Offstumped – Commentary on Indian Politics

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Politics and Public Policy in India

October 3, 2011 • 7:17 am 4

Chetan Bhagat, Aijaz Ilmi and a Muslim debate media wont have

Originally published in the Pioneer on 3rd October 2011. The PIB press release referenced in this column can be found here. Both the Chetan Bhagat column and Aijaz Ilmi’s Open Letter can be found here.

On September 20, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India, put out a Press release on OBC reservation for Muslims. The Press release listed instances where reservations to some Muslim groups had already been provided under the OBC category. The Press release had a detailed table listing the State-wise break up as of August 24, 2010. While many States like West Bengal had provided no OBC quota for Muslims, only six States had at least one or two Muslim groups benefiting from OBC reservation. Of those six States Uttar Pradesh was providing OBC reservation to just two Muslim groups while Congress-ruled Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Maharashtra made up the rest of that list, providing OBC reservation to just one Muslim group.

Only five States had provided reservations to more than two Muslim groups within the OBC quota of which just one State, Kerala, has been ruled by the Congress or the Communist parties. All the other four States providing a long list of Muslim groups with OBC quota were BJP/NDA-ruled States, including Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.

But that is not the end of this startling Press release. Only one other State rivals Bihar in designating the highest number of Muslim groups to benefit from OBC quota — Gujarat. Where Bihar had 24 different Muslim groups benefiting from OBC reservation, Gujarat had a staggering 35 different Muslim groups listed in that Press release.

In this age of 24×7 electronic media reinforced urban legends and media myths, it would seem truth is what the anchors want you to believe. A case in point is the stark contrast with which Bihar is made out to be a haven of Muslim inclusivity and Gujarat a hell by the media. A contrast that is deliberately sought to be amplified by these same media pundits who hold up the Bihar Chief Minister as an ideal of tolerance, inclusivity and secularism while running down the Gujarat Chief Minister on the same issues. Small wonder we see little debate in the Delhi-based media over the Bihar Chief Minister’s conscious political visits to temples during pre-election yatras where the line between the political and the administrative was fuzzy. It is also no surprise that we see practically no outrage on alleged acts of intolerance of dissent by the Bihar Chief Minister over some negative remarks in Facebook by Government servants who were recently suspended.

It would, however, be a disservice to the efforts of both Mr Narendra Modi and Mr Nitish Kumar, who remain two of the most performing Chief Ministers in India, if we were to reduce this public debate on Muslim empowerment or inclusivity to a false polemic over personalities. It was with great distress this columnist noted an open letter from Aijaz Ilmi to Chetan Bhagat earlier this week fall prey to the same false polemic over personalities. Aijaz Ilmi was responding to a column by Chetan Bhagat earlier in the week on Muslim vote-bank politics.

Aijaz Ilmi incidentally was one of the few bold Muslim commentators who saw the Allahabad High Court judgement on the Ayodhya title dispute as an opportunity to solve that intractable problem. Aijaz Ilmi’s open letter makes extensive references to the Sachar Committee report on the economic and social backwardness of Muslims while lamenting the lack of what he calls “an honest chance for a decent living and equitable opportunities” for Muslims.

It would be a mistake to dismiss Aijaz Ilmi’s open letter as a stereotypical response. A debate needs to be forced on who has the best policies and ideas in general to meet rising aspirations and more specifically in the Muslim context and which ideas are creating opportunities to empower the Muslim spirit of enterprise within a level playing field.

This is a debate nobody in the media wants to have and proof of this comes from the speed with which the media has buried the story over the reported remarks by PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti on the efforts of a Muslim entrepreneur to set up shop in Gujarat. It should surprise nobody that the Left-liberal bias in the media has ensured not one media outlet has even attempted to seek out who that Muslim entrepreneur was or bothered to elaborate on what exactly was his experience.

In fact, for all the talk of Muslim backwardness and consequent need for inclusive policies even the Sachar Committee report that Aijaz Ilmi quotes from extensively in his open letter, is also stunningly silent on the needs and challenges of Muslim entrepreneurs in seeking a level-playing field. While the report dedicates an entire chapter on access to financial credit and financial inclusion, it barely goes into specific issues and challenges of an aspiring Muslim looking to expand opportunities beyond self-employment through entrepreneurship.

