DECOMMISSIONING DAMS AND RE-WILDING THE RIVERS: IT'S TIME TO LET OUR RIVERS FLOW FREELY AGAIN

    There is a quiet revolution taking place in the world, but as is usual with most good things, it is passing India by. This movement, about fifteen years old but gathering momentum, is variously known as Rewilding of Rivers or as Dams Decommissioning. Its premise is that dams belonged to a different era of environmental ignorance and now, with climate change and global warming our primary concerns, they need to go. Technology too has made them largely obsolete.

   Dams, especially large ones, have provided benefits in terms of irrigation, power and flood control. But their downsides have also become evident over the years: the constant threat to downstream populations, adverse effect on fish spawning and migration, design flaws resulting in dam failures and flooding, release of huge quantities of methane from the reservoirs, displacement of populations, damage to biodiversity and river eco-systems. The most pernicious, however, has been the obstruction of the natural flow of rivers. Rivers are the arteries of a country, carrying water and nutrients to large areas, and their obstruction upsets the rhythms of nature. Today there are hardly any free flowing rivers left in the world.

   One of the most adverse effects of dams is the obstruction to the natural flow of sediments carried by rivers. This cyclic sedimentation has nurtured civilisations for centuries along the rivers- the Nile, Ganges, Euphrates, Mississippi, the Congo, Brahmaputra and so on. It has created vast and fertile deltas where cities have flourished. But with most rivers now being subjected to multiple dams, the silt load has diminished with alarming consequences in some cases.

  An example is the mighty Sunderbans, sprawling over 10000 sq.kms, the largest continuous mangrove forest in the world. Most of us aware that it is now threatened by global warming and rising sea levels. But what we don't know is that its land mass is being slowly declining because of reduced sedimentation by the Ganges, the result of the hundreds of large dams on this river . A path breaking research paper, based on satellite data, by Faiz Rehman ( Indiana University) and Basil El Masry( Murray State univ.) shows that the accretion of sediments in the Sunderbans has declined from 10 sq.km per year between 1973 and 1989 to 4 sq.km per year between 1989 to 2010. Their studies reveal that it has lost 170 sq.km. of land in the last 37 years. A similar fear about erosion of the Nile delta is one of the reasons why Egypt is opposing the new dam built by Ethiopia on the Blue Nile. 

   The undeniable evidence now being documented about the adverse effects of dams has led to a strong movement in most of the developed world for the decommissioning of dams and allowing the free flow of rivers in their natural state. The scientific view now is that dams should be dismantled / decommissioned when they pose a safety risk, no longer serve their intended purpose, or no longer meet the current social/ environmental/ economic values. For example, with renewable energy ( like solar or wind power) expanding and becoming cheaper every year, the need for hydel power may no longer be so vital or pressing.

  It has been estimated that dams have caused a 90% decline in migratory fish like salmon, herring and eels, and an 80% decline of fresh water fish ( the Gangetic dolphin and our own Mahaseer are prime examples), by blocking their spawning routes. Safety of downstream populations from floods can also be illusory: as reservoirs silt up fast the flood cushion supposed to be provided by dams is also reduced, forcing the dam management to release huge volumes of flood waters, causing devastation downstream. This happened in Chennai in 2015 and in Kerala in 2018- in fact, this has become almost an annual ritual in Kerala. The Rishiganga disaster in Uttarakhand a couple of years back is exclusively attributable to the dam on this river.

 This realisation is most visible in the United States and Europe., where planners are working with agencies like WWF, World Fish Migration Foundation, Wetlands International and the Nature Conservancy to decommission dams and river barriers. The USA has 90000 dams and Europe has 150000 barriers on its rivers. 1700 dams have been removed by the USA so far, and 600 have been dismantled in Europe: the latter's target is to restore 25000 kms of free flowing rivers by 2030.

