Views On News 07 August 2016

VIEWSONNEWSAUGUST 7, 2016 `50
www.viewsonnewsonline.com
Indian Railways’
Rough Charms
By Anil Shakya 38
Saving Our
Dying Mother
By Srishti Sonewal 34
They Died for
their Principle
By Mahima Chowdhary
32
Sania Smashes
Rajdeep Serve
By Sucheta Dasgupta
28
TMM on
Modi’s South
Africa trip
54
ALSO
Attacksonthenetaregetting
increasinglypolarizedandtheuseof
Photoshopeithertoridicule
celebsorforharmlessfun,isrising
By Sunil Saxena10
Morph
Mania!

IT WAS A late awakening. Post the July 1, 2016,
terrorist strike in a Dhaka bakery, there had been
news reports that at least one of the attackers
acted under the influence of speeches made by a
certain televangelist who ran a channel called
Peace TV. Voila! The Indian media was suddenly
and loudly vocal about his insidious sermons and
their inimical effect on Muslim youth and society.
The founder of the Mumbai-based Islamic Re-
search Foundation and the Dubai-based Peace TV,
Zakir Naik has, in fact, a huge fan following among
middle-class Muslims in India. The “world’s lead-
ing Salafi preacher” was banned from entering the
UK and Canada in 2010 due to the content of his
speeches but was given the
King Faisal International
Prize in 2015 by King
Salman of Saudi Arabia for
his “services to Islam”. Part
of Naik’s appeal lies in his
persona—he is English-
spoken, has an MBBS de-
gree (though some reports
say he dropped out of med-
ical college) and wears
suits. His speeches are
strongly sexist, misogynis-
tic, homophobic, anti-art
and supremacist.
The Indian media shrilly
debated whether or not to
“ban” Zakir Naik, whether he
was a “terrorist” and, yes,
(something as simplistic as) whether one should
be “for” or “against” him. Right-wing groups such
as the Hindu Sanatan Sanstha took to the streets
demanding his arrest. “Left-libbers” continued with
their platitudes and head-in-the-sand approach to
matters. The discussion was soon reduced to an
argument over who is more “condemnable”—the
Hindu fundamentalist or the Muslim radical.
Meanwhile, Naik had flown out of Mumbai,
where the IRF is based, to seek shelter in Dubai.
Subsequently, the home ministry announced that
Peace TV has no broadcast rights in India and its
application to renew them are currently pending
with the Indian government. It also announced a
probe into IRF for alleged misuse of funds to sup-
port jihadist activities.
After appropriate time had been spent and the
issue, in terms of TRPs, had begun to bring in
diminishing returns, the debate died down—sans
a resolution.
The Zakir Naik controversy had presented to the
Indian media a rare chance of opening a dialogue
into newer interpretations of the Islamic scrip-
tures—the Quran and Hadiths—and the
regressive mores of Muslim society. Disappoint-
ingly though quite predictably, it had wasted that
golden opportunity.
A notable development during the unraveling of
the controversy, though, was that Milli Gazette, a
mainstream Muslim news portal, actually took a
stand in support of Naik! Its reason: many Muslims
in the country look to him as an “ideal” – a “true
Muslim” who knows his faith. And therein lies
Peace TV Controversy:
A Missed Opportunity
EDITOR’SNOTE
3VIEWS ON NEWS August 7, 2016

the root of the problem.
One of the biggest crises faced by the world
today is the Islamic conundrum. The reason that
Naik’s speeches, which are being aired on Peace
TV since 2006, did not raise a red flag in the gov-
ernment or the media for as long as 10 years is
only because, aside from differences in rhetoric
and presentation style, they convey nothing new
or different to the listener in terms of substance—
other than what they have already received from
clerics, maulvis and community leaders. That
these “teachings” promote a version of Islam that
is dreary and incompatible with the modern world,
that keeps its followers backward and turns them
into victims in the long run, and that ultimately,
both directly and indirectly, results in their radical-
ization is the uncomfortable truth.
Yet, a conversation around everything that is
wrong with mainstream Islamic scholarship and
Muslim religious scholars around the world has
been effectively hijacked by the Hindutva brigade
and its shallow opponents—ones who would
compromise universal human values, like freedom,
reason and excellence, in order to appear respect-
ful of cultural ones. They do not acknowledge the
need to question sharia law, which is banned in
many places in the world, or explore why Islam is
the only religion that has not seen a reformation
and that has a significant population still locked in
the Middle Ages. But these difficult questions need
to be asked.
Already, several modern-day Muslim scholars
have offered pluralistic and gender-sensitive inter-
pretations of Islamic scriptures. Amina Wadud, an
Islamic scholar and one of the first few women to
lead a congregation of prayers, has called for a “re-
formed theology” that delves into the depth of Is-
lamic scriptures and sayings of the Prophet and
questions patriarchal biases from the roots. In the
US and in Canada, there are inclusive mosque ini-
tiatives that hold prayer meetings for Muslims
Editor’s Note
4 VIEWS ON NEWS August 7, 2016
An appropriate response
to the crisis has to be
generated. Like the one
presented by Somali-born
Dutch politician Ayaan
Hirsi Ali (right)
and writer Irshad Manji
(far right) who want to
reform Islam from
the inside.
Part of Zakir
Naik’s (right)
appeal lies in his
persona—he is
English-spoken,
has an MBBS
degree (though
some reports
say he dropped
out of medical
college) and
wears suits.

across sect, gender and sexual
orientation.
Then we have Taslima Nas-
reen who is, admittedly, an
atheist and does not identify as
a Muslim but who has chal-
lenged the sharia law as well as
various cultural practices in Is-
lamic society and was the sub-
ject of Naik’s first debate in
1994—he strongly opposed
her outlook. Pertinently, too,
shouldn’t Islam, like some
other faiths, evolve to accom-
modate atheism in its philoso-
phy? The 12th century
polymath, the rationalist Ibn
Rushd, also known as Aver-
roes, may have been in favor of
that step.
Another person who has
risen to the occasion and wants
to reform Islam from the inside
is Irshad Manji, writer of the 2005 book, The Trou-
ble With Islam Today. She is a Muslim “refusenik”
who espouses and seeks to revive the Islamic tra-
dition of ijtihad or independent reasoning over cru-
sade or jihad.
And who can ignore the Somali-born Dutch
politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali who famously said, “as
long as Muslims say IS has nothing to with Islam
or talk of Islamophobia they are not ready to reform
their faith”. Ali was a close associate of the charis-
matic Pim Fortuyn, a sociologist who had pro-
posed a bar on immigrants and was assassinated
in 2002 just when his party was set to sweep the
general election, because he was a “threat to mi-
nority rights”. “I would rather clean than beg,” Ali
has said on the issue of allowing Muslim migrants
into the Netherlands.
The Arab Spring ended in civil war in the Middle
East and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood. But
the churning has started within the Islamic world.
Sadly, our media is blind to it—let alone be a part
of this renaissance. But then again, without ac-
knowledging these newsmakers, it cannot gener-
ate the appropriate response—either to the
problem of addressing the needs of the Muslim
community or the terrorism that threatens all of us.
Even vis-à-vis the Zakir Naik case, its late awak-
ening is, therefore, only a partial one.
The Zakir Naik controversy had presented to
the Indian media a rare chance of opening a
dialogue into newer interpretations of the
Islamic scriptures—the Quran and Hadiths—
and the regressive mores of Muslim society.

C O NLEDE
BOOK EXTRACT
For an EqualWorld
Editor
Rajshri Rai
Managing Editor
Ramesh Menon
Deputy Managing Editor
Shobha John
Executive Editor
Ajith Pillai
Bureau Chiefs
Neeta Kolhatkar, Mumbai
Naveen Nair, Chennai
Vipin Kumar Chaubey, Lucknow
B N Tamta, Dehradun
Principal Correspondent
Harendra Chowdhary, Mathura
Reporters
Alok Singh, Allahabad
Gaurav Sharma, Varanasi
Associate Editors
Meha Mathur, Sucheta Dasgupta
Deputy Editor
Prabir Biswas
Staff Writer
Usha Rani Das
Senior Sub-Editor
Shailaja Paramathma
Art Director
Anthony Lawrence
Deputy Art Editor
Amitava Sen
Sr. Visualizer
Rajender Kumar
Graphic Designers
Ram Lagan,
Photographer
Anil Shakya
Photo Researcher/News Coordinator
Kh Manglembi Devi
Production
Pawan Kumar
Convergence Manager
Mohul Ghosh
Senior Content Writer (Web)
Punit Mishra
Technical Executive (Social Media)
Sonu Kumar Sharma
Technical Executive
Anubhav Tyagi
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In this excerpt from ClaimingIndiafromBelow, edited byVipul Mudgal,
ARUNA ROY explains why the Right to Information is the key to
sustaining the practice of democracy in our country
Morphed Messages
Attacks on the net are getting increasingly polarized and the use of
Photoshop to ridicule people, especially celebrities, is rising. But so
are instances of humor and creativity by fans. SUNIL SAXENA
14
EDUCATION
20
The Institute’s director, Gajendra Chauhan, plans to introduce new
courses and grade the faculty in order to make it a world-class campus.
NEETA KOLHATKAR
Makeover for FTII

Battleground
Uttar Pradesh
T E N T S
R E G U L A R S
Edit..................................................3
Quotes.............................................8
Media-Go-Round..........................22
Webcrawler......................................30
Design Review.................................44
Breaking News............................. 46
As the World Turns....................... 48
TMM.................................................54
Cover design: Anthony Lawrence
PHOTO FEATURE
ANCHOR REVIEW
Sania smashes
Rajdeep
24
28
32
38
IndiaToday’s well-know anchor asked the
29-year-old six-time Grand Slam winner
when she planned to retire and start a
family. He got an apt reply.
SUCHETA DASGUPTA
Kindred Spirits
Qandeel Baloch and Ishrat Akhond
came from different generations and
countries but both opposed cultural
bigotry and dreamt of a better world.
SUCHETA DASGUPTA and
MAHIMA CHOWDHARY
OPINION
By drawing even closer to the United
States and signing binding agreements,
India is giving up years of carefully
calibrated balance in its foreign policy,
writes PREM SHANKAR JHA in The Wire
Too Close for
Comfort
EDITORS’ PICK
A series of snapshots showcasing
the intrepid Indian traveler and
the serendipitous moments of the
long train journey. ANIL SHAKYA
The Railways’
Rough Charms
VIEWS ON NEWS August 7, 2016 7
ENVIRONMENT
34
The `20,000 crore Namami Gange
project aims to clean up the polluted
river and restore its ecological flow. But
with flaws in planning and many
obstacles, it is anybody’s guess
whether it will succeed or not.
SRISHTI SONEWAL
Saving Mother
Ganga
POLITICS
50
The BJP is banking on its 2014
formula for these state elections,
but re-implementing it is a tall
task. A new strategy is direly
needed. MANTOSH SHARMA

