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THE HINDU
8 EDITORIAL NOIDA/DELHI

WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2017

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Now playing in Karnataka

While Siddaramaiah has embraced the constituency of Devaraj Urs, the BJP borrows from Ramakrishna Hegde
pression in highly variegated but
localised social assertions and
The recalcitrant judge movements. The social justice
policy initiatives have also nur-
tured a huge clientele who have
It is doubtful if sending Justice Karnan to jail stakes in this patronage. Besides, it
is the most judicious way of restraining him Valerian Rodrigues has articulated cleavages among
Dalit communities, the north and
present is definitely tilted towards
Mr. Siddaramaiah. Further, an alli-
ance between Mr. Deve Gowdas
Janata Dal (Secular) and the Con-
gress in Karnataka, which is not un-
imaginable, would make them
electorally formidable.

I
t is singularly unfortunate that the Supreme Courts he Siddaramaiah regime in south divide in the State, the indi- The persisting divides
efforts to discipline Justice C.S. Karnan of the Cal-
cutta High Court has had to end in a six-month
prison term for contempt of court. With the recalcitrant
T Karnataka is pushing towards
a political polarisation of so-
cial constituencies which, while
genous philistines and the global-
isers etc. Overall, the regime has in-
voked a stronger Karnataka
However, what is too late for Mr.
Siddaramaiah, as he is soon going
to complete four years in power, is
judge making it a habit to bring the institution into ri- subjecting a well-tried-out strategy identity without overtly splashing the little enablement that his initi-

