Maximum Government, Minimum Governance

Minimum government? Yes, of course. Minimum and limited to the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, both who had taken the Constitutional oath, plus the PMO and his two brothers in arms who didn’t need to take the oath. The other names that took oath while getting aboard the Government’s cabinet are there, at best, as masquerades or robots. Indeed, it might be a good IQ test for us to name the minsters and their respective ministries, without looking at GK notes or seeking the google guru!

https://countercurrents.org/2022/10/maximum-government-minimum-governance/ 

Maximum governance? Well, yes, in terms of absolute control over the governing institutions, machineries and treasuries.

In April 2019, the Prime Minister stated that the country still doesn’t know the real meaning of minimum government and maximum governance. And as the country awaited the new definition with bated breath – it rapidly emerged that in real-time situation, the terms actually meant “maximum government” and “minimum governance”.

That is exactly what we are facing and experiencing – a maximum government, maximum through exercising total control and practicing minimum governance. One can site any number of examples as evidence and proof but when all institutions that matter and actually execut governance lie shattered, in despair and in virtual chain and fear, what is left to govern? All that the government has to do is to govern the police, the CBI, the ED, and they in turn then execute governance for it. Likewise, simply govern the judiciary, the election commission, the media et.al., not forgetting the foot soldiers, and they do all the governing as per your specific wishes. 

by Biju Negi

24/10/2022

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How the Supreme Court Has Interpreted Hate Speech Over the Years

How Did the Patriarchy Start – and Will Evolution Get Rid of It?

https://science.thewire.in/society/patriarchy-origins-evolution/ 

• Contrary to common belief, research shows that the patriarchy isn’t some kind of “natural order of things” – it hasn’t always been prevalent and may disappear eventually.
• Hunter-gatherer communities may have been relatively egalitarian, at least compared to some of the regimes since. Female leaders and matriarchal societies have always existed.
• Norms, attitudes and culture have a huge effect on behaviour. They can and do change over time, especially if the underlying ecology or economy changes.
• As men and women both increasingly generate their own wealth, the old patriarchy is finding it harder to control women.

The patriarchy, having been somewhat in retreat in parts of the world, is back in our faces. In Afghanistan, the Taliban once again prowl the streets more concerned with keeping women at home and in strict dress code than with the impending collapse of the country into famine.

And on another continent, parts of the US are legislating to ensure that women can no longer have a legal abortion. In both cases, lurking patriarchal beliefs were allowed to reemerge when political leadership failed. We have an eerie feeling of travelling back through time. But how long has patriarchy dominated our societies?

The status of women has been a long-standing point of interest in anthropology. Contrary to common belief, research shows that the patriarchy isn’t some kind of “natural order of things” – it hasn’t always been prevalent and may in fact disappear eventually. Hunter-gatherer communities may have been relatively egalitarian, at least compared to some of the regimes that followed. And female leaders and matriarchal societies have always existed.

by Ruth Mace

20/10/2022

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Century Workers' Struggle - Five Years

सेंचुरी श्रमिक संघर्ष के 5 वर्ष । 5 Years of the #Century #Labor #Struggle
Bahujan Sanvad
Oct 18, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz4Ga-VcUFc  live at 6 pm 18th Oct 2022
5 साल पहले यानी कि 17 अक्टूबर 2017 को बिरला मैनेजमेंट के द्वारा सेंचुरी मिल को अवैध तरीके से दो-दो बार फर्जी बिक्री कर बंद कर दिया गया था। न मजदूरों की सहमति ली गई थ और न ही राज्य सरकार से अनुमति ली गई थी। इतना बड़ा भ्रष्टाचार जिस पर सरकार और प्रशासन मौन है। यह आजादी के अमृत महोत्सव की एक तस्वीर सेंचुरी आंदोलन है।
1000 से ज्यादा मजदूर बेरोजगार हुए, और तब से लेकर आज दिनांक 18 अक्टूबर 2022 तक अहिंसा, त्याग, समर्पण का चुनौतीपूर्ण संघर्ष सत्याग्रह रोजगार आंदोलन के रूप में अभी निरंतर भी जारी है।

Struggle of the Century https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQADySVmXrU Durgash Khavse put their agitation in perspective.. a development story, where basic land of farmers and tribal is taken for factory projects, and when the market does it cycle, the land finds new uses, and workers get abandoned even by the Unions.. Narmada Bachao Andolan has spoken about the Development model.. Vikas Chahiye, Vinash Nahi.

