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Janata, January 4 2015 (Vol. 69 No. 49)
Janata, January 4 2015 (Vol. 69 No. 49)
Established 1946
Vol. 69 No. 49
January 4, 2015
Polarisation in J & K
Kuldip Nayar
Janata Subscription
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JANATA TRUST
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Socialist Activist
My brother, Balraj Puri was a frequent contributor to
Janata, perhaps, the only democratic socialist journal
left now. He had great admiration for those whose
dedication sustained the journal for over six decades.
He was one of the founders of the Praja Socialist
Party in Jammu & Kashmir state, along with veteran
socialist and his friend, Om Prakash Saraf and late Dhan
Raj Bargotra. The J & K unit was inaugurated by Asoka
Mehta. It got a tremendous response in Jammu city and
surrounding areas and the convention was well attended
by diverse segments of society - farmers, workers and
middle class intelligentsia. The people welcomed it as
a viable third alternative to the essentially erstwhile
feudal leadership of Bharatiya Jana Sangh and powerful
oligarchic National Conference led by Bakshi Gulam
Mohammad, after the deposition of Sheikh Abdullah,
who had massively denied civil liberties to the people
in Kashmir valley. When Asoka Mehta reached Kashmir
valley to inaugurate party unit in Srinagar, his public
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Voice of reason
Om Prakash Saraf
When I was 19, Balraj Puri was just 13 - both teenagers
- when we made our first acquaintance as journalists for
the first time, 51 years ago. Interests and pursuits usually
associated with the age-group, never seemed to matter
for us. From day one we found ourselves in the thick
of discussions for hours together regarding the ebb and
flow of the freedom movement in the context of the ongoing Second World War, He was soon to start his own
weekly Pukar and write war diary for Ranbir bi-weekly.
I do not remember precisely when we became political
companions. Looking back now it seems somewhat
amazing that we have been through such a prolonged
harmonious personal and public companionship.
Differences have arisen between us. His qualities of
head and heart helped us to maintain out cool, never to
air even strongly felt opinions in public and eventually
to discover many pleasant shades between the black
and white. I think this is a miracle and all credit is due
to him. Words really fail me when I try to appraise such
a multi-faceted personality. Volumes will be required to
underlines his contributions. In his small frame like that
of Lal Bahadur Shastri was truly concealed a human
dynamo with boundless energy for all constructive causes
which may not be always be popular. He was profoundly
knowledgeable on Kashmir affairs and understood the
problems facing Muslims and other minorities in the
sub-continent. His concerns for the minorities in his own
homeland made him the foremost fighter for autonomy
of Jammu within an autonomous Kashmir. His role in
post-Independence renaissance of Jammu won universal
recognition.
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Remembering father
Luv Puri
I was born when my father was 52 years old. While
participating in the struggle for freedom in 1940s, the bulk
of his active public life was spent in post-independent
India. He belonged to the generation, which was imbued
with ideals of freedom struggle but was conscious of the
fact that painstaking effort was required to ensure that
the idea of India is kept alive.
Though I used to sometimes remark about the age gap
between us, he always used to reply what mattered was
the relationship between parents and children rather than
age gap. He used to describe his children as his friends.
As I started enjoying conversing with him about his
writings and activism, he readily discussed with me
as a friend. My introduction to his professional life
was in the late 1980s. Post-dinner evening walks, be
it summers or winters, were the occasion that we used
to have discussions on several issues. The issues could
be something topical or he used to reply to my curious
questions about philosophy, history, politics or even
career options. Being a voracious reader of newspapers
and journals, he was quick to apply his own mind and
relate the same to his field of work. I was kind of a
sounding board for his ideas. It was a dialogic interaction,
and we had these interactions till 2010 till he became so
ill that such walks were no longer sustainable.
By the late 1980s, he had already established himself
as one of the leading public intellectuals of the country
whose articles and commentary educated the citizenry
as well as people in the policy world on some of the
critical issues facing the country. In the 1980s and 1990s,
I happened to witness a number of incidents, which
appeared to be a continuation of his previous work,
as an objective public intellectual and a brave peace
activist with deep-seated commitment to secularism and
democratic socialism.
One of my earliest memories was chilly month
of January 1989, when Hindu-Sikh riots broke out
in Jammu. While the city burnt on 13 January, he
singlehandedly rode on his scooter and started visiting the
areas ravaged by communal violence. On one occasion,
he stood between the two mobs baying for blood of each
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Balraj Puri on
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May, 2008
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only 800 were put on trial and out of them mere 725 were
convicted (Hindu 28 May 2008). There are other drastic
laws like AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act)
under which courts have no jurisdiction over wrongful
acts of the armed forces. Detentions under such laws may
be even more arbitrary. Nobody can say how many of
them are actually criminals or innocent. But most glaring
cases of unjust detentions include those of human rights
activists.
Lynching of suspected criminals by the mob is
becoming very common as the people are losing
faith in police and justice system. Another factor that
encourages crimes is easy availability of small arms
which are used by even young students against fellow
students or teachers at the slightest provocation.
India is one of the fastest growing economy of the
world with rate of growth hovering around 9 per cent
and the number of billionaire are added every year. Yet
30,000 poor farmers under debt committed suicide in
Maharashtra within a decade out of 1.5 lakh who killed
themselves across the country, according to a study by
Prof. K. Natraj of the Madras Institute of Development
Studies. He has analyzed data recorded by the National
Crime Records Bureau from 1997 (Hindu 14 November
2007). Uncontrolled spiral of inflation is increasing the
gap between the rich and the poor.
While legally, socially and politically women have
made many strides, having occupied the post of the
Prime Minister, the President and the leader of the ruling
alliance, there has also been rise in crimes against them.
There are a number of reasons for it including greater
media attention and reporting of such crimes, increase in
number of working women, unsuitable working hours,
unescorted travelling, inefficient and insufficient policing
and smaller number of women police.
The promise that India had initially shown in the field
of human rights and the type of democratic institutions
it had evolved, had won international recognition. For
these reasons it was elected a member of Human Rights
Council of the United Nations, which had replaced the
Commission on Human Rights on 19 June 2006, by
securing 173 out of 191 votes of the United Nations
General Assembly - the maximum number of votes.
All the member states are to be covered within the four
year Universal Periodic Review (UPR). In the first
session of the council in April 2008, the UPR listed
both positive and negative record of India. Among
the positive points it noted widespread international
appreciation and admiration for the sweeping proactive
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the lecture hall was over full. Outside I met some armed
Sikh youngmen who introduced themselves as followers
of Sant Bhindrawala and told me that they knew only
one form of dialogue ie through the gun. I expressed my
inability to dialogue through that medium. They said
that the only thing they knew about me was that I was
a friend of Sikhs and they had been deputed to provide
me security for my meetings.
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secular front. Akali Dal for its long term survival must
transform itself into a genuine secular regional party
with adequate share for non Sikhs in the highest decision
making forum. After all Sikh history has set an example
of real secularism. If Gurus used two swords Piri and
Miri and two platforms Akal Takhat and Harminder Sahib
as symbols of secular and religions affairs, less mortals
must separate political and religious leadership also. Let
the lesson of the latest assembly election be carried to
its logical conclusion.
A genuine and full-fledged secular regional party in
Punjab would not only be able to play an important role
in national politics but will also enable it to promote
understanding between emerging Punjabi identities in
India and Pakistan which could substantially contribute
in promoting peace and prosperity in the subcontinent.
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