Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing the NGO, contended Mishra was retiring in May 2020, and “this exercise was an unreasonable exercise of power”…reports Asian Lite News.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that people must be allowed to raise their voice in a democracy, while hearing a PIL by NGO Common Cause challenging the extension of tenure of Enforcement Directorate Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, contended that some of the NGOs should not be allowed to run a parallel government by filing multiple PILs on all issues, and service matters cannot be adjudicated in a public interest litigation.
However, a bench headed by Justice L. Nageswara Rao noted that people must be allowed to raise their voice in a democracy.
As the Centre said that the ED Director’s tenure was extended as many cases of money laundering were at crucial stage and a change of guard could impact the probe, the top court observed that it appreciates he did a good work, but “you cannot say that he can continue till the cases are concluded”.
It noted that the question here is whether the tenure of the Director can be extended.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing the NGO, contended Mishra was retiring in May 2020, and “this exercise was an unreasonable exercise of power”.
“Power has to be construed in a reasonable manner and not in an unreasonable manner,” he said, posing the question whether an “whether a person can be appointed beyond the period of superannuation?”
The Centre, however, contended that there was no illegality in its decision to modify the tenure of incumbent ED Director from two years to three years.
The hearing in the matter will continue on Wednesday.
The NGO’s plea contended that Centre has employed a circuitous route in order to ensure Mishra gets one more year as ED Director by way of retrospectively modifying the appointment order dated November 18, 2018, itself. The NGO has made three respondents in its plea: Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, the present ED Director, and the Central Vigilance Commission.
The plea filed by the NGO has sought direction for quashing November 13 order along with a direction to the Centre to appoint ED Director in a transparent manner and strictly in accordance with the mandate of Section 25 of the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003.
“The said two-year tenure has come to an end on November 19, 2020. Pertinently, the Respondent No 2 (Mishra) has already reached the retirement age of 60 years in May 2020,” the plea said.
“This press story on Pegasus, done by a web portal on July 18, attempts to malign the Indian democracy and its well-established institutions,” Vaishaw added…reports Asian Lite News.
With the Pegasus snoopgate leading to ruckus in the Parliament, Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday that the news story on snooping was an attempt to malign India’s democracy and its institutions.
Addressing the Rajya Sabha, the minister also indicated that the report was meant to disrupt the Monsoon Session of the Parliament.
“A sensational story around Pegasus being published just a day before the Monsoon Session of Parliament cannot be a coincidence,” he said.
“This press story on Pegasus, done by a web portal on July 18, attempts to malign the Indian democracy and its well-established institutions,” Vaishaw added.
He also said that similar claims were made in the past regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp, adding that those reports had “no factual basis” and were categorically denied by all the parties, including in the Supreme Court.
While Vaishnaw was reading the statement on the Pegasus project amid an ongoing row over alleged large-scale snooping involving politicians, Trinamool Congress MPs snatched the report from the minister’s hand and tore it into pieces on the floor of the Rajya Sabha.
Journalist-turned-BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta said: “Some of the Trinamool MPs took the paper from the hands of the minister and tore it. This is unacceptable.”
Trinamool MP Shantanu Sen was seen on national television snatching the report right out of the minister’s hand, tearing it apart and then throwing the shredded pieces into the air.
Amid continued disruptions, the Upper House was adjourned for the day.
Earlier too, the minister had said that the report is an attempt to malign India.
The Pegasus Project reports published in The Wire, which showed that over 300 phone numbers – including those of two serving ministers, over 40 journalists, three opposition leaders, among others, – could have been targetted for hacking using the Pegasus spyware developed by Israeli surveillance company NSO Group.
Interestingly, Vaishnaw’s name also appeared in the list of people who were allegedly snooped upon.
The rally witnessed the participation of a large number of people from the Kandahar, Zabul, and Urozgan provinces….reports Asian Lite News
Amid the rise in violence in Afghanistan, prominent tribal leaders of Alokozai Tribe organised a rally in Afghanistan’s Kandahar on June 28 in support of the democratic system and peace process.
The rally witnessed the participation of a large number of people from the Kandahar, Zabul, and Urozgan provinces.