U O T E S
Subramanian Swamy,
BJP leader
I am tweeting everyone tweet on
RamTemple.That does not mean I
approve or agree?
Barkha Dutt, TV
journalist, columnist
When I began reporting Burhan
Wani story even sane RW said I
was a terror sympathiser.You cant
club us with inane prime time bom-
basts now.
Ashok Malik, media-
person and columnist
Sidhu sorts out AAP’s lack of a
recognisable Jat Sikh face in Punjab.
Makes it that much stronger for
2017. Futile to pretend otherwise
Kiran Bedi,
Puducherry governor
Agencies which deal with family
violence must know how to be
effective. And not just be there,
as is in many cases.
Imran Khan, cricketer-
politician
Ppl will rise to defend democracy
when govt delivers. Despite contro-
versies, Erdogan delivered on
human dev, health and education.
Senator Sherry
Rehman of Pakistan
How many Qandeels will this Govt
need to drop the forgiveness clause
that sanctions “dishonourable”
killings?
Shobhaa De, author
and columnist
You know there is something drasti-
cally wrong in the State of Punjab
when Udta Navjot is said to be fly-
ing high as a future C.M.
“At the behest of the honorable
PM, I had accepted the Rajya
Sabha nomination for the
welfare of Punjab.With the
closure of every window leading
to Punjab, the purpose stands
defeated. It is now a mere
burden. I prefer not to carry it.”
—Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot
Singh Sidhu after resigning as BJP
Rajya Sabha MP, in The Times of india
“Have I joined IAS to do a job or to become a
part of your sadistic propaganda machine? In
fact when I qualified this exam I never
thought of spending my whole life scratching
the desk and if this nonsense around me
continues, I might prefer to resign
sooner than later.”
—Shah Faesal, the first Kashmiri to top
the civil services entrance exams, on
Facebook
“They will pay a heavy price for
this. This uprising is a gift from
God to us because this will be a
reason to cleanse our army.”
—Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
at the mass funeral of people killed in the
failed coup attempt in Turkey, in the Daily Mail
“Salman is intimidating and he is not some-
one who would go out of his way to make you
feel comfortable. He’s going to be himself and
he’ll just do his thing. And I’m very shy as a
person so I can’t bridge that gap either.”
—Anushka Sharma, on Buzzfeed

Social Media
Morphed Pictures
N September 23, 2014, sport-
ing legend Roger Federer
posted two tweets that had
India buzzing. The tennis star
wanted Indians to show him
the best places he should visit during his trip to
Delhi. His appeal was simple: “Show me where I
should visit and I’ll retweet the best pics!” He
even created a Twitter handle: #PhotoshopRF.
Federer’s Indian fans rose to the challenge and
over the next few days, he was photoshopped in
scores of Indian avatars, each more hilarious than
the other. He was photoshopped as a sapera
(snake charmer), a vendor selling shirts in
Chandni Chowk, a banana seller, a devotee taking
a holy dip and many more avatars. Federer did
not have to retweet the pictures. In a matter of
hours, #PhotoshopRF became a great example of
crowdsourced creativity. Even today, these pic-
tures on Twitter are a testament to the creativity
of Federer’s Indian fans.
This was probably the first instance of a
celebrity crowdsourcing morphed pictures. More
recently, American actor Chris Pratt did the
same. In a Facebook post on July 31, 2015, the
Jurassic Park star exhorted his fans to create a
header for his Facebook page. Posted Pratt: “Who-
ever replies with the best header (make sure your
signature is big enough to be seen) will have the
honor of it being my official header.” What’s
more, the winner was promised that the Facebook
header “could be a great way for me to notice you
and give you accolades plus maybe a free dinner
at applebees or something like that, who knows
sky’s the limit.”
UNFORGIVING MEDIUM
These are two examples where social media was
respectful, and where the morphed images did
not reflect anger, bias, hate or scorn. However,
mostly it is ridicule that is the driving factor and
the targets invariably are celebrities. The
medium is unforgiving. At times, it brings out
the worst in human beings.
At the same time, it is also a great leveler. It
does not encourage falsehoods. The Press Infor-
mation Bureau (PIB) got a taste of people’s scorn
in December 2015 when it posted a morphed pic-
ture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The
touched-up photograph was radically different
from the one that showed Modi looking intently
O
Framed
for Life!Attacks on the net are getting increasingly
polarized and the use of Photoshop
to ridicule people, especially celebrities,
is increasing
BY SUNIL SAXENA

through the aircraft window while making an
aerial survey of flood-hit Chennai.
The photograph tweeted by Modi was clearly
a picture taken from a height. It showed a land-
mass in the distance below with water around it.
But the doctored image had apartment complexes
under water. Clearly, PIB’s spin doctors had su-
perimposed an existing picture on the photo-
graph taken in the aircraft. It was a glaring case
of doctoring, and social media latched on to it
quickly. The hapless image-maker of the govern-
ment realized the mistake and hurriedly removed
the altered photograph from its website.
However, it continued to circulate on social
media. Soon, these enthusiasts flooded Twitter
with photoshopped images of the PM conducting
an aerial survey that were absolutely hilarious.
These included Modi looking out of the window
and finding a bemused Donald Trump looking
back at him. Another showed a Russian fighter
plane going down in flames. Yet another had
Baba Ramdev floating up to Modi. The message
was clear. People do not want to be misled and in
social media they have found a platform to ex-
press their displeasure.
ACCEPT THE HUMOR
For netas and babus, social media is like a mirror.
It spits out people’s reactions like an AK-47 gone
berserk. One can sympathize with celebrities who
are at the wrong end of the social media gun. But
then, one must accept that its humor, which at
times may be ugly and dark, is triggered by the
celebrities themselves.
Unfortunately, social media, like the country,
has become polarized. The attacks at time are
clearly targeted and are driven by political
vendetta. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who
created history by winning 67 of the 70 seats in
Delhi, is always in the eye of a social media sto-
rm. His every move is scrutinized closely, and
then lampooned on Twitter. Two popular hash-
tags that refuse to go away are #mufflerman and
#mufflermanreturns. You can see morphed im-
ages of Kejriwal on these hashtags every time you
visit Twitter. Most of these spoofs are morphed
film posters or photoshopped pictures of the
SOME LAUGHTER,
SOME CONTROVERSY
(Above) Roger Federer in his
morphed Indian avatar
(Below) Prime Minister
Narendra Modi looking
out of his aircraft window at
a photoshopped image of
the Chennai floods

and is extremely careful and ethical. His creations
are not meant to run down politicians or
celebrities. They are a subtle way of making po-
litical or social statements. The same can be said
of some of the morphed images posted on social
media, especially on Twitter. They bring humor
and smiles to conversations. At times, they are a
powerful comment too.
However, this cannot be said of those mor-
phed images that are meant to defame, demean
or show women in a poor light. Social media
users do great injustice to actresses when they su-
perimpose their faces on scantily clad women.
The suicide of a young woman in Tamil Nadu,
who was a victim of one such obscene post, is an
example of how social media can become a mon-
ster. The photoshopped image of Kanhaiya, the
much-maligned JNU student union president,
where he is shown speaking in front of a
divided map of India, is another example of how
Photoshop can be used to frame individuals. This
cannot be accepted. The creators of such mor-
phed images need to be punished. They cannot
be allowed to defame individuals, cause extreme
mental anguish or spread social disharmony.
(The writer is Dean, School of
Communication, GD Goenka University)
AAP politician.
The novelty of these morphed images lies in
their originality, and the speed with which they
are created. It is as if people are waiting for an op-
portunity to use Photoshop to make a political
statement. All that they need is a prompt to get
their creative juices flowing.
SCORN FOR SMRITI
Recently, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi
reshuffled his cabinet, Smriti Irani became
the center of adverse attention. Two hashtags—
#byebyeSmriti and #UddgayiSmriti—began trend-
ing on Twitter within hours of her shifting. One
Twitter user morphed a Mona Lisa image to
display his scorn; another posted an image of a
badly ripped dress as “the future of Textile Min-
istry”. Needless to say, several Twitter handles
that tweeted or retweeted such images had the
Congress name in them.
The Congress scion, Rahul Gandhi, has been
a similar target of saffron ridicule.
The photoshopped images, especially the ones
that lampoon politicians, can be compared to tra-
ditional cartoons. The professional cartoonist, of
course, is neutral, and creates his own work. He
never piggybacks on someone else’s creation.
Also, unlike social media, he never takes sides
In social
media,
ridicule is the
driving factor
and the targets
are mostly
celebrities, like
Smriti Irani,
Narendra
Modi, et al.
The medium is
unforgiving.
At times, it
brings out the
worst in
human beings.
Social Media
Morphed Pictures

S a concept and in practice,
democracy has more than
one meaning and many in-
terpretations. It is layered,
nuanced and complex.
Democracy is an idea that
has worked its way from the Greeks to modern
times. It offers the most liberal and the most nar-
row-minded space through the vote to govern.
A
In this extract from Claiming India from Below, edited by
Vipul Mudgal, ARUNA ROY explains why the right to
information is the key to sustaining the practice
of democracy in our country
For a More
Equal World
People feel a sense of involvement with the state,
and in the pen¬ultimate sense, there is a possibil-
ity that they can control their destiny. The word
when unpacked can offer as many meanings as
there are users. For those who persistently suffer
inequality and injustice, it is the only accept¬able
political structure, which allows them minimal
space to participate in the business of governance.
It translates into the promise of equality and jus-
SEAT OF DEMOCRACY
The Indian Parlia-
ment passed the
Right to Information
Act in 2005
Book Excerpt
Claiming India from Below

ernance has been unpacked with the trans-
parency campaigns and its mysteries have been
unraveled. For governance can be both—a vehicle
for delivery of public goods as well as a means for
promoting or violating citizens' rights. When the
Right to Information (RTI) campaign began 20
years ago, people in general did not grasp its crit-
ical importance. The basic underpinning of the
need to be informed to fight corruption and ar-
bitrary use of power became apparent in the ini-
tial years with the struggles of the Mazdoor Kisan
Shakti Sangathan (MKSS). Initially, the RTI was
often dismissed as a superfluity. It seemed an es-
oteric indulgence in the face of fundamental dep-
rivations and lack of access to food, shelter,
health, land, livelihood and many other needs.
The MKSS was often told in a patronizing
tice, though it eludes us in its performance.
The discussion and the continuing debate of
the comparative value of electoral and participa-
tory democracy will not end today. Nor, for that
matter, will it cease to be projected as an either/or
proposition unless public perception and dis-
course change. However, we, who use democracy
know that electoral democracy is not versus par-
ticipatory democracy; and friends or foes is a def-
inition with which many of us are distinctly
uncomfortable. The relationship between the two
can be best described as dialectic.
In the last 20 years of India's political history,
we have reconfirmed to ourselves that we want
both the formal and more specific system of elec-
tions and governance on the one hand, and the
politics of conscience and a critique of the estab-
lishment on the other, which are both necessary
for India's health. Both these processes, in the
context of Constitutional guarantees, deepened
our idea of democracy and strengthened our un-
derstanding. There is a third entrant to this de-
bate on the concept of political accountability,
and that could be called governance.
The amorphous and opaque business of gov-
NEEDED, CHECKS & BALANCES
The RTI Act has
brought in much-needed
accountability to our
methods of governance
The opaque business of governance has
been unpacked with the transparency
campaigns. For governance can be both—a
vehicle for delivery of public goods as well
as a means for violating citizens' rights.

