Vinod Dua get a pass

The Sedition law is clear: The Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code states: “Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Government established by law in India shall be punished…” Did the Journalist’s several outbursts on the air and in print attracts the IPC 124A? He did, for sure! But the Supreme Court Bench of Justices UU Lalit and Vineet Saran (who are the final authority, not infallible angels!) rules now that “every journalist is entitled to the protection under the Kedar Nath Singh judgment(which defined the ambit of the offense of sedition under Section 124A IPC, quoting an earlier (1962) judgment of the SC -Kedar Nath Singh vs the State of Bihar) which read down Section 124A IPC and held that the application of the provision should be limited to "acts involving intention or tendency to create disorder or disturbance of law and order; or incitement to violence." How would their Lordships measure the “intension” or “tendency”? I suppose they would wait for the results when the executive will find it difficult, as well as expensive to contain the disorder, rebellion or riots!

I think these days one can notice a powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity in the Courtroom; certain judicial arrogance to thwart the executive for the fun of it, encroaching on even the legislative prerogative of people’s representatives without going into the Constitutional provisions of judicial powers and the separation of powers between the legislature, executive, and the judiciary!

Free Speech, works only if nobody gets a waiver. The Courts have often sided with the Left-liberal ecosystem stretching their definition of FoE to sedition have no moral standing in denying others the freedom to express their patriotic feelings!

The Supreme Court’s attitude n Vinod Dua case shows that it would rather jeopardize the safety of and security of India than the liberty of those of the wo/men who continuously spread canards against the legally established Government of India and the sneering disrespect for legal authority and democratic processes. The Judges of the highest Court ignores the fact that newspapers and news tv channels are the most important sources of news for the public. If they resort to freely disbursing fake news and disruptive ideologies to attack the elected government spread disaffection, and destroy the unity and integrity of the government, eventually the peace of the realm is destroyed, and the people suffer; the nation suffers!

The case also exhibits the limitless judicial arrogance in rejecting the plea to direct the State Governments to constitute preliminary inquiry before FIRs are registered against “senior journalists” (hierarchy!) observing that it “would amount to encroachment upon the field reserved for the legislature”. Look who’s talking! Precisely in this context, I would like to introduce that strange phenomenon, a former Supreme Court Judge and former Chairman for the Press Council of India, Justice Markandey Katju! He has announced that he would depose as a witness for absconding diamond merchant Nirav Modi, prime accused along with his uncle Mehul Choksi in the INR 14,000 crores ($2 billion) Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam. This paragon of all judicial knowledge and human virtues of head and hear hs emphatically said that he would not be commenting on the merits of the case; but   would only say that his client ‘Nirav’ would not get JUSTICE in India. I dare say if Vinod Dua gets a pass, Nirav Modi also should! He only stole some money. Corrupting the minds of people with pathetically negative, inaccurate, and unreliable, and fake stories in an orgy of schadenfreude and hypocrisy, belying the trust in ‘independent’ media, is far worse than that!  

 

 

 

 

Who wants to save Lakshadweep?

I was initially amused to see a campaign to ‘save Lakshadweep’! It came to my notice when a young and popular actor in Malayalam movies gave the first shot with a letter on Facebook and on Twitter. He was against the new developments planned by the Lakshadweep administration because it would “destroy the local culture”! I knew that one of his movies was shot there and when the Island’s 96% Muslim population’s ‘leaders’ opposed it, he approached the Minister of State in MEA who is from Kerala, and sought help to have the movie shot there. Afterward, he gave a Television interview, regretting the state of affairs in that heavenly place- lack of any decent infrastructure in a beautiful place with such a great tourism potential, lack of hotels, lack of restaurants, not a single movie theatre there...

My amusement became consternation when the entire House of People’s Representatives in Kerala passed a Resolution seeking recall of Lakshadweep Administrator Praful Khoda Patel and requesting the immediate intervention of the Centre “to protect the lives and the livelihood of the islanders”! That was indeed a long leap from the interest in protecting “local culture”! Not that I am alarmed by the possibility of a Kerala Assembly Resolution doing anything significant enough to hurt Lakshadeep or its administrator engaged in a lot of significant work for the Holistic Development of Islands Program under the Island Development Agency constituted by the Union Government on 1st June 2017 for the development of islands. (The history of Kerala Assembly Resolutions  tell us what wasteful exercises they have been in the past – in 2008 against George W Bush; in 2009 asking for the release of terror-accused Madhani; in 2013 against Iaraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; in 2016 against Demonetisation; and in 2019 demanding scrapping of an Act of Parliament – the CAA!)

