Business Today reports that the Anti ‘urban-Naxals’ Bill was re-introduced in Maharashtra, CM stresses its ‘need’: Fadnavis said Chhatisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have enacted Public Security Acts for effective prevention of unlawful activities, and banned 48 frontal organisations

On July 11, the Maharashtra government tabled the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, 2024 on the penultimate day of just concluded session of the state assembly (Vidhan Sabha). The said bill, introduced by the state’s industries minister Uday Samant, was deemed to be brought in to stop the “proliferation of Urban Naxalism” in the state of Maharashtra. Introduced on the penultimate day of the Vidhan Sabha (State Assembly) Session, it is clearly aimed at granting anti-Constitutional powers to an already weaponised police force. As the Maharashtra state assembly got over on July 12, the said bill has not yet been passed.

It is to be noted that while the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill was being introduced avowedly to tackle “urban naxals”, the term has been in usage from the Indian ultra-right as politically stigmatising and defiling term used by proto-fascist forces to criminalise protest and dissent, jail writers, academicians, activists and opposition Leaders especially. The said weapon has been, even prior to the year 2014, has been weaponised against Adivasis and Dalits, who protest against the unjust anti-minority policies of the state.

As the bill became public, experts and lawyers referred to the same as draconian and a dangerous piece of legislation that is being brought in to further supress dissent and cause alarm amongst the citizenry. Notably, the justification being offered for bringing in the bill is that similar versions of the Public Security Act currently are currently in force in Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. However, the state of Maharashtra already has the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA, 1999) under which several abusive prosecutions have been launched. Now, as this suppressive bill looms like a sword over the people of Maharashtra, the insistence of introducing more such that curb the rights of freedom of expression, movement, association (Article 19) and right to life (Article 21) and equality before the law (Article 14) in other states is no justification for Maharashtra, a rather progressive state, for enacting such a law.

Another reasoning that is being offered to bring in the MSPS Bill is that it will provide more effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of individuals and organisations. However, with the newly enforced Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 bringing in offenses such as “terrorist activities” (Section 113), “organised crimes” (Section 111) and “petty organised crimes” (Section 112) into the criminal laws governing the country, a separate MSPS bill was not required at all. Through the BNS, provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and MCOCA have already been centralised, ensuring multiple tools in the land of a State and Police to use against its own citizens, raising questions over the necessity of bringing in the said bill.

Citizens for Justice and Peace, Mumbai, in consultation with experts and advocates, has dissected the said bill and its impact on the citizens.

Problematic Provisions of MSPS 2024

The draft MSPS Bill of 2024 has extremely vague, broad and therefore problematic definitions of “an unlawful activity” ((Section (2) (f) (i) to (vii)).  This loose definition is liable to malicious misuse. For instance, the interpretation of the ((Section (2) (f) (i)) phrase …” which constitutes a danger or menace to public order, peace and tranquillity” has been left open for interpretation, with potential for misuse. The usage of the word “menace” in the definition in itself problematic as the term “menace” is not defined anywhere in the law. It is crucial to highlight that the dictionary meaning of the word means, dangerous act of person, and leaves it open to the authorities to bring anything under the Act according to their discretion and penalise the ones being targeted. (They can say cooking on streets is a menace to public and arrest people).

This vagueness of definitions to make and include undefined “acts” as criminal acts is extremely problematic. In any law, any criminal act should be well defined and should not be left to be interpreted loosely by the police. Unfortunately, or rather consciously, this practice has been done away with in order to get away with accountability.

In addition to this, the definition of criminal act under Section 2(f) describes unlawful activity as:

As can be seen in the above provided definition, no concrete ambit is provided, and only vague words are used to define the nature of the acts that can be deemed as unlawful activities by the authorities. The law tends to give arbitrary powers to the police and it is an open secret that the political party in power is many times misusing police authority.