AMBEDKAR AND DEMOCRACY IN INDIA
Independence—and the vote did not just remove
the foreign ruler, it also removed the monarchies
that ruled India—removed the legal legitimacy of
the feudal lords that ruled the countryside. How-
ever, Ambedkar clearly had a vision of what India
would be like after the first flush of independence
had faded away, the caste and feudal rulers had
regrouped and the capitalist class had begun to
come to terms with parliamentary democracy. As
Ambedkar said, “If we do not bring about social
and economic equality, will this Constitution and
its powerful principles survive? Has democracy
been taken over so completely by powerful vested
interests, that there is no hope for it being a vehi-
cle of progressive change?”
Actually, our experience over the last three
decades shows us that the poor are trying. De-
spite all its flaws, they are the biggest defenders
of the vote and the rudimentary form of democ-
racy it brings. But they are fighting to claim a
share of power, and like all marginalized people,
they are struggling to shape a democracy that
will give them greater voice and equality. In this
battle, they are also looking for allies. The RTI
Act was fought for by
groups of poor people in
Rajasthan, who fought a
most extraordinary battle.
They used their own cir-
cumstances—their own
truth—to establish a wider
set of principles of ethics
and justice. They fought for
months, actually years, to
win something that would
bring nothing economically
into their homes. But they
won a battle that would give
them, and others like them,
a means by which to strug-
gle with dignity and truth
on their side. No middle
manner that it should work within its immediate
concerns. What did a bunch of workers and peas-
ants know of information? It was a sophisticated
and intellectual tool and definitely outside the
ambit of its concerns. The bunch of peasants
proved it otherwise. The now-famous slogan ‘The
Right to Know, The Right to Live’ established the
link between information and livelihood and life
more clearly than speeches could. In fighting for
their right to know for survival, they set up a
campaign which ended with the RTI law being
passed in the Parliament in 2005. The rest is
shared history. Many ordinary Indians, who de-
fined the route to equality and dignity, under-
stood that the demand to know was an important
precondition for survival. It spread its message
through theatre and song, where its theory was
embedded in the simple lyrics of an illiterate Dalit
poet, Mohanji, who said: Pehle wala chor bhaiyan
bandookoh se martho re, abhe wala chor to kala-
maon maro re, raj choron ka, jamana bhaiyan
rishwatkhoron ka, raj choron ka (The dacoit in
older times killed with a gun The dacoit of today
kills you with a pen, It is a rule by dacoits It is the
time of the corrupt, It is a rule by dacoits).
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Citizens vote in Moradabad
during the 2014 general
elections
‘What is
truth?’ asked
Pontius Pilate
of Jesus as he
sentenced him
to die, and did
not wait for
an answer!
Oppression
enslaves the
oppressor as
well. And
truth is a lib-
erating factor.
Book Excerpt

class community would or could ever sustain a
struggle over a decade unless it concerned its
own personal interest. But we have seen that the
poor are willing to risk all that they have to fight
for a better world. In transparency and account-
ability, they found a way to hold a mirror to their
oppressors and reach out to create allies from
across the class and caste divides.
‘What is truth?’ asked Pontius Pilate of Jesus
as he sentenced him to die, and did not wait for
an answer! Oppression enslaves the oppressor as
well. And truth is a liberating factor. While there
are many like Pontius Pilate, who do not want to
face the truth, there are many who persist in get-
ting an answer. The fault lines are not as clear as
it would seem. A holistic view of society is equally
the concern of those who understand the need for
ethics in public life in its multiple manifestations,
as a primary necessity to democratic governance.
Alliances can and are being built, and in the RTI
movement today, it is clear that almost every seg-
ment of society sees its importance and has no
choice but to accept its consequences. For the
most part, these help bring people back into de-
cision-making, and decision-making closer to the
rhetoric of justice and equality.
RTI and its debate have come a long way.
Today, not only is the business of running offices,
maintaining files, ration shops, health centres and
schools scrutinized by the ordinary citizen, but
also the understanding has gone way beyond to
grapple with the way policies and legislations are
framed, the way fine print is examined in con-
tracts and deals through which the wheels of cor-
ruption are oiled. RTI takes its users on a
conveyor belt of politicisation, where accounta-
bility, auditing, planning and implementing all
connect to one another through the yet to be
worked out concept of democratic participation.
The discomfort caused by transparency and
public accountability is, in fact, a yardstick of its
effectiveness. The people have been able to evolve
a system where accountability is translated into a
question asked and an answer extracted, to ensure
credibility and integrity. Government systems
created to monitor and prevent corruption or the
misuse of power—vigilance, anti-corruption de-
partments and so on— have failed to do so.
The RTI is a constant discomfort for the bu-
reaucracy and the political establishment, as the
spate of contradictions have exposed years of ar-
bitrariness in governance. It was part of the 20th
century discourse that the remedy to a malevolent
or dysfunctional state lay in grabbing or accessing
the positions of power within the state. The his-
tory of the last century has shown that this is not
good enough, because there is little practice
amongst revolutionaries in establishing systems
of equality. Also, it is an axiomatic truth that
power corrupts, and after a lifetime of berating
and fighting those in power, suddenly the revolu-
tionary finds the perspective changing as power
begins to domesticate the new rulers into the
Founded in 1987 by Aruna Roy (left) and
Nikhil Dey, among others, the Mazdoor
Kisan Shakti Sangathan civil rights
movement grew out of the demand for
minimum wage for workers.

including climate change. There is the pragmatic
apprehension of the threat of earthquakes, in a
tsunami—affected area. The rational question of
why there cannot be more humane answers to en-
ergy needs remain unanswered. The economic
paradigm makes questions of conservation and
less consumption taboo. When a question be-
comes taboo, then there is much to hide.
When people begin to ask questions, it is not
long before they ask questions that are relevant
and controversial. People claim they have a right
to know why a policy is designed and a right to
say what they want.
The state does not have an answer. Laws are
changed, so that those who are asking questions
are ruled out of ‘law and order’. By a peculiar
twist, the law becomes our worst enemy. In a di-
abolical misuse of democratic institutions, the
rule of law does not protect but victimizes all de-
mands for democratic participation! It brings an-
other set of accountability structures to the fore,
where the rule of law, supposed to be a security
for the poor and a means of enforcing equality, is
now being so manipulated that the legislation
when it is framed is perverted. The need emerges
for a pre-legislative process, demanding trans-
parency and accountability of
not just laws, but also law
making so that policies, laws
and rules must be made in
consultation with people.
The success of active de-
centralized governance and
an understanding of rights
have empowered people.
After all, what is the fault of
the campaigners in Koodan-
kulam or those in Orissa op-
posed to giving their villages
to POSCO (formerly Pohang
Iron and Steel Company)?
Theirs is a fundamental ob-
jection to a kind of develop-
norms of the ruling classes.
The use of RTI, and its introduction to partic-
ipatory governance, has in fact shaped the con-
tours of new political structures and started the
cleansing of the administrative establishment and
its contradictions. When, for instance, people ask
for reasons why there should be nuclear installa-
tions for energy in preference to other less harm-
ful methods, is it not rational?
If they agitate and demonstrate against the si-
lence of the government and sacrifice their time
to protect their environments, is it anti-develop-
ment? In places like Koodankulam, two sets of
questions have to be addressed: One is about the
blatant deception and denial of fundamental
democratic rights; of the rhetoric of decentraliza-
tion and; ‘apne gaon me apna raj’. And the other
is the glossing over of technical dilemmas and an
indifference to human concerns. To add insult to
injury, there is the opaque manner in which poli-
cies and legislations are framed. The first raises
the issue of localized decentralized governance,
and the promises made and reneged. The others
address the disinclination and inability to answer
technical questions which have far—reaching im-
plications. The issues are of common concern —
CAUSE FOR CONCERN
The Koodankulam nuclear
project saw protests from
fisherfolk who got displaced
and had to deal with radiation
Book Excerpt

ment, imperial in nature and undemocratic in
every manifestation. We should be proud as a na-
tion that some of our ordinary unprivileged citi-
zens have such high levels of information and
intelligence. A segment of our population has
come to understand what a nuclear installation
for energy might mean to the local area, only after
Fukushima. For POSCO is a question of both
democratic processes and development para-
digms. Fundamental questions remain unan-
swered. In a small clip from a film on POSCO,
which I often show, an ordinary farmer asks the
most penetrating and sharp questions about
democracy and its misuse. He says, and I para-
phrase: “I have learnt to use my role as a citizen
in a democracy. When I exercise my rights, I am
told that I am the enemy of the country.’ He says
he would like to ask his chief minister and collec-
tor how democratic they are. Are they democratic
in imposing this decision on the people in that
area? Is democracy not the will of the people? Is
decentralization not what the village decides?
And when he can point out the numerous laws
that have been circumvented and violated by the
company and its agents in government, who will
ensure prosecution?
This understanding and articulation is pro-
found. It has not come from an exclusive intellec-
tual understanding, but from a person standing
on firm ground, rooted in a living ecosystem, fac-
ing guns and a threat to life because he exercises
his fundamental right to freedom of expression.
What has actually shaped his ability to per-
ceive his predicament in the context of a much
larger framework is the work of the non-party po-
litical process, inherent in using and making
democracy work. This, he understands, needs to
complement electoral politics, and actually acts as
a conscience keeper and his support structure in
a time of crisis.
The promises of electoral politics are supposed
to be realized through democratic governance.
Democratic governance, in turn, can only be re-
alized through a process of participation. Partic-
ipatory politics is a constant constructive critique,
pointing out the contradictions between prom-
ise and action, and the indifference or neglect
measured against constitutional provisions,
rights and guarantees. Rights-based legislations
have been created to overcome the denial of
basic promises, provided for in the Constitution.
They also aim to hold the administrative ma-
chinery accountable for the non-delivery of very
basic survival needs — of food, work, education
and the rights of tribals to live on the land they
have protected and nurtured for generations. As
accountability to superior officers gets more and
more diluted, even basic norms of a traditional
law and order machinery need to be monitored
by people and demands emerge for a prevention
of communal Violence Act. None of these Acts,
however, would have been possible without the
RTI Act, which pried open the closed doors of
citizens’ access to governance. Access to infor-
mation democratized governance in India and
allowed citizens to ask, question, suggest, review
and, in many different ways, monitor gover-
nance. RTI also sought to counter the growing
impact of corruption and the arbitrary use of
power at all levels of a deteriorating administra-
tion with almost no culpability of those
in power.
CLAIMING INDIA FROM
BELOW: ACTIVISM
AND DEMOCRATIC
TRANSFORMATION
EditedByVipulMudgal
PublishedbyRoutledge
Pages:329;price:`995
POWERTOTHE PEOPLE
Led by activist Medha
Patkar, villagers who lost
their betel vineyards and
land to POSCO protest
against the steel giant

