BOOK REVIEW-- THE FORESTER'S DILEMMA

                           IN PURSUIT OF A MAN-EATER  by  SUNEET BHARDWAJ.

     Ruskin Bond had once remarked that India has more writers than readers. That, I feel, is a bloody good thing, especially as journalism has fallen by the way side on our journey to a New India. Among the writers, I am happy to note, are an increasing number of bureaucrats and civil servants. Most of them, however, pander to the muse only after they retire, so it is refreshing to come across a book by a young serving  civil servant, and that too on a subject that steers clear of politics, administrative shenanigans and prescriptions for reform, which is generally the leitmotif of us retired babus.

     Suneet Bhardwaj is a 2012 batch Indian Forest Service officer of the Himachal cadre and he has just published his first book, IN PURSUIT OF A MAN-EATER. It is an engrossing account of the search ( in which he was personally involved) for a man eating leopard in the mountainous Thunag village of Mandi district. This leopard had accounted for three victims, and though it was never positively identified, the shooting of two leopards in the area over a week did result in a cessation of the human killings. Suneet confesses that he still does not know whether both, or either, or neither of the leopards was the actual man-eater. This is how, unfortunately, Russian roulette plays out in the jungles: in animal-human conflict situations it is perhaps better to be safe than to be sorry.

   But the search for the man-eater is just a peg on which the author hangs a larger tapestry, in which the real interest and value of this book lies: the ecology of the leopard and the dilemma of a forest officer when faced with such a situation. Suneet has done his research well, made good use of his training at the Wildlife Institute of India at Dehradun, and drawn valuable conclusions from his as yet limited experience.

  He explains why a leopard, though the smallest of the bigger carnivores in India ( tiger, lion) is undoubtedly the most dangerous of them. This is because it has a much wider habitat, unlike the tiger or lion which inhabit specific, limited areas, usually Protected Areas; the leopard is a far more adaptable animal and can live in scrub forests or mountainous areas; it is a master of camouflage and, unlike the bigger carnivores, it hunts at night. All these traits enable it to live in close proximity with humans and results in more human-animal conflicts ( as in the Thunag case). Suneet reminds us of Corbett's man-eating leopard of Rudraprayag which had killed almost 400 people before being put to rest. But, as he says, such a number is not conceivable these days. 

  In describing in some detail the actual search for the Thunag man-eater the author takes the reader through all the steps and alternatives: the cage trap, the machan, the tranquiliser gun, the tracking on foot. Sadly, in this case none of them worked, because the leopard was too canny and always a step ahead of the hunters. But in the process Suneet reveals honestly the forester's classic dilemma in such situations: should he kill the animal or try to save it?

  A forester's basic instinct, born of training and aptitude, is to try and capture the predator, not kill it. This, however, may take days and weeks and if the animal is not removed soon, or if its attacks continue in the interim period, public anger and political pressure to shoot it will mount. At such a point, persisting with efforts to capture the animal ( instead of killing it) becomes counter productive too- as Suneet notes wryly, the villagers' anger can turn into hostility towards the natural world, and undo years of painstaking efforts at educating them on the importance of conservation. For the forest officer it's a difficult choice to make: every human killed or injured is one too many, but at the same time time the man- eater may not be a deliberate villain but forced into this role by an injury ( usually inflicted by humans), old age or an accidental confrontation. A forester is, however, rarely allowed the time and  space to evaluate all these reasons/ options dispassionately, what with an ignorant media, opportunist politicians and fame seeking shikaris lusting for blood. As Suneet cautions: " Extermination of top carnivores will do more harm than good" and " Media and politics have to align with Nature conservation and education."

  In a lighter vein, Suneet also lists out the positive aspects of having a man-eater on the prowl in an area: the liquor stores, lovingly called "thekas" in the local dialect, close early in the evenings as everyone rushes to the safety of their homes; fewer drunks fall off hillsides, trying to find their way home on the narrow, winding paths; housewives are happy to have their husbands home to help out with the household chores! But the most interesting effect, as noticed by the author in Thunag and the villages around it, was the sudden spike in the construction of proper toilets. Inspite of govt. schemes and official claims about defecation free villages, people still prefer to go out in the open. A prowling man-eater, which hunts in the darkness of late evenings and early mornings, makes this a very dangerous proposition, and Suneet noticed that toilet construction in the area picked up steam during that period. Some good always comes of evil, is the old adage, I believe. Maybe the government could consider temporarily releasing a man-eater or two in those panchayats which are lagging behind in the Swacch Bharat targets!  

  " IN PURSUIT OF A MAN-EATER" is a very readable book full of empathy for the creatures of the wild and for the simple villagers who share the forested spaces with them. It fairly depicts a forester's perspective in an age when human and biotic pressures are becoming unsustainable. And finally, it opens an instructive window into the lives of villagers in the mountains. Suneet Bharadwaj should continue writing ( when he is not sitting on machans, that is ! )

IN PURSUIT OF A MAN-EATER

Published by notionpress.com

Rs. 250.00

DILLI CHALO ! -- TO THE BORDERS OF DEMOCRACY.

   In Mr. Modi's New India coming is as difficult as going, as the chappie told the sexologist. When I came upto the mountains in June this year to take a break from Covid and Kejriwal it was like an obstacle race: what with police barriers, health checks and the need to obtain that priceless E-pass which stated that I would be quarantined if I was coming from a "hot spot." That made me break out in a cold sweat since I knew from experience that it would be some middle pass constable at the barrier in Parwanoo who would determine if I.P.Extension, Delhi 110092 was a hot spot or not. And since said constable would not know the difference between a hot spot and a G-spot, I would in all likelihood spend the better part of my remaining life in a quarantine centre which could, at any time, be declared an NRC detention centre by Mr. Amit Shah. An understanding D.C. Shimla, however, took care of that problem as also of the long queues at Shoghi, and we finally reached Puranikoti, offering thanks to the Lord in the manner of the pilgrim fathers when the Mayflower hove- to off the coast of an unsuspecting America.

  I had thought that returning to Delhi a few months later would be a cake-walk. It wasn't. Our doughty farmers had decided to have a few nights- out and sleep- ins at the Singhu border to personally witness the dawn of the Achhe Din above the Delhi skyline; the Haryana and Delhi police, with their customary generosity, had resolved to give them a cold bath with their water canons for free; and Mr. Modi had made up his mind that this was his Margaret Thatcher cum Ambani moment. The result was that the border was sealed like an Amazon parcel.

  We made it to I.P.Extension after surviving many detours, including one through Ghaziabad where they stopped building roads at the turn of the century ( the 18th century , that is.) I was keenly looking forward to spotting many Khalistanis, Pakistanis, Urban Naxals, Maoists, terrorists and fragments of the Tukde Tukde gang on the way, as had been promised by many union Ministers, but was disappointed: there was only one suspicious looking chap near the vividly named village of Pasinakalan, hiding with a camera behind a bush, but enquiries revealed that he was an anchor from one of the tukde tukde TV channels, grabbing a byte, or perhaps a bite, because the farmers would not share their pizzas with him.

  And so I am now in my Delhi flat, waiting for starvation to set in as the farmer blockade intensifies; it's a good time to reflect on the upper and middle-class Delhi-wallahs in their sterile bubbles. Citizens of Delhi are a class apart ( may their tribe NOT increase). They don't give a fig, or an avocado, about the farmers' issues as they get their food from Big Bazaar and JIO retail, their news from Arnab Goswami and Navika Kumar, and their cheap thrills from Netflix and Amazon Prime. They are outraged by farmers having pizzas and foot massages at the Tikri border, not by the 10000 farmer suicides every year or by women and children sleeping in the open at night with temperatures dipping to four degrees celsius. Wannabe Adanis all, they hate any disruption of their vacuous cycle of life, centered around Gymkhana Club, the Audi parked outside their Greater Kailash house, dinner at Sana-Di-Ge in Chanakyapuri , the evening stroll in Lodhi gardens. They are the frogs who think the water will always be at a comfortable 24 degrees celsius, even as the BJP lights one fire after another under them.

  It was freezing cold on the drive to Delhi, but the cockles of my aging heart were warmed by the compassion being shown by our Prime Minister towards the kissans and the jawans in equal measure. The former were repeatedly assured that their were demands would be considered sympathetically, even as he proclaimed at every opportunity that there would be no roll back of the three Acts. He dedicated himself to our brave soldiers even as they were made to shell out- voluntarily, of course- more than Rs. 200 crores from their salaries towards the PM CARES fund. He is constantly talking to farmers- the problem, however, is that the kissans he harangues are usually a couple of thousands of miles away from where the protestors are camping at the Delhi borders. Even his vaunted oratory can't carry that far. It is an imprimatur of his empathy that, according to media reports, twenty farmers have so far perished at Delhi's borders- killing with kindness, you would say ?