In lines with certain special legislations as well as state legislations, Section 5(1) (2) of the MSPS Bill provides for the setting up of the “Advisory Board” set up under the Act to adjudicate on the Actions of the State Government, police and Administration. Curiously, as per the said provision, the Advisory Board is required to be consisting of “three persons are, have been, or are qualified to be appointed as Judge of the High Court”, which means that existing retired or “non appointed officials or lawyers” also qualify to be a part of the Advisory Board. Since the Advisory Board is to be formed by the state government itself, one need not use their imagination to think of the ways in which the said provision can be used (or misused).

Section 9, through sub-section 1, provides draconian and arbitrary powers to the administration and the Police (DM or Police Commissioner) to take possession of or seize any notified area an evict persons from that premise (if women and children live there “reasonable time” is the only protection given to them!). Moreover, Section 10 (1) extends this arbitrary power to seize moveable properties, monies etc within this seized property making this one more power given to arbitrary use.

As per Section 12 of the draft MSPS Bill also denied those arrested any recourse of law at district level, and declares the High Court and Supreme Court as proper forums to file any petition to challenge action against this law. This militates against the four-tier system of Justice Redressal as laid down in the Indian Constitution. The reasoning behind the same remains to be clarified.

Under Sections 14 and 15 of the MSPS Bill, protection has been granted to every Police Officer and District Magistrate (bureaucrat) to be penalised or held accountable for any strictures are passed by the High Court or Supreme Court on misuse of prosecution, as the said two sections state that no actions can be initiated against them.

Dangers of New Bill (MSPS Act) in the face of existing BNS, 2023, UAPA, 1967 & PMLA, 2002

Various sections in the BNS, 2023 including Section 152, which reintroduces ‘Sedition’ under IPC 124-A and has been described by experts as ‘Sedition Plus’, Section 113, which criminalises terrorist acts, and Section 111, which brings in organised crimes, give arbitrary powers to the authorities to take action against those individuals who commit actions deemed to be against national integrity and national security.

CJP would specifically like to highlight Section 152 of the BNS, which states that  “acts that are endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India, purposefully or knowingly, by words, either spoken or written, or by science, or by visible representation, or by electronic communication or by use of financial means or otherwise, excites or attempts to excite cessation or armed rebellion or subversive activities, or encourages feeling of separatist activities, or endangers sovereignty or unity and integrity of India’ or indulges in or commits any such acts shall be punished with imprisonment for life or with imprisonment which may extend to 7 years, and shall also be liable to fine.” While being vague and broad by itself, the MSPS Bill also bears an uncanny resemblance to the said provision.

Additionally, Section 113 (1) of the BNS, 2023, which covers under its ambit anyone who does any act with the intent to threaten or likely to threaten the unity, integrity, sovereignty, security, or economic security of India or with the intent to strike terror or likely to strike terror in the people or any section of the people in India or in any foreign country, mirrors Section 15 of the UAPA. The only difference is that it deals with acts committed in a foreign country as well.

Similarly, Section 113 (2) that deals with committing of such a terrorist act that results in death or otherwise, mirrors Section 16 of the UAPA verbatim. Section 113 (3), which covers those who conspires or attempts to commit, or advocates, abets, advises or incites, directly or knowingly facilitates the commission of a terrorist act or any act preparatory to the commission of a terrorist act, mirrors Section 18 of the UAPA verbatim. Section 113 (4), which deals with those who organise or cause to be organised any camp or camps for imparting training in terrorist act mirrors Section 18A of the UAPA verbatim. Section 113 (5) states that any person who is a member of an organisation which is involved in terrorist act mirrors Section 20 of the UAPA verbatim.

Section 113 (6), which covers the offense of voluntarily harbours or concealing those such person that commits a terrorist, has been taken from Section 19 of the UAPA verbatim.

Section 113 (7), which criminalises the offense of knowingly possessing any property derived or obtained from commission of any terrorist act, has been taken from Section 21 of the UAPA, present in BNS with a wider ambit.