ROM the time Gajendra
Chauhan was appointed
the director of the Film
and Television Institute of
India (FTII) in Pune, he
has been in the thick of many controversies.
But the time for change has come and FTII is
introducing new courses and a grading sys-
tem that will make all accountable.
Chauhan told Views on News that the in-
stitute has applied for converting diploma
courses to masters degrees. “We had written
to the Association of Indian Universities in
2011 asking for converting diplomas into full-
fledged masters. They have replied saying
they will visit the campus soon,” he said.
When asked about rumors that FTII wou-
ld be setting up a new digital technology sec-
tion, Chauhan said the institute was in
the process of overhauling things. “What most
seem to have missed is that we are in the
process of making FTII a national institute of
importance by bringing standards of global
importance through cinema as an art form.
We are not making it a digital university
(with) technology based art form.”
The institute is in the process of upgrading
the courses and making a choice-based credit
system. “Courses in institutes the world over
are based on a credit rating system. In such a
system, courses are assessed and not students.
In fact, I will go a step further to say that now
even the faculty will be graded.”
Chauhan elaborated that a feedback sys-
tem will be put in place to assess the fac-
tors responsible for a student's performance.
“We will be assessing whether the teachers
have taught well. Time-bound lectures and
semesters will be put in place,” he said.
Refuting the criticism of delay in courses,
he said that FTII will now have modules of
four weeks each. “Each semester will be of a
duration of 20 weeks, eight hours per day, five
days a week,” said Chauhan.
The aim is to upgrade all courses to
the level of international standards. This
also means digitizing all the material as, in
the current scenario, all traditional laboratories
for film processing have shut down.
With the film industry taking to the digital plat-
form, the institute too needs to keep up.
Education
Cinema
FTIIto Get a
Makeover
F
“Courses in institutes
the world over are
based on a credit
rating system. In
such a system,
courses are assessed
and not students.
I will go a step
further to say that
now even the faculty
will be graded.”
— Gajendra Chauhan
The institute’s director, Gajendra Chauhan, plans to introduce new courses
and a grading system for the faculty to make it a world-class campus
BY NEETA KOLHATKAR IN MUMBAI

NATIONAL BRIEFS
J&K media ban opposed
In the wake of strong criticism
by the Editors Guild of the
media clampdown in Jammu
and Kashmir following unrest after
militant Burhan Wani’s death, the
Press Council of India has decided
to take up the matter with the
Mehbooba Mufti government. “I
have received communications of
concern from several members. We
will take up the issue,” PCI chair-
person Justice CK Prasad (retd)
said. Earlier, a statement of the
Editors Guild said: “This is a direct
assault to the freedom of the press
in India and the Guild strongly
condemns this unwarranted
muzzling of the media... It is
extremely unfortunate that the
state government, under fire for its
poor management of the law and
order situation in the
Valley, has sought to shoot the
messenger.”
The Central Board of Film
Certification has finally
come out with a list of cuts for
the crime thriller, Missing On A
Weekend, after the film’s direc-
tor, Abhishek Jawkar, slapped
the board with a legal notice
over its length. The CBFC had
earlier communicated to Jawkar
that 50 cuts would be made to
his work but has now reduced it
to just seven, coming under
pressure from the
courts. The cuts include
muting the words
“harami”, “sniff”, “trip”,
deleting the depiction of
drug abuse in the song
“Parda hata” and muting
the word “Goa” from a
dialogue.
Police have raided
the premises of
Herald, Goa’s most
prominent daily
newspaper, after a
series of videos re-
leased by journalist
Mayabhushan
Nagvenkar unearthed
backroom dealings be-
tween the paper and
offshore casinos. Car-
ried out by the casino
manager last year, the
videos show Herald’s
assistant general sales
manager armtwisting
a casino operator to
cough up `25 lakh per-
month in ad revenue
in exchange of a lid on
negative publicity. The
sting also hints at
proposed involvement
of all five offshore casi-
nos in Goa in the deal
and has shocked read-
ers who believe in the
paper’s high ethical
standards.
Sting strikes Herald Naqvi’s book spills genocide secret
Censor Board reduces cuts
Twitter has permanently
banned Milo Yiannopou-
los (right), editor of the con-
servative news website,
Breitbart, who had earned a
reputation as one of the
most notorious trolls on the
micro-blogging site.
Yiannopoulos came under
the scanner for his role in
the online abuse of Ghost-
busters actress Leslie Jones.
He allegedly instigated peo-
ple, who then mobbed Jones.
Tweeting as @Nero,
Yiannopoulos had more than
338,000 followers and re-
portedly called himself “the
most fabulous super villain
on the internet”.
Twitter shows
zero tolerance
Renowned journalist Saeed Naqvi’s
explosive new book, Being The
Other: The Muslim in India, has doc-
umented the silence surrounding the
October 1947 massacre of Muslims in
Jammu and revealed how the
authorities tried their utmost to sup-
press information about the tragedy
and keep it out of their official
records. Carried out at the behest of
the Dogra king Hari Singh, the toll of
the genocide was anywhere between
two and three lakh. A chapter on
Kashmir in the book—written largely
quoting Ian Stephens, editor of The
Statesman, from 1942-1952—talks
about how governor general Lord
Mountbatten tried to filter it from the
news. The killings resulted in convert-
ing the Muslim-majority Jammu into
a Hindu-majority region, the
book says.

The global Committee to Protect Jour-
nalists has chosen freelance journal-
ist Malini Subramaniam (left) for the
prestigious 2016 International Press
Freedom Award for her work on human
rights violations in Chhattisgarh. A few
months ago, Subramaniam was hounded
out of the state for reporting on the issue
by government-backed groups who
stoned her house, called her a Maoist
sympathizer and threatened her
with death.
The others picked for the prize are
Mahmoud Abou Zeid, an Egyptian
photojournalist, also known as Shawkan,
who has been imprisoned since August
2013, Can Dündar, editor-in-chief of the
Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, who was sen-
tenced in May to prison for revealing
state secrets and Óscar Martínez, a re-
porter for the online newsmagazine, El
Faro, in El Salvador.
Award for scribe
— Compiled by Sucheta Dasgupta
The Mumbai Press Club has
condemned an attack on TV
journalists in Nagpur by the
management of a private residential
school. Those attacked belong to
the Maharashtra 1 and IBN-Lokmat
channels. The group of five
journalists, who were
attacked, had been covering
alleged irregularities in the tribal
department-sponsored school,
Ahilyadevi Holkar Anudanit Adivasi
Ashramshala, at Ukhali village
near Nagpur when they were
assaulted by the secretary of the
school, Shrikrishana Mate, and
his son Mukesh. The attack was
captured in the video footage
recorded by the cameraman.
The Press Club has asked the
government to come out with
a law making attacks on
journalists cognizable and
non-bailable.
Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has
more than doubled its operational
losses in 2015-16, following a big drop in
Doordarshan’s ad revenues. The loss figure
stands at nearly `400 crore. Prasar Bharati
saw its ad revenue decline by ` 309 crore—
from ` 1,301 crore in 2014-15 to `992 crore
in 2015-16. To arrest the decline in ad rev-
enue, Prasar Bharati is planning to set up a
professional marketing division in Doordar-
shan for which it will recruit full-time in-
dustry experts.
On July 19, a group of Kerala High
Court lawyers beat up reporters right
inside the court premises for covering a
case involving a government pleader mo-
lesting a woman. The reporters have filed a
written complaint before the acting chief
justice (ACJ) Thottathil B Radhakrishnan,
Bar Council of Kerala and the advocate
general following the incident. The group
first threatened and beat up a Deccan
Chronicle reporter covering the case pro-
ceedings and later barged into the room
where the complaint was being prepared
and roughed up other media persons.
A protest march was taken out by
the journalists.
High Court lawyers beat up reporters
An exciting new quiz show is set to
take your TV screen by storm. India
Today TV is launching a 13-episode
news quiz for students of classes IX to
XII in July and it will be hosted by an-
chor and journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.
Anita and Siddhartha Basu, who have
created shows such as Kaun Banega
Crorepati, Mastermind India, University
Challenge and India's Child Genius, will
produce it. The top-scoring team will
bag the grand prize and the title of India
Today News Wiz 2016.
DD losses mounting New TV quiz show
Press Club condemns attack

Editors’ Pick
Prem Shankar Jha
By drawing even closer to the United States and signing binding agreements,
India is giving up years of carefully calibrated balance in its foreign policy
VON publishes in each issue
the best written commentary
on any subject.The following
write-up from TheWire has
been picked by our team of
editors and reproduced for
our readers as the best during
this fortnight
TheBasementSaleof
India’sSovereignty
N two lacklustre years of gov-
ernance the BJP has done
very little to fulfil its promise
of economic revival and vin-
dicate the trust that the peo-
ple of India had bestowed upon it. That may be
why its propagandists have worked overtime to
portray the signature of the Logistics and Supply
Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) with the
USA, and President Obama’s designation of India
as a “major defence partner” as a huge success in
his foreign policy.
With very few exceptions, commentators in
the national media have fallen in line with this
assessment. Only a few have noticed that in his
eagerness to cement a closer defence relationship
with the US Modi had given away India’s most
prized asset—its zealously guarded independence
IMISSINGTHE LARGER
PICTURE
While Narendra Modi has
struck a chord with Barack
Obama, this has caused a
setback to our relations
with China

