Anna: Hunger strike that hardly was
The hunger strike launched by Anna Hazare finished like an abstract act. At one point, this country was looking for traces of Mahatma Gandhi in him. His protest against UPA government had sent shock waves across the country.
Media wrote it as the most genuine uprising by the country against the menace of corruption. But for Hazare to understand that his fight was pitched against UPA government and not corruption as such, Modi had to occupy the chair of PM.
When Hazare was on his hunger strike last time, Modi who was the CM of Gujarat had written to him saying he has been a close fan of Anna ever since his young days.
He had even warned him against the "corrupt" and said "please take care of your health. The corrupt will not hesitate to even harm you" and also "while you are on a hunger strike there, I am observing hunger here in my state too" stating he joined this campaign in spirit and presence.
Now that Hazare was sitting on a hunger strike in Ralegan Siddhi since the last one week, for the same demand he had last time, Modi has not come to meet him. He hasn't even written a note to Hazare.
Anna has realised a bit later that "BJP used him" to meet its own ends. He even said that before the people, out in the open. Not just that, he said before the media that if something were to happen to his life or safety, Modi would be responsible for everything.
In some sense, it looked like he was begging someone from the government to save his life. Finally the Maharashtra CM met him and treating that as a pretext, he ended his strike.
In the given situation, the very demand of Anna for Lokpal to be established itself is very unrealistic. One cannot expect a government that has interfered and compromised on every investigating agency to its comfort, to set up Lokpal ever.
The government threw out the CBI chief unceremoniously.
Today CBI has suffered such a loss of face that even state police could arrest them in West Bengal. IT officers are at the beck and call of the government. It's rather unreasonable to assume a new Lokpal would be set up that has the capacity to inquire into the power and doings of a Prime Minister.
Anna Hazare has maintained silence over the fact that all investigating agencies including the CBI have been left without teeth. Mega scandals like Rafale and others are lying abandoned without a decent investigation. At a time like this, how can one even assume this government would set up Lokpal?
UPA government have this country the RTI act through which people could question the power and doings of a government, administrative powers that be and the politicians.
At least to that extent we need to appreciate the UPA government. Today, the Modi government has trimmed every possible wing of RTI act. Hazare has never spoken against is, and he is hoping to see a Lokpal being set up out of the pressure his hunger strike is creating on the government. This could be plain innocence. On one hand if Hazare really wants a Lokpal, he has to start a new strike to displace the Modi government because so long as Modi exists, Lokpal will not be set up.
Just as he admits himself, BJP and RSS has used Hazare against the UPA government. They played a clever game of chess with him as the pawn. It does not look like anybody around Hazare were interested in fighting corruption. Instead, they just wanted to help collapse the UPA government and bring BJP into power at the centre.
Most of the youngsters in the crowd supporting Hazare were boys who were planted by the RSS. Even the media did not want a government free from corruption. Most of them have sold themselves to the ruling dispensation.
Hence it would be a joke to assume they'd be opposing corruption at all. Anna may have assumed he'd command the same support and same size of crowds even today as he did then. Or he may even have some hidden agenda to stage this dharna.
Anna Hazare is not beyond politics. His opinions about Gandhi ideology are grossly misplaced. He had even praised Gujarat model once. He has no particular ideas about political stances, and often comes across as someone who’d take any way that he would be pushed towards. Even now, he is acting at the behest of some forces.
“I have been assured that my demands would be met, so I am withdrawing my hunger fast” said Anna sounding either desolate or helpless. No one would believe the word of current government after having seen the level of interference they have made into the prevailing intelligence agencies.
Hazare could have asked for a parliamentary committee to investigate into Rafale scandal. This could have generated some trust and other parties may have even joined him.
Hazare has not taken any tough decisions against the centre ever. He is associated with RSS and BJP and has a soft corner for them. Hence, all his hunger strikes are ending up being comedies.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Maharashtra Dy CM Ajit Pawar, four others killed in plane crash
Baramati (PTI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four other persons on board an aircraft were killed after it crashed near the Baramati airport in Maharashtra’s Pune district on Wednesday.
The 66-year-old leader’s death has not only left a vacuum in the BJP-led state coalition government, but also cast a shadow on the future of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which he headed.
His uncle and NCP founder Sharad Pawar said the plane crash was an accident which shouldn't be politicised.
The "black box" (comprising the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder) from the aircraft, will be analysed after recovery to determine the cause of the accident, an official said.
Ajit Pawar had taken off from Mumbai in the morning to address four rallies in the day in Pune district for the February 5 zilla parishad elections.