This Century & The Workers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK3gILQtF-Y Nov 21, 2020
The story of the Centyry Satyagraha Andolan, goes on as the Lockdown sees more and more Laws being changed just to make it easier for a certain type of economy, where stack holder value rather than social goods and livelihood decide if a factory should be closed and capital moved to more business friendly regimes.. apparently labour laws are outdated because investment will not come our way...

Split verdict: Why it leaves me, a Left-Liberal, at odds with me, a Progressive Muslim

Why it leaves me, a Left-Liberal, at odds with me, a Progressive Muslim  Javed Anand https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/supreme-court-verdict-on-hijab-split-wide-open-8207010/

Justice Dhulia noted the main thrust of his judgment was that the entire concept of essential religious practice was not essential to the dispute. The high court took a wrong path. According to him, it is ultimately a matter of choice and Articles 14 and 19. “The foremost question in my mind was the education of the girl child. Are we making her life any better?” He also held the view that the judgment in the Bijoe Emmanuel case “squarely covers the issue”. This refers to the 1986 ruling of the apex court that upheld the fundamental right of three school-going children from the Jehovah’s Witness sect to stand respectfully but not join others in singing the national anthem during the school assembly as it conflicted with the tenets of their faith. ..

The Liberal Me has no doubt that Justice Dhulia’s views are in consonance with constitutional values. But the Progressive Muslim Me fears that were a larger bench to subsequently rule accordingly, it would effectively strengthen the regressive sections among Indian Muslims...As is public knowledge, cutting across sectarian divides — Sunni, Shia, Barelvi, Deobandi, Wahhabi, Salafi, Maududian — virtually the entire Muslim clergy in India is of the view that hijab (niqab, burqa) is mandatory in Islam. The abstract principle of a woman’s freedom to choose, I fear, will feed into the it-is-mandatory argument; act as convenient cover for Islam’s patriarchs to keep, even push, women behind the veil...

Two, do Muslim girls studying in Muslim-run schools, 3-year-olds included, have the right to choose or they simply must conform?

In the event that the March order of the Karnataka High Court is struck down by a larger bench of the Supreme Court in the coming period, we might ponder on what students committed to Hindutva politics will make of the right to choose verdict. Classrooms becoming the new arena for competitive communalism? Muslim girls in hijab, Hindu boys in saffron scarves? Diversity, anyone?

Hijab Judgment of Supreme Court | सर्वोच्च न्यायालय का हिजाब पर फ़ैसला | Faizan Mustafa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83qGIZE0z70
Oct 14, 2022 Some comments on Youtube: Matir Manush We thank Dr. Faizan Mustafa as usual for his dedication to explain the matter of law to us with commitment and devotion. Justice Gupta expressed his opinion on the practice of Hijab with sincere reasoning. But we believe he failed to realize a simple matter.
Wearing Hijab is not harming or hurting anybody. It is not even disrupting the uniformity in the education places. But banning hijab is surely damaging one's freedom of personal choice. Banning hijab is shattering one's dream of education.
..justice Dhulia's verdict protect the integrity of our constitution. His judgement promotes the right of education of the girls. In other words the judgement of justice Dhulia is helping our girls to acquire knowledge which is very important for the nation. Our girls are a vulnerable group of people in the country. The judicial system should not and must not increase their vulnerability.

