Aam Aadmi Party | SabrangIndia

Law should be made against religious conversions: Kejriwal in Punjab

Sat, 29 Jan 2022 11:35:04 +0000

Image Courtesy:timesnownews.com

Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, echoed right-wing politicians and said that an “anti religious conversion” law must be made. Kejriwal was speaking in poll bound Punjab’s Jalandhar and said, “Religion is a private matter. Everybody has the right to worship a God. A law should definitely be made against religious conversions but nobody should be wrongly harassed through this. Conversion done by scaring them is wrong,” in Punjab’s Jalandhar.

Punjab will go to polls in a single phase on February 20 and the counting of votes will be done on March 10. Kejriwal has projected AAP as the alternative to Punjab’s incumbent Congress-led government. However, his statement is similar to what political leaders of BJP-ruled states make, when it comes to religious conversions. The BJP-governed states of Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, have brought such a law in place and other BJP-ruled states, including Haryana and Assam, have also voiced their desire to enact similar laws to prevent conversions.

Arvind Kejriwal is one of the few CMs who has also led his cabinet colleagues and performed a “public” a.k.a government’s Diwali puja for the past two years. It is the only religious festival celebrated publicly by the Delhi government using public funds. In 2020 RTI activist and TMC member Saket Gokhale, had cited an RTI reply to claim that Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had spent ₹ 6 crore on its Laxmi Puja event in November that year. The event was telecast live on November 14, 2020. In 2021, Kehriwal’s ‘sarkari’ or Government Diwali, as it were, was celebrated against a backdrop of Ayodhya’s Ram temple set up at Thyagaraj Sports Complex as part of its ‘Dilli ki Diwali’ celebrations.

However during his Goa campaign Arvind Kejriwal who is also AAP national convener had already promised the people of Goa “free pilgrimage” to various religious centres, including Ayodhya and Ajmer Sharif, if his party is voted to power. All for free. Free as in on Taxpayers money. Wooing Goans he had said, “If AAP comes to power, we will arrange for free darshan of Lord Ram in Ayodhya. Christian brothers and sisters will be taken to Velankanni and Muslims to Ajmer Sharif. Many people also have faith in Sai Baba, and will arrange trips for Shirdi for them.”

In Punjab, as reported in The Wire, the Bharatiya Janata Party is also trying to “polarise the Hindus of Punjab and try and include them in its larger Hindutva project.”

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Delhi: Assembly passes resolution against Rakesh Asthana’s appointment as CP

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 13:43:04 +0000

Image Courtesy:khaskhabar.com

Just a day after Rakesh Asthana took charge as the new Delhi Police Commissioner, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi Assembly adopted a resolution against the move. Tabled by AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha the resolution, was adopted after a brief discussion, and stated:

“It is beyond any reasonable understanding as to why a controversial officer who was removed by this Central Government from the post of Special Director CBI in October 2018 and was not considered fit for the post of CBI director only very recently, is being imposed on Delhi Police. Given the past track record of this officer, there is reasonable apprehension that the Central Government will use him for foisting false cases on political rivals to create a reign of terror in the national capital. Such a controversial individual should not be heading the police force in the country’s national capital.”

According to news reports, the AAP MLAs, siad in the Assembly that they have “reasonable apprehensions” that Asthana will be used to “create a reign of terror” against the party. The resolution asks the Delhi government to convey to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs “to withdraw the July 27 order appointing Asthana” and start afresh the process to appoint his replacement. According to MLA Sanjeev Jha, Asthana’s appointment as Delhi Police commissioner should qualify as a “contempt of court” as it was against a Supreme Court order. The Indian Express reported that the SC had said that the “recommendation for appointment to the post of DGP by the Union Public Service Commission and preparation of panel should be purely on the basis of merit from officers who have a minimum residual tenure of six months i.e. officers who have at least six months of service.”

दिल्ली पुलिस कमिश्नर के रूप में राकेश अस्थाना की नियुक्ति असंवैधानिक है।

प्रधानमंत्री मोदी जी के आंखों के तारे को उनकी रिटायरमेंट से 4 दिन पूर्व 1 साल का सेवा विस्तार देकर नियुक्त कर दिया।
1/2 pic.twitter.com/v6WwzFSgLb

— Sanjeev Jha (@Sanjeev_aap) July 29, 2021

Rakesh Asthana took charge as the new Delhi Police Commissioner On Wednesday, July 27. The 1984-batch IPS officer, was due to retire on July 31, however, his service tenure was extended for a year, or till further orders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), also approved the “inter-cadre deputation from Gujarat to AGMUT cadre”.

