Escolar Documentos
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NDIA
EGAL
I L
How politicians and hospitals duck legal obligations
Plus: Ajith Pillais personal nightmare
www.indialegalonline.com
`100
RESERVATIONS
FOR ALL or
FOR NONE?
Kalyani Shankar on
the quota debate
which has lit a fire in
all political parties
following the Patel
agitation and
Bhagwats
pronouncement
Hardik Patel
28
Mohan Bhagwat
RAMESH
MENON:
Unending
stalemate
over NJAC
SEEMA
GUHA:
Nepals
constitution
hits home
SAJEDA
MOMIN:
Asserting
Desi rights
in UK
12
76
68
48
INDERJIT BADHWAR
NO MORE
TEARS
ance with the image of a tolerant, vigorously democratic, equal opportunity-oriented India that Prime
Minister Modi is trying to promote in his Western
odysseys designed to attract geopolitical sympathy
and investment lucre to India.
Hamid Ansari is no pushover. He is no Uncle
Tom. He disparages every form of religious extremism. He is a sworn enemy of Muslim bigotry and the
idea of a uniform Islamic world. His accomplishments would do any nationeven a Hindu Rashtraproud. In the cause of Bharat Mata he has
served in the Indian Foreign Service in Baghdad,
Rabat, Jeddah and Brussels. He was chief of protocol to Government of India, high commissioner to
Australia, ambassador to Afghanistan and Iran,
permanent representative to the UN, and vicechancellor, Aligarh Muslim University.
He certainly does not need any more credential
recognition. Yet, starting with a falsely leveled accusation from BJP general secretary Ram Madhav
that he had deliberately refused to attend PM
Modis Inter-national Yoga Day, Ansari has become
the lightning rod for intolerant vitriol. As one commentator remarked: In what should have been a
celebration of Indian culture on the world stage
became (instead) petty politics, and aimed at one of
the most prominent Muslim leaders in India.
This could hardly bode well for Modis image
abroad, the new, post-2002 moderate/modernist
development-pushing statesman he has been
projecting, especially in light of President Obamas
crass warning, articulated on Indian soil in public, that India should be careful on matters of
INDIA LEGAL October 15, 2015
VICTIM OF CAMPAIGN
The days following
Republic Day celebrations
saw a flood of messages
on social media that
Vice-President Hamid
Ansari had not saluted the
Indian flag
Shekhar Gupta: Short, polite note of apology from Ram Madhav & BJP Pres to VP
Hamid Ansari will cut the losses. This needs
more than a mere delete. The Ambedkar
Periyar Study Circle tweeted: Ram Madhav
should try not to practice bigotry.
Minorities communities will certainly be benefitted at large, when these two reports are
implemented in true word and spirit.
Here are excerpts:
While there is considerable variation in the
conditions of Muslims across states, (and
among the Muslims, those who identified
themselves as OBCs and others), the Community exhibits deficits and deprivation in
practically all dimensions of development.
Mechanisms to ensure equity and equality of
opportunity to bring about inclusion should
be such that diversity is achieved and at the
same time the perception of discrimination is
eliminated. This is only possible when the
importance of Muslims as an intrinsic part of
the diverse Indian social mosaic is squarely
recognized.
The Committee recommends that an Equal
Opportunity Commission (EOC) should be
constituted by the government to look into the
grievances of the deprived groups. An example of such a policy tool is the UK Race
Relation Act, 1976. While providing a redressal mechanism for different types of discrimination, this will give a further re-assurance to
the minorities that any unfair action against
them will invite the vigilance of law.
In a pluralistic society, a reasonable representation of various communities in govern-
PIB
editor@indialegalonline.com
INDIA LEGAL October 15, 2015
VOLUME. IX
ISSUE. 03
Editor
Inderjit Badhwar
Managing Editor
Ramesh Menon
Deputy Managing Editor
Shobha John
Executive Editor
Ajith Pillai
Associate Editor
Meha Mathur
Deputy Editor
Prabir Biswas
Art Director
Anthony Lawrence
Deputy Art Editor
Amitava Sen
Graphic Designer
Lalit Khitoliya
Photographer
Anil Shakya
News Coordinator/Photo Researcher
Kh Manglembi Devi
Production
Pawan Kumar
LEAD
No U-turns Here
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SUPREME COURT
Unending Fracas
The Supreme Court reserves its judgment on the validity of the NJAC. As the
imbroglio continues, justice gets delayed due to vacancies in courts, says
RAMESH MENON
COURTS
12
20
34
FOCUS
A Cop, a Fighter
68
48
Troubled Times
72
52
A Flavor of Struggle
Women tea workers in Munnar strike work, forcing the
Tata management to give them bonus and the state
government to amend the Plantation Labor Act. A report
by JACOB GEORGE
Eligibility Crisis
A move to introduce educational criteria for panchayat
elections in Haryana through
a law was stayed by the
apex court, on the ground
that it would have excluded
a sizeable section of the
population from contesting,
reports VIPIN PUBBY
58
DIPLOMACY
76
62
REGULARS
STATES
Edit................................................................................3
Quote-Unquote...........................................................10
Ringside......................................................................11
Supreme Court............................................................16
National Briefs.............................................................19
International Briefs.......................................................23
Courts......................................................................... 24
More News.............................................................66, 67
People......................................................................... 82
Cover Design: ANTHONY LAWRENCE
Cover Photograph: UNI
QUOTE-UNQUOTE
10
Aruna
VERDICT
There may be times when we are powerless to
prevent injustice, but there must never be a time
when we fail to protest.
Elie Wiesel
11
DECISION AWAITED
The Supreme Court
is yet to conclude on NJAC
A transparent collegium
would have been more
acceptable as it would
invite nominations and
have a search committee
of judges, academics and
lawyers to give inputs on
the nominee. We need a
fundamental change, not
cosmetic change.
ment. While going to press, the final judgment had not been heard.
EAGERLY AWAITED
When the verdict comes out, it is likely to
spell out if the judiciary will have the primacy
to decide on the appointment of judges. It is
definitely going to be a landmark case as far
as constitutional cases go. While the judgment is eagerly awaited by the government
and the legal fraternity, it is not clear whether
it will be referred to a larger bench of the
Supreme Court.