Rohit gupta New doctrines are laid down like trust doctrine, cross obligations and tolerance, laying down new dimensions of constitutional interpretation.
The question is of acoustomed to other way of living and there are countries, who have no school dress

Yazdy Palia I disagree with the line of reasoning. In their enthusiasm, the petitioner, the respondent and the judges, have not realised, that, the only issue in this case is
1. Does an institution, in India, has the right to frame their own rules?
2. Do the students and their supporters, have the right to impose their will on the institution created by individuals to educate children? It appears that all the three are competing with each other to violate fundamental rights.

'Right to Work: Feasible and Indispensable for India to be a truly Civilized and Democratic Nation'

India needs Rs 13.52 lakh cr annual investment to create full employment: Study https://www.businesstoday.in/jobs/story/india-needs-rs-1352-lakh-cr-annual-investment-to-create-full-employment-study-349576-2022-10-11  

creating employment for 21.8 crore people needs investment of Rs 13.52 lakh crore per annum or 5 per of the GDP (gross domestic product). Increasing employment will result in greater production as well as demand, it suggested.

Shortage of resources for achieving full employment is an invalid argument since it can be self-financing, the report said, adding that this runs counter to the elite perception that full employment would be a negative sum game for them.

New technology being evolved in the advanced countries is appropriate for their needs but not necessarily good for a developing country like India, the report noted.

Higher technology is supposed to lead to higher profitability of a company. But it also lowers the employment potential. So, those who import technology and reduce employment need to pay a tax which could be used to finance employment, it suggested.

Executive Summary of Employment Report: 'Right to Work: Feasible and Indispensable for India to be a truly Civilized and Democratic Nation' https://1drv.ms/b/s!AiXYIRE1zsiagYVSHaDvaz5Tz0UfAA?e=1BmRrq

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‘Uncertain Justice: A Citizens Committee Report on the North East Delhi Violence 2020’,

Former Judges Release Report Criticising Govt, Media, Police Role In Delhi Riots  Fatima Khan 08 Oct 2022 https://www.thequint.com/amp/story/news/india/former-judges-release-report-criticising-government-media-police-role-in-delhi-riots 
The committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice (retired) Madan Lokur, has expressed grave concerns.
- Delhi police “failed to take any preventive or punitive measures to tackle the polarized atmosphere building up

- besides failing to prevent violence in many cases, the Delhi police also showed "complicity of varying degrees in the violence" in other instances. 

- the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)  must be held responsible for inadequate police response and deployment.  

- specific news channels  (Republic and Times Now (English), Aaj Tak, Zee News, India TV, Republic Bharat (Hindi). )  played “a key role in propagating hateful narratives

- BJP  focused its 2020 Delhi election campaign on the anti-CAA protests, “within a divisive narrative framing the anti-CAA protests as anti-national and violent.” 

- The Election Commission stopped short of ordering registration of FIRs against these political leaders for hate speech. With the Commission failing to initiate criminal prosecution, the malaise of hate speech infusing electoral campaigning is likely to spread further

The Logical Indian Crew 'Institutional Failure': Citizens Committee Report Blames Govt, Police & Media For Delhi Riots 2020  https://thelogicalindian.com/trending/citizens-committee-report-blames-government-police-and-media-for-delhi-riots-2020-37913 

 Report chronicles ‘failures’ by Delhi Police, state govt, MHA in dealing with Northeast Delhi riots https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/report-chronicles-failures-by-delhi-police-state-govt-mha-in-dealing-with-northeast-delhi-riots-8196683/ 
In addition to Justice Lokur, the ‘committee’ comprised former Chief Justice of the Madras and Delhi High Courts A P Shah; former judge of the Delhi High Court R S Sodhi; former judge of the Patna High Court Anjana Prakash; and former Home Secretary G K Pillai.

Delhi riots: Centre’s response to violence was wholly inadequate, says citizens’ committee https://scroll.in/latest/1034499/delhi-riots-centres-response-to-violence-was-wholly-inadequate-says-citizens-committee The Union home ministry failed to take effective steps to control communal violence although it controls the Delhi Police, the panel said. 

