Tag Archives: AAP

Centre watch, Debates, Politics, Religion, Right watch

Whether AAP’s Defeat Can Become a Wake Up Call for New Cheerleaders of Hindutva Lite Politics!

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Time for Ideological Politics Now !

“ Do Not Put Each Foot in a Different Boat.”
– Chinese Proverb

A defeat in elections should not be The End of politics for a political party.

There are examples how parties who were humbled in one election could bounce back with huge majority in next elections.

It is a different matter that with AAP ( Aam Aadmi Party) things seem to be unfolding in rather unpredictable ways, thanks to its rather unceremonious exit from the citadels of power in Delhi and defeat of all its top leaders in the recently held elections to the assembly.

Nobody would have imagined that its Supreme Leader would feel so insecure after the loss that he will summon all MLAs of his party – which is leading the government in neighbouring Punjab  – to the national capital the very next day for consultation or may be sweet talk.

No doubt it did give way to speculations about increasing disgruntlement within his party and its legislators and their being in search of greener pastures.It also rekindled debate about the personality centric functioning of the AAP or how a close confidante of Kejriwal was appointed on a key post under Bhagwant Mann – Chief Minister of Punjab – last year itself which was construed as clipping of his wings by the opposition. ( Read the full article here : https://countercurrents.org/2025/02/whether-aaps-defeat-can-become-a-wake-up-call-for-new-cheerleaders-of-hindutva-lite-politics/

Centre watch, Culture, Debates, Democracy, Education, Government, Islamophobia, Politics, Right watch

WHO CAN HATE THE ‘OTHER’ MORE!

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CLASH OF TITANS ! REALLY ?

Aisha, a 7 year old girl living in Khajuri Khas Colony of Delhi, is yearning for a day when like her elder sister Asma, she would also be admitted to a nearby government school.(1)

This possibility is growing dimmer by the day, as the school has refused her admission and asked for Indian documents like Aadhar – which refugees do not possess.

Aisha is the younger daughter of Ahmad, a Rohingya refugee who has finally reached Delhi and has duly received his UNHCR card – which refers to the document issued by the UN refugee agency.

Thanks to the circular issued by Delhi government ( Dec 24) led by AAP asking schools to ensure strict guidelines during admissions perhaps Aisha will have to remain satisfied with the same private school which lacks facilities.With a drive underway to ensure that children of “illegal Bangladeshi immigrants” are not allowed enrolment, Aisha knows very well that her fate is sealed. (2)

It is difficult for her father to explain that while Asma got admission on the UNHCR card but why the rules have been suddenly changed ? ( Read the full article here : https://countercurrents.org/2025/02/clash-of-titans-really-who-can-hate-the-other-more/)

Culture, Debates, Democracy, Government, Law, Right watch

Tridents for Men and Daggers for Women

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Why are “legally permissible weapons” being distributed in Delhi on election eve, and why is there criminal silence about it?

“We are committed to turning out the non-Hindu sinners from Delhi.”

– A VHP leader addressing a gathering in Delhi.

“..Consume less food, purchase a cheaper mobile phone, anything, only promise to have five tridents in a home”.

– Another VHP leader addressing a meeting in Delhi.

Provocative speeches and distribution of what is being peddled as ‘legally permissible weapons’ , very much in the heart of the national capital ; detailed plans to hold similar events all over the city, on the eve of elections – all this has not stirred the deep slumber in which the law and order machinery found itself in.

Thanks to the inaction, now the campaign to arm a section of radical Hindus has reportedly spread to the womenfolk as well. Plans are afoot to distribute 20,000 daggers to women from the majority community under what is being billed as ‘Shastra Deeksha Samaroh’. In fact, media was agog with footage of daggers being distributed to Hindu women in the second week of January itself.

No doubt, it would be height of innocence to presume that the silence of the officers/ personnel entrusted with maintaining law and order in the city – which is directly under the purview of the Ministry of Home – is inadvertent. ( Read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/tridents-men-and-daggers-women)

Centre watch, Culture, Debates, Identities, Politics, Religion

हिंदुत्व की दक्षिण की नई प्रयोगशाला !

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नरम हिन्दुत्व या ‘सेकुलर’ दलों की लड्डू पॉलिटिक्स?