The whole section has been picked from UAPA almost verbatim, without the relevant safeguards being present in BNSS (sanction). The question that arises is on what was the need to inculcate these draconian and stringent laws into the criminal laws of India and now, in Maharashtra to table one more such.

In the overall background that the nation is in today with a government that has jailed critics through a rampant misuse of the PMLA Act 2002 and the UAPA, 1967 –and the political revengeful manner in which investigation arm like ED is acting, the newly table MSPS Bill, is addition of another draconian face to the laws in the state and in the country.

Persecution by Multiplicity of Statute Charges

Another dangerous implication that will accompany this attempt to enact one more draconian state law is its impact on the provision for undertrials seeking statutory bail under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. Section 479 of the BNSS contains very stringent bail provisions for statutory bail. The said section limits the conditions for granting statutory bail to under trials—is a section in the new law which corresponds to section 436 A of the Carps, provides for the procedure to be adopted in case the under trial is to be given statutory bail after spending a particular period under detention. In the older CrPC, if an under trial has spent half of the maximum period of imprisonment for an offence in detention, they must be released on a personal bond (not to be applied to offences which are punishable by death) BNSS, 2023 retains the said provision, and makes it further stringent.

However now, under Section 479, the provision of granting bail to under trial prisoners will now be limited to those under trials who are first-time offenders if they have completed one-third of the maximum sentence. Since charge sheets often mention multiple offences, this may make many under trials ineligible for mandatory bail. Furthermore, through the said provision, the prohibition of getting bail under the said section had also been expanded to those offences that are punishable with life imprisonment. Therefore, the following under trials are barred from applying for statutory bail under the said section if: offences punishable by life imprisonment, and persons who have pending proceedings in more than one offence.

Nothing but a move to muzzle protests?

Former Chief Minister and Congress MLA Prithviraj Chavan spoke to the media, calling the bill to be “nothing but a move to muzzle protests”. Media reports have quoted Chavan as saying. “The government wanted to present and pass this bill today itself. We opposed it and requested the Speaker not to push it through. We will oppose the bill vehemently.”

Furthermore, the Maharashtra State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has even called for the withdrawal of the bill, stating that it will have a deep impact on the democratic processes of governance. Therefore, the state of Maharashtra, like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, should set about the task of amending the more draconian provisions of the BNS, 2023 and repeal earlier passed laws that have been abused and misused, rather than introducing more authoritarian legislations.

The complete bill can be accessed here:

Related:

Supreme Court: “Authorities cannot randomly accuse people of being foreigners, initiate investigation without material basis”

New Criminal Laws: Future risks for democracy and rights in India

Amend Sec 187(3) BNSS in line with Sec 167(2) CrPC: PUCL to HM and Law Minister

Modi’s government bypasses SC & Law Commission, no nuanced, strong penal sections on Hate Speech: BNS, 2023

The post Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill tabled in assembly, using the myth of “urban naxals” to supress dissent? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The significance of this development was that the test was postponed on June 22nd, one day after the government notified the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 (The Act).

Exam paper leaks have been an issue for long and the government’s preparedness looked haphazard. The hearing about scrapping of NEET concluded with the Supreme Court refusing to cancel this years’ NEET-UG examination stating that there was little evidence to suggest that a systemic question paper leak occurred in a way that it could disrupt sanctity of the exam.

The CBI is investigating the NEET UG paper leak case and has arrested multiple people in relation to the case. It was reported  that more than 10 people have been arrested by the CBI during the process of investigation.

In this context, it becomes important to understand what the new act promises in the realm of protecting the fairness and integrity of public examinations.

State specific laws dominated the regime until now

There have been multiple state specific legislations related to examination malpractices. Other than that, the body conducting the examination would release guidelines or regulations over malpractices. For example, Andhra Pradesh passed an act over this issue more than 25 years ago. The Andhra Pradesh Public Examinations (Prevention of Malpractices and Unfair Means) Act, 1997 has a jail term starting at 6 months for neglect of duties to 7 years for other serious offences under the act. Recently, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Rajasthan have also passed laws penalising paper leaks and other related offences.

