THE HINDU EDITORIALS

A suspicious suspension At worst, its a criminal conspiracy; and at best, its cynical politics. Either way, nothing can possibly justify the suspension of Uttar Pradesh IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal by the Samajwadi Party government. Even going by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadavs explanation that action against her was taken as the government anticipated communal trouble after an illegally constructed wall of a mosque was demolished under her supervision; the hastily-ordered suspension makes no sense. While the villagers are upset at the demolition of the wall, they also insist there is no danger of violence. The most charitable explanation for Ms Nagpals suspension would have to be that the SP is trying to play politics with the religious sentiments of the people. But at what cost? Though there is no evidence of Ms Nagpal having acted illegally or irresponsibly, Mr. Yadav appears to have based his decision on the petty political calculations of a local ruling party MLA, Narinder Bhati, who nurses ambitions of standing from the area for the Lok Sabha. Sadly for the Muslims of U.P., politicians seeking the votes of the community do so on the basis of protection racket politics rather than actually working to improve the living conditions of ordinary Muslims. As we head towards 2014, it is apparent the Samajwadi Party intends to pursue this approach. What makes Ms Nagpals suspension as the Gautambudhnagar sub-divisional magistrate doubly alarming is that she was active in the crackdown against illegal sand mining on the Yamuna and Hindon river banks. The IAS officer had made enemies of the politically powerful sand and building mafia by organising special squads against illicit mining and seizing their illegal loads. Whether it was Mr. Bhati who chose to take political advantage of the mosque wall demolition or it was the sand mining mafia that used the mosque issue as an opportunity to get rid of an inconvenient officer, the unmistakable fact is that Ms Nagpal is a victim of political machinations. The rules governing tenure for the bureaucracy, including all-India services like the IAS, are complicated. While there is no easy way for the Central government to intervene in favour of Ms Nagpal, as suggested by Congress president Sonia Gandhi in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Uttar Pradesh government must realise its mistake and revoke the suspension immediately. The facts being what they are, this is not a matter that ought to be escalated as a dispute between the Centre and the State; hopefully, Chief Minister Yadav will see sense, and not sacrifice the interests of governance and administrative efficiency for some imaginary political gain.

Cat and mouse games 8th August 2013 The Congress and the Samajwadi Party are natural rivals forced into an unnatural relationship by their respective political compulsions. This explains the SP leaderships volatile and frequent mood changes with respect to the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance. Mulayam Singh and other SP leaders have become painfully formulaic in their reactions to the Congress: attack the party, take the quarrel to a level where a parting of ways seems imminent, but at the critical moment somehow find an excuse not to execute the threats. There is no longer any surprise or suspense over how a spat between the two parties will end, and the charade looks like playing out in one more case that of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, whose suspension by the Akhilesh Yadav government has triggered a national uproar. The SP blew a fuse when Sonia Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging that the officer not be treated unfairly. What must have riled the SP is that the Congress presidents letter was not written for forms sake or merely to appear to be doing justice. Far from it, Ms Gandhi not only made it clear she did not buy the SPs story, she robustly endorsed the commonly accepted view that the officer was in fact vindictively suspended for standing up to the sand mining mafia in western Uttar Pradesh. With the SP expectedly livid, the stage was set for another round of bitter verbal warfare and retaliation. Mr. Mulayam Singh justified the action against Ms Nagpal and the State government proceeded to charge-sheet her even as the party made headlines with its announcement that it will oppose the Food Security Bill awaiting passage in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament. There are multiple reasons why the SP is unlikely to go the full hog. It can press amendments to the Bill failing which stage a walkout but it cannot afford to be seen as voting against a welfare measure for the poor. The party is

aware that the Congress is in a position to find other supporters for the Bill. And finally, given the SPs precarious situation in U.P., the party will be wise not to precipitate a crisis with the potential to lead to an early general election. The SP has to attack the Congress because of their shared pursuit of the Muslim constituency, which is perceived to have become more amenable to shepherding with the arrival of Narendra Modi as the face of the BJP. So when the Congress takes up for an officer like Ms Nagpal, it becomes the perfect opportunity for the SP to showcase its allegedly pro-Muslim credentials. The SP will of course calibrate its moves to suit its own partisan interests. But tragically for Muslims, they are more harmed than helped by these brinkmanship games.