  As for Delhi itself, it almost appears that history is visiting us again. Modern Delhi has been the site of seven cities before the present one: Mehrauli, Siri, Tughlaqabad, Jahanpanah, Ferozabad, Dinpanah and Shahjehanabad. Thanks to the arrogance and ineptitude of this government, an eighth city now appears to be coming up at the Singhu- Kundli border. It already has a population of two lakhs or so ( more than any of the earlier seven cities, it may be noted), gyms, massage parlours, laundromats, stalls stocking everything from Parle biscuits to shoes, outlets serving pizzas, biryani, coffee, tea and Indian "thalis", even its own newspaper, appropriately named Trolley Times. The protestors are also setting down roots here- literally. The have planted vegetables on the road dividers and the berms of the highway, and expect to harvest them next year, no doubt a gentle reminder to the govt. that as you sow so shall you reap ! And this is only the beginning, for let us not forget that we are dealing here with a community- the Sikhs- who have been the pioneers of the Indian diaspora in the developed world, known for their ingenuity and organisational skills. Soon it will be time to give the new city a name: since the township has been born of the arrogance and pride of one supreme leader, I would suggest " Hubristan", or, if an Indian sounding one more germane to the issues at hand is preferred, then why not  "MSP nagar" ? 

  The times also stir up a wisp of dejavu. Delhi is- or soon will be- under siege by the farmers, exactly 163 years after it was last besieged by the soldiers of the East India Company in 1857. Then, as now, the siege was led by the sturdy Sikhs who marched along the same Ambala- Karnal- Panipat- Delhi route that today's farmers are taking. I sincerely hope we Delhi-wallahs have read our history, if nothing else. In 1857 Delhi had to surrender, if you are old enough to recollect.

PRIORITISING THE NRI VOTE ALONE IS DISCRIMINATORY

    It is no secret that an overwhelming proportion of the Indian diaspora abroad roots for Mr. Modi, mesmerized by his hallucinatory vision, "Sholay" persona and unkept promises. The current of nationalism courses strongly in their veins, perhaps to assuage the latent guilty feeling of having deserted their country for a better life abroad. And yet, safely insulated by a few thousand miles and cushioned from the daily shocks in this country, they like to believe that India is becoming a Valhalla under Mr. Modi. The grass, after all, is always greener on the other side- especially if you don't have to do the mowing.

   The BJP is far too shrewd to have missed this joker in the rigged pack of cards it has been dealing out for the last six years. According to official figures, there are 10. 17 million NRIs who are registered to vote in Indian elections ( but rarely do so because under present rules they have to come physically to their respective polling booths to cast their vote). The importance of this captive vote bank for the BJP cannot be over emphasized: it translates roughly into 20000 votes per Parliamentary constituency, which perhaps is more than the average winning margin for a seat! The BJP is not wrong in considering this an almost captive vote bank.

  This is the actual backdrop against which we must assess the latest proposal of the Election Commission of India ( ECI ) to allow NRIs to vote in all elections via the ETPBS ( Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System ). The dog whistle is loud and clear and the ECI has an acute ( albeit selective) sense of hearing. On the face of it, this appears to be a progressive step but is not: it is a cold blooded, calculated, discriminatory gambit and raises many questions.

  First, why should NRIs be given the right to vote at all as long as they stay abroad ? They have no stakes in this country  and are usually in queue for citizenship of their adopted country . They pay no direct or indirect taxes in India. Many of them do derive some income in India from bank deposits, equity holdings, rents, savings accounts etc. but most of them pay no tax on this also, either in India or in the country where they are resident/working. Yes, they do send almost US $ 70 billion in remittances, but then the recipients of this money in India do get to vote, so why should the NRI enjoy a privilege that other citizens do not ? The battle cry of the American war of Independence was " No taxation without representation ! " The logic in the case against NRIs is " No representation without taxation." The poorest migrant labourer from Bihar has a better claim to the vote than the richest NRI because he pays a tax even when he buys a kilogramme of salt, whereas the latter pays nothing ( in India ) on the millions he makes in Silicon valley. But millions of labourers rarely get to vote ( as we shall see) because of systemic deficiencies.

  Second, why should NRIs have any say in determining who, or which party, forms a govt. here when they will be completely untouched by the effects of any decision taken by this govt.? The citizen who lives in India has to suffer the consequences of his choice, and therefore has a vital stake in govt formation. The NRI is safely cushioned from the consequences of his vote, therefore his nationalism, or capitalism, or Marxism, or Luddite-ism, should not be allowed to influence the process here. It is like allowing a non- shareholder of a company to cast his vote at the AGM.

  The ECI's recommendation to allow electronic postal voting for NRIs alone is also wrong because it is selective, discriminatory and elitist on three counts. There are tens of millions of citizens in this country who are unable to vote because they cannot access their polling booths: the ECI has not shown any urgency or concern to give them a similar facility as it has now recommended for the NRIs.

  According to the Census 2011 there are 45.40 crore migrants ( mostly labour) of which 28 crore are eligible to vote- they constitute 35% of the total registered voters in the country ! But most of them are unable to vote because they are by definition migratory, moving from state to state or place to place, have their votes in their villages but cannot afford to go back to their villages to cast their vote.

  The number of people suffering from certified disabilities is 21.90 million; they too find it difficult to vote in a country where public spaces are not at all disabled friendly. Merely providing a wheel chair at a polling booth is only a symbolic gesture, the real challenge is getting from the residence to the booth, and in negotiating the long queues there.

  A third category which is discriminated against is Senior Citizens. Even if we ignore the people in the 60 + category ( 104 million ), that still leaves 13.73 million people in the 80 + group, for most of whom even stepping out of the house is fraught with risk.

  The vast majority of voters in these three vulnerable categories go unrepresented in our electoral process because they are unable to access the polling booths. Which, incidentally, is the primary reason why their welfare seldom features in the govt's policies. One would have expected that the ECI and the central govt. would have devised a scheme to first extend the benefit of ETPBS to them, before doing so for their blue eyed NRIs. For these are voters living right here, not thousands of miles away: surely they should have at least an equal if not greater say in choosing a government to rule them. The technological architecture- Aadhar, internet connectivity, mobile phones, ID verification process - is already available to enable the ETPBS for them also, so why this obsession for the NRIs alone?

  By all means give the ETPBS to the NRIs if you must, but give the benefit first to the citizens who reside here but have been disenfranchised by either the vagaries of fate or our own policies. This would ensure greater participation of the actual citizens of the country in our democratic process.

  

POETIC JUSTICE.

  I am afraid we have been most unkind to our judges these past few days, accusing them of lacking in both humour and the finer sensitivities. We regard them as dull persona, so boring that they are unable to entertain even a doubt, their vocabulary limited to "whereas" and "preponderance of evidence" and  "catena of rulings" etc. Not so. My eyes have now been prised open by an Additional Sessions judge in Delhi who earlier this month delivered his judgment in verse ! Seriously, you can google it. He was adjudicating on an application for bail which the police, as is their wont, was forcefully resisting. The ADJ, after discussing the background of the case in flowery doggerel, granted bail but had a cryptic message for the prosecution in the final stanza of his order:

   Take your freedom from the cage you are in,

   Till  the trial is over, the state is reigned in;

  The state proclaims to have the cake and eat it too,

  The court comes calling: before the cake is eaten, bake it too.

This is not only good law, it is good culinary advice too: you can't cook someone's goose without baking it, even though our Supreme Court these days has an innovative recipe in which there are different sauces for the goose and for the gander. But I am on a different point here: doggerel jurisprudence is definitely preferable to sealed cover or Master of the Roster jurisprudence, it lends a softness to  the harshness of the law and somewhat softens the pain of the convict. For example, instead of being told that he is sentenced to be executed, an accused would much rather prefer these lilting lines:

" And so, to put this case reluctantly to bed,

You shall swing by the neck until you are dead."

Why, it almost sounds like a lullaby , the type Neerja used to sing to our two sons when they gave her too much trouble at bedtimes as enfants terrible. And who knows, this thing might catch on, and very soon petitions might also be couched in verse. Arnab Goswami's next Article 32 plea might begin like this:

And may it please your Lords,

Even I am completely out of words

To describe how the law is trying to overawe,

My TRP given right to say that day is night,

And to stretch the truth along with my vocal chords."

  Or the next time the irrepressible Mr. Prashant Bhushan posts a tweet about his favourite judge the Attorney General may string him up with this poetic advice:

Having read all the tweets, it is my advice

That Mr. Bhushan's words are no surprise;

He has said nothing new

These things we all knew,

But since voicing the truth amounts to dissent

Therefore he is held liable for contempt.

Surely, this verse is worth more than just one rupee ?

Reverting to the Delhi case, however, I learn that the accused has still not been released because the chaps in the police station are all in a huddle trying to figure out what exactly the order meant. More accustomed to the curse than the verse, to crime rather than rhyme, they are now thinking of consulting Mr. Shashi Tharoor who is always happy to encourage anyone who displays a scripturient urge.

