NAXALISM: (N) Lessons from Chintalnar

An entire company of the Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) was ambushed by Maoists at Chintalnar, a remote outpost situated deep in the forests of south Bastar (Dantewada): in all more than 76 (of 81) soldiers were martyred, making yesterday’s violence the greatest defeat and massacre ever that the Naxalites (as Maoists in India are more commonly known) have inflicted on India’s armed forces. The local MLA, who was barely twenty kilometers away in his hometown Sukama at the time, called to say that all modes of transportation (including his own)- bullock carts, jeeps, tractors, taxis, trolleys, trucks- are being requisitioned to transport bodies to the police camp situated at a distance of barely three kilometers (about a mile and a half).

A Tale of Two Camps
At times like this, it’s easy to pontificate, more so when one is at a fairly comfortable distance: most editorialists agree that the massacre was primarily due to “intelligence failure”. It would seem that this failure is chronic. The two biggest Maoist attacks on armed forces in the state of Chhattisgarh have taken place in the immediate proximity of police camps:

(1) At Errabore (2006), more than hundred Naxalites entered the camp premises at night and conducted a 3-hour long bloodbath on the tribal ‘refugees’ (as the then state home minister termed inmates) while the armed forces entrusted with their security had very safely locked themselves up inside the thana (police station);

(2) At Chintalnar (2010), about 1000 Naxalites, all reportedly trained members of a Maoist military unit (dalam), not only ambushed the armed forces as the latter were returning from patrol duty to the police camp and made off with their ammunitions but before doing so, they had also found ample time to systematically lay down an intricate network of landmines all around the camp perimeter. The mines, as it turned out, claimed more lives than the actual shooting as soldiers fleeing to the sanctuary of the camp stepped on- and thus triggered- them. Even the anti-mine vehicle was blown to smithereens.

It is perplexing, to say the least, that our armed forces more often than not don’t have a clue about what’s happening in their own backyards. No wonder, they are sitting ducks for the Maoists, who seem to have become, well, almost invisible (if not invincible). This cloak of invisibility, no doubt, is partly due to Fear: for the battle-ravaged tribals of Bastar, to tell on the Maoists is to invite death. And yet, if this Fear of the Maoists is to be countered & overcome, then putting the tribals under a greater Fear of the Armed Forces, as Operation Green Hunt seems to have done, cannot be the solution.

The only way to overcome Fear, I believe, is by Faith.

To put it differently, you can’t have good intelligence unless the locals tell you things they otherwise would not. Caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea- the Maoists on the one hand, and the paramilitary forces on the other- the tribals of south Bastar prefer to remain silent. To remedy that, it is essential for the armed forces- and for the state that sends them- to win their faith. And, frankly, there is very little proof of that happening.

What's in a name?
Late last month, some villagers from Narayanpur met me. They were afraid. According to them, several soldiers of the Border Security Force (BSF) had entered their area & were carrying out ‘combing’ operations. During one such operation, one of the soldiers stopped a passing woman. He asked her name. When she answered ‘Dukhbai’, he took out his already loaded AK-47 rifle, and shot her at pointblank range. It turns out that the soldier had been given a list of names of Naxalite-supporters to comb-out, and ‘Dukhbai’ was one of them. What the soldier didn’t- couldn’t- know is that ‘Dukhbai’ is an extremely common name among tribals. (‘Dukh’ means sad, and tribals believe that a person so named would ward-off sadness all her life.)

Intelligence failure, therefore, is not only claiming the lives of our soldiers, but also of several hundreds- if not thousands- of innocent tribals.

License to Kill
Mr. Mahendra Karma, the leader of Salwa Judum, believes that recruiting more Special Police Officers (SPOs) from among the locals would enable better intelligence gathering since the SPOs understand the people, and know the terrain. His reasoning has been adopted by the state government. In fact, one of the reasons cited for the debacle at Chintalnar is that the CRPF soldiers were not accompanied by SPOs (although at least two personnel from the state police were with them) at the time of the ambush.

With due respect, it doesn’t quite work out like that. The SPOs have, more often than not, used their ‘license to kill’ to settle personal scores, and engage in extortion. Personal motives- a grudge, an age-old family rivalry, greed- underlie most ‘fake encounters’, in which innocent persons are routinely killed, then clothed in Naxalite uniform along with other ‘incriminating’ material to justify the killings. Institutions like the Vanvasi Chetna Ashram founded by the eminent Gandhian Ms. Nirmala Deshpande, which has been working for & with tribals in remote far-off areas of Dantewada, are bulldozed when they endeavor to seek justice for them: they are branded as ‘enemies of the state’.