Sources in the prime ministers office
(PMO) said that Union Law Minister DV
INDIA LEGAL October 15, 2015
13
SELECTION ROW
(Below) Patna High
Court still awaits the
appointment of a chief
justice as the NJAC
impasse continues
Prashant Panjiar
14
Sources in the
PMO said Union
Law Minister
DV Sadananda
Gowda (above)
had personally
visited CJI HL
Dattu two days
prior to a meeting
at the PMO to
select eminent
persons for NJAC.
Dattu later
declined to attend
the meeting as the
matter was
pending in the
Supreme Court.
15
SUPREME COURT
Rights to Chakmas
and Hajongs
HE Supreme Court has
taken up the cause of rights
of Chakmas and Hajong refugees. It has directed the center
and the Arunachal Pradesh
government to offer them citizenship, setting a deadline of
three months.
The two ethnic groups had
migrated from East Pakistan
(now Bangladesh) to India during 1964-69.
tain cases), in this case the state tax commissioner felt the screening of the film may send
a wrong signal to the peopleas if the state
endorses homosexuality.
The apex court is likely to take up the matter again after at least three years. And the
maker of the film, KR Devmani cant release it
without the tax exemption due to financial constraints. The counsel for Devmani pleaded that
the courts order was violating fundamental
principles, but couldnt convince the court.
Incidentally, the film had already been
cleared by the Censor Board.
16
17
SUPREME COURT
18
NATIONAL BRIEFS
Bombay HC
stays sedition
circular
Somnath Bharti
finally
surrenders
Response
sought over
Pachauri case
registered against
Bollywood actors
Farhan Akhtar
and Ranbir Kapoor, for promoting an online shopping site which is
allegedly duping customers. The FIR has
been registered by lawyer Rajat Bansal, a
resident of Lucknow against Farhan and
Ranbir under IPC sections 406 (Punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420
(Forgery). Along with them, directors of
DIVISION bench of
the Bombay High
Court comprising Justices
VM Kanade and Shalini
Phan-salkar-Joshi, stayed
the Maharashtra governments controversial August 27 circular on sedition.
The circular stated
that criticism of a politician or a public servant, in
the form of words, signs or
representations, could attract sedition charges
HE Delhi High Court issued a notice to the government, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and
Dr RK Pachauri, seeking their
replies to a TERI employee
alleging that the organization
had not acted against its chief
Pachauri, accused in her sexual harassment complaint.
In May, an internal com-
Rajasthan quota
exceeds 50%
HE Rajasthan legislative
assembly passed two bills
granting five percent reservation to Gujjar-led special backward classes (SBC) and 14 percent to economically backward
classes (EBC), taking the total
allotted quota in the state to
over 68 percent. This is well
over the 50 percent ceiling set
by the Supreme Court in the
2007 IR Coelho vs State of
Tamil Nadu case, where the
court ruled that laws threatening to violate the basic structure of the constitution would
be open to judicial review.
The Rajasthan governments efforts at raising quotas
through a single Act in 2008
had been stayed by the High
Court, which had observed that
more than 50 per cent reservation without any valid justification is unconstitutional.
19
Undermining
the Law
A Madras High Court judge initiating
contempt proceedings against his own
chief justice and members of the bar
indulging in acts of hooliganism does not
augur well for the judiciary
By Venkatasubramanian
DEFYING
AUTHORITY?
(Above) Justice CS
Karnan of the
Madras High Court
20
JS Studio
COMPLEX
SITUATION?
(Clockwise from top
left) Chief Justice of
India, HL Dattu;
Justice Sanjay
Kishan Kaul, chief
justice of the Madras
High Court; Registrar
General, Madras
High Court, KK
Venugopal
21
Photos:UNI
SEEKING SUPPORT
Justice Karnan wrote letters to
Mayawati (left) and Ram Vilas
Paswan (right), citing his
grievances; BCI chairman
Manan Kumar Mishra
Chief Justice of
India HL Dattu
referred to
recent Madras
High Court
happenings.
He said
they seemed
to have the
potential to
damage the
credibility of
the judiciary in
the eyes of
the people.
22
INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS
Bangladesh ex-PM
to face trial
HE planned hanging of
paraplegic prisoner Abdul
Basit, convicted of murder in
Pakistan, has been delayed.
A magistrate ruled that Basit
could not be hanged as he was
confined to a wheelchair.
Pakistans prison guidelines
require that a person sentenced
to death stand on the gallows.
Basit, 43, has been paralyzed from waist down after
contracting an illness in prison.
Rights groups say that hanging
Basit would constitute cruelty
and a degrading treatment.
Pakistan has hanged 239
people, most of them terrorists,
since reintroducing the death
penalty in December 2014. This
followed a deadly Taliban attack
on a Peshawar school that left
over 150 people dead, most of
them students.
Japan to deploy
troops abroad
HE House of Councillors,
Japans upper house of
parliament, approved a
measure that allows the
countrys Self Defense Forces
to deploy troops abroad for
the first time since World War
II, according to The Japan
Times. The law marks a
departure from Japans postwar pacifism, in the face of
growing military power of
China and nuclear armed
North Korea. The legislation
was passed by the lower
house in July and, backed by
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's
ruling coalition.
Critics are upset that the
law contradicts pacifist provisions in the constitution of
Japan, specifically Article 9,
which states: "the Japanese
people forever renounce war
as a sovereign right of the
nation and the threat or use of
force as means of settling
international disputes."
23
COURTS
Nothing wrong
with the food act
HE Bombay High Court upheld several
provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, which were challenged in petitions filed by merchants, traders and hoteliers from Mumbai. The petitioners claimed
that many provisions were arbitrary and
violated the Right to Equality.
While dismissing the petitions, the court
ruled that such provisions actually served
the cause of public health by ensuring purity in food products. It also observed that
food producers compromising on quality
should be dealt with an iron hand and that
was what the act aimed at. It categorically
stated that the act was in the interests of the
citizens of India.
Illustrations: UdayShankar
24
25
COURTS
Honor the
national flag
OISTING the national flag
and singing the national
anthem on Independence Day
and the Republic Day is the
solemn duty of all citizens of
India, ruled the Allahabad High
Court. It was responding to a
PIL filed before it.
The PIL wanted the court to
use its powers under the writ
of mandamus and instruct the
Uttar Pradesh government to
make sure that all madrasas in
the state conduct the national
flag hoisting ceremony on the
two days.
