Whispers Forum

In 1931, the minority community in Bihar constituted 15% of the population. In 2023 as per the caste survey of Bihar, the minority community constituted 18%. There are claims in the minority community that they are 25%. These figures hide more than they show. Between 1931 and 2023, there was partition in 1947. The minority community sought a separate country and got it. Acting on the two nation theory, the bulk of the minority community from Bihar went to Pakistan (they are called Biharis in Pakistan even today and persecuted being in such large numbers) and Bangladesh in large numbers. How come still there is an increase in their percentage (not just numbers, but percentage)? What could be the reason? The obvious reason is infiltration. For seventy years, the corrupt dynasts and corrupt casteist parties have actively encouraged infiltration from across the border, settled them in Bihar, given them ration cards and identity cards, to create a vote bank for themselves. The casteist parties took the game further, securing their vote bank politics. Now, this seventy years of appeasement had other aspects. Very cleverly, to bolster their population argument and to appease these groups, these parties gave the benefit of caste based reservations to the Minority community. Now, it is a fact that Islam is a casteless society. Nowhere in the Islamic world is caste recognised. The Muslims do not suffer any caste based disabilities. For a thousand years, they were the rulers of India. There can be no reason to give caste based reservations to the Minority community. But it adds heft to the population argument. 15% of the population which is being counted among the backwards in Bihar today, increasing their population artificially to so called 63% are Muslims. Minus the Muslims, this reduces to 48%. This is a huge difference. Clearly, the corrupt dynasts and the corrupt casteists feel caste census is going to help them regain power in order to bring back jungle raj and further appeasement. Now, what are the things which are required to be done in order to remove this infiltration led population percentage increase? The prerequisite to caste census is CAA and NRC. It has to be first decided who is a citizen of the country before counting caste. Caste counting of Bangladeshis to bolster the claim of increase in OBC population is a trick which has been tried by these corrupt dynasts and casteist elements for far too long. In order to limit the process of infiltration, a Uniform Civil Code is also a must. Once a uniform civil code is implemented, the Bangladeshi infiltrators will have less incentive to cross over and enjoy free reservations in India (which they never get in Bangladesh). The next step is to remove the Minority community from caste based reservations. They can be given reservations once the CAA and NRC is done, along with implementation of the Uniform Civil Code as citizens of the country, as members of the unreserved category on the grounds only of poverty. Any other prescription will only bolster infiltration.
Vijay Kumar

The failure or irrelevance of RTI Act can be attributed to non-compliance of its provisions. For instance, if, the central/States' PIOs refuse to receive an application for information or fail to furnish the desired information within the prescribed time period or knowingly give incorrect, incomplete or misleading information, the Central/State Information commissions are empowered to impose penalty of Rs 250/ for each day's delay subject to the total amount not exceeding Rs 25,000/. This is subject to the proviso that the Central/State PIOs are given reasonable opportunity of being heard before imposing the penalty. Neither the Central/ State Information Commissions nor the union/State governments, have details of cases in which penalties have been imposed. One can safely assume the number to be Zero. Diluting the authorities of Central / States' Information Commissions, it seems, is part of a planned conspiracy. The Commissions' verdicts on second appeals are not binding on the governments ,let alone, CPIOs / States' PIOs. Worse, the service conditions of Central/States information commissioners including their appointments, promotions, fixation of salaries etc are controlled by the respective governments. The position gets worse due to the large pendency of vacancies of Information commissioners ,both at the Centre and the States. These are perceived as mere parking lots for obliging the superannuated bureaucrats. There is no succession planning; no advance action to fill the vacancies immediately as these arise.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

The Government of India has invited nominations from civil servants of the rank of Joint Secretaries, Directors and Deputy Secretaries for deployment as ‘Rath Prabharis’ (special officers). Their job would be to showcase the government's achievements of the past nine years by organising ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’, across the country for five months preceding the General elections next year. The Yatra is expected to cover 765 districts and 2.69 lakh Gram Panchayats. It is a good initiative to enhance citizens' awareness about the government's achievements. However, there are some valid questions arising out of the decision, which merit careful consideration. These are as follows.
(a) Does the move not amount to utilising the official manpower for private (Read as political) ends before the general elections ; (b)Will this not adversely impact the civil servants ,who,as per Conduct Rules, are expected to be politically neutral ; (c) Is the move ethically and morally justified ; (d) Could the deployment of serving civil servants for private purpose, stand the scrutiny in the court of law; (e) Strangely, the steel frame of serving civil servants are keeping mum on the ill-advised move. Worse, even the retired senior bureaucrats who have no axe to grind are reticent about it. Against this background, there could be a better alternative to neutralise the opposition's criticism. The Centre would be better advised to utilise the services of retired senior bureaucrats, instead of deploying the serving officers and thereby causing utter dislocation of official work? The order does not mention as to who will perform the duties of Rath Prabharis during their absence from headquarters? If there is no trust deficit in superannuated bureaucrats, many would offer their services, pro bono, to the ruling dispensation.
A K Saxena ( A former civil servant)

