is under water. I still remember the blessings of the Baba, which would give me and the struggle all the necessary strength and inspiration. The affectionate short but lovely poems of Tai wouldn’t be heard any more.

This was the spot where a major struggles took place. During one such struggle, the police ran after the agitators. Even Nana Patekar and Maneka Gandhi had come here.

In 2017 all the villagers gathered here during our satyagraha, when we sat on a 17-day fast, followed by 15 days in jail. Not just police force, Chikhalda’s trees and farms were also witness to our non-violent struggle.

Today, Chikhalda stands ravished. Yesterday, when we were recovering Gandhiji’s statue, we saw a Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan board hanging a little way, as also a school building, shops and a temple – all under water. Till date, the idols from the Narasimha Temple and the Neelkantheshwara Temple have not been removed. The Supreme Court order granting Narasimha Temple to the Compensation Committee has been violated.

We could hear the blast of a signle-storey building, as one of its walls collapsed. We could see hungry 40-50 dogs and 10-20 pigs roaming around on rooftops. Chikhalda’s decades old trees were under water. What will happen tomorrow, nobody knows, especially in this era of climate change. Chikhalda is inundated, and so are its agricultural plots, its beautiful houses. The poor have lost their only dwellings for ever.

However, we succeeded in rescuing the statue of Gandhiji, the perpetual satyagrahi…

—
Free translation from Hindi of the article by tje Narmada Bachao Andolan leader

Courtesy: Counter View

The luxury of lazy thinking: Why Barkha Dutt is off the mark on Kashmir reporting

September 16, 2019

In a recent Washington Post article, well-known Indian journalist Barkha Dutt railed against what she called the “living hell vs. happy place” narrative that seems to dominate recent news reporting on Kashmir. She informs the reader that she has been relaying news from Kashmir for 25 years, so knows a thing or two about issues in Kashmir. Fair enough – we cannot take her Kashmir experience away from her – and good for her too to having engaged with Kashmir for such a long time!

When I read her appeal for a need to attend to context and historicity while framing the current crisis in Kashmir, I was for a moment pleased and looked forward to an informed writeup that would bring in hitherto unexamined facets from Kashmir’s history and provide a comprehensive context to the current goings-on. However, I was met with only disappointment on this count. For, Barkha does not reach back into some decades-old (or even centuries old) history of Kashmir to situate the current state of affairs, but only as far back as 2016, during and after the death of Burhan Wani. Barkha informs us that even following that event, , there was a telecommunications blackout in the valley – for nearly a 100 days, according to her.

Strangely enough, what seems to irk Barkha in the inaccurate reporting she takes issue with, is the fact that each report by foreign journalists (and a few left-leaning Indian journalists, she slips in) on the current affairs characterizes the Kashmir situation as “unprecedented.” That fills Barkha with horror – for she claims she knows that the current state in Kashmir is not unprecedented and therefore not something that a) we, the audience should not be taken in by and be appaled; rather we should see them as something that has precedent (and so assuage our outrage), or 2) merits a doomsday like, alarmist coverage.

The context that she puts forward that would make for a more accurate reporting is not entirely an unfamiliar one – but a little unexpected from a so-called leading journalist, who also has long experience in Kashmir to boot. She adduces the specter of terrorists, who, she claims, view Kashmir as a religious issue and who also recruit children into their ranks and encourage them to pelt stones at the the Indian army and police. Then there is the Pakistani-sponsored cross-border terrorism that she adds to the context she finds missing.

The obvious problem here is the easy acceptance of categories like terrorist, separatist, militancy etc. Barkha conveniently plays into the nationalist narrative, which is a little surprising again given that she is often taunted by the nationalists.

To provide proper context, as Barkha urges, one would need a much deeper engagement with Kashmir’s history of conflict, political manipulation, oppression, human rights abuses and resistance – and not just from the time of Burhan Wani. And that is what, Barkha ironically, fails to do.

Israel, and many Israeli citizens think of all Palestinians as terrorists and suicide bombers. Even though many Palestinians have distanced themselves from outfits like Hamas and Hezbollah, yet they are all in for collective punishment. For many Indians, Bhagat Singh, Khudiram Bose, Madan Lal Dhingra et al were freedom fighters but for the British they were terrorists. Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 27 years for conspiring to overthrow the state. Which is not to condone acts of terror and those considered inimical by states, but all activities, including those marked as “terror” have contexts. Besides, while the involvement of youth and children is to be righly protested, children as protestors form a significant part of the Palestinian resistance – and the Israeli specifically target children, incarcerating them in droves. And if one has to dig a little deeper, children were recruited into resistance groups in the fight against the Nazis during World War II by many of the Allies. Nothing makes it right, but it certainly is good to have context and historicity.