The secretaries of all departments in the state government
have to ensure that the same is
done at all institutions controlled
or aided by the UP government,
the court ruled. The fundamental duties enshrined in the constitution mandates such a duty,
the court observed.
26
NO I
HOLDS
BARRED
NDIA L EGAL
E
L N
INDIAL EGAL
NDIA L EGA I
:
TEESTAS BAILical
significance?
Whats the polit
20 WEEKS:
ABORTION AFTER Is it ethical?
16
10
DEATH BY HANGING:
Is it painful? 38
lonline.com
PATEL AGIT
www.indialegalonline.com
www.indialega
N:
Nightmare forATIO
Modi
`100
`100
36
SURVEY
:
Startling revel
s about what Mus
women think ofation
lim
Personal Law
2015
August 31,
September
15, 2015
44
www.indialega
lonline.com
`100
IN DE PE ND EN
IA L
CE DA Y SP EC
EEDOM
FR ep it?
Can weinake
ries including
WHO
KILLED FTIL?
OROP
VOHRA:
BIKRAM VOHRA
INDERJIT BADHWAR:
Sadananda
Gowda
aj
HR Bhardwe;
on injustic kh
Pravin Pare
on law and
common
sense
24
Who
Politics: parliament? 34
h
Delhi Hig
paralyzed
Court Bar vs
Association
district bars:
tion
ocia
ass
Why the
18
barricades?
RAMESH
MENON:
Do the
courts ever
say sorry?
12
AJITH
PILLAI:
Big legal
bang for
Moneylife
34
DINESH
SHARMA:
Make NDPS
Act more
effective
54
THE GRE
AT
FALL OF
CHINA
What doe
s
mean for it
India?
62
SEX VIDEOS
Legal
loophole
s 50
POLITICAL
PARTIES
Hypocrisy
on RTI
14
EDITORIAL
Judiciary
wields a
big stick
to improve
governm
ent
schools
03
Term (Years)
No. of Issues
% Saving
1 Year
24 Issues
2,400/-
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50%
2 Years
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4,800/-
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60%
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LEAD/ Reservations
To Quota or Not
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwats recent call for a review of the national
reservation policy has brought the focus back on what has long been
a contentious issue. But will political parties agree to refine, re-design
or even re-think on a formula which has successfully kept their
caste-based politics ticking?
By Kalyani Shankar
STATING THE
OBVIOUS?
RSS chief Mohan
Bhagwats remarks on
reservations is
not baseless
28
to Quota
distancing itself from the RSS chief s suggestion shows that politics supercedes everything else. Even the NDA allies like the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party have come up with a
sharp response.
So why did Bhagwat say what he did?
While the Mandalites may oppose his views
on the quota system, there is certainly some
merit in the RSS chief s thesis. There is truth
in his assertion that the quota system has
been politicised and it is not being implemented in the spirit with which it was introduced. Bhagwat got support from an unexpected quarter as the young Congress leader
and former Union minister Jitin Prasad, who
is a Brahmin, has also asked his party to look
into whether there should be a rethink and a
Influential
communities
like the Kerala
Brahmins are
now asking for
quota. Gujjars
had agitated for
it in the past.
The current
Hardik Patel
agitation in
Gujarat has
added to the
fire as the
Patidars want
reservation for
all or for none.
NEW PITFALLS
Patidar Anamat Andolan
Samiti convener Hardik
Patels agitation has lent a
new twist to the fight for
quota system
INDIA LEGAL October 15, 2015
29
LEAD/ Reservations
STOKING
QUOTAS
(Above and
right) The
Mandal
agitation of
1989 led to
political
churning and
the birth of
identity politics
While the
BJP cant
openly ask
for the
abolition of
the quota
system, it is
doing so
obliquely.
30
MANDAL POLITICS
Look at the way how new quotas based on
gender and castes have been added over the
time. The then prime minister VP Singh dusted the Mandal Commission report from the
cupboard and implemented some of its recommendations in 1990 which included quotas for the Other Backward Classes, comprising some 27 percent of the population.
Interestingly, the Supreme Court, addressing
the OBCs in particular, defined the concept
of a creamy layer of the wealthiest and most
privileged among the OBCs, saying they must
now be excluded from quotas.
The Mandal agitation of 1989 showed
that the quota for the Backward Classes further divided society. This resulted in a violent
agitation by the student community and the
then prime minister VP Singh lost his job
despite having implemented the Mandal
Commission report.
However, it resulted in the political
churning and Mandal politics created leaders
like the RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and
many other Backward Class leaders who
emerged successful on the basis of their
castes. And they even captured power in
their respective states. The identity politics
also brought leaders like Kanshi Ram and
Mayawati of the BSP to the forefront, result-
CASTE BENEFIT
Mandal politics has
created leaders like
the RJD chief
Lalu Yadav
31
LEAD/ Reservations
CAUTIOUS
APPROACH
BR Ambedkar (L)
and Kaka Kalelkar,
the chairman of the
first Backward
Classes Commission
There is a view
that quotas be
abandoned and
replaced with a
time-bound
affirmative
action program.
To give Dalits or
OBCs or even
Muslims the
opportunities
that they are
justly entitled
to, alternative
programs
should be
created.
32
VIEWS ON NEWS
THE CRITICAL EYE
EVERY FORTNIGHT VIEWS ON NEWS WILL BRING YOU TELL-ALL NEWS, ANALYSES AND
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OCTOBER
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ALLRT
LDS
WJO
IST
OURNAL
A
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Sundee
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Khanna
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TV
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32
dying?
does ,ed
36
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PoliticianscangjcWjicdi
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Vohra:
Bikram
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Who bl
OROP
out the
vets?
24
rvey:
TMM Su
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Women
ities
commod
44
HEALTH/ Dengue
34
Anil Shakya
erhaps, all these factors have contributed. But there is also a political
vector involved. The root cause of the
civic and administrative failure is the lack of
coordination between the local bodies and the
state government and the latter with the government at the centre. This is the result of different political dispensations that control the
three arms of governance refusing to see eye to
eye even in a crisis.