Despite recognising the fact that many Muslims are self-employed the entire thrust of the Sachar Committee report, it would seem, was more focussed on how Muslims must remain employed within public or private sectors as opposed to how self-employed Muslims could be empowered to expand their enterprise. One sees the same refrain of dependency on others’ for employment in Aijaz Ilmi’s open letter as well with little advocacy on advancement from self-employment to entrepreneurship.

The tragedy for the Muslim community in India is that much of the debate on its socio-economic fate is conducted with politically prejudiced blinkers on. Be it on entitlements with the OBC quota as a case in point or on opportunities with the Sachar report as a case in point, false polemics between Gujarat and Bihar, Mr Modi and Mr Kumar have taken precedence over facts and reality.

One hears of a Dalit entrepreneurs conference to be held in Delhi later this year premised on the idea of ‘fighting caste with capital’. Perhaps it is not a bad idea for a similar Muslim entrepreneurs conference to debunk some commonly held myths on the kind of political environment that ensures a level-playing field for them. If not anything else, such a conference might give Aijaz Ilmi something more than a Left-liberal Sachar Committee report to quote from in a future open letter.

Filed under: betrayal of aam admi, UPA-II Critical Appraisal, Nitin Gadkari, Narendra Modi, Left Liberalism, economic freedom, Ambedkarite Constitutionalism, Two Indias, Assembly elections 2011, Anna Hazare, उत्तर प्रदेश २०१२, Uttar Pradesh Polls 2012, Baba Ramdev, Varun Gandhi, Advani Yatra against Corruption

May 14, 2011 • 12:44 am 15

Saffron Perestroika

The time for a Saffron Perestroika is now.

It is now crystal clear that the BJP’s permanent Delhi based leadership is essentially presiding over a super regional party. This permanent Delhi based leadership is incapable of ensuring the party breaks new ground. What is worse, in the few states where the BJP did hold ground in the 1990s despite not being either the primary or the secondary political player – the BJP has seen its base shrink over the last two or three election cycles. Today the BJP is a bit player in these states as well on the verge of grand political irrelevance. In the grand prize called Uttar Pradesh a similar scenario is all set to be played as well.

The current strategy of linear vote growth has shown its limitations. Those who fantasize of a grand anti-congress umbrella platform need a serious dose of  reality on why exactly would the BJP be the rallying point for such an umbrella platform. The wins by Mamata in Bengal and Jayalalitha in Tamil Nadu (previously by Maya in UP and Naveen in Orissa) have shown that the BJP is not even a factor in their local political calculus unlike in the case of an Akali Dal in Punjab or a JD-U in Bihar.

There is no linear path to 2014 and the BJP in its current avatar has outlived its usefulness as a national entity.

It is time to put together a blueprint for a new version 3.0.

For that to happen, a mandatory pre-requisite however is the retirement of the BJP’s patriarch and the setting in motion of a process by which change is effected in the leadership through an open and transparent internal election that sees a real contest of ideas rather than the coronation of an individual. There is no doubt that the BJP needs purposeful, transformational leadership that suffers no fools and brooks no nonsense with a single minded focus on clearing out the deadwood and infusing fresh blood. There is also no doubt that there is only one leader who fits the bill.

Despite that a contest of ideas is imperative over a coronation, for the blueprint for version 3.0 has to be based on localization. Local ideas, local metaphors and local issues must bubble up to result in a federal platform. For that happen there has to be a nationwide contest of ideas where the primary contenders assuming there are more than one, make their case in every nook and corner of the country. When the contest is settled it would not have been a decision thrust by a permanent leadership sitting in Delhi brokering a backroom deal, but it would be the result of the sum total of all local interests and aspirations.

Ultimately this localization would come to mean state units making their own decisions on winnability through a direct process of  feedback from the ground rather than the current process of  decision making by High Commands in Delhi who are mostly divorced from local realities.

