Orissa Matters

The Best of all the New Year's Messages I have received

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Amongst all the New Year’s messages I received this year, the first one was from Power and Information Minister Mr. Arun Kumar Sahoo, which, like the previous year, bears in poetic form his dialectic sojourn between the village and the Town.

When Orissa played host to the 74th session of Indian History Congress in 2013, the Card from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, with his wishes for 2014, has come with a picture of a stone sculpture from Orissa’s historic Buddhist monument, the Konark Temple, befitting to the occasion.

Yet, better than the many is the Card from my dear friend and elder brother, Journalist Barendra Krushna Dhal. Receiving his New Year’s Greetings every year has become a part of my life. In that, included are wishes from Bhauja, his beloved wife Snehalata Dhal (and the family). He makes it special by writing in his own hand my name, despite the nice printing. And, to tell the truth, every year I wait anxiously for his Card to arrive.

But the ‘Best’ amongst all that I have received this year, is the one from my son Saswat Pattanayak. Like all other years, his message is in his poetry written for the entire mankind. I share it here with the esteemed visitors to this site.

Unlock the New Year: Let Ourselves Prevail

“Where the mind is without fear”
and whistleblowers roam free
Prisons abolished; die with them,
values all reactionary

Where the world exults in differences,
amidst sheer diversity
Supremacism ends; cease with it,
any collective adversity

Where ideas spring from
challenged truths, broken promises
Perfection wound up; sought after
no more are divine images

Where faith is exposed as
a hopeless quest, of oppressed states
Reason, power and strength too
seen as elite privileged quests

Where rape no longer a metaphor,
nor millionaires act commoners
Celebrities awaken the conscience,
not as profiteers, accumulators

Where the admired do not endorse wars,
nor dwell in charities
Corporate czars get caught
faking empathies, moralist vanities

Where the homeless are not recruited
to clean nuclear mess
Working class emphatically organizes,
not rescued under duress

Where marginalized empowered,
seeking no solace in a pope
Into such a year of radical possibilities,
immense in its scope

To undo, to unlearn, to find right here –
both heaven and the hell
To end holy patriarchies and capitalism,
let ourselves prevail.

– Saswat Pattanayak, peoples’ poet.

(the above verse is inspired by Tagore’s poem from Gitanjali ).

The sooner it was extinguished the better

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Who could have liked a year of scams, of treachery against the motherland?

The sooner it was extinguished the better, I thought.

I consigned 2013 to fire in the last cold night, with my German Shepherd Dog, more faithful than the political leaders of my country, sleeping peacefully on watching it.

Let us hope, 2014 be a year when a political sophomore does not call our Prime Minister “nonsense”, by virtue of being the son of the ruling party boss.

Samaja Sub-Editor tortured for reporting Assembly debate that mentioned of Pandian

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Sub-Editor Alok Kumar Pati of the Samaja is illegally transferred to Sambalpur from Bhubaneswar, as his faithful reporting of Assembly debates somewhat embarrassed the Chief Minister’s secretary V.K.Pandian, according to a section of journalists working in the paper.

Many ministers and senior officers regard Pandian as super chief minister and take his words as Naveen Patnaik’s.

Former minister and BJD heavyweight Pradeep Maharathy had an occasion to mention of him in course of a debate in the Assembly in the matter of the sexually tortured and extinguished teacher Itishree Pradhan who was in contract service at Tikri U.P. School, Rayagada, and whose life could have been saved had authorities starting from the school inspector to the chief minister, whom she had frantically begged for protection, should have paid her the minimum necessary ears.

An astute, yet aggressive politician, he mocked Pandian with the suffix – “Sir”. “Pandian Sir”. And dwelt on how ministers were taking instructions from him to tackle the bereaved family of the extinguished teacher.