Victim of political skullduggery? 2nd August 2013 When young IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, in her capacity as SDM of Gautambudhnagar, recently ordered the pulling down of the wall of a proposed mosque, she provided an ambitious local Samajwadi Party MLA and chairperson of the U.P. State Agro Industrial Corporation Limited, Narendra Bhatty, with the opportunity to strike back: Mr. Bhatty hoped, locals say, that the ensuing fallout would help him win the Lok Sabha seat of which Rabupura is a part in the general elections less than a year away. The Uttar Pradesh governments swift instructions to suspend Ms. Nagpal had less, therefore, to do with its perception that the incident would affect communal harmony than the understanding that by punishing the young SDM the issue would get highlighted in such a way that the ruling SP would be portrayed as the protectors of the minority community. It would simultaneously remove from the scene a zealous young officer who, by all accounts, had taken on the sand mafia that operates across a large swathe of western U.P. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Bhatti had stood third polling 16.05 per cent of the votes, behind the Bahujan Samaj Partys Surendra Singh Nagar (33.24 per cent), and the BJPs Mahesh Kumar Sharma (31.08 per cent). And the Congresss Ramesh Chandra Tomar had polled 15.73 per cent. If Mr. Bhatty can polarise the votes in the constituency on communal lines, he could eat into the Muslim votes that both the BSP and the Congress received the last time. Indeed, the SP appears to be leaving no stone unturned in communalising the issue: senior State Minister Mohammad Azam Khan a veteran of the now defunct Babri Masjid Action Committee went so far as to dismiss the sand mafia by saying that everyone had a right to natural resources. Ram naam ki loot hai loot sako to loot *You are allowed to loot in the name of lord Ram+, he said in Rampur on Wednesday, when asked to comment on the issue. Senior Minister Shivpal Yadav, denying the role of the mining mafia behind Ms. Nagpals suspension, insisted, She was suspended for demolishing the wall of a mosque at Kadalpur village in the Rabupura area without following the legal process. His version is that the owner of the land had not objected to the construction of a wall on his land. But when some persons lodged a false complaint with Ms. Nagpal, she had it demolished, and this led to communal tension. The version of the locals is that the gram panchayat agreed to the construction of a mosque on government land a few months ago. Mr. Bhatty had come to the inauguration and even made a monetary contribution. But permission was not sought from the district magistrate for the construction of the mosque, something that is mandatory before clearing building plans for any place of worship ever since the Supreme Court passed such a ruling. Ms. Nagpal was, therefore, well within her rights to pull down the wall, they say, adding that perhaps she could have given notice, as this is the month of Ramzaan. Now comes the district magistrates report to the government on the incident: it says Ms. Nagpal was asked to visit Kadalpur from where reports of illegal construction activities on government land had come in and to settle the matter amicably. The report also suggests it was unclear what religious site it was, since the construction had only just begun. When Ms. Nagpal and other officers deputed to visit the village arrived there, the villagers were told that they should either seek permission for construction of a religious structure, as per the governing rules, or dismantle the illegally constructed wall. The residents of the village then chose, the DMs report says, to dismantle the illegal construction of their own volition. No heavy machinery was ever pressed into service to demolish any wall, as the government has suggested. The report, with inputs from the district police as well as other administrative officers, also says there was no communal tension or the possibility of any clashes between religious communities.

But clearly, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav appeared on Thursday to be in no mood to accept this report, even though he is currently up against not just one or two officers, but the entire bureaucracy: after all, it is seldom that the IAS Association of a State speaks up for one amongst them, as the U.P. body has done for Ms. Nagpal. If Mr. Yadav is to survive this incident unscathed, he must demonstrate political acumen and reinstate Ms. Nagpal. This is a case of blatant violation of the law, not denial of minority rights.