Rahmatullah Yarmal, former Governor of Laghman criticised the Taliban insurgents for committing atrocities on the people of Afghanistan on the behest of Pakistan. He also criticised President Ghani for its weak policies and for adopting a soft stand towards Pakistan. He called on the public to rise against Taliban insurgents and stand behind the Afghan security forces to send a stern signal to Pakistan and defeat the Taliban on the battlefield.
Dawood Gulzar, Advisor to the Afghan President said that Pakistan is an obstacle to the peace process. ISI has always played the “role of the devil” in Afghanistan and been interfering in the affairs of Afghanistan. He asked the people of Kandahar to send a strong signal to Pakistan that now people of Kandahar would not tolerate the evil design of Pakistan and ISI.
Kalimullah Naqibi, who is also a member of the Afghan Delegation to Peace Talks in Doha noted the stalemate in the peace process and criticised the Taliban for intensifying the fighting and destroying lives and properties in Afghanistan.
A number of other speakers at the gathering criticized the Afghanistan Government for not giving residents of Loya Kandahar proper representations in the Afghan Security Forces and Peace Process, which has weakened the government and strengthened the Taliban. They demanded that youths of Loya Kandahar region should be recruited in the Afghan national security forces in large numbers in order to prevent them from turning to the Taliban.
Some speakers asked the government to expedite the peace process with the Taliban by inviting them to talk. The people of Afghanistan are suffering as the Taliban are taking control of areas and forcing people to flee causing a humanitarian crisis. (ANI)
The arrival of anarchy to the island nation is mainly driven by the worsening domestic political environment, curtailment of democracy, weaponising and the exertion of undue influence on courts and Judiciary, writes Asanga Abeyagoonasekera
In stateless societies, the rule of law is usually suppressed. In such societies, people turn into unfree pawns as a result of worsening political conditions.
The arrival of anarchy to the island nation of Sri Lanka is due to a series of factors. It is mainly driven by the worsening domestic political environment, curtailment of democracy, weaponising and the exertion of undue influence on courts and Judiciary.
The recent political victimisation of neutral agencies is an attempt to rewrite rules by its politicians. In this backdrop the growing human rights conditions and arbitrary pardoning of criminals will weaken the rule of law. Such a dangerous tilt, away from democratic forms of governance will drag the nation towards an autocratic footing.
Democracies ‘can be dissolved in spectacular fashion like from a coup detat or a less dramatic but equally destructive manner’, argues Steven Levitz and Daniel Ziblatt in their book ‘How Democracies Die’. The slow and equally destructive death of democracy has arrived in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa (Xinhua/Tang Lu/IANS)
Sri Lankans were confined to their homes during the lockdown following the government’s ‘disciplinary project’, while the government was engaged in releasing a convict using a prison side door.
“The pardoning of Duminda Silva, whose conviction the Supreme Court had upheld in 2018, undermines rule of law,” explains US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina B Teplitz, referring to the Presidential pardon given to the former Member of Parliament and ally of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The former Justice Minister Thalatha Athukorala questions, “Today, those found guilty of the most serious crimes in our law enjoy presidential protection while the judges and police officers who brought them to justice have targets on their backs.”
The Presidential pardon comes when the Sri Lankan government faces multiple challenges, especially weeks before the European Union (EU) has pinpointed the abuses of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and growing human rights concerns in the country.
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) condemning the decision expressed concern that “Presidential pardon of Duminda Silva, a former MP convicted of the murder of a fellow politician, is another example of selective, arbitrary granting of pardons that weakens rule of law and undermines accountability.”
Sri Lanka’s Bar association (BASL) questioned President Rajapaksa on the decision of the selection method and raised severe concerns on the administration’s position towards rule of law. The decision from the government was not an ad hoc decision. The release was carried out along with the release of several other PTA detainees. Why was such a decision taken especially at a time of significant external pressure?
Sri lankan citizens
Human Rights Concerns In a lengthy televised address on June 25, days after the release of the former MP, Rajapaksa stated his progress in his development plan and continuous commitment to rule of law, not referring to the PTA nor the pardoning act. The new European Union Parliament adopting a resolution to withdraw the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP+) is a clear warning to the Sri Lankan regime.