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
dicule by his aberrant behaviour, the court probably in the State to test, is likely to have it across. atives have afforded to his political
wider ramifications for the future constituency at large. While he has
had few options but to act in defence of its reputation by
direction of the Congress party The BJP calculus succeeded in according a presence
holding him guilty of contempt of court a finding that elsewhere. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to backward classes, minorities,
is unexceptionable. He had not only flung irresponsible The outline of this political opposition has pandered to the Dalits and other disadvantaged so-
charges of corruption against several judges, but also strategy was initially laid down by Hindutva agenda to unite one of cial groups, there is little that he
sought to make political capital out of his Dalit identity. the late Devaraj Urs as Chief Minis- the most socially heterogeneous has done by way of enabling these
He had repeatedly sought to pass purported judicial or- ter of the State (1972-77), and its legacy but had little of his adroit- already presented 12 Budgets. A States in India while making the sections by redistributing assets
ders in his own cause. His arrest will undoubtedly mark success even made him challenge ness to mount a distinct concep- close scrutiny of these Budgets Lingayats, a dominant and numer- and affording access. Even if he
Indira Gandhi at the near end of his tion of social justice in practice. highlights that he has tended to fo- ous community, its social anchor. was not a position to shift re-
an abysmally low moment in the countrys judicial his-
political career and befriend The political constituency that Urs cus resources on irrigation, roads B.S. Yeddyurappa, the leader of sources decisively in favour of
tory. Therefore, it remains a pertinent question Chaudhary Charan Singh during nurtured remained adrift. Chief and communication, and power. this formation, a Lingayat himself, these sections like Urs did, he
whether the court could not have waited for his immin- the closing days of Janata Party rule Minister Siddaramaiah has come to Industry in Karnataka has taken has tried to highlight the griev- could have done much to put Kan-
ent retirement so that the country is spared the un- (1977-1979) at the Centre. Urs by- embrace it enthusiastically. note of such disposition in spite of ances of the upper strata of peas- nada medium schools, that his cli-
seemly event of a high court judge being arrested while passed the existing revenue bur- his mouthfuls of statements on so- antry to reinforce his base of sup- entele have to invariably resort to,
in office. It was only last week that the court itself eaucracy and set up a collective of Complex agenda cial justice. port. on a par with the rest. Primary
doubted whether Justice Karnan was of sound mental officials and elected local leaders at Mr. Siddaramaiah was nurtured in The Congress in power in The BJP thinks that it will be able health care in Karnataka, as else-
the tehsil level all across the State a school of politics that did not as- Karnataka under Mr. Siddaramai- to enlist the support of the service where in the country, is abysmal.
health. After all, it is highly unusual for a judge to charge
to confer land entitlement on the sign centrality to state initiatives, ahs leadership has pursued a com- castes among backward castes, a The State is perennially prone to
other Supreme Court judges with committing atrocit- direct cultivator, estimate surplus to industry and the city, at least, as plex social justice agenda, very dif- section of Dalits aggrieved with the drought and the water table in
ies against him and threatening to prosecute them an land, and adjudge claims for much as the Congress did till the ferent from the one mounted by working of preferential measures, large parts has sunk alarmingly
act that could only do harm unto him. As expected, homestead land by landless la- early 1990s. His politics revolved Urs that focused on redistribution and the urban middle classes at the low.
Justice Karnan declined to subject himself to a medical bour; and set up the credit and around agrarian concerns with an and access. It identifies certain key hustings. However, there is a nag- While the State was known for
examination by a team of mental health professionals marketing infrastructure for the assemblage of fragments of disadvantages of vulnerable social ging feeling within it that this not institutional corruption, some of
as directed by the court. peasantry. thoughts of Gandhi, Ram Manohar strata, such as the lower rungs of adequate to seize an electoral vic- the social sector policies of the gov-
He also directed an inventory Lohia, and folklore. For long he peasantry, below poverty line tory. A few leaders of the party ernment have given it a further fil-
Having gone so far as to question his mental sound-