of foreign policy—in exchange for a barrage of
flattery and a bunch of verbal assurances that do
not even add up to the proverbial thirty pieces
of silver .
Declaring India a major defence partner has
cost the US nothing. Unlike NATO or the US’s
defence treaty with Japan, it is not a mutual de-
fence pact and does not bind the US to coming
to India’s aid if it is attacked. The most that India
can possibly aspire to is a relationship somewhat
similar to that of the US with Israel, where the US
constantly reiterates its determination to come to
Israel’s aid if it is attacked, but is not willing to
bind itself to doing so with a defence treaty.
But India is not Israel. Its India-born Ameri-
can community is rich, and becoming politically
more influential by the day. But it can never, even
remotely, aspire to the power to shape US policy.
American military power is not, therefore, ever
likely to be deployed against India’s two main ad-
versaries, Pakistan and China: Pakistan because
it too is ‘a major non-NATO ally’, and China be-
cause it is simply too big for an already war-weary
nation to take on.
In sharp contrast, the commitments that India
has made to become worthy of this award (for
that is all it is) are concrete, onerous and, worst
of all, open-ended. Indian diplomats who have
been involved in the negotiations insist that, un-
like the Logistics Supply Agreement (LSA) that
the US has signed with its other allies, it does not
give the US Navy and Air Force an automatic
right to use Indian bases while waging its wars.
What it will facilitate automatically is the refu-
elling, restocking and repair of their craft at
Indian naval and air bases during joint exercises,
anti-piracy and other UN-sanctioned operations
in the Indian Ocean.
This is the assurance that Defence Minister
Manohar Parrikar had rushed to Beijing to give
to the Chinese after postponing the signature of
LEMOA at the last minute during US Defence
Secretary Ashton Carter’s visit to Delhi in April.
But in practice, these caveats against automatic
involvement in America’s wars are hollow because
Delhi will find it exceedingly difficult to deny
these facilities to the US once the latter has com-
mitted itself to a military operation—because of
the angry reaction that will provoke in the US
media, and the Congress.
LEMOA is also only the thin end of a rather
fat wedge. The US has made it clear that signing
it will make it easier to acquire sensitive dual-use
technologies. But to get the most out of it, India
will have to sign two supplementary “founda-
tional” agreements, the Communication and In-
formation Security Memorandum of Agreement
(CISMOA) and the Basic Exchange and Coope-
ration Agreement (BECA).
The US needs these to ensure that sensitive
ATAL, ASTHE NAME SUGGESTS
Atal Bihari Vajpayee with Bill
Clinton in New Delhi in 2003.
Vajpayee remained firm in his
foreign policy during the
tumultuous Iraq war

technological information shared with India does
not get passed onto ‘unfriendly’ countries. But
this concern will cut both ways. Its immediate re-
sult will ... be to cut India off from access to cut-
ting edge Russian armaments and technology.
A BIG LOSS
This will not be a small loss. In the late 1980s and
early 1990s, as the Soviet Union began to come
apart, it could have been argued that India did not
really have any alternative but to turn to the West
for advanced weaponry. But that is no longer true.
The S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries,
Sukhoi-65 multi-role aircraft and long-range
cruise missiles that Moscow unveiled in
Syria last year show that the technology gap
between the US and Russia has not only nar-
rowed but, in some important areas,
reversed.
There is nothing comparable to the S-400
in the western armoury, and the Su-65 costs
a quarter of what India has committed itself
to paying France for the Rafale. So no matter
how Modi’s propagandists try to dress it up,
these three agreements will lock India into
permanent dependence upon American, Eu-
ropean and Israeli suppliers and make it pay
through the nose for what it gets.
Thus when CISMOA and BECA have
been signed, India will lose its capacity to act
independently and will become a permanent
appendage of the Western alliance. To see
how this could work out in practice, Modi
has only to pick up the phone to Pakistan’s
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif or, better still,
ask General Pervez Musharraf about how
Pakistan came to join the War on Terror
after 9/11.
The difference between Modi and his
predecessors is that the latter were not pre-
pared to pay this price. Manmohan Singh,
Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narasimha Rao
had coped with China’s rise by assuaging its
anxieties about Indian intentions in Tibet and
rapidly deepening the economic relations be-
tween the two countries. But they had simultane-
ously asserted India’s right to deal independently
with the countries around the South China sea,
to continue sheltering the Dalai Lama and to
allow him to run a virtual government in exile
from Dharamshala.
All three also steadily deepened India’s rela-
tionship with the US, but carefully avoided mak-
ing military commitments that would limit their
options in the future. Vajpayee refused President
AFFABLEYET FIRM
Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh with US President George
W Bush at the G-8 Summit in
Germany in 2007. Dr Singh re-
fused to sign the logistics
supply agreement with the US
throughout his tenure
Editors’ Pick
Prem Shankar Jha

Wire, China has a far stronger interest than the
US in preserving the freedom of navigation in the
South China Sea because all but a small fraction
of its trade, and more importantly its import of
oil, travels through it. What the US is insisting on
maintaining, therefore, is the freedom of naviga-
tion for military vessels and aircraft.
In April 2015, this agreement bore its first
fruit when four Indian warships joined a US-
Japan task force spearheaded by the American
super-carrier, the John C. Stennis, ostensibly to
assert freedom of navigation in the South China
sea. This one action, which received virtually no
mention in the Indian media, revealed how little
they, and Modi himself, understood the basics, let
alone the nuances, of the power-struggle that is
taking place in international relations today. For
at the time this happened, he was within days of
making his first state visit to China.
It is possible that Modi was only paying China
back in its own coin for timing its intrusion into
Ladakh’s Demchok sector to coincide with Pres-
ident Xi Jinping’s visit to India in September 2014.
But if this was indeed his intention, then he had
not been briefed about the overtures that China
had been making to forge a closer strategic rela-
tionship with India ever since 2009 and the strate-
gic convergence that had taken place in their
world views since then.
—The author is a senior journalist and has
penned Twilight of the Nation State:
Globalisation, Chaos and War and Crouching
Dragon, Hidden Tiger: Can China and
India Dominate the West?
George W. Bush’s request for Indian troops to
pacify Iraq after the 2003 invasion, and Manmo-
han Singh studiously refused to sign the logistics
supply, and its supporting agreements, with the
US throughout his time in office.
The success of this careful balancing act is tes-
tified to by the fact that during this period it was
not only the US but also China that began to woo
India. Modi’s precipitate action—taken without
any of the open discussion and extended parlia-
mentary debate that had preceded the signing of
the Indo-US nuclear agreement in 2008—has
ended this hard-won equidistance and the power
to influence world events that went with it.
What is even more disturbing: while it has
crowned Obama’s attempt to yoke India to his
goal of containing China with success, it has wan-
tonly thrown away the best opportunity India
had, or may ever have again, of making a lasting
peace with China and harnessing its enormous
financial, technological and managerial resources
to accelerate India’s industrial development.
BREAKING FROM NEHRU’S LEGACY
The US must have sensed its opportunity when
Modi signalled his willingness, probably during his
first visit to Washington in 2014, to make a clean
break with Jawaharlal Nehru’s legacy in foreign
policy. Barack Obama lost no time in capitalising
upon this and accepted Modi’s invitation to be the
guest of honour at the 2015 Republic Day celebra-
tions. The reason why he did so at such short no-
tice surfaced when the two leaders signed the
‘U.S.-India Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pa-
cific and Indian Ocean Region’ on January 25.
Encased in the fluff of mutual praise was the
one paragraph that mattered: “Regional prospe-
rity depends on security. We affirm the impor-
tance of safeguarding maritime security and
ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight
throughout the region, especially in the South
China Sea.”
As Srinath Raghavan has pointed out in The
No matter how Modi’s propagandists try to
dress it up, the three agreements will lock
India into permanent dependence upon
American, European and Israeli suppliers
and make it pay through the nose....

Anchor Review
Sania Mirza Interview
Rajdeep
Trounced on
Home Turf
He asked the 29-year-old Grand
Slam winner when she planned to
retire and was roundly snubbed
BY SUCHETA DASGUPTA
ou just can’t ignore Rajdeep
Sardesai, if for all the wrong
reasons. On July 13, the India
Today TV journalist got a fit-
ting reply from tennis ace
Sania Mirza who proved her worth as a role
model when asked when she would “settle down”.
Interviewing her upon the release of her autobi-
ography, Rajdeep launched his query, remarking,
“I don’t see all that in the book, it seems like you
don’t want to retire just yet to settle down.” When
Sania interjected, pointedly, “You don’t think I’m
settled down?” he persisted with his question.
To which Sania answered: “You sound disap-
pointed that I’m not choosing motherhood over
being number one in the world [with Martina
Hingis, in WTA doubles rankings] at this point
of time. But I’ll answer your question anyway,
that’s the question I face all the time as a woman,
that all women have to face — the first is marriage
and then it’s motherhood. Unfortunately, that’s
when we’re settled, and no matter how many
Wimbledons we win or number ones in the world
we become, we don’t become settled. But eventu-
ally it will happen, not right now. And when it
does happen I’ll be the first one to tell everybody
when I plan to do that.”
This forced Sardesai to back down and apolo-
gize. However, Sania was not done yet. Asked
later in the interview as to how she would like to
be remembered, she said, not without a touch of
irony, the following words: “(Hope my achieve-
ments set a precedent that) no girl is asked at the
age of 29 as to when she is going to have a child
when she’s number one in the world”, adding,
“that’s no settling in”. In face of public glare, the
glib man of words, Sardesai, had no choice but to
eat his utterances, again.
However, the trolls did not spare the veteran
scribe. “One more reason why I love Sania. It’s like
she spoke the words that we utter every day!
Waah!” exulted one while another crowed: “Ra-
jdeep got slapped by Sania Mirza for his sexist
question…its like what goes around comes
around.” “I’ve not been a huge fan of #SaniaMirza
but her reply to #RajdeepSardesai was a befitting
slap on the face of the patriarchal indian notions,”
wrote @SarinG17.
The best tweet, however, belonged to one
Ramshankar Nair and it said: “male chauvinism
on display. If she has to retire at 29, then your wife
has to take euthanasia.”
Well, before shooting off his mouth, Rajdeep
better examine his soul, some might say.
Y
ACE OFFTHE COURT
Mirza (right) refused
to take Sardesai’s
sexism lying down

ONLY THE STORIES
THAT COUNT
BRINGING YOU THE STORIES
THAT COUNT
An ENC Publication
To Stay Abreast With Today, Pick Up Yesterday’s India Legal
EVERY FORTNIGHT INDIA LEGAL WILL BRING YOU NEWS, ANALYSES AND
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Don’t miss a single issue of this independent, scintillating new fortnightly
magazine and get special discounts for yourself and your friends
NDIA EGAL
L
June 15, 2016
`100www.indialegalonline.com
I
40
04
26
Wherearethelawsagainst
domesticslavery?
Choosetheethicalpath
—JusticeLNageswaraRao
ofSupremeCourt
Practisingin
uncle’scourt
InderjitBadhwar
NavankShekharMishra
Lawgradsdon’thavetofollowthebeatentrackasa
newworldofalternateopportunitiesawaitsthem
BySuchetaDasgupta10
CareersGalore
Shobha
John
Fly by
error 56
Neeta
Kolhatkar
Jiah Khan:
interest
18
Ramesh
Menon
UK’s Supreme
Court restrains
press
66
LEGAL STUDENTS
imbroglio
that wasn’t
By Meha Mathur
62
NDIA EGALL June 30, 2016
`100
www.indialegalonline.com
I 44
Euthanasia:GovernmentTacklingDeathWish
ByRameshMenon
SupremeCourtJusticesDipakMisra andShivaKirtiSingh
deliverablockbusterjudgmenttoprotectthoseaccusedfromfrivolousarrests
ByInderjitBadhwar08
APowerfulBlowforHumanRights
Vipin PubbyJat quota: Newpolitico-legalcalculus40
Kumar RajeshGovernmentslept asMathuraburnt 36
Usha Rani Das& Tithi Mukherjee
Lawyers on asummerholiday
78
By
sra andShivaKirtiSingh
hoseaccusedfromfrivolousarrests
hwar08
Ajith Pillaiexplains Modi’s
globe-trottingand the nuclear
matrix 26
JusticeShivaKirtiSingh
JusticeDipakMisra
e.ccoomommmm
raaa kkckckcckcc
t tttsts hhhhhh
oooooorrr
shhh
n
SSuuuupppp
rtt rrrreeeeses
ssss
Su
bloc
AAAAAAAAA
pppppiiinnn P
tt qqqqququuo
ititttiicccoo
cuuuululluuus
NDIA EGALL
July 15, 2016 `100
www.indialegalonline.com
I
64 76
MorphineMercy LegalTanglesafterBrexit
ByShobhaJohn BySajedaMomin
Neeta
Kolhatkar
Beach
security still
at sea
55
Dinesh C
Sharma
Contentious
water bills
46
Vivian
Fernandes
The GST
e-commerce
muddle
60
Forest
Policy
Groping in
the dark
40
Tumult
against
TALAQWomenreachouttotheSupreme
Courttobantheage-oldpractice
thatisagainsttheQuran,the
constitutionandnaturaljustice
ByRameshMenon24