   In contrast, India is doing just the opposite- we are still on a dam building spree, even though all data points to a rethink on the subject. The country has 5202 large dams, of which 1100 have completed 50 years of their life, with some being older than 120 years, well past their safe life. By 2050 as many as 4400 dams will have completed 50 years and 80% will have become obsolete. But we continue to build more dams on an unprecedented scale: 90 large dams have been constructed in the last 10 years alone, and 411 dams are under construction at the moment.

   The worst effected are the Himalayan states, which have the highest dam density in the world: 600 dams have been constructed, are under construction or are planned in this highly seismic region. But governments, both central and states, are yet to consider a decommissioning policy. The union government has passed a Dam Safety Bill in 2019 and in 2020 has notified a Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project ( DRIP). But these are only intended to extend the life of existing dams and fall far short of the global trend of restoring rivers to their free flowing status.

  Not only this, the central government is actually encouraging the construction of more dams by treating hydel projects as a renewable energy source, in order to meet its ambitious renewable energy targets. In 2019 it has reclassified dams above 25 MW as an RE source and has extended the debt repayment period to 18 years, apart from offering other incentives to project developers. This kind of tunnel vision and subterfuge ignores all environmental, safety and economic evidence to the contrary.

  With the exponential fall in solar power tariffs and increasing time and cost overruns in hydel projects, dams are becoming uneconomic. A typical, and instructive, example is the controversial Etalin HEP ( 3097 MW) in Arunachal Pradesh which has been on the drawing board for more than 15 years ! It has been estimated that power from this project, when completed, will cost between Rs. 8.00 and Rs. 9.00 per unit, whereas solar power tariff is currently between Rs. 2.00 and Rs. 3.00 per unit. Himachal Pradesh provides another example of the fact that hydel projects have outlived their utility but our policy makers will not accept the hard figures: just last month the HP govt. cancelled 26 projects and provided extension to another 191 to complete formalities. Most of these are likely to become stranded projects like Etalin.`

   The sooner Indian policy makers accept the inevitability of the environmental, safety and economic logic of discontinuing with dams and allowing rivers to flow freely again, the better it shall be for our ecology, health and downstream populations. It is high time to put in place a selective dam decommissioning policy and emerge from the comfort zone of contractors, tenders, and outdated and tired thinking. The planet is changing fast and so should our policy prescriptions.

THE BULLDOZER BLUES

    This last week has been a bit of a traumatic experience for us, the residents of Puranikoti village, as far away from Khargone and Jehangirpuri as Sabarmati Ashram is from the BJP headquarters in Jhandewalan. Now, PK is a tiny village with just 192 "souls" ( as the PWD board proclaims), we don't even have a full time village drunkard so we all take turns at discharging this responsibility. Nor is there much in the way of excitement here: the last time we got really excited was about a year ago, when one of the residents was appointed Chief Secretary, much against the run of play. Since then, however, we have only had the occasional tourist falling off the mountainside or a wandering leopard carrying off a village mongrel, usually named Tommy or Tiger in deference to the state's high literacy rates. 

    So you can imagine our collective surprise when one morning a bulldozer rumbled into the village, fortunately without Anjana Om Kashyap perched on the bonnet.  Puranikoti has no masjids, no halal meat shops, no Bangladeshis or Rohingyas , no Muslims, no houses built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana which need demolition, and no encroachments other than the orchards on forest land, which is an acceptable means of adding to one's immoveable property in Himachal. Why then was this paragon of the acche din trundling into our village?

   We all rushed to locate our title deeds, building plan approvals and the phone number of the local MLA. One die hard optimist even tried to get the mobile numbers of Brinda Karat and Amanatullah Khan, the only known antidotes for rampaging bulldozers in this, the 75th year of our republic. Someone suggested we call the media chaps, till we saw that three OB vans were already following the bulldozer and one had a banner which proclaimed " Bulldozer hai to mumkin hai." The village idiot suggested we ring up Rahul Gandhi for help but someone else pointed out that he was in a Nepal disco dancing with nubile nymphs. The current, pro-forma village drunkard offered to push the bulldozer down the mountain if someone would give him a bottle of "santara"- that was a non-starter because he had already finished off the entire stock in the local "theka" the previous night.