and classification of backward worked with the non-Congress (BPL) families, the shelterless, have tried to form a backward lip. Much of the economy is con-
ness, it would have been pragmatic to let things be until classes and extended to them re- formation in Karnataka led by Ra- schoolchildren, pregnant women caste brigade within its fold, but centrated in Bengaluru and the
his retirement, due in a month. After all, Justice Karnan, servation in employment, higher makrishna Hegde and H.D. Deve and nursing mothers, Scheduled the party leadership is divided on southern part of the State and very
having been denied judicial work, posed no threat to education and other social sector Gowda, who were the backbone of Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the issue. little has been done to close the
the administration of justice. At the same time, it was in- policies. He took initiative for the the Janata formations in the State. transgenders, backward regions In the 1980s Ramakrishna yawning gulf between North
creasingly clear that nothing was really going to chasten organisation of relatively marginal But he was also the strident cham- etc. and extends some support to Hegde set up a truce between the Karnataka and the rest of the State
him or prevent him from challenging the Supreme backward castes, and decisively pion of backward classes and overcome their disadvantage. Sim- Lingayats and Vokkaligas against in this regard. While Muslims are
shifted political recruitment to of- thought that there cannot be a level ilarly the different authorities and the alliance that Urs had nurtured. still with the Siddaramaiah regime,
Courts authority. It is doubtful whether sending him to
fices and positions to backward playing field for them without a re- corporations under the State reach But it was far too caught in the a community divide in the State
jail will achieve anything other than possibly encour- classes and minorities undercut- gime of preferential policies. His out to a set of grievances and aspir- rivalry among dominant castes for persists and the presence of
aging him to play martyr and portray himself as a victim ting the prevailing dominance of partisanship with backward ations of religious and linguistic power and eventually gave place to Muslims in the mainstream eco-
in his war against judicial corruption. That the only upper castes, mainly Lingayats, classes eventually made him part minorities, sustaining a stratum of alternative alliances under the nomy is pitiably low. While the in-
punishment that the highest court could come up with Vokkaligas and Brahmins. The out- ways with Mr. Deve Gowda, whose elite among them. leadership of a dominant caste. ternal rivalry within the State Con-
against a sitting high court judge was imprisonment come was an electorally formid- social base of support was among The regime has also reached out The recent entry of S.M. Krishna, gress probably inhibited the Chief
speaks volumes about the total absence of any disciplin- able platform of the lower agrarian the peasantry of the dominant proactively in support of Kannada, an Vokkaliga, into the BJP was an Minister from putting his best foot
strata, the backward classes, the castes, particularly Vokkaligas. folk traditions, and local icons. Mr. attempt to resurrect the alliance forward for long, political choices
ary mechanism short of impeachment to deal with con-
minorities and a section of Dalits When Mr. Siddaramaiah joined the Siddaramaiah himself is an astute that Hegde fathered. However, cannot always await opportune
tumacious conduct by a member of the higher judi- and Adivasis. Congress in 2005, its claim to rep- speaker of rustic and idiomatic there is little that Mr. Krishna can moments.
ciary. It is a pity that a case of proven misbehaviour did Political contestation in cities resent the backward classes was re- Kannada with an excellent sense of bring to the BJP given the fact that
not attract the attention of the political class, which did not enjoy the same weight in inforced alongside Dalits and irony and humour. Such disposi- Mr. Deve Gowda commandeers the
Valerian Rodrigues is a former professor
alone can initiate impeachment. The courts gag order the 1970s as it does today, and was minorities. tion and policy measures have Vokkaliga bastion more than any- at the Centre for Political Studies,
on the media from reporting Justice Karnans purpor- taken care of by mainstream Con- Mr. Siddaramaiah has also been enormously increased the pres- one else. Jawaharlal Nehru University, and
ted orders and comments only adds to the sense of un- gress politics. After Urs, many lead- one of the astute managers of the ence of vulnerable groups in the Given this configuration of polit- currently national fellow, Indian Council
ers in the State have invoked his finances of the State, and has public domain that often finds ex- ical equations, the balance at of Social Science Research
ease about the whole episode. The lesson here is that
while the collegium system had been unable to stop
someone of his nature entering judicial office, main-