Almost all newspapers datelined 10 December reported Maharathy’s speech. Samaja had assigned Assembly coverage to Pati. He reported how Pandian was mentioned as “Pandian Sir” by Maharathy. Whether Maharathy knows how Pandian reacted to this mocking is not known, but it seems the illegal occupiers of the Samaja newspaper reacted very sharply.

On seeing the news published in the Samaja, its Joint General Manager Priyabrata Mohanty threatened Pati with dire consequences for having put on records before the public how Maharathy made fun of Pandian. He issued verbal orders to Pati to explain as to why disciplinary action should not be taken against him for having mentioned Pandian in his report on Maharathy’s speech, when the Pipili MLA was mocking at Pandian by repeatedly naming him as “Pandian Sir”. And, instead of hearing him, he has issued the transfer order by wrongfully using the name of the Chairman, BOM.

There is no BOM of the Samaja. The senior most life member of Servants of the People Society, K. C. Tripathy, appointed by the Society President Onkar Chand as Member-in-Charge of Orissa branch is the employer under the Standing Orders of the Samaja. On contact, he informs that he has neither transferred Pati or holds him answerable for reporting Maharathy’s version. But, he said, the illegal occupiers of the Society have been continuously harassing the employees to keep them intimidated as otherwise it would be difficult for them to continue their loot of the funds of the paper and use its media power in their personal service.

Why Priyabrata Mohanty is affected if Pandian is mocked at by a MLA and the MLA’s speech making a fun of Pandian is reported in Samaja?

We may focus on this in a later stage. But the issues generated by the journalist’s transfer are pertinent and calling. They are:

Is it wrong for a journalist to honestly report a former minister’s version on the chief minister’s private secretary?

Is punishment imposed on a journalist for reporting a member’s speech not contemptuous of the member concerned and violative of the Assembly privileges when the same version has not been deleted from the records by the Speaker?

These issues ought to be cogitated upon.

And, the Speaker of Orissa Assembly should take cognizance of the 2nd issue in particular and issue a suo jure ruling on wether or not Mohanty’s action against Pati is an affront to Assembly sovereignty, if in his eyes, the Assembly has its privileges by extension over reported portion of its recorded debate.

And, let the Chief Minister take a look at why his party heavyweight Pradeep Maharathy thought it prudent to mock at his private secretary Pandian as “Pandian Sir” repeatedly in his speech in the Assembly, putting on records how ministers carrying his instructions.

We were the first to see a super chief minister in him and now media major Sambad has seen in him a super chief secretary. It is dangerous to the State if a super power center grows like wild grass in the secretariat of the chief minister. Let Sri Naveen Patnaik take not of it.

In the Land of Arts, Artists Perish

Orissa is world famous for its wealth of arts. It is known as Utkala, the land of artistic excellence. But, in the present phase of her life, artist are perishing in absence of avenues of livelihood and due to exploitation by the State administered by Naveen Patnaik who is in power for about 15 years.

The State has an unique University called the Utkal University of Culture. It had selected through a selection committee qualified persons to teach in PG classes, several years ago. Instead of appointing them permanently, as they were selected against permanent vacancies, the state owned university had appointed them as ‘casual’ faculties on ad hoc basis, terminating their services before completion of 90 days and reappointing them immediately thereafter. This design was meant to exploit the faculties without granting them regular service benefits. When they have already worked for several years as such, a temporary VC, just before the end of his tenure, terminated them permanently by manipulating hand-picked members of the board of its management and took in new hands in the same temporary design. Whether or not sumptuous bribes from aspirants for the assignments was the fountainhead of this design is not known, but the illogical action has been challenged as illegal in many cases in legal forums. Notwithstanding what would be the fate of litigations, the hard reality is that artists are perishing because of exploitive design of the State.

Orissa Sangeet Mahavidyalaya is another center of exploitation of performing artists. Faculties are kept on temporary basis against permanent posts and tenterhook of hope for regularization keeps them afloat on slow starvation.