Centre’s public examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.

As the Ministry of Education and the autonomous agency under it-the National Testing Agency face criticism for cancelling the UGC-NET 2024 exam held in June 2024 due to intelligence inputs suggesting a compromise of exam’s integrity, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions notified The Act which received the President’s assent in February.

What does the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 say?

Unfair Means

The purpose of the act is to prevent unfair means in public examinations. The act defines ‘Public Examination Authority’ as an authority as specified by the central government by a notification, from time to time for conducting the public examination. ‘Public Examination’ is defined as any examination conducted by the Public Examination Authority as specified in the Schedule of the act, or an authority notified by the Central Government. In the Schedule, the following are the authorities stated in the Schedule of The Act:

1. Union Public Service Commission.
2. Staff Selection Commission.
3. Railway Recruitment Boards.
4. Institute of Banking Personnel Selection.
5. Ministries or Departments of the Central Government and their attached and subordinate offices for recruitment of staff.
6. National Testing Agency.
7. Such other authority as may be notified by the Central Government.

Unfair Means could include acts or omissions by individuals or groups or institutions in relation to leakage of question paper, taking possession of the Optical Mark Recognition Paper (s) without authorisation, directly or indirectly assisting the candidate taking examination, altering the assessment except to correct a bona fide error, violation of security measures, tampering with computer network, manipulation in seating arrangements, allocation of dates and shifts of candidates to facilitate adopting unfair means etc.

Section 5 of the act also prohibits the entry of a person with the intent to disrupt the conduct of public examination into the premises of the examination centre. It also prohibits the opening and distribution of question papers before the time fixed, by any person who is entrusted with the purpose of opening and distribution. Section 5(3) states that no person shall reveal more than what is authorised to, which would result in an undue advantage or wrongful gain.

Service providers

The act defines Service providers as “any agency, organisation, body, association of persons, business entity, company, partnership or single proprietorship firm, including its associates, subcontractors and provider of support of any computer resource or any material, by whatever name it may be called, which is engaged by the public examination authority for conduct of public examination.”

Essentially, the printers of question paper, the logistics providers for the papers etc are all covered under this definition. There are different and more severe penalties for Service Providers since there is a special duty entrusted to them.

Section 6 of the act states if any person, or group of persons or institutions commit any unfair means of a conspiracy for unfair means or disrupts the conduct of public examinations, the service provider is responsible to report such offence to police and the examination authority.

Offences and penalties

The offences under the act are all cognisable meaning that the police can arrest without a warrant, non-bailable-meaning that the bail is not a matter of right for the accused and non-compoundable-meaning that the accused cannot resolve the issue with a compromise.

Section 8 of the Act states that if a service provider or any person associated with it will be deemed to have committed an offence if he fails to report incidence of unfair means or commission of any offence.

Section 10 of the act states that resorting to unfair means would attract at least 3 years of imprisonment which could extend up to five years with fine up to Rs. 10 Lakh. The section also provides a special punishment for the service provider with a fine of Rs.1 Crore and the cost of examination if it resorts to unfair means, and to that extent makes the connivance of a director or a senior management personnel of the service provider liable to pay a fine of Rs. 1 Crore and an imprisonment between 3 and 10 years.

Investigation and special emphasis on organised crime

Organised Crime is defined in the act as an unlawful activity committed by a person or a group of persons indulging in unfair means in collusion and conspiracy to pursue or promote a shared interest for wrongful gain in respect of Public Examination. Section 11 states that if a person or group of persons, including the examination authority or service provider or any institution commits an organised crime, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than 5 years but may extend to 10 years of imprisonment; and a fine of not less than Rs. 1 Crore.