Credit: PTI photo

(क्या आंध्र प्रदेश दक्षिण में हिंदुत्व प्रयोग की नई प्रयोगशाला बनाने जा रहा है।  दक्षिण के अग्रणी अख़बार डेक्कन हेराल्ड ने पिछले दिनों इस मसले पर विशेष सामग्री पेश की थी ा गौरतलब है कि इस सूबे की आंतरिक गतिविधियों पर शेष मुल्क की तब निगाह पड़ी, जब तिरुपति के लड्डू के मसले को सुर्खियां मिली . मगर ‘हिंदुत्व लाइट’ का यह सम्मोहन महज वहीं तक सीमित नहीं है )

सियासत भी अजीब होती है। अकसर इस बात का अंदाजा भी नहीं लग पाता कि कैसे वह शैतानों के सन्त में रूपांतरण को मुमकिन बना देती है और कैसे अन्य समुदायों के जनसंहारों को अंजाम देने वालों को ‘अपने लोगों’ के हृदयसम्राट या रक्षक के तौर पर स्थापित कर देती है।

शायद इसी विचित्रता की यह निशानी है कि अमेरिका के पूर्व राष्‍ट्रपति डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प  द्वारा हैती से आए आप्रवासियों को लेकर फैलायी जा रही झूठी ख़बरें कि वे कुत्तों का भक्षण करते हैं, अमेरिका की आबादी के अच्छे-खासे हिस्से को अविश्वसनीय नहीं लग रही- जिनका लगभग अस्सी फीसदी हिस्सा साक्षर है। इन झूठी और नफरती ख़बरों को लेकर हैती से जुड़े समूहों को ही अदालत का दरवाजा खटखटाना पड़ रहा है।

जहां दुनिया का सबसे ताकतवर जनतंत्र कुत्तों को लेकर पैदा किए गए एक विवाद में उलझा दिखता है, वहीं खुद को दुनिया में डेमोक्रेसी की माता कहलाने वाले भारत में लड्डू के इर्द-गिर्द खड़े किए गए इसी किस्म के एक फर्जी विवाद में पिछले दिनों लचीले हिन्दुत्व की राजनीति के नए रणबांकुरे उलझे दिखे थे । ( Read the full article here : https://junputh.com/open-space/soft-hindutva-and-laddoo-politics-of-naidu/)

Culture, Debates, Democracy, Politics, Right watch

Fascinating Hindutva Lite

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After the ascent of Hindutva Supremacists at the Centre, avowedly secular parties also seem to be falling prey to it under mass pressure for short-term electoral gains.

Politics is a strange beast.

It looks incredulous how at times it helps Satans being metamorphosed into Saints and biggest murderers of hapless communities emerging as the defenders or ‘heartthrobs’ of their ‘own people.’

Perhaps it is a sign of this weirdness that Donald Trump’s vitriolic speeches targeting Haitian immigrants – that they eat pets — have not appeared incredulous to a large section of the US population, which is 79% literate, as the records show. Finally, Haitian groups themselves had to approach the courts to expose “racial animus against Haitian immigrants” over the years.

Interestingly, while the strongest democracy in the world is in the midst of a manufactured controversy around pets, the biggest democracy in the world, is witnessing another fabricated controversy around Laddoo – a spherical sweet from the Indian subcontinent — thanks to the intervention of what can be called as ‘new converts’ to Hindutva Lite politics. ( Read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/fascination-hindutva-lite-among-opposition-parties)

Capitalism, Democracy, Government, Law, Politics, Right watch

Arvind Kejriwal’s Bail: Why the Establishment Wants to Destroy AAP

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The Establishment’s desperation is becoming clearer by the day. And by ‘Establishment’ here, I do not mean simply the ruling duo in power today but a constellation of forces, many of whom congregated at a mega-wedding event in Mumbai recently. The embryonic New Congress thankfully stayed out of it – though the Old Congress is pretty much part of the Establishment, as we will see below.

Popular Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal has finally got bail from the Supreme Court – both interim and regular – in the totally fictitious Enforcement Directorate (ED) case in which he has been framed. Yet he must remain in jail because on the eve of his release by a Delhi court and Additional Sessions Judge Nyay Bindu, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) went and arrested him while he was still in jail!