A blue-print for version 3.0 emerging from this process could be a national coalition of local interests bound together by a shared belief in and commitment to Constitutionalism and Federalism. As a consequence this national coalition will sharply differentiate itself from the UPA by arguing in favor of

#1 freedom and autonomy to states and local government in socio-economic decision making

#2 the federalization and localization of welfare spending

#3 systemic reforms in law enforcement and justice delivery while minimizing the discretionary powers of the Central Government and the Supreme Court  to intervene in violation of Federalism and the Constitutional separation of powers

#4 a time bound framework for Reconciliation of all of last century’s contentious issues and last decade’s wounds

#5 a Vision to advance India’s strategic interests with clear linkages to economic interests of states

While #1 and #2 will help mark a clear space that is opposed to the UPA’s current drift of centralization and statism they will also help solidify the basic premise of version 3.0 which is Localization. The political incentives for #3 will come from the fact that many regions have been subjected to arbitrary central interventions motivated by politics. It is imperative that version 3.0 also transcend the fault-lines that defined version 2.0 and to shed the baggage from version 2.0, thus #4 becomes critical. While #5 is the pathway to ensuring there is regional buy-in and ownership for a strong advocacy of Strategic Interests without holding such advocacy hostage to regional issues and identity polemics.

The blueprint for version 3.0 that emerges from these 5 elements would be

a vision of a Strong Republic that provides for economic freedom and autonomy to states and local government  guaranteed by strong Constitutional Institutions for Law Enforcement and Justice Delivery

a.k.a.

Minimum Government Maximum Governance

Continuing Twitter commentary:

Filed under: Ambedkarite Constitutionalism, Assembly elections 2011, betrayal of aam admi, economic freedom, Flat World Hindutva, Internet Hindus, Local Governance, Narendra Modi, Nitin Gadkari, Shveta Chhatra, socio-economic engineering

February 28, 2011 • 8:35 pm 8

Narendra Modi must call Manmohan’s bluff, move to Delhi

Finally I will tell you the interesting way in which Lao Tzu the great Chinese sage looked at Good governance. There is an old saying of Lao Tzu. It goes like this:

“If there is a king and people get things done and don’t know that they have a king it is the best type of government. If there is a king and if people get their things done and if they know that there is a king it is a good government. If there is a king and if people have to complain to the king to get things done then it is a bad government. If there is a king and things don’t get done even if complaints are made to him then, it is the worst type of government.”

Nobody has said better than this. Our aim is make people partners in the development process so that they don’t feel that they are subjects but they feel that they are citizens.

After 7 long years the central debate has finally shifted to one over who has the greater political will to pursue Economic Reforms. The Indian Express in its lead editorial attempted some clever deflection pn this debate. But these two pieces in the Wall Street Journal and in the Indian Express by Niranjan Rajyadhyaksha and Bibek Debroy have nailed the issue on

#1 Dr. Manmohan Singh’s capitulation to the Left Liberals in the Sonia Gandhi lead National Advisory Council

#2 Dr. Manmohan Singh’s failure to show political will in pursuing economic reforms

That the Prime Minister should have blundered in his press conference on this issue dragging Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi into the debate, is perhaps something the Congress will regret in the days to come.

For long the debate around Narendra Modi has centered on reinforcing negative stereotypes from 2002. For the first time the debate on Modi is where he exactly needs it to be on the central question of which political leader in India has demonstrated the will and the spine to pursue economic reforms.

While Mr. Modi is on the record having articulated a philosophy on the role of Government in economic affairs through “Minimum Government Maximum Governance” and through his speech at the BJP’s Governance Summit, he had not made it the central debating point of his political rhetoric. This blunder by Manmohan Singh offers the opening Narendra Modi has long needed.

While the next Lok Sabha election is some time away, Delhi could do with this central debate inside and outside Parliament. In fact the BJP could do even more with fewer distractions and sideshows. Mr. Advani’s out of turn pursuit and comments on issues like Black Money continue to contribute to this distraction. It is high time Mr. Advani retired gracefully and vacated the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat.

It would not be a bad idea at all for Narendra Modi to take to the Lok Sabha the debate on Manmohan Singh’s lack of political will and on Sonia Gandhi’s Left Liberalism.