When teachers as thus are perishing, their pupils who have graduated from such institutions are seeking employment. The State is exploiting them by appointing them under Sarva Siksha Abhijan on a day per week basis where they have no hope of acquiring regular status. The performing and visual artists are suffering beyond endurance. In December, thousands of artist had gathered in Bhubaneswar to attract attention of the Assembly as well as administration to their plight. L.P.Pattanayak had captured some of their action in his camera. They are of continuing relevance; and so we place them here as a token of our recognition of undying agony of the artists despite passing away of the year 2013. (Editor)

But the artists, despite their scornful agitation have given a hopeful message. The two pictures at the bottom indicate, an artist is caricaturing chief minister Naveen Patnaik where Sri Patnaik is trying to pacify the aggrieved artists by visiting them on the street and by patiently hearing them in their meeting.

We earnestly hope, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will stop exploitation of of artists in 2014 before relinquishing his post in 2014.

New Year: New Danger Kejriwal

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Kejriwal is the new danger to Indian democracy. Let me explain.

Plutocracy takes over democracy in the name of ‘Aam Admi’ (ordinary citizens). But as people change the government through election, they believe that the government shall be their own, run by their own representatives.

They are duped. In the name of ‘Aam Admi’, in absence of a fighting party of the toiling masses, propounders and practitioners of political economy of capitalism, get the votes and ignore the Aam Admi in their eagerness to serve their capitalist masters. Congress had won the last election to lead UPA in the name of the ‘Aam Admi‘ (“Congresska Hath, Aam Admike saath” was its slogan). But its government became a government of repression of the Aam Admi and benevolence for the capitalists and even for the foreign traders. In plutocracy, this happens.But, because of the method plutocracy uses, ordinary citizens (Aam Admi), gullible as they commonly are, fail to understand the rich man’s tricks.

In this method, ordinary citizens use the franchise to elect their representatives, which gives them the feeling that they are the masters; but on being elected, the same representatives do not work for the ordinary citizens; because the money invested in their election campaigns having come from the rich, their administration gets addressed to the benefit of the rich. Aam Admi remains the pawn.

Kejriwal and his team has formed the government with the support of the ordinary citizens. But thereby their dependance on Aam Admi has ended as far as Delhi is concerned. Hereafter they will act in interest of plutocracy. But will act as if their steps benefit the ordinary citizens. Their steps in this regard have started. Kejriwal has passed orders for free supply of 700 liters of water to every family. Corporate media has highlighted it as a great act of benevolence. But by this who shall really benefit? Ordinary citizens in Delhi use less than a hundred liters of water per day. The rich families use more water. So, by waving the water rent for 700 liters per day, Kejriwal has ensured that the poor ordinary citizens bear the cost of the water freely supplied to the rich. This is plutocracy.

If AAP is really for the Aam Admi, the huge numbers of hugely exploited DTC employees – who have been working regularly for several years without being regularized, thereby perishing without entitlement to the benefits provided under labor laws – could have been regularized by Kejriwal, as the first step in interest of the Aam Admi, when they met him a day ago. That has not happened, because there is no difference between his and his predecessor Shila Dixit’s political economy and rule. The rule is plutocracy.

Shrewd agents of the rich

In plutocracy, shrewd agents of the rich get elected in the name and with the help of ordinary citizens – Aam Admi – and thereafter serve the rich at the cost of the poor. When people revolt, they float/promote a new outfit of politics in the name of the neglected common man that takes over the revolution with the help of the rich media acrobats and emerge as people’s heroes and grab power in the name of the new outfit and ultimately kill the awakening that could have changed the system. In emergence of AAP, this has happened. The new phase of mass awakening his been hijacked, at least in Delhi.

This is what exactly had happened in 1977 in the name of ‘Janata’ (a synonym of ‘Aam Admi’) in India, when the spontaneous Indian upsurge against Indira Gandhi’s misrule was hijacked by Jaya Prakash Narayan and his team.

