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HIMALAYAN MIRROR

ENGLISH DAILY PUBLISHED FROM GANGTOK

HIMALAYAN MIRROR
FEBRUARY 27 2015 VOL 9 NO. 166

Going federal: The 14th

Finance Commission
empowers states by
putting more money in
their hands
The salient feature of the 14th Finance
Commissions report is that it takes a big step forward in giving chief ministers an incentive to raise
their standards of governance. By enhancing the
statutory transfer of central tax collections to states
by a massive 10 percentage points to 42%, the
Finance Commission has told chief ministers that
the buck stops at their table. Implementation of the
recommendations will empower states and allow
them to
customise government interventions in keeping
with local needs. This is to be welcomed.
This report will give people a chance to test their
chief ministers and see if their performance matches their rhetoric. Lets hope they live up to expectations. The Finance Commission envisages an
increase of less than two percentage points in the
aggregate transfer of central funds to states over the
next five years. Federalism in India, however,
receives a boost as discretionary transfer of funds
from Centre to states will reduce. This should help
in reducing friction between two levels of government and, in the process, enhance the level of cooperation in reforming other areas of the economy.
Indias governments have often been below par
as they have not done enough to build their capacity. Linking a small part of grants to panchayats to
presenting audited annual accounts is a step in the
right direction. So is the suggestion that an independent fiscal council be set up. The level of fiscal
deficits influence an economys inflation rate and
macroeconomic stability. An independent council
which provides an advance assessment of the
impact of fiscal policy and fiscal implications of
budgets will help raise their quality.
Looking ahead, more money in the hands of
states should
preclude them from running to the Centre for
handouts or special packages on every occasion,
relying more on their own resources. This should
be accompanied by greater freedom in tweaking
central policies to suit state circumstances as the
latter see fit. Once states control their own destinies, those that reform faster will perform better.
If states acquire a stake in reform, that will be a
long-term
solution to the conundrum of national politics in
recent years, where everybody except the ruling
party at the Centre feels compelled to adopt the
most puerile and populist policy position blocking
reform and perpetuating the status quo.

Four score and seven years

ago our fathers brought
forth on this continent, a
new nation, conceived in
Liberty, and dedicated to
the proposition that all
men are created equal.
-A
Abraham Lincoln

Meeting point Srinagar

he
agreement
between the PDP
and BJP to form a
coalition government in
Jammu and Kashmir has
been attacked from both
sides. In Kashmir, the
PDP is being accused by
the radicalised intelligentsia of selling out to
come back to power. And
on February 16, the RSS
launched a scathing
attack on the BJPs negotiators for resiling from
the partys long-standing
commitment to delete
Article 370 of the
Constitution and agreeing to phase out the
Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act.
Government formation
will not end the acrimony. Before the elections,
both the BJP and the PDP
had confidently predicted
that they would win
handsomely on their
own. The suspicion will
therefore linger that both
have sacrificed their
basic principles in order
to save face. These suspicions do justice to neither
party. Mufti Mohammad
Sayeed could have easily
formed a government
with the Congress, the
five independent MLAs
and Sajjad Lones party,
all of whom had offered
him their support. But he
deliberately chose the
harder option of trying to
forge an alliance with the
BJP because he understood that this was the
only way of making
Narendra Modis BJP
truly understand and
address the specific concerns of the Valley.
Chief of these is the
conviction of Kashmiris
on both sides of the LoC,
born out of six decades of
bitter experience, that
they will never know

peace till the conflict

with Pakistan over their
status is resolved. Mufti
also learned from his
own bitter experience in

possibly the first entirely

free elections in the

become almost unbridgeable. After his own sear-

2008 that Kashmir would

never get a stable government, and true peace, till
the growing rift between
Jammu and Kashmir was
healed.
The origins of this rift
go back to the days of the
maharajas,
when
Kashmirs
emerging
intelligentsia began to
chafe against Dogra, that
is Jammus, dominance
of the kingdom. Kashmir
gained ascendancy when
the National Conference
came to power in 1947,
but it was Jammus turn
to nurse a grievance. In
1949, the maharajas
party, the Praja Parishad,
merged
with
the
Bharatiya Jana Sangh on
a platform of complete
union with India. This
presented a threat to
Kashmiri ethno-nationalism Kashmiriyat.
The 2002 elections,

