Is it democratic to compel people to vote?
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, PEOPLE LINED up before polling booths is a customary media visual at election time in India. It evokes little less than passing interest in most people.
But if we step back and take a sweeping look, the visual is exhilarating. People in nearby China don’t get a similar opportunity. People in Pakistan do get it occasionally, but don’t know when they would get the next chance.
This visual, we may say, is not commonplace at all. Regular polls, the freedom to vote, and the acceptance of the people’s verdict by all parties, is something the country has cherished for the last six decades.
But there is only scope for mild self-congratulation. India has the largest number of voters in the world but only just over half of them go out and vote.
In 2009, only about 59 per cent of the 71 crore voters took the pains to walk to the polling booth and cast their vote for the Lok Sabha election.
This means that a considerable chunk of people don’t (want to) have any say in the political process.
This has puzzled political scientists for years. Various reasons — from disillusionment to apathy — are ascribed to it and sundry solutions are suggested.
The most drastic solution prescribed has been to make voting compulsory and to punish voters who don’t exercise this right. And true to his style, the irrepressible Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi, has already implemented it for the local bodies poll through the Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill. The bill warns of ‘punishment’ to defaulters but does not specify what it would be.
The crucial question is whether it is democratic to compel people to vote, though it will ‘formally’ strengthen the democratic structure.
"I am all for such a measure," said Dr G. Gopakumar, author and head of the political science department in Kerala University. "Countries like Australia already have such a law in place. It will enable parties to mobilise more voters and ensure involvement of the majority in the electoral process. Even if a fine of Rs 50 is imposed, people will go out and vote."
However, many voters don’t agree.
"I have been voting regularly for several decades but I don’t think it is a good measure," said Mr K.
Narayanan, 62, a retired government employee.
Younger citizens are angrier. "The spread in the ballot paper is not exciting," said Mr V.G. Muralikrishnan, 36, cine actor and writer. "We can choose between Amar Singh and Jawaharlal Nehru, but there is no choice between Amar Singh and Shibu Soren. In such a situation, the voter has the right to withhold his approval. Compelling him is an autocratic measure."
Truly, only a trite definition of democracy can limit it to elections and voting. Dissent is a major facet of democracy. For the powerless voter, the weapon for dissent is the vote. By withholding it, he sends a powerful message.
Ironically enough, the freedom ‘not to vote’ is also something to be cherished and fought for in the 60th year of the Republic.
K. Venugopal
‘Govt to address security needs’
New Delhi, Jan. 25: In a reassurance to the nation on the eve of 60th Republic Day, President Pratibha Patil said the government would provide high vigil and take necessary action to address country’s internal security.
"Government is committed to maintaining high vigil and take appropriate measures to address internal security challenges," she said in her address to the nation.
Acknowledging that terrorism had been one of the biggest problems for the country for more than two decades she stated that the government has taken and will continue to take necessary steps to tackle threats emanating from terrorism. "It will continue to work with the international community to combat this menace," she said.
Referring to the significant strides made by India in the economic sphere, Ms Patil said the country’s target of achieving a double digit growth rate is plausible and realistic, given its impressive performance during the last decade. She at the same time also lauded the country’s resilience during the global economic downturn.
"We should continue with policies that promote growth, and also take growth patterns to the bottom of the pyramid and, to those currently outside its purview," she said.
Age Correspondent
Medals for men fighting Maoists
New Delhi, Jan. 25: Security personnel battling with Maoists and militants in Jammu and Kashmir are amongst those who have been honoured with the Police Medals on the occasion of Republic Day this year. K. Durga Prasad, ADG in Hyderabad police, has been awarded President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service. Mr Prasad is a 1981 batch IPS officer from Andhra Pradesh who has been credited with the success of the Greyhounds in battling Maoists and had been tasked to set up the Combat Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA), a dedicated force to counter Naxalites. The Centre has honoured 704 police personnel, including seven personnel who have been awarded the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry, with the Police Medals and 98 personnel chosen for Police Medals for Gallantry. Seventy-seven police personnel were decorated with the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service and 522 others who have been awarded Police Medals for Meritorious Service.
Age Correspondent
Audiences got taste of reality TV through 26/11 strikes
NEW DELHI, WHEN CHINESE broadcaster Li Kashing launched Star TV in India in 1992, little did he realise that he was going to usher in a veritable satellite TV revolution. From one satellite channel in 1992, there are 417 satellite channels across India today. Of these, 73 are news channels offering 24x7 news. One hundred more news channels will begin telecasting in 2010.
India is in the throes of a media revolution. Radio in India has also witnessed a major boom, with a huge increase in the number of FM stations broadcasting today. Surprisingly, unlike Europe and the US, where newspaper readership has plunged, in India the opposite has happened and the trend is a rising curve. In 1976, when India’s population was 775 million, the data showed that there was one newspaper copy for every 80 Indians; today the population has crossed one billion and there is one newspaper copy for every 20 Indians. Rising literacy figures, especially in the Hindi heartland, have seen a huge circulation rise in the Hindi and regional press. Official figures suggest there are over 62,000 newspapers in circulation today.
