[Assam] Another Good Piece from the Sentinel

[Chan Mahanta]

Ram:

A newspaper that lacks the wherewithal to differentiate between, say, 
advance of antibiotics  in controlling diseases, and 'bhoot-joraa' ( 
witch-doctoring) and gives the two equal billing in the name of 
'democracy', it can mean only two things:

	*** They don't know anything about democracy
	*** They know nothing about medicine.

If you asked me, it is bad news and worse news.

c-da










At 9:54 PM -0500 10/15/06, Ram Sarangapani wrote:
>C'da,
>
>Yes, I agree this is a good piece.
>  >from the well considered to outright propaganda on behalf of 
>the >same India that makes "--complete mockery of the 
>democratic >rights" of its people.
>
>But isn't that how a democracy ought to work - both pros & cons from 
>the media? But somehow, some of us just want a one-sided view - a 
>view that everything is wrong with India & her institutions.
>
>--Ram
>
>
>On 10/15/06, Chan Mahanta 
><<mailto:cmahanta at charter.net>cmahanta at charter.net> wrote:
>
>This is yet another well considered piece of editorial. I just can't 
>quite figure out why , or how, the Sentinel opinions go like a 
>yo-yo, from the well considered to outright propaganda on behalf of 
>the same India that makes "--complete mockery of the democratic 
>rights" of its people.
>
>Emphases mine,
>
>
>cm
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  A Fast with a Difference
>At a time when violence has entered almost every facet of the 
>average citizen's life and the nation as a whole has been 
>desensitized, Irom Sharmila's fast has given new significance and 
>meaning to the form of protest perfected by the father of the 
>nation. Six years ago, after security forces in Manipur gunned down 
>10 persons near Imphal, Sharmila began her fast demanding the 
>scrapping of the notorious Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or 
>AFSPA. The government has detained her on charges of attempting 
>suicide and she has been force-fed all these years. The very fact 
>that she succeeded in removing herself to Delhi and now continues 
>her protest in the heart of the country's capital, has added a sort 
>of mystique to the struggle being put up by this frail woman from 
>Manipur against the might of the Indian state. By shifting the venue 
>of her historic fast from 'remote' Imphal to the nation's capital, 
>Sharmila has succeeded in taking the woes of the people of Manipur 
>and the Northeast right up to the doors of those who are still under 
>the misconception that the answer to the ills of the northeastern 
>region lies primarily in abrogating the rights of the peripheral 
>people and by arming the security forces with unlimited powers.
>  Last week we had occasion to refer to Sharmila's fast in this 
>column. We are writing about it once again because this is no 
>ordinary fast, especially in a country when fasting as a form of 
>protest has long since degenerated into a cheap gimmick. Irom 
>Sharmila's fast has not only succeeded in once again galvanizing the 
>people of Manipur in their fight against the Armed Forces (Special 
>Powers) Act and the blatant violations of human rights that have 
>been committed by the security forces, but it has also raised 
>certain fundamental questions about the character of the Indian 
>nation-state and its equations with the small ethnic nationalities 
>struggling for political space within (and sometimes outside) the 
>Indian Union. The very fact that the Indian state has tried to 
>bypass a fast by a woman for six years against one of its most 
>autocratic and draconian measures shows the inherent contradiction 
>between the democratic principles enshrined in our Constitution and 
>the priorities of a centralized nation-state. It is indeed a pity 
>that in these 60 years of freedom, there has been no concerted move 
>on the part of successive governments to resolve what may be called 
>the basic inconsistency between the conception of a modern 
>nation-state and the pervasive reality of the polyethnic and 
>multinational character of our country. Otherwise, New Delhi would 
>not have reacted as it has done in all these years to the popular 
>outrage against a piece of legislation which makes a complete 
>mockery of the democratic rights of the average citizen.
>  Apart from raising certain central issues about the character and 
>functioning of the Indian nation-state, Irom Sharmila's fast has 
>brought into focus the lack of transparency and accountability of 
>the Central government. When Manipur witnessed unprecedented waves 
>of popular protest against the AFSPA two years ago following the 
>rape and murder in army custody of Thangjam Manorama, Prime Minister 
>Manmohan Singh, in a much delayed move to assuage the feelings of 
>the Manipuri people, promised them that he would consider replacing 
>the AFSPA with a "more humane law that will address both the 
>concerns of national security and the rights of the citizens." As 
>part of this promise, the Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee was set up 
>to review the AFSPA and to recommend, if necessary, its replacement 
>by a more humane Act. It is significant that in both the Prime 
>Minister's assurance to the Apunba Lup delegation which met him 
>towards the end of November 2004 and in defining the parameters of 
>the Reddy Committee, there is a reference to a "more humane Act" 
>which obviously means that the Centre has accepted the fact that the 
>AFSPA is an inhuman Act and needs to be changed or replaced!
>  Yet, it is more than a year now since the Reddy Committee submitted 
>its report to the government and the UPA government does not have 
>the courage even to throw open the report to public debate, not to 
>speak of acting on the Committee's recommendations for a repeal of 
>the AFSPA. If the Prime Minister of a country cannot renege his 
>pledge to the people, then what can one expect but further 
>alienation of the Northeast from 'mainstream' India? The Centre's 
>refusal to act on the Jeevan Reddy Committee's findings not only 
>reflects the inherent prejudices and coloured mindset that continue 
>to guide New Delhi's approach towards this region, but, more 
>importantly, it reveals the ever-increasing influence of the 
>security forces on the decision-making process in relation to the 
>Northeast. This was true even when this region was quite free of 
>militant politics. One may recall that in response to the people's 
>demand for a refinery in the State, Nehru wrote to the then Assam 
>Governor Fazl Ali in June 1957 that the refinery could not be set up 
>in Assam because the "military opinion was dead against it." Today, 
>with the northeastern region having been turned into a fully 
>militarized zone, it is but natural for the Prime Minister and his 
>Cabinet to buckle under Army pressure when it comes to repealing 
>draconian measures like the AFSPA. Thus, Sharmila's fast has 
>highlighted some of the inherent contradictions of the Indian state. 
>And all those who are concerned about the proper functioning of our 
>democratic polity are indebted to her. Hers is a fast that is a 
>narrative of the aberrations of Indian democracy.
>
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