Question of survival of democracy
Three men claiming to be from CID, went to researcher and thinker Ram Puniyani’s house, and told him they were there because his family member had applied for a passport. But Puniyani was taken by surprise because no one from his family had applied for passport. He told them that and yet the strangers didn’t leave. They began asking him very intriguing questions about his personal life, and job etc. Finally, they left him with a very disturbing veiled threat.
In another incident, government stopped giving advertisement to two prominent Kashmiri dailies. Those newspapers played important role in Kashmiri people's lives. The government didn’t give any particular reason to stop the ads to these dailies. These newspapers enjoyed most trustworthy faith of the people and media in Kashmir, so much that when they decided to protest, all other newspapers joined hands with them and displayed vacant spaces on their papers without taking ads.
Dalit thinker and professor in Lucknow University Ravikant was nominated for Ramanlal Agarwal Award given by State Government Employees Union. The award ceremony was to be held at the end of the month. But this award was withdrawn all of a sudden. The reason was that he had criticized the BJP state and central government in social media. Government tried to muzzle the voice of The Hindu paper and its editor N Ram in connection with Rafale deal.
The government argued before the court as if bringing out the names of the accused is a big crime. N Ram went on record and said there is fear in media today. If the editor of one of the oldest and most credible paper can give this statement, what would be the case of small and medium level newspapers in states and regional spaces?
The reporters and columnists who wrote against the government have been often arrested or framed in charges. A mindset has been created which says criticizing the PM is like criticizing the country. A man in UP was beaten black and blue for speaking against unemployment. The government itself is sending out messages that none should speak against the government.
When the government is weak, the miscreants would begin to walk around strutting their chest out, and attack the thinkers and journalists in broad daylight. The messed up law and order situation comes into discussion then. But what’s happening in the country is pretty different. It’s not just the miscreants, but the whole legal and police system is working to continuously launch assaults on the secular fabric of the society. When people face threat, the government has to protect them. But here, the representatives of the government, the police themselves are launching an assault. When the agencies that represent the assaulters stand to continue the tirade against thinkers and critics, it would be called an ‘emergency’. When Indira Gandhi imposed emergency, many journalists were jailed. Writers used metaphors to describe her rule. But today there is no declaration as such. But the emergency exists in the garb of democracy itself. That’s more dangerous.
Ram Puniyani has worked to take the secular heritage of this country to common people. Hundreds of writers like Puniyani are taking real message of real India to people when Sangh Parivar is trying to sell the distorted history. The government is employing police to shut the mouths of such people. A lot of human rights activists in the name of Koregaon violence, writers and thinkers have already been jailed. Government calls them Urban Naxals.
Sudha Bharadwaj is one such activist who has been arrested. On one hand our government has arrested her, and on the other, Harvard University has honored her for her work and human rights activism. Isn’t it an insult of our democracy that the government keeps her in jail whereas Harvard has honored her? Isn’t this denting the credibility of the nation in international arena? Though the government tried to arrest Anand Teltumbde, the plan was foiled last minute. World is noticing that India is going into undeclared emergency. By the time this elections are over, it would not be surprising if more people are jailed and tortured. This is why this round of elections will surely decide the survival of democracy.
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Bengaluru: Scrap worker held for UPS battery thefts; 51 batteries recovered
Bengaluru: A 38-year-old scrap worker accused of stealing UPS batteries has been arrested by the Parappana Agrahara police for targeting roadside power backup units in Electronic City.
According to The Indian Express, the accused has been identified as Chinnadurai (38), a native of Tamil Nadu. He was apprehended on March 9 from a scrap shop in Vaddarapalya on Koppa Begur Main Road following a tip-off.
Police said the accused targeted roadside power backup units installed for CCTV cameras, streetlights, and traffic signals, disrupting public infrastructure, particularly in Electronic City Phase-2 and Shanthipura Main Road.
The case was originally registered on February 5 after a private company reported the theft of 10 UPS batteries from roadside locations.
During interrogation, Chinnadurai reportedly confessed to carrying out the thefts as a source of livelihood and admitted to similar offences across the city.
The police recovered 51 UPS batteries of various companies and seized an autorickshaw used in the crimes. The total value of the recovered property is estimated at Rs 4 lakh.
“With his arrest, we have detected this case and also solved two other theft cases registered against him in different police stations across the city,” a police officer said.
As per the report, the accused was produced before a court on March 10 and remanded to judicial custody.
The thefts had earlier led to traffic signals going non-functional in Electronic City, raising safety concerns among commuters.