Barka seems to trust the official line from a government official in Kashmir who basically tells her that the current complete lockdown has been implemented incorporating lessons from the 2016 incidents following Burhan Wani’s death, and that they “…decided to protect lives, [even if] some liberties may have to be compromised.” Significanly, missing in her piece are Kashmiri voices of the people – and what they think about all the context and historicity she notes.

Significantly, it is not just Barkha who comments on the divergence in the two narratives between that of the local press and that of the foreign press. Krishna Prasad, former Editor-in-Chief, ‘Outlook’ magazine, writing in The Hindu, also comments on the same issue, but he is more concerned with the capitulation of the Indian media to state narrative: “In the ‘Brave New World’ of Kashmir, the Indian state has worked out the Huxleyan circuitry of how to make the media relay a unitary message without explicitly making it appear so. Therefore, a scarcity of dissent in spite of a plethora of evidence.”

More than context and historicity, what Barkha herself misses is an understanding and all-round analysis of the current situation – how the constitutional agreements (e.g. Article 370) was abrogated in secrecy without taking the people of Kashmir into confidence, how immediately after the abrogation the state imposed its totalitarian clampdown without bothering to provide any proper explanation to the people. If, as Barkha (believingly) quotes the state official, the action was done to save lives, and in effect for the “good of the people,” do they not deserve to be told this and have their doubts quelled? None of such steps were taken. The Kashmiris have been treated as “hostiles,” to use an Americanism and unworthy of being consulted with. At least there was a overt reason for the clampdown in 2016 – the visible unrest that was claiming lives. But what was the rationale in 2019 – even though none was publicly provided? Maybe nothing with Kashmir is unprecedented: they’ve probably seen it all. Yet, each event wherein the basic rights of Kashmiris are trampled upon without as much as a by your leave has to be reported taking into account all dimensions: of injustice, of hardship and suffering, of anger, of humiliation, of confusion – and certainly with as much context and historicity as possible. This would make for better reporting.

Ananda Maitreya is a Delhi-based writer and a student of social movements. He has been involved in various struggles of the marginalized people, including Dalit and Adivasi movements and the Palestinian struggle.

Courtesy: Counter Current

‘Delhi Police India’s Best On Numbers, Infrastructure & Money Use, UP Police Worst’

September 16, 2019

New Delhi: The Delhi police are India’s best in terms of staffing, infrastructure and use of budget, followed by Kerala and Maharashtra, a new study has revealed. Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Bihar are the worst and most overworked among the 22 states analysed.

These findings are based on a Police Adequacy Index, derived from national data, part of the ‘Status of Policing in India Report 2019’, released on August 27, 2019 by Common Cause and Lokniti–Centre for the Study Developing Societies, a nonprofit and a think tank, respectively, based in New Delhi.

The study of 11,000 personnel in 22 states used available government data to analyse and rank the performance of state police on parameters of staffing, infrastructure and budget. Researchers also interviewed 11,834 police personnel across 105 locations in 21 states between February and April 2019. The survey covered the personnel’s opinions over adequacy of police infrastructure, their duties and their perception over several types of crimes and different sections of the society. You can IndiaSpend’s full coverage of the study, here and here.

The index

To derive indices, researchers used data from the Bureau of Police Research and Development and the National Crime Records Bureau for the following parameters:

Strength:
1. Police strength as a percentage of sanctioned strength (2012-16 average)
Infrastructure
1. Police stations having vehicles (2012-16 average)
2. Police stations having telephones and wireless (2012-2016 average)
3. Computers per police station (2012-2016 average)
Budget
1. Police expenditure as a percentage of budget (2014-16 average)

These indicators are then used to derive index scores on each of the three heads: An index score of zero indicates the worst performing state and a score of one indicates the best performing state.

Overall, as of 2016, Indian police forces were working at 77.4% of their sanctioned capacity, the study said, leading to personnel being overworked.

The study also pointed out the lack of diversity in the India police. About 86% states (19 of 22) did not fulfil their Scheduled Castes (SC) quota, 73% (16 of 22) did not fulfill their Scheduled Tribes (ST) quotas while 59% (13 of 22) failed to fulfil their Other Backward Classes (OBC) quotas, it said.

None of the states achieved the mandated 33% representation of women in the police force. Further, while 14.3% of all police personnel were officers in 2016–up from 11.6% in 2007, the proportion of officers among policewomen has declined from 11.4% in 2007 to 10.2% in 2016.

While 41% personnel think women lack the “physical strength and aggressive behaviour” required for the job, 32% think “women police are incapable of handling high intensity crimes and cases”, and 51% think that, due to “inflexible working hours, it is not alright for women to work in the police force as they cannot attend to homely duties”, as IndiaSpend reported on August 29, 2019.

Further, 267 police stations across India had no telephones and 129 had no wireless communication devices as of January 2017, as IndiaSpend reported on August 24, 2019, citing the latest available data from the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD).