I am acutely aware that any criticism of the armed forces at a time like this would be construed as anti-national and pro-Naxal. That is not my intention. I sincerely believe that the only reason why the Congress failed to form its government in the state in 2003 and 2008 is because of the Naxalites, or more precisely, their active prevention of a free and fair election in Bastar, possibly at the behest of the BJP leadership. So, my dislike of the Maoists- many of who are, I believe, using violence inherent to Maoist doctrine primarily as a means to stuff their pockets with money- is both personal as well as political. They are enemies, alright, who deserve to be taken out by whatever means necessary, including an all-out war. But it must be a Just War, and more importantly, it must be Won. I intend to address both these issues.

A Just War
Even though the Naxalites entertain no such notion- in this sense, Deng’s slogan “it doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or white/ as long as it catches mice”, which heralded capitalism into communist China, is, at least in its pragmatism, ironically Maoist- the fact is that as a democratic state bound by a Constitution, we must not only subscribe to, but also rigorously enforce the ideas of jus ad bellum (when it is right to go to war) and jus in bellum (what is right in war).

There is no doubt in my mind that this is the right time to go to war with the Maoists; if we do not retaliate, and retaliate effectively, it might just be too late. But the war that we fight must be just. It must, at all costs, not involve the unnecessary, unjustifiable displacement and killings of civilians, more so when the civilians in question are innocent tribals. Those of the armed forces who are found to be guilty of this most basic human rights violation- in this case, the right of a tribal to live (as opposed to being shot dead because of her name)- should not be wrongly protected; they must be brought to book. For if they are not, then there is no way the war can be won. The tribals not only need to know which side they are on (right now, they can at best be described as ‘neutral’); they also need to believe that their side is right.

The two issues, therefore, are directly linked. For us to win the war, we must necessarily fight the just war. That is the only way we can win the Faith of the tribals.

For without this Faith, intelligence failures like Errabore and Chintalnar will continue.

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Indian Youth Congress: Tales from Chhattisgarh

Where there's a Will
I spent almost two weeks last month traveling across 70 of Chhattisgarh’s 90 assembly constituencies, mostly meeting the state’s youth. In all, I ended up addressing 109 public meetings, both big and small. My agenda- if one can call it that- was to motivate those in the age group of 18 to 35 to join the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), the Congress party’s youth outfit. (The photograph here is of a press report of my visit to Pathalgaon in remote Jashpur district, courtesy Vibhash Thakur) To do so, I had to, at the very least, answer a most obvious question:

Why should any young person (1) pay Rs. 15 (and in case of women and SC/STs with a caste certificate duly attested by an executive magistrate, Rs. 5); (2) fill out a rather detailed computer-readable form; (3) provide legible photocopies of a variety of documents as proof of age and address; and (4) affix a color photograph, all to become member of an organization of youngsters whose parent party has remained out of power in the state for the past six years, and will, in all probability, continue to do so for the next four years at least?

Even if the Will is present, the Way to Membership isn’t exactly easy: most of the state’s youth, living as they do in rural habitats, have no compelling need for such documentation nor do they have access to photocopiers and photo-studios. For instance, a tribal in Orchha, the entry-point to Abujhmar, which as its name suggests is possibly the only territory in India yet to be surveyed, doesn’t really need a caste certificate signed & sealed by a magistrate in Jagdalpur, a township at a distance of almost 200 kms by road, of which at least 70 kms is heavily-mined by insurgent-Maoists, when his village is 100% tribal. Yet, for some peculiar reason, which escapes all Common Sense, no less than 49 youngsters from Orchha did in fact complete all the aforementioned formalities to become members.

A Silent Revolution
The Congress party, as I see it, is in the throes of a carefully-executed Revolution: 125 year old Top-Down hierarchies are being systematically dismantled to pave the path for a new sort of democracy, where members get to choose for themselves- as opposed to have someone else select for them- who their next generation of leaders are going to be.