Miscellaneous

Section 16 gives powers to central government to notify rules to carry out provisions of the act; Section 17 mandates that rules be laid out in front of the Parliament for a total of period of thirty days. Section 13 deems the members, officers and employees of the Public Examination Authority to be public servants and Section 17 protects the action taken by them in good faith.

Will the public examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 make a difference?

This is one such kind of a law where you cannot go wrong with the legislative provisions but all of it could go wrong with the implementation of the act. Therefore, the answer to the question whether the act will make a difference or not lies in knowing whether the act is implementable by the established systems in the country or not.

The rules under Section 16 were notified on 23^rd June 2024 by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions-a ministry with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm since 2014. The institution that has been at the centre of the recent paper leak scandal- the National Testing Agency-NTA is under the Ministry of Education. The bodies covered by the rules are under various ministries such as Railway, Finance and Educations. Therefore, these bodies will have to adopt a streamlines standard procedure as laid down in the rules for effective implementation and cross ministry coordination. As far as act making a difference is concerned, we will soon know based on how the investigating agencies pursue the NEET paper leaks.

(The author is part of the CJP’s legal research team)

Related:

Abolish ‘discriminatory and imbalanced’ NEET exam: Justice A.K. Rajan Committee 2021

SC asks NTA to ensure that even ‘0.001% negligence’ is investigated, while states of Bihar & Gujarat remain the epicentre of the NEET UG…

NEET 2024 Row: Supreme Court cancels grace marks, orders re-test for affected students

The post What is the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In her complaint, Hashmi has written “There are several levels of these interactions with the police and crime branch from cajoling to become inactive and not campaign for Congress candidate. I was told that level of threats and likely consequences, if they don’t agree, depend upon the status of the person whom they have called. Some have been threatened with dire consequences of cases being filed against them or reopening of old cases of petty crime and turning them into big ones.”

It is essential to note that Hashmi has also specifically provided details of the meetings that took place between police and crime branch officers and present and former BJP MLAs. She wrote “Meetings were held at Karnawati Club with community leaders where crime branch, SOG officers and police were present along with a former and present BJP MLA and they were strictly told to ensure that candidates should be put up and nominations must be filed. Money is being offered openly.”

Furthermore, Hashmi provided that chairmen and secretaries of various cooperative bodies including cooperative banks, milk cooperatives, APMC, Purchase Unions, GSC bank, etc., have been instructed to campaign for Home Minister Amit Shah. Along with this, she highlighted how college students were being forced to attend Shah’s road show, warning them of being given failing grades in their internal exams if they skip the said show.

Hashmi has also alleged regarding the plans in place to disrupt polling and elections by stating “Anti-social elements have also been called and instructed to disrupt voting on the Election Day and to ensure no rickshaws are available in the afternoon.”

With this, Hashmi has urged the ECI to take cognizance of the serious allegations being made by her and the residents of Gujarat and “ensure that extra forces are deployed in Gandhi Nagar Lok Sabha constituency to ensure that people can vote peacefully on May 7, and anti-social elements, local police and ruling party does not create a situation like they did in 2019.”

The full complaint can be read here:

Related:

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A Cooperative Housing Society “embraces” the Vision of Viksit Bharat 2047

The post Human rights activist Shabnam Hashmi flags malpractices prior to Gujarat polling day, alleges misuse of power and assertion of undue influence by state apparatus appeared first on SabrangIndia.

I woke up with a start. Somebody was at the door. It was 7 in the morning. I wasn’t an early riser. It was my neighbor, Cyrus Byramji Puranafurniturewala.

“Hello, hello, hello, good morning, who are you going to vote for?” queried Cyrus as he came barging in. I am not at my best in the mornings. A strong cuppa also does not help. After many years of trying, I have resigned myself to the realisation that if there is anything that requires my attention, then it is best done later in the day. Much, much later. “Cyrus, I haven’t even brushed my teeth and you know what early morning chats do to me!” The plea fell on deaf ears.