Higgs Boson may unravel dark energy mystery 11th August 2013 The recently discovered Higgs boson could provide a possible portal to physics that may help explain some of the attributes of the enigmatic dark energy, scientists suggest. One of the biggest mysteries in contemporary particle physics and cosmology is why dark energy, which is observed to dominate energy density of the universe, has a remarkably small (but not zero) value, researchers said. This value is so small, it is perhaps 120 orders of magnitude less than would be expected based on fundamental physics, they said. Now, physicists -- Lawrence Krauss of Arizona State University and James Dent of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette -explore how a possible small coupling between the Higgs particle, and possible new particles likely to be associated with what is conventionally called the Grand Unified Scale could result in the existence of another background field in nature in addition to the Higgs field. This would contribute an energy density to empty space of precisely the correct scale to correspond to the observed energy density, researchers said. Current observations of the universe show it is expanding at an accelerated rate. But this acceleration cannot be accounted for on the basis of matter alone, they said. Putting energy in empty space produces a repulsive gravitational force opposing the attractive force produced by matter, including the dark matter that is inferred to dominate the mass of essentially all galaxies, but which doesnt interact directly with light and, therefore, can only be estimated by its gravitational influence. Because of this phenomenon and what is observed in the universe, it is thought that such dark energy contributes up to 70 per cent of the total energy density in the universe, while observable matter contributes only 2 to 5 per cent, with the remaining 25 per cent or so coming from dark matter. The source of this dark energy and the reason its magnitude matches the inferred magnitude of the energy in empty space is not currently understood, making it one of the leading outstanding problems in particle physics today. Now that the Higgs boson has been discovered, it provides a possible portal to physics at much higher energy scales through very small possible mixings and couplings to new scalar fields which may operate at these scales, said Krauss. We demonstrate that the simplest small mixing, related to the ratios of the scale at which electroweak physics operates, and a possible Grand Unified Scale, produces a possible contribution to the vacuum energy today of precisely the correct order of magnitude to account for the observed dark energy, Krauss said. The study was published in the journal Physical Review Letters. Justice as a game of chance 14th August 2013 The quality of mercy, Shakespeare would be disappointed to learn, seems highly strained in India. If Maganlal Barela, a convict on death row in Jabalpur Central Jail, is still alive, he has a newspaper report that broke the story of his imminent hanging to thank for the temporary reprieve. Barela was sentenced to death in 2011 by the Madhya Pradesh High Court for murdering his five infant daughters, after a heated argument with his wives over property. Last month, President Pranab Mukherjee rejected Barelas clemency petition nearly 18 months after the Supreme Court turned down his appeal. It is unclear how long Rashtrapati Bhavan took to decide Barelas fate but within days of it doing so, he was served a black warrant and readied for the gallows. The alacrity with which the establishment pursued his hanging reflects a disdain for his constitutional rights. A prisoner on death row is entitled to challenge in the Supreme Court the Presidents rejection of a mercy petition. It is improbable that Barela had a chance to exercise this right in such a short span of time. In fact, the

governments attempt to rush his execution seems highly suspect given that it coincides with the Supreme Courts recent comments calling it out for inordinate delay in deciding mercy petitions. That it took a newspaper report to alert lawyers and activists to Barelas imminent execution highlights the arbitrary system in place to evaluate mercy pleas. The Ministry of Home Affairs is neither required by law to publish a list of pending and processed mercy petitions nor does it have to disclose the reasons tendered by the President. The Central Information Commission in July rejected a request by A.G. Perarivalan convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case for those details. In fact, Rashtrapati Bhavan, which had put up a section devoted to mercy petitions on its website, removed it earlier this year. The ambiguity in this process of dispensing mercy may give the government some room to navigate hot-button cases as it did with the stealthy execution of Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru but it also subjects death row prisoners to an excruciating wait, undermining their rights. Recognising this sordid state of affairs, the Supreme Court has rightly pressed ahead with plans to institute a larger bench in October to review mercy pleas rejected after delay; Maganlal Barelas will be one among them. Last week, the Court rejected the governments request to review its decision to commute the death sentence of M.N. Das, whose mercy plea had been rejected after 11 years. The Court must now favourably receive the pleas of Barela and others who have shuttled between life and death thanks to the executives arbitrary policies.

The rediscovery of India

The country today needs to reinvent itself through the ideals and dreams that drove the Independence movement Anniversaries chime, mime. Repeating the sounds and the sentiments of the original event, they are meant to echo. But, mostly, they parody. Days red-ringed on calendars are like Rose-ringed Parakeets. They please their owners by repeating what they have been drilled into doing. The phrase signifying tedium year in and year out must come from the dull annuities of routine. Anniversaries placate routine. Repetition palliates nostalgia, packages and pots it. Potted speeches, even stirring ones, seem put on when replayed to order. Archival photographs, even startling ones, seem to be serving anothers purpose when pulled out from their rest and streamed on todays screens and surfaces. August 15, for India, is no exception. Many emotions Catharsis surrounded that day in 1947. Joy and pain, triumph and tragedy were both in the air, like grey and silver clouds in astral combat. Ustad Bismillah Khan had played his mesmeric shehnai on the Red Forts great mound minutes before Prime Minister Nehru, shy of nothing but of the age 60, by two years, sprang to his feet. Chest out, chin up, he freed with unconcealed elation Indias new flag from its furls of subordination. If there is one word that can describe the mood of that day, it is the much-used one about the much-missed spirit idealism. What would Jawaharlal Nehru have had to say to the nation today, if he stood on the ramparts of the Red Fort? He would of course be speaking in Hindustani with a sprinkling of Urdu words which today could sound archaic, such as sifat (quality), iman (probity), zamir (conscience). But assuming he were to turn to English, Nehrus 2013 message to the Indian people might go thus: Friends and comrades, I have had the great privilege, for it is no less, and the joy, for that is what it has been, to speak to you from atop these historic walls seventeen times. When I think of the great transactions of time that have taken place here, among these silent stones, such as the stately durbars of Shah Jehan, the petty machinations of Aurangzeb, the trial and murder of Dara Shikoh, the plunder by Nadir Shah, his loot of the Peacock Throne, the carnage around here during the Great war of Independence, Bahadur Shah Zafars pained sacrifice, and in what may be called our times, the trial of the INAs brave soldiers, and of the small men who slayed the Father of the Nation, I rather lose my words in my meandering thoughts. But you have not come here today to see me lose my words but, rather, to find them, to find the right words, the right thoughts, which may give you a sense of the importance of this day, this anniversary.