I would love to be in court to hear these poetic exchanges between bench and bar; why, it would be almost like a "kavi sammelan" in my home town of Kanpur (minus the Kanpuria expletives, of course) or the recent Tata Literary Festival without the self serving censorship nobody told poor Mr. Noem Chomsky about last week: he had come to court expecting to get a fair hearing, but discovered his name had been removed from the cause list, just as the Tanishq ad had been removed from your screens. Must say the Tatas have been getting pretty good at showing a yellow streak when confronted with any likely unpleasantness or criticism. And speaking of colours,  pretty soon they may even rebrand their RED LABEL tea as SAFFRON LABEL tea- that would immensely please a certain ex- tea seller, what? 

  But the celestial Calliope, the Greek goddess of poetry, does not reside in Indian courts only. Courts in America too mix the lyrical with the judicial, at least when they are not sentencing people to the electric chair by the dozen . (Incidentally, I hear that TESLA is coming out with a more fuel efficient version of the electric chair, called FRYEM.) Here is a gem I discovered in a law journal. It is from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and involved a dispute between one Mrs. Liddle and Mr. Schulz. The former had bought two emus from Mr. Schulz to start an emu farm but the emus refused to breed, probably because they were not emused by their job description. Liddle filed a suit against Schulz for recovery of the price paid by her. Losing in the trial court, she then filed an appeal in the SCOP. The appeals judge was one Michael Eakin. Dismissing the case, the judge ruled, in iambic pentameter:

 The learned trial court, in well reasoned words,

  Held Liddle's case was as flightless as the birds;

  And her appeal, in turn, we must now find

  As barren as the breeders herein maligned. 

   Now, I must confess, I would not at all mind losing a case if it was put to me in such rhythmic and poetic form. So here's a suggestion for all our judges: instead of writing 2000 page judgments or orders in Sanskrit, why not simply pen a sonnet,  limerick , ode, elegy, ballad, acrostic or the wonderful Indian "doha" (of Kabira fame) ? It would save the courts time, educate the bar in the finer use of language, and send the accused to jail in a happy frame of mind, lustily singing: " Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage..."  Poetry can transform lives, and perhaps the law too.

I now await the elevation of the said ADJ to the High Court and keenly look forward to him finding words that rhyme with "habeas corpus". Once this milestone is reached then perhaps our courts will be able to overcome their reluctance to engage with these two words. That would truly be poetic justice.

THE PURANIKOTI DIARIES [2] -- SEASONAL VISITORS

    By the middle of June this year I knew I had to do a Mohammad Bin Tughlaq i.e leave Delhi; not for Daulatabad ( in present day Maharashtra) where the Emperor went , because I'm mortally afraid of bumping into Arnab Goswami or Kangana Ranaut there. I decided instead to head for Puranikoti in the mountains before the Prime Minister came up with another of his surgical strikes which the patient rarely survives. Not only had Mr. Modi got it wrong again, the fourth time in a row, and failed to win his Mahabharat against the corona in the promised 21 days, but the other signs were ominous too.

   There were no serviceable pots and pans left in the kitchen because we had beaten them to a pulp at the Prime Minister's frequent calls to do so. The Hon'ble Mr. Athawale had just announced a national audition for the hit song GO CORONA GO!. I was apprehensive that they might pick me for I have a fairly powerful castrato voice with a high range, especially when I receive a notice from the Income Tax chaps. Neerja had taken social distancing to a new level and had moved into the guest bedroom. The WHO, which was worse than the Corona virus, had just revealed that flatulence could help in spreading the virus, thus cramping the Indian male's style, if you know what I mean. Mr. Kejriwal, who gets a new idea ( usually of the unimplementable variety )every time he goes for Vipassana was rumoured to be planning to impose a " karo na " tax on sex in order to ensure social distancing ( no refunds for failed encounters). The Chinese had moved into Ladakh, promising to introduce a more inclusive CAA there: nobody would be denied any citizenship, in fact every Ladakhi would automatically become a Chinese citizen from May 2020 ! My pension had been frozen and the Finance Minister had promised another stimulus package: problem was, the package was likely to provide more stimulation to the Ambanis and Adanis than to us ( the first package had almost doubled their wealth ). You get the picture, I hope; as the Tughlaq might have said if he had thought of it before me: if the mountain cannot come to Mohammad then Mohammad must go to the mountain. ( With his Aadhar card, E pass, covid negative certificate and Fast Tag, of course). In other words, I had better hot-foot it to the mountains while I still had the dough to buy fuel for the car and pay Mr. Gadkari's highwaymen at the toll plazas.

   As I soon found out, Covid turned out to be a blessing in disguise in this respect at least. Owing to various constraints, in the last ten years we had never been able to spend more than a few weeks a year in Puranikoti; this was the first time we have stayed here for five months, and counting! It has also been the first time since 2006 that the whole family has been together, including our adopted Indie dog who is now on first name terms with the village dogs. The latter prove beyond any doubt that English is the preferred first language in schools in my panchayat: all the dogs are named Tommy, Blackie, Johnny or Tiger. The Hon'ble Union Education Minister may please note while finalising the new education policy.

   What has been particularly fascinating to observe here has been the change of seasons. In a metro like Delhi there is only one season- Simmer. Consisting of the heat, humidity, the abrasive Delhi-walla attitude, dust and pollution. In Puranikoti we have lived in, and through, summer, monsoons, autumn and are now preparing to welcome winter which, at 7000 feet, has to be given due respect. We have seen the agriculture crops change from maize to cauliflower and cabbage to peas to potatoes. We have seen horse chestnut and chinar bloom and then turn a golden hue and shed their fiery leaves with a promise to return in the spring. The weeping willows, which were a sonata in green earlier, are now living up to their name with their needle like leaves dropping like copious tears.

   With the foliage gone and the cold going up a notch everyday, the bird life in the village is also changing: the sparrows, tits and bulbuls are leaving for warmer regions, the jungle fowl and the khalij pheasant easily spotted by the early riser as they emerge from the undergrowth to soak in the warmth of the rising sun. If we are lucky we can see the occasional wedge of cormorants high up in the azure sky, flying from north in a  south easterly direction, perhaps for the wetlands of Bharatpur and NOIDA ( if they can locate them through the smog, that is! ) A troop of rhesus monkeys has taken up residence at the edge of the forest; they have not yet entered the village, perhaps intimidated by the number of bureaucrats here. I have no doubt, however, in a couple of years they shall lose their fear of the babus, as the politicians have done, and democracy shall prevail in Puranikoti as it does in the rest of India. The monkeys will rule.

   I'm not much of a birder or ornithologist and my knowledge of birds is very limited. I know, for example, that a humming bird hums because it doesn't know the words of the song, and that an ailing eagle is an illegal, and that owl is well that ends well, but not much more. Much to my egret-sorry, regret- I cannot even identify most birds. But thanks to my son, Sidharth, who stalks the forests with his camera all day, I now know that there is a hidden wealth of bird life in our area, and they come and go with the changing seasons. And thanks to my old friend and colleagues in the Forest department I have been able to identify them. Given below are images of some of these feathered splendours of nature, captured in Purani Koti itself:

[ From top: Red Kite, Greater Barbet, Rusty Cheeked Scimitar Babbler, Himalayan Magpie, Blue Whistling Thrush, a wedge of Great Cormorants. Photos by Sidharth Shukla. ]

Driving back from Mashobra one evening after picking up our monthly ration of Blender's Pride ( our substitute for the anti-covid drug Remdesvir, and just as effective ) Sidharth was lucky enough to spot a rare mammal, the Yellow- throated Marten, which nobody in our village has seen before, at least not in a sober state of mind:

                  [ The highly elusive and shy Yellow- throated Marten. Photo by Sidharth Shukla. ]

   And so, even as mankind desperately tries to rediscover its old lifestyles in the throes of this pandemic, here in the midst of nature the rhythms of life carry on unconcerned  as they have done for aeons. And while Mr. Modi in Delhi poses with his (caged) parrots and ( primetime) peacocks I am even more privileged to watch their wild siblings come and go with the changing seasons. There surely is a blessing in this somewhere, if only I could count. 

KUNAL KAMRA AND THE ELASTICITY OF JUSTICE

  The question goes like this:

  Question: what is contempt of court?

  Answer: A joke.

That's literally true in the India of today: three jokes on the Supreme Court, posted on Twitter by stand up comedian Kunal Kamra, are likely to attract contempt of court proceedings against him ( and, technically, against the 20000 people who retweeted the jokes and the lakhs who liked it !). That in fact is the learned advice of the Attorney General who, just a couple of days earlier, had opined that accusing a sitting SC judge of favouritism and of trying to topple a state government did not amount to contempt! ( It should surprise no one, of course, that in this case the worthy concerned was a Chief Minister allied to the BJP ). The elasticity of justice in this country is indeed astounding, and on the same footing as the economic principle of elasticity of demand. The latter states that the higher the price of a commodity the lower its demand ; the former provides that the more influential a person is the more benevolent the law and its gate keepers. 