As revealed by Prof. Tan Chung in his study of the composition of the Politburo in post-Revolutionary China (1949)- many erstwhile Imperial (Chin’g) Mandarins suddenly found themselves sitting in the highest echelons of the People’s Republic as comrades of the peasant-proletariat!- it’s quite possible, indeed even probable, that we might well end up with the same faces- or genetically younger versions of old, familiar faces- but make no bones, the Rules of the Game have changed, both irrevocably and irreversibly. Leadership can no longer be based on personal proximity to power-centers- the Patron-client network elucidated by Prof. Judith Brown in her seminal study of the Mahatma’s rebuilding of the Congress during the latter phases of the National Movement (1919-47)- but solely and exclusively on the criteria of public support. To paraphrase the neo-realist Kenneth Waltz, this is ‘a systemic change’.

The modus operandi of this Revolution- proclaimed as “Youth Transforming” on the website and membership forms- is remarkably simple. I can only say: why didn’t anyone think of it before? Its stages are threefold: first, members are recruited; secondly, they elect their leaders, at the panchayat, ward, assembly, Lok Sabha and state levels; thirdly, the elected leaders (now called EOBs, or elected office bearers) are trained in the science of political leadership before the process can start all over again. To be honest, this three-phased Model didn’t just emerge by itself: it is a result of very patient Trial & Error. Mistakes were made, lessons were- & are still being- learnt.

Trial & Error
Punjab was the pilot project. Then came Gujarat. Both states were a great success in terms of mammoth numbers of members enrolled. Yet, two problems surfaced: one, membership was mostly confined to urban centers & a majority of the villages, especially those in remote areas, were left out entirely; and two, voter turnout remained dismally low (16% in Gujarat). Clearly, the Model, as it existed then, wasn’t reaching out to the rural youth. The cause, it was discovered, lay in the way elections were structured: most members were required to travel vast distances to cast their votes in no more than two polling centers per assembly constituency, in order to directly elect their assembly committees. Now, the process has been changed and the problems overcome.

Not only would there be more polling centers in every assembly constituency (at least, 10, I hope) but members would no longer be voting directly for assembly (Vidhan Sabha) committees; they would instead vote to elect their respective ward/ panchayat committees, who would in turn vote for assembly committees. This new arrangement makes it incumbent upon assembly candidates to get their electors- i.e., the panchayat and ward committees- elected, which means that they not only have to persuade a maximum number of people to become members, but that they have to do so in a majority of wards and panchayats of the constituency.

As far as the documentation & the photographs are concerned, that, I imagine, is something we’ve learnt from Tamil Nadu, where more than 14,00,000 members were enrolled: a stricter criteria was necessary to ensure that genuine persons become members. It is, for all facts and purposes, a necessary evil: the cumbersome process ensures that only those really committed to the Youth Congress- its leadership & the ideas (as opposed to any definitive ideology) it represents- join.

Eureka!
Now, coming back to the central Question- why should anyone join the IYC- I believe the best answer can be provided by posing the counter-question: why shouldn’t one? Even so, let me give just three reasons:

(1) First, to be a member of the IYC is to become an intrinsic part of the world’s largest youth network with members- and elected office-bearers (EOBs)- in each and every part, from ‘Kashmir to Kanyakumari & Gujarat to Guwahati’, of what is indeed the world’s largest, most vibrant democracy. This in turn means that members are not alone; they are part of the most powerful, influential youth organization of the nation encompassing members from every region, religion and race; their voice, once united, becomes the voice of India;

(2) Now, for the first time in its history since the early 1970s (when Mr. Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi was elected President), the IYC has become truly & fully democratic: this means that members get to decide who should lead them, unlike in say the BJP’s youth wing, Yuva Morcha (YM), where leadership is more often than not imposed from above. This means that from day one, they are incorporated into its decision-making process;

(3) Last but not the least, members get to establish a direct rapport with the IYC leadership, headed by Rahul Gandhi; in essence, they become part of his team. There’s no denying the fact that Mr. Gandhi represents a link between the nation’s past and its future: while being firmly grounded in tradition, he, more than anyone else, would determine the shape of things to come. It means a lot, then, that members would, through the IYC network, get to share their feelings, their hopes and aspirations & also their concerns and problems, with ‘RG’, the one person who is really, sincerely trying to understand us, the Youth, and in so doing, uniting us in one common bond like never before.