Image courtesy The Economic Times

This arrest-within-arrest shows a desperation of the Establishment that has rarely ever been seen before. The desperation was even more evident in the fact that the High court judge, Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain went ahead to uphold the ED plea against the bail order by Judge Nyay Bindu, even before the order had been uploaded to their website. 157 lawyers wrote to the CJI alleging that the brother of the Judge, Anurag Jain is one of the counsels for the ED, which showed a clear conflict of interest. More importantly, referring to the urgent listing, hearing and stay of the trial court’s bail order by the high court, the lawyers’ letter said,

Continue reading Arvind Kejriwal’s Bail: Why the Establishment Wants to Destroy AAP →
Everyday Life, Government, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

The Violence in Delhi, Politics and ‘Heroism of the Ordinary’

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What is there to say? What can one say that has not already been said umpteen times before – during earlier rounds of communal violence elsewhere – and in Delhi this time?

The political class, true to its character, has revealed as it has so many times in the past, that when it comes to matters like communal violence, it is simply paralyzed – perhaps with the exception of the Left in states where it was strong enough to impact things.  For all its failures in other respects, this was one where the Bengal Left, for instance, too had in the past shown great promptness in nipping such possibilities in the bud. Most often this was done, not by relying only on the administrative power of the state, but with  the entire party machinery moving into action. Kerala too has had a similar record. But those instances apart, especially in states of the Northern or Western India, there hasn’t been much to write home about. What entering the political domain does to you is illustrated so starkly by the fate of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its utter capitulation to what it imagines to be the ‘Hindu sentiment’.

Continue reading The Violence in Delhi, Politics and ‘Heroism of the Ordinary’ →

Debates, Politics, Theory

Kejriwal and the ‘Dirty Hands Problem’

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Guest Post by SURAJ JACOB

[Note: This article was written before the ongoing violence in Delhi began and is not about current affairs. It rather engages with the political problem at a broader philosophical level. – AN]

Analysts of Delhi’s recent election note thatAAP imaginatively courted voters on the BJP’s own turf (Shekhar Gupta): welfarism with a dash of nationalism and careful projection around religion. There are several critics of this strategy. Satish Deshpande criticises AAP’s quiescence in ‘mere’ development activities (its campaign “was about municipal matters such as water and electricity and nothing else”). He describes AAP as a “non-ideological management consultancy”, even arguing that its campaign conveyed the message: “Don’t worry, we have no problem with communal politics, but please don’t ask us to say it openly”. Apoorvanand also casts the AAP as “an ideology-agnostic party that does not impede the BJP’s nationalist drive”. Similar points are made by Yogendra Yadav. They castigate AAP for its ideological failure in resisting the BJP’s polarising tactics violating the spirit of the Constitution. AAP voted with the BJP on Article 370, welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya temple and did not sufficiently support protests around the CAA/NRC especially in Shaheen Bagh. Besides ideological failure, Yadav also identifies AAP’s moral failures: choosing consultants and candidates based on winnability “without any moral or ideological hindrance” and undemocratically centralising power.

Deshpande, Apoorvanand and Yadav are scholars and public intellectuals with activist conscience and commitment to the public good. Taking their disquiet seriously, one may ask: How, indeed, should AAP’s campaign have been? Is the party and its dominant leader Kejriwal really “non-ideological” and “ideology-agnostic”, especially when it comes to toxic polarisation? The evidence simply doesn’t stack up for such a sweeping claim (though, according to Suhas Palshikar, “we will probably never know” Kejriwal’s real stand on these issues). Notes Monobina Gupta: “the AAP, within and outside parliament, has opposed the CAA and supported the protests in Shaheen Bagh in different ways. … What his [Kejriwal’s] ideologically-inflected critics mean to say is that he didn’t take the position they wanted him to. Yes, he didn’t run an ideological campaign.”

Continue reading Kejriwal and the ‘Dirty Hands Problem’ →

Debates, Government, Identities, Images, Left watch, Religion

Thoughts on the AAP’s Hindu Gestures from Kerala’s History

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I have been reading with interest the exchange between Aditya Nigam and Satish Deshpande on the AAP’s strategy of avoiding ‘politics’ – or rather, distancing itself mostly from the polarised ideological debates while making small moves to shape for itself a space, arguably fuzzy, in the hegemonic discourse of Hindu. I am also witness to the unbelievably egregious attacks by the CPM leadership in Kerala against Islamist organizations protesting the CAA — the free reign granted to an explicitly communalised police force, the appallingly soft treatment of Hindutva offenders, even when they make open threats that warn Malayalis to ‘remember Gujarat’, the wanton attack on internal dissidents in the CPM using the worst instruments of the security states such as the UAPA, and the threat to dismantle the pandal of the Shaheen Bagh solidarity satyagraha in Thiruvananthapuram, something even Amit Shah has not dared to do (thankfully withdrawn after public outrage), and its blatant caste-elite majoritarian thrust while claiming to be the (sole) guardians of secularism. Continue reading Thoughts on the AAP’s Hindu Gestures from Kerala’s History →