The others killed in the tragedy were Captain Sumit Kapoor, who had a flying experience of 15,000 hours, co-pilot Capt. Shambhavi Pathak with 1,500 hours of flying, Personal Security Officer (PSO) Vidip Jadhav and flight attendant Pinky Mali.
The government released a statement detailing the sequence of events that led to the crash and Pawar's death.
The aircraft, a Learjet, was cleared for landing in Baramati on Wednesday morning after a go-around due to poor visibility, but having finally received a clearance it did not give any read-back' to the ATC, and moments later burst into flames on the edge of the runway.
In aviation parlance, a go-around is a standard procedure where a pilot discontinues a landing attempt and initiates a climb to fly another approach. It is used when a landing cannot be completed safely due to factors like poor weather, an unstable approach, or traffic on the runway. It is a proactive safety measure rather than an emergency.
A readback is a crucial safety procedure where a pilot repeats back the essential parts of a message or instruction received from Air Traffic Control (ATC). It acts as a "closed-loop" communication system, ensuring that the controller's instructions were heard and understood correctly by the flight crew.
The 16-year-old chartered aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd, crashed while attempting a second landing approach at Baramati airport which is an uncontrolled airfield where traffic information is typically provided by instructors and pilots from local flying training organisations.
V K Singh, owner of VSR Ventures, said the pilot apparently could not see the runway and carried out a "missed approach", a standardised procedure in such cases.
Terrifying eyewitness accounts have emerged from the site of the aircraft crash as residents near the Baramati airport described a scene of chaos as the plane appeared to lose control before erupting into a series of big explosions.
An eyewitness described watching the aircraft circle the airport, noting it appeared 'a bit unstable' before its final approach. According to her, the plane 'hit the ground hard and exploded' upon impact, with the blast being heard in homes throughout the area.
Later, the Civil Aviation Ministry, quoting the person manning the Air Traffic Control at Baramati, issued a statement about the sequence of events indicating that the flight encountered visibility issues during its landing attempt despite reports of calm weather.
The statement said that at 8.18 am, the aircraft first established contact with Baramati air traffic control after being released by the Pune approach at 30 nautical miles (around 55 km) inbound to Baramati.
The crew was advised to descend at their discretion under Visual Meteorological conditions and were also informed that winds were calm and visibility was approximately 3,000 metres.
Upon reaching the final approach for the runway, the crew reported that the runway was not in sight and initiated a go-around to reposition for a second attempt on the runway.
After initially stating the runway was still not visible, the crew reported "runway in sight" just seconds later and the ATC cleared the aircraft to land at 8.43 am.
However, the crew did not provide the mandatory readback of this final clearance and at 8.44 am, exactly one minute after the last communication, ATC personnel observed flames erupting near the threshold of the runway.
Emergency services reached the scene immediately following the explosion and the wreckage was located on the left side of the runway.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is currently analysing why the crew struggled to maintain visual contact with the runway despite the reported 3,000-metre visibility.
According to eyewitnesses, the force of the explosion was so great that parts of the aircraft were hurled through the air, landing near residential structures. "The plane tilted before coming down. We saw the explosion and it was frightening," an eyewitness said.
Another eyewitness reported that the aircraft appeared to be losing control from an altitude of approximately 100 feet above the runway.
"The way the plane was coming down, we felt it was going to crash... As we rushed towards it, we saw flames, followed by four to five consecutive blasts, which prevented us from going anywhere near the aircraft".
Pramod Madurikar, a witness at the scene, said the victims were identified shortly after the crash and were shifted to ambulances. Fire brigade personnel reached the spot shortly.
The aircraft was trying to land amid poor visibility, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu told reporters in Pune.
VSR Ventures’ fleet includes seven Learjet 45 aircraft (including the one involved in the crash), five Embraer 135BJ aircraft, four King Air B200 aircraft and one Pilatus PC-12 aircraft, the statement said.
Superintendent of Police, Sandip Singh Gill, said that after the crash, there was a fire. "People onboard were immediately taken to the hospital," he said.
Ajit Pawar is survived by wife Sunetra, a member of the Rajya Sabha and two sons, Parth and Jay.
His Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had contested the recent municipal corporation elections in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad in alliance with his uncle Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP).
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several other leaders expressed grief over Pawar's demise.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who reached Baramati and met Ajit Pawar’s family members, described the NCP leader’s tragic death as unbelievable, and said he had lost a good friend.
Maharashtra government declared a three-day state mourning till January 30, during which the national flag will be flown at half-mast on all buildings.
Ajit Pawar’s last rites will be held with full state honours on Thursday in Baramati.
Modi and Shah are expected to attend the funeral, which will be held at Vidya Pratishthan ground at 11 am, the Nationalist Congress Party said.