   Imagine our surprised relief then as the malevolent machine showed no sign of stopping in our village but kept going, growling its way down through the forests in the direction of Ghorna village. Perhaps it was going to carve an illegal road through forest land, perhaps its mission was to do a little illicit mining on the side, perhaps the driver's intention was to impress his girlfriend, like that bridegroom in Madhya Pradesh who landed up at his wedding on a bulldozer- who knows? My own view is that it was a flag march to build confidence among the hoi polloi and  instill fear among the anti nationals. In the words of Confucius: man who raise objection will be razed himself. In happier times flag marches were carried out by troops or cops, but no longer- the bulldozer has now become the symbol of the power of the state, and the people love it. There's an opportunity here for a smart political party which applies to have it as its election symbol . I hope the Congress is listening, because the hand now looks like a STOP sign on a one way road. Or Akhilesh Yadav: the cycle looks pretty pedestrian compared to this 200 horsepower behemoth, doesn't it ? No oomph to it.

  If , dear reader, you are getting the impression that Puranikoti is on the edge these days, you would be quite right. But it's not just the bulldozer: there's also this new Gyanvapi trend that's catching on like the latest Covid mutant virus. In the days before Ramrajya arrived, when you bought a piece of land you simply checked the title and possession of the landowner. Now, however, you have to do a Phd in  ancient Indian history and dig up the land to a depth of at least five feet before signing on the dotted line.

  I did neither when I bought my bighas and I'm now a worried man. There are a couple of suspicious looking mounds on the Shukla estate: what if they contain a shivling shaped piece of rock ? Or an ancient idol, discarded by some villager in bygone times in a redevelopment scheme ? Going by current practice, it wouldn't be long before some court would send in a videographer or a court Commissioner, the house would be sealed, and I would be camping outside the Supreme Court along with all those chappies from Kashi, Mathura, Mandya and the Qutab Minar. It's quite possible that soon you may require a certificate from the ASI that there are no buried idols or temples beneath the plot before you can get a home loan, register your property or erect a building on it.

  And even if I am somehow spared the above test, there remains the question of title. When Todar Mal prescribed his revenue laws he certainly did not visualise that the Jamabandi would one day be expected to be the equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls- stretching back to historical infinity. The title of the present or immediate past owner is no longer enough, as the Taj Mahal imbroglio last week shows: one should verify ownership for at least five hundred years, lest a Diya Kumari type suddenly appears out of the ether of Chanel or Cartier and claims that the land was forcibly taken from her ancestors. Now, I'm fairly certain that neither the Mughals nor the Jaipur royal family ever came to Puranikoti ( even the present rulers in Shimla have yet to discover this place),  but there used to be a Raja of Koti and his descendants are still hanging around Mashobra. You get my drift, I hope.

  No, sir, these are difficult times. I'm seriously considering two options to hedge my bets. The first is to install pictures of Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah on my front gate. According to a report in the Jansatta of 19th May, bulldozers stopped their demolition of a house in Delhi's Khichripur when they noticed pictures of these stalwarts on one wall of the house. The photos achieved something even the Supreme Court's stay orders did not, and this is a good low cost option. Why, I may even add a picture of Kangana Ranaut to the photo gallery for good measure- that should stop any bulldozer in its tracks, like it did Karan Johar and Hrithik Roshan ! I'm also considering  withdrawing my savings from the bank before Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman grabs them all, and using them to purchase a bulldozer. Not only can I use it to flatten all those mounds before somebody notices them but it will also establish my credentials as a progressive citizen of the Naya Bharat. There's more than one way to skin a CAT ( or a JCB), you know.