Bad ideas

Imagining an Antifascist Coalition Today

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The debate on the meaning of AAP’s victory in Delhi and the Hindu idiom that its spokespersons have adopted continues as indeed on the implications of its refusal to play the electoral game in the way the BJP was intent on setting it up. But to keep our perspective right, we need to remember that this was just one stop on the long and arduous journey that still lies ahead. We also need to remember that AAP is only one of the forces and Delhi only one of the theatres of the anti-fascist struggle.

The lessons of the antifascist struggles in Germany or in Europe at large clearly are of no use in our battles here. At one level, we are all destined to repeat the grievous mistakes of the German communists (and the Comintern) for concentrating their main blow at the Social-Democrats, pronouncing them ‘social-fascists’ – till it was pretty late in the day and Nazism was already on the way to consolidating its power. In states other than Delhi, there are instances where this mindset can be seen to be in full operation. In Delhi, thankfully, this is not the scenario and most non-BJP political parties assess the situation differently, though an entirely negative stance towards AAP’s victory can be seen among many people. However, I do not intend to engage them in a debate in this post, having already stated my position on AAP’s victory quite categorically. Continue reading Imagining an Antifascist Coalition Today →

Debates, Government, Identities, Politics, Right watch

Apropos AAP Victory in Delhi: Satish Deshpande Responds

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Guest post by SATISH DESHPANDE

[This post responds to the piece by Aditya Nigam on Kafila last week, which was partially in response to pieces by Satish Deshpande and Apoorvanand.]

Thanks for your response, which (despite its tone 😊) helps to underline the seriousness of our broader predicament today.

I readily concede that my article was not sufficiently respectful of AAP’s major achievement in winning a second landslide against heavy odds.  But I do not think – as you seem to do – that this lack of respect (even if it was ungenerous) was without any justification whatsoever.

The article expresses my frustration at the fact (yes, this is a fact and not just my opinion) that the most effective and astute non-BJP political party around today chose not to use even a small fraction of its proven on-the-ground capabilities to counter the poison being spewed daily.  I have no prescription to offer AAP, and I don’t know why you think I do – where have I said that or even implied it?  Though I had no specific acts in mind (such as AK visiting Shaheen Bagh, etc.) I did expect AAP to do something (in its own unique way) to take back at least an inch or two of the political ground that is being ceded every day.

Continue reading Apropos AAP Victory in Delhi: Satish Deshpande Responds →

Debates, Government, Law, Politics, Right watch

Towards BJP’s Hindutva Lite Template

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BJP’s Delhi campaign was not divisive by sanyog or coincidence. That is its prayog or experiment. Which it will take to other elections.

BJP’s Delhi campaign was not divisive by sanyog

Kitney aadmi thhe—how many were there?

A meme based on this famous monologue from the highly successful film, Sholay (Embers), from the early seventies, started trending when “David” Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), defeated “Goliath” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi’s recent Assembly elections.

No doubt this election’s result has put paid to the efforts of Home Minister Amit Shah to retain his image as “Chanakya” of Indian politics, at least for now. The result is despite BJP’s desperate attempts to win Delhi, as part of which pulled chief ministers, former chief ministers, cabinet ministers and more than 240 Members of Parliament to campaign in the city. Blame it on the high stakes battle that allegations surfaced that they had distributed cash and liquor ahead of the polls.

The result is for everyone to see.

The most toxic electoral campaign, perhaps ever, in which leaders of the ruling dispensation even provoked violence through their hate speeches, did not work. The BJP’s seat tally rose by merely five and a bloody nose.