For the first time in the country, under the guidance of IDA, an initiative of sustainable development in the identified Islands within scientifically assessed carrying capacity has been taken up. These development plans have a focus on the creation of jobs for the islanders through tourism promotion as well as the export of seafood and coconut-based products made in the Islands. They have been prepared for 16 islands in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and 10 in Lakshadweep aiming at sustainable development in the identified Islands within scientifically assessed carrying capacity. The first phase has taken up five islands of Lakshadweep and in four islands of Andaman & Nicobar. The second phase of IDA programs will focus on suitable areas in 12 more islands of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and 5 islands in Lakshadweep have been covered.

Some of these development programs have brought about administrative reforms involving changes from the past ways ‘of doing things'. It had obviously hurt certain vested interests in landholding and business operations. They have raised the issue of ‘culture’ first, and now are expanding the concern to other areas such as “life and livelihood”! The Lakshadweep Collector Asker Ali IAS had given a press conference in Cochin a few days back explaining how the administrative reforms and unprecedented development efforts led by the Administrator Praful Khoda Patel were subjected to a ‘misleading campaign’. Though some 500Km from the shores of Kerla, many of us have contacts with the people of the Islands where they have 4G mobile connections of BSNL and AIRTEL. We know there is no tension on the Islands, and that the entire campaign does not represent the sentiments of the people. The administration is proactively considering certain reforms for the larger public interest of the people of Lakshadweep. But since almost 95 percent of the 80000 or so Islanders belong to the Muslim Community, a communal color is being given to work up their sentiments.

For India, this group of Islands is like Macao for China, Bali for Indonesia, or Phuket for Thailand, an unbelievably beautiful place that can be made a tourism hub with better tourist inflow than the Maldives! More importantly, with the threat of China looming large over India, with our hostile neighbor’s activities in Sri Lanka, the geographic position of this island offers the Indian Navy a better outreach in terms of naval patrolling and surveillance across the Western Indian Ocean. The strategic location of Lakshadweep islands, an archipelago in the Arabian sea, 200 to 440 km off the southwestern Malabar coast of India has to be stressed. The Lakshadweep consists of 36 islands. But currently, there are 35 islands, as one island is submerged in water due to sea erosion. The islands form the smallest union territory of India and their total surface area is only 32 km. It is a Union Territory without its own legislature, but with a single Member of Parliament.

Strategically these islands are of immense importance to India. The spread of these islands has bestowed upon India 20,000 sq. km. of territorial waters and approximately 400,000 sq. km. of Exclusive Economic Zone. But what should be rattling the Indian Defence Ministry is the recent Chinese ingress into Sri Lanka. China has acquired a controlling stake in the Hambantota Port Project, and the Colombo Port City special economic zone. Historically China had conducted much of the trade with the Arabs using Calicut port as a base. The Chinese take pride in their History, except for the period of the Opium Wars, when the combined British-Indian forces devastated them using the might of the Opium poppy plant. The constantly expanding Chinese footprint in Sri Lanka and Maldives is deeply inspired by History. President Xi Jinping harbors grandiose ambitions of extending the Chinese territory far and wide, unopposed by any nation. He is known to be planning a big offensive naval arc, extending from the Bay of Bengal-Indian Ocean-Arabian sea. India has a lot of homework to do. But, what needs immediate attention is to trace the drug-recipient groups operating in Lakshadweep.

Dr G Shreekumar Menon, IRS, (Rtd) PhD (Narcotics) is Former Director-General, National Academy of Customs Indirect Taxes and Narcotics, & Multi-Disciplinary School Of Economic Intelligence India has revealed in detail how the drug trail fortunately established by Indian Coast Guards as well as Customs point to a well-planned strategy to destabilize India’s security using the Lakshadweep Archipelago. The value of the drugs seized just during the period November 2020 to March 31st 2021 is a whopping Rs.5000 crores! Compare this figure with the annual Budget allocation for 2021-22 for Lakshadweep which is Rs.1349.71 crores. Almost three times the annual budget is the value of drug trafficking for a period of just 5 months. Within a limited surface area of around 32 km, the drug trafficking turnover is around Rs.5000 crores. Add to this the value and quantum of firearms seized; everything adds up to an astronomical figure. With this kind of hush-hush money being generated, Hawala and money laundering should also be happening on a large scale.  The hitherto cocooned archipelago is suddenly in the spotlight, as its dark underbelly is exposed. No wonder that an orchestrated campaign has been quickly set in motion to ‘save Lakshadweep’. Twitter has also chipped in with ‘Let India Breathe’ campaign, critical about the development plans for the island. There is no problem if Maldives, Seychelles, Bali islands are developed to attract tourists, but Lakshadweep embarking on tourist development activities is to be vehemently opposed. Mercifully, speculation is also rife in some sections of the media that this instantly organized campaign is a red herring – meant to deflect attention from the sheer magnitude of the drugs and guns seizure.