And into this mix comes Delhis Lt
Governor, Najeeb Jung. There is no love lost
between him and Chief Minister Arvind
CAPITAL MESS
Garbage mounds are
a common sight in
Delhi
35
HEALTH/ Dengue
SMOKESCREEN
FOR
INCOMPETENCE
The much-needed
fumigation work is
erratic
POLITICAL
WAR-GAMES
(From L-R) Delhi
Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal; Lt Governor
Najeeb Jung
36
Checkers (DBCs), who check for dengue mosquitoes and larvae in households across Delhi.
We also put nearly 900 field workers who
check for malaria mosquito, on duty for
dengue this year. All of them have worked
incessantly to control dengue without salaries
this year, says Bhardwaj.
He is right about non-payment of salaries
to workers and the problems they have been
through. However, Bhardwaj errs when he
talks of the commitment of the MCD workers
and the effort they put in. Residents of Delhi
allege that the MCD has not checked the water
tanks and other stagnant water regularly,
though they have marked many dates outside
houses indicating when checks were made.
Rittika Modwel, a resident of Malviya
Nagar, Delhi, shares her typical experience:
MCD workers came to our house to check if
there were any mosquito larvae in our overhead water tank. There were. but the next time
they came they never checked if we had
removed the larvae from our tank.
She adds that the workers did not even tell
her the method to clean the tank and she had
to depend on information from the internet.
Incidentally, her house has five dates pencilled
near the main door when inspections were
supposedly carried out by the MCD.
37
No Clarity on Charity
Despite court rulings, free health care
for poor patients in private hospitals
remains contentious. Only a law
enacted by parliament can make
free treatment mandatory
By Venkatasubramanian
ILL 1980s, only a few private hospitals and charitable institutions funded by big business families or
missionaries, apart from government hospitals,
catered to the poor. A policy shift, however, enabled
the government to offer subsidies to the private sector by way of land (leased or otherwise) at nominal
rates, granting medical care the status of industry in
order to guarantee cheap credit, reduction of import duties on equipment, exemption from paying property taxes, water and electricity
charges etc. As a result, the private health industry experienced phenomenal growth, with successive governments grappling with the issue of
effective regulation of private hospitals in order to ensure meaningful
right to health for its citizens.
DEFINING JUDGEMENT
To live with dignity would take within its ambit legitimate expectations
of the citizens of the country of being provided with good environment
and health care, so noted Justice Swatanter Kumar, while writing the
judgment of the Delhi High Court in Social Jurist vs Government of NCT
of Delhi on March 22, 2007.
The judgment in this case was a defining moment in the struggle of
38
A LAND OF
PARADOXES
(Left)
Government
hospitals are
woefully short of
beds and other
infrastructure
requirements
to tackle
something like
the dengue
menace
39
According to
investigations,
some high-end
Mumbai
hospitals used
only 4 to 4.5
percent of the
10 percent
beds they had
committed to
use to treat the
poor.
40
41
SEEKING LEGAL
LIFELINE
(From top) Moolchand
and St Stephens
Hospital got a reprieve
from the Delhi High Court
in 2013, on the issue of
free treatment to
poor patients
42
LEGAL SETBACKS
On April 28, 2014, the Delhi High Court through another judgment, disappointed those
who had high expectations of the applicability
of the March 22, 2007 high court judgment to
the entire country, especially after the Supreme
Court dismissed appeals against it in 2011. The
high court held that the main judgment in
2007 did not decide, as a matter of law, that all
allotments of lands made on concessional
basis, regardless of whether the conditions in
lease/allotment contained requirements of free
treatment to economically weaker sections,
were to be subjected to the same treatment and
directions. This would mean that for applying
the March 22, 2007 judgment to any hospital,
it has to be identical or similar to the 20 hospitals which were parties to that case.
Further, the high court held that it was not
enough if the hospitals were beneficiaries of
allotment or leases at concessional rates; both
HEALTH AS A
LUXURY PRODUCT
Lilavati Hospital
(above) and
Hiranandani
Hospital (left) in
Mumbai typify
luxurious
healthcare for
the rich
43
Private
Cannot be
Public
44
OW difficult is it for
patients to get admission in a private hospital
in the event of an emergency? If they have the
financial muscle, then it
couldnt be easier. If not,
then it could turn out to be much more than an
uphill task. That is the bald truth as it stands.
Money is the bottom line that inspires almost all
swank hospitals. It is the language that their
managements understand.
Of course, if you formally put the question to
any private hospital. it will point out that the
commitment to serve any patient in an emergency, whatever his/her financial situation is its
paramount priority and in keeping with its altruistic philosophy. It will however also be underlined that there is no legal obligation for private
sector hospitals to treat economically challenged
patients although there have been some court
orders to the contrary.
For example, in Delhi, a high court ruling of
March 2007 set down that 10 percent beds and
25 percent treatment in outpatient departments
(OPDs) should be kept aside for indigent/poor
FOR THE
PRIVILEGED
Private hospitals
remain in the reach
of only those who
can afford
the treatment
45
HEALTH IS
WEALTH
Many swank private
hospitals are
money-making
shops
46
PAINFUL WAIT
Patients outside a
goverrnment
hospital. It
sometimes takes
days for a bed
to be free
47
Slaving it
out in Delhi
Exploitation of the
poor is best
exemplified in
houses alloted to
bureaucrats. They
sub-let the servants
quarter to a family
on the condition that
its members do
household work for
free. Slave labor is
alive and well
By Bikram Vohra
48
Slaves are
people who
work for free.
Who are in no
position to fight
back because
they are
bought but not
paid for. By
law, these men
and women
and their
children who
toil for gratis
are victims of
trafficking.
49
50
WHAT A LIFE
Hello, Mr Director of Estates, do you have
any clue whats going on? The operative word
is bona fide and slave quarters are not bona
fide. On this canvas, let us talk to a 54-yearold dhobi who lives in the quarters at the
back of a very senior luminarys government
bungalow. He has been there for well over 20
years through a line of predecessors. His current master and his extended family imperiously give him an average of 100 items a
day to wash and starch. If they are not spotless, he gets reamed for incompetence.
With a sigh of resignation he adds: They
dont even pay for the soap.
It is such a heartbreaking sentence that
seething helplessly on hearing it seems a selfindulgence. The gardener is free and so is the
sweeper. One big, happy family.
I am made to swear I will not ever mention who is his sahib is or else his whole
family will be destroyed and the rancid carrot
of a job for his son out there in the distant
future will be pulled back. He immediately
regrets having shared the confidence with me
and calls several times in the week I am in
Delhi to seek reassurance.