European Parliament adopted a resolution on June 10 calling for the repeal of Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
Further, the resolution highlights Sri Lanka’s ‘alarming path towards the recurrence of grave human rights violations…accelerating militarisation of civilian governmental functions, the reversal of important constitutional safeguards, political obstruction of accountability, exclusionary rhetoric, intimidation of civil society, and the use of anti-terrorism laws’.
The regime has failed to address the human rights concerns adequately highlighted multiple times, and procrastination in its process is the reason for this action by EU Parliament. Earlier in March, the government rejected the UNHRC resolution, giving a clear signal of the government’s position of ‘no external interference’ towards the reconciliation process.
Ironically the real concern of many in the country is the absence of a reconciliation process.The departure from the internationally accepted process and continuous denial by the state on minority concerns is evident. The government has already lost its direction from a progressive path towards a more autocratic posture.
Jehan Perera correctly observes this ground reality, explaining that “The reality on the ground is that wounds of the country’s 30 year war have not healed. The attempts to promote healing have lacked commitment. Thousands of acres of land in the North and East still continue to be under military control. This is land that was once lived on and cultivated by Tamil people. Today it is being used by the military, some of it being cultivated, some it used for recreation purposes including hotels, and some of it for security purposes. Thousands of families still await news of the whereabouts of their loved ones despite an Office on Missing Persons which has yet to give a ruling on even a single missing person although four years have elapsed since it was set up. There are also still a few hundred persons in detention for a large number of years, some exceeding a decade in prison without trial”.
The government’s denial and non-commitment will worsen the relationship with the EU and other western democracies.
GSP Benefits
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Nearly 60 per cent of Sri Lankan exports benefit from preferential terms of trade from the EU’s GSP+ and US GSP schemes. The EU is Sri Lanka’s largest export market with 30 per cent of the total, while the US is the largest single export market at 27% of the total merchandise exports.
Sri Lanka’s exports, including apparel, fisheries, ceramic, and rubber that uses the GSP concession, will be directly impacted. Sri Lanka has duty free access to 7, 200 products with the EU GSP+ Concession. It is estimated that the withdrawal of this concession would wipe out a significant chunk of foreign exchange earned through exports.
“We are concerned with the EU Parliament’s resolution,” says the Sri Lanka’s Export Development Board Chairman.
The present state of the economy with the pandemic has been a challenge to Sri Lankan exports ‘especially to the apparel industry’ admitted even by President Gotabaya in his recent address, and GSP withdrawal will add significant pressure to the Sri Lankan economy.
The government’s senior Ministers have ignored the GSP+ withdrawal warning saying that they are ready to move forward without the concession.
However, K.D. Vimanga, a policy analyst at Advocata, an economic think-tank, explains that the government needs to understand the merits of GSP+, and it is vital to retain the concession, when at present the country is facing a severe economic crisis, especially with serious issues in debt repayments, lack of foreign exchange and a balance of payment crisis.
“Understand the merits of it,” warns the analyst.
Democratic Stability
President Gotabaya’s regime has developed a norm towards weaponizing unfavourable outcomes towards their favour catering to the majoritarian Sinhalese Buddhist voter base. The outcome at the UNHRC resolution in Geneva in March, the EU GSP+ saying we can do without it or releasing a convicted parliamentary member for murder in the name of justice, is a move in the same direction.
The political strategy of this administration is to cater to the majoritarian voter base by making claims of protecting the nation’s sovereignty from foreign interference. This narrow minded political strategy does not fit all cases when certain decisions have no relevance. The very act of convicting one regime and arbitrary pardoning from another regime is a sign of weakness, not a strength in the process.
According to a senior political scientist in Sri Lanka, “in the coming months, Sri Lanka’s judicial sector will undergo significant reforms along with continuous interference despite a promise to amend the constitution”.
When assessing Yale Professor Juan Linz’s work on ‘The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes’ and ‘How regimes paint a rather bleak picture of their ability to survive’, the Sri Lankan case provides ample evidence of the regimes domestic political behaviour to survive.
The public’s loss of trust in its democratic institutions is a visible characteristic that can have a long-term impact on the country’s stability. An essential ingredient according to Linz is ‘the belief in the legitimacy of democratic institutions as a factor increasing the likelihood of stability in a democracy’. The coming anarchy to the entire nation is in the breakdown of its democracy. This for sure will worsen economic conditions.