The threatening, new Chinese presence is barely 290 km from the southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula – Kanya Kumari, and we hear the news of this massive drugs and guns trafficking into Lakshadw As such, it can be used to great advantage to enhance the IN's power-projection capabilities. There have been several instances of our Coast Guard capturing boats with contraband heroin. The latest was with 300Kg heroin worth Rs.3000 crore in the international market and 5 AK47 assault rifles and 1000 round live ammunition! In this context, the Lakshadweep Archipelago has become more important for the Government of India which is considering along with the Southern Naval Command in Kochi, could be converted into a Tri-Command facility.

Dr. Shreekumar Menon sees a clear geographical shift in the drug trafficking route into India. Sri Lankan boats ferrying drugs and guns into remote Lakshadweep is going to be a great challenge for Indian enforcement agencies. The greater challenge will be to trace how these drugs and guns have possibly found their way into the Indian mainland, and how much of this bounty has bee received by Organized Crime Groups, and how much the Drug Trafficking Organizations have participated in these scary deals. More importantly, how much money has been generated, and has been unobtrusively integrated into the nation’s financial system? According to Dr.Shreekumar Menon, to investigate and unravel this transnational crime, identify, disrupt, and dismantle the drug traffickers, arms traffickers, and money launderers, India will have to employ an intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Indian Coast Guard has become the front-line defense of our nation in this onerous task.

Those who have any misgivings about the fearful scenario painted above may look into what happened to a small archipelagic state in the Indian Ocean, comprising of 1192 islands endowed with similarly exquisite natural beauty, and a tourists' paradise in 1988 when coup d'état attempt was made by a group of Maldivians led by businessman Abdullah Luthufi and assisted by armed mercenaries of a Tamil secessionist organization from Sri Lanka PLOTE, the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam, to overthrow the government in the island republic ruled by then President Gayoom. At the request of President Gayoom, India militarily intervened in a swift ‘Operation Cactus’ with India Naval Ships also helping the Indian Army para brigade that landed at the airport on Hulule island, adjacent to Male Harbor. The cou leaders had taken hostages that included a Maldivian cabinet minister and his Swiss mother-in-law, in a hijacked ship. RajivG was the PM then and President Gayoom had personally requested that the rebels be captured and brought back to Male to face trial. Indian defense forces achieved that fairly difficult task and could report “Hostages rescued safely and rebels captured” almost 1000Km from Indian mainland! If the Government of India India waits long enough, it could be an operation against a mighty power, China which has a navy with a fleet strength of 777 with 2 aircraft carriers, 74 submarines, 36 destroyers, 52 frigates, 50 corvettes, 29 mine warfare ships and 220 coastal patrol ships, against India’s fleet strength of 285 including 1 aircraft carrier, 16 submarines, 10 destroyers, 13 frigates, 19 corvettes, 3 mine warfare ships and 139 coastal patrol ships. The Air Forces and Armies are equally mismatched.

The Government of India has for the first time since Independence showing greater interest in the overall development of Lakshadweep mainly for the reasons given above. Being a part of India it is also necessary not to keep this Archipelago as a museum-piece, but to bring into the mainstream of the national political, economic and cultural life as an integral part of India; offering its people better living standards, and a better future.

One criticism is about the proposal to bring change in panchayat regulation not allowing people with more than two children to participate in the election, - a move to push for family planning and to empower women in the Islands, offering them 50% seats. The ‘two children rule’ will not apply to people who already have more than two children!

Another contentious reform is the draft Lakshadweep Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation 2021, which is opposed, questioning why such a law should be implemented in a place that is known for some of the lowest crime rates in the country! The Collector clarifies that such a law is being implemented considering the ‘future’ of Lakshadweep! “Till now, Lakshadweep is a peaceful place. But in the next 10 years, the situation may worsen, considering emerging conditions” clarified the Collector! It is worth remembering that there have been 40 drug-related cases on the islands during the last two years!

The move to ban beef in the islands through the draft law in the name of ‘animal preservation’ which will ban slaughter, transportation, and selling or buying beef products is taken up as a matter of life and death! This is a place where they had rejected the setting up of a statue of the Father of the Nation, and you expect his idea of anti-cow slaughter written into the Constitution of India as a Directive Principle to be accepted without any opposition? Fish is the staple food of the people in the Islands. The soil appears to be infertile for growing vegetables and fruits. Import of more vegetables and fruits from other Indian shores is considered more important than bringing beef. The government’s introduction of Amul milk and milk product sale outlets are also opposed God knows why!

