Hemant Tiwari's Description Brought Memories Alive

 

   My good friend Hemant Tiwari, a senior journalist, a well-versed communicator and a convincing debater on many TV channels, has written a brief but a very touching post on his Facebook about his recent a whirlwind visit to his Nanihal (maternal home), near Singramau in Jaunpur district. His Nanihal is situated on the banks of river Gomti, so is my own Nanihal, which incidentally is also situated on the banks of river  Gomti in Pratapgarh district.  Most of us have been inculcated with faith that all perennial rivers are pious and they are like the Ganges and that is the reason that they are revered and worshipped. A famous pilgrimage ‘Dhopap’ is also situated on the banks of Gomti and when I visited this place in my childhood on my way to Nanihal, I was told that 'whosoever has bathed even once in Dhopap his/her all sins are washed away'. As they say that ‘faith can move mountains’, people throng to wash their sins in the sacred river of Gomati at Dhopap. It is an altogether different matter that it has become a highly contaminated river at Lucknow because of the callousness of the people and the administration. 

  However, what I wanted to say is that only three-paragraph word-sketch by Hemant Tiwari has been so powerful that it has made many like us to be nostalgic about our childhood. I would like to associate with him on the issue of rice-eating (bhaat as we say colloquially). One of my two sisters was married to an area, which is known for rice production and the eldest sister was married to a place which was situated on the riverbank, where rice was considered to be a luxury. My both sisters were eldest among all our siblings. Things have now completely changed as the rice and the wheat is produced in equal measures, thanks to the new varieties of wheat, paddy and the new technology.

  Increased production of wheat and paddy has, however, driven away the coarse grains like Sanwa, Kodon and Bajra (all are roughly translated as millets of different types). My mother herself preferred to eat Bhaat of Makka (maize or corn) to rice. I also love to eat these coarse grains in many ways. The crops of these grains have fast disappeared because their yield is much less than those of wheat and paddy. Now, these are sown in a very limited area as they are necessary for certain purposes. Even barley is not sown in our area because of the low yield and lesser remuneration.

  Hemant is bang on the head in his description of the scene of Bidai from Nanihal. Every Bhanja, Bhanji, Nati or Natin was entitled to get something from Nani or Mami. It could be from a few Annas to a few rupees some four or five decades ago but they were no less than treasures. A Bhanja or Nati was invariably excused for his mischiefs in Nanihal because nobody could punish him. It was generally believed that 'anybody who beats or slaps his Nati or Bhanja will suffer at the old age as his hands will tremble or shiver. This was one of the reasons that boys were not allowed to live for longer periods in Nanihal because chances of their being undisciplined were more as compared to their father’s house.

  This is equally true that most boys used to learn many good lessons from their Nana, Nani, Mama and Mami. These lessons helped to grow in life. Guardians in Nanihal were more concerned about the future and well being of their wards. I have seen umpteen number of people who have done much better in their lives as they lived for more time in their Nanihals.

  Technology and the mode of communication and transportation has completely changed life everywhere, be it rural or urban areas. The intensity of relations has also vanished. However, it is always soothing and sweet to remember the old memories. I have requested Hemant to write a regional (aanchlik) novelette on this theme. It may not be very relevant for today, but that will certainly help others to revive the memories and the new generation can learn a lot about the situation that was prevailing some half a century ago particularly in eastern Uttar Pradesh. 

Repealing of Farm Laws means dumping of peasants

 

   Any government worth name will be failing in its duty if it concedes to highly irrational and unjustified demands of some motivated persons masquerading as farmers for repealing of the farm laws. A so-called Kisan leader is seen to be speaking on some TV news channels that ‘why the government has gifted us something which we never demanded?’  Will anybody tell him that any government is mandated to take make such laws are in the interests of the people?