(Asanga Abeyagoonasekera is a geopolitical analyst and author of ‘Conundrum of an Island [2021]’. The views expressed are personal)
J.P. Nadda needs to ensure that members of his party do not proceed to the police station but reach out for a conversation with individuals with whose views they disagree, writes Prof. Madhav Nalapat
Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao initiated the “Look East” policy in 1991, which anticipated the quantum increases in trade that occurred afterwards. Not just for India but for the world, the Indo-Pacific became the focal point of global growth, overtaking the Atlantic. Despite, or perhaps because of his skill in navigating India away from the Brezhnevite economic policies of the past, those who most destructively targeted Rao were from his own party, who functioned in the cool shade of approval of Sonia Gandhi, who soon grew to dislike the Prime Minister for reasons that must await an accurate biography of the lady who occupied the centre-stage of Indian politics for nearly two decades without holding any position within the Government of India.
The civil war within the Congress Party between those who favoured Rao and the others who thought Sonia should replace him ensured the defeat of the party in the 1996 Lok Sabha polls and the rise to the front rank of the BJP. It must be said about Atal Bihari Vajpayee that he never forgot the debt owed to Sonia for helping to ensure the end of the years of Congress Party Lok Sabha majorities, and was unfailingly kind to her. The “Look East” policy gained some traction, but sniping from an unsympathetic President Clinton and the reality of the size of the Indian economy being puny at the time stood in the way of any diplomatic or commercial breakthrough with Southeast Asia. Soon after he came to power as the head of the first government to have a BJP majority in the Lok Sabha in 2014, Narendra Modi conceptualised and carried into effect the “Act East” policy. At the same time, relations with the Middle East and the US were also made a priority.
“Act East” is an idea that was overdue. India and Indonesia, for example, are natural partners, and the MEA needs to take the initiative in getting the Quad to expand to Quad Plus, with the addition of Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. This will not be possible at first, but security agreements similar to those entered into between Washington and Delhi could be worked out individually with the three as a prelude to their coming on board in a Quad Plus. While the Quad will remain limited to four, the “Plus” would in time include France, Germany and the UK as well, thereby putting in place an alliance designed not to provoke a war but to prevent adventurous and expansionist powers from launching a conflict against any smaller country in the neighbourhood.
While the US will remain by far the bigger economy for a long period, India is unlikely to be replaced from its perch as the world’s most populous democracy. Universal suffrage was followed from the start, including the essentiality of equal rights to women. There have been significant transitions from a government to the other, and all have taken place peacefully, including in 1977, when a 2-year hiatus in democracy ended with the declaration of Lok Sabha polls. The result was less a reflection of the economic performance of the government headed by Indira Gandhi than it was a reaction to the denial of freedoms.
The people of India are proud of democracy and loyal to its concepts. Hence such judgments of the Supreme Court as the striking down of Victorian-era laws on lifestyles or diluting the draconian nature of the Information Technology Act that from its inception during the Vajpayee period began the period of reversal of the spectacular global growth of the industry in the period when everyday laws (which themselves are more than sufficient in numbers) and not special legislation was applied to the IT sector. To take another example, if the draconian legislation passed by the UPA after the Nirbhaya horror (where a perpetrator escaped a severe sentence on a technicality in a manner that would not have been possible in the US or many other countries) has worked in curbing such barbarism against women, the same is not evident. Such crimes remain, as does alcoholism in states that have enforced Prohibition in the belief that liquor or even dietary preferences can be altered through legislation speedily passed rather than through the slower but organic process of conscientisation.
The time will soon come when there will be more vegetarians in the US than in India, and not because of laws regulating diet either. Prime Minister Modi acted not a moment too soon in decriminalising some of what is legally criminal in India that is regarded as a civil dispute in other mature democracies. The late Ram Jethmalani as Law Minister sought to carry such a process forward, but soon afterwards, lost his portfolio in a reshuffle. It is time to complete the work that Ram initiated.