In the name of ‘Janata’

In the name of ‘Janata’ (Aam Admi’), the right-wing politicians and communal chauvinists like the Jansanghists had then come to power.

Morarjee Desai had become the Prime Minister with a cabinet comprising the very same fellows whose corrupt practices as leaders of the Congress had ruined the credibility of that party, such as Biju Patnaik of Orissa; and whose rabid reactionary conduct had distanced the Congress from the people, such as the members of the Congress Syndicate, over and above the communalists and practitioners of political economy of inequality.

Those self-seekers, by their verbal attack on Indira Gandhi as the central cause of all the ills the country was subjected to, had, of course, successfully diverted the mass awakening of the people against misrule, but no sooner than that, had themselves indulged in such nefarious misrule, that the ‘Janata’ government that they had formed, had collapsed within two years of coming to power and the ‘Janata’ (‘Aam Admi’) of India were so disillusioned and demoralized that, to them, the same Indira Gandhi seemed much better than the ‘Janata’ alternative they had been misled to vote.

Democracy took a nastier turn towards plutocracy.

India became fee simple for Indira and her family and factotums with political conspiracies and scandals becoming synonymous with her government.

From then on till now, when Congress members are competing with each other to wag their tails more vigorously to establish who is more loyal to her daughter-in-law Sonia and her son Rahul than the others, India has remained a land of communal hatred, disunity, displacement, dishonesty, impropriety, and Mafiosi.

India has seen a Prime Minister in Rajiv Gandhi who patronized R. K. Dhawan, the man whose “complicity or involvement” in the murder of his mother Indira Gandhi was analytically and emphatically pointed out by Justice M.P.Thakkar in his enquiry report. Justice Thakkar was deliberately picked up to conduct the unavoidable enquiry, as, many believe, he was so close to the Gandhi family that his report would not affect any member thereof. He, in fact, did not mention any member of Indira’s family in connection with her murder. But he had not to ignore the fact that, Dhawan was “close to someone having clandestine connection with the CIA”, which, to Justice Thakkar, had built up the “heap of suspicion”.

Rewarding a person suspected to have been involved with murder of his mother by Rajiv Gandhi with sensitive politico-administrative positions is a mystery that has not yet been solved, though hands of CIA in Rajiv Gandhi’s murder is also a suspected phenomenon.

However, India has seen in post ‘Janata’ scenario, how Rajiv Gandhi’s closest circle had offered harbour to commission agents like the Italian agent Ottavio Quattrocchi that had given birth to the Bofors scandal and let him escape the dragnet of law, as Sonia Gandhi continued to boss over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Had right-reactionaries using the name of ‘Janata’ not hijacked the mass awakening of the ordinary citizens against impairment of their democracy in 1977 elections, a time would never have come for India to be treated as a fee simple by Indira Gandhi, Rajiv and his widow and son.

The mistake of being misled

The mistake of being misled by the use of the word ‘Janata’ in 1977, not only promoted self-seekers in politics, but also ushered in such a phase that despite Prime Ministers playing treacheries against the country, people did not rise in revolt.

They did not revolt on seeing the Preamble of their Republic rendered inconsequential by Manmohan Singh and Pranab Mukherjee of Narasimha Rao cabinet when they subjected India to WTO design by signing GATT agreement behind back of the nation, in contravention of the nation’s pledge for socialism enshrined in the Preamble. When Constitution of India has provisions for amendment in any part of its body, by no way its Preamble can be changed. Amendment of the Preamble that mandates to make India a socialist sovereignty was not possible. And, therefore there was an insurmountable obstacle to make India a capitalist country. Signing the WTO agreement was the way to make capitalism the official creed of India despite the socialistic Preamble. These two fellows did that and sabotaged the country in Narasimha Rao government.