   Does a government which have been elected by the overwhelming majority by the people can afford to ignore them and listen only to those who are out to create anarchy by sheer dint of the resources that they have? The government is expected to work for the vast peasantry of the country while enacting the farm laws, which has been left ignored by the successive governments after independence. As a result of it, the condition of small farmers has not improved. Even farmers with good land holdings have got reduced to penury and have been cursed to live in the debt trap because of the faulty farm policies.

   Anybody having any concerns for the peasants will not lose sight of the facts that there have been regular demands for introducing fresh farm laws. If the old laws were so good, then how and why did hundreds of farmers commit suicides every year? The increasing number of suicides bear testimony that the interests of farmers were never seriously considered by the powers that be.

    Mandis must go lock, stock and barrel because they hardly serve any purpose of the farmers, only the brokers and intermediaries are benefitted by them (Mandis). These aarhatiyas and brokers do not think of the society otherwise, they would never have abdicated their responsibility of educating and convincing the Punjab farmers for not burning the paddy stubbles in their fields. These farmers also need to be told to switch over to some other crops to save the deteriorating health of the soil and preserve the fast-depleting water tables.

   Those who are doing politics in the name of farmers are their real enemies. Their strings are being pulled from somewhere else.  There is no need to pay any heed to the eternally frustrated intellectuals and selfish journalists because they will damn you, when you do something but will also damn when you do not do anything. Therefore, they should best be ignored.

There is no doubt that disputes must be resolved through talks and negotiations, but the question is talking with whom? Those who are assembled at Singhu border of Haryana and Delhi are neither kisans nor their representatives. They are motivated to the brim and no amount of negotiations will convince them. Even in a factory or a company, there are some Union representatives with whom the managements negotiate but here there is no representative who can convince others. Hence, the government will have to handle the issue in the as best manner as possible as it has the authority and the confidence of the people.

 

 

Only New Farm Laws can help Remove the Farmers’ Distress, Brokers must be Dealt with Iron Hands

 

Not many years ago, it was almost an uphill task to take even as little as 30 to 40 kilogrammes of grains from one district to other. If somebody having agricultural land at two places was straddling between two districts, the only choice for him/her was to dispose of the produce of one place and purchase the same, as per one's needs, at another place. The laws against carrying the grains from one place to other were so stringent that one had to grease the palms of police and other officials. Now under the new farm laws, one cannot only carry the agricultural produce but is totally free to sell or purchase at the place of one’s choice depending upon the prices he/ she gets.

Farmers all over the country are happy with new farm laws because it provides them freedom, ensures good prices and necessary insurance cover to their crops.  Mobility is the sine qua non for competitiveness and better pricing of any products.  Mandis are beyond the reach of ordinary farmers because the Mandis are the cesspools of corruption and this is the reason that only rich farmers can take advantages with the help of their fellows-in -corruption officials and intermediaries.

The government would do well to retain these eminently sensible farm laws which will transform the agriculture sector.  Farmers should be told in no uncertain terms that for the benefits of some brokers, vested interests, and kulaks the interests of crores of marginal and small farmers cannot be sacrificed.

Later or sooner, the MSP must also be dispensed with because this also helps only those farmers, who can pull the strings to brokers and sell their low-quality rice and wheat at the high prices. Most of the marketing of the no so good quality cereals is forced to be done by the governments at the rate of MSP. The government later sends them to the FCI, which is acutely short of the storage facility. The sub-standard grains are then sold to poultry farms or at other outlets at abysmally low costs. After all, this is the public money that goes to fill the coffers of rich kulaks, corrupt officials and intermediaries. So long this vicious circle is not broken the real Kisan will remain deprived of the profits. Agriculture can be modernised and made profitable only by contract farming. The fear of losing the landholdings are unfounded because the contract is to be provided only for renting the land and not for transferring the land to somebody else.