PS: Narendra Modi’s speech on his philosophy of Governance.

Filed under: betrayal of aam admi, economic freedom, Narendra Modi, Nitin Gadkari, UPA-II Critical Appraisal

February 11, 2011 • 5:00 am 6

Lesson on Political Opposites retold

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a very illuminating speech to IAS probationers today laid out elements of his and his party’s political philosophy with respect to the role of Government.

This speech is a good opportunity to re- tell the lesson on ideological opposites when it comes to the role of government.

Here is what a politically opposite speech would look like. We can quibble over what labels to apply here – Left or Right, Up or Down, East or West. The labels are secondary.

Original speech

I begin by once again, I do it every year, to tell you how important a contribution each one of you can make to our nation’s progress.  We are a mixed economy. Private sector co-exists with the public sector. And for the management of this mixed economy we need a strong, purposeful visionary Government. We cannot wish away the role of the Government in public life of our country and therefore what type of development we will have would very much depend upon the quality of public administration in our country.

Ideological Opposite

I begin by once again, I do it every year, to tell you how important a contribution each one of you can make to our nation’s progress.  We are a land of Enterprise. The hard work, innovation and enterprise of our people has blessed us with a vibrant Private sector thus reducing the need for public sector intervention in most areas. For the management of this economy rooted in enterprise we need a strong, purposeful visionary Government with the least of controls . We cannot wish away the role of the Government in public life of our country but merely to protect the vibrancy of our people’s enterprise and to further that spirit. Therefore how that Spirit of Enterprise flourishes would very much depend upon the quality of Governance in our country.

Original speech

Our primary task is to get rid of this mass poverty and we have made considerable progress since independence but much more needs to be done. And in making this happen, the role of public administration is of critical importance.

Ideological Opposite

Our primary task is to create opportunities for everyone. Without equal access to opportunities we will never be able to create conditions to get rid of this mass poverty. We have made considerable progress since independence but much more needs to be done. And to make this happen, the role of public administration is of critical importance. First and foremost any civilized country requires a public administration which is able to enforce law and order and provide a feeling among people that we have a just and caring administration. Enterprise cannot flourish without the maintenance of law and order

Original speech

But there is one thing I wish to emphasise that please do not neglect that you belong to an All India Service. We allocate IAS officers among various States because India is a quasi federal country.

Ideological Opposite

But there is one thing I wish to emphasise that while you may belong to an All India Service you must feel invested in the community you serve, feel accountable to its needs and aspirations. It is a disgrace that India is still a quasi federal country where even manpower allocation is centralized.We must look forward to the day when each state and local government is able to make its own decisions in choosing from the best and brightest the Indian Administrative Service has to offer.

Original speech

please do not forget that our Constitution has made India one large common market.  You may work in a particular State, you may belong to a particular State, but never lose sight of the all India perspective that what you do and what you do not do has implication of the development over a billion people that live in our country and you have to play the leading role in strengthening the unity and integrity of our country, in ensuring that all classes and all groups of our people live in peace and amity. Therefore for this reason it is very essential to pay particular attention to the needs of the under privileged sections of our society. It was the dream of the Father of our Nation Mahatma Gandhi to wipe the tears from the eyes of each and every suffering Indian. That ambition may be too much to ask for but our task will never be complete unless we get rid of mass poverty.

Ideological Opposite

please do not forget that our Constitution aspired to make India one large common market.  But in reality there exist many barriers to the free flow of goods, people and ideas across India. You may work in a particular State, you may belong to a particular State, but never lose sight of the all India perspective that what you do and what you do not do has implication of the development over a billion people that live in our country and you have to play the leading role in strengthening the unity and integrity of our country, in ensuring that all classes and all groups of our people live in peace and amity. Therefore for this reason it is very essential to pay particular attention to the needs of the under privileged sections of our society. It was the dream of the Father of our Nation Mahatma Gandhi to wipe the tears from the eyes of each and every suffering Indian. That ambition may be too much to ask for but our task will never be complete unless we get rid of these barriers which are the primary cause for mass poverty.

