Editorial, "Can Courts Solve Political Disputes?", in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 15 January 2021, Vol. 17, Part 1, No. 1 issue

 CAN COURTS SOLVE POLITICAL DISPUTES?

Whatever may be the socioeconomic roots/ramifications of the farmers’ agitation surrounding our national capital, it cannot be gainsaid that it is mainly political, with several organizations and sundry political parties trying to fish in the troubled waters, citing excuses of farmers’ grievances. Witnessing the lifestyle of the agitating farmers with what their cars, tractors, tents, etc., one gets the impression that many of them are capitalist landlords, rich peasants, and others influenced by those sections – again many of them seem to be Sikhs, no way a deprived section in Indian polity, but quite an enterprising, thriving community, in a way much pampered by all the establishments concerned all along, except in the difficult decade of the 80s when they put their own religious/community interests above all; almost a majority among them supported the ideal of Khalistan, a separate Sikh State, too, which led ultimately to the rise of a Frankenstein monster, then the much-lamented Operation Blue Star and consequent cataclysms – assassination of a Prime Minister and resultant mayhem of anti-Sikh riots. Now with their increased prosperity, the Sikh community world over has become more assertive and aspirational and the demands for Khalistan have grown – planned and aided by Pakistan too – and become stronger and more vocal day by day. The beginning of this agitation is mainly due to this, and we do not see other farmers in other states much interested in it. At this juncture, our Supreme Court has stepped in, even stayed the operation of the three impugned farmers’ Acts, constituting a conciliation committee even. However, we feel – especially watching the postures of the agitation leaders rejecting any solution less than repeal of the three laws – the courts can never solve such basically political disputes, at the best it may work to facilitate their resolution, that’s all. The solution lies in bringing one consolidated Act instead of the two on farm products trading, price assurance, etc. incorporating two crucially needed amendments of 1) the promises on MSP with a guarantee of government purchase of up to 50% farm produce in case farmers need so & 2) protecting States’ powers and rights to levy duties on exports/imports of farm produce to/from other states/territories. This results in the automatic repeal of two of the three Acts; and regarding the third, fresh notifications, adding or deleting to the list of essential commodities, can be issued from time to time. ♣♣♣

Editorial, "CHANGING POWER ALIGNMENTS," in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 31 December 2020, Vol. 16, Part 2, No. 24 issue

 CHANIGING POWER ALIGNMENTS

in the international scenario, at so fast a pace, are alarming developments for peace and stability in the world. It is indeed very disturbing that the bright prospects of friendship and peace between us India and China indicated in the Modi-Xi Mahabalipuram talks in October 2019 changed so suddenly within 6-8 months due to the jingoist border policies/measures of the communal fanatic central government, perhaps in spite of Modi, to a serious conflict climate. Likewise the belligerent policies and measures of Trump, who unjustly makes China his ‘whipping boy’, have also, or in the main, contributed to a cold war situation with China and to an extent with Russia too. America, through Trump’s brash talk, but no less supported, and even exacerbated, by the ‘president-elect’ Biden’s aggressive postures, has been almost itching for a war with China, and started a serious trade war already with a number of sanctions, solely due to the jealousy of losing its status of the only superpower in the world due to China’s unparalleled growth in the last decade or so. It may also be noted that, despite Trump’s soft attitude, the American deep state has forced him into confrontation with Russia too and, instead of lifting the sanctions imposed by the Obama regime, he more vitiated the climate by his unwarranted support to Zionist chauvinism and the near terrorist tirade against Iran. Here too the Modi Government, with no discussion/debate at all in the Parliament, let alone in the public forums, has hastily shoved us into the US-NATO-Israel evil axis, shedding our traditional support to the just Palestinian causes in that most conflict-ridden region of the world. Now these fools have also forgone the bright prospects/profits we can have by shunning the recently concluded Asia-Pacific accord led by China, the world’s largest trade deal, in which many countries, even Australia and Japan, wisely joined. Instead they are egging on for a serious confrontation with China, by tagging our country to the warship of QUAD nations. Glad to note, however, that Russia and China have now joined hands for countering the imperialist, hegemonic frenzy of this evil axis, and for reshaping the world into a multi-polar, peace-loving union of diverse, self-respecting nations working for the cause of peace and welfare of entire humanity, and hope our people will also rise against the current bigot policies and measures of our government and join the tryst for such much-desired destiny. §§§