  Kunal Kamra is a comedian, for God's sake ( and a damn good one too !), it is his job to crack jokes and pull people down a peg or two. It is his constitutional right to practice this profession, and he does a better job of it than most judges do of theirs. In fact, one writer has described him as the Laughing Gandhi, for his courage to hold a mirror to the powerful, albeit with a dash of caustic humour. Why should their lordships get so infuriated by a couple of sallies targeting them- he spares no one, not even the Prime Minister or his pit bull anchor. Kamra  belongs to a hoary tradition of court jesters- recollect Akbar and Birbal, Patch Sexton in the court of Henry VIII ( who inspired Shakespeare's fool in King Lear )- whose job was not only to amuse the King but also to remind him of a few home truths. Comedians are important sounding boards for all rulers, and our legal Czars would do well to revisit history if not the Constitution. Calling the Supreme Court a joke is just a joke, your honour, unless you feel in your heart of hearts that it is more than that, that it could be a terrible truth. In which case it is not the court's honour which is at work here but a guilty conscience.

  And, by the way, this is the Supreme Court we are talking of here, not King Arthur's court or Kublai Khan's court. This is a court of a democratic country, created by a Constitution framed by we the people, paid for by the same citizenry who have no access to it. Criticism of this court, if there is no malice or ulterior intention behind it, cannot be a ground for the Attorney General or judges to term the critic a contemnor. Pomposity and pride do not go well with honest and equal dispensation of justice. Humility might be a better substitute.

  I am reminded here of another humorous incident. A senior Justice of the US Supreme Court had gone to his old Law University as chief guest for a function. Meeting the Dean, he remarked in a lighter vein: " Dean, do you still teach your students about the pomposity and bluster of judges ?" The Dean smiled and replied: " No, your Honour, we let them find that out for themselves."

  Are we now finding out for ourselves, with so much time and energy spent by the court in pandering to its aggrieved pride by hauling up alleged contemnors? Should this time ( paid for by the tax payers ) not be better spent in some introspection by our judges, to try to find out why exactly is the ordinary citizen so incensed by the manner of the court's functioning of late, to honestly consider why social media is full of derision against them ? To ruminate on whether praise from the likes of Arnab Goswami and hosannas from BJP spokespersons are really the certificates of good conduct they prefer over the appreciation of millions of ordinary, law abiding, unconnected citizens?

  It appears to be reigning contempt these days, which of course is another joke, considering that important matters which have a bearing on our federalism, electoral funding, liberty of citizens, access to the internet and freedom of speech never find mention in the cause list. But if contempt is the flavour of the day then one wonders: why is the court not initiating contempt against the Chief Secretary and DGP of Jammu and Kashmir, whose administration had sworn on oath that Ex- MP Saifuddin Soz was not under detention, whereas the very next day the police were caught on video forcibly preventing him from leaving his house or talking to reporters? Does Kamra's tweet constitute a greater danger to the republic than the open defiance and illegal actions of the J+K government ?

  As a common citizen owing no allegiance to any political party I have much to be disturbed about our legal system , which appears to be getting more opaque, unaccountable and biased every passing day. One which has abdicated its primary function- to act as a check on a powerful and majoritarian executive. The rule of law is getting replaced by the jurisprudence of the sealed cover, the fait accompli and the adjournment. It's not just about Arnab Goswami and his over the counter bail, when hundreds similarly placed , their bail petitions being repeatedly rejected or hearings postponed, have been behind bars for months. It's not just about a judgment that denies public places to citizens protesting against a government. It's not even about an order that does not allow an Opposition Chief Minister to take action against defectors from his party who are hell bent on toppling his government. These are symptoms of a creeping infection against which we , and not just Kamra, must speak out before it consumes the entire judicial framework. Before we descend into what Pratap Bhanu Mehta in an article in the Indian Express of 18th November describes as " democratic and judicial barbarism."

  Notwithstanding the honorifics attached to their names, our justices must realise that they are not celestial beings , the Constitution does not give them their extraordinary privileges and protection because they embody some kind of divinity. It does so because they are expected to perform a difficult job- confront the government and hold it accountable whenever it crosses a constitutional red line. That is no longer happening since the last three CJIs at least, as Mr. Prashant Bhushan had pointed out in his now famous tweet. In a democracy there is no judicial teflon, and there is no "lese majesty" when there is no majesty left in an institution. Sriram Panchu, senior advocate in the Madras High Court puts it devastatingly in a brilliant article in the Hindu ( 16th November ): " Power ( of the Supreme Court) comes not from Articles 32 or 226 but from the public esteem and regard in which you are held, and that proceeds from the extent you act as our constitutional protector. In direct proportion. Sans that , there are only trappings. "                                                                                                                                   Cases which may embarrass the govt. are not being heard for years, without any explanation. The Collegium appears to have completely surrendered to the govt. in matters of appointment and transfer of judges ( how can we forget the midnight transfer of Justice Muralidharan of Delhi High Court when his questioning of the Delhi police in the riots case threatened to expose their mischief ? ) Application of the law has become so arbitrary, and capricious, that at times one wonders whether one is in a court or a casino. Goswami gets bail in one hearing, others are asked to approach High Courts or trial courts. An 83 year old priest who suffers from Parkinsons disease and cannot hold a glass, applies for a sipper or straw: he is given a date three weeks later for hearing the case! An eminent academic and poet, who should never have been in a jail in the first place, suffers from Covid, dementia, incontinence and severe UTI; his bail applications are repeatedly rejected and he is shuttled from one hospital to another. Our courts are losing not only the sense of justice but also that of simple humanitarianism. The law is supposed to be strict, not cruel and barbaric- how does one explain it to our judges?

  Far from reigning in the govt's excesses ( which is what its constitutional duty is) the higher judiciary appears to be encouraging it by its silence, selective orders and even acceptance of post retirement sinecures and appointments. Many years ago a Chief Justice, when told by the then Prime Minister that he looked forward to a " cordial" relationship with the Supreme Court, had the integrity to retort that the relationship between the executive and the judiciary should be " correct " and not cordial. It is impossible to even conceive of this kind of rectitude today. Such an amalgam  of courage and principles, unfortunately, is to be found in the pages of history only, and that too only till the time the Education Minister revises the syllabus !

  In the hands of the present government at the center and in some of the states, the law is running amok and the SC appears to be reluctant to stop this arbitrariness. Application of laws is no longer based on accepted general principles ( as it should be ) but is subject to individual interpretations. Even repeated rulings of the Apex court are no longer binding on lower courts, it would appear. Examples are the laws on sedition, free speech, criminal defamation, abetment to suicide: inspite of the Supreme Court narrowing their scope and application to prevent their misuse, lower courts continue to throw people into jails or lock-ups just on the say so of the police, without even examining the evidence- or lack of it- before them. In fact, these laws have become major tools of persecution in the hands of the executive. Similarly, the oft cited homily " Bail is the rule, and jail the exception" is just that- a homily which it takes a lot of faith to believe, like the numerous high sounding, sanctimonious obiter dicta delivered by Justice Chandrachud while overruling the Mumbai High Court in the Arnab Goswami case. One would have expected that the SC, both as the superior court and the administrative head of the judiciary, would have done something to ensure that its rulings and decisions are observed and respected. It has not, and we are descending into some kind of legal wasteland

  And it is not only the likes of Kunal Kamra who are increasingly giving expression to their misgivings and frustration at this state of affairs- concerns are being voiced by eminent retired judges of the SC and High Courts, senior members of the legal fraternity, sections of the media which still retain a spine, retired government officers, academia, frustrated litigants and relatives of those trapped in this dystopian legal system. Even international organisations associated with human rights and the judiciary have openly criticised us and have called for reforms.

   How many contempt petitions will you list, sirs ? A joke repeated too often is no longer funny and loses its punch. Listen to Kamra, your Honours and my Lord the Attorney General. His is the voice of an increasing number of people. Like all comedians he perhaps exaggerates a bit, but not by much, I can assure you.

FROM PENNSYLVANIA TO PURNEA -- THE WIND THAT DIDN'T BLOW.

   The American elections have engendered a flood of memes and witticisms, somewhat breaking the tensions of the wait for their results. One of my home-grown favourites is " Agar Kamala Harris to kaun jeetis ?" ( From my home state of UP naturally). Before this could be answered the US results were declared, and then Kanpur asked: " Kamala Harris bhi aur jeetis bhi ! Yeh kaise?"  The answer to this, of course, lies with Nitish Kumar who embodies harris and jeetis both ! But the really brilliant one was the acronym that connected the American election with our own hustings in Bihar, which was also proceeding apace at the same time. You may remember this one, it goes like this: BI den+ HAR ris = BIHAR.