This has been matched by the rise of Internet. Youngsters are not just getting their news or searching for jobs on the Net. Ten million Indians are logging on to networking sites like Facebook and Orkut. Combine this with the social revolution caused by the use of cellphone and we realise the sizeable numbers who have internalised the idiom of all these different technological modes of communication. Not to be outdone is the success of YouTube where a youngster has only to hire a camera, burn a DVD and put it on YouTube.
Needless to say, the unleashing of so many technologies has fuelled an information revolution. How else can one explain why an entire nation was glued to the telly to watch a four-year-old called "Prince" being saved after he fell into a 58-feet-deep borewell outside the nondescript village of Haldaheri located 200 km north of Delhi. The Prince rescue operation was in a sense a precursor to the playing out of the Jessica Lal and the Priyadarshini Mattoo case on television. Subsequent follow-ups have been the Aman Kachroo ragging case and the Nitish Katara murder case.
Reality TV has arrived in India and audiences got their first big taste of it with the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The image of the smoking cupolas of the Taj hotel transfixed the nation in its agony. India’s information landscape has also been dramatically altered by the Congress-led coalition’s decision to implement the Right to Information Act which equips individual citizens to raise queries against the government. Several lakh RTIs have been lodged since the Act came into being. Shastri Bhavan officials bemoan how several thousand of them are now tied down to providing "information" to satisfy RTI activists.
Rashme Sehgal
Tension over release of dam water
Jaipur, Jan. 25: In Karauli district, Panchana dam’s water assumed a caste colour as Gujjars refused to release water for command area dominated by Meenas.
The state government had postponed its programme to release water from the dam in view of differences between the two rival communities. The water from the dam was to be released from January 27. The state government sent its energy minister Jitendar Singh to Karauli to resolve the issue, but returned on Sunday night empty handed.
The problem began during the previous BJP regime and the quota agitation widened divide between the two communities. The dam area has villages dominated by Gujjars who assembled near the dam with lathis to demonstrate against the release of water. The state government deployed the police in large number. The government had invited both community leaders 10 days back for a joint meeting to work out a solution. Both the communities agreed during the meeting to release water.
However, the agreement could not be implemented as large number of people gathered around the dam and opposed the release of water. Gujjar leader Kirodi Singh Bainsla was active in the area while Dausa MP Kirodilal Meena already lodged a protest. ‘’The 13 villages under the dam area and have given land for dam have the first right to use water," said local leader Attar Singh.
Narayan Bareth
Prof kills student in Guwahati
Guwahati, Jan. 25: A sensational murder of a girl student by a professor of Guahati University and then his attempt to commit suicide has come as big shock for teachers and students of the premier educational institution of Assam. This came to light only after the university professor Birlang Narzary voluntarily surrendered to the police and confessed to have committed murder of his girl students at his official residence.
"The teacher was looking sick and was vomiting as he narrated the incident to the police officer on duty who shifted him to a local hospital," said the city police informing that teacher had consumed phenyl and some poisonous substance to commit suicide.
The police said that they have registered an FIR against Birlang Narzary, a reader at the department of Bodo language in Gauhati University, who was responsible for murder of Jharna Goyari, a student in the same department on Sunday. Goyari, a hostel boarder, was murdered inside the professor’s official residence using some sharp object with injury marks on her throat and head.
She was a third semester postgraduate student at the Bodo language department of the university where Narzary taught.
The police said, "The accused professor was admitted to a hospital in an unconscious stage but now he is out of danger. We are investigating the matter and not ruling out the possibility of a love angle in the incident."
The police said that accused 32-year-old Narzary, a bachelor, has already been arrested but they are waiting for the medical report. "Once he is declared fit by doctors, we will start interrogation," said the investigating officer of the case.
The incident has come as big shock for the teachers and students in university campus. As angry students on Monday boycotted all the classes in protest, some of the students and teacher looked speechless at university campus. "It has come as a major shock for us," said the students.
MANOJ ANAND
Mall indulgence grips Indian shoppers
MUMBAI,"There was a time around 15 or so years ago when I was inundated with requests for duty free clothes, makeup and cassettes (audio and video) by a throng of friends and relatives every time I made a trip abroad," says Naveen Ujjwal, an IT executive whose work entails a huge amount of overseas travel. "Toblerone chocolate bars were one of the things nearly everyone would ask for," he adds with a chuckle, blowing steam off his coffee at a major coffee bar chain outlet at a mall in south Mumbai, where the brand of chocolate is actually sold.