( Read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/Towards-BJP-Hindutva-Lite-Template)

Debates, Everyday Life, Identities, Religion, Right watch

Winning Delhi Elections – AAP, Gandhi and the Ideology Wars

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What has Gandhi got to do with the recently concluded elections in Delhi? On the face of it nothing. But at another level, the election process, its campaign and its results – all invite us to revisit Gandhi’s stupendous moral-political project of cementing the Hindu-Muslim division with his own blood and his heroic failure. He could not prevent the Partition and ultimately fell to the bullets of a fanatic Hindu nationalist of the kind who are in power today.

I remember Gandhi today because gung-ho secularists (the political community that I inhabit, if very uncomfortably) are once again at their favourite occupation of daring Arvind Kejriwal and AAP to ‘prove’ their ‘anti-communal stance’ and all that it can mean today – as though they alone have the talisman to fight communalism. I am reminded of Gandhi because his was by far the most audacious  attempt to fight the communal menace but he too failed. He had no ready-made answers to it but had perhaps the best sense of what moved the masses of this country.

Secular warriors have been basically daring Kejriwal and AAP to do and say things that he had been avoiding doing or saying all these days. Just two instances – of the quotes below from two dear friends – should suffice to indicate what I mean.  The first is from Apoorvanand, writing in the Business Standard,

‘Voters in Delhi were confident that the AAP victory in the assembly elections wouldn’t so much as serve as an irritant to the BJP, let alone rock its boat, as the saffron outfit was firmly and safely ensconced in power. An efficient delivery boy is all the electorate wanted. In the Delhi voters mindset, an ideology-agnostic party that does not impede the BJP’s nationalist drive is tolerable.’

Continue reading Winning Delhi Elections – AAP, Gandhi and the Ideology Wars →

Culture, Media politics, Movements, Politics, Right watch

Delhi Elections and the Difficult Terrain of Antifascist Struggle

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Three incidents of firing in four days – two in Jamia Millia Islamia and one in Shaheen Bagh – quickly followed open calls to violence (‘goli maro saalon ko‘) by Union minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur and the demonization of Shaheen Bagh protesters by BJP MP Pravesh Verma (‘the protesters will enter your homes and rape and kill your daughters’ if Modi and Shah aren’t there). In the case of the Shaheen Bagh shooter, Kapil Gujjar, the Delhi Police (which has till date not managed to find out the JNU attacker Komal Sharma’s affiliation) was quick to link him to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) – an allegation expressly denied by his father. All these episodes, so obviously set up, basically aimed at provoking the protesters into committing some violence that the lapdog television channels would then play up, in their usual hysterical style (some of them may even have appeared on air in police uniform!), to vitiate the atmosphere.

On the very first shooting, one such channel did indeed keep doing precisely that till long after the identity of the shooter (in the clip above) had been clearly established. The clips were circulating almost instantaneously and you can hear the gunman shouting Delhi Police zindabad, and there was little chance of mistaking him for an anti-CAA protester. The channel knew exactly what it was doing and at whose behest but kept on at it till 9 o’clock at night.

Continue reading Delhi Elections and the Difficult Terrain of Antifascist Struggle →

Bad ideas, Debates, Government, Movements, Politics

Arvind Kejriwal, Article 370 and a Blind Alley

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(Photo Courtesy : http://www.newslaundry.com)

“He came, he saw and he concurred“

– Caption of a RK Laxman cartoon in early 90 s

 

AAP’s stand on article 370 has confused and disheartened many.

For its workers the party has opened itself to attacks by its adversaries because of its support to stripping of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir and thus weakening its own plank for full statehood for Delhi which was its key slogan during the 2019 Lok Sabha campaign.

A section of its fellow-travelers who had high hopes of the experiment, activists/scholars – who were rather enthused with its ‘participatory’ approach – also feel betrayed or disheartened now.

It is a different matter that not many have made their displeasure known.

May be it is a sign of their increasing fatigue or possible cynicism with politics in general, they have preferred to share their frustrations at private levels only. Continue reading Arvind Kejriwal, Article 370 and a Blind Alley →

Debates, Identities, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Nationalism and Politics – An Open Letter to Arvind Kejriwal

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I write this open letter to you as a well wisher, and someone who has been seriously supportive of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) through all the ups and downs in the years since its formation.  Perhaps like many others, I too have high expectations of the experiment that AAP is and the new ground it has tried to break in terms of providing a government that has steadfastly kept the interests of the common person in mind while taking decisions.