Agriculture like any other business needs money, which is possible only when the resourceful persons get attracted to it. Moreover, there is no point in keeping the burden increased on agriculture. Therefore, those who are opposing the reformative farm laws are neither the friends of farmers nor agriculture. They must be exposed. Agriculture has been in deep trouble or crisis for quite long. Farmers’ distress must be addressed otherwise; hundreds of farmers will continue to commit suicide and those who are engineering the protests have never had any sympathy with poor farmers. Those who are asking to repeal them must be dealt with iron hands to save agriculture and farmers from the trap of debts and the vagaries of nature.

Purposeless agitation of Disguising farmers

   Parmanand Pandey

  The ongoing agitation of some farmers of Punjab from November 26 in Delhi is being presented by a section of media and the fissiparous forces as if there are two fighting camps arrayed against each other. The fact is that no government can afford to work against the interests of the farmers and that is what has been taken care of in these farm laws. These farm laws have been long overdue, and they should have been enacted some fifty years ago.

  Think of neem coating of Urea bags, this simple step to stop the black marketing was not taken due to the pressure of the vested interests, who wanted to perpetuate it. The subsidy and loan-waiver based farmers' policies may make some leaders popular but ultimately, they do not help the farmers to stand on their own feet. The so-called Kisan-movement of some kulaks, aarhatiyas and selfish politicians must be exposed as it is against the interests of more than 99 per cent farmers of the country, most of them happen to be small and marginal farmers. It is an open secret that only this section of farmers, which is behind this artificial agitation has been cornering all the benefits in the name of farmers. It is also crystal clear that those who have nothing to do with farmings and yet are lending their support to it are insincere, disingenuous people and they are so filled with the hatred for the present dispensation that they refuse to see the factual position. Hence, they need to be cured of chronic jaundice they suffer from.

   MSP, frankly speaking, is also a deception. It has not helped the poor farmers anywhere except in Punjab. Go to villages of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and see that wheat, paddy or maize is never purchased on MSPs. Even for the sugarcane prices, small farmers have to run from pillar to post. For obtaining the selling slips of their canes, they have to cajole and grease the palms of dalals and petty officials. They do not get the arrears of their canes for months and sometimes even for years. This simple fact cannot be understood by the romanticised revolutionaries and the parasitic NGO managers, who are funded and paid to work for their masters sitting outside the country.

   These were the same people, who were wailing and discussing on the television channels that the disease COVID might not kill the poor people, but the starvation will, without doubt, kill them. A bearded and fraud television channel owner, who has duped hundreds of crores and who also claims to be an economist, must have held discussions with some pseudo economists for nearly ten days in the wake of the lockdown and the crux of his discussion was that thousands would die because of hunger. But when more than eighty crore people started getting free ration every month for longer than eight months along with Rs 500/ in cash across the board, these spurious economists did not show even the minimum courtesy and basic moral courage to welcome this novel measure of helping the people.

  It is well-nigh impossible to establish Ramrajya but sincere efforts made in that direction should be encouraged.  Therefore, these farm laws, if honestly implemented are bound to ameliorate a lot of the small farmers. The need is to go for sustainable development and the pressure from the agriculture is to be unburdened and this is not going to be solved by retaining the APMS and MSPs. They can only be short term measures. 

  The government will do well to convince the tiny and misguided section of farmers, who have laid siege of some of the Delhi roads, that they must give up their adamant attitude and go back to their farming. But they will not do that because their handlers will not agree to it. Those who are sleeping can be awakened but those who feign to be sleeping they must be handled differently. This is for the government with enormous resources to think as to how to deal with these rich kulaks and motivated farmers.

Crime and Corruption were Inherent to MS Yadav’s Socialism

The day before yesterday i.e. on 22nd of November Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party leader completed 81 years of his life. We wish him a happy and long life. Some journalists, who had been benefitted by the largesse’s and the neck-deep corruption prevailing at the time of Mr Yadav, hailed him as one of the towering leaders and the messiah of the poor, which is quite understandable but laughable. Most of the journalists in Lucknow and other places in Uttar Pradesh were regularly and extensively given crumbs by Shri Yadav in cash and kind to sing his paeans.

