NATIONAL POLITICS
Cong(I): Jagannath Mishra on Minorities Problems
Special technical, vocational and professional institutes be opened in all areas where Muslims have a large presence. A suitable percentage of seats in institutions of higher professional learning may also be reserved for the promising Muslim youth.
A study should be conducted in the minorities concentration districts on the enrolment, dropout rate, and disabilities suffered by the minorities in their access to education. Based on this study, well considered action be taken.
*The two schemes operated by the Department of Education- (1) Area Intensive Programme for Educationally Backward Minorities, and (2) Scheme for Modernisation of Madarsa Education should be intensively reviewed (and) implemented.
*Since vocationalisation and technical education is a priority among the minority groups Community polytechnics, industrial training institutes (should be established) and vocational training facilities in all schools should be undertaken in minority districts. Polytechnics and ITIs for women candidates should also be set up in these districts.
* The UGC Scheme for pre-examination (Coaching) for minorities (should) be reviewed for better results.
*The corpus of the Minority Finance and Development Corporations may be substantially increased and their functioning be made result-oriented.This should specially focus on promoting self-employment of educated youth and artisans. They should ensure that women be given priority.
* Other Schemes like IRDP, Jawahar Rozgar Yojana and PM Rozgar Yojana be administered in such a manner that Muslim applicants also benefit from them; and proportionate share in quotas, permits, licences and allotments for Muslim entrepreneurs in government-sponsored businesses must be ensured.
*The central government should (have a) scheme for financial assistance to states for relief and rehabilitation of riot victims - as is done in the case of victims of atrocities on Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, under PCR Act. Compensation for loss of life, limb or property to Muslim victims of communal riots must also be at par with what is given to other victims under court orders.
*Central government should ensure adequate representation of the minorities in (Central and State police) forces. Special recruitment drives should be undertaken. Muslims must also be given due representation in anti-riot task force and other paramilitary forces.
*Special arrangements for pre-examination training centres and recruitment drives should be organised in railways, banks and public sector undertakings. The ministries/departments of personnel, banking, railways and heavy industries should assist the ministry of welfare in securing these results. Muslims must be given due representations on the selection boards and panels at every level for minimising bias against Muslim candidates.
*Muslim representatives of proven integrity must also be put on supervisory boards and commission like banking boards, railways recruitment board etc. after reconstituting them.
*TADA (detainees) mostly innocent Muslims, should be released forthwith, at least on bail and their cases reviewed.
*The electronic media must be utilised for promoting communal harmony, emotional integration and creating a positive image of the Muslims. Commonly spoken Hindustani language (should be used) in government broadcasts or telecasts.
*For the proper implementation of the PM's 15 Point Programme for the welfare of the minorities a statutory body (should to constituted) with a mandate to review and to report the progress in the implementation. The Central Govt. should provide financial support to the 15-point programme.
*Right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice, should be enforced strictly, without interference from the executive.
*Urdu must be given its rightful place among the languages of the country.
Shahabuddin's Views on Delimitation of Constituencies, Letter to CPR, New Delhi, 8 October, 1997
I am totally in favour of fresh delimitation but I feel that the Lok Sabha seats should be delimited without taking the State boundaries into consideration, because it is the people of India who are represented in the Lok Sabha, just as the States are in the Rajya Sabha. It should then be possible to bring down the disparity between the highest and the lowest electorate within a State as also in the country as a whole.
Secondly, the constituencies reserved for the SC/ST should rotate among all the constituencies which have a SC/ST population, higher than their average population in the country, under a roster to be drawn up in advance; provided that, no constituency in which any religious minority has a high concentration should be reserved for SC/ST because that would mean cutting into the probability of the religious minorities being adequately represented in the Legislatures. At present they are consistently under-represented both in the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas.
I may add that the Supreme Court of Japan has given a ruling that disparity in the electorate amounts to a negation of democracy and that the US Supreme Court has asked for special Black-majority Congressional Districts to be carved out by deliberate gerrymandering, in order to raise the level of Black participation in the US Congress.