But I also write this letter because I, like many others, have been perturbed by some developments which do not augur well for the future either of your party or of the country. The latter in any case, is set on a disastrous course, thanks to the current dispensation at the Centre. Let me also make it clear right away that I am not one of those who criticize AAP for ‘lacking a clear ideology’ and I in fact value the fact that on many critical issues, AAP has been able to resist the pressure to step into well trodden, familiar responses to specific situations and issues – especially well trodden among Leftists. But I do think that AAP needs to think a bit more seriously  about politics – which is not the same thing as ideology.

Continue reading Nationalism and Politics – An Open Letter to Arvind Kejriwal →

Centre watch, Movements, Politics

Rainbow Social Coalition – To What End ?

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Image may contain: 3 people, people smiling, people sitting and outdoor

 

USS passe rani hai, iss passe Gandhi!”
(“On that side is the Queen, on this is Gandhi)
(https://indianexpress.com/elections/patiala-dharamvira-gandhi-aap-elections-2019-bjp-congress-5726029/)

Nawan Punjab Party’s candidate ex MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi’s election campaign and the way he projected his appeal as ‘battle against the royals’ had rightly evoked interest in a section of the media as well as pro-people circles.(https://www.newsclick.in/electoral-mobilisation-vehicle-rainbow-social-coalition)

It is of interest to know that in this era of money and muscle power politics the campaign was largely run on support generated by people. What is also notable (-do-) that the campaign was successful in building a social coalition – cutting across various fissures in our society – and could challenge “populist fascism of the Bharatiya Janata Party, patronage-based populism of the Congress, and a fractious identity politics of SAD which cannot see beyond its narrow aims. “. Continue reading Rainbow Social Coalition – To What End ? →

Bad ideas, Capitalism, Debates, Government, Law, Politics, Theory

The Elephant in the Room – Silence on Class Issues in Indian Politics : Sanjay Kumar

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Guest Post by SANJAY KUMAR

Ramesh has been working as a daily wager in a Government of India office in Delhi for ten years. He is one of the army of peons, office assistants, security guards, gardeners, and cleaning staff which government offices, city municipalities, hospitals, schools and colleges of the metropolis employ regularly. He is a graduate, but gets the wage of an unskilled worker. He is among the fortunate ones who at least get government mandated minimum wage. Most private employers in the city violate the minimum wage act; either they pay less than the mandated amount, or make daily wagers work more than eight hours without any overtime.

Ramesh was pleasantly surprised this April when he noted a more than 30% increase in his wages. His daily wage that stood at Rs 360/ earlier was now Rs 513/. This was due to a Government of Delhi notification issued on 3rd March, 2017. The news was covered in the inner pages of some newspapers. Most TV news channels ignored it. Hence, it is not surprising that employees like Ramesh who are not associated with any organsiation of workers were not aware of this increase. Continue reading The Elephant in the Room – Silence on Class Issues in Indian Politics : Sanjay Kumar →

Centre watch, Debates, Government, Identities, Images, Left watch, Metropolis, Movements, Politics, Right watch, Scams

Who will get the hot roti in the Delhi assembly elections?

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My friend Guddi has a great story about a Gujjar wedding she attended recently in Ghaziabad. It was a typically chaotic event, marked accurately by the swirling crowds around the dinner stalls. If Gujjar weddings are chaotic and the dinner doubly so, the scene around the tandoor is triply compounded chaos. Barely concealed competition amongst overmuscled Gujjar men in overtight pants for that precious hot roti ensures that none but the most Hobbesian men remain, circling the tandoor like hungry wolves, periodically thrusting their plate forward like fencing champions and shouting obscenities at the harried servers. In such a heart-stopping scenario, a young server had as Guddi recounts, figured out the formula to keep everybody from killing each other (or him). As soon as the roti would be pulled out of the tandoor, seductively golden brown and sizzling, this man would hold it high up with his tongs so everybody could see, then in an elaborate dance-like ritual, touch each of the empty extended plates in front of him with the roti, and finally, in a mysterious but authoritative decision, place it respectfully on a randomly selected plate. Repeat with every single roti that emerged from the tandoor. A hushed silence followed by nervous laughter followed every such flourish.