Former Secretary to Government of India, E A S Sarma, has also written a detailed letter to Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on raising concerns on the lack of transparency and major issues arising from such an appointment. According to Sarma he had in a previous letter to the PM highlighted that “appointments to the offices of the Director of CBI, the head of the Enforcement Directorate, the Chairman of CBDT, the head of the Intelligence Bureau and the heads of the other investigating agencies were not based on objective, transparent procedures”. He had specifically mentioned the appointment of Rakesh Asthana who was facing “allegations made in the past”.

Sarma highlighted that now Asthana has been given an “initial tenure of only one year, with the possibility of its being extended beyond one year without any time limit”. And that as the new Commissioner of Police, he “knows well that he is on an indefinite tenure subject to Centre’s pleasure, implying that he enjoys no independence as a statutory authority, as envisaged in the apex court’s judgement in the Prakash Singh case.”

Sarma asked, “Does not the procedure adopted in selecting Shri Asthana violate the transparency and objectivity norms set by the apex court?”He added that in his view, “the procedure of selection of an officer to head the Delhi police should be such that it inspires public confidence and credibility, especially at a time when serious concerns are being expressed at the way the Delhi police has handled investigations into the Delhi riots that rattled the capital city in February, 2020.”

His complete letter may be read here:

Shri Rajiv Gauba
Cabinet Secretary
Govt of India

Dear Shri Gauba,

The website of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) emphasises the need for transparency in governance in the following words.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi firmly believes that transparency and accountability are the two cornerstones of any pro-people government. Transparency and accountability not only connect the people closer to the government but also make them equal and integral part of the decision making process…….During his record 4 terms as Chief Minister Narendra Modi demonstrated strong commitment to an open and transparent government. Rules and policies were not framed in AC Chambers but among the people….His strong resolve to transparency backed by the manner in which he put this commitment to practice indicates an era of open, transparent and people- centric government for the people of India”

One would therefore expect that such a strong commitment to transparency will characterise every aspect of governance at the Centre, more so in appointments to senior positions in the government. In my letter dated 28-5-2021 addressed to the Prime Minister (https://countercurrents.org/2021/05/letter-to-the-prime-minister-lack-of-transparency-in-governance/), I had pointed out how appointments to the offices of the Director of CBI, the head of the Enforcement Directorate, the Chairman of CBDT, the head of the Intelligence Bureau and the heads of the other investigating agencies were not based on objective, transparent procedures. With special reference to the appointment of the Director of the CBI, I extract below the relevant portion of my letter for your ready reference.

“It is relevant to mention here that one of the candidates short-listed to be on the panel of candidates for selecting Shri R K Shukla’s successor, as reported widely, was Shri Rakesh Asthana against whom there were some allegations made in the past. Those allegations were still being investigated. It was Shri R K Shukla who had given the final clean chit to Shri Asthana, when the former was about to retire in February, 2021. Apparently, the government took some time to take a final decision on Shri Shukla’s finding. Had the government started the process of selection of Shri Shukla’s successor well in advance, so as to be able to appoint his successor well before the date of his retirement, Shri Asthana’s chances of being short-listed for selection as Director would perhaps have been affected.”

As a result of the delay in processing the selection of a successor to Shri R K Shukla, an officer of the Gujarat cadre of the IPS was placed “in charge” to run the CBI by way of an interim arrangement, a situation that raised public concerns.

Against this background, I find that the Central government has appointed the very same Shri Rakesh Asthana as the Delhi Police Commissioner, just a few days prior to his superannuation on 31-7-2021 (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/gujarat-cadre-ips-officer-rakesh-asthana-appointed-delhi-police-commissioner/articleshow/84802723.cms). According to the reports appearing in the press, Shri Asthana has been given an initial tenure of only one year, with the possibility of its being extended beyond one year without any time limit. He belongs to the Gujarat cadre of the IPS, not the Union Territory cadre from which one would expect such an appointment being made in the normal course. In other words, the incoming Police Commissioner of Delhi knows well that he is on an indefinite tenure subject to Centre’s pleasure, implying that he enjoys no independence as a statutory authority, as envisaged in the apex court’s judgement in the Prakash Singh case. Does it not cast a shadow on the so-called commitment to transparency in governance, so prominently displayed at the website of the PMO? Does not the procedure adopted in selecting Shri Asthana violate the transparency and objectivity norms set by the apex court?