I believe there are no liquor bars in Lakshadweep (illegal liquor is available for Rs.3000plus per bottle according to my information), and two bar-attached restaurants are considered in the interest of tourism. Yet another contentious draft proposal is the Lakshadweep Development Authority Act which aims to widen roads, map, and earmark zones for construction, mining, commercial or residential activity, among other things. It also allows for authorities to evict encroachers on the selected land. Vested interests are raising the issue of Lakshadweep being an ecologically sensitive area to oppose such developments.

There is an English expression: ”laying on with a trowel and piling up thick” the propagandists out to “Save Lakshadweep” are adding one more allegation, that the Covid-19 management in the Centrally administered territory is far from satisfactory. Those who raise this are from a state which is on top of the chart in infections, positivity, and death statistics and furious manipulations are on to bring them down! In the ‘first wave’ of the pandemic in 2020, Lakshadweep Islands had zero COVID-19 cases, which experts credited to strict quarantine measures and testing. Meanwhile, since the supplies come mostly from Kerala and Karnataka (Mangalore port) the pandemic traveled to the islands and 26 people have died of COVID-19, but 23 of them from co-morbidities. They have a strict Standard Operating Procedure that bars easy entry of people to the island now. As in the case of people with serious ailments, COVID-19 patients requiring emergency treatment are routinely air evacuated and admitted to INHS Sanjivani, the Naval hospital at Kochi. Navy ships under Southern Naval Command are operating mission ‘Oxygen Express’ rendering support to Lakshadweep Administration. The Centre is building two Oxygen plants in the Islands to make them self-sufficient.

The last point is the genesis of the entire campaign. The Opposition has been jumping from one non-issue to another - a surfeit of political posturing and scaremongering about the CAA, then the Farm Laws, and having exhausted their energies in the earlier ones, using the Muslim vote bank for a politics of hatred and division is back here in the far-off archipelago. Unable to defeat Modi fair and square at the ballot box, they are out to bullshit about him after having wound up far below the electoral threshold in most parts of the country. The important rallying point against Modi in the Lakshadweep is his former colleague in Gujarat as Home Minister of Gujarat when Modiji was the CM - Prafful Khoda Patel, calling him as "anti-people" and demanding an immediate withdrawal of the "draconian and authoritarian" orders drafted by him! His offense? Trying to destroy (!) Lakshadweep’s pristine natural beauty and its unique confluence of cultures… Who makes the allegation, an intellectually-challenged person whose family had spent 10 days there with pork, and a variety of other meat and liquor flowing, when his father then Prime Minister of India spent a vacation there with 1700 servants and other retinues, 20 private guests including unknown foreign nationals other than his wife’s family, and an Indian Navy’s only Aircraft Carrier, 7 escort ships, aircraft, boats spending hundreds of crores per day at the cost of the country! The Island's were blocked for other people, including its occupants considering their security!

Accusations that Modi Government has been working against the “indigenous culture” of Lakshadweep have flown freely, from Islamic fundamentalists,  seasoned Congress and Left politicians and Kerala ministers to people wading into the issue for the first time on social media. I would argue that the views expressed by a cabal of tuppenny actors, sundry politicians with their own axes to grind, the front organizations led by Leftist “intellectuals”, and the ‘performing artists’ of a sold media are least important, and relevant in the context of all I have described above. In fact, their views are cringe-worthy. I feel irrepressible anger remembering the fact that these conscientiously awakened intelligent persons who got worked up over the ‘culture” of Lakshadweep islanders never passed any resolution or wrote any articles or poems about the 500000 Hindu Pundits were driven away from Kashmir just for being Hindus and not fitting in the cultural particularity of the Muslims majority there; or about the gruesome massacre of the 4000-plus Sikhs in 1984... These are the very same  people seen deliberately and publicly inciting Muslim Indians to violence over the CAA exploiting sensitive unwarranted Muslim sentiment about the authenticity of their citizenship! They had spawned vaccine hesitancy first by raising doubts regarding the efficacy of vaccines made in India calling it Modi Vaccine. They were also doing flip-flops on the vaccination drive, demanding autonomy for states when the vaccination drive was centralized and when the Centre decentralized the process, they demanded centralized procurement of vaccines! I am only worried about the divisive, polarizing tone of the rhetoric spewn out on this issue cleaving a widening gulf between Hindus and Muslims, not between the mainland and the islands...