  I thought this particular one was very insightful, for the parallels between the two elections- or at least between the two leading personalities involved- are difficult to miss.  Another hilarious but apposite connection between the USA and Bihar was made by an RJD spokesperson on a TV debate the other evening; I am paraphrasing what he said: " There are winds of change blowing from Pennsylvania to Purnea and from Nevada to Nawadah !" Blow they did in the USA, but unfortunately died out somewhere over Hong Kong, long before touching our shores.

  The state from where the Mahatma started his non-cooperation movement at Champaran, and which was the birth-place of Jayaprakash Narain's revolt against Mrs. Gandhi, decided to go belly up this time. It would appear that this is kiss and make-up time for Bihar. Forgive Mr. Modi for all the sufferings of the lockdown and forced migration, the economic distress, the decimation of the  handicraft sector, the highest unemployment rate in India. Forgive Mr. Nitish Kumar for the pandemic failures, the shameless opportunism of joining the BJP two years ago and betraying the anti-BJP mandate he had received in the 2015 elections, the shocking HDI indicators in his state,  excise policy which has bankrupted the state but made many more crorepatis out of people of his ilk, the lakhs of poor people in jail because they paid twice the normal price for a tot in the evening, the farmers who are getting half the promised MSP for their produce. 

  Perhaps it is this large heartedness which makes Bihar one of the most backward states in the country. It may be divine to forgive but it's sheer stupidity to forget the past few years, or to ignore what is happening next door in UP. For all its other blemishes, of one thing at least Bihar could be justly proud: the virus of communalism and religious intolerance has not been allowed to enter the state, either during Lalu's time or Nitish Kumar's fifteen year reign. All that is now about to change. Mr. Kumar will be nothing more than a puppet on a saffron string henceforth and will be kicked upstairs to Delhi in a year or two, the UP experiment (now that its human trials are over with the brutal suppression of the anti-CAA protests )will be replicated in Bihar, and its voters shall then have something more to forgive come the next elections.

  THE ACHILEE'S HEEL   

  I'm afraid there is no polite way to say this: the Mahagatbandhan lost the elections because of the Congress. With a miserable 19 seats out of 71 its strike rate is not much better than Mr Owaisi's who won 5 out of 20. If the Congress had even retained its previous tally of 27, the NDA would have been shown the door. But what can one expect when its de-facto President was "resting" in his sister's Mashobra house when the NDA's leaders were in the thick of campaigning for every single vote in the dust and miasma of covid in Bihar? When its most charismatic female star did not even deign it worth her while to go on the campaign trail? When the hubris of past history and the greed of making huge bucks by selling tickets made it bite off much more than it could swallow- the insistence on 71 seats when it should have insisted at most for 40 ?

  The Congress should accept that it is no longer a national party- it has only three states on its own. It is a regional party now and should behave like one, shedding its arrogance and pretensions to royalty. It should learn a lesson from the BJP which gives regional players their due where it cannot make it on its own ( even though later it cannibalises them, as the Shiv Sena, TDP and Akali Dal- now known as kali dal in Punjab after its delayed support for the farmers' agitation !- found out ). Mr Gandhi and his advisers should learn to play second fiddle in states where their own strings are not tuned properly. For the emerging truth is that, increasingly, not only is the Congress not able to add value to the anti-BJP forces in the states, it is fast becoming a liability for other opposition parties, a dead weight which they will not carry any longer because it is pulling them down. If even 25 of the seats from the Congress quota in Bihar this time had been given to the Left parties we may well have seen a completely different result.

MR. OWAISI COMES TO THE PARTY

For me there have been two salient developments in the Bihar elections, which can be potential game-changers in the future. The first is the remarkable revival of the communist parties: their 16 seats reassures me that ideologies and principles are not yet extinct in these opportunistic times. The second is the phenomenal performance of Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM. The five seats it won in the Seemanchal region may well mark a watershed in the Muslim politics of 180 million people.

   For far too long has Mr. Owaisi been treated as a pariah by the Right, Left and the Center. The Right considers him anti- national, and the other two think they can best represent the interests of his community without his extreme views and militant idiom. And so the community has historically been persuaded to outsource the protection of its interests to parties like the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the RJD, the BSP and so on. Problem is, this hasn't worked. These parties have never had the real interests of the community at heart, have done little for them in substantial terms, used them as pawns in their electoral battles, at times misled them ( the Shah Bano case or the banning of Salman Rushdie's book), even betrayed them ( the opening of the Babri masjid at night and installation of the deity's statue). If at all they have done anything for the Muslims, it has been to support and encourage the most criminal and fundamentalist sections among them , again with a view to elections only. The community has merely been thrown a few crumbs from the high table and asked to trust these parties without any questions.

  This out-sourcing has got the community nowhere, as the Sachar Committee report unambiguously establishes. To add to this, the external environment has also changed drastically for them over these last six years: it's almost as if the state has now turned against them. The namby-pamby, now on- now off, anemic protection offered them by the centrist and left parties is no longer seen to be enough. The Muslim voter has begun to realise that he now needs a party of his own, as muscular ( extreme, if you will), articulate, aggressive and unapologetic as the forces ranged against him. Enter Mr. Owaisi.

  It is amusing, and disgusting, to see how the Congress, non-BJP parties and sections of the media have been attacking Mr. Owaisi and holding him responsible for the Mahagathbandan's defeat: taking away 5 sure- fire seats and effecting the results in at least 10 more. These parties are simply trying to cover their own thoroughly exposed backsides. Did they not know that Bihar has at least 39 constituencies where the Muslim population is more than 30% of the electorate? Do only the Congress or RJD have the god- given right to contest from these seats? Why could they not have entered into an alliance with Mr. Owaisi ( as he had asked ) and given him some of these seats? Come to think of it , the Mahagathbandan would have done much better if it had had an alliance with the AIMIM rather than the Congress!

  AIMIM and Mr. Owaisi have every legal, moral and logical right to contest elections on behalf of their community. The Akali Dal does it for the Sikhs, BSP does it for the SCs/ STs, SP does it for the Yadavs, BJP and Shiv Sena do it for the Hindus, and the Congress does it ( badly ) for everyone else. Why grudge Mr. Owaisi his right? For the fact is, he and his party are here to stay and to acquire a pan national profile in the days to come, and it is about time the Opposition sat down with him over some biryani and began to work together. The onus is now on them, and not Mr. Owaisi, to ensure that the Muslim vote is not split. He has already announced his intention to contest in UP in 2022 and in Bengal next year. I hope Ms Mamata Banerjee is paying attention to the Bihar results- with 130 seats out of the total 293  having a Muslim population of 30% or more, she cannot afford not to.

  It's an ill wind that blows no good, and maybe the gusts from Pennsylvania may yet reach Purulia, even if they have bypassed Purnea.

  

ARNAB GOSWAMI IN JAIL : RIGHT PLACE, WRONG REASONS.

   In the game of chess a pawn has only one use: to protect the king. It is totally expendable. Arnab Goswami has probably realised this in his Raigad cell, or will soon when the other cases catch up with him. Oh, to be sure, some of the BJP's medium artillery has come out in his support- Messers Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Smriti Irani, Javadekar- revealing once and for all the nexus between the party and this charlatan journalist. But their's are xeroxed pro-forma statements, ritualistic and meaningless. Mr. Goswami is now of no further use to them, his credibility demolished, his TRPs suspect, his legal options uncertain, and they shall lose no time in finding an equally pliable and conscienceless  surrogate for him from among the other channels and anchors who have made the nation's gutters their homes.

  Arnab's arrest itself was nothing short of a burlesque, like one of his prime time shows. The performance of the Mumbai police was most unprofessional, taking them almost twenty minutes to apprehend an accused; another few minutes and he might even have been released on anticipatory bail, given how accommodating the courts have been to him of late! Mr. Goswami's supporters might think his swan song performance was masterly- he held forth for fifteen minutes on his rights, his injuries, his innocence, the need for family consultations- incidentally, a privilege which he never allowed to the persons he mercilessly traduced, vilified and condemned on his programmes. But in reality his conduct was craven and cowardly, without any dignity, as he had to be dragged by four policemen from his flat. In those few minutes his bravado, rodomontade and posturing were exposed. Also in evidence were his over weening arrogance and bloated sense of entitlement, fully displayed in his recent foul mouthing of the Chief Minister and Commissioner of police.