Valley,
ousted
the
National Conference but
the fragility of the PDPCongress
alliance
showed how deep the
divide had grown. For, as
the
2008
elections
approached, then Chief
Minister Ghulam Nabi
Azad was forced to
attach greater importance
to fending off the BJPs
challenge in Jammu than
preserving the autonomy
of Kashmir. The conflict
finally came to a head
with the Amarnath land
scam of 2008, when the
BJP in Jammu blockaded
the Kashmir Valley and
prevented most of its fruit
harvest from reaching the
Indian market.
The 2014 election
results have
shown that, far from
subsiding after the 2008
crisis, the divide between
Jammu and Kashmir has

ing experience in 2008,

Mufti was convinced that
healing the rift had to be
his first task. He had
appreciated the promptness with which the court
martial and sentencing of
the five soldiers involved
in the killing of three
boys in the Machil fake
encounter of 2010 had
occurred
under
the
Narendra Modi government. He therefore chose
the harder path of forming a government with
the BJP.
The BJP had reasons
for pursuing an alliance
with the PDP that had
nothing to do with conspiracies to saffronise
the Valley. It had gained
an absolute majority in
Parliament last May, with
a vote share of just 31 per
cent, only because of the
collapse of the Congress
and the resulting absence

by Prem Shankar Jha

of an organised opposition. It knew that this

would not last forever. Its
leaders, therefore, faced
the same choice that Atal
Bihari Vajpayee and L.K.
Advani had after 1991: to
retain power, the BJP had
to broaden its support
base, but to do so, it had
to dilute its ideology and
move further towards
pragmatism. Modi had
been begun moving away
from the Sangh Parivars
hardliners shortly before
President Obamas visit.
This shift has gained
momentum after the
visit: in recent weeks, it
is not only Modi, but also
RSS
chief
Mohan
Bhagwat who has made a
point of quoting Swami
Vivekanandas immortal
1894
speech
on
Hinduism in public
addresses.
The two parties have
taken so long to arrive at
an agreement because the
gap between them was
very large. Jammu wants
an end to the ambivalence of its position within the Indian Union. It
wants refugees who fled
from Pakistan in 1947 to
be granted full citizenship and voting rights in
the state, and a redrawing
of constituencies to
accommodate them. It
also wants a series of
state laws on citizenship
and inheritance to be
brought in line with
Indian law.
But it can only have
these if it respects, and
concedes, the Valleys
need to preserve its distinct
identity,
its
Kashmiriyat. Thus, the
demands of the PDP add
up to just this: let sleeping dogs like Article 370
lie, and do not disturb the
process of normalisation

with Pakistan that began

in 2005.
With sagacious leadership, a BJP-PDP coalition in Jammu and
Kashmir could create a
win-win situation not
only for Kashmir, not
only for India, but also
for the whole of South
Asia. It would prove to
Kashmiris that they have
nothing to fear from a
Hindu-dominated Central
government in India. By
reassuring the world that
India remains wedded to
religious pluralism and
syncretism, it would
enable Modi to wield
Indias soft power
more effectively in the
shaping of a new international order. It would
enable India to resume
the normalisation process
in Kashmir and substantially improve Pakistans
chances of winning the
do-or-die battle against
sectarian terrorism initiated by its 20-point
National Action Plan and
its 21st constitutional
amendment. The resulting build-up of trust
could also facilitate
cooperation to stabilise
Afghanistan after the US
leaves.
Finally, working with
the PDP could wear
down the hard edge of
prejudice
against
Muslims that lies at the
core of the Sangh
Parivars ideology. Six
years of peaceful, responsible coalition rule in
J&K,
Indias
only
Muslim-majority state,
will therefore go a long
way towards healing the
wounds that Partition
inflicted on the Hindu
psyche 67 years ago.
(Courtesy
Express)

Indian

MA, MO & GO
MAMATA, MODI & GORKHALAND

Dhakas war within

After a Bangladeshi court decided to issue a warrant for
the arrest of former prime minister and Bangladesh
Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Khaleda Zia on Wednesday,
the stand-off between Sheikh Hasinas Awami League (AL)
government and the opposition is expected to worsen. That
Zias arrest was ordered after she failed to appear in court for
the fourth time in two cases of graft is unlikely to mitigate the
aggression of an opposition that has held the country to ransom through a nationwide blockade ordered by Zia last
month to compel Hasina to call fresh elections. At least 100
people have been killed since, but neither opposition nor
government has shown an inclination to soften up for a serious and sustained dialogue.
Having been out of power since 2006, and after its selfdefeating boycott of the general election in January 2014, the
BNPs desperation to return to power is visible. Members of
its alliance especially the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami
and Hefazat-e-Islam have been responsible for large-scale
violence ever since verdicts began to be pronounced against
Jamaat leaders in the 1971 war crimes trials. While not
excusing the government for its high-handedness, particularly its detention of senior BNP leaders, the onus is on the
opposition to own up to the breakdown in law and order
caused by its agitation. Coupled with the war crimes verdicts, this is part of the larger battle for the identity of
Bangladesh and Hasinas government is undeniably on the
moral high ground here.
Despite progress on socio-economic indicators under
Hasina, Bangladesh cannot afford a long-term collapse of its
politics. Having the comfort of numbers and tenure, the government may not see any need yet to reduce the BNPs selfinflicted pain. However, it is failing to restore normalcy.
Given the extremist hold on the opposition space and a reckless BNP, Hasina cannot afford to not talk to Zia, while the
refusal to compromise will certainly not serve Zia. With
Prime Minster Narendra Modi likely to visit Dhaka soon and
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee having just
concluded a visit, India must resolve its own Centre-state differences to deliver on the Teesta waters deal and the land
boundary agreement. It wouldnt be wise to underestimate
the positive impact these might have. Meanwhile, Delhi
must urge the warring parties in Dhaka to talk.