SHIMLA : GOING, GOING, GONE !

    Einstein had once famously remarked that the only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance. A surfeit of either is minacious. A mixture of both, however, can be disastrous. The elected government of Himachal is now displaying that it has both attributes in abundance and it is the residents of the state who are paying the price for this uninformed hubris, which is bound to increase exponentially in the years to come. The ignorance is perhaps remediable, but the arrogance of politicians elected for five years and bureaucrats assured of a thirty- year tenure is becoming endemic in our " electoral autocracy", and can spell disaster for the state.

   Notwithstanding the daily visitations of the impacts of climate change, deforestation and global warming in the state, the government is deaf and blind to the pernicious effects of its distorted "development" model on the ecology and livelihoods of its citizens. Huge swathes of local populations and panchayats have been protesting for years against the Jangi-Thopan hydel project in Kinnaur, the so-called international airport in Balh valley of Mandi district, the Kishau dam project in Shimla district, to mention just a few. Even while these agitations continue, the government has decided in its arrogance and ignorance to push ahead with another blunder- the ill thought-out new Development Plan 41( DP41) for Shimla, which was given Cabinet approval last week and could be notified any day now.

  This decision flies in the face of repeated studies and warnings by its own agencies- an EIA by the State Department of Environment ( 2013), a Comprehensive Disaster Management Plan by the Municipal Corporation Shimla ( 2012), both of which had advised against relaxing the Town Planning rules. Having already more or less destroyed this once idyllic town, the government is now preparing to administer the death blow- it's like a murderer  returning to the scene of his crime to ensure that the job is well and truly done. And it will be, if the courts allow this to be implemented.

   In 2017 the NGT ( National Green Tribunal), acting on a petition by an environmentalist, Jogin Sengupta, had appointed an Expert Committee to make recommendations for future town planning and construction in Shimla Planning Area. Unlike most govt. committees this one had professionals from the Wadia Institute, National Disaster Management Authority, Ministry of Environment and Forests, NEERI, among others. It would be relevant to list out here some of the more significant observations/ recommendations of this committee:

[1] Shimla falls under seismic Zone IV and this is compounded by the fact that 85% of the town is located in landslide prone zone, that most constructions are on steep slopes with gradients between 45* and 75*, buildings are constructed on overburden rather than on on solid rock, barely 20% of them meet the standards for seismic proof construction.

[2] In the event of an earthquake 39% of the buildings shall collapse, and the cascading effects of falling buildings will have a multiplier effect. More than 20000 people shall be killed. This, says the Committee, is an extremely conservative estimate. "It is evident that Shimla and its surrounding areas face great risk to life and property in case of earthquakes and big landslides."

[3] The town has long exceeded its carrying capacity and needs to be urgently decongested.

[4] There should be no new construction of any kind or addition to existing facility in the Green Areas, Core areas or Heritage Areas.

[5] There is an urgent need to increase the forest cover of the town, both for reasons of ecology, water conservation and soil stability.

[6] In view of the above findings and observations the Committee recommended that, far from allowing any relaxations, the boundaries of the Green Belt be extended further, and that new No Construction areas be created in the High Sinking/ Landslide Zones such as Lakkar Bazaar, Dhobighat, Ladakhi Mohalla, Krishnanagar and the area surrounding Clarkes Hotel. 

  The NGT accepted most of these eminently sensible recommendations and, by its order of 2017,   imposed a complete ban on any fresh construction in Shimla's 17 Green Belts and Core Areas, and also restricted construction in the non-core areas to two floors and an attic. The state's appeal against this order is pending in the Supreme Court, but no stay has been granted. Therefore, it is self evident that the new Development Plan 41 is in violation, if not outright  contempt, of the NGT order. ( That the government is not bothered by these minor legalities is explained by the fact that elections to the state are due in December and to the Shimla Municipal Corporation in June this year. And votes matter more than deodars or lives, as we well know by now).