Baton Rouge deaths
celebrated on Twitter
The AAP vs BJP war
on social media is in
full steam. On July 18,
the BJP’s Delhi MLA,
Vijender Gupta, who is
also the leader of the op-
position in the
assembly, tweeted
four photos of waterlog-
ging in the capital to
make his point that the
Arvind Kejriwal govern-
ment had failed to
maintain infrastructure.
These photos turned out
to be from previous
years, more specifically,
August 28, 2010 and
July 20, 2013. So AAP
went to the police
and filed an FIR
for defamation.
What followed was
more hilarious. “I never
said that the picture was
taken recently. I have
used it because it sym-
bolizes the mess in the
city. But the AAP
government is just not
bothered,” Gupta said.
He expects his
words to be taken at face
value. Again.
Web Crawler What Went Viral
Twitter trended with #Baton-
Rouge, #BatonRougeShoot-
ing and #BatonRougeAttack after
three police officers were shot
dead in the city. The slain officers
were responding to a call about a
man, Gavin E Long, carrying an
assault rifle. Long ambushed
officers Montrell Jackson,
Matthew Gerald and Brad
Garafola and shot them dead. It
was the fourth such fatal en-
counter in 15 days in the US and
Twitter poured its heart out.
However, curiously enough,
some social media users
celebrated the police deaths.
Their tweets trended under the
hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.
Here are a couple: “Armed pigs
meet political consequences”
by user @MarlandX; “Good
cops ought to start snitching on
their racist coworkers. Only
yall can stop this” by user
@Tarah Intense.
Social media was rife with jokes fol-
lowing Republican presidential can-
didate Donald Trump’s wife, Melania’s
alleged plagiarism of First Lady
Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic
National Convention speech.
“Melania must’ve liked Michelle
Obama’s 2008 Convention speech,
since she plagiarized it,” @JarretHill
wrote. Comparisons inevitably came
up between Melania and Milli Vanilli,
the infamous duo who never sang a
single song from their album. Twitter
users began wondering what else
she would claim as her own words.
Users were quick to note that the
First Lady hopeful had actually
said she had written her speech with
“little help.”
Twitter lampoons Melania
for “plagiarized” speech
Microsoft has registered a
major win over the US
government vis-à-vis privacy
of data. An appeals court has
overturned a 2014 ruling
asking the firm to give American
authorities access to its server
located in Ireland. The request had
been made by the US Department
of Justice (DOJ), as part of its
investigation into a narcotics
case. While the case may now
move into the US Supreme Court,
subject to appeal by DOJ, it is
being seen as a precedent for pro-
tecting the privacy of cloud com-
puting services. Microsoft has
welcomed the ruling.
BJP posts “false”
pics of water mess
Microsoft wins data
privacy suit against govt

Navjot Singh Sidhu’s decision to quit the Bharatiya Janata
Party, possibly to become AAP’s chief ministerial face in
the 2017 state elections, has grabbed huge attention on Twitter.
While local AAP bosses “welcomed” his decision on social
media, the reactions from BJP supporters showed they weren’t
too happy at this turn of events. “Make Sidhu the Chief Minis-
ter???? Punjab is on drugs or wha... Oh,” one lamented. The
tweet that left an impression, however, was this one: “Sidhu re-
signed from Rajya Sabha, to join AAP. Another example of a per-
son quitting full time job and joining Startup.” Only time will take
that final call.
—by Sucheta Dasgupta
Shirish Kunder’s short film, Kriti, is
back on YouTube after a plagiarism
row erupted between him and Aneel
Neupane, a Nepali filmmaker, leading
to legal notices being served by
both parties.
YouTube had removed both the
films—Kunder’s Kriti and Neupane’s
BOB, after the Nepali director claimed
on Facebook that the plot of his film
had been lifted by Kunder. Kriti has an
all-star cast comprising Manoj
Bajpayee, Radhika Apte and
Neha Sharma.
Kunder tweeted: “Truth wins! #Kriti
is back on YouTube after proving evi-
dences legally. A big thank you to all
those who stood by us.” However,
Neupane remained adamant and has
said that the legal battle is not over.
Sidhu trolled for
BJP exit
CrossFit Games’ official Facebook
page has posted a video
showcasing a Glock handgun that
will be given away as a prize to the
winners of the global athletic competi-
tion that started in California on July 19.
The video has been viewed over
800,000 times and has generated much
controversy. An online petition has
sought an end to the partnership with
Glock and it has now been signed by
over 20,000 people. CrossFitters went
online to register protests against
associating the 20-year-old sport with
guns, with one of them dubbing the
video “a glorified pistol ad”.
Row over Glock pistols
makes CrossFit see red
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron’s
picture showing him carrying a box has gone
viral. In the backdrop is a truck full of household
items. The photograph was taken in 2007, but
before anyone could point that out, netizens went
into a frenzy. Some, in India, drew companrisons
with Pratibha Patil, saying that she should learn
from Cameron (as she allegedly took items from
the President’s House along with her when she left
office). Others interpreted the “handle with care”
sign as a warning by the ex-PM in the context of
Brexit. While Cameron clearly looks younger in the
photo, it also shows that he is moving into a
house and not out of it. But until internet users re-
alized the truth, we all had a good laugh.
Cameron pic
creates a stir
Kriti back on YouTube

OPINION
Society & Islam
ne was strangled in her sleep
by her brother for ostensibly
bringing shame to her family.
The other was hacked to
death with a machete by ji-
hadists for not wearing a
hijab and refusing to recite the Quran. Coming
from diverse occupations and different genera-
tions—modeling and HR; ages 26 and 45—Qan-
deel Baloch and Ishrat Akhond were both
courageous women and symbols of resistance
against Muslim orthodoxy and bigotry, so rife in
their respective countries—Pakistan and
Bangladesh. Both died for their principles and
the lives of both hold out hope in times of
Islamist terrorism, one of the greatest crises of hu-
manity today.
Qandeel, born Fauzia Azeem, was married
against her wishes to an older, uneducated hus-
band and even had a son by him. When her son
was one, she left home to start living in a women’s
shelter from where she did odd jobs and com-
pleted her education. She took up modeling and
supported her parents who
had not done the same for
her in her hour of need. She
even looked after her
brother who returned the
favor by taking her life.
Having done all of the
above, she would cock a
snook at patriarchy through
the bold videos and risqué
images she posted on social
media from time to time.
Did these cost her her life?
They certainly brought her
dubious disrepute, but
many believe that the real
reason her brother killed
her was revenge—for refus-
ing him more financial aid
after helping him set up his
ONew Icons
for Muslim
Women
Qandeel Baloch and Ishrat
Akhond came from different
generations and countries but
both opposed cultural bigotry
and dreamt of a better world
SUCHETA DASGUPTA AND
MAHIMA CHOWDHARY
MISUNDERSTOOD
The spirited Qandeel
Baloch took on
cultural sexism on
the social media

mobile phone shop.
In the aftermath of her death which has
sparked a rare introspection in Pakistani society
and government into the practice of “honor
killings” (are hubris killings a more truthful de-
scription?), Qandeel has been dubbed by casual
commentators as “Pakistan’s Kim Kardashian”.
But she doesn’t merit that moniker. Kardashian is
no radical, nor a rebel. In terms of access to op-
portunity for excellence or self-actualization, she
is from a privileged milieu. Qandeel, on the other
hand, came from a working class family and
fought everyday to be seen and heard. Pakistani-
origin journalist Maajid Nawaz wrote in his trib-
ute to her, “What makes Qandeel’s emergence as
a Pakistani rebel icon even more awe-inspiring is
that she was not a wealthy scion of society who
had the financial and social standing to country-
hop every time the threats to her life became un-
bearable”, and this is exactly why she cannot be
compared to the billionaire and is being hailed,
in some quarters, as a feminist hero. For her death
has at last caused Pakistani authorities to sit up
and examine its “honor killing” law and there is
a good chance that it will be amended.
Ishrat was HR director at a garments com-
pany, ZXY International FZCO, and a member of
the Bangladesh Germany Chamber of Com-
merce. She had accompanied a few Italian fashion
designers to the Holey Artisan Bakery on the fate-
ful night of July 1, which is being referred to by
the media as Dhaka’s 26/11. The terrorists ex-
empted most of the local Muslim residents but
Akhond, who was not wearing the hijab, was
asked to recite the Quran. She refused on princi-
ple and paid with her life.
Amidst the hue and cry over the Dhaka at-
tacks, Ishrat’s exemplary courage has stood out as
an inspiration for all, including many people of
the present generation, many of whom are con-
formists and take their freedoms for granted. Her
sacrifice has been overshadowed in the media
coverage of the terror strike by that of Faraaz
Ayaaz Hossain, friend of Indian victim Tarishi
Jain who would not leave her and another friend
and victim Abinta Kabir and got killed too in the
same terrorist attack. But it is of greater socio-
political import.
Since both women were Muslim and con-
nected to fashion in some way or other, it is per-
haps relevant to explore the origin of the Islamic
veil or hijab. It is said that the word, which origi-
nally means modesty, originated in medieval Ara-
bia. It was dictated that women from respectable
families cover their heads and elbows (only) to
separate themselves from prostitutes for the con-
venience of the menfolk.
Both women defied The Rules, challenged mi-
sogyny and, when brought to test, did not back
down in the face of the gravest of dangers and
threats. Unequal status of women is one of the
biggest talking points vis-à-vis Islam today.
“Honor killings” are dishonorable. The concept
of jihad in Islam is accompanied by the tradition
of ijtihad, a word which literally means independ-
ent reasoning. Perhaps, the time has come for
questions and not guns in the Islamic world. For
those there who believe this, these women are
true role models.
UNBENDING PRINCIPLES
Ishrat Akhond refused
to accept the terrorists’
version of Islam even
though it resulted in her
death at their hands