CPI(M): S.G. H.S. Surjeet on Kalyan Singh Government
The BJP, in its bid to muster majority in the Uttar Pradesh assembly and win the vote of confidence, not only indulged in horse trading but also supported and permitted the violation of provisions of the anti-defection act. Twelve BSP members who had left the BSP and who do not constitute one-third of the strength of the BSP legislature party were allowed to vote in the vote of confidence, defying the whip issued by the BSP. The speaker of the UP assembly, who is a BJP nominee, should have disqualified them after they had made known that they had left the BSP. This cannot be recognised as a split as per the provisions of the anti-defection act.
Moreover, press reports also indicate that non-members were allowed inside the house. The press has published photographs and also given names of these individuals.
The high moral pedestal on which the BJP has always sought to place itself has been torn to shreds. In its quest for power, it is willing not only to enter into unprincipled alliances but is also indulging in horse trading and unscrupulous means and manoeuvres.
The clear and flagrant violation of democratic norms by the BJP to cling on to power in Uttar Pradesh calls for unequivocal condemnation by all democratic forces. The moral and ethical facade that the BJP has tried to present should be exposed. The provisions of the anti-defection act should be applied and the 12 BSP legislators who had violated their party's whip should be disqualified.
(Source: The People Democracy, 2 November, 1997)
Salute to President Editorial, The Mainstream, 25 October, 1997
In the murky scenario what has stood out is the President of India's bold decision to send back the recommendation of the Union Council of Ministers for a review. This is doubtless unique in India's constitutional history. For this wise act on his part K.R. Narayanan deserves the wholehearted acclaim of all those who have the interests of the country at heart and are pledged to safeguard its democratic those. He is proving his worth as its true guardian by his display of extraordinary objectivity and uprightness. And this at a time when the country has been besieged by a bunch of unprincipled yet influential, petty crooks and gangsters parading as the people's representatives.
The battle to preserve our democratic heritage has now begun. In this long-drawn struggle we need figures of substance like Narayanan - and not the men of straw we come across so often in the political arena - to steer the country through the rough seas it is passing today.
H.K. Dua on the President's Role
A President, believing in treading the righteous path, has prevented what could have been a major blow to democracy in the country. Conscious of his duty to protect the Constitution, he took the unprecedented decision on Wednesday morning to return to the Cabinet its thoughtless recommendation for placing Uttar Pradesh under Central rule. It ultimately made the Cabinet reverse its decision.
By accepting Mr. K.R. Narayanan's sage advice to the contrary, the Cabinet has not only saved its face, but has also prevented a situation that could have led to a confrontation with the President as well as the Supreme Court and also unsettled the United front Government.
By making the Cabinet reverse its earlier decision, the President has sought to uphold highest democratic principles that were shamefully mauled in Lucknow on Tuesday. The Governor's report suggesting dissolution of the Assembly was patently malafide and unconstitutional. This was petty partisanship and unlawful exercise of authority.
Also, a divided government at the Centre yielded to pressures from the Congress on one side and the CPM on the other and opted for expediency in place of constitutional propriety.
Gross violation of democratic norms apart, the Assembly cannot be dissolved unless Parliament has already approved of the proclamation imposing President's rule. The Supreme Court held this view in the S.R. Bommai case. This could have led to a confrontation between an unreasonable executive and the apex court.
The decision could also bring about a serious breach of confidence, possibly a confrontation. Between the Cabinet and the President.
(Source: The Hindustan Times)
Bajrang Dal: Resolve to Take Back Lahore By 15 August, 1998
When Parliament meets for the midnight session on August 14 to celebrate the Independence Day, the Bajrang Dal, at the precise hour, administered the oath to the country's youth for restoration of Akhand Bharat pointed out President of the Bajrang Dal, Shri Jaibhan Singh Pavaiya.
"We have to take back Lahore. That is why the Bajrang Dal has given a slogan: 'Agla 15 August Lahore mein', which the Dal wants to make a popular mass slogan", he added.