  Notwithstanding the fulminations of the BJP and even the cautious statement issued by the Editor's Guild ( a balanced compromise among differing factions, I suspect, rather than a protest carrying any conviction ), Arnab Goswami is not a journalist, he ceased being one years ago when he hitched his wagon to the BJP. It doesn't matter why he did so, whether out of ideological affinity, an out sized ego, a yearning for power and fame, an intrinsic amorality and lack of any principles and abiding values. Whatever the reason, he does not possess a shred of journalistic ethics or values, he had become a digital mercenary and, ironically, best fitted the description of his likes by a Minister of the same government he had sold himself to- a " presstitute " The truth has an awkward way of revealing itself. For the truth is, he should have been in jail a long time ago.

  But not for the offence for which he has now been arrested, or the manner in which it was done. I am not on the merits of the charges against him ( that is for a court to decide ) but on the process. An FIR once closed by a magistrate cannot be reopened for investigation by the police without the order of a competent court- it does not appear that such an order was obtained. The Raigad police have not revealed the nature of the new evidence ( including the suppression of old evidence by the Fadnavis govt earlier, if any ) which could justify the reopening of a closed case. Why was Mr. Goswami not served a notice, or summoned and questioned, to hear his side of the story before arresting him in unholy haste ? And how was he remanded to judicial custody for two weeks by a judge when the Chief Judicial Magistrate himself was reported to have said that the reopening of a closed case was illegal and that there was no evidence to connect him with the " crime"? This episode shows the Indian criminal justice system at its worst, and frankly, no observer of the state of affairs in the country would be surprised at the events on display here.

  Because, over the last few years, the freedom of speech and of journalists has been subjected to persecution, vindictiveness and the gross misuse of state power relentlessly. One of the more successful initiatives of the BJP, it has been quickly emulated by all parties and governments. More than 55 newspersons have been reportedly arrested just during the pandemic period and many more have had FIRs lodged against them, including eminent editors and columnists. Not for revealing state secrets, but for reporting on the shortcomings of governments, states and central. They have been lumped together with terrorists and charged with sedition, inciting disaffection and revolt, causing enmity between communities, even offences under the dreaded UAPA which should have no place in even a half-democracy ( as Chetan Bhagat would no doubt put it ! ).  And when they cannot be accused of these offences directly, charges unrelated to journalism are brought against them, such as defamation or laundering of money or whatever else the febrile imagination of the I.O. can conjure up. The case against Goswami appears to be one of them. It is not without reason that India is at the 146th spot in the global index of journalistic freedom, and going further downhill rapidly.

   The apparent vindictiveness and  precipitate action of the Mumbai police and government in arresting Goswami post haste can only be a harbinger of worse times for Indian journalism. It will set off a chain reaction in BJP ruled states where the police have been hounding independent news persons with a feral ferocity not seen before. Journalists perceived to be either anti government or pro Opposition will now become the fodder for their vengeance. Even worse, the line between legality and illegality will become further blurred, and an already rampaging police will be emboldened to push the envelope even more. And all this just because the Mumbai police couldn't wait to do a more thorough job in nailing the editor-in-chief of Republic TV.

  For Arnab Goswami's rightful and deserved place is in a jail. He has, almost single handedly, shrunk the space for value based and independent journalism in the country, and his "success' has spawned a whole mob of dopplegangers who have practically taken over the media space. The fourth estate has become the fifth column of our democracy. Apart from the Deadly Duo he has been the one man who, with his reach, aggressive style and financial support from rapacious corporates, has done the maximum damage to the country's social and moral fabric. He has spread hatred and communalism on a huge scale, instigated our basest instincts that lead to lynch mobs, destroyed reputations and careers without any evidence, demonised one particular community shamelessly, intimidated government agencies into doing the wrong things ( such as the arrest of Rhea Chakrabarty). He is, in short, a danger to the community and should have been locked up a long time ago on any of a whole host of offences. But the validity and legality of the present arrest may not hold. It is an abuse of the law and just as two wrongs do not make a right, two abuses do not make for justice. Goswami should get his just desserts but it cannot be vindictive or outside the limits imposed by the law.

[ As of the date of writing this piece Mr. Goswami's petition for quashing the FIR against him or his bail application is yet to be adjudicated upon by the Mumbai High court. ]

THE PURANIKOTI DIARIES : EAST OF MASHOBRA

   Many years ago, when the bad moon of superannuation was beginning to edge worryingly above the horizon, I decided to improve my chances of reemployment by obtaining a diploma in Marketing Management. I poured the midnight rum for many months and got my diploma from IGNOU. Unlike the 14 day Yale diploma of Mrs. Smriti Irani which made her a union Minister, however, the IGNOU one didn't work for me. Not that there was anything intrinsically wrong with the diploma itself; the fault, dear reader, lay in my stars. As a friend in the private sector confided in me: the effect of degrees on IAS chappies is not to be trusted- without a diploma they are only half-wits, with one they are complete nitwits.

   But the late night swatting did impart an important lesson to me in the form of a basic management principle which Rahul Gandhi appears to have mastered, viz. do not let your area of concern exceed your area of influence. In other words, don't waste your time on things you cannot change. Or, as my late lamented Golden Retriever would have put it in his lingua franca - if you can't hump it or eat it, then just piss on it and walk on. Eminently sensible words, which I have decided to follow. I have written reams on our deteriorating politics, economics, justice system, environment, but the only effect it seems to have had is that I get pissed on more often than a fire hydrant outside an all night bar . And so, as the Raven said: No More. I shall write now about more salubrious subjects, beginning with my village, Puranikoti, a safe 12 kms away from Shimla.

   The state PWD has put up a board in the village saying- PURANIKOTI. JAN SANKHYA: 190 . The problem is, I have been counting the folks here for the last 15 years and never get beyond 49, or at the most 50 if you agree with Neerja that I have a split personality. There can be only one of two explanations for  the PWD's figure: either this is their normal practice of inflating all estimates and figures by three times, or we are missing the significance of the word JAN SANKHYA . Perhaps this word is imbued with a historical perspective and the PWD is referring here to all past residents of the village too and is counting also their long departed souls. Which, naturally, has me worried: are they counting me among the living or the dead, or among the living dead ( which is the state of  most retired IAS officers once their commuted pensions are restored after fifteen years of retirement )?

 

                                   

                                 [ Photo of Puranikoti in 2002. Author's house is in the center.

                                   Image by Sidharth Shukla. ] 

                                       [ Puranikoti today 2020. Photo by Sidharth Shukla ]      

 When I bought my land in Puranikoti in 2002 it was a verdant, gently sloping ridge of green fields, ghasnis and thick forests. There were only two old, traditional village houses there. No more ( the Raven again, unfortunately ). Today the village resembles an aspiring West End or Sainik Farms. The plots of cauliflower and peas have all gone, as have the open grasslands. Fortunately, most of the trees remain ( I myself have added about 100 to compensate for Neerja's carbon footprint, which resembles that of Godzilla's when she is let loose in Delhi with her mother and sister). Puranikoti now has three hotels, four home stays and 32 private buildings, of which 17 have been lying unsold for the last five years: their builders obviously did not factor in either Mr. Modi or the pandemic. And since both are here to stay for the foreseeable future the pigeons have moved in to these houses, assured of a tenure till 2024 at least which is more than what Mr. Skittish Kumar of Bihar is likely to get.

  Fortunately, the money-bags of Delhi and Punjab have not yet discovered Puranikoti ( which is why I have cunningly not given its location!). But I do have impressive neighbours; there are four Additional Chief Secretaries ( two retired and two still yoked to the wheel ), a well known member of the Rajya Sabha, one retired ex- Ambassador and novelist, one ex- Advocate General, one corporate honcho with Bollywood connections, one international level Iron Man athlete, a top Punjab politico whom Kejriwal is very fond of during election times. There are no defense guys here yet, but they are not far away: they are camped at Mashobra, just four kms away, in full brigade strength and spend all their time looking for lost golf balls and single women. Since there are no golf balls in Puranikoti, only tennis elbows, and since most of the single women here are all approaching triple digits in age, the veterans have stayed away. But all that may change if Kangana Ranaut , the iconic " beti " of Himachal, decides to shift here from her demolished Pali Hill house. She has not so decided yet but one cannot find fault with the poet who said that hope springs eternal in the human breast. Even if it's  one that measures only 36 inches and not 56 inches. And I'm not referring to Ms Ranaut here, folks.

                                                   [ More about my village next week ]

  

LIGHT - OR GARBAGE ?- AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

   The 9 km long Atal Tunnel below the Rohtang pass has been inaugurated, the foundation stone laid by Mrs. Sonia Gandhi ten years back has disappeared and Mr. Modi has taken the credit for another project initiated by the Congress. More important, however, we are told a new dawn has risen for the tribals of Lahaul and Spiti district, one of economic prosperity and seamless connectivity with Manali and the rest of Himachal. The experience of the last three weeks, however, seems to belie this: this pristine and fragile landscape, situated at an altitude of 3000 meters may just be waking up to the nightmare of an unplanned  mass tourism which has blighted most of the rest of the state. 