There were eight vehicles for every 100 police personnel for responding to distress calls, patrolling and maintaining law and order in their jurisdictions.

Across the 22 states analysed in the study, police stations had, on average, six computers each. Delhi had the highest (16.5 computers per police station) and Bihar had the lowest (0.6).

The utilisation of police forces’ modernisation budget was less than half (48%) of the funding available, according to an IndiaSpend analysis (cited above) of government data.

Nagaland, Kerala had best staffing, Delhi best infrastructure, Tamil Nadu spent best

Delhi police performs well on both infrastructure (1.03) and strength (0.70) parameters.

Uttar Pradesh, the worst performer in the country, scored poorly on both the police strength (0.10) and the budget utilisation (0.05).
However, it scored well in Infrastructure indicators with an index value of 0.79. The overall index value of the state remained at 0.31, lower than the national overall index value of 0.42.

Nagaland had the best score on police strength (0.80), followed by Kerala (0.71) and Delhi (0.70). Delhi had the best infrastructure (1.03), followed by Haryana (0.94) and Kerala (0.89). Tamil Nadu scored the highest on budget utilisation (0.09), followed by Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Haryana (0.08).

Telangana (0.41), Andhra Pradesh (0.41), Jharkhand (0.41), West Bengal (0.40), Gujarat (0.40), Bihar (0.35) and Chhattisgarh (0.34) also scored below the national average on the Index.

In general, states performed better on infrastructure indicators than on budget utilisation, the study said. The inadequacy of police infrastructure can hardly be attributed to the inadequacy of budget, said the study, adding that most states by a margin underutilised their budget resources.

“Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, despite using comparatively marginal proportion of the allocated budget, boast of a better infrastructure than many other states. Yet, both States land in the absolute bottom of ranking,” the study said.

Uttarakhand is the exact contrary to these two States, the study pointed out. The state uses much lesser proportion of the allocated budget but boasts better infrastructure and better proportionate strength and hence a better overall ranking.

These inadequacies affect the working conditions of police personnel, with many of them being overworked, as the survey’s findings show:

Police personnel work for 14 hours a day on an average, with about 80% personnel working for more than 8 hours a day
Nearly half the personnel work overtime regularly, while 80% do not get paid for overtime work
One half the personnel do not get any weekly off days
About 75% believe that their workload is affecting their physical and mental health
A quarter reported that senior police personnel ask their juniors to do their household/personal jobs even though they are not meant to do it. Personnel from the SC, ST and OBC are more likely to report this than other caste groups
40% personnel report the use of bad language by senior officers
37% personnel are willing to give up their jobs for another profession, if the perks and salaries remain the same.

Political pressure biggest hindrance in investigations

About 28% police personnel believe that “pressure from politicians” is the “biggest hindrance” in crime investigations, found the survey.

When asked about the frequency of such pressure, one in three personnel reported facing such pressure “many times” in the course of a crime investigation. A similar percentage reported that unwilling witnesses were a hindrance “many times”.

The question posed was: “Considering the past 2-3 years of your work experience, how often have you encountered political pressure during investigation of a crime?” They were asked to choose one of these responses: many times, sometimes, rarely or never.

Further, 38% personnel reported always facing pressure from politicians in cases of crime involving influential persons, the study said.

Three out of five police personnel surveyed reported transfer as the most common consequence of not complying with external pressures, the study said.

(Tripathi is an IndiaSpend reporting fellow.)

Courtesy: India Spend

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Discrepancies in PAN details in Donor Details of National Parties: ADR

Unravelling the Discourse on Kashmir

Black clouds over Saranda: Centre set to open up 43000 ha of Jharkhand’s forests for mining

Yusuf Tarigami – Kashmir’s Communist

The four-time MLA from Kulgam and his party, CPI(M), have worked hard to build their own support base in villages of a district that has been in the grip of separatists.

From Tarigam

A Communist in Kashmir

Tearing Apart Kashmir

Suffocation

Release our Leaders, Bhim Army launches attack against “fascist actions of BJP government”

Historic Chikhalda, temples, mosques submerged, activists ‘rescue’ Gandhi idol

The first farmer of Asia was born in Chikhalda, if one is to believe archaeological researchers. A historic village, 50 percent of its population is of Hindus and 50 percent of Muslims, yet it has always remained peaceful. Chikhalda has struggled to save water, land and people along Narmada river.

The luxury of lazy thinking: Why Barkha Dutt is off the mark on Kashmir reporting

‘Delhi Police India’s Best On Numbers, Infrastructure & Money Use, UP Police Worst’

New Delhi: The Delhi police are India’s best in terms of staffing, infrastructure and use of budget, followed by Kerala and Maharashtra, a new study has revealed. Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Bihar are the worst and most overworked among the 22 states analysed.

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