Governance
Environment
ANGA—one of the world’s
greatest rivers, holding ex-
traordinary religious impor-
tance to the Hindus and
being an important source of
water for the whole of north-
ern and a large part of eastern India—is dying.
This is a sobering predicament, as the river is the
A River Runs
through It
Ganga is central to the faith of
millions of Indians. But given our
callous attitude towards
environment, will the
much-publicized Namami
Gange project achieve its goal?
BY SRISHTI SONEWAL
G
Anil Shakya

lifeline of over 500 million people living along
its banks and the only means of irrigating the
bread basket of the world’s second largest popu-
lation of 127 crore.
Despite the fact that its water possesses
unique anti-bacterial properties, the Ganga
today is one of the five most endangered rivers
of the world, according to the World Wildlife
Fund’s latest report. The river suffers from a
huge pollution overload. Dams and hydel power
projects upstream are playing havoc with its
flow. What are the reasons that have turned
Mother Ganga, which is also a symbol of purity
in Indian culture, into one of the dirtiest rivers
on earth?
WHAT AILS THE GANGA
Around one billion liters of untreated sewage is
dumped into the river on a daily basis. Countless
tanneries, chemical plants, textile mills, distill-
eries, slaughterhouses and hospitals operate
from the banks of the river. The Central Pollu-
tion Control Board has recently estimated that
nearly 2,723 million liters of sewage is generated
every day from Class I cities and Class II towns
along the Ganga. So far, these towns have the ca-
pacity to treat only 1,209 MLD of sewage. The
quantity of coliform bacteria in the river water
is over 2,800 times the limit considered safe by
World Health Organization.
Religious customs, too, play a role in harm-
ing the river. Thousands of bodies are cremated
on the banks and the remains disposed off in the
river. Huge quantities of organic waste generated
from rituals as well as animal carcasses are also
dumped in the river on a daily basis.
Dams, barrages and hydel power projects
built indiscriminately along the river and up-
stream on its tributaries, the Bhagirathi and
Around one
billion liters
of untreated
sewage is
dumped into
the river on a
daily basis.
Religious
customs, too,
play a role in
harming the
river.
Anil Shakya

T
his Ganga song will give you goosebumps.
To promote its Clean Ganga Mission, the
Ministry ofWater Resources, River Develop-
ment and Ganga Rejuvenation has now
launched the Namami Gange Anthem.The song
has been composed and rendered by the
famous Carnatic vocalists,Trichur Brothers
Srikrishna Mohan and Ramkumar Mohan.
The six-minute song is a blend of Sanskrit
and Hindi lyrics and divided into three parts.The
first part of the song is in Sanskrit containing a
few shlokas of Gangashtkam.The second part
describes the plight of the river.The final
segment is the pledge which asks one to
abide by one’s duty“to give the river the res-
pect it deserves”.
The video, directed by Deepika Chan-
drasekaran, showcases the divine beauty of the
Ganga, covering various parts of its journey from
Gomukh to the Bay of Bengal. It shows the devo-
tion of the people towards the river as well as
their carelessness towards it which results in
pollution. It includes members of every faith and
religion from all parts of the country, bringing to
fore their connection with the river.
The anthem is part of the Namami Gange
project which was allocated a sum of `2,037
crore and an estimated budget of `20,000 crore
over the next five years. It was formally
launched on July 7, 2016. Foundation stones
have been laid for 231 projects worth `1,500
crore at 100 different locations in Uttarakhand,
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand,West Bengal,
Haryana and Delhi.The Government of India
earlier ordered the shutdown of 48 industrial
units near the river as a part of the program.
An anthem for“Mother”
Governance
Environment
the Alaknanda, have greatly diminished the flow
of the river. In the Alaknanda-Bhagirathi basin
alone, 69 hydropower projects with a total ca-
pacity of 9,000 MW are under way. It is said that
the destruction caused by the Uttarakhand
floods of 2013 that claimed close to 6,000 lives
was exacerbated by these projects. Even the
Haridwar dam, dating back to 1854, has led to
decay of the Ganga.
Illegal mining of the Ganga river bed for sand
and moraine is another big problem. In 2011,
Swami Nigamananda Saraswati, a 24-year old
monk, died following a hunger strike protesting
against the activities of the sand mafia. His death
created some awareness on the issue.
MANY FAILED ATTEMPTS
To address the issue of pollution in the Ganga,
several missions and cleaning efforts have been
launched. The Ganga Action Plan was launched
in 1985 by then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
The first phase of the plan saw an investment of
`896.05 crore. In the second, which began in
1993, `505 crore was invested.
In February 2009, the National Ganga River
Basin Authority was established under the Min-
istry of Environment and Forests. It was later
transferred to the Ministry of Water Resources.
The Supreme Court of India has also sought
the closure and relocation of many industries
from the banks of the river to other places.
In 2010, the Government of India declared
the stretch between Gaumukh and Uttarkashi
“eco-sensitive zones”.
THE NAMAMI GANGE PROJECT
An integrated Ganga development project, the
Namami Gange was announced by Union
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the monsoon
session of the parliament in 2014. The project

was allocated a sum of `2,037 crore and an esti-
mated budget of `20,000 crore in the next five
years. It was formally launched on July 7, 2016.
Foundation stones were laid for 231 projects
worth `1,500 crore at 100 different locations in
Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand,
West Bengal, Haryana and Delhi.
As a part of the program, the Government of
India had earlier ordered the shutdown of 48 in-
dustrial units near the river.
The Namami Gange project will focus on
pollution abatement interventions—intercep-
tion, diversion and treatment of waste water
flowing through the open drains through bio-
remediation, appropriate in-situ treatment, use
of innovative technologies, setting up of sewage
treatment plants (STPs) and effluent treatment
plants, rehabilitation and augmentation of exist-
ing STPs and adoption of immediate short-term
measures for arresting pollution at exit points on
the river front to prevent inflow of sewage.
CONTRADICTORY PULLS
“The Namami Gange is atonement for the sin of
sullying the river,” says Water Resources Minis-
ter Uma Bharti. However, there have been
several contradictory signals emanating from
the establishment.
Recently, Union Minister for Road Transport
and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari had
spoken of dredging the river to make it naviga-
ble. But that would be a lethal step destroying
the flow of the river and undoing all rejuvena-
tion efforts, environmentalists have warned.
The idea of a moratorium on setting up of
hydel projects in the upper reaches of the river
has also not been welcomed. And various indus-
tries continue to dump effluents into the river
unabashedly and the government seems unde-
cided when it comes to choosing between devel-
opment and environment.
Whether the plan to save our dying “mother”
will succeed or not is anybody’s guess.
The Supreme Court of
India has also sought the
closure and relocation of
many industries from the
banks of the river to
other places. In 2010,
the Government of India
declared the stretch
between Gaumukh
and Uttarkashi
“eco-sensitive zones”.
ODE TO A RIVER
(Above) Union Minister for
Water Resources, River
Development and Ganga
Rejuvenation, Uma Bharti
with her Cabinet colleagues
and Chief Minister of
Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat
(third from right), at the
inauguration of the National
convention on Swachh
Ganga – Gramin
Sahbhagita, in New Delhi
in January end
(Left) BJP MPs Manoj Tiwari
and Udit Raj launching a
devotional music CD on
Ganga by singer Sandeep
Yadav in New Delhi in
January

“The adventure is not in getting somewhere, it's the on-the-way
experience," said Ruskin Bond famously. Equally compelling is the drama
and test of patience that unfolds as you wait for the train. It is a story with its
own twists and turns, as these pictures reveal
PHOTOS BY ANIL SHAKYA
Photo Feature
Railways
Station Stories

THETITAN OF
TRANSPORT
Indian Railways
ferry more than 23
million passengers
in a day and over a
billion ton of freight
every year. At
115,000 kms, this
railway network is
one of the world’s
largest

LONG DISTANCE
TRAVELERS
Traveling long
distances on Indian
trains also means
long transit hours in
between major
stations
Photo Feature
Railways

TRANSITTIME
GAINFULLY SPENT
When platforms
transform into
living room, rest-
room and the
study

Photo Feature
Railway
BEGINNINGS AND ENDS
Just as journeys begin
for some, there are
others who bid wistful
and silent goodbyes

CRUNCHTIME
The unreserved
General Coach is a
living testimony to the
phrase “Survial of the
fittest”

DESIGNSTHATMADEIMAGINATIVEUSEOFPHOTOGRAPHS,
FONTS,COLORANDWHITESPACESTOLEAVEANIMPRESSION
By ANTHONY LAWRENCE
Design
Is this the new incumbent’s signature
style? God save Britain.
Yet another take on Theresa
May’s approach
The world shares your anxiety.
Our sympathy.

Welcome to the wonderland.
Enter this illusory world created
by Ferruccio Laviani at Fos-
carini Spazio Soho, New York
City and experience shrinking or
expanding dimensions—includ-
ing your own .
Supposedly a fusion of contemporary Japanese architecture and design
forms on display in the exhibition titled “A Japanese Constellation: Toyo
Ito, SANAA, and Beyond”at the Museum of Moder Art in New York.
Here’s folk art by artist
Kandi Narsimlu. Or shall we say
Jamini Roy 2.0?