   Reports are already coming in of as many as nine hundred vehicles entering Lahaul everyday via the tunnel, garbage and plastic being dumped indiscriminately everywhere, tourists relieving themselves by the roadsides, fruit trees being stripped bare, traffic chaos a-la the Rohtang pass, haphazard parking, potato bags stored on the roadsides being stolen, even cases of misbehaviour with local girls. The locals are extremely agitated for neither their pristine environment nor their traditional culture have prepared them for this kind of vagrant behaviour. But, given that this is precisely the face of mass tourism which the rest of Himachal has been subjected to for years, this was inevitable and should have been expected.

   One cannot help but feel that the Tourism Department of the state has been caught napping. The government had ten years to prepare for and plan for the influx of tourists into Lahaul when the tunnel was commissioned but has failed to come up with a comprehensive road map to navigate it. One wonders if even now it is working on one. Fortunately, it still has some time to formulate a proper policy for the district will be shutting down for the winter soon. But if there is no policy in place by next April then the unmatched splendour and unique character of Lahaul and Spiti will be doomed for ever. For this district is extremely vulnerable to environmental abuse and cultural vandalism. Its total population is only 31000, with a density of 2 per square km, perhaps the lowest in the country. Its people are trusting and friendly, their lifestyles are simple and traditional, evolved over centuries in complete harmony with nature. This sub-culture is easily disrupted and is  just not equipped to withstand an onslaught by the hordes from Karol Bagh, Kotkapura and Kaithal. 

   The interregnum should be used by the Tourism department to consult widely with the locals; fortunately this tribal district possesses a very close knit society, the residents are fully aware of, and proud of, their culture, they are fiercely protective of their natural environment and wish to live in complete harmony with it, as they have done for countless generations. There are a number of non-governmental bodies to articulate the views and concerns of the valley's residents. The govt. should engage with them, keep their needs and desires paramount in the planning process, and not impose its own ideas of "development", urban tourism or revenue generation on them. Here are a few suggestions to begin with:

* Lahaul and Spiti does not have either the infrastructure ( roads, parking, hotels ) or the natural resources ( like water or electricity) or the powers of natural regeneration to sustain large numbers of tourists, and mass tourism will simply destroy it. Therefore, the first step should be to carry out a study to assess the carrying capacity of the valley and then fix the number of tourists and vehicles that should be allowed in everyday. The govt. should do its job and not pass the buck to the National Green Tribunal, as was the case with the permissible traffic to the Rohtang pass a few years back. Till it does so, not more than 300-400 vehicles should be permitted every day.

* An environmental cess should be imposed on all ( except local ) vehicles/ tourists entering the valley, on the pattern of the Green fee in Manali. "Chhola bhatura tourism" has no place in this unparalleled and delicately balanced landscape, and those who wish to see its beauty must be prepared to pay for it; otherwise they could go to Goa. This fund should be exclusively ear- marked for creating the required infrastructure such as roads, parking spaces, wayside amenities such as toilets, developing camping sites, installing garbage collection and disposal systems, sewage treatment plants, educating both locals and visitors. The money should not be diverted for extraneous purposes such as furnishing govt offices, buying cars or utilised as a discretionary fund by the DC or local politicians, as was allegedly done with the Manali Green fee.

                              

                         [ Resplendent colours of Pin valley in Spiti . Photograph by the author. ]

* Lahaul and Spiti is almost virgin territory for tourism, and the Department needs to do some out of the box thinking and not let events take their own natural and destructive course, as in the rest of Himachal. The valley should not be allowed to become another Shimla, Manali or Mcleodganj. For starters, urban tourism should be discouraged and large hotels should not be permitted. I would go so far as to say that only Home stay , B+B units and Eco- Tourism should be allowed: the district should be declared an exclusive Eco Tourism zone . This is necessary to disperse the number of tourists over a wider area, avoid concentration of numbers and strain on resources, ensure improved livelihood options for the locals. There should, however, be stringent safe guards in the policy to ensure that all these units are owned and managed by the local people, and that outsiders do not appropriate them as has happened in other districts. The state's Home Stay policy of 2010 was intended for locals, but has been hijacked by outsiders who take buildings on rent and start  their hostelries. No benefit accrues to the locals.

*  The state Pollution Control Board and the Town and Country Planning Department need to activate themselves immediately. Building bye-laws should be formulated for all the urban areas and tourist centres, with special emphasis on provision for parking and solid and liquid waste management. The two beautiful rivers of the area- the Chandra and Bhaga which merge at Tandi and ultimately become the Chenab- should not be allowed to become polluted as has happened to the rivers near Leh.

* Eco-Tourism has to be at the heart of any tourism policy for Lahaul and Spiti. And for this to happen the Forest Department has to be closely involved as almost all govt. land here is forest land. The Forest department's Eco-Tourism policy of 2009 has been a great success, even though the department has not expanded its scope since then. The 6 sites leased out by it to private entrepreneurs fetch it Rs. 98.00 lakhs each year. The Forest Minister recently revealed that about 108 additional sites have been selected for tendering; I hope some of them are in Lahaul and Spiti. If not, then locations in that district must be identified immediately and tendered; if necessary, funds from the suggested Environmental cess could be utilised to develop some sites or improve forest rest houses which could also be leased out for eco-tourism purposes.

  Lahaul and Spiti is the final frontier in Himachal for nature and its dream cannot be allowed to become a nightmare. We should not give in to populism and the temptation to make quick bucks. In fact, there is much the Himachal govt. can learn from the " less is better " tourism model adopted by Bhutan. The Atal tunnel had posed two challenges for us. The first was its design and construction which has been successfully met by the engineers. The second challenge now confronts Himachal's administrators- using the tunnel for the development and prosperity of Lahaul and Spiti, not for its environmental and cultural degradation. In the coming days will we see light at the end of the tunnel or only garbage?

TRPs, CORPORATES, AND MORAL BANKRUPTCY

    Even for a country which is perpetually in outrage mode, the brouhaha over the TRP scandal takes the cake if not the bakery, as a colleague of mine who knows a thing or two about hot spots would put it. Experts- lawyers, advertising gurus,  doyens of journalism, film stars, celebrities ( everyone, that is, except Amitabh Bacchan who has too many bones in his mouth to be able to bark)- have been vocal about condemning something they all knew about ( and did nothing about) for decades. And as usual with TV experts, they have got it all wrong.

   The likes of Arnab Goswami, Rahul Shivshankar and Navika Kumar will now stew in their own juice for sometime, and one hopes the steaming will result in at least some of the toxins in them being flushed out. But they are not the only villains in the current TV eco-system of fake news, communalism and bigotry which masquerades as news in India today and which drives the TRP system. They are like brainless, amoral viruses which know only one thing- how to replicate and amplify their hate. The real villains are the hosts who provide shelter and sustenance to these viruses, but nobody is talking about them. I speak, of course, about their corporate sponsors, the companies which give them millions of rupees of advertising revenue, thereby enabling them to continue injecting their deadly poison into the social fabric of the nation. Hatred and bigotry gets TRPs, which in turn gets advertising revenue, which keeps this vicious cycle going. Without this money the cycle could not sustain itself.

   This last couple of weeks I've been indulging in a bit of masochism, watching Republic TV and Times Now, something which makes me sick. But I've been watching, not their programmes, but their ad breaks: the idea was to find out who their advertisers and sponsors are. As expected, it's a Who's Who of Indian industry, a veritable Rogues' Gallery of honchos who put money above conscience, perversely justifying something I've always noted- that in a sewer line it's the muck that floats at the top. Here's an illustrative list, compiled after hours of self inflicted torture:

REPUBLIC TV/ BHARAT: Raymonds, Muthoot Group, Jio, Max Bupa, Kent, Air India, Star Health Insurance, Nissan, Dabur, Mahindra, Amazon, Samsung, Sony, Maruti, Nerolac, Toyota.

TIMES NOW: Cadbury, Toyota, Hyundai, Nerolac, Birla Group, Amul, Skoda, Mercedes, Ceat, Samsung, Bluestar, HDFC, Sony, TCS.

   These are the corporates ( and others like them) which fund the toxicity, the hatred and bigotry, which our news channels spew out 24x7 and which has led to the TRP race. The total TV advertising spend is about Rs. 70000.00 crores every year, of which roughly 2% goes to the news channels. TRP determines which channel will get how much of this Rs. 1400 crore pie; according to current ratings, most of it goes to Republic, Times Now and India Today, all three of whom are these days waging an incestuous family battle to apportion blame, reminding me of a sight I witnessed in Masai Mara many years ago- a pack of hyenas turning upon each other. But this battle is throwing up enough of a dust cloud to conceal the culpability of our corporates.