In my view, the procedure of selection of an officer to head the Delhi police should be such that it inspires public confidence and credibility, especially at a time when serious concerns are being expressed at the way the Delhi police has handled investigations into the Delhi riots that rattled the capital city in February, 2020. There have been serious complaints that several highly respected human rights activists have been inappropriately framed in cases, whereas several prominent public functionaries who appeared conspicuously on visual media inciting the people to commit acts of violence are not being investigated at all. The fact that the new head of the Delhi police has been chosen through a procedure that is not entirely in consonance with the norms stipulated by the apex court may raise questions on the motives underlying the appointment.

While considering the candidates proposed for the selection of the new Director of the CBI a few months ago, the Chief Justice of India who was a member of the committee headed by the Prime Minister is reported to have expressed his view that the committee’s selection of officers should withstand the scrutiny of law and that officers with a few days left in service should not be considered. If that was the norm adopted by the committee selecting the new CBI Director, there is no valid reason as to why the same norm should not apply to appointing the Delhi Police Commissioner.

I urge upon the government to consider these concerns as whatever the government does in such matters should inspire public confidence and credibility.

Regards,
Yours sincerely,
E A S Sarma
Former Secretary to Government of India
Visakhapatnam
28-7-2021

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AAP sets up relief camps, committee to monitor hate speech

Tue, 03 Mar 2020 07:11:17 +0000

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi has stepped up its relief efforts across some of the worst affected areas in the region. One such camp has been set up at the Chhoti Eidgah area in the Mustafabad neighbourhood.

Relief camp by @ArvindKejriwal led AAP Govt at Choti Eidgaah , #Mustafabad #DelhiRelief pic.twitter.com/0zQZu3tSHm

— AAP In News (@AAPInNews) March 2, 2020

Some 200 people who have lost everything in the riots have found shelter in relief camps, where AAP has also made arrangements for them to file compensation claims.

दिल्ली सरकार द्वारा दंगे प्रभावित क्षेत्र में लगाए गए राहत कैंप

कैम्प में क़रीबन 200 लोग रह रहे हैं जिनका घर पूरी तरह से दंगों में जल गया।

महिलाओं ने बताया कि उन्हें पर्याप्त सुविधाएं दी जा रही हैं और उनके मुआवज़े के फ़ॉर्म भी भरने शुरू हो गए हैं। pic.twitter.com/vqs1aubWCv

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) March 2, 2020

In fact, the mother of Faizan, one of the young men seen lying grievously injured and forced to sing the national anthem by police personnel, and who subsequently succumbed to his injuries on February 26, was seen receing a relief cheque of Rs 1 lakh. The total amount of compensation sanctioned for her is Rs 10 lakhs and the balance will be handed over to her after submission of the report in the case related to her son’s death.

Tweeted #Faizan’s address to ⁦@ArvindKejriwal⁩ this morn.He was one of the young men who were beaten up & forced to sing the national anthem.Thankfully the Govt responded.His mother has now been given ₹1 lakh. Remaining ₹9 lakh after detailed report ⁦@abhinandita_m⁩ pic.twitter.com/fQzFSqoDto

— seemi pasha (@seemi_pasha) March 2, 2020

Those who will to donate money for relief efforts can do so here:

Those of you want to contribute monetarily for the relief work, here are the details of LG/CM relief fund account where you can RTGS the amount.

Acc: 91042150000237
Bank: Syndicate Bank
Branch- Delhi Sec.
IFSC: SYNB0009104

Cheque/DD should be in the name of “LG/CM Relief Fund”

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) March 2, 2020

The Delhi government has also constituted a Committee on Peace and Harmony to help check the spread of hate and rumours, as both fuel violence and lead to loss of lives across community line.

In a series of tweets, AAP spokesperson and MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “We have found several cases where social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp have been misused to spread hate and rumours. There are provisions in the law to tackle such instances of spreading enmity between two communities and now the committee has agreed to make spreading hateful messages using social media punishable by a three-year prison term.” He added, “If you have a screenshot of such messages, please approach the committee, so we can look into it and take legal action against the perpetrator.”