It is learnt that instructions have been issued for certain categories of central services officers to engage in promoting various initiatives taken by the present government led by Narendra Modi in the last nine years. As a common citizen, it is strongly felt that this is a clear misuse of official machinery to engage in such promotional work which is not strictly falling within the officers' responsibilities. The Officers need to decline and also take it up through their representative associations. It will be recalled that the previous govt was engaging in such unethical actions by undertaking massive govt ad campaigns where pictures of the president of a political party who had no constitutional position were propagated. We must establish proper norms.
A K Singh

This is a blatantly partisan order and shows an attitude of restricting the flow of information which is omnipresent in the bureaucracy. The RTI Act is being reduced to Right to Terminate Application without any reason. Are the information commissioners so ignorant as the order makes them out? Or was it merely a slip or a wishful desire to help the public authority? (CBI in this case). Whatever be the reason, it shows the institution in a very poor light. Wake up CIC and recall the order. There is nothing wrong in accepting a mistake. It rather shows the magnanimity of the individuals and the strength of the institution.
Shailesh Kumar

Millions of words had flowed in the print media in the last three years of the decade of 1960, yet the situation today stands where it was then. The Israel Palestine conflict was debated endlessly. It is unlikely to be resolved satisfactorily in another 50 years. The reason is that there are no permanent solutions to some problems; no final answers to some questions; no ultimate logical end to certain arguments. That is the only lesson a reader can draw from the epic Mahabharat. Conflicts within an individual or outside in society end in war only: the Mahabharat within breaks out without much justification. Nobody can remain neutral. There is no choice. Ambivalence in supporting or opposing is costlier. The world is divided on terrorists even as it suffers the consequences of terrorist strikes. It is now a business for the powerful to breed terrorists and use them as toolkits. Justin Trudeau nursery proves it.
M L Gupta

Unarmed civil policemen in uniform getting beaten up happens frequently in India, such as an aggressive lady scooterist slapping and punching a traffic cop in Delhi a few years ago, a Kolkata cop assaulted by four men for booking a biker riding without a helmet last year, a cop kidnapped and assaulted in Sagar, MP this year or a on duty policeman in Noida beaten in a case of road rage in May this year. A defender of the law unable to defend himself is a spectacle very unnerving to the law abiding citizen and it emboldens other law breakers. In other democratic countries of the world, a civil policeman is armed at the very least with a short wooden baton hanging from his belt, which is easily accessible and adequate in normal circumstances to defend himself or for use as a weapon of offense. Why is this so not in India? The reason is very interesting. Actually it was not always so. If one watches clips of police controlling unruly crowds in British India, such small batons being used by them is a common sight. When not in use they hung by a thong from the waist belt. Why were they given up or rather simply vanishing? I found the reason by chance during my posting way back in the early seventies in Indore, MP. In the police lines I came across a store room full of such discarded batons. Officers who were in service at the time of Independence, revealed that the political class that came to power after Independence probably viewed these batons as signs of colonial repression and ordered them to be discarded forthwith all over the country. Ironically, the batons were replaced by a device more lethal, a cane staff three feet long and about one and a half inches thick, commonly called the “lathi”. Unfortunately the cane staff is too long to be hung from the waist belt when not in use. Consequently it is generally left clamped in the carrier of a bicycle or stuck in the motorcycle. In a surprise attack, it cannot be retrieved and the policeman is an easy game. The earlier short baton needs to be brought back, in line with police forces of the Western and South East Asian democracies. The cane staff is useful only as part of riot control equipment for dealing with mobs.
A R Pawar, former DGP, MP

If the people want good orders from CIC which are legal and in favour of disclosure, they must exercise pressure on their local representatives or such orders depicting the ignorance of the CIC will continue to flow. An incompetent teacher can destroy the future generations and a judge can end the Rule of Law. The information commission is the last bastion of democracy and it must rise up to the occasion by giving quality orders in the shortest time. Delays and illogical orders will end the faith of the citizens in the sunshine act. For accountability to flourish, the gatekeepers must be competent and agile.
V K Dash

Your website carries two items of RTI today - 1.Brilliant case law 2. News of CIC retiring on October 3 (Today is October 16). The case law shows what is wrong with the structure of RTI in India. Instead of the CIC acting in favour of disclosure, the Information Commission is looking for the slightest of the option to refuse information on technical grounds. It is the travesty of the Country to have wolves as guardians. Having a few Bureaucrats as Information Commissioners is fine, but why should almost all the Information Commissioners be retired civil servants? Those who have not given information during their service period will not turn monks and hence, their tendency to reject application on the slightest pretext is not good for democracy. The order shows that the Information Commissioners are poorly equipped in legal knowledge and lack the basic attitude which is essential for transparency.
Samariya