EDITORIAL

GANGTOK, FRIDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2015

Sandip C. Jain

he last two agitations

for a separate state
for the Darjeeling
region have been like run
away trains which started
with a abrupt jerk, gathered
sudden speed, roared and
thundered across time and
space
in
break-neck
momentum and then
crashed head-on into some
unknown, unheard, desolate and isolated station
having created havoc and
mayhem all across its runaway route. Only in the
case of the statehood movements in Darjeeling, the
bleak and dreary stations
where they crash headlong
had names-the first was
named DGHC and the second GTA.
Now, while what set
forth the train into its
uncontrolled journey is
known to all- wide spread
mis-governance by the
State Government, dominance and exploitation in
the hands of the State, lack
of infrastructure, craving
for a Separate State for the
genuinely aggrieved residents of the Darjeeling
Hills, wide-spread disillusionment against the stepmotherly treatment by the
mainland of West Bengal
and for the sake of a
National Identity for the
patriotic and otherwise
peace-loving
Gorkhas
residing for ages in this part
of this Nation. But what is
unknown is what caused
the train to crash head-on
so suddenly when it seemed
it would run its course and
maybe complete its journey.. The 28 month agitation started and carried on
by the then undisputed
leader
Mr.
Subhas
Gheshing had a violent
crash into a granite hill
named DGHC and the more
recent one under Mr. Bimal
Gurung collided more vio-

lently into a money tree

named GTA but what
caused the brakes to be
applied just when the destination seemed close is a
mystery still waiting to be
deciphered.
The first mystery probably can never be explained
now- it sadly being now
consigned to ashes in the
Manju Tea estate. But the
second can probably be
explained in the Ma Mo
context.. Mamta- Modi
context.. both of these very
shrewd and street, smart
politicians led the naive and
gullible leaders of the
Statehood movement into
believing they were the
messiah of Indian Gorkha
Community before the
stormed into poweronce
they
were
cozily
entrenched in their respective chairs, their colours
changed the Gorkha
statehood issue suddenly
became a political liability
for both of them. After all
those wanting a separate
state could decide the fate
of just 3 or 4 Assemble constituencies and only a single Lok Shaba Seat while
those opposed to the
demand could and would
decide the composition of
the State Government in
West Bengal and almost 40
Lok Shaba seats. In a parliamentary democracy like
ours seats matter, everything else can take a hike.
In 2007 when the GJMM
reignited the Gorkhaland
flame, it was up against the
then Left Front which was
taking its last gasps of air in
the Government. Mamata
Didi, the all conquering
Didi was all set to form the
next Government. In her
quest to garner the maximum number of seats and
in her efforts to be seen as a
senior statesman, didi
wooed the leadership of the
Darjeeling
Statehood
movements and perhaps
showed them flowery
dreams. All of it was for-

gotten once she led the

TMC into the Writers
Building- and then the carrot and stick policy of hers
started which the GJM
leadership were forced to
shallow having no other
options considering the
alleged involvement of
supporters of the GJM in
the Madan Tamang case as
well as the several other
legal tangles that the State
Government had laid out
for the supporters and leaders of the GJM.
Finding that despite the
blatant misuse of the State
Machinery, the voices crying for a separate State still
were not quieted, the TMC
Government played what
they felt was a master
stroke- and master stroke it
was for the Divide and Rule
Policy that they initiated,
has forever changed the
complexion of Hill Politics.
For the TMC led government in West Bengal as
well as for all opponents of
the Darjeeling Statehood
movement, it no doubt was
a political master stroke but
from the view point of
ethics and morality, nothing
could have been worse. It
showed the levels that
TMC could stoop to. It
exhibited their meanness
and their back-ground. In
comparison, the old guards
of the erstwhile Left Front
Government appeared like
the true Bhadralokes that
the Bengali community is
so famous for. At least they
never stooped so low. They
fought the Statehood movement on a Political level
and never on an ethnic
level. The much famed NeBu-La pact (Nepali-BhutiaLepcha) lay in tatters both
in letter and spirit. So much
on Ma and her Mamata.
The statehood demands
romance with BJP has a
similar story. The Congress
led UPA I government was
at its fag end with the BJP
waiting impatiently on the
side lines to come to power.