Editorial, "FARM LAWS (2020) AND FARMERS' AGITATION," in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 15 December 2020, Vol. 16, Part 2, No. 23 issue

FARM LAWS (2020) AND FARMERS’ AGITATION

That the recently enacted three farm laws to facilitate the free trade of agricultural produce all over India as also to promote the private/corporate sector’s role in this arena, were resented by a large section of the people one always knew but it was beyond anybody’s guess that it would snowball into so large an agitation blockading the national capital Delhi. In one sense it is a welcome development in that the farmers have bravely stood on their feet and defiantly marched for their just demands in this regard, but, in another sense, it is quite disturbing too as it is very much infested by Khalistani separatists so far as the main Punjab detachment is concerned and the farmers in rest of India seem to have not much grievance or fury against these laws though several farmers/organizations there also did/are seeking to add fuel to the fire. The protests organized in some big cities of the US and the West point to the role of the Khalistanis supported by Pakistan in this regard. All of us know how badly we suffered due to the Khalistani terrorist menace in the 1980s and are shocked by the extremist declarations of reaching the present PM Modi the same ‘fate’ as suffered by our former PM Indira Gandhi. To quote from the preamble of one of these farm acts, it is said these are “to provide for the creation of an ecosystem where the farmers and traders enjoy the freedom of choice relating to sale and purchase of farmers’ produce which facilitates remunerative prices through competitive alternative trading channels; to promote efficient, transparent and barrier-free inter-State and intra-State trade and commerce of farmers’ produce outside the physical premises of markets or deemed markets notified under various State agricultural produce market legislations; to provide a facilitative framework for electronic trading and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.” Not a wrong or unjust motive, but in this editor’s opinion these suffer from two main lacunae – one, the assurance of Minimum Support Price (MSP) to agricultural products of many varieties (not just the 23 or so notified so far), including perishable goods, has to be incorporated in these laws with an undertaking by governments to purchase at least 50% of the produce at MSP from the farmers if so necessitated. Secondly, the States’ sovereign rights and powers should be protected/promoted by suitable amendments to let them levy duties on imports/exports of agricultural produce to/from their states. Otherwise the present quasi-federal structure of the country itself may be seriously jeopardized by fissiparous tendencies. §§§ 

Editorial, "ELECTRONIC MACHINES, ELECTION FRAUDS," in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 15-30 November 2020, Vol. 16, Part 2, No. 21-22, special issue

ELECTRONIC MACHINES, ELECTION FRAUDS

With the current presidential [re-]election fiasco in the USA and the stubborn, refusing-to-concede, President Donald Trump countering the so-called ‘President-Elect’ Joe Biden, the political focus worldwide has shifted again toward the propriety and reliability of using electronic machines in election processes – be those voting or counting machines. Even in India, we feel that, widespread rigging was conducted incognito through electronic voting machines in 2014 elections, but more so in the 2019 central and states’ elections, which had tilted the balance toward some established parties to a great extent; as such, since long, we have been calling for going back to the paper ballot. It is significant to note that in developed democracies in the West, paper ballot is cherished more and electronic voting is not used, or now shunned, in most of them, including France and Germany, mainly due to cybersecurity concerns. In the recent US presidential elections, not only electronic voting but even counting machines seem to have played havoc and were manipulated to alter a definite win for the incumbent president to the so-called ‘victory’ for a corrupt and inept ‘president-elect’. President Trump is inflexibly resisting this fraudulent outcome and litigating in several courts with lots of evidence regarding electoral frauds and we wish all success to his efforts. The Dominion Voting machines, of Venezuelan origin, notorious for their alleged rigging of elections in Venezuela, have been used in the Swing States by the Democrats’ controlled cities and lakhs of votes were manipulated. The other big problem was the mail-in-votes fraud; lakhs of falsely signed mail-in-votes dumps suddenly emerged to  enable the losing Biden attain slender majorities by the next morning. Hence, even now, the said swing states’ legislatures can disregard this so-called ‘popular vote’ [including by the dead, non-resident, non-existing etc. mail-in voters] as a fraud on the people and send all electors for Trump by the time Electoral College finally meets on 14 December; that is neither unconstitutional nor illegal. Further, we may note that the unincorporated remote territory of Guam had, by public law 28-152, prohibited any sort of electronic voting ever since 2006 though it allowed counting machines. However, present developments show that even the counting machines are capable of flipping-the-votes, etc. frauds. So, unless the cybersecurity concerns are properly addressed in all or at least several major democracies in the world, electornic voting and counting should be strictly prohibited; and the mail-in-votes also must be limited to specific categories of people like government servants, armed forces, senior citizens of advanced age, seriously ailing handicapped persons etc. and that too with strict scrutiny standards as followed in our Indian postal ballot system. §§§ 