That is the problem with such a story. You
will destroy the weak ones to set up the big
fish and its not worth the sacrifice because
the big fish are sharks and they will get away
because they are all in this gigantic conspiracy together.
FAMILY ROPED IN
I speak to several others by putting on a dis-
Empty promises
T
mal charade that since they are getting free space, it is understandable.
The fact that the wife who cooks and all
her tribe can slave (I will repeat that word
every opportunity I get) 15 hours and face
scoldings at random is par for the course.
The husband, who works elsewhere, can
come home and be arbitrarily co-opted to
run errands, do the shopping, come to help in
case there are guests for dinner.
After the London scandal broke, Special
Services upped their checks. In Delhi, there
is no such movement. Who will walk into the
house of an MP or a minister, a judicial
majesty or a bureaucrat and take the side of
the slave?
As the coincidences mounted, I happened
to switch on the white noise that serves as
news on TV. And there was the Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, as eloquent as
Marcus Antonius, his oratory sweeping over
the crowds like an intellectual khamsin.
He spoke of his adivasi brothers and his
dalit brothers and other sundry brothers and
how dear they were to his heart and I
thought, okay, youve got it, Prime Minister,
most of these slaves are from the so-called
lower castes or whatever label they go by
these days. Go get them.
TIME FOR REALITY CHECK
Consequently, lets start at home. In the capital. Do a spot check of 50 VIP homes and see
if they keep slaves. The home ministry should
order it, a sting operation.
Slaves are people who work for free. Who
are in no position to fight back because they
are bought but not paid for. By law, these
men and women and their children who toil
for gratis are victims of trafficking.
In one house, the son returns from school
and washes the cars. In another, the daughter
sweeps the garden. In the third, the office
peon does the memsahibs shopping and
comes home after office to serve as a domestic. What price the big talk if those who make
the laws break the laws.
That space is
not yours to
give. You do
not own it.
What
qualitative
difference is
there between
that woman
and the slaves
being forced
into labor in
Charleston?
51
Troubled Times:
This seems to be the season for former intelligence chiefs to pen their memoirs. A few
months ago, AS Dulat, who headed the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), raised
several eyebrows when his book of revelations: Kashmir The Vajpayee Years hit the
stands. Now, TV Rajeswar, who was the
director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) from
1980 to 1983 has joined the writers club
with his disclosures and insider tales.
The former IB chief rewinds to his days in
the IB from 1962 to 1983. In doing so, he
FIGHTING FOR
RIGHTS
George Fernandes,
who opposed the
Emergency, was
arrested in June
1976. Incidentally,
IB had no clue
about the
Emergency before
it was declared
52
A Rewind
what transpired, who he met and what he
observed. He was apparently very thorough
on what he entered in his personal journal.
I would write it down once I came home
even if it was late in the night, he revealed to
an interviewer.
His labors have now been distilled into a
283-page book published by HarperCollins.
India The Crucial Years is more than just a
chronology of events. The book offers an
insight into the decisive moments of the
1970s and the 1980s in a forthright and
IB UNAWARE OF EMERGENCY
And then on the night of 25 June 1975,
Emergency was declared. In arriving at the
decision, Mrs Gandhi was assisted by a small
group of advisors, including West Bengal Chief
Minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray, who drafted
a letter for President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed to
issue the proclamation as national security was
being threatened by internal disturbances. A
few minutes before midnight, the president
signed the proposal, sent to him without discussion with the Union cabinet, which learnt of
it and ratified it the next morning.
The IB, too, was equally surprised when the
Emergency was declared and thousands of
protest and strike leaders were arrested around
the country. As the senior-most joint director
next only to the DIB, I was dealing with matters related to all the important political parties
and communal organizations. At no stage was
the IB asked to prepare an assessment of the
prevailing political situation or to give suggestions regarding the line of action that could be
taken. This was made clear in the deposition of
Atma Jayayram, who was DIB till August 1975,
before the Shah Commission, which was
appointed in 1977 to look into the excesses of
the Emergency.
The lists of people to be arrested were compiled at the PMs house with the help of few
handpicked political activists, and instructions
for arrests were passed on telephonically.
Some chief ministers were sent for
overnight by special planes and the lists handed over to them. By August 1975, the total
number of people arrested in the country stood
91,871. In subsequent weeks, 48,606 were
released. In the last week of November
THROTTLING
DEMOCRACY
The then prime
minister Indira
Gandhi declaring
Emergency on June
25, 1975
53
VOTARIES OF
EMERGENCY
West Bengal CM
Siddhartha Shankar
Ray (L) played a
pivotal role in
persuading Indira
Gandhi to impose
Emergency; RSS
chief Balasaheb
Deoras (R) is said to
have overtly
conveyed his support
for Emergency to
Indira Gandhi
FOND MEMORIES?
Indira Gandhi during
her visit to Itanagar
when the author was
LG of Arunachal
Pradesh
54
organization had specifically conveyed its support to the Congress in the post-Emergency
elections.
These attitudes on the part of political parties and personalities show that authoritarianism may very well take root and stay on undisturbed in this country for a certain period, and
political parties and personalities will adjust
their attitudes to suit the new situation and the
new rulers. Moral issues will then be thrown
overboard, and only the question of survival
and future prospects will become the overriding considerations for most parties and people.
If only Mrs Gandhi had announced elections in
February/March 1976 or even in September/October, some of the political parties and
influential personalities who had been hounded by her would have stood by her and she
would have had a bright chance of coming back
to power.
Towards the end of 1976, the idea of the
presidential form of government to replace the
parliamentary system, with a more powerful
directly elected executive, took shape. The idea
originated from the PMs house, and Bansi Lal
was its most ardent supporter. In the Congress,
DK Barooahthe party president remembered for his sycophantic India is Indira
proclamationand AR Antulay, a general secretary of the party, used to periodically meet in
Om Mehtas room in the Parliament House
and discuss the various possibilities. Mrs
Gandhi was unable to make up her mind either
way, but Sanjay and Bansi Lal were determined
to push the change through. There was apparently some discussion on the subject during
Mrs Gandhis visit to Mauritius in December
1976, with Defence Minister Bansi Lal being a
member of the PMs party. Soon after their
return from Mauritius, the UP Congress
Committee met in a session. Mrs Gandhi,
Sanjay and Bansi Lal had visited UP. While
Mrs Gandhi was in Rae Bareli, Bansi Lal asked
the UPCC to pass a resolution recommending
the presidential form of government.
