Orissa Matters

Supremo syndrome yet again takes the toll: Ghadei gone, others alarmed

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Instant expulsion of veteran Prafulla Ghadei by BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik after a petal of his independent mind got published in the Sambad, is the latest evidence of how Orissa’s ruling party is afflicted with congenital fragility. Nobody in this party is safe and sure of continuing with this outfit, as its autocratic boss has no respect for his colleagues’ contributions to the organization that he heads. All members of BJD are servants to him, as if born to serve him like the Paika people of former Rajas. He is the ‘owner’. All others in the party are his slaves with no freedom to criticize him. The State knows that BJD members are sycophants; but for Naveen, they are nothing but factotums, ordained to dance to his tunes, required to act according to his whims and caprices. Otherwise, Ghadei’s life in BJD could not have so contemptuously extinguished in blatant disregard to democratic norms supposed to have primacy in a political party.

Ghadei, a seven-times MLA with several innings in the State cabinet was, like a putrified potato, thrown out of the party he had co-founded, without even any chance to explain his position, on September 20.

The supremo syndrome has yet again taken the toll as his alarmed colleagues stand silent onlookers exactly as the goats in the slaughter house stand looking helplessly at the butcher’s blade after one of them gets beheaded.

The only countable voice heard after Ghadei’s expulsion came from Minister Dr. Damodar Raut who defined the action as unquestionable being an act of divine power (prerogative) of the party ‘supremo’.

When Dr. Raut had been ejected out of the Cabinet along with Bijayashree Rautray, Nagen Pradhan and Balabhadra Majhi under whims and caprices of Naveen Patnaik in May 2006, and none of his co-passangers in the BJD train had extended any support to him and/or uttered a single word against extermination of every iota of collective identity in the party, might be, to Dr. Raut that was Naveen’s divine power in display, we in these pages had pointed out that, in a political party that rules over the State, internal democracy should not have given such way to autocratic overlordship.

Similarly when Prafulla Ghadei, Prafulla Samal, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Pratap Jena and Puspendra Singhdeo were whimsically dismissed from the Council of Ministers in 2012, and their colleagues in the party stood silent onlookers, we had again warned them all that ruling party should have collectively decided who should be dropped from and who should be inducted into the cabinet, so that democracy could be saved from being affected by supremo syndrome.

BJD members have never pondered over this.

It is an irony that Ministers like Debiprasanna Mishra, Bijayshree Rautray, Pradeep Moharathy, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Rabinarayan Nanda et all, who have already had the ignominious experience of whimsical expulsion from the party as and when necessary to save the skin of the chief minister, have no qualms in ignoring the dastardly act of autocratic assault on a founder of the party, who had thought it prudent to play no hypocrisy with the people in matter of management of the state under his party that they have mandated to rule.

What Ghadei did do to be thrown out of BJD, the party he co-founded?

He simply adhered to his conscience as a ruling party politician and to tell the people where from comes the misrule, so that, collective application of mind may manifest to save the State from the whirlpool of corruption, scams and scandals and everything that harms democratic norms. His words to Sambad were plain confession of where the shoe pinches.

We are depicting here below a few excerpts from the interview with comprehensible rendition thereof in English for our visitors.

CAG and investigating sleuths are almost confirming the correctness of our years-long observation that the state is perishing under misrule.

Why the Chief Minister is failing to give a good governance? Sambad had asked. This is because, Naveen babu is in the hands of a coterie, Ghadei had replied. The excerpt-

(Even now, Naveen babu is in the hands of a coterie. Pandian group grabs everything. Now Naveen babu is under possession of K.P.P.P. Kalpataru-Pandian-Pravakaran-Pinaki combine is K.P.P.P. Bijay Patnaik, Arun Sarangi are also with these fellows.)

Why the coterie? Is the chief minister facing a void, not getting proper advice from his cabinet/party colleagues? Is BJD not collectively managed? The interviewer’s mind must have pondered over, before asking whether or not the ruling party runs democratically. Ghadei’s answer along with the question of Sambad is here below –

(Where is democracy in the Party? This is just a single-man party. When we are in the party, can everything be divulged here?In the party, where the meetings, where discussions?) – Ghadei rued when asked to present the picture of democracy, if any, in the party and mode of its implementation.