Editorial, "MYTH AND REALITY," in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 31 October 2020, Vol. 16, Part 2, No. 20 issue

 MYTH AND REALITY

That the Adivasi Gond martyr Komaram Bheem had organized a very big rebellion to overthrow the Nizam’s rule that was suppressed with much bloodshed and difficulty with great losses to the government forces is a myth. That he was a discontented, rebellious tribal with inspirational/ organizing capabilities and fought against the illegal, forcible evictions of himself and fellow-tribals from their longstanding podu (shifting cultivation) lands is true and in that course though he used his gun just once he did not injure any ‘enemy’ but in the cruel and excessive counter-firing by the Nizam’s forces he and 10 other Gonds were killed is the actual reality. The above assertion of this editor raked up much criticism but then this narration of the event by a famous Austrian anthropologist could be the only counter: “… [Kumra] Bhimu and his supporters had no revolutionary aims, and their demands were simply freedom from harassment and extortions by forest subordinates, and the right to live undisturbed in their ancestral homeland. Negotiations with Bhimu and his supporters by the district officers were clearly mismanaged, and were abortive ……. Bhimu refused to give himself up, and when a police party advanced into the hills, where he and his followers had gathered, Bhimu fired a shot without wounding anyone. Thereupon the police opened fire, killed Bhimu and ten other gonds on the spot, and wounded many more. The incident left the Gonds deeply resentful of the policy of government … particularly of the forest officials, who intensified their oppression and exploitation, using the example of Bhimu's fate as a threat whenever Gonds resisted their exactions. [von Fürer-Haimendorf, Christoph: Tribes of India: The Struggle for Survival, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982, http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ ft8r29p2r8/, pp. 91-93].” In contrast, the ruthless firings and killings of scores of tribals at Indravelli in the same district [on 20-04-1981] by the police forces in independent India were much gruesome and unequivocally true. But bitter truths are never palatable to the public hearts, which revel in weird imaginations like the filmy fictions of the Rajamouli like. Now for his RRR fiction, he is facing the furor of the extremist public. But what if to the incredible illusions of the public Rajamouli added another of Kumra Bhimu donning a Muslim guise and escaping? What discerning persons, and especially constitutional courts, should consider is as to whether spreading disinformation with completely untruthful narrations about legendary freedom fighters/social activists is permissible unless open disclaimers be made that the story is entirely fictional and not about any living/actually lived person. §§§

Editorial, "HATHRAS HORROR," in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 15 October 2020, Vol. 16, Part 2, No. 19 issue