I speak to you today not as your Prime Minister but, rather, as one among you. I do not mean to or want to justify any action of our government. You who see its functioning day after challenging day can do that better than I who am trapped inside it. I often feel more locked up and caged in government than I did when I was in the jails of the British Raj. And the security guards around me they of course are only obeying orders stifle me. I often ask myself What is all this for, this protection, this security, against whom? And then when I think of the man, the one man to who we owe our freedom more than to anyone else and how he just walked into three bullets, I feel ashamed of the cordons around me. And when I think of the violence both of the direct kind, and of the invisible, subtle kind that Indias daughters, Indias Dalits and tribals have to endure at the hands of brutes among her sons, I am again ashamed of the security around me. It is of course a fact that certain kinds of men, terrorists, they are often called, want to kill me. I am not afraid of death. I can grapple with any attacker and give him honest blow for blow. But I do not want to oblige some low-time mercenary or idiot wielding a gun! Money power We are living amidst terror, hatred, violence, and therefore in fear. There are people who thrive on those, hatred and fear. They have nothing else to them. How did this happen? When, why? I must say to you in all imandari (honesty) that the style of our siyasat (politics) has created this and politicians and political parties must take the zimmedari (responsibility) for this. I do not intend to explain anything which our Parliament might have done or not done, either. We set it up with great arman (longings), arzu (wishes) and a sense of abru (self-respect). But when I see the way Parliament functions or, perhaps I should say, the way it does not function, it fills me with shame. Parliament is accountable before it is Honble. It is obsessed by its honour when it should be absorbed in its duties. And everywhere, money is King. Not the voter, not the Constitution, but money. When something or someone is King, what becomes of the Republic? From the roadside vendor who has to pay a regular mamul in some hundreds of rupees to the giant Corporate that bribes its way to contracts with so many zeroes that I cannot count, we are now become a Jamhuriyat-iNaqad, a Republic of Cash. We have become a soulless people, a people without self-confidence, without morale. A nation that does not have any ideals cannot survive. So, is there no hope? Is it all finished? Harghiz nahin, most certainly not. I spoke of the petty machinations of Aurangzeb, of the loot by Nadir Shah. We have modern versions of those amid us. But we also have, amongst us, great souls inspired by Dara Shikoh and Bahadur Shah. If we have men of the kind who killed our Bapu, we also have great and brave soldiers of a united India such as Netaji Subhas Bose would have been proud of. What we need And so while I am a disappointed man, as disappointed as you, not just in our politics and in our administration but in the reshe, tar and sut, the very fibre of our nationhood, I also know that the so-called ordinary people of India have an extraordinary core of values in them, plain human values that make them help each other in distress and in dejection. The number of courageous Indians who, unfazed by the wrongdoings of so many, continue to fight for justice, for honesty, for service, is amazing. With their help, we must reinvent ourselves. We have to go back to where we started, to the roots of our ideals, our dreams. That good man, Kamaraj from Madras, you will remember, gave us a plan that we called the Kamaraj Plan. Ministers resigned office in large numbers to go back to the people, to where they came from. That gave us, then, an ehsas (sense) of idealism, of sacrifice and service for Indias greatness. I will say no more except this that India needs to be governed by men and women, even if they be from outside of Parliament, outside of politics, honest people, idealists, not self-seekers disguised as pragmatists, patriots who are motivated not by power and money but by the ideals of justice and fair-dealing, giving the nation a leadership that can look us you and me in the eye. As I leave you, I have a request: You have shown me love as you have shown perhaps to no one. But please do not iconize me, do not idolise me, do not make a cult of me. All cults are wrong, personality cults more than all others. Disagree with me, show me where I err, correct me. I would prefer that you do that than that you follow me unthinkingly. Oxen and sheep do that, not descendants of Asoka and Rajendra Chola, Akbar and Shivaji. I now exhort you to say, chest out and chin up, not thrice from hollow lungs but just once like a bellow from your hearts Jai Hind!