बहुत सारे केसेस में ऐसा देखा गया है कि सोशल मीडिया प्लेटफॉर्म जैसे फेसबुक, ट्विटर और व्हाट्सएप पर नफ़रत फैलाने वाले फेक मैसेज भेजे जाते है ,जिन्हें लोग सच मान लेते है और जिसकी वजह से समाज में एक दूसरे के प्रति नफ़रत की भावना बढ़ रही है :- @Saurabh_MLAgk pic.twitter.com/LsuOTZ4ZE6

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) March 2, 2020

दो समुदायों के बीच में नफ़रत फैलाना क्रिमिनल लॉ के अंदर जुर्म है जिसके लिए सज़ा का और जुर्माने का प्रावधान है। इसलिए कमिटी ने इस पर चर्चा करके कुछ फ़ैसले लिए है :- @Saurabh_MLAgk pic.twitter.com/QB8EFomVHi

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) March 2, 2020

जो नफ़रत फैलाने वाले मैसेज का स्क्रीनशॉट लेकर हमारी विधानसभा समिति को भेजेगा, उस पर समिति जांच करेगी। यदि पाया जाता है कि क्राइम बन रहा है तो उसको लॉ एंड एन्फोर्समेंट ऐजेंसी को भेजा जाएगा ताकि नफ़रत फैलाने वाले मैसेज को भेजने वाले व्यक्ति पर मुकदमा किया जा सकें :- @Saurabh_MLAgk pic.twitter.com/ygCWTwjYDM

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) March 2, 2020

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Why does Pakistan bring out the worst in our politics, including misogyny, asks Kapil Sibal?

Wed, 03 May 2017 06:10:47 +0000

They do it with bangles

In all the chest beating and muscle flexing over Pakistan and its transgressions at the Line of Control, one object has made its way back into Indian politics: the bangle. On Tuesday, veteran Congress leader Kapil Sibal invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi “to remove your bangles and show what you can do”. He also referred to a speech made by Smriti Irani, now textile minister, at a rally in Indore in 2013, after another incident where an Indian soldier at the Line of Control had been killed and mutilated. Irani had offered to send Manmohan Singh, who was prime minister then, a gift bangles for failing to take appropriate action. The tables had turned now, was Sibal’s triumphant point.

The gift of bangles suggests the old Hindi phrase “chudiyan pehen lo”, which means that those not cut out for a job should stay at home. Like women do, naturally. Bangles have long been a favoured ornament in Indian politics. In 2014, after Aam Aadmi Party leader Somnath Bharti conducted an impromptu raid on Ugandan women living in Delhi’s Khirki Extension, BJP legislator RP Singh saw fit to hurl bangles and lipstick at him. The BJP had then defended the act by saying it was not meant to be “derogatory”. It wouldn’t be, of course, in a political culture where leadership is measured by the size of one’s chest (56 inches is ideal) and voters are told to choose the “vikas purush” over the “videshi bahu”, the Man of Progress over the Foreign Daughter-in-Law.

Femininity, the wearing of bangles, the exercise of restraint and moderation, is associated with weakness or incompetence. The BJP has frequently, but not exclusively, been guilty of peddling a gendered politics that boils down to this: masculinity good, femininity bad, unless sterilised into certain acceptable forms. And when it comes to Pakistan, all the toxic masculinity stored up in our politics roars to life. Even female politicians have learnt to speak its language. Around the time Irani was offering bangles to Manmohan Singh, Sushma Swaraj, who was then the leader of the Opposition, was demanding 10 Pakistani heads for the head of one Indian soldier. Peace at the LoC looked like a remote prospect then, as it does now.

This article was first published on Scroll.in.

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How Justice is Literally ‘Compromised’ in Stalking and Sexual Violence Cases in India

Wed, 21 Sep 2016 10:36:58 +0000

Popular culture and the ‘system’ itself – including police and courts – is complicit in seeking ways of rehabilitating sexual violence as romance, love or even marriage.

The mother (C) of an Indian girl who was raped and set on fire cries out during her daughter's funeral in Greater Noida near the Indian capital New Delhi on March 9, 2016. Image: AFP

In countless instances of popular Indian cinema, stalking is valorised as a macho and successful romance strategy. It isn’t just popular culture – the ‘system’ itself – including police and courts – is complicit in seeking ways of rehabilitating sexual violence as romance, love or even marriage.