The Sambad interviewer was apparently eager to know if involvement of many leaders was too overwhelming for the CM to act diligently. Ghadei attributed lack of diligence on part of the CM to absence of proper advice.

(He himself doesn’t do anything.whosoever now enjoys his proximity doesn’t give proper advice. What advice the thieves shall give? Pandian Phandian are there to loot the party.They will loot, what could be said of that!)

But he is the Chief Minister. He must be seeing the files. Should the loot not be coming to his eyes? – Sambad asked and recorded Ghadei’s response like this – Ghadei said:

(He does not see anything. It is a wonder of India. A man does not understand anything, does not say of anything, yet he is a Chief Minister! People have tolerated this, because it is Orissa. He is getting the support, as because, there is no opposition.)

How is he in power for so long, the interviewer wondered. Ghadei said, by maneuvering the Congress High Command.

We have, in these pages, exposed how the Congress High Command has been helping Naveen stay in power by sabotaging the provincial leadership. Ghadei’s statement corroborates our observation, as he has divulged how through Ahmed Patel Naveen has been using the central leadership of Congress in weakening the provincial congress

In the regime of Naveen Patnaik, Orissa has become a grazing ground of greedy non-Oriyas even as its natural resources and purses of its people are being looted unhindered. This happens in a State when the the government as well as the ruling party is headed by a man of notority. Ghadei considered it prudent to warn his colleagues as well as the people in the following words:

(Naveen Patnaik is an expert in causing cleavage amongst party members, in taking revenge and in damaging whosoever in the party is disadvantageous to his design.)

Why is he not changing for the better? Sambad asked. Ghadei said:

(“He does not do anything himself. Always depends on others. Earlier was dependent on Pyari babu. Now in illusion. Now-a-days mentally, physically dull. A handful of traders have taken him to their control.)

These most relevant words of Ghadei should have helped the party he co-founded have a serious introspection, had there been any semblance of respect for democracy left in it. But he has been expelled by Naveen Patnaik, exactly as a pet goat could have been slaughtered by the owner.

How congenitally fragile are the members of the ruling party of Orissa!

Laxmanrekha for Journalists: Nothing but Rubbish

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Currently, and curiously after skirmish between Orissa’s Revenue Minister and Media persons on September 15 in the State Secretariat in the Minister’s chamber, there is a hogwash, apparently promoted by powers that be, that, the journalists in their attempt to get information should not cross the ‘Laxmanrekha’.

Even a senior fraternal brother – whom I adore – in his natural desire to see the charisma of Press gets no more affected, has added a bit force to this hogwash, by innocently opining that the ‘Laxmanrekha’ should be adhered to.

As it silently upsets the distinction of Press, I would like first to reflect on ‘Laxmanrekha’.

What is ‘Laxmanrekha’?

It is a machination of strangulation of human rights. A contrivance of a way to restrict freedom.

Let us go to its root.

In denying Sita the right to move freely even in the premises of their cottage in the Jungle, her husband’s younger brother Laxman of the epic Ramayana had drawn three lines in his arrow on the soil, saying, “you can come thus far, but cannot go any farther”. This is known as Laxmanrekha.

No journalist is supposed to be a Sita and the so-called Laxmanrekha has no applicability to journalism.

People in a democracy have the right to be informed and the journalists are duty bound to serve that ‘right’. So, ‘Laxmanrekha’ does not fit into their scheme.

Whosoever of the journalists favor the concept of ‘Laxmanrekha’, argue that, media persons should end their endeavor to elicit answers when a minister, a political leader or a public servant refuses to respond to their queries. ‘Right to silence’ as legalized in Nandini Satpathy Vrs P.L. Dani case, perhaps instigates them to advance such suggestion.

This is not acceptable

This legal phenomenon is relevant to public prosecution, but cannot be acceptable in matter of public information and the people’s right to information. Article 20(3) of Constitution of India has no applicability to journalists endeavor to obtain information for the public.