There has been enormous unflattering coverage of India in global media. It is understandable that media in the PRC trash the situation in the country, as the Chinese Communist Party seeks to show that democracy does not work, especially in a country of 1.4 billion people. What is unfortunate is that the mainstream press in democratic countries that are potential and existing allies of India are sometimes even more harsh in their assessments than even Chinese media. At their most charitable, the subtext of what they say in their columns is that India may look like a democracy, but does not act as a democracy.
That a friend for decades, Vinod Dua, had to go to the Supreme Court to get relief from the incomprehensible charge that he is guilty of “sedition” is what drives misperceptions causing the demonization of a democracy that is an essential partner in the battle against the global alliance between Extremism and Authoritarianism. The BJP has a capable and affable President in J.P. Nadda, and he needs to ensure that members of his party do not proceed to the police station but reach out for a conversation with individuals with whose views they disagree. A battle of opinions, of ideas, is normal and indeed central in a democracy. The rise of Narendra Modi from CM to PM was not stopped or even slowed down but was made certain by the barrage of ugly personal attacks made on him during each of his 13 years in the job. There is a lesson in this for the BJP.
Dr. Yashwant Sinha, the former finance minister of India, who has recently joined the Trinamool Congress, engaged in a candid interview with Manish Tiwari, political columnist and a leading multicultural marketing guru based in London. EXTRACTS:
MANISH TIWARI: A recent report has termed India to be an autocracy. It says that social rights in the country are in peril and even the Constitutional institutions are also facing marginalisation. Is it true that the present system of governance is all about total domination and control?
Yashwant Sinha
YASHWANT SINHA: What you are seeing from a distance is something that we are experiencing every day in India. The ruling party and the rulers of the day have established what can be described as an elected autocracy or electoral dictatorship. Democracy and democratic values are eroding in India under the present regime. All the institutions responsible for the safeguard of democracy, like the Parliament, the Judiciary, the Election Commission, the media, etc. are been subdued.
For instance, the retiring Chief Justice of India is being nominated to the Upper House of the Parliament immediately after his retirement, and he accepts it! This shows the extent to which the judicial system has been compromised. The less said about the media, the better. The media with a few honourable exceptions are is being the government’s lap-dog in most cases.
Manish: But, what you are saying has happened before in this country during the Emergency. Isn’t it?
Yashwant Sinha: The Emergency was a purely political escapist route which was taken by Mrs. Indira Gandhi to safeguard her chair. This ‘Emergency’ is far more dangerous because it combines communalism with autocracy. I a situation like this most people are feeling helpless and they are scared. There is a lingering atmosphere of fear in the country because agencies like the CBI, the IT department, the NIA, the ED, etc. are being misused by the government to silence its critics and to ‘fix’ the political opponents. It is happening so fast and with such monotonous regularity that people have now come to accept it as the new normal.
Manish: Sitting here in London, we see some efficiency in the operations of the present regime. The way the corona situation was handled in India, the precision with which international flight operations were regulated during the pandemic is some such instances. Do you agree that this regime does have a certain amount of efficiency?
Mr Sinha: No, I do not buy that theory. It is the lap-dog media of the country that has created the impression that it is a very efficient government. Look at any part of the government functioning and you can witness its inefficiency. The pain that demonetisation caused to the people and the damage that it did to the economy is forgotten. Another blunder of the government was the introduction of the GST in a half-baked condition. All these now seem to be in the past as public memory is short and media memory shorter.
Lastly, as I mentioned earlier, the misuse of the government agencies. People yet to be scathed are feeling that they are safe without realising that the day is not far that these types of machinery can come knocking on their doors. The impression that is being spread, that this is a strong and efficient government, is far from the truth.
Manish: So you reckon that all the success stories of the government are media projections spun out of the PR machinery?
Yashwant Sinha addressing a press conference
Sinha: These are all well weaved false projections by the media. The BJP indeed came into power in 2014 due to the corrupt Congress regime, but their re-election in 2019 was entirely on account of the unfortunate Pulwama incident, followed by a strike against Pakistan which was blown out of proportion by the media. That impacted heavily on the mind of the people and they voted in a particular way. There is a lot of evidence which were put together by enterprising journalists which evoked doubts about the government’s claims and actions. So, I would say that this government can stoop to any level to win an election. I am seeing this with my own eyes in Bengal.