In the meeting, some members wanted to
know whether the proposal had the PMs blessings, and they were told that it was so and that
Sanjay Gandhi desired that the resolution be
passed immediately. Mrs Gandhi was faced
with a fait accompli, but she made no comments on the resolution or the proceedings of
TOUGH CALL
Bansi Lal (L) and Sanjay
Gandhi wanted India to
have a presidential form of
government in 1976
55
POLITICAL CONTACTS
Some foreign intelligence agencies resorted to
lobbying certain parties, groups and candidates for a certain period, with the long-term
objective of building permanent contacts, who
were often handed over to successor operatives
when their own postings came to an end. In
1981, an East Bloc country extended considerable support through one of its satellite countries to certain people who organized a political
56
jamboree in a metropolitan
city. In early 1982, a prominent Western country actively promoted a regional
party, which came to power
in the state soon after. The
same Western country was
generally known to support
most of the regional parties.
Among the politicians,
there were a few MPs who
were regularly attending
exclusive lunches and dinners hosted by the first secretaries of Western embassies who were in charge
of political affairs and intelligence gathering. The IB
had compiled a list of such people and given it
to the government with the suggestion to discreetly caution them. In one particular instance, an ex-MP had started functioning more
or less as a regular source for a Western embassy and was quite blatantly cheeky about his
meetings. He was advised to stop his activities.
Later, the diplomats concerned became alert,
and the politician himself got quite scared. He
begged to be let off the hook and said he was
severing ties with all his contacts and leaving
Delhi for good.
Talking about politicians, it may be recalled
that Henry Kissinger, who served as national
security adviser and later as secretary of state in
the administrations of US presidents Richard
Nixon and Gerald Ford, once referred to a high
level contact he had in Indira Gandhi government. It could refer to a senior civil servant or
even a minister. It was generally believed that a
senior cabinet minister who had held that position for many years was the suspect. This minister was the contact man for a senior correspondent of the two leading agencies. My own
theory is that the guilty person was not this
minister but someone else. In this connection,
I would add that the allegation of Seymour
Hersh, an American investigative journalist
and writer, that Morarji Desai was a CIA agent
was absolute nonsense as there was nothing
against him in this direction at any time.
JOURNALISTS
As for journalists, there was a correspondent
CIVIL SERVANTS
Among the civil servants, it was usually the big
fry, who had all the comforts and facilities in
life, who permitted themselves to be used by
DISPELLING NOTIONS
Rajeswar says the allegation
that Morarji Desai was a CIA
agent was all humbug
India The
Crucial Years
By TV Rajeswar
Published by HarperCollins
Pages: 283; price: 599
57
Whats Brewing
58
in the Hills?
In an unprecedented victory, women
tea workers in Munnar wrangled a
bonus from the Tata
management and forced the state
government to amend the Plantation
Labor Act. Is this a lesson for
Leftist trade unions in Kerala?
By Jacob George
SEAT OF
WOMEN POWER?
A Munnar tea
plantation
Furqan Faridi
POWERFUL FORCE
The strike by thousands of angry women workers virtually paralyzed
Munnar, an otherwise busy hill station, blocked road traffic and deliberately kept trade union leaders and political parties at bay. The
women loudly proclaimed that all of them had betrayed their cause and
came out with a list of prominent trade union leaders who have taken
freebies from the Tata management, which included houses and cars.
S Rajendran, a CPM MLA, was not even permitted to address the
striking workers. Mahila Congress leaders Bindu Krishna and Lathika
Subhash were driven away by angry workers. They didnt even allow
INDIA LEGAL October 15, 2015
59
UNITED FRONT
The strike by women
workers of Munnar tea
plantation was meticulously planned and
executed
60
DEFT NEGOTIATION
In the reconciliation meeting in Kochi,
Oommen Chandy, Labour Minister Shibu
Baby John and KDHP managing director
Abraham Mathew faced representatives of
the tea workers, who then negotiated effectively and walked away with a fabulous settlement. In addition to the 8.33 percent
bonus already announced, they will now get
11.67 percent as ex-gratia payment. As for
their demand for a daily wage of `500 a day,
it will be declared by the month-end.
VS Achuthanandan said this was a perfect
victory for the striking women workers of
Tata Tea. These poor people are leading a
hard life for years and years. It is for the first
time that the tea workers have emerged victorious in a strike. Their wages should be
hiked and living conditions improved,
demanded VS. The demands of the tea workers were genuine and hence, the government
was determined to settle the issue in favor of
IN FAVOR
Former CM
of Kerala VS
Achuthanandan
was allowed by
the women to
participate in
the strike
61
Eligibility
Crisis
FAR-FETCHED
APPROACH
(Above) The new law on
educational qualifications
would have kept a
majority from contesting
panchayat polls
62
WHITHER
EDUCATION?
According to a study,
more than 80 per cent
of female sarpanches
are illiterate
63
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister of the state's people in general Yadav as Chief Minister of the
Mr. Akhilesh Yadav said that and the poor, downtrodden and country's largest state is an
Samajwadi government had deprived sections of society in example to be sincerely followed
always worked for welfare and in particular. He has devoted by the other states if they really
larger interest of lawyers, adding h i m s e l f t o t h e c a u s e o f want to empower their people.
that present state government ameliorating the lot of the
The Chief Minister informed at
was taking forward the
a function, recently held
w e l f a r e m e a s u r e s Chief Minister gives away financial at his official residence
initiated by the
after distributing financial
g o v e r n m e n t o f M r. assistance to dependants of deceased assistance to deceased
Mulayam Singh Yadav. lawyers, Samajwadi Government has lawyers. Mr. Yadav gave
He further added that the
away cheques of Rs. 5
state government was always taken care of the interests of the l a k h e a c h t o t h e
committed to the welfare, lawyer fraternity : Chief Minister
dependants of 17
security and honour of the
deceased lawyers. The
lawyer fraternity.