   Why do these companies continue to fund these renegade channels? Surely they cannot  be unaware of the toxic and divisive content which is the mainstay of these channels? A corporate entity has the same legal rights as an individual, surely it should then have the same moral and social duties as an individual- to condemn immoral ideology, to abjure hate and communalism, to not incite one community against another, to distinguish between the truth and falsehood? And yet our corporates are blind to these responsibilities, just so long as they can get maximum eyeballs and continue to get a healthy return on investment. They are not bothered about the real return on their investment- a society and country being torn apart by the channels they fund.

   Our corporates aspire to be global entities but fail to espouse global values. In the developed world companies are increasingly taking positions on tech/ media platforms that spread fake news and incite hatred or violence. Facebook has been boycotted by the likes of Adidas, Diaggeo, Ford, Honda, HP, Hershey's, Coca Cola. Inexplicably, however, in India these same companies continue to do business with sections of our electronic media which are even more toxic and strident than Facebook. What is missing here is perhaps the pressure of a more active civil society.

   All responsible companies should boycott these venomous channels and civil society should mount pressure on them to do so, or face a boycott of their own products. A stirring of their conscience appears to have begun- just last week Bajaj and Parle announced that they will no longer advertise in some of these channels/networks because, as Rajiv Bajaj stated, I " do not want my children to inherit an India built on hate." Brave words, but then he is not known for mincing his words. The French car maker Renault has also been boycotting Republic TV and its Hindi mutant since May this year. But it did not do so out of any pricking of its conscience, but because of a campaign launched in France by Indian Alliance ( a group of diasporic Indians) with the hashtag  #RENAULT FUNDS HATE. The crusade was joined by Stop Funding Hate, another activist group in London, and by the French chapter of Sleeping Giants, a US based group which has been responsible for as many as 4000 companies withdrawing from BREITBART, a channel which is Mr. Trump's preferred purveyor of hate and racism.

   Unfortunately, the good work of these corporates has been somewhat undone by the Tatas and Tanishq this week by their withdrawal of an ad promoting inter faith marriage. This mighty conglomerate did not have the spine to stand up to the communal trolling for even one day! This supine surrender will only encourage the religious retards to further intimidate anyone who stands up for religious harmony. Notwithstanding his tall claims to philanthropy, Mr Ratan Tata always knows which side of his bread to butter, and this is usually the winning side. His action in not standing up for his convictions ( if he has any, that is ), along with the fact that his group continues to fund these toxic channels, has demolished all the principles that his predecessors stood for. But I'm still hopeful that not all of Indian industry belongs to the invertebrate genus and that more will follow the example of Bajaj, Parle and Renault.

   The lesson which emerges from the TRP implosion, therefore, should be that it is not only that channels like Republic and Times Now should be boycotted, but that the pressure and the boycott should extend also to those members of India Inc. who continue to support them with advertisements. For corporates too are citizens of this country and should be judged as such. It's bad enough for them to cosy up to the government, but must they also jump into bed with bigots, mercenaries and fanatics? Surely, there are better ways of making money than by pandering to the mob on prime time TV. Our captains of industry may do well to harken to the words of John Ruskin:

" You may either win your peace or buy it; win it by resisting evil, buy it by compromising with evil. "

IF HATHRAS DOESN'T MAKE US THINK AGAIN, THEN NOTHING WILL

    The voters of this country (or at least 37% of them) have given Mr. Modi and his party a long rope. They have kept the faith and have even tolerated the wholesale reneging on his lofty promises. He has not delivered on even one of them- the economy, federalism, relations with neighbours, raising India's international status, the safety of women, jobs. Instead, the damage caused these last six years has been immense: the country has never before been so divided socially, its institutions so dysfunctional, its judiciary so compromised, its politics so confrontational, its borders so threatened, its Parliament so irrelevant. But things are about to get even worse and Hathras is showing us the direction in which we are headed. For it is not a stand alone incident: it follows the pattern of Kathua and Unnao.

   It's not just the alleged rape and murder of a poor, helpless Dalit girl which should worry us, horrendous as that is. Sadly, we are now immune to them, what with 32000 rapes reported every year. What should alarm us is the response of the state government and the lack of any response from the PM himself to this human tragedy. For they confirm that this government lacks any compassion, and will not even allow society to express any empathy with a girl who was ravaged in  life and stripped of her rights and dignity in death. It will use sovereign violence to suppress legitimate protest, lodge FIRs to stop questions being asked, target the victim instead of the perpetrator of the crime. A country can live with incompetence but how does it survive as a civilised entity when its government has no heart or has a heart of darkness where the rays of compassion do not penetrate?

  The manner in which the girl's dead body was treated is beyond heinous, it calls into question whether our bureaucrats are in fact barbarians. It takes a special kind of sadism to deny the grieving parents a last look at their murdered daughter, or a cremation according to her religious rites. The actions of the police even thereafter- locking up the girl's family, confiscating their phones, threatening them to change their statements, cordoning off the village, beating up anyone, including elected representatives and journalists, trying to visit the village- make us wonder whether we are dealing with a Gestapo or with the police of a democratic country. And it is now following the script initially written by the equally brutal Delhi police- instead of admitting and rectifying its sins, it muddies the waters by alleging an "international conspiracy" to spread caste divisions and "defame" the government. At last count 21 FIRs had been lodged and cases registered against 600 persons. The witch hunt shall now commence. The UP police is only following the well trodden path first carved out at Bhima Koregaon, cemented in the anti-CAA protests and declared a national highway of fabrications in the Delhi riots- make the victims the accused, hide the crime behind a smokescreen of ridiculous conspiracy theories, bury the courts under 17000 page chargesheets.

   The Supreme Court has to emerge from its apathy and use its vast powers. It must intervene immediately, not tentatively and reluctantly but decisively, and exercise its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution. There can be no question of a CBI enquiry any more, or of an SIT: the khaki uniform is no longer trusted by the people. Only a judicial commission headed by a sitting judge of a High Court ( with at least three years of service left so that he is not led astray by the blandishment of reemployment, a-la the Gogoi) can be trusted to unearth the sordid truth and the inhuman players in this tragedy. But the Court needs to go beyond this minimum: the UP police can no longer be trusted with the statutory powers the law gives it, for it is using them to nullify the law of the land and the basic rights of the citizens. The Court should immediately prohibit the UP police from registering any case related to the Hathras incident and the protests that follow it, without the approval of the court or the judicial commission. Criminal cases  (including for destroying evidence by the midnight cremation of  the victim's body and for atrocities against a Scheduled Caste person/s) should be registered against the District Magistrate,  the SP and other officials. It should get to the heart of the matter immediately and not be led astray by the crocodile tears of a Solicitor General hand in glove with the government. What is clear in this case is not just lapses but institutional failure if not complicity. Granting repeated opportunities to the UP government or seeking affidavits on "witness protection" programmes is simply playing into the hands of that same government: every additional day granted will mean more vindictive FIRs, more journalists and activists arrested, more pressure on the parents of the girl. There is little point asking the administration for a witness protection programme when it has already established its true credentials by allegedly threatening the victims' families, treating them practically as the accused, spinning a canard that no rape ever took place, attempting to discredit the family by insinuating they had contacts with the accused. The court has to go beyond merely expressing shock, it has to reassure an apprehensive nation that it has what it takes to contain, and punish, an administration which has gone rogue.

   Comparisons in such matters are distasteful, but sometimes they are necessary to show us how far we have fallen. Hathras cannot but evoke painful memories of the Nirbhaya case of 2012. But then the state and central governments behaved quite differently and with compassion. Throughout the protests then the victim was provided all possible medical care, and was even flown to Singapore for specialised attention; her family was treated with compassion, the media and the opposition had full access to them, no attempt was made to create an alternative narrative of conspiracy and what have you. The Prime Minister and Mrs. Gandhi went to the airport to receive Nirbhaya's body. Need one contrast this with what is transpiring today?

   The danger today is not to our economy or to GST collections or to the Current Account Deficit, as some commentators would like us to believe. These are transient and can be fixed by sound policies and professionals. The real danger is to our very existence as a civilised nation, to our 72 year history as a functioning democracy, to the integrity of our institutions, our ability to continue as a diverse but coherent society, to our age-old values and traditions of humanism, fellow-feeling, compassion and charity. These are what define a great nation, not Ease of Doing Business or dubious international awards: once gone it will take many millenia to restore them. And these have been fast eroding these last few years under state patronage, under the cover of legal violence and persecution.

   Our tryst with Mr. Modi"s New India has failed miserably and is fast becoming the kiss of death. The long rope has run out and only the noose remains. All of us need to introspect seriously whether we have been making the right choices, and whether the time to scoff at Rahul Gandhi, believe the BJP IT Cell handouts, give credence to the likes of Times Now and Republic TV, fondly hope that the acche din are just another election away, is now over. Whether a country of 1300 million people with a 2.50 trillion dollar economy can be run simply on a lust for power and majoritarianism. It was tried in Europe in the 1940s and ended in destroying a nation.  Hathras may just be the last opportunity to do some introspection.