Manish: The whole world is witnessing an ultra-nationalist trend of politics as propagated by leaders like Trump. A call to bring back past glory seems to be working everywhere. Even in the UK, Brexit happened on that notion. Modi is also talking about revoking the glorious past of India which he claims was lost through centuries of foreign rule by the Islamic invaders and then the British. This kind of narrative seems to have captured the imagination of the Indian voters. Do you agree?
Mr Sinha: The present BJP leadership is not talking about the glories of the past; they are being communal. They are invoking communalism in a major way into the politics of this country and they are misusing the religion card to garner votes. Whatever is happening in India is unique and has no semblance to the political scenario of the countries that you cited. I can’t imagine an Atal Bihari Vajpayee, behaving in the way the present Prime Minister is behaving.
Manish: Having said that, don’t you think there is a semblance in ways that the mechanisms of electoral politics e.g.) the social media, are being used by leaders like Trump and Modi? Trump did that successfully during the US elections and I believe even Mr. Modi has a strong influence over the netizens. What do you think?
Mr Sinha: Mr. Modi has been using social media influence for a pretty long time since the days when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Using social media largely depends on the resources available at ones’ disposal. For instance, in 2014 there were five or six other Chief Ministers from important States who were contenders to be the Prime Minister. Yet, Mr. Modi became the only acceptable face for the Prime Minister’s post.
It was all because of social media. Through a bombardment of fake news and false propaganda, he was made to look larger than life. People from other States also started believing in stories about the wonders that he had done as an administrator in Gujarat. They wanted the same for the country and fell for that false propaganda. The added ‘potion’ to that was the religion card.
Concocted false propaganda designed by an American PR agency with the help of enormous resources helped in creating a false image of Mr. Modi which yield him fantastic results.
Manish: I am aware of the Gujrati community raising huge funds for Mr. Modi, here in the UK. Won’t you give him the due credit for the successful mobilisation of the diaspora? I mean there is nothing wrong with using ones’ contact and support base.
Mr Sinha: The diaspora doesn’t vote. We know that far more Gujrati brothers and sisters live abroad than any other people from any other State. They rooted for him because he is from their State.
Manish: Having said that, we can note that, first Mr. Amit Shah and then subsequently many other important posts went to people from Gujarat Mr. Modi’s regime. Do you think that a trend of regionalism has been introduced by the present government?
Mr Sinha: There was an unwritten rule in the BJP and even in other national political parties that, the President of the party in power and the Prime Minister would not be from the same State. Now, when this party came into power in 2014, Rajnath Singh was replaced by Amit Shah as the Party President. Subsequently, Amit Shah was brought into the government and he replaced Rajnath Singh to be the Home Minister. This also is weird that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister are from the same State and have no precedence in our history. A regional balance has always been maintained in the Government of India. But, they abide by no rules and have no respect for any conventions. Therefore, they brazenly do whatever they feel like doing.
Manish: When you quit the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2018, you cited that “democracy in India is in grave danger” and the “party’s condition.” What did you exactly mean by those phrases?
Mr Sinha: When they became powerful in the party, they first extinguished the internal democracy within the BJP. That disturbed me a great deal and I started drifting away from the BJP. Between 2014 and 2018, I saw major instances of democracy getting extinguished at the national level. That’s when I decided, despite my advancing age I must stand up and fight these forces and that’s what I am doing even today.
Manish: Your son Jayant Sinha is still a BJP MP. He was the Junior Finance Minister of the Modi government at some point in time but now is just an MP. Do you think your vocal opposition against Narendra Modi is the reason for your son’s demotion?
Mr Sinha: Jayant Sinha is a highly qualified individual who has won his Lok Sabha seats through merit. He was given the posts of Junior Finance Minister and the Junior Minister for Civil Aviation due to his qualifications and he brought a lot of merit to the job he was doing. Now he is just a Member of the Parliament and heads the Standing Committee of Finance which is not a ministerial post. People tell me that this is because of my opposition to the government. If that is so then I would say that it is a very cheap tactic as my son and I are two very different individuals. He holds his own rules and I mine. Therefore, if he is deprived of anything that he deserves from the government due to my opposition to this government, then I must say that it is a very sad state of affairs.