NEWSDATE NEWS CHANNEL TIME
6/7/16
8/7/16
13/7/16
Modicabinetexpansion.Newministers
takeoath.Javdekarpromoted,Smritiout
ofHRD.
Blast in Bangladesh on Eid day, six days
after Dhaka blast. One constable killed.
ZakirNaikisnotaterrorist,saysDigvijaya
Singh.SaysevenSriSriRaviShankar
sharedstagewithNaik.
09:16 AM
6/7/16
ZakirNaikconnectionsurfacesin
Bangladeshterrorattack.Ninetypercent
Banglacitizensareawareofhisideology.
Demandforbanonhisoutfit. 10:15 AM 10:18 AM
12:50 PM
FourpolicemenkilledinfiringinDallas,
Texas.Incidentoccursatapeacefulprotest
againstpolicefirings.
ZakirNaikdeniedpermissiontoholdpress
conference.TheeventscheduledatWorld
TradeCentercancelled.
01:09 PM
MainaccusedinSabarmaticarnagein
Godhra,ImranAhmedBhatukarrestedin
Malda.
01:02 AM
09:34 AM
01:00 AM
Modi addresses 11th Inter-State Council.
All cabinet ministers, chief ministers at-
tending. Modi expresses happiness at
21% increase in states’funding. 10:56 AM 10:57 AM
7/7/16
8/7/16
13/7/16
16/7/16
09:15 AM 09:25 AM
01:12 PM
09:58 AM09:55 AM
1:14 AM
09:25 PM
09:17 AM
01:05 PM
10:55 AM
10:22 AM
12:51 PM
09:56 AM
09:15 AM
12:52 PM
10:22 AM
12:53 PM
09:57 AM
10:41 PM
10:56 AM

Here are some of the major news items aired on television
channels, recorded by our unique 24x7 dedicated media
monitoring unit that scrutinizes more than 130 TV channels in
different Indian languages and looks at who breaks the news first.
DATE NEWS CHANNEL TIME
NEWS
16/7/16
18/7/16
NabamTukiresigns.Roadclearedfor
Congressgovttobeformed.
01.08 PM
17/7/16
18/7/16
PemaKhandutakesoathasArunachal
CM.RebelMLAsreturntoCongressfold.
GovernoracceptsTuki’sresignation.
ArvindKejriwalallegesCBIisbeing
steeredbyAmitShah.
RahulGandhihasnotaskedanyquestionin
16thLokSabha.Rahul,Soniasolent.Varun
Gandhihas254questionstohiscredit.
Banondieselcarsolderthan10years.
NGTdirectsRTOtocancelregistration.
SCjolttoBCCI.Ministerstobeout.Justice
LodhaCommittee’srecommendations
accepted.
10:00 AM
16/7/16
PakmodelQandeelBalochmurdered,al-
legedlybyherbrother.Cametolimelight
overherboldsocialmediastatements.
12:12 PM 12:12 PM
12:10 PM
11:30 AM
12:48 PM
11:58 AM 12:05 PM
02:33 PM 02:34 PM
12:48 PM
18/7/16
10:04 AM
11:45 AM
02:12 PM 02:23 PM
SCireoverRahulGandhi’sRSS.Rahulhad
calledRSSMahatmaGandhi’skillers.
11:58 AM
17/7/16
18/7/16
11:35 AM
12:20 PM
01.09 PM 01.10 PM 01.11 PM
12:13 PM 12:14 PM
10:01 AM
12:49 PM 12:50 PM
11:57 AM
10:05 AM
11:30 AM
12:11 PM 12:22 PM

S THE WORLD TURNS
Pakistani social media celebrity Qandeel
Baloch was murdered on July 15 in a
suspected case of honor killing. Baloch,
whose real name is Fouzia Azeem, gained
popularity as a social media celebrity after
she uploaded suggestive selfies and videos
of herself going about her daily life. The Daily
Pakistan reports that before she became a
star, Baloch led an extremely difficult life.
Hailing from a less developed area in Dera
Ghazi Khan, called Shah Sadar Din, Baloch
was one among five siblings, and the only
daughter in the family. She decided to
lead an independent life after being
jilted by her lover on the day she
was to elope. She began her
career as a bus hostess but
soon moved on to work
abroad in South Africa,
Middle East and Europe.
Pak’s social media star murdered
More than half (55 percent) of
1,700 people with children aged
11-17 years strongly agreed that
social media hinders or undermines
moral development, BBC reports.
The poll was part of a project by the
Jubilee Center for Character and
Virtues at Birmingham University. Re-
searcher Blaire Morgan said some of
the findings were surprising.
Not least (of these is) the low level of
agreement that social media can en-
hance or support a young person’s
character or moral development.
Most parents were reluctant to
agree that social media sites could
have a positive impact on their
child's character.
Hours after Whatsapp was
banned across Brazil, the
country’s Supreme Court has
scrapped the ruling, reports
Deutsche Well. The block,
triggered by Facebook’s re-
fusal to share user data, was
the fourth of its kind in 17
months. The decision from
Brazil's Supreme Court came
barely four hours after Rio de
Janeiro judge Daniela Bar-
bosa suspended
WhatsApp across
Brazil. The ruling
was in response
to Facebook's
failure to surren-
der user data in a
police investiga-
tion. The social
media giant bought the What-
sapp messaging service in
2014.
Barbosa said Facebook
had been issued with three re-
quests to provide messages to
police investigating a case in
Duque de Caxias, north of Rio
de Janeiro. The nature of the
case was not immediately
clear.
The Rio judge described
Facebook as being ir-
responsible for re-
fusing "to provide
information that
will be critical to
the success of an
investigation and
later to bolster the
criminal case.”
Chinese state media has
criticized anti-US protests
outside KFC outlets across
China as jingoistic, saying
they do “a disservice to the
nation”. The protesters are
angry about an international
tribunal ruling rejecting China's
territorial claims in the South
China Sea, reports BBC News.
The case was brought up by
the Philippines, a US ally
which has a competing claim
in the area. State newspapers
said the authorities were “call-
ing for rational patriotism”.
KFC has over 4,000 branches
in China and is often seen as a
symbol of US influence in
the country.
—Compiled by Shailaja Paramathma
Social media affects kids
Whatsapp ban lifted
Anti-US ptotests flayed

VIEWSONNEWSJULY 22, 2016 `50
THE CRITICAL EYE
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An Icon
Steps Down
By Sujit Bhar 16
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By Keerty Nakray 46
Governance
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By Shobha John 34
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Monitor
54
ALSO
Putting
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before
NewsDriven by the
unshakable belief
that it will result
in more TRPs, the
press today does
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publicity to any
and every
statement
made by a VIP
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Politics
UP
P elections, due next year,
have become a cauldron of
caste, religion and develop-
ment. Over the years, the po-
litical system in this state has
flirted between exclusiveness and inclusiveness of
social groups.
If one were to see the BJP team which has
been working silently behind the scenes for the
2017 UP assembly election, it is more like the
2014 Lok Sabha team of Shiv Prakash, National
Joint Secretary (who worked hard in western
UP), Sunil Bansal (from Rajasthan and state unit
general secretary who helped run a war room in
Lucknow for 2014) and Keshav Maurya (state BJP
president). The team also includes Om Mathur,
party strategist and national vice-president in
charge of UP who is a close confidant of Amit
UChallenges
Galore for
the BJPThe party is attempting to repeat the 2014
Lok Sabha strategy in this state but the
going will be tough
MANTOSH SHARMA

Shah, the BJP president.
The BJP is in no mood to bring in outside
elements for now. In Saharanpur, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said: “In our country, there’s a
fashion that every scheme be linked to caste or
religion, but for me the entire nation is my fam-
ily.” And you can be sure he will be messaging this
while campaigning in UP.
In the current environment, the BJP will face
challenges in mobilizing its core votes and simul-
taneously attracting new ones. Here are some of
the challenges it will face in UP in the run-up to
the 2017 elections:
Dependence on social engineering and
charisma of national leadership
The drubbing of the BJP during the Bihar assem-
bly election last year has shown the ineffective-
ness of social engineering when political strategy
is solely based on the opportunism of partici-
pants. It was a false assumption that Jitan Ram
Manjhi, ex-CM of Bihar, Upendra Kushwaha,
OBC leader of RLSP and MP from Bihar, and
Ram Vilas Paswan, MP and Dalit leader will be
able to bring the Dalits and OBCs together into a
coalition. It appears that the BJP has started a
similar engineering for UP. In a recent union cab-
inet expansion, a Dalit and a Brahmin from UP
were inducted, though none of them were mass
leaders. Most of them made it to parliament due
to the Modi wave in 2014.
In the absence of local mass leaders, the BJP
will depend on the central leadership. Modi and
Rajnath Singh, the Union home minister, will end
up being star campaigners for the state election.
However, both are at the receiving end due to na-
tional issues. Will they be able to bring in new
voters or stop desertion to other parties?
This limitation will push the BJP towards so-
cial engineering. But then, that is not their forte.
Mishandling Hyderabad student Rohith Vemula’s
death early this year is a prime example of their
ineptness when it comes to caste-based identity
politics. Other parties such as the BSP and the SP
have played caste-based identity politics in a
REACHING OUT
(Above) Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi addressing a
poll rally in Bagpat.
(Left) BJP national
president, Amit
Shah, addressing
Gorakhpur Kshetra
Booth Sammelan in
Basti.

more efficient way at the local level. On top of
that, though Amit Shah is busy making coalitions
with smaller parties and caste groups, their vote-
bank commitment to the BJP is questionable.
There is a potential that the party will antagonize
upper castes. Jats in western UP are already
feeling uncomfortable with the BJP due
to Haryana’s politics.
Systematic effort to lure Brahmin Votes
The appointment of former Delhi chief minister
Sheila Dixit as a potential CM candidate of the
Congress has thrown the BJP strategy in a
quandary. The immediate impact of the Congress
maneuver was seen in the BJP strategy when an-
other Brahmin, Kalraj Mishra, despite being a
septuagenarian was allowed to continue as cabi-
net minister. The BJP, fearful of antagonizing the
Brahmin community, which has been voting in
the last two decades for the BJP, didn’t dare to
touch him. Shiv Pratap Shukla was accommo-
dated as a Rajya Sabha MP despite opposition
from Yogi Adityanath, MP and prominent leader
from Gorakhpur region. Mahendra Pandey, MP
from Chandauli near Varanasi was accommo-
dated in the central ministry to fortify “Kashi
Prant” from a Brahmin exodus.
Until recently, the BJP was fairly confident of
getting the majority of Brahmin votes, which
constitute 10-12 percent of the electorate. How-
ever, the narrative has changed recently. Brah-
mins are debating the plausibility of their
political return in the state on their own terms.
It is too early to say whether the new Congress
leaders will be able to get a majority of Brahmins
to come to them. Any shift in this base will harm
the BJP immensely in UP.
Antagonizing party hoppers and seniors
The BJP’s strategy of accommodating opponents
and promoting young and new faces is also cre-
ating issues. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP
assimilated many party hoppers and they were
promised many things. For example in Kashi
Prant, Avdesh Singh, a Congress leader,
Dayashankar Mishra aka Dayalu Guru, a local
Congress leader who fought the Varanasi South
seat and Sushil Singh, an independent MLA
from Sakaldiha, joined the BJP in the 2014 elec-
tion. However, in an assembly election, the BJP
will have a hard time placating hoppers without
antagonizing existing leaders and cadres in
respective constituencies. Dayalu Guru will be
seeking a seat, Varanasi South, from where
Shayamdev Rai Chaudhary won seven times.
Similar challenges are there in many
other constituencies.
There are all indications that the BJP will be
focusing on a new, young and energetic leader-
ship. Instead of relying on the existing leadership
such as Vinay Katiyar, MP and founder of Ba-
jrang Dal, Premlatata Katiyar, ex-BJP vice-pres-
The appointment of
former Delhi CM
Sheila Dixit as a
potential CM candi-
date of the Congress
has put the BJP in a
quandary.
Prashant Kishore,
Congress’s spin
doctor for the UP
poll, was instrumen-
tal in BJP’s success
in 2014 and Nitish
Kumar’s in 2015.
Politics
UP

Views On News 07 August 2016

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Views On News 07 August 2016