A Chhattisgarhi Marvel
Small wonder then that more than 3,90,000 youth, from almost every panchayat and ward of a predominantly rural-tribal state like Chhattisgarh, have chosen to become members of the IYC. As a proportion of the population, this is the highest membership done so far anywhere; and in real terms, we’ve the largest number of members from any non-Congress ruled state of the nation. (The same is true of the NSUI membership, where more than 79,000 students from Chhattisgarh enrolled last year compared to 50,000 in Delhi and 90,000 in neighboring Madhya Pradesh, both of which have three times the student-population.) Four further aspects make this figure even more commendable:

(1) The PYC membership drive took place at the exact same time when PRI (Panchayati Raj Institutions) elections were being conducted: this meant that most if not all of the party’s grassroots workers were busy either contesting or campaigning for their district, block and village panchayat elections, and could spare little, or no, time in enrolling YC members. That work, I am happy to report, was done entirely by the youth, most of whom have joined the organization for the first time;

(2) With the lone exceptions of Mr. P Chidambram, Union Home Minister (who had come on official business), and Mr. Arun Yadav, MoS in the Union Government, not one senior party leader visited the state during the entire course of the month-long membership drive. Needless to say, we had all hoped that RG would come, but for some reason or the other, he couldn’t make it. (In Mumbai, for instance, where no less than 26 party leaders campaigned, the membership was about 1,50,000.);

(3) Not only that, unlike Jharkhand and Rajasthan, the membership drive in Chhattisgarh was not extended by even a day; &

(4) Chhattisgarh, I believe, has had among the highest rejection rates of membership forms: I personally know of at least 100,000 forms that could not be accepted because they were, for instance, not accompanied by photographs or photocopies of required documentary proofs, given the backwardness and remoteness of several of its areas.

It is interesting to note that the State Congress Committee (PCC), which is the Congress party’s main body in the state, enrolled less than 1,50,000 members statewide even though (a) the PCC membership campaign went on for almost a year & was extended for a further two months; and (b) the PCC membership fee was just Rs. 3 per member, which is 1/5th of PYC’s Rs. 15. In other words, the PCC was able to enroll barely 40% of the total number of members enrolled by the PYC despite its membership fee being only 20% of PYC’s and the duration of its membership drive being 14 times longer! I do not of course mean to denigrate the parent body in any way, but merely site these figures as proof of the tremendous enthusiasm that the youth of Chhattisgarh have towards Rahul ji, who has, over the course of his visits to various parts of the state, developed a very special place in the people’s hearts & minds. Also- and I can’t help pointing out this obvious fact- this is indicative of the faith, or lack thereof, that people have in the election process of the aforementioned two organizations.

Mahatma meets Machiavelli
I would also like to clarify one point of criticism that has been raised against the election process. It has been argued by many that only those with money, resources and clout can come up through this system. That is not entirely correct. The amount of resources etc. required to win at the panchayat or ward levels is much lesser than that needed to win a post on the assembly, Lok Sabha or state committees. The possibility of 'genuine' (as opposed to 'moneyed') persons occupying these grassroots level positions therefore cannot be ruled out entirely: to further ensure that everyone, including those who are not economically or socially privileged, get into the system, 3 out of 5 positions have been reserved at the panchayat levels for women (both general and reserved), SCs, STs, OBCs and Minorities. Likewise, the number of reserved posts at the assembly level is 10 out of 20; and 5 out of 10 in the Lok Sabha and State committees. Cumulatively, these carefully reserved posts would account for more than 60% of all positions, making it inevitable that persons from these depressed communities have a potent voice in the new structure.

Money, resources and clout- if at all- would be a factor (of many, including most crucially, Network & Image) for top posts in the assembly, Lok Sabha and state committees. In this context, I would like to point out that the IYC is only organization of the Congress party to have done away with district and block units; they have been replaced with panchayat, ward, assembly, Lok Sabha and state committees. These new units correspond exactly to the units of the Indian electoral system: these are the exact same places for which general elections are held. And it would be naive, not to mention mighty foolish, for anyone to imagine that money, resources and clout do not play any role in these elections. (In the recently concluded PRI elections, candidates spent lakhs on sarpanch elections!) Given this reality, let me not mince words: the Congress party, like every other party, is in the business of contesting- and more importantly, winning- elections whenever and wherever they are held. (To put it in a less Machiavellian fashion, we are in the business of winning people's trust.)