Duplication isnt synergy

taining internal discipline in the judiciary is an equally
vexing issue.

Chasing peace Indian science needs hard work and a critically large base of experts, not more management
The latest de-escalation bid for Syria Gautam R. Desiraju come under the purview of one We have failed in our educational government departments in Delhi

S
PARK (Sustainable Progress overarching body like SPARK. system to harness the enormous following a proposal from one
is the most realistic agreement yet through Application of Re- The Department of Science and latent talent in our country and closed administrative group to an-

T
he so-called de-escalation agreement reached search and Knowledge) is a Technology and Department of Bi- build a solid foundation of science. other. A broad-based consultation
among Russia, Turkey and Iran last week in As- proposed initiative to synergise sci- otechnology are purely funding Science does not end with the with stakeholders is a must.
ence activity in India. A new, more and outreach organisations. The Indian Institutes of Technology, In- Even if SPARK is constituted, it
tana is the latest in a series of attempts to bring
efficient way of managing science Council of Scientific & Industrial dian Institutes of Science Educa- needs financial independence;
the six-year-old Syrian civil war to an end. Previous
THE HINDU

is surely welcome, but one needs
ceasefire plans have either failed to take off or collapsed to put in a lot of thought before tak-
soon after, given the continued hostility between the re- ing any action.
gime of Bashar al-Assad and rebels. Still, the latest The existing systems of science
agreement is significant for a number of reasons. First governance in this country are ro-
of all, any attempt to cease violence is welcome given bust with departments reporting
to ministers who in turn report to
the destruction the war has wreaked in Syria. More than
the Union Cabinet. There is no lack
two million people are estimated to be living in rebel- of sound advisory bodies and com-
held territories (barring areas controlled by the Islamic mittees within these departments.
State) in terrible humanitarian conditions and under As for overarching bodies, we
constant fear of aerial bombing. For them, an end to the already have the Scientific Advis-
Russian-Assad regime strikes is a great relief. Second, ory Committee to the Prime Minis-
the agreement involves the three main external players ter and the Principal Scientific Ad-
viser to the Government of India.
in the civil war. Russia and Iran are the key backers of
Why are there two such similar
the regime, while Turkey supports some rebel groups. bodies? Have any of their recom-
Under the agreement, Syria and Russia will stop bomb- mendations resulted in concrete
ing rebel-held areas, divided into four zones in Idlib, actions? In the end, they have re-
Homs, Damascus suburbs, and southern Deraa and mained toothless. Do we need a
Quneitra towns, to de-escalate tensions. The regime third such body?
will also allow unhindered humanitarian supplies to The science departments are
too different from one another to
rebel-held areas and provide public services. In return,
the rebels should stop fighting government forces.
Third, this appears to be a more focussed, phased at-
tempt to end violence. The agreement was reached LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
barely weeks before a two-track political process was to
begin. In June, the government and rebel representat- Not taking a right turn
ives will meet for negotiations in Geneva, while the Rus- In a phase when right-wing
forces are on the ascendant
sia-led talks of external actors will continue in Kazakh-
in India, the United States
stan in July. If the de-escalation plan holds, it will be a and in certain European
big boost for the political process. countries, the victory of
But implementing the agreement itself will be a ma- Emmanuel Macron, a
jor challenge given the complex nature of the civil war. former socialist, in France
For the deal to hold, Russia and Iran will first have to comes as relief to the liberal
rein in the Assad regime. In the past it has shown little forces which espouse values
of tolerance and
interest in a political solution. Foreign Minister Walid
multiculturalism (The
Muallems comment that the regime would not allow Centre holds, editorial,
UN monitoring of the implementation of de-escalation May 9). The Fifth Republic,
is not in the spirit of the agreement. A bigger challenge wobbling due to issues such
for all actors involved is how to tackle the threats from as Islamophobia and
al-Qaeda-linked groups. The Astana agreement is clear unemployment, has opted
on that Russia and Syria will continue to attack them. for the centre when
confronted with the far
In Idlib, the Qaeda-linked Tahrir al-Sham is the main right.
anti-regime militia. In Homs and the Damascus sub- Ashok Alex Luke,
urbs, they have joined hands with other groups. So if Kottayam
the government continues to attack them, it could drag
Mr. Macrons victory has
more rebel groups into the fight, risking an end to the
been hailed by many as a
ceasefire. Ideally, the regime should exercise restraint
and the non-jihadist rebels distance themselves from
victory of French liberalism
when in fact it is more a loss
Qaeda-linked organisations, while allowing Russia, Tur- of neo-fascism (A triumph
key and Iran to play the role of facilitators. To take the for French liberalism, May
political process forward, everyone has to act more re- 9). The people voted for Mr.
sponsibly, keeping in mind the humanitarian situation. Macron, yes, but they did so
Research (CSIR) has a special and tion and Research and other elite given the relationship between the
tricky mandate which involves in- institutions. I disagree with the re- Ministry of Finance and its Depart-
teraction with industry. ports contention that there is a ment of Expenditure on the one