Cyrus had made himself comfortable and was devouring my newspapers. He was eloquent and erudite and had a quirky fascination for current affairs, history, politics and conspiracy theories. He was known to write earnest letters to the Prime Minister. He had even sought the PM’s help to access Pegasus software to spy on the General Secretary of The Happyman’s Cooperative Housing Society, Blocks A and B, where we all live.

“You know – these Electoral Bonds – why is there such a hullabaloo? It is a super scheme. You request the government for a favor, pay a fee through this Bond and get your work done. There is no discrimination of any kind. Anybody of any religion, caste, creed, beef eating habits, sexual and criminal orientation, and Google search history can pay up, and get his work done. Has there ever been anything this efficient in the history of governance? I mean, ever?” With groggy eyes, I glanced at the headline in Frontline that said – Electoral Bonds: Why it is a giant scam. I murmured something about preferring Fixed Deposits over Bonds.

“So, have you decided who you will vote for? Not that it will matter. With the EVMs, we have got it all sorted. No hanky panky, if you know what I mean,” he winked.  I had no idea what he was referring to. If there were machines who could vote for you, then that was certainly progress. One had heard of robots and drones. This seemed like another helpful innovation. In any case, I realized I did need help. Making decisions wasn’t easy.

“What do you think about this Bharat Jodo thingy? My aunt went for their meeting at Shivaji Park. She found this Rahul dude cute. She finds his duel with Adani fascinating. I can understand the cuteness. After all he does have 25% Parsi blood in him. But why hassle Mr. Adani? Poor guy is just doing his job – managing ports, airports, mines, infrastructure, and he does it all with diligence and humility. It can’t be easy running that giant empire and selflessly building the nation. And giving monstrous returns on his shares. I had told my aunt to invest in Adani stocks. She didn’t. I guess its sour grapes now.”

I had no idea Rahul Dravid had Parsi blood in him. But what was he doing at Shivaji Park? Looking for new talent? And what was the beef with Mr. Adani? Some sponsorship deal gone south?

The bell rang again. It was Sarla Ben. A socialite in her 50s. A serial borrower of assorted things. And a reliable carrier of the most important news of The Happyman’s Cooperative Housing Society, Blocks A and B. She was accompanied by the charming Fasel Atke Khan, dapper as usual. His dalliance with Mrs. Braganza’s paying guest was doing the rounds. Cyrus called him the local Mr. Love Jihad, after le learnt about his JNU background.

“Are you even listening? See this – they even have an INDIA alliance now?” pointing at a headline that said “Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra concludes with show of strength in Mumbai”

“This INDIA alliance is a brotherhood of people who have fought each other all their lives. Now they have become friends. Sarla Ben, can Rahul and his friends be trusted?”

The penny dropped. He was referring to the other Rahul.

Sarla Bhen said she needed some almond milk urgently for guests that were arriving unexpectedly. “I don’t know about that, Cyrus. I do know that my wealth has gone up and I can have more holidays now. By the way voting days are holidays and this time it’s on a long weekend. I will be off to Alibag with friends. But what’s the point of voting? Aayega to Modi hi! Jai Shri Ram!”

Cyrus nodded agreeably and turned to the quiet and thoughtful Fasel. “What do you think Mr. Fasel? Will Rahul have the courage to use the Bulldozer? Or the craft to use the Washing Machine?”

My head had begun to spin. Sarla Bhen hastily whispered in my ear, “The government in UP demolishes the houses of people who they don’t like or those that go against them. Using a bulldozer. It’s fast track justice. The ruling party also loves to clean dirty politicians. And rehabilitates them with pomp and glory.”

I wished I could go back to bed.

“Mr. Cyrus, perhaps you could read their manifesto and write to Rahul Gandhi. Ask him questions. Express your concerns. They say he listens to all. I am sure he will listen to you too”, Fasel replied equitably.