The IYC election process, which is not very different from the general election process, therefore helps to identify the most winnable persons- and for whatever it's worth, I do not for one moment believe that there is any need to be apologetic about this fact of political life. If anything, it is the ruling BJP government of Chhattisgarh that is alarmed: the phrase they now use to refer to the Youth Congress is "laikaa pakraiyya", which translates from the local dialect as "youth catcher"!

In the end, as a Congressperson, I can only hope- and pray- that the Revolution that is transforming the party’s two youth organizations vis-à-vis the NSUI and IYC doesn’t stop here: it is my earnest wish that it would encompass the whole of the Congress.

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Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Gold Medal

At the XVI Convocation of the Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla University, Raipur, held on January 17, 2010, I was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Gold Medal by the Governor of Chhattisgarh, HE Mr Ekkadu Srinivasan Lakshmi Narasimhan for securing the highest marks in LLB. Those present at the function included chief minister Dr Raman Singh, eminent astrophysicist Prof Dr Govind Swaroop, veteran politician and soon-to-be-published memoirist Mr VC Shukla, state ministers Mr Brijmohan Agrawal, Mr Rajesh Munat and Mr Hemchand Yadav, leader of opposition Mr Ravindra Choubey and Mayor of Raipur Mrs Kiranmayee Nayak. (As my parents were away in Kerala, the erudite Shailesh Nitin Trivedi (SNT) stood in as surrogate, along with Sanjeev Shukla, Brajesh Satpathy and Dr Bipin Kusulia!)

To read more comments on these photos, please visit here, here, here, here, here and here. Thank you for your very kind words!

l-r: Dr Indu Anant, Mrs Kiranmayee Nayak, Mr VC Shukla, Mr Brijmohan Agrawal, Dr Raman Singh, HE ESL Narasimhan, Prof Govind Swaroop, Mr Ravindra Choubey, Mr Rajesh Munat, Mr Hemchand Yadav, Prof SK Pandey. Photo courtesy: Shailesh Trivedi

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NOTICE: मेरी वकालत भली...

प्रदेश में युवा कांग्रेस के चुनाव होने जा रहे हैं. अपने चुनाव लड़ने की बातें मैंने अखबारों में पढ़ी. इन खबरों से मैंने तत्काल विनम्रतापूर्वक यह कहकर इनकार कर दिया था कि मैं अपने वकालत के व्यवसाय में आगे बढ़ना चाहता हूँ और मेरी अभी राजनीति में आने की कोई इच्छा नहीं है.

इस ब्लॉग के माध्यम से मैं इस बात को फिर से स्पष्ट कर देना चाहता हूँ.

राहुल जी की सोच है कि युवा वर्ग स्वयं अपने नेतृत्व का चयन लोकतांत्रिक प्रक्रिया से करे. मेरा भी यह मानना है कि चुनाव कौन लड़ेगा, इसका निर्णय बीजापुर से बलरामपुर तक के हमारे परिवार के युवा साथियों को लोकतांत्रिक तरीके से करना है; मैं खुद को ऊपर से थोपने में विश्वास नहीं रखता क्योंकि ऐसा करना हमारी पार्टी और राहुल जी के सिद्धांतों के विपरीत होगा. अभी हम सबका एकमात्र उद्देश्य यह होना चाहिए कि अधिक से अधिक युवा, खासकर दूरस्थ ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों के युवा कांग्रेस पार्टी- और राहुल जी- की सोच से सीधे जुड़ें.

वैसे भी इन चर्चाओं को सुनकर मेरे हाल ही में बने मुवक्किलों में काफी असमंजस की स्थिति होने लगी है, जिसका सीधा नुकसान मेरी व्यवसायिक संभावनाओं को उठाना पड़ रहा है!

इसी सन्दर्भ में मुझे यह भी बताते हुए बड़ी प्रसन्नता हो रही है कि परसों पंडित रविशंकर शुक्ल विश्वविद्यालय के वार्षिक दीक्षांत समारोह में विधि की परीक्षा में सर्वाधिक अंक प्राप्त करने के लिए मुझे स्वर्गीय राजीव गाँधी स्मृति स्वर्ण पदक दिया जाएगा. इस पदक से मेरे माता-पिता और मुझे मिलने वाली ख़ुशी किसी भी चुनावी जीत की ख़ुशी से कई गुना बढ़कर होगी.