That was in the mid-90s. In 2010, Mumbai has more malls than museums, more signs that scream "SALE!" than "Stop" signs on roads and more people jostling with one another to get the best bargains in malls than people doing the same in lines outside theatres for play tickets.
Mall culture, whereby customers are given a variety of stores, brands and products under one roof has not just come to the city; it has engulfed Mumbai.
Levi’s, Versace, L’Oreal, Louis Vuitton and Adidas are just some of the brands that overseas travellers were bombarded with requests for, which are now no more than a hop, skip and jump away from most doorsteps. "Since the Licence Raj wound down in 1990, the Indian market threw open its doors to private companies and foreign firms. It took them a few years to test the waters, but within no time, these brands — foreign and Indian — became a part of daily parlance with shoppers," says Rajveer Sahni, a former stockbroker and self-proclaimed market analyst/historian.
With mall culture, the other major trend that Mr Sahni notes is the idea of unplanned shopping. "The day and age of shopping lists is all but gone. Unless one sets out to buy specific groceries or supplies for a trip, people generally go to malls and buy whatever appeals to them. That is the true freedom to shop," he says and adds, "The fact that one can wander into a mall and stroll around aimlessly and indulge in unplanned shopping just goes on to show how much market culture has moved on from the kirana stores."
Renuka Korlekar, a banker and mother of two is but an example of the lakhs of people buying into this unplanned shopping culture. Shopping with her two children and her mother-in-law, Ms Korlekar says, "I remember when shopping used to be an arduous chore, but today with air-conditioned malls, plenty of places to sit down and ample areas for children to keep themselves occupied, it’s a far more comfortable use of a Saturday than before."
As for carrying a shopping list, she sheepishly admits that buying ketchup was the only thing on her "list". "The rest of the shopping will all depend on what catches our eye," she smiles.
KARAN PRADHAN
Venki, Rahman, Aamir, Sehwag on Padma list
New Delhi, Jan. 25: The Padma awards announced Monday, on the eve of the nation’s 61st Republic Day, are dominated by prominent figures in the arts, who account for 37 of the total 130 individuals to be honoured by President Pratibha Patil.
Eminent theatre personalities Ebrahim Alkazi and Zohra Sehgal have been conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian honour. This award also went to Nobel Prize-winning scientist of Indian origin Venkatraman Ramakrish-nan, Dr Prathap C. Reddy of Apollo Hospitals and former RBI governor Y.V. Reddy.
Bollywood actor-director Aamir Khan, recently much in the news for 3 Idiots; music maestro A.R. Rahman, Ilaiyaraaja, who composed the hit numbers of Amitabh Bachchan’s recent Paa; Akbar Padamsee and Mallika Sarabhai are among 14 from the world of arts to get the Padma Bhushan. Oscar-winning film sound editor Resul Pookutty (of Slumdog Millionaire) and filmstars Rekha and Saif Ali Khan are among 20 from the arts world to get the Padma Shri, which went to a total of 81 awardees. There are 17 women among the Padma award recipients. No one was conferred the Bharat Ratna. Cricketer Virendra Sehwag, hockey national Ignace Tirkey, Formula One driver Narain Kartikeyan, badminton ace Saina Nehwal, boxer Vijender Singh and Sachin Tendulkar’s "guru" Ramakant Achrekar got the Padma Shri in the sports category.
NRI hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, neurosurgeon Satya Paul Agarwal and top cardiac surgeon Ramakant Panda, who had performed "beating heart" surgery on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year, have been chosen for the Padma Bhushan. Former CBI director D.R. Karthikeyan, who headed the Special Investigation Team that probed the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, and environmental activist Ranjit Bhargava are among the Padma Shri recipients. Besides Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, three scientists got the Padma Bhushan and six the Padma Shri.
A senior government official, when asked why there was such a large number of people from the arts category this year, said: "There were approximately 1,200 applications... There is no hard and fast rule and a decision is taken on the merit of each application." The selection committee for this year’s Padma awards, chaired by Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar, included playwright Girish Karnad, former HRD secretary Kapila Vatsayan (who is founder-director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts) and former CII chief mentor Tarun Das.
Former Cabinet Secretary B.K. Chaturvedi, now a Planning Commission member, has got the Padma Bhushan along with former Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary Moosa Raza and former Goa University vice-chancellor P.R. Dubhashi for civil service. Another Planning Commission member, Dr Abhijit Sen, and S.K. Bandyopadhyay also got the award for public affairs, along with Newsweek International editor and well-known columnist Fareed Zakaria for journalism, and Prof. Tan Chung and Prof. A.J. Paulraj, both based in the United States, for literature and education and science and engineering respectively.
Nuclear scientist Bikash Chandra Sinha, former director of the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Kolkata, and US-based Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj, who made a significant contribution to the science of wireless communication, were conferred the Padma Bhushan, along with Delhi-based mathematician Jagdish Chandra Kapur. Prof. Palpu Pushpangadan, plant scientist and former director of the National Botanical Research Institute, is among six scientists to get the Padma Shri.