And with that, Cyrus shot off a letter that is reproduced below:

April 2024

The Honorable Member of Parliament

Rahul Gandhi,

New Delhi

Subject: The Indian National Congress Election Manifesto 2024

Dear Rahul,

Allow me to introduce myself. I am a senior citizen from the Privileged Class. I received a blue chip higher education, substantially subsidized by the State in the 80s and 90s. I am part of a gated community called The Happyman’s Cooperative Housing Society, Blocks A and B. We are a jolly lot. We spend a lot of time in the Sensex Bubble, enjoying the stock market boom, exchanging sunset, sunrise and wildlife pictures with old friends, experimenting with Super food recipes, doing the occasional Keto detox, frequently going for binge jamborees with likeminded friends, often donating sizeable sums of monies to my “Independence seeking” alma mater and reconnecting with my “sanskari Bawa” self. As I have been the beneficiary of the highly enjoyable increase in wealth in the last few years, I am expectedly content. I am a keen observer of current events and have political views. Incidentally, I voted your party out in 2014.

My aunt, Ms. Khushnawaz Puranafurniturewala, is fascinated by you. Perhaps it is because of your part Parsi blood. And recently a neighbour suggested that I read your new manifesto. I did. I don’t know what your chances of winning are. But I was alarmed to see a few things that I believe will concern my class of people. I express them below with candour:

1. There is no mention anywhere of any Hindu / Muslim angle in your manifesto. Nor of demolition of any mosque or church. Will this not deprive many millions of devoted Hindus of the succor they have received these last few years, despite their life’s daily challenges?
2. You have chosen to denounce bulldozer justice, should you come to power. Why would you want to give up on this proven “fast track” system of justice, when approximately 50 million cases are pending in Indian courts?
3. You have announced that you will modify existing criminal laws to ensure that “bail is the rule and jail is the exception”. Is this wise? What if there are Maoists, urban naxals lurking amongst us? Allegedly trying to help the underprivileged. You do remember the Bhīma Koregaon 16? They were lawyers, professors, human rights advocacy blokes, all educated guys, even priests! Do we need such elements in our society?
4. You have promised freedom from fear, right to assemble peacefully, restoration of freedom of expression. Why? How will law and order hold, if there is no fear? Why should there be agitations at all, like the farmer’s protests, CAA protests, etc.? Too much of freedom may encourage idle thoughts, make people less productive. Do remember Mr. NRN Murthy’s advice of working 70 hours a week to build the nation.
5. It has been a relief to us that many laws have been passed without the necessity of parliament functioning “normally”. It has brought in speed and saved us the embarrassment of watching adults spar with each other in the garb of debate? Yet you have promised to have the Houses of Parliament function normally for at least a 100 days a year. This is strange and will take us back to a dark era!
6. You have offered to strengthen the autonomy of various agencies. Why? Is it not better that everyone works in concert with the government to ensure harmony and cohesiveness? Can you visualize an opera without a conductor? See how busy the ED, CBI, IT etc. are. Have you seen such frantic and focused activity before?
7. You are guaranteeing first jobs for the educated youth with an apprenticeship of Rs. 1 lakh a year. And loads of reskilling opportunities to the youth, the minorities and the underprivileged. Why give anything on a platter? Will there be any incentive left to work hard?
8. Why offer to fill the 30 lakh job vacancies in the government and public sector? Do we need more government or less? Imagine the additional bureaucracy these 30 lakh folks will create? Can these jobs not be contracted out? It is easier to “hire and fire” and one can save on social security benefits.
9. You want to offer social security to gig workers. Why, bro? By definition, they are independent contractors. The whole idea is to shift the burden of social security away from the companies to make these workers self-sufficient and independent. You are going against a well-established capitalist norm.
10. You wish to offer Rs 1 lakh per year to one woman from every poor family. Why? You expect them to use this surplus money to educate their families? My class of people will lose their maids, their drivers, their nannies and security guards, if there is so much surplus money available to them. What about the ones in the villages? Why will they now work in the fields to grow our food? This too promises to spur laziness.
11. You wish to legally guarantee MSP to the farmers based on Swaminathan formula? And give them debt relief? And make farming GST free? Are they on par with big businessmen or industrialists? And, more money in their hands may mean less incentive to migrate to cities and to work for people like us. Have you thought about this? Where will we get our labor from? This may also reduce profits of the Big Food Processors, depressing their stock prices and hurting our wealth. Have you thought about this?
12. You wish to increase daily wage rates to Rs. 400? And provide Urban Employment guarantee too? With social security and right to health? Bro, are we spoiling urban workers for good? Have you considered the impact on corporate bottom lines? On the consequent fall in stock prices? This will hit our hard earned wealth.
13. What’s this fixation on a caste census and on increasing reservations? Bro, we have to move past caste. If we keep raking it up, it won’t go away. We have to banish it from memory. Reservations too. Just consider this – tomorrow a whole aircraft may be full of quota people – how will we take our holidays? Have a heart.
14. You wish to increase protections for the STs under the Forest Rights Act. You believe this is fair play as they have first rights on their land? But, why would you want to make it difficult, expensive and time consuming for corporates to acquire land? It will hurt their investments and profits, in turn hurting stock prices and diminishing our wealth.
15. You wish to recognize civil unions within the LGBTQi community. What they do in their bedrooms is their business. But why make a public spectacle? I do not even want to know who is queer and who isn’t.
16. What’s in it for Big Industry? No tax cuts. No loan waivers. No special incentives for special companies working in special areas like ports, airports, telecom, etc.? Why this discrimination?
17. What is this obsession to create a level playing field within industry? That’s an ancient concept. Passé. Why should everybody be treated equally? Those who create more wealth for shareholders must get more rewards and incentives too from the government. Monopolies create scale. Look at Jio, Indigo Airlines & Adani. Can we live without them?
18. Universal and free healthcare in public health centers with a cashless insurance of Rs. 25 lakhs sounds utopian but will adversely affect a globally competitive Pharma and healthcare sector. Are you giving a death blow to this industry, whose stocks are highly fancied post Covid 19?
19. There seems to be, in your manifesto, a drive to somehow connect poverty & inequality to capitalism. Bro, both are important. Capitalism encourages merit. Inequality & poverty are a necessity of an ordered society. They drive aspiration. Do we want to reach a situation where we need to import maids, drivers, and security guards from Africa?
20. Your manifesto highlights that 80 crore people currently receive free grains. Why does this bother you? Would you want them to die instead? The current government is taking care of them. Should this not be celebrated?

Finally, do you have the wherewithal and sagacity to make “timely interventions” should you come to power? Like the ones made by the ruling government in saving Manipur, in solving the border issues in Ladakh with China, in saving the economy through  demonetization, in bringing relief through the remedy, Coronil, during the epidemic, in bringing transparency through the PM Care Fund and Electoral Bond schemes and in deploying a magic Washing Machine to rid India of corruption.

Bro, I hope you will see the merit in the above arguments and course correct. My friends and I do not wish to see a fall in our wealth, should you unexpectedly win this electoral battle. If the markets are happy, we are happy.

On a more personal note, how do you keep so fit and healthy? Any special Keto diet? Any secret Super foods? Any unusual asanas?

Cordially,

Cyrus Byramji Puranafurniturewala

A Concerned Citizen

Related:

Dear PM Modi! It was Hindutva Organisations, not the Congress that colluded with the Muslim League in Pre-Independence India

Why is the BJP calling the Congress Manifesto 2024 to be an “Imprint of the Muslim League”?

The post What are you doing Bro? Cyrus writes a 20 Point, Open Letter to Rahul Gandhi appeared first on SabrangIndia.