The way the country has been forced to change into a plutocracy, and the way political leaders have become lawbreakers in rising numbers taking advantage of readiness of many in the executive government to go to any extent to satisfy their avarice, and the way India is crumbling into “Two Indias” in terms of highest judicial wisdom expressed in observation of the Supreme Court – a ‘small India’ of the ultra-high-net-worth-individuals counting at best a couple of hundreds and the ‘large India’ of the wretchedly poor innumerable Indians – and, amongst many other syndromes, the way implementation of labor laws and other welfare Acts are declining, and the way welfare programs are being hijacked by the rich for benefit of the rich in which the politico-executive nexus is helping them; it is time for the journalists to be assertive, to refuse to be brow-beaten, to side with the poor and disadvantaged, to be the voice of the voiceless, to ignore the functionaries’ pleas of privacy, to elicit information from them for the public at any cost; and for this, to ignore the concept of ‘thus far, no farther’ must be a must for the journalists; because. it is incumbent upon them to stay sentinels of the people.

Be it appreciated that a sentinel never bothers about restrictive laws in his act of safeguarding the master i.e. in this case the people of this country, who are so betrayed and so severely jeopardized by strengthening of plutocracy.

No journalist should, therefore, feel any qualms in adopting any available method to elicit information from escaping politicians and public functionaries as people have the right to be informed; and in this lies the key to emancipation.

Minister's Tussle with Media: Will the Chief Minister Please Pay Attention?

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

In the history of Press in Orissa, September 15, 2014 shall be marked as a black day; because, for the first time in the life of the State, on this day, a Cabinet Minister attacked media in his official chamber in the Secretariat that generated a skirmish to the shock and chagrin of all those who believe that Ministers in a democracy are magnanimous enough never to cause alarm in the Press, despite being confronted with unpalatable questions and provocative innuendoes.

Minister Bijayshree Routray was in acrimonious mood even before entering into the Secretariat; because, evidently he had resorted to browbeating when approached by a TV journalist for update, if any, on land scam rocking the State.

And, in the Secretariat, as TV journalists wanted update on a former minister’s demands for action against land scam offenders, all decency, decorum, discipline and patience expected of a cabinet minister, were discarded under such rush of anger that the consequential skirmish – heretofore never seen – has smeared the face of administration that can hardly be cleansed.

For better appreciation of what happened on September 15, ORISSA MATTERS report dated September 18, 2014 may help. Click HERE to reach the report.

Sad, instead of normalizing the situation with the Chief Minister calling the entire Bhubaneswar Press to an interaction where a norm could have been mutually promoted to eliminate any possibility of repetition of the September 15 showoff, restriction has been imposed on movement of journalists in the Secretariat, where, within or without knowledge of the Chief Minister, denial of entry to CMO even to State accredited journalists has already been in force ever since certain officials there have started dazzling as ‘Super Chief Minister’.

In these pages the syndrome is earlier exposed; yet the Chief Minister has stayed away from the glorious and magnificent tradition his predecessors in the august office had established and maintained in relationship with the Press.

Resultantly, journalists, not in good book of powers that be, feel threatened, alarmed and afflicted.

Democracy is clearly in decadence.

While holding that the journalists should not have crossed words with the acrimonious minister on September 15, I deem it my duty to say, it would be better if the Chief Minister appreciates that unless his colleagues in the cabinet are dissuaded from browbeating the Press as Bijayshree did on that day, the journalists, expect the blue-eyed-boys of powers that be, will continue to stay alarmed under constant fear of conniption any minister may come into any day confronted with any searching question and cause havoc, as well equipped with assaultive power a minister is in the rampart of his office. That shall harm the people.

Remedy lies in restoration of State Information Centre

Its remedy lies not in restricting the movement of media persons in the Secretariat, but in immediate restoration of the State Information Centre to its original stature and state.

The original purpose of the SIC (also named Soochana Bhawan) was to provide the journalists with a domain whereto Ministers and Government spokespersons were to come everyday to brief the journalists on all topics of public importance and to answer to their queries on all relevant matters.

But a former Secretary of Information and Public Relations Ajit Kumar Tripathy sabotaged the purpose of the SIC and converted it into Jayadev Bhawan to fit into his communal design to institutionalize a wrong notion that poet Jay Dev was a Brahmin Baishnav born in Kenduli near Bhubaneswar, though in reality the great love-lyricist of Orissa was a Sahayani Bauddhacharya, born in the now extinct village of Kendubilwa near Puri on the sea, probably where Bilweswar temple now stands. I have discussed Jay Dev in my mega research work ‘Sri Jaya Devanka Baisi Pahacha’ for anybody to see.