Chief Minister also
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav disadvantaged sections of launched a short film 'Ummeed
has not only ensured the welfare society for their socio-economic K e N a y a k ' b a s e d o n
and protection of interests of emancipation, besides taking all humantarian help provided by
lawyers, but also started a necessary steps to protect social activists of the state in the
number of schemes programmes honour of girls and women. The aftermath of the devastating
and projects in the larger interest young and dynamic Akhilesh earthquake in Nepal.
Present government is
trying seriously to provide
more facilities to lawyers.
State Government is
committed to security,
welfare and honour of
lawyers.
embarked on a number of relief
measures to provide succour to
the quake hit people. A large
number of affected people were
taken to safe places by the buses
of the UPSRTC, Mr. Yadav
recalled, while adding further that
the state government and
various social organizations also
SC women lawyers
want ban on porn
Swamy
moves court
JP leader
Subramanian
Swamy has filed a
petition in the
Madras High Court
challenging the suspension of Indian
Premier League (IPL)
teams of Rajasthan
Royals and Chennai
Super King. He has
alleged that former
IPL boss Lalit Modi
66
BJP, SP role in
Muzaffarnagar riots
FTER the hue and cry over the renaming of Aurangzed Road to Dr APJ Abdul
Kalam Road, another controversy has arisen
involving the late president. This time, it is
over the launch of Kaalaatheetham, the
Malayalam translation of his book, Transcendence: My Spiritual Experience with
Pramukh Swamiji in Thrissur the last week
of September.
According to Malayala Manorama, various organizations staged protests at the
Kerala Sahitya Akademi, after Sreedevi S
Happy Birthday
song claims
invalid
LGs approval
not binding
67
ITS MY RIGHT
Gurpal Virdi has shown
tremendous courage and
perseverance in taking on the
mighty Met
68
In the murder
case of Stephen
Lawrence (left),
Virdi gave
evidence of
prevalent racism
in the British
police force. The
result was, Virdi
himself began to
be targeted.
ALL-WHITE AFFAIR
The Metropolitan
Police doesnt have
much representation
of Asian or African
communities
69
Virdi came to
Britain as a
young boy and
grew up in
Southall in West
London (below),
a predominantly
Punjabi area.
70
SLOPPY PROBE
He and his wife had to face the harrowing
experience of having their home searched for
seven hours in the presence of their young
children. The raid was authorized by then
deputy commissioner, John Stevens, and
came weeks after Virdi had threatened to go
over the heads of his superiors regarding
what he felt was a sloppy investigation of a
racist, near-fatal stabbing of two boysan
Indian and an Iraqiby five white males.
Virdi had spoken up and pointed out the
similarities with the racist investigation
into the murder of a black teenager, Stephen
Lawrence in 1993.
The Stephen Lawrence murder and investigation has become a pivotal point in the
history of British race relations. Virdi gave
evidence in the Stephen Lawrence inquiry
about racism within the police force, and he
claims that ever since, the Met has been trying to discredit him. My career finished in
1998, said Virdi. As soon as you raise your
head above the parapet, your career is finished, and everyone in the police service
knows that. Most people keep silent because
they know that even if you complain, the
investigation wont be done properly. That
hasnt changed even now, he added.
It took a year for the Crown Prosecution
Service to decide there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him, not least because the
racist mail continued while Virdi sat at
home. Even so, Scotland Yard seemed determined to make an example of him and he
was dismissed in March 2000 after a disciplinary panel found him guilty of sending the
racist mail.
HONOR RESTORED
Later that year, an employment tribunal
found that the Mets investigation had racially discriminated against Virdi. It ruled that
unlike his white colleagues, Virdi had been
subjected to an entrapment operation, been
formally interviewed, had his house searched, been arrested and suspended without
sufficient evidence to support the allegations. He was awarded 1,50,000 as damages for the high-handed way the Yard had
behaved and the way it had manipulated
media coverage. He was also given another
90,000 as an out-of-court settlement for
injury to his feelings.
The
Independent
Advisory Group, which
monitors the Mets performance on race crime,
described the investigation as disgraceful and
a high-profile character
assassination. In 2001,
Virdi and his wife,
Sathat, were assured by
Commissioner Stevens
that lessons had been
learnt, sent a formal
apology and reinstated
into the Force. The officer, or officers, who were
responsible for sending
the racist hate mail have
never been found and
the criminal case remains unsolved.
71
W
Carmic
Emissions
UNETHICAL
PRACTICE
Volkswagen cars
have been accused
of cheating
American regulators
73
Anand Mahindra,
Chandra Bhushan,
CMD of Mahindra
deputy director of
Group, has assured
Centre for Science and
followers on Twitter that
Environment (CSE),
he will apply the
says the Volkswagen
strictest code of ethical scandal busts the myth
practices throughout
of clean diesel
the globe. Car buyers
vehicles, which CSE
are anxious after the
had exposed 15 years
Volkswagen scandal.
back in its report.
The International Council on Clean
Transportation (ICCT), which was involved
in a research along with West Virginia
University on three cars (VW Jetta, VW
Passat, and BMW X5), helped detect the
defeat device. The project was aimed to evaluate real-world operating emissions from
light-duty diesel vehicles in the United
States. Clear protocols, in-use requirements
for the useful life of vehicles, clear enforcement follow-through, the authority to fine
and force recallsthese are best practices
that regulations worldwide should incorpo-
74
DETECTING FRAUD
(Above) Drew Kodjak, executive
director, The International
Council on Clean Transportation
(Left) Volkswagen cars passing
emission standards in tests
actually emit air pollutants 40
times the regulatory limit
75
HERALDING A NEW
EPOCH
Nepalese President Ram
Baran Yadav promulgates
the constitution at the
parliament in Kathmandu on
September 20
Photos: UNI
FISSURES REOPEN
The new constitution has
alienated the Madhesis of
Indian origin,
leading to violent protests
day to celebrate has turned into a major crisis. It is a time bomb which, if not handed
carefully, could lead to convulsions across the
length and breadth of the land locked nation.
The constitution, which is surprisingly
progressive on several counts, including full
rights for gays, lesbians and transgenders,
fails to address the core concerns of the people living in the Terai region. Madhesis are
people settled in Nepals plains from the
adjoining Indian state of Bihar. While they
are loyal citizens of Nepal they also look to
their country of origin in times of crisis. The
representation of the Madhesis in Nepals
Parliament will be drastically reduced by the
new constitution. The main demand of the
Madhesis is representation equal to their
population and federal redistricting that
maintains Madheshwhich would guarantee the group a bigger representation in parliament. Madhesis see the move to restrict
their parliamentary numbers as an attempt
to take away their political clout.