Posterity will remember him if at all he is remembered, for his rank opportunism, stinking corruption, brazen nepotism, shameless casteism and naked hooliganism with no vision for the future or understanding of the statecraft. It has been the misfortune of the State that practically an illiterate muscleman ruled the state for many terms as the Chief Minister of the largest state of the country. It was largely because of him that an equally, if not more corrupt, uncouth and eccentric woman like Mayawati, whose only qualification was of her being born in a Dalit family, also became the Chief Minister of the state many times.

Nobody has been more shameless in amassing money and perpetuating and favouring his family dominance in Uttar Pradesh than Shri Yadav. All developmental activities had literally come to a nought during his tenure. The education system was systematically destroyed by him. He used to openly make fun of education and wanted the copying to be freely used in the examination halls. Can there be anything more ludicrous than to say that if you cannot provide jobs to students then why not allow them to have degrees? Yes, these Aristotelian wise words were of Shri Yadav.

The biggest damage was done by him to the Hindi as he promoted and got saddled such persons in the important positions, who had neither Will nor talent to work for the service of Mother Hindi. Important constitutional positions were offered to those who were thoroughly undeserving to the posts they held.

Instead of solving the problems of Ayodhya and Uttarakhand, he started dealing with them like an arrogant and lunatic politician. He got killed dozens of karsevaks and innocent agitators at Ayodhya and Rampur. He had the cheek to say that he would not have hesitated in killing hundreds to get the support of a particular religion and was happy with the honorific of Mulla. How can a politician like him be fit to be at the helm?

He had, of course, excelled the art of keeping media persons bribed. The way the government houses were allotted to pick and choose persons, plots were distributed, advertisements were poured to select media houses was unparallel and unheard of in other dispensation. There were many journalists who used to get extensive cash and kind benefits from him and his administration and therefore there is no surprise if they owe allegiance to him.

Socialism was converted into a grammar of anarchy and lawlessness by Shri Yadav and, that too, without and any qualms and compunctions.

Justice Ramana l’affaire Must be Inquired for the sake of Judiciary

This is for the first time that constitutional authority,  no less than the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Jagan Mohan Reddy  has levelled direct allegations against another very high constitutional authority  NV Ramana, who is the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court of India. Mr Reddy has not minced words and said that Justice Ramana has been acting against him and his government. Some judges of the Andhra Pradesh High Court are not only in cahoots with Justice Ramana, but they are working at his instance to often put the government in a spot. As a result of it, the developmental works of his government are getting hampered. This is no longer an issue between two individuals but it is now a matter between the two rather all three  pillars of democracy.

   Mr Jagan Reddy’s letter to the Chief Justice of India Justice AS Bobde against Justice Ramana, who is in the line to become the next Chief Justice of India, should not be consigned to the dustbin by dismissing as frivolous and baseless. It should be taken with all seriousness that it demands because it is the question of the integrity and majesty of the Judiciary. Mr Reddy has not written any anonymous letter in a surreptitious manner. He has said it publicly and the former Chief Secretary of the State, who is now an advisor to the Chief Minister has circulated it to the media and that is the reason that his letter has come into the public domain has assumed significance.

  One wishes that what Mr Reddy has said is found to be wrong, but can this matter be allowed to rest at that? Only a proper enquiry by some top judges and the at least two chief justices of the High-Courts should be formed to probe into the matter as that will restore the solid faith of the people in the judiciary.

  In fact, Justice Ramana should himself volunteer for an independent enquiry to come clean of all allegations. If the high-powered independent enquiry finds that allegations are wrong and motivated then the contempt of court proceedings must be initiated against Mr Reddy and the harshest punishment should be meted out to him and he should be declared unworthy of holding any post, be it elective or nominated. That will serve as a deterrent for others from making any allegations against any judge of the High Court or the Supreme Court.