However, when a government building was erected for a specific purpose founded and inaugurated by a Chief Minister in cause of people’s right to be informed, a bureaucrat sabotaging that purpose taking advantage of his position as Secretary of Information was blatantly wrong.

This wrong is to be removed and the Press is to be given back its domain equipped with communication instruments and database as well as with a referral library as per original plan. At this SIC, when restored, ministers and official spokespersons will brief the Press, and all press conferences shall be held. The unused and dormant library lying exposed to elements in the Information directorate needs be shifted to SIC on its restoration where all the newspaper/media clippings, which the departmental information officers generate as a routine responsibility, should be archived in this building for journalistic references.

Rabindra Madap be renamed Jay Dev Bhawan

In the past, leaders of Orissa like Harekrushna Mahatab and Biju Patnaik were eager to keep the Bengalis pleased in order not to be adversely reported in national media, as all of the national newspapers with circulation in Orissa were being published from Calcutta. Therefore, they had deliberately named the first auditorium dedicated to music and dance in the capital city of Bhubaneswar by Rabindra Tagore. Orissa’s progressive intellectuals like poet Godavarish Mohapatra had vehemently opposed this, but people in power had their own notorious ability to bulldoze the conscience of the State.

When, therefore, Ajit Tripathy and his associates, in course of executing their hidden agenda to wipe out historicity of the Sahayani Jay Dev under torrents of concocted legends deliberately created by some Hindu chauvinists after his death, wanted to re-name the SIC as Jay Dev Bhawan, there was no visible objection to that from the general public, as the people of Orissa had always been nurturing a silent desire to overcome a grief they had been hit with, when the first hall of music and dance in Bhubaneswar had been named after the Bengali poet Rabindanath Tagore instead of the most popular poet Jay Dev of their own soil, who had epitomized Orissa’s music and dance. That grief was lessened by SIC getting the name of Jay Dev Bhawan.

Now, therefore, if the name Jay Dev Bhawan is to be retained, it should shift to Rabindra Mandap, which in turn, should shift to IDCOL auditorium, that goes without any person’s name.

Information manpower be properly used

After thus the SIC is again available to the Journalists, the government should promulgate a provision making it a must for the ministers to address the Press regularly here in all matters of their respective departments.

in absence of ministers, the departmental information officers should come prepared to meet the queries of journalists and the Secretary of a concerned department must be made to answer online through video conferencing any query that his information officer might not be properly equipped to answer.

The next step that the Government should take, is to recognize the State Information Service as a specialized service, run only by the information specialists, belonging to a distinct and distinguished cadre, under a Head of Department also belonging to the same cadre.

So, be it a must for the State Government to appoint only Information officers as Director of Information, whose unavoidable duty would be briefing the Press on any activity of administration as and when necessary.

If this advice is heeded to, there shall never be any conflict between any minister and media like the one seen on September 15 in the Secretariat Chamber of the Revenue Minister.

The Director of Information and Public Relations, to be thus appointed from the cadre of Information Service, being a specialist in information by education, training, re-orientation and experience, shall not only keep himself abreast of happenings in the State including progress of projects, to successfully meet the queries from media, but also shall guide his team of officers to stay ready with updates in every aspect of administration of the respective departments assigned to them, so that the people of the State cannot be devoid of ready information on any matter that matters to them.

The ignominious assignment to facilitate an appointment of a journalist with a minister, as provided for yesterday, is nothing but non-use of the highly specialized potency the Information Officers have.

Information manpower should not be misspent in hobnobbing between media and ministers.

They have a greater role to play. Let that begun with making the Director of Information and PR a cadre officer with a mission as mentioned above.

The September 15 skirmish between Revenue Minister and Media persons in the State Secretariat has irreparably damaged the image of the State. Let it not happen again and so, let the Journalists be given back the State Information Centre wherefrom they shall operate to the betterment of democracy.

Will the Chief Minister please pay his attention to this suggestion?