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New Year: "२००९ के व्यक्ति" और "२०१० में छत्तीसगढ़"

दो नई परम्पराएं
वैसे तो ३१ दिसम्बर और १ जनवरी ग्रेगोरियन कैलेंडर के अन्य ३६३ दिनों की तरह सिर्फ दो तारीखें है. प्राकृतिक रूप से ये दूसरे दिनों से अलग नहीं हैं: दोनों दिन सुबह सूरज उगता है, और आकाश का अपना सफ़र पूरा कर शाम को ढल जाता है; चाँद-सितारे उसकी जगह ले लेते हैं.

देखा जाए तो इन दोनों तारीखों का महत्व मात्र मानव प्रजाति तक ही सीमित है और इस प्रजाति-विशेष पर भी इनका प्रभाव केवल मानसिक होता है. फिर भी इस मानसिक प्रभाव का अपना महत्त्व है: दोनों दिनों में अतीत और भविष्य का अनोखा सम्मिश्रण है: हर साल ३१ दिसम्बर की रात को जब ठीक १२ बजता है, तब उस एक क्षण में बीते हुए साल के गुजरने और नए साल के आने से जुड़ी सैकड़ों-अनगिनत भावनाओं का एकाएक समावेश हो जाता है.

इस तथ्य को ध्यान में रखते हुए, मैं इस वर्ष से ब्लॉग पर दो नई परम्पराओं की शुरुआत कर रहा हूँ. पहली: अतीत को सलाम करते हुए, हर वर्ष उस व्यक्ति को "साल के व्यक्ति" के खिताब से नवाज़ा जाएगा जिसने हमारे प्रदेश, छत्तीसगढ़, को सर्वाधिक प्रभावित किया है. दूसरी: आने वाले साल में क्या-क्या होगा, उसकी भविष्यवाणी (और साल के अंत में, उस भविष्यवाणी का बेबाक विश्लेषण!).

भविष्य में इन दोनों पहलूओं पर आपके सुझाव आमंत्रित रहेंगे; और उन्हें ब्लॉग पर प्रमुखता से प्रकाशित भी किया जाएगा.

(१)
२००९ के व्यक्ति
२००९ के "साल के व्यक्ति" का खिताब संयुक्त रूप से श्री नरेश डाकलिया, श्रीमती किरणमयी नायक और श्रीमती वाणी राव को दिया जाता है. इन तीनों ने अपनी-अपनी व्यक्तिगत छवि और संबंधों के कारण न केवल राजनैतिक अनुमानों को बल्कि दशकों के इतिहास को भी सर के बल पलट कर रख दिया, और राजनैतिक रूप से छत्तीसगढ़ के सबसे महत्वपूर्ण शहर, राजनांदगांव, जो की स्वयं राज्य के मुख्यमंत्री का विधान सभा क्षेत्र है, और प्रदेश के दो सबसे बड़े शहर, रायपुर और बिलासपुर, के वासियों का विशवास हासिल कर वहां के प्रथम नागरिक चुने गए.

प्रदेश के एक नेता ने हाल ही में इस ओर मेरा ध्यान आकर्षित किया कि इन तीनों में ख़ास बात यह है कि वे प्रदेश के किसी भी बड़े नेता के "पिछलग्गू" नहीं कहे जा सकते; उनका स्वयं का अस्तित्व है, अपनी खुद की पहचान है. यही वजह है कि उन्हें बरसों से सार्वजनिक जीवन में सक्रिय होने के बावजूद कभी भी किसी चुनाव में पार्टी का उम्मीदवार नहीं बनाया गया.

और जब टिकट दी गयी तो शायद यह सोचकर कि वैसे भी इन सीटों में कांग्रेस का जीतना न केवल मुश्किल है बल्कि नामुनकिन. आखिरकार, पिछले बीस सालों से कांग्रेस के उम्मीदवार रायपुर और बिलासपुर शहरों में क्रमशः ३०००० और १५००० मतों से ज्यादा के अंतर से हारते आ रहे थे; और जहाँ तक राजनांदगांव की बात है, तो यहाँ हाल ही में मुख्य मंत्री जी लगभग ४०००० वोटों से जीते हैं. मुझे लगता है कि इस बात का फायदा भी इन तीनों को मिला: एक तरफ तो सत्ता के नशे में धुत भाजपाई अति-आत्मविश्वास से ग्रसित रहे; वहीं दूसरी तरफ कांग्रेस में उनके विरोधीयों ने यह सोचकर कि वैसे भी वे हार रहे हैं, भीतरघात में ज्यादा सक्रिय रहना जरूरी महसूस नहीं किया.