                         

                                                      [ SHIMLA- SPOT THE TREE ]

  The SDP 41 amounts to driving a coach and four through the NGT order and the report of the Expert Committee. It upturns just about every recommendation and stipulation that could have saved Shimla: construction is now permitted in the Green Belts, the Core and Heritage Areas, a jaw dropping six floors is allowed in the non-core areas, for both commercial and residential buildings. The govt. has completely discarded the scientific findings of the Expert Committee- that every seismologist of any worth has predicted that the Himalayas are overdue for a major earthquake of at least 7.3 magnitude, that Shimla is already in seismic zone IV but moving to V with the destabilisation and deforestation of its slopes, that no vertical growth should be permitted, that a town with a carrying capacity of 25000 population is already overloaded with 225000 people ( with an additional 100000 being added during the tourist season), that its roads are wholly inadequate and will not allow rescue operations in the event of any emergency, that its green cover is disappearing at an alarming rate and anthropogenic pressures make natural regeneration of its deodars impossible. Issues about inadequacy of water supply, garbage disposal, climate change- all of which have been flagged by the Committee and the NGT- have been brushed aside with contempt and the arrogance of power.

  And this in spite of the fact that the restrictions imposed in 2000 on new constructions were actually working: the census of 2011 established beyond doubt that between 2000 and 2010 the decadal growth in the population of Shimla came down by 50%, serving a key objective of reducing congestion. All this will now be undone.

  The new Plan, if allowed to be implemented, will not only lead to a rash of new construction but will also unleash a deluge of applications for the "regularisation" of thousands of illegal buildings constructed since 2000. This process is euphemistically termed " retention policy" and every govt. has taken recourse to it in the past as a vote multiplier- Shimla has had seven retention policies so far, and with each new one the town has moved closer to perdition. It will not survive another one, or the new SDP.

  What baffles me, however, is the resounding silence of Shimla's residents: they are like lambs being led to slaughter ( literally, when the next earthquake arrives) but I don't hear anyone bleating, other than people like Mr. Sengupta who filed the original petition in the NGT. Why are the citizens of this historic settlement not starting a civic movement to force the govt. to back off from this madness? Why are they not making this an election issue for both, the state and municipal elections? Why are they not rallying behind Mr. Sengupta ( who is expending his own resources in this cause) with funding, free legal help and a challenge to the new Plan in the courts? Why is it left to just one or two concerned citizens to protect one of India's most historic towns from oblivion?

  With the executive hell bent on ramming through SDP41, it is now only the High Court or the NGT which can save Shimla. Our courts should not disassociate themselves from such grave public issues: after all, judges too are citizens and residents of this town and shall suffer the consequences of suicidal policies as much as ordinary citizens will. I learn that a young environmentalist and scholar, Richa Minocha, has filed a PIL in the High Court this week for staying this apocalyptic Plan. One fervently hopes that the court will accept this petition and stay the SDP 41. We need more citizens to join and support her. We need the High Court too to bury this Plan beneath the debris of the seven storey building which collapsed in Kachighati last year: that would be the most apt head-stone for a piece of regulation that should never have seen the light of day. To adapt and rephrase the wise words of the historian Arnold Toynbee about civilisations to the present context: Cities do not die of themselves, they are murdered by politicians and town planners. 

  

THE BJP IS WINNING ANYWAY, ELECTIONS ARE A SIDESHOW.

   Last week I received a draft petition to the Election Commission of India from a well known writer and activist of civil society about the use of EVMs, with the request to obtain endorsements for it. I forwarded it to about twenty contacts, all well read people, engaged with and concerned about the state of our democracy under the present regime. Only four of them endorsed the memorandum, the others have maintained a strategic silence. And therein lies an unpleasant and disturbing truth- it's time we faced up to it.