The Department of Atomic En- huge support system, and global hand and the science departments
ergy, Defence Research and Devel- is a management technique that ef- goodwill which is positive. We on the other, this remains a moot
opment Organisation, Department fectively identifies scientific chal- have none of these. point.
of Space and others are into mis- lenges and links the resulting Anyway, India does not need Large systems that work even
sion-mode projects. There is breakthroughs with national prob- global goodwill to succeed in sci- moderately satisfactorily should
hardly a government department lems. ence. It needs hard work, honest not be tinkered with too much, for
or ministry that science does not However, the issue is not that we management and a critically large we may then have to face uninten-
touch. need a new system of science man- base of experts. ded consequences. Indian science
agement. The bald fact is that we Soothing yet baffling expedients is certainly not in a good state of
Reality of Indian science do not have so much to manage. to solve the problems of Indian sci- health today. But what is wrong is
The goals of SPARK seem to be The report of top science adminis- ence might make for good copy in not the structure of the system.
most closely attuned with NITI trators that recommended the set- the short run but they are not going The wrongs emanate from the
Aayog, and it might well be effect- ting up of this independent author- to yield real results. For example, many sins of omission and com-
ive only within this parent organ- ity is correct in that the stature of SPARK is not even required to mission over the years by the indi-
isation, taking inputs from various Indian science is a shadow of what closely work with industry and viduals who have led the system.
quarters such as industries, the it used to be but this is not be- evolve public private partner-
ministries themselves and NGOs to cause of misguided interven- ships. That is the mandate of Gautam R. Desiraju is a professor at
make proposals, some of which tions. CSIR. Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru,
could move forward to become It is because there is a lack of sci- Decisions on new initiatives like and former president of the International
major initiatives. What one needs entific expertise across all levels. SPARK should not be taken within Union of Crystallography
Letters emailed to letters@thehindu.co.in must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.
more to stop Marine Le Pen European Union stronger. to face severe not on the same wavelength hires bribery charge at
than because they had any Keeping in with the global discrimination which reminds us of sermonising Kejriwal, May 8). The
trust in him. In fact, the trend, the final race was requires a concrete offered as part of organised bribe bombs have been
record abstention number between two anti- redressal mechanism. By religions. dropped with the intent to
between 25% and 27% establishment political fighting their personal Also, there is a clear failure demoralise Mr. Kejriwal and
shows that a significant parties. The world will battles with the help of a law to recognise that in the ruin AAPs credibility. The
portion of the electorate keenly watch how a young meant to protect the rights present scenario, many AAPs trademark topi and
was dissatisfied with having and inexperienced leader of the downtrodden, people traditional Left values are broom are an eyesore to the
to choose between a tackles issues like the in high constitutional posts losing relevance. The Left BJP and the space it finds in
capitalist and a far-right refugee crisis and the terror undermine the credibility of now comes across as the political sphere as an
candidate. threat. the movement for rights. whining about every issue alternative is not to its
Mr. Macrons win may not Paul Jom, In a way, this episode is also without giving practical and liking. Blame Mr. Kejriwal
have stopped the march of Palakkad comes across as a workable solutions. This for anything, but not for
the far right but merely commentary on the appears to be naive and corruption; even his worst
delayed it. If he decides to Laffaire Karnan ineffectiveness of collegium reactionary. Issues such as enemies would agree on his
go forward with the The saga of Calcutta High system, which allows human rights, liberty and incorruptibility. It is true
neoliberal policies that he Court Judge C.S. Karnan and promotion of people of equality are no doubt that the setbacks in Punjab
and others of his ilk have his judicial questionable competence to fundamental to democracy and Goa Assembly elections
proposed, it will lead to pronouncements has gone such high posts. but the ideological have put the party in a
even more dissatisfaction too far (Karnan orders Vinita Saxena, framework of the Left and downbeat mood. But the
among the working class, 5-year RI for CJI, 7 other SC New Delhi its methodology both need AAP has not ceased to
which may drift towards the judges, May 9). By making evolution. represent value-based
right. an ego clash with Supreme Left behind Nakshatra Singh, politics and still appeals to
Court judges look like an While claiming to oppose New Delhi those who believe that
Remus Noronha,
Kozhikode atrocity case under the exclusionary politics of the politics shouldnt be fully
Scheduled Castes and political Right, those on the AAP still relevant detached from idealism.
The results of the widely Scheduled Tribes Left often adopt a binary The plot to finish off the G. David Milton,
watched French (Prevention of Atrocities) world view (Righting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu
presidential election will Act, Justice Karnan has Left, May 9). The Chief Minister Arvind
soothe the wounds caused trivialised the battle for condescension expressed Kejriwal is as sure as eggs is more letters online:
by Brexit and make the Dalit rights. Dalits continue by the Left towards those eggs (Fired Delhi Minister www.hindu.com/opinion/letters/

CM A ND-ND
YK