Skirmish in Secretariat: Minister made Mistake more than the Press

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

As Media Unity for Freedom of Press (MUFP) demanded public apology from Revenue Minister Bijoyshree Routroy for the Monday assault on Press in his official chamber in the Secretariat, under the ‘Freedom Tree’ in front of Jaydev Bhawan on September 16, the Minister told a hand-picked group of press persons at his residence that he was abused by the journalists instead.

He alleged that agents of land mafia in the guise of journalists had entered into his room forcefully and subjected him to pushing and knocking, as he refused to entertain them. He did not say who was or were agent(s) of land mafia amongst the journalists, if it was within his knowledge.

This being a serious allegation against media persons, the public is to know the truth.

We would like to produce two videos here.

The first one is a clip of his entrance into the Secretariat. In this he shouts at a TV journalist who was trying for an update, if possible, on official action on a notorious land scam that has been rocking the State. It bares the minister’s disposition and how contemptuous it is towards the media persons.

The second video is the records of how he behaved in his chamber. A former Minister of the State, Mr. Suresh Kumar Rautroy had met the Revenue Minister with a delegation in his chamber demanding stern action against the land looters amongst who are some known blue-eyed-boys of the Chief Minister. As usual, the TV journalists had gone into the room to watch the proceeding. As would be seen from the video, seated near the Minister, Mr. Sura Rautroy (as he popularly is known) apprised the TV journalists of his discussions with the minister during which the minister went into the rest room. As he came out, the journalists wanted his bytes. The video would show how the Minister suddenly went berserk. He even attacked a particular TV journalist, who had covered a land scandal live in which the Minister is involved.

To the Press he has said, “When I extended my hands to shut down their cameras, they pushed me and knocked down (CAMERA BAND KARIBAKU HATA BADHAIBA BELE SEMANE THELAPELA KALE) (Samaja, 17 September 2014, P.12, Cl. 5-6).

It is sad that the State is having such a political Government where ministers indulge in land grabbing, ministers indulge in chit fund swindling, ministers indulge in assault on media persons and in leveling reverse accusations to hoodwink the people, oblivious of how constitutional authorities like the Courts and CAG have stripping it layer by layer in mega scams like mining scam, water scam etcetera.

Clearly, in Monday skirmishes in his Secretariat chamber, the minister made mistakes more than the Press.

Chit Fund Felony: If Alok Jena is correct, CBI should rethink over its lawyers

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

People of Orissa have been closely watching the CBI in its course of investigation into the chilling cheating, which they have been subjected to by the Artha Tattwa (AT) (chit fund) Chief Pradeep Sethy. And, as its investigation proceeds, people’s increasing faith in this national body becomes more defined, discernible and distinct. So this faith must not be allowed to dwindle.

At this juncture, well known social activist Sri Alok Jena has raised a point that deserves immediate attention of CBI. It is Sri Jena whose timely knock at the door of the Supreme Court has given birth to this CBI investigation into the chit fund felony. So, the point he has raised deserves serious attention.

This hovers around a silent but nagging fear of the finding of the sleuths going haywire in the sub-zone of labyrinth of law, as the ex-Advocate General Asok Mohanty already grilled by CBI over his property link with Sethy is, according to his information, married to sister-in-law of the CBI lawyer S.K.Padhi.

Padhi’s sister, according to Jena, is also married to former Director of CBI, Sri Uma Shankar Mishra, whose connection with chit fund beneficiary Bikash Swain is conspicuous by his association with Swain’s news-daily Suryaprava since its pre-natal days.

Over and above this, Jena says, another lawyer of CBI – Mr. V. Narasingh – has taken two plots from the AT group of Sethy.

In the circumstances, despite all efforts of CBI to dig out the felony and to bring the offenders to books, mismanagement of prosecution when the results of investigations reach the hands of its above named lawyers, may mar the splendid works the sleuths are presently doing, Jena fears.

So, if Alok Jena is correct, there is reason to apprehend that the vested-interest circle of relationship of its lawyers named above with certain subjects of CBI investigation may continue to disturb Sri Jena and the cheated depositors.

It would be, therefore, better if the CBI reshuffles its team of lawyers to eliminate suspected elements of nepotism or proceeds for appointment of a new team of special prosecutors in this specific case.