Each Lok Shaba seat was

important for both the BJP
and the Congress and GJM
could deliver one seat to
them. The poaching game
began and BJP being the
better manipulating side
managed to cajole the GJM
leadership into supporting
the legendary Jaswant
Singh as a candidate for the
Darjeeling Parliamentary
Seat. Being the Political
heavyweight he was, the
GJM were convinced that
the Statehood demand
would be catapulted to a
higher plane in the National
scenario. The BJP too led
the GJM and the easily
credulous
public
of
Darjeeling to believe that a
Statehood was just around
the corner if their man was
elected. The public sent
Jaswant to Parliament with
a record majority. But alas
UPA came back to power at
the Center and the role of
the
highly
respected
Jaswant Singh turned out to
be that of an appointment
fixer.. All he did for the
Statehood Demand was to
fix appointments for the
GJM leaders during their
frequent Delhi with whoever they wanted to meet,
mostly for photo sessions.
Five years later, the BJP
was all set to storm into
power in Delhi and Modi
set to become the Prime
Minister of the largest
democracy of the world.
This time around Sardar
S.S.Aluwalia was pitched
in as the saviour of the
Gorkhas. With the BJP
sweeping the elections with
a brute majority the air in
the Hills of Darjeeling was
jubilant .. Statehood was
around the corner was the
buzz in the air. Sardar
S.S.Aluwalia had made
very good sounding noises
in the lead up to the elections. The public interpreted it as a confirmation that
the new Parliament would
very soon set the Darjeeling
Area free from the adminis-

tration of West Bengal.

Sadly even before the honourable Sardar on whom
we had put so much faith,
himself stood on shaky
grounds. Not only was he
not made a minister in the
Union Cabinet as was
widely expected, he was
also stripped off the post of
the Vice President of the
BJP. For those who could
see, the writing was on the
wall again someone who
himself was on the way out
could offer us little. It also
showed how little the central leadership thought of
the issue which helped the
Darjeeling MP win the
Parliamentary elections.
The BJP and Modi now
have their eyes firmly on
Writers Building- the next
West Bengal Assembly
Elections to be held in the
coming year seems more
saffron than ever before
with the likes of Amit Shah
and others almost making it
their next agenda. The AmMO (Amit-Modi) combine
will not do anything which
will dampen their chances
in
the
forthcoming
Assembly elections in West
Bengal. And certainly
speaking of a separate state
for Darjeeling and even
making positive noises in
this direction will be suicidal for the BJP chances in
Bengal. So is it optimistic
to be expecting anything
from the BJP for the overwhelming support that the
people of Darjeeling had
given them? I say it would
be foolish to expect anything.
I have always felt that the
BJP was never actually sincere about the Statehood
issue in Darjeeling. I would
be most happy to be proved
wrong but the opinion I
have built of the BJP over a
period of time is that all
they ever cared about was
forming a government at
the Center by whatever
means, even if meant making false promises and

assurances just for the sake

of winning seats. Had they
really been serious, considering the brute majority
they have at the Lok Shaba
at the moment, they would
have at least placed the
matter for discussion in the
floor of the Lower House of
Parliament. Before this
budget Session started, the
Lok Shaba had 55 sittings
in which 320 hours were
spent. 36 Government Bills
were placed and 31 of them
passed. 871 issued were
raised by members of
Parliament in the last three
sessions and 1291 issued
were raised during the zero
hour
discussions.
Surprisingly, not a single
word about a separate state
for the Darjeeling region.
In
the
last
three
Parliamentary sessions, 68
private members Bills were
introduced by members of
the House though none
were passed by the house.
Had the BJP really been
serious about the demand
of Darjeeling, they could
have allowed our MP from
Darjeeling to at least place
a Private Members Bill in
the floor of the House..
This just shows how serious BJP is about the
Statehood issue.
To end, I can just add one
more things.. Giving and
taking should always go
hand in hand- when the BJP
can bypass Parliament
when they want to take
away the farmers land by
taking the Ordinance Route
(Land Acquisition Act)
why can they not take up
the issue of returning the
land of Darjeeling to its
own people, through this
very route??
Lets make no further
mistakes- neither MA nor
MO are interested to grant
GO
(The writer is the Editor of
Himalayan
Times,
Kalimpong)