Continue reading Who will get the hot roti in the Delhi assembly elections? →

Government, Media politics, Politics, Right watch, Scams

Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics Set to Shut Thanks to L-G and BJP Controlled Municipal Bodies: Jyoti Punwani

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[The Superintendent of Tihar Jail, went a joke recently circulating on WhatsApp, had staked his claim for the Chief Ministership of Delhi, because he had the requisite number of MLAs! The mainstream (Big) media has had a field day, reporting with great ‘earnestness’, what even the ordinary person on the street can see is an orchestrated move to harass and discredit the AAP. A leading paper even did a status report on all the cases against AAP MLAs a couple of days ago, as if it was simply ‘reporting’ (with a straight face). Some day, hopefully we will be able to come out with a more detailed analysis of the ways in which sections of the big media have – even in the person/s of their most benign representatives and columnists – played footsie with the regime at the Centre. This dispensation and its utterly unprincipled and unethical ways are truly unprecedented and this phase of our history has emerged as the dirtiest chapter of parliamentary democracy in India. In the meantime, online news forums have kept the tradition of actual reportage and fairness alive. Here are some extracts from a report by JYOTI PUNWANI, courtesy The Hoot (linked below), on the mohalla clinics and the strange politics of the media that surrounds reportage around such measures undertaken by the Delhi government.]

The AAP’s mohalla clinic experiment drew the attention of The Washington Post. Its article (`What New Delhi’s free clinics can teach America’, March 11, 2016) was also carried by the Chicago Tribune. A University of Southern California delegation came to study mohalla clinics  in July.

But our print media didn’t think this important experiment was anything special. Not all covered it; of those that did, some didn’t carry the report in all their editions….

The Indian Express carried a long report in April, after the second batch of clinics opened, in its Delhi edition (“In rented rooms across Delhi, part 2 of ‘mohalla’ clinic project takes off’’).  Livemint hada detailed report last month, after more than 100 clinics had opened (`Mohalla clinic: AAP offers affordable healthcare model at doorstep’); and earlier this week, The Hindu evaluated their performance in its Delhi edition (`A thousand promises of prompt health care’).

Among news websites, Newslaundry did a lively report immediately after the first clinic opened (`Mohalla clinics come to town’). In January, Catch News did a report  (`#MohallaClinics: AAP has diagnosed Delhi’s health problem. Can it cure it?’), and a follow-up in April after the second batch opened (`AAP Mohalla clinics: rented homes turn clinics, private docs appointed’).

A two-part article appeared in Scroll.in in May (`The clinic at your doorstep: How the Delhi government is rethinking primary healthcare…) Indeed, news websites, rather than newspapers, seem to have given the new experiment the space it deserves.

Going through the reports on mohalla clinics, it became clear that the possible removal of some of them was only the latest move against them. A few days before the NDMC issued this order, the Lieutenant General (LG) of Delhi had got into the act. Consider the sequence of events:

On August 5, the Delhi High Court ruled that the LG was the administrative head of the capital. After the judgment, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia specially requested Najeeb Jung not to transfer the Health and Education secretaries as these two bureaucrats were essential for the AAP’s new initiatives in these sectors. Continue reading Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics Set to Shut Thanks to L-G and BJP Controlled Municipal Bodies: Jyoti Punwani →

Capitalism, Debates, Ecology/Environment, Everyday Life, Government

Odd/even – A Baby Step, But a Step Nonetheless: Kaushik Chatterji

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Guest post by KAUSHIK CHATTERJI

One January evening a couple of Delhi winters ago, I was at my doctor’s. During the routine examination, he discovered that my blood pressure was rather high: 160/100 to be precise. I asked him what I should do; he said, “walk regularly, reduce salt intake and come back next week”. So I did. The reading remained the same, so I asked him again what I should do; again he said, “walk regularly, reduce salt intake and come back next week”. This went on for a few more weeks. Finally, after five or six weeks of consistently high readings, my doctor prescribed a medicine and added, “walk regularly, reduce salt intake and come back next week”.

Popping pills after an isolated high blood pressure reading is something no doctor worth his/her, er, salt would recommend. Instantaneous readings can vary wildly depending on a wide range of reasons – cold weather, a full bladder or the white coat. It is true of blood pressure; it is also true of air pollution. Its sources are many – from power plants to industries, from open burning of dried leaves to dust from construction sites, from vehicular emissions to road dust.

Continue reading Odd/even – A Baby Step, But a Step Nonetheless: Kaushik Chatterji →