Manish: Will you say that, in promoting only those who will toe their line, the current government is going the Congress way?
Yashwant Sinha arrives at Raj Bhavan to submit a memorandum on Bihar floods to Governor Phagu Chauhan, in Patna
Mr Sinha: The Congress regimes in the past may be guilty of many misdemeanours, but I don’t think and Congress Prime Minister has descended to this level in which Mr. Modi has descended. Just look at the Bengal elections. He comes here and behaves like a street urchin when he calls out, “Didi, Oh Didi!!” What kind of behaviour is this? Can you imagine Jawaharlal Nehru or Manmohan Singh or Vajpayee behaving like this, even in an election rally? He has demeaned the post of the Prime Minister.
Manish: Quoting John Dalberg-Acton, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Do you think that the sense of absoluteness in the present government is leading it to be arrogant and autocratic?
Mr Sinha: Most certainly. The more the media talks about his enormous popularity and the fact that there is no challenge to him, he will continue feeling omnipotent and will ignore the rules of the game. This is the reason why we are seeing all aberrations in our democracy and a departure from the rules of the game.
Manish: My friends in the Indian media tell me that, it has now become an accepted truth that if you criticise Narendra Modi or any of his actions, you will be viciously bombarded with trolls coining you a Pakistani and an anti-national. Have you ever experienced this phenomenon?
Mr Sinha: I get trolled every day by their army of trolls who I know operate from outside India. However, trolling is not the major factor. What happened to Indian media is that powerful journalists having an independent voice have been marginalised. Unfortunately, all Indian media houses are owned by big corporate houses. The owners of these houses are now being controlled by the party. They are told whom to hire and whom to fire. Micro-management of the media has gone to such an extent that even the subject of discussion in the evening prime time shows is decided by the party. The media houses are also instructed on the panel of guests to ensure that the discussions weigh heavy on the government’s side.
Manish: Director General Julio Ribeiro once said that in India, if want to find any anomaly against any individual, it can be easily found as the law operates in such a way that they will have at some stage done something that can be held against them. So do you think that people are being easily penalised because of their vulnerability?
Mr Sinha: I disagree with the term penalised. They will be raided and often a case will be started against them which will have no outcome. Public memory is short and media memory is deliberately shorter. Chidambaram was arrested and put behind the bars for more than a hundred days. Then what happened? Nothing. I can quote several such cases which bore no fruit. Often in such cases, the media will blare out their trial.
Remember the death of an actor before the Bihar elections? That episode went for a long, and now that the Bihar elections are over, only a handful number of people are concerned about that case. Almost the whole media has bowed down to the government. How will correct information reach the people?
Manish: Where are the regulators?
Mr Sinha (stops Manish in between): Which regulators are you talking about!! There are Constitutional bodies that have succumbed, so do you think that a regulator appointed under some law will have the courage to stand up? Especially the head of that regulatory body who probably would have been appointed by this government, will he have the courage to fight for regulations?
Manish: You have been the Finance Minister of the country. Yet, the Prime Minister talks about a $5 Trillion Economy by 2024. As the former Finance Minister of the country, do you think this to be a viable dream?
Mr Sinha: Let’s not waste time on the slogan of a $5 Trillion economy. I think it is a waste of time even to discuss it for a minute. How many people do have the idea of a trillion or are aware of the value of the dollar? So, why are we talking about a $5 Trillion economy when addressing the masses of India? $5 Trillion economy by 2024 is a pipe dream. I may not be around to see it, but I will be happy in heaven if we can achieve the dream even in 2030.
Manish: The Indian middle class is in great peril at the moment. Bank interest on savings is decreasing now and then, fuel prices are at their all-time high, joblessness is rampant. Do you think the people of India will hold the BJP accountable in the next general elections in 2024?
Yashwant Sinha
Mr Sinha: Currently five State Elections are going on including Bengal. The Bengal elections of 2021 and then the UP elections next year will lay the ground for the 2024 elections. I shall not be surprised if the untruth that is uttered by the government, and the Prime Minister is found out by then. If the people are not misled, and if no ‘accident’ happens involving our neighbouring country, then this government will go in 2024.