  The BJP is winning this game. The official proclamation of the Hindu rashtra may still be some years in the future, but it is taking shape on the ground and will be a fait accompli very soon. The eloquent silence of my sixteen friends is one indication- it is safer to be silent, accept the inevitable, what will be will be.

   The battle for the Hindu rashtra has to be won in the minds of the people first before it can be legitimised in Parliament or in the courts. This requires a three pronged strategy : enlist support for the cause, discourage any opposition to it, and create conditions on the ground for a majoritarian state when its time comes. And this is to be done regardless of election results; if the BJP wins the elections (which it generally does) that is a bonus. If it doesn't, it will still have laid a platform for the kind of India that other parties will find difficult to oppose. The BJP is going about this job with its usual careful planning and ruthless execution, while other parties are still floundering in a morass of competing egos and power point presentations.

  For a Hindu rashtra to be born it is imperative that a large section of the 80% of the population be convinced that minorities, especially the Muslims, are the anti-national " Other" and need to be shown their place. This is being done through a blend of legislative measures and lumpen elements. Triple Talaq, Hijab and beef bans, CAA (Citizen Amendment Act)  NRC (National Register of Citizens) and UCC (Uniform Civil Code) belong to the first group. To the second belong the shobha yatras, provocative sloganeering outside mosques, bulldozers, dharm sansads and the in-your-face Hanuman Chalisaa. The violent reactions to this relentless persecution, provocation and sloganeering are exactly what the BJP wants for they further demonise the other community in the minds of the Hindus and reaffirm the necessity for a "safe" nation for the Hindus. The idea is to generate a fear (if not hate) psychosis, which is fertile ground for planting the seeds of division, and so far at least the BJP has been successful at this. With each Jehangirpuri, Khargone or Jodhpur the impending harvest looks more promising.

   The BJP appears to have been quite successful in  enlisting support for its perverted weltanschauung. Bearing testimony to this are the daily hate messages on one's Whatapp, the nature and tenor of media reporting, groups of retired govt. officials (like the Concerned Citizens Group) quick to take on any other group which has the temerity to be critical of the regime, members of Big Capital who benefit from the fact that cronyism is the obverse side of communalism, the daily defections from other parties to the BJP, the stupendous contributions to the Electoral bonds, the victory in all eight seats in Lakhimpur Kheri. Most approve of the BJP's communal and majoritarian vision of the country, the others are either silent or tagging along for the ride on the gravy train. Either way, the support is growing.

   Any opposition to this grand plan is ruthlessly crushed, by the state police in BJP ruled states and by central agencies in others. A Jignesh Mavani will be arrested and hauled 2500 miles to another state, an Aakar Patel or Rana Ayub will be prevented from going abroad, inconvenient TV stations and Youtube channels will be shut down, NGOs will be deregistered, teachers will be sacked for teaching the "wrong" lesson, houses and shops will be bulldozed if you resist the march to the promised land. It is not without reason that our Prime Minister has not entertained a single press conference in his own country in eight years, or that he refuses to take questions at press conferences abroad. It is also not without reason that the latest Press Freedom Index shows that India has further slipped eight places to 150th rank out of 180 countries. But all this is small change for big bucks.

   For the inescapable truth is that the country is steadily moving in the direction the BJP and RSS want it to, a fatigue is setting in among the minorities and the remnant who still espouse liberal values; even the Opposition is casting itself in the new mould. A Nitish Kumar has betrayed every principle he grew up with, so long as he can remain Chief Minister ( and maybe become President, if his current posturing is any thing to go by). A Naveen Patnaik will continue to prevaricate, refuse to take a stand and support the government in Parliament. As will a YSR or a KCR, so long as they can continue in power in their own states, ignoring the erosion of federalism, the imposition of Hindi and the misuse of central agencies, all of which are steadily cutting away the ground under their feet.