   Trust and impartiality are the sine qua non of the judiciary and it should be saved and protected steadfastly by everyone but more so, by the judges themselves. It must begin right from the time of the selection and appointment of the judges. NJAC was a step forward in that direction for instilling confidence among the people about the impartial appointment of judges but that was spiked by the constitution bench of the Supreme Court.

  One fails to understand as to why many Bar Associations are bending backwards to trenchantly criticise Jagan Mohan Reddy. It defies all logic why anybody should be condemned without confronting him/her in an impartial enquiry.   The one-sided view is anathema to the judicial system and yet some Bar Associations are passing the judgments. It is unfair, to say the least. Therefore, in all fairness, Justice Ramana should himself keep away from judicial works and ask for the constitution of the independent enquiry committee, which should be asked to conduct and submit its report in a time frame.

This will go a long way in enhancing the prestige of the judiciary. Ethical values play an especially important role in the glory of a person and the profession. Justice bereft of morality is like a body without the soul, which should be burnt or buried. 

 

 

 

Fudging of Circulation by Newspapers and TRP by TV Channels is an Open Secret

 

  Fudging and fraud in showing the inflated figures of circulation of newspapers and Television Rating Points (TRP) is not a new phenomenon. It has been going on for decades. However, a new trend in journalism of naming and shaming of one media house by the other or by one journalist by other has been emerging extremely fast and I personally welcome it. Keeping the malpractices under practice promotes corruption and the media industry badly inflicted with it. Some media houses have been building empires, some journalists have been making money, getting coveted posts and many more facilities by sheer dint of their connections with the powers that be. The principle of ‘dog does not bite dog’ has been saving corrupt journalists and blackmailers.

    The credit for it certainly goes to some trend setting journalists, who have exposed the nexus and complicity of the journalists, media houses with those of the political parties, foreign-funded establishments, and ruling dispensations. It is said that the attrition generates electricity which enlightens and ensures transparency.  Mumbai police have started investigations against certain channels for fudging the TRPs. There is no doubt that the Mumbai police is doing it at the instance of the political masters, out of vendetta and vindictiveness against one TV channel but the result is certainly going to be good as it  will help expose the rampant corruption in the media.

    We often hear the rags to riches story of some journalists and their organisations because of largescale corruption and cronyism. There have been 73000 newspapers in the country according to 1915 records of the RNI. Every newspaper including the big ones has been submitting increased figures of circulation to the government for obtaining advertisements at high rates. There have been newspapers which have been publishing only the file copies and yet they used to claim exceedingly high circulations. Big newspapers like the Times of India, Hindustan Times, the Hindu, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, Nav Bharat Times, Hindustan, and India Today etc, have been giving incentives to swell their circulation.

   The reasons are not far to seek when most of the newspapers were up in arms when the Government of India introduced six parameters to release DAVP advertisements. Some of the conditions were like giving the GST receipt on the newsprints used by them, the name of the Printing Press and the number of employees and the PF being paid to them. It was found that the name of a small printing press was being used by thirty to forty daily, weekly, and fortnightly newspapers, and the total circulation of them was no less than twenty to twenty-five lakhs, which was far beyond the capacity of the printing press, which did not have more than four of five employees. No PF was deducted for them. Thus, everyone from the printing press to owners of newspapers chartered accountants, and the minions of DAVP was found to be neck-deep in fraud and the mess. When the attempts were made to stop it, most of them raised the banner of revolt terming it as the onslaught on the freedom of the press. Fly by night media associations sprung up all over the country and orchestrated in one voice that the government was out to stifle and strangulate the small and medium newspapers.  

It is an open secret that almost all TV channels have been managing and manipulating the TRPs but it is undoubtedly a matter of great satisfaction that the investigations will go a long way in exposing and cleansing the fraud and forgery of the channels. It is bound to a blessing in disguise for the people of the country, so, we must welcome it. The Government must also wake up to the occasion to ensure that malaise from  media is removed.