Full report: download from the leaflet: https://theleaflet.in/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/uncertain-justice-citizens-committee-report-on-north-east-delhi-violence-2020.pdf

Poverty, unemployment are demons in today’s world

'Why Has Truth Suddenly Dawned Upon RSS': Yogendra Yadav On RSS criticism Over Inequality | No Spin  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIWSeqapYV0
 Oct 4, 2022 Swaraj India member Yogendra Yadav questioned why the RSS has suddenly woken up on India’s inequality, a day after an RSS leader’s criticism over the state of economy and jobs. Mr Yadav said the RSS has been compelled to speak up since all data being discussed on income inequality is in the public domain now.  Full programme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0fMNCg9yVI

Poverty, unemployment are demons in today’s world: RSS https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/poverty-unemployment-are-demons-in-todays-world-rss/article65963438.ece
Ishita Mishra OCTOBER 02, 2022 even after India managed to grow to a great extent economically, economic inequality is a matter of concern. 

RSS-backed Swadeshi Jagran Manch to launch pan-India self-reliance campaign  https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rss-backed-swadesh-jagran-manch-to-launch-pan-india-self-reliance-campaign/story-0Xw5EaBsrF5eEMWNNToqrM.html
 May 19, 2020 02:34 PM IST
Ashwani Mahajan, the national co convenor of the SJM   self-reliance means ‘swadeshi’ only; and it can be achieved by rejuvenating indigenous industry, including small scale industries, small businesses, artisans, rural industries, including food processing industry, and other non-farm activities. A comprehensive plan is being drawn that will involve workers, farmers, small scale entrepreneurs, academicians, technocrats, industry and trade leaders to create awareness about the benefits of promoting swadeshi or local products 

UAPA: Criminalising Dissent & State Terror

 Analysis of the data so collected and segregated would help expose if Sec. 18 was used deliberately only for the purpose of implicating persons under UAPA to ensure that they did not get bail easily.

What is significant is that 152/238 cases (or 64%) cases involving Sec. 18 charge are in
respect of cases where there is no allegation of a terrorist act or an actual incident of terror
involving the use of weapons or causing physical injury is reported to have taken place. In other
words, in more than half (64%) of the UAPA cases involving Sec.18 charge, the mere allegation
of the police that a person is a member of a proscribed terrorist organisation or that a recovery
of weapon/explosives/money/drugs were made from him is sufficient to get the person arrested
and imprisoned for many years.

Those arrested under UAPA languish in jail sometimes even for decades, waiting for their
trial to begin. By the time they are acquitted, the damage is complete; an irreparable damage is
done to several aspects of their lives, inflicting pain and trauma on them and on all those
dependent on them...

By beginning to document the scale of abuse faced by thousands
under this law and by formulating a comprehensive database on all UAPA prosecutions across
the country, the dangers in the ambiguities of the UAPA law and its draconian provisions
become all the more striking. The objective is also to stimulate more discussions and encourage
more research on the constitutional, moral, ethical and human consequences of the UAPA and
the NIA, as we all come together and demand the repeal of the law.
We ask of the civil societies to be more vigilant, to come together and raise their voices
against the flagrant state abuse. We urge the political parties and leaders of the entire political
spectrum to aid in strengthening the demand to repeal the draconian UAPA and other such laws
which should not have a place in a constitutional democracy where rule of law is upheld

We
seek your support through the following actions:
1. Demand repeal of UAPA.
2. Demand repeal of all other anti-people laws.
3. Demand repeal of the NIA Act and disbanding of NIA.
4. Demand the immediate release of all political prisoners, on bail.
5. Take action against all police officials who have wilfully launched false and
fabricated cases against the marginalised communities, journalists, academicians,
students and others.
6. Take action to provide reparations for those wrongfully accused and released by
courts.