V.P. Dimri, director of the National Geophysical Research Institute, Vijaylakshmi Ravindranath, former director, National Brain Research Institute, and Pucadyil Ittoop John, a senior scientist holding the Meghnad Saha Chair at the Institute of Plasma Research, also got the Padma Shri, as did US-based Ponisseril Somasundaran and Karnataka-based M.R. Satyanarayana Rao.
In the trade and industry category, Venu Srinivasan of the TVS Group, Alluri Venkata Satyanarayana Raju, B. Raveendran Pillai, Deepak Puri, Irshad Mirza and Kapil Mohan have been selected for the Padma Shri. It was also awarded to Anu Aga, Ayekpam Tomba Meetei, J.R. Ganga Ramani, Deep Joshi, Baba Sewa Singh, Sudha Kaul and Kranti Shah for social work. Former Union minister Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil were awarded the Padma Bhushan for social work, while Ghulam Mohammad Mir and Arun Sarma got the Padma Shri for public service and the literature and education category.
Scientist Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, who shared the 2009 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, said in a statement: "I am honored and touched that the country of my birth has chosen to recognise our work with this award." President Pratibha Patil approved a total of 130 awards — six Padma Vibhushan, 43 Padma Bhushan and 81 Padma Shri. Thirteen of these recipients are foreigners, NRIs or PIOs.
Age Correspondent
SC freezes order on 44 deemed varsities till Mar
New Delhi, Jan. 25: In a bid to soothe the atmosphere and send a positive signal to students of 44 "deemed universities" after the human resources development ministry’s revocation of their recognition, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the government to maintain "status quo" on its decision till the matter was taken up for further hearing in March.
The court issued notice to all 44 deemed universities to file affidavits by the next hearing on March 8 detailing their grievances. A bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A.K. Patnaik said till then "status quo" will be maintained on the government order, which means the HRD ministry’s order will be in suspended animation.
The court directed the attorney-general, Mr Goolam E. Vahanvati, to place before it the report of the task force set up by HRD minister Kapil Sibal to examine the functioning of 126 deemed universities as well as the report of the review committee as the ministry had acted on the recommendations of these two panels. It further directed Mr Vahanvati to submit an affidavit on the steps the ministry proposed to take to safeguard the interests of over two lakh students of these 44 deemed universities. This order, with multiple directions, came after a battery of the country’s top legal brains, appearing for different deemed universities, assailed the HRD ministry’s action, citing several legal "loopholes". The court was hearing a PIL by advocate Viplav Sharma challenging the grant of deemed university status to several institutions by former HRD minister Arjun Singh in a "reckless" manner.
Senior advocates Fali S. Nariman, K. Parasaran, K.K. Venugopal, Rajiv Dhawan and others took on the government, saying it had acted merely on the reports of the task force and review committee despite these bodies having no statutory status, while recommendations of the University Grants Commission, a statutory body, were overlooked.
Mr Prasaran said the way HRD ministry acted merely on the basis of the reports of the two non-statutory panels set by it was like "making a woman a widow even before her marriage is solemnised". The court, however, assured the lawyers for the universities that nothing will happen to the institutions and students before the matter was heard.
S.S. Negi
Kirti goes to Rukhsana, 5 more; Ashok Chakra for 3
New Delhi, Jan. 25: Rukhsana Kosser, who killed a terrorist single-handedly in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district last year, has been awarded the Kirti Chakra for gallantry this Republic Day. Her brother Ajaz Ahmed was also awarded the Kirti Chakra, the nation’s second-highest gallantry award in peacetime.
Ms Kosser and her brother successfully battled terrorists who entered their house in Rajouri in September last year and attacked their father. Ms Kosser struck one of them with an axe snatched automatic weapons from the stunned men. Both she and her brother then opened fire at the terrorists, one of whom was killed while the others fled. She and her family have been provided heavy security in case they are targeted by militants trying to avenge their humiliation. In all, the Kirti Chakra has been awarded to six people.
Havildar Rajesh Kumar of the Rajputana Rifles will be posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra, the highest peacetime gallantry award. On August 1 last year, in an operation in the dense forests of Kupwara, he killed three dreaded terrorists but was hit by a hail of bullets in the abdomen, after which he succumbed to his injuries. Havildar Kumar "showed the unparalleled feat of most conspicuous gallantry, fortitude and the rare spirit of self-sacrifice in fighting the terrorists," the defence ministry said in a statement.
The Ashok Chakra will also be conferred on Major Mohit Sharma (posthumous) and Maj. D. Sreeram Kumar, who were awarded the Ashok Chakra on the eve of Independence Day last year.
Age Correspondent