Original speech

it is equally important that there should be emphasis on character, on probity in public life. We cannot allow corruption in public services.  And if we really look upon ourselves as the servers of the people of India, we must never forget that India is still a country where millions and millions of people go hungry, they are under fed, many of our children are under nourished.

Ideological Opposite

it is equally important that there should be emphasis on character, on probity in public life. We cannot allow corruption in public services and to do so we must cut avenues that breed corruption. And if we really look upon ourselves as the service providers to the people of India we must never forget that Customer is God as Gandhi once remarked. We must reform the systems and processes of service delivery so that in this country millions and millions of people poor don’t have to go hungry or be malnourished because of inefficient service delivery by the government .

Original speech

I therefore urge each one of you to use your time to acquire the best possible skills for public administration, at the same time best possible skills to deal with law and order, to ensure that Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, our women are not feeling insecure, atrocities against the SCs/STs are a matter of national shame. Your duty must be to provide protection, succor to the most backward parts of the community and I would urge those of you who come from the State where tribals are a very large part of population, have a special responsibility to ensure that these tribal communities do succeed in joining the national mainstream, that they do succeed in becoming partners in national development and therefore I would urge each one of you to study very carefully the dynamics of social and economic change, the factors that are moving us forward, the factors if which neglected can push the pace of development and therefore do as best as you can while you are at the Academy, in acquisition of knowledge.

Ideological Opposite

I therefore urge each one of you to use your time to acquire the best possible skills for public administration, at the same time best possible skills to deal with law and order to ensure Justice for all and Discrimination against none. Caste prejudices are a disgrace to our society and have no religious sanction. We must look forward to the day where no Caste or Tribe needs to seek protection in a Schedule. That day will only come when discrimination ceases and Justice is delivered to all without prejudice to any. Our women are not feeling insecure, atrocities against them are a matter of national shame. Your duty must be to provide protection, succor to that faceless and nameless Indian who neither seeks power nor flaunts it and is merely trying to get by. I would urge those of you who come from the State where tribals are a very large part of population, have a special responsibility to ensure that the fruits of our enterprise reach the tribal communities that they do succeed in becoming partners in our economic success and therefore I would urge each one of you to study very carefully the dynamics of social and economic change, the factors that are moving us forward, the factors if which neglected can push the pace of development and therefore do as best as you can while you are at the Academy, in acquisition of knowledge.

Original speech

I would also suggest that in recent years, we have laid more and more emphasis on the third tier of development, the Panchayati Raj Institutions.  I said that India is too large a country to be administered from the Centre or even from the State capital. We must decentralize power, we must decentralize decision making processes, we must decentralize the various development programmes so that the people at the ground level get involved in what is going to shape the future of them and their children. And therefore I would urge each one of you to pay special attention to how we can make the panchayati raj in our country a success, we have good examples, we have cases where panchayati raj institutions have not been functioning well, where panchayati raj institutions have not been able to make the type of impact that they should and I hope that I think there will be important case studies which will bring out what it takes to make for an efficient, equitable system of development administration through the panchayati raj.  These are some of the thoughts that I thought I would mention to you.

Ideological Opposite

I would also suggest that in recent years, we have laid more and more emphasis on the third tier of development, the Panchayati Raj Institutions and our Urban Local Bodies.  I said that India is too large a country to be administered from the Centre or even from the State capital. All wisdom does not reside in Delhi or State Capitals or for that matter in District Headquarters. We must devolve power to the third tier of government.  We must empower local communities to be masters of their destiny by not just enabling them to make their own decisions but to be able to sustain those decisions with the necessary financial freedom. We must make Local Government including Law Enforcement directly accountable to the Local Community it serves so that the people at the ground level get to have a direct say in what is going to shape the future of them and their children. And therefore I would urge each one of you to pay special attention to how we can make the panchayati raj and urban local bodies in our country a success, we have good examples. We should create more such examples as these will be important case studies which will bring out what it takes to make for an efficient devolution of power, freedom and autonomy to Local Government with accountability to the Local Community.  These are some of the thoughts that I thought I would mention to you.