इस बात से हमें तीन महत्वपूर्ण सीख मिलती है. पहली: बड़े नेताओं के आगे-पीछे घूमना इतना जरूरी नहीं है. दूसरी: जनता के बीच सक्रिय बने रहना, उनके सुख-दुःख में भागीदारी रखना, राजनीति में अधिक महत्व रखता है. तीसरी: धीरज रखना, और कभी भी अपना धैर्य न खोना, पद मिले या न मिले. राजनीति के इस दौड़ में श्री नरेश डाकलिया, श्रीमती किरणमयी नायक और श्रीमती वाणी राव ने यह साबित कर दिया कि जीत कछुए की ही होती है.

(२)
२०१० में छत्तीसगढ़
A. राजनीति:
(१) भाजपा आलाकमान में २००९ के अंत में हुए परिवर्तन का प्रभाव प्रदेश की राजनीति पर पड़ेगा तो जरूर पर प्रदेश के नेतृत्व में परिवर्तन होने की संभावना २०१० में क्षीण ही रहेंगी. श्री राजनाथ सिंह का जो डॉ. रमन सिंह को अभयदान प्राप्त था, अब वो नहीं रहेगा. इस से उन्हें विफल करने में और उनकी विफलताओं का फायदा लेने में उनके विरोधी ११ अशोक रोड में सक्रिय तो होंगे, लेकिन केंद्रीय स्थर पर कमज़ोर भाजपा अनुशासन को ज्यादा महत्त्व देते हुए, मुख्य मंत्री और उनके विरोधियों (जिनकी संख्या में इजाफा होगा), दोनों पर नकेल कसने और उनके बीच संतुलन बनाने के प्रयास में लगी रहेगी.

(२) कांग्रेस में पीढ़ी-परिवर्तन का दौर और तेज होगा. नए-नौजवान चहरों को महत्त्व दिया जाएगा; उनका चयन ऊपर से नहीं होगा, बल्कि पार्टी के युवा सदस्य सीधे चुनाव के माध्यम से करेंगे.

(३) पंचायत चुनाव में अधिकतर पदाधिकारी दुबारा निर्वाचित नहीं होंगे. ज्यादा तर पढ़े-लिखे नौजवान लोग ही चुने जायेंगे. भविष्य में पार्टी और पैसे का कम, व्यक्ति की निजी छवि और संबंधों का ज्यादा प्रभाव होगा.

(४) छत्तीसगढ़ स्वाभिमान मंच दुर्ग की राजनीति में अंततः अपना खाता खोलेगी.

B. कानूनी व्यवस्था/ प्रशासन:
(१) नक्सलवाद पर सीधा फौजी आक्रमण केंद्रीय बलों के नेतृत्व में बोला जाएगा, इसमें सफलता भी मिलेगी. केंद्र सलवा जुडूम से समर्थन वापस लेगा, वो एक विफल प्रयोग के रूप में इतिहास के पन्नो में दफ़न हो जाएगा. मानव-अधिकार के उल्लंघनों की वारदातें बढ़ेंगी, मीडिया उन्हें उजागर करने में कमज़ोर साबित होगी, लेकिन वहां सक्रिय सामाजिक संस्थायों की बातों को केंद्र गंभीरता से लेगा. निर्दोष आदिवासी मारे जायेंगे. शहरी क्षेत्र में प्रदेश की पहली बड़ी नक्सली घटना होगी. डॉ. बिनायक सेन बेगुनाह साबित होंगे.

(२) बड़े शहरों में गुंडा-गर्दी और बढ़ेगी. बेरोजगार युवाओं की संख्या इनमें ज्यादा रहेगी.

(३) प्रशासन और हावी होगा: सूचना के अधिकार अधिनियम के तहत सूचना लेने की प्रक्रिया को और कठिन बनाया जाएगा; केंद्र द्वारा प्रशासन को और अधिक जवाबदेह बनाने के कानूनी प्रयासों का भी प्रदेश में यही अंजाम होगा; प्रशासनिक खर्चों और भ्रष्टाचार में इजाफा होगा. लेकिन इन सब के विरोध में दायर जनहित याचिकाओं की सुनवाई का कोई असर नहीं होगा.