  Arvind Kejriwal is perhaps the most unethical, duplicitous and opportunistic of the lot: while giving anti- Modi bytes in public, he has abandoned the minorities, has refused to be counted on Shaheen Bagh, the farmers' protests, the NE Delhi riots and Jehangirpuri. In fact, on this last incident, he has out Heroded even the BJP- blaming it all on the Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, which is precisely the right wing narrative. He will soon discover, to the country's cost, that one can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds for ever. By not working with the other opposition parties and insisting on ploughing a lonely furrow to the holy grail of the Prime Minister's chair, he will have ceded even more ground to the BJP in the not-so-long run.

   What is perhaps most egregious and alarming is the haste with which other states and parties are adopting the BJP's tool-kit: vigilante violence in West Bengal, imposition of untenable sedition charges against the Rana couple in Maharashtra, the use of Punjab police by Kejriwal to hound Kumar Vishwas and Alka Lamba in Delhi, the use of bulldozers in Alwar in Rajasthan. These are the precise forms of misgovernance the Opposition is supposed to be fighting against! By emulating them these states and Chief Ministers are providing legitimacy to the BJP's narrative.

  The administrative ground for the coming Hindu rashtra is more or less ready. All institutions, including the so-called constitutional ones, have become compliant and willing partners. The syllabi of educational bodies are being redrafted to exclude Faiz, Mughal history, federalism, secularism, social and economic inequalities, and all subjects which should concern any democratic dispensation. All-India Service rules are being manipulated on a regular basis to suit the purposes of the ruling party at the center, the latest being the reinduction of Shah Faesal into the IAS, three years after he resigned, even though the rules do not permit this. He is perhaps needed for the next gambit in Kashmir. All central enforcement agencies are now we-don't-give -a-damn partisan. It took an Assam Sessions judge to recently warn us that we are becoming a police state. ( The observation was predictably stayed by the Assam High Court). Even the Army appears to be falling in line, as evidenced by the haste with which an Iftaar tweet by the Army's PRO in Jammu was deleted. All these may look like straws in the wind, but it's the Devil's Wind we are talking of here.

   The judiciary, frankly, is a mixed bag or a pig in a poke at best. It has given us some memorable judgments, like the Delhi High court on giving bail to Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita under UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act), or the one on Pegasus, or the order which stayed the banning of Media One channel on "security" considerations. But that UAPA judgment has not been followed up for others similarly accused, including the Elgar Parishad detainees; challenges to fundamental anti-democratic laws on Electoral Bonds, reorganisation of Kashmir, Article 370, sedition, powers of the Delhi govt. etc. are still not being heard or decided. Hundred of habeas corpus petitions are not being heard. Bulldozers continue to run riot. No accountability is being fixed or reparations being ordered for proven victims of state brutality and injustice. Instead, as a recent Delhi High Court order in the Umar Khalid case indicates, the judiciary appears to be more concerned about ring-fencing the Prime Minister from any criticism, and frowning on the use of words like "jumla", "krantikari" and  "inquilab" which are part of our daily lexicon. Will the courts now decide the vocabulary for free speech ? It's difficult to assess where the judiciary is headed, but the portents are not encouraging, especially when push will come to shove, as it inevitably will.

    The country is being readied to welcome the Hindu rashtra. The BJP will continue to win elections, and even where it doesn't, it keeps increasing its vote share, as in Bengal. The southern states may baulk at this but they shall soon be brought in line by the liberal use of Delimitation Commissions, Finance Commissions, a reoriented IAS and IPS, Pegasus Two (whatever happened to the report of the SC appointed committee?), smart use of the crores in the Electoral bonds. The goons on the streets will do the rest of the persuading.

   I hope my sixteen silent friends realise how close the flames are to their houses, and that silence does not provide any immunity or safe passage. As the poet Sheikh Ibrahim Zauq asks us :

" Ab to ghabra ke yeh kehte hain ki mar jayenge

  Mar ke bhi chain nahin paya to kidhar jayenge ?"