77
Indias reaction
D
EFFORT
GONE
WASTE?
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modis
Kathmandu
visit in
August had
led to a
new
optimism in
bilateral
relations
78
who were lynched by the mob. The murderous assault on the police spread bad blood
across the nation. The hope for a new beginning with a brand new peoples constitution,
in the drafting of which neither the monarchy nor the Nepalese army had a say, was
drowned in the anger and violence in the
plains. Nearly 40 percent of Nepals population live in the Terai region and so a large section of the country is unhappy with the new
arrangement.
INDIAs PIQUE
India, which played a major role in getting
the Maoists to the table for talks in 2006, is
extremely unhappy with the turn of events.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken
to his Nepalese counterpart, Sushil Koirala,
on ensuring that all sections in Nepal are
Article 154 of the interim constitution provided for delineation of electoral constituencies every 10 years. This has
been increased to 20 years in
Article 281 of the new constitution. India wants this restored
to 10 years.
As a sovereign
nation, Nepal has
every right to go
ahead with its
own plans. But
the Madhesis
also need to
get their due.
Otherwise, the
situation is likely
to deteriorate
further.
LONG-AWAITED
MOMENT
People cheer during
celebrations a day after
the first democratic
constitution was
announced in Kathmandu
79
Timeline Nepal
19501951
The Nepali
Congress Party
(NCP) formed
through the
merger of the
Nepali National
Congress and
the Nepal
Democratic
Congress in
Calcutta.
19551959
King Tribhuvan
dies; succeeded by
Mahendra.
A multi-party
constitution is
adopted.
19721980
19601963
King Mahendra
seizes power
and suspends
parliament,
after NCP wins
elections with
BP Koirala as
premier. New
constitution
provides for
Nearly 40
percent of
Nepals
population
lives in the
Terai region
and so a large
section of the
country is
unhappy with
the new
arrangement.
80
King Mahendra
dies, succeeded
by Birendra.
Constitutional referendum follows
agitation for
reform. King
allows direct
elections to
national assembly, but on a
non-party basis.
June 1, 2001
19851989
King Birendra,
Queen
Aishwarya and
seven royal family members shot
and killed by a
drunken Crown
Prince Dipendra,
who then shoots
himself.
19901992
Security forces
repress street
protests, resulting in deaths
and mass
arrests. Under
pressure,
Birendra agrees
to a new democratic constitution. NCP wins
first democratic
elections. Girija
Prasad Koirala
becomes prime
minister.
19941995
No-confidence motion
sinks Koirala
government.
Fresh elections lead to
the formation
and subsequent dissolution of
Communist
government.
June 4, 2001
Prince Gyanendra
crowned the king.
November 2001
October 2002
King Gyanendra
dismisses Deuba
and indefinitely
puts off elections
set for November.
Parliament
approves abolition
of monarchy as
part of peace deal
with Maoists, who
agree to re-join
government. Interim constitution
comes into effect.
May 2008
Nepal becomes
a republic.
Gyanendra orders
the army to crush
July 2008
Maoist rebels.
Ram Baran Yadav
April 2006
Hundreds are
becomes Nepals
Gyanendra agrees
killed in rebel and
first president.
to reinstate parliagovernment operament following
tions in the follow August 2008
weeks of violent
ing months.
Maoist leader
protests against
Prachanda forms
direct royal rule.
coalition govern May 2002
Maoist rebels call
Parliament disment, with Nepali
a three-month
solved, fresh elecCongress going
ceasefire.
tions called amid
into opposition.
NEPALS DISPLEASURE
Nepal is equally angry with India for what it
perceives as New Delhis arrogance. India is
playing with fire. Instead of encouraging the
Madhesis it should calm tempers and ensure
that this problem is resolved amicably. It is
not something that cannot be worked on and
solved to the satisfaction of all, says Kanak
Mani Dixit, the editor in chief of the prestigious Himal Southasian magazine, published
from Kathmandu.
New Delhi will be blamed if the situation
takes an uglier turn, he adds.
Many Nepalis now realize what Sri
Lankas felt about Indias interference in its
ethnic problem. They say they can understand what the Sinhalese majority felt when
India, for its domestic political considerations, championed the cause of the Sri
Lankan Tamils. What the Nepalese forget
was that Tamils were second class citizens in
the island nation.
Kanak Mani Dixit admits that there are
many loose ends in the new constitution
which have to be tied up. He says the people
of the Terai have to be accommodated, but
Political deadlock,
fails to reach a
as no party wins a
compromise with
majority.
Prime Minister
opposition on new
Prachanda resigns in
constitution and
February 2014
a row with President
the fate of former
Consensus reached
Yadav. Maoists leave
Maoist fighters.
between the two
government after
Parliament elects
major parties in the
other parties oppose
the Maoist partys
constituent assemintegration of former
Baburam Bhattarai
bly. Sushil Koirala
rebel fighters into
as prime minister.
sworn in as PM.
national army.
May 2012
Communist leader
February 2015
Prime Minister
Madhav Kumar
Police fire teargas
Bhattarai dissolves
named new prime
and water cannons
minister. He quits in
parliament, calls
at opposition supJune 2010.
elections for
porters protesting
November after
February 2011
plans for a parliapoliticians miss a
Jhalnath Khanal
mentary vote on a
final deadline to
elected PM,
disputed new
agree on a new
ending a sevennational constitution.
constitution.
month void in
governance.
November 2013 September 20,
Elections for an
2015
August
2011
assembly which
Constitution of
PM Jhalnath
will write a new
Nepal comes into
Khanal resigns
constitution.
effect.
after government
May 2009
81
A QUESTION OF SIZE
A hippopotamus with its calf at the Arignar Anna
Zoological Park, Chennai.
STRIP(E) TEASE
White Bengal Tiger Clara and her three cubs play at
Huachipas private zoo in Lima, Peru.
CLAY
MODELS
A one-anda-half-month
old baby
elephant
stands
close to its
mother at
The
National
Park in
Chitwan,
south of
Kathmandu.
HUNGRY MOUTHS
A swallow feeds her babies in Guizhou, China.
82