C. अर्थव्यवस्था:
(१) पानी, सिचाई और पीने दोनों, की बेहद कमी होगी. इस से कृषि पर तो सीधा प्रभाव पड़ेगा ही, साथ-साथ बड़े शहरों में भी त्राहि मचेगी. सरकार इस भीषण समस्या से निपटने में पूरी तरह विफल रहेगी.

(२) जितने भी अब तक की खदानें (कोयला, लोहा) बड़े-बड़े उद्योगों को आबंटित करी गयी हैं, उनमे से शायद ही एक-दो ही स्टील और बिजली का उत्पात शुरू कर पाएंगी. बाकी सब प्रशासन से साथ-गाँठ करके कोयले इत्यादि की काला-बाजारी ही करते रहेंगे. इसका सीधा-सीधा नुकसान प्रदेश के युवाओं को होगा: न नए उद्योग खुलेंगे, न उन्हें रोज़गार मिलेगा.

(३) भू-माफिया के आपस के खेल में जमीनों और घरों के भाव जम के बढ़ेंगे लेकिन इनमे घर बनाने वालों और रहने वालों की कमी रहेगी. अधिकतर जमीन और घर खाली ही रहेंगे.

D. संस्कृति:
(१) छत्तीसगढ़ी फिल्मों की संख्या तो बढ़ेगी, लेकिन २००९ की सुपरहिट, मया, का कोई मुकाबला नहीं कर पायेगा. छत्तीसगढ़ी गानों की टी.वी. चैनलों और वीसीडी के माध्यम से ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में धूम बनी रहेगी.

(२) क्षेत्रीय टी.वी. चैनलों में कर के अभाव से प्रोग्राम्मिंग का स्थर गिरेगा. केबल माफिया के केन्द्रीयकरण के प्रयासों से केबल-वार होगी, जिसका भार सीधे उपभोक्ताओं पर पड़ेगा.

(३) मीडिया पर सरकारी तंत्र हावी रहेगा. इसके दो प्रमुख कारण रहेंगे: पहला, विपक्ष की सरकार की आलोचना करने में कमजोरी; दूसरा, गैर-सरकारी स्रोतों से आय के अभाव में सरकारी मदद पर छत्तीसगढ़ी मीडिया की बरकरार निर्भरता.

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Sketches: Voices from the Fin de siècle

Chandrakant Kashyap sent me the following email:

"your blog post reminded me of some of your sketches that i have. So sending them and i hope you will find them useful."

Naturally I had forgotten all about these sketches, all of which were drawn at the Fin de siècle.

Many thanks to Chandrakant for having carefully preserved them all these years- given the upheavals my own life has gone through during this past decade, I know I certainly couldn't have!- and for sending them to me now when finding time to sketch, or even scribble, seems like an almost inconceivable luxury.

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AJIT JOGI AT THE LBSNAA, c. 1969

The Lal Bahadur Shashtri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), incubator of Union and Central services officers all across the nation and abroad, completed its 50th anniversary this year. A CD of archival photographs has been released to commemorate the occasion.

While browsing through the CD, I was pleasantly surprised to spot Papa in at least 5 of the 50 photos it contains. He was enrolled as an Indian Administrative Service (IAS)-trainee at the LBSNAA way back in 1969-70. And from what I've been told about him by his batchmates- including, most recently, His Excellency the Governor of Chhattisgarh, Mr Narasimhan- Papa was already showing symptoms of where he was headed: he made something of a record by serving three consecutive terms as President of the Academy's Mess Committee (the only elected office among trainees), topped his class in equestrian sports (horse riding, polo etc.) and shooting, and scandalized everybody by inviting the then very young- and if the photos are anything to go by, very pretty- Odissi danseuse, Ms. Sonal Mansingh, to dine at the high-table, which had thus far played host to only those above the age of 65. These photos, I believe, convey the joie de vivre of that time.

Many thanks to Mr. Gaurav Dwivedi, Deputy Director of LBSNAA, and Dr. Alaudin Farishta, our family doctor, for making the CD available. To download these photos, please visit my Gallery.

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