Original speech

I would also urge you that today our country is faced with many challenges and the challenges of Naxalite activity, the challenges of terror, the challenge of what  I should describe as communal tensions, it is our duty to ensure that we should do our very best, to learn what are the factors which lead people to go astray from the mainstream thinking, what is it that we can do to bring back the misguided elements in our society.  The law and order has to be administered and administered effectively. But we must also recognize that when we deal with problem areas  in particular, when we deal with Scheduled Caste people in particular, that there are root causes of social and economic discontent and it is our duty while administering law and order, pay particular attention to promote the well being of the disadvantaged sections of the community. I have mentioned maintenance of communal harmony is absolutely necessary. Without that, India can break apart. And therefore communal harmony is a must, given a ray of hope and also a sense of purpose to the young people from tribal communities, from scheduled castes community is equally important and as administrators of various districts, various parts of our country, I would urge you to pay special attention to the needs of SCs, STs, minorities and women.

Ideological Opposite

I would also urge you that today our country is faced with many challenges and the challenges of Naxalite activity, the challenges of terror, the challenge of what  I should describe as a culture of violence that breeds on bigotry and insecurities. It is our duty to ensure that the Rule of Law is always upheld unmindful of root causes. We should do our very best, to learn what are the factors which encourage violence and work to eliminate them.  Above all else we must reinforce faith in the Justness of our way of life and our Institutions, that constantly strive to create Equal Access to Opportunities, that seek to remove barriers and that ensure Justice is never delayed or denied. We must reiterate and reinforce that  root causes of social and economic discontent will not be eliminated unless we have faith in our Institutions while holding them accountable . We must eliminate the mindset that looks to divide Indians as “Scheduled Caste people”,  “disadvantaged sections”. We are one nation and every Indian must have equal access to opportunities. It is incumbent on all of us Indians in our private and public life to go the extra mile to help those who have been historically discriminated against so that they no longer face any barriers in accessing opportunities that may come easily to us. I have mentioned maintenance of Rule of Law is absolutely necessary. Without that, India can break apart.  I would urge you to pay special attention to the needs of those who have been historically discriminated against so their faith in the State’s ability to deliver Justice is never shaken.

Original speech

I should also say that changes are taking place in patterns of living all around India.  In 20 years time, probably 50% of India would be living in urban areas. The management of urban chain, the management of infrastructure, the role of local level administration in meeting the needs of urban development, the needs of law and order, special problems that arise when large conglomerations in metropolitan towns become a fact of life.  The policing of these areas requires special skills. And therefore our administration must be very alert to the challenges of rapid urban development, of course that does not mean that we should neglect rural areas. India still lives in rural areas. 52% of our urban population is still dependent on agriculture and it is there that Government has a major role to play in ensuring that development of agriculture takes place at a pace that our nation needs to provide food security, to provide employment security.

Ideological Opposite

I should also say that changes are taking place in patterns of living all around India.  In 20 years time, probably 50% of India would be living in urban areas. The management of urban chain, the management of infrastructure, the role of local level administration in meeting the needs of urban development, the needs of law and order, special problems that arise when large conglomerations in metropolitan towns become a fact of life.  The policing of these areas requires special skills. And therefore it is absolutely important that our Cities and Towns have the freedom and autonomy to shape their destiny, manage their own affairs, decide what is best for them and ensure their aspirations are realized. The Center and state governments must not stand in their way with bureaucratic interventions and political meddling. Of course that does not mean that we should neglect rural areas. India still lives in rural areas. 52% of our urban population is still dependent on agriculture and it is there that Government has a major role to play in removing the barriers that prevent every Farmer from thinking of himself or herself as an Entrepreneur. We must remove the Institutional bottlenecks, archaic laws and public monopolies that have shackled our farmers and throttled our Supply Chains. Food security and employment security will not come until we have a vibrant Food economy that is not burdened by an inefficient and overbearing government.

Jai Hind

Filed under: Ambedkarite Constitutionalism, economic freedom, Internet Hindus, Left Liberalism, Local Governance, Narendra Modi, Nitin Gadkari, Offstumped, Progressivism, UPA-II Critical Appraisal

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