This complicity is most clearly reflected in the phenomenon of ‘compromises’ brokered by police and even courts in rape and sexual violence cases all over the country. This phenomenon persists in spite of repeated Supreme Court judgements (Hindu, Indian Express) reminding that sexual violence crimes in India’s criminal justice system are generally non-compoundable and therefore not open to out of court settlements or compromises.

It is significant that a closer look at the two recent instances of women being stabbed to death by stalkers in Inderpuri and Burari in Delhi reveal a history of ‘compromises’ brokered by the police.

In the Burari case, "Karuna, who was working as a teacher, had filed a complaint against Surender five months ago but the police say that the families had submitted letters of a ‘compromise’, and no action was taken."

In the Inderpuri case, "Two days before this gruesome crime, 28-year-old Laxmi was stabbed to death by her stalker in West Delhi's Inderpuri area. Twenty-six-year-old Sanjay Kumar had allegedly harassed Laxmi for the past six years, despite repeated complaints filed by Laxmi and her husband, Manoj.

After Laxmi's complaint, Sanjay was arrested on charges of stalking but was released on bail. Laxmi's family says that even though they had complained earlier, no action was taken because Sanjay's family gave a written undertaking that he would stop."

What was the basis on which Sanjay, the accused in the Burari case, secured bail? Was the ‘written undertaking’ by his family of his good conduct a factor that the court considered? Bail is a right and should be the norm – but one of the strongest bases for refusing bail is when the accused is in a position to influence the investigation by intimidating the victim or witnesses, or in a position to harm the victim or witnesses.

Cases in India drag on for years because we lack enough courts and judges – the delay deters victim-survivors from complaining, increases the pressure on victims and the chances of a ‘compromise’, and also puts victim-survivors in danger of their lives. In stalking cases, should there not be any protocol for monitoring the case if the accused is out on bail – to check if he is again harassing the victim, if he is maintaining distance from her or not?

Unfortunately, much of the media coverage in the Delhi stabbing cases has avoided any discussion of chronic ‘compromises’ brokered/legitimised by police, and their role in making these killings possible. The PTI story on the Inderpuri case referred to the stalker as a ‘lover’. TV channels aired CCTV footage of the Burari stabbing repeatedly, focusing mainly on the ‘insensitivity’ of people watching who did not intervene to ‘save’ the victim.

Social media mirrored the same tendency – there was very little reflection on our tendency as a society to see stalking as ‘romance’ and broker compromises in stalking and sexual violence cases; only an easy self-righteousness about passive bystanders watching the stabbing without heroic intervention.

How many of us would know how to intervene to disarm a man armed with a knife, and attempt to do so when a murder is being committed? The question to ask – and as far as I know no journalist has yet asked or tried to answer – would be: did any of the eyewitnesses call the police, which as responsible citizens they could and should have done? Did the police respond, and how soon?

In India, consensual elopements, especially inter-caste or same gotra or same-sex relationships, are reported by women’s parents as ‘abduction/rape’. Meanwhile, cases where the woman herself has complained of rape and expressed abhorrence for her assailant are sought to be ‘settled’ by marrying the victim off to the rapist!

Rape is seen as harm against the victim’s marriageability, so the fact that the victim-survivor is offered and often accepted by courts as grounds for ‘compromise’ or leniency towards the rape convict!

Why are there no public campaigns by governments on sexual violence that make it clear that consensual elopements are not rape; that rape is a harm against women’s bodily integrity and autonomy and not against her virginity or marriageability; that stalking is not ‘love’; that rape or stalking or any other form of sexual violence cannot be settled by ‘compromises’ whether these are brokered by khaps, families, cops or courts?

In Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party complains, as its predecessor did, that it does not have jurisdiction over the Delhi police. But surely the Delhi government has a duty to run public campaigns against rape culture? Surely the Delhi government has a duty to monitor implementation of the laws against sexual and gender violence, and can be much more proactive in offering institutional support to survivors of sexual violence, thereby helping them resist pressure to ‘compromise’ and file complaints against police if they collude in attempts at ‘compromise’?

Instead, from the AAP government also, we are getting more of the same patriarchal posturing – calls by ministers for public hanging of rapists, or rhetoric against the Delhi police on ‘women’s safety,’ with no action to actually change the patriarchal matrix in which crimes against women play out and justice is ‘compromised.’

(Kavita Krishnan is secretary, All India Progressive Women’s Association).

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