Manish: You mentioned the Bengal elections. There have been some indicators that the BJP has made some headway and is in a position of control. Do you agree?
Mr Sinha: You are sitting in London right, and your source of information is probably the Indian media. BJP is strong in controlling the social media and the media here, but they are not at all a strong force in Bengal. All kinds of false and fake news are being propagated through the media, and that’s how the BJP has positioned its image as a challenger to TMC in Bengal. I have travelled from place to place in Bengal. They are nowhere on the ground, but they have resources to buy flags and festoons which they put up all around. Thus, creating an illusion of their presence. Let me tell you with a command that, the BJP will do very poorly in the Bengal elections and Mamata will reign for the third time.
Manish: The media narrative can be controlled by the BJP, but what about the heavy campaigning by almost all the heavyweights including Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and Yogi Adityanath? Don’t you think that these rallies and campaigns will have some impact?
Mr Sinha: Every government in a democracy has an opposition, so does Mamata Banerjee. In Bengal, the Left and the Congress have completely ceded ground to the BJP. The CPIM workers have all migrated to the BJP. Therefore, the opposition space is empty and the BJP might emerge as the second-largest party here and take that position. However, what is being projected now as their superiority is a reflection of their money and muscle power, which is far from reality.
Manish: The opposition in Bengal pins Mamata Banerjee and her politics of Muslim appeasement to be the reason for the BJP’s advent into an otherwise secular-minded State. Do you agree?
Yashwant Sinha addressing a press conference
Mr Sinha: If you are secular and you treat the Hindus and the Muslims equally, then the BJP always accuses you of Muslim appeasement. Their policy is of majority appeasement based on a majoritarian doctrine. Therefore, anyone giving equal treatment to all communities, what our Constitution enjoins is something which is an alien concept to them.
Manish: So you reckon that Mamata Banerjee will come back to power?
Mr Sinha: With absolute certainty.
Manish: What will be your role in the Trinamool Congress if it comes back to power. Will you be working towards taking the party national, or are you going to work with Mamata Banerjee at the State level?
Mr Sinha: It is too early to talk about such issues now. I cannot predict anything at this point. It will be for the party to decide what roles they want me to play after the elections.
Manish: We are approaching the end of our interview and I shall now want to talk about your autobiography. You are 83 years old now, and at an age when people retire, you made a comeback into politics to fight for values that you deem right. Is this because of this relentless spirit of yours that you named your book- Relentless?
Mr Sinha: I have relentlessly pursued certain things in my life. I have always stood for the prestige and dignity of my country. There is an incident mentioned in my autobiography, about a brawl that I got into with some students from my university when they were bothering some foreign girls. I took a beating and broke my nose in that street fight. I was fighting for national honour. I couldn’t let those boys ruing the name of my country. That is ingrained in me. I have fought for my country’s honour relentlessly throughout my life and shall continue to do so.
Manish: We have been discussing values like secularism and liberty being in peril during these times. Now, before concluding this interview, I shall want to know what you think should be done about it?
Mr Sinha: All these values that you are talking about, are encapsulated in our Constitution. If we value, the Constitution of India then we need to stand for its protection. There is no doubt about the fact that there are threats. The present regime is the biggest threat that India has faced as far as these values are concerned since our independence. However, I have great faith in the judgement of the people and feel that when they see the wrongs that have been committed, they will lose no time in throwing out this government. If the government interferes with the use of ballot power, then the people are not going to tolerate that. It will be the people’s power that will fight out the authoritarian power of the government.
(Compiled & Edited by: SOUMIK SAHA)
Yashwant Sinha
Yashwant Sinha
Yashwant Sinha addressing a press conference
Yashwant Sinha addressing a press conference
Yashwant Sinha addressing a press conference
Yashwant Sinha arrives at Raj Bhavan to submit a memorandum on Bihar floods to Governor Phagu Chauhan, in Patna
Yashwant Sinha and AAP leaders Dilip Pandey and Sanjay Singh stage a sit-in demonstration to protest over migrant workers’ issues at Rajghat in New Delhi during the extended nationwide lockdown imposed to mitigate the spread of coronavirus