 HATHRAS HORROR

seems to be unprecedented/unparalleled in the rape-cum-murder annals of the country, not just in the manner of the offence committed but also in the manner of the after-treatment of the victim and investigation of the offence even. It is indeed more horrible in its evolution than the terrific Nirbhaya rape case in Delhi 2012 which led to further tightening of the rape law by the making of certain amendments – known as the Nirbhaya Act. A brief description of the event: “The incident took place on 14 September 2020, when the victim, a 19-year-old Dalit woman went to a farm to collect cattle fodder. Four men – Sandip, Ramu, Lavkush and Ravi – allegedly dragged her away by dupatta around her neck injuring her spinal cord in the process. The four upper caste men accused … allegedly belong to the Thakur caste. The violence left her paralyzed with a severe spinal cord injury [and her] tongue cut off. The perpetrators had tried to strangulate the girl as she resisted …. She ended up biting her tongue while being strangled. Her cries were heard by her mother, who came to the spot to find her lying down in the farm. She was at first taken to the Chand Pa police station, where the police rejected her claims and, [per] the family, humiliated them. The police registered a complaint only on [20-09-2020]. The police were able to record the victim's statement on [22-09-2020]. In her three recorded statements she mentioned that "she was raped" and was strangulated when she attempted to resist. The victim was initially admitted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh on 14 September, with her spinal cord severely damaged; … later shifted to the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi after her condition worsened. According to the police, the victim had been strangled with her dupatta. She died on 29 September 2020.” Now comes the more terrific part: “The victim was cremated on the night at about 2:30 am on 29-09-2020 by [U.P.] Police without the consent or knowledge of the victim's family. The brother of the victim alleged that it was done without family's consent and … they were locked up in their house; …also … that petrol was used for cremation. [But the police version is that] … the family's consent was taken. / The forced cremation led the Allahabad High Court to take suo moto cognizance. … The bench [said], "The incidents which took place after the death of the victim on 29.09.2020 leading up to her cremation, as alleged, have shocked our conscience" [Wikipedia]” {The Allahabad HC decision is reproduced in this issue}. All this is quite heartrending; and very unusual that the police forcibly cremate a victim, that too in the night time, against the will/customs of the family. Such police excesses, perhaps under political compulsions, severely shake people’s confidence in democracy and rule of law, and must be dealt with strictly by the constitutional courts. 

Editorial, "HOW THE CHICKEN DISAPPEARED!?", in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 30 September 2020, Vol. 16, Part 2, No. 18 issue

HOW THE CHICKEN DISAPPEARED!?

“All are Srivaishnavas, then how the chicken disappeared?” (అంతా శ్రీవైష్ణవులే, కోడిపిల్ల ఎలా మాయమైంది? – Srivaishnavas are supposed to be strict vegetarians) - so queries a Telugu axiom. That the disputed (Babri Masjid-Ramjanambhoomi) structure was openly demolished by hundreds of vandals posing as Kar Sevaks aided and abetted by thousands of fanatic colleagues and scores of BJP/RSS/ VHP Shiv Sena leaders on 6 December 1992 is a too well-known, generally admitted fact and Justice Liberhan Commission, one of the longest inquiry commissions in India, setting out the sequence of events in sufficient detail, remarked (in the introduction to its 2009 report) that “…this demolition of the disputed structure was one of the worse catastrophes for the nation, mankind, good governance, socialism and for a society governed by the rule of law. …a defacement of the country at the international fora, an act of violence against ……fundamental rights and against the concept of reasoned argument…….” The Commission had specifically pointed out 68 persons including Advani, Vajpayee, Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti, Bal Thackaray, V.P. Singhal, et al as culpable for this heinous act. Harsh observations were made by the Commission regarding the collusion, connivance, even abetment and aid by the then Kalyan Singh led BJP government in UP and the Masjid’s ultimate demolition also. However, though no such observations were made against the then Prime Minister, this editor asserts that then PM PV Narasimha Rao also aided and abetted this notorious enterprise by his calculated inaction. And, well, the less said of the failure and inaction of the judiciary the better. So, in that background, and in the context of the recent pervert decision of the Apex Court setting aside the wiser Allahabad High Court judgment and handing over the entire disputed structure plot to the same communal fanatics (now in government at the center also), it is no surprise that Sri SK Yadav, the CBI Court Judge, trying 32 accused – Advani, MM Joshi, Uma Bharti et al for the demolition offences, chose it wise to acquit all of them. The communal fanatics may gleefully celebrate this occasion but it only portends the general fall of the nation – in terms of necessary morals, religious and ideological tolerance and basic respect to fundamental rights of citizens – and perhaps even the eventual ruin of the country a la Battle of Tallikota (which totally devastated the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire in 1565 AD) if any bitter struggles and wars ensue in future on this what may be termed a never-ending-sore-like-issue of the country. §§§