They kept mum despite seeing their national undertakings being sold away in throwaway prices to private profiteers by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

They kept mum despite seeing how Prime Minister Manmohan Singh betrayed the Republic by subjugating the country to American market design by signing the nuke deal without the Parliament’s approval and by promulgating the same by using political horses including the Speaker.

They kept mum as Sonia Gandhi became the extra-constitutional boss of the Prime Minister of India and one after another, India’s constitutional sentinels like the CEC and CAG got reprimands from the PM for having exposed the illegalities and mega scams his government is involved with.

The design

So, when in the first half of 1970s people of India had spontaneously waken up to save their motherland from derailment, the right-reactionaries had got united under Jaya Prakas Narayan in the name of ‘Janata’ (ordinary citizens) to divert them from the real cause of that derailment, as a result of which the patriotic revolution which could have saved India, was forestalled.

As a result, India has become a land of commission agents, Mafiosi and mega-scams – of exploitation of the weaker segment of the population including women and children – of concentration of wealth in hands of a few forcing the majority to perish in slow starvation – of all out corruption and nonchalant administration – of displacement of indigenous people, denudation of forests and destruction of eco-systems for benefit of the avaricious private and foreign industries – of unbearable financial straits for the majority for whom food security law and low-priced rice and/or wheat has become unavoidable to avert starvation deaths – of uncontrolled black-market and price rise leading to enhancement of DA to almost 100% of the new scale of pay the government servants draw as otherwise plutocracy cannot function – and of many other ills the nation is inflicted with.

Four decades after, as the people rose in revolt again against plutocratic exploitation, and the revolution was going to take a definite shape against the pernicious economic policy of Manmohan Singh and thereby capitalism was going to face the toughest challenge to its continuance in India; exactly like Jaya Prakas Narayan of 1970s, Anna Hazare and a band of situational loudmouths including Kejriwal was picked up by the fidgeting capitalists to divert the mass awakening from revolt against capitalism to demand for a Lokpal, attributing all administrative ills to corruption. This has ensured, India stays a safe haven for the capitalists.

Kejriwal, the offshoot of Anna Hazare’s Lokpal campaign has emerged a prominent agent of plutocracy, with his inauguration as Delhi Chief Minister in the name of the Aam Admi’.

People duped

People are duped, because, they are guided by corporate media to believe, by refusing mandate to the Congress Party and by ushering in Kejriwal through their ballots, they have strengthened democracy.

Kejriwal has succeeded in blocking people’s awakening against capitalism that Prime Minister Manmohan Sngh had perniciously clamped on India. It will take time now for the Delhi voters to know that Kejriwal is nothing but a new mask of plutocracy for extinguishment of which they had started the now aborted mass action.

And, the composition of AAP leadership is such that it shall have no class consanguinity with the Aam Admi (ordinary citizens), who, for survival only, have no other way than depending on food security law and lowest priced rice and/or wheat.

The very fact that AAP has spent Rs.30 lakhs per constituency on records is indicative of plutocracy it is wedded to.

Plutocracy has ensured that Indian elections remain so very expensive that no Aam Admi (ordinary citizen) would dare to contest. So the rich and representatives of the rich contest the elections under whatsoever non-communist banners available and on return, serve the interests of the rich.

Kejriwal and AAP have invested high amount of money in the election and have no affinity for the political economy of the poor class. On the other hand, the AAP leadership is dominated by crorepatis (high rich multimillionaires) who have wealth spanning from rupees ten millions (Dharm Vir Singh) to more than 300 millions ( Shazia Ilmi).

Impact of the rich

The Constituent Assembly of India had to deliver a pro-rich Constitution, because it was “dominated by the rich class”.

Laxmi Narayan Sahu of Orissa, on the third reading of the draft Constitution, had held it to be a repressive Constitution under which the ordinary citizens will suffer more than they were suffering under the British rule.

Dr. Ambedkar, in response, had to admit that the Constituent Assembly was unable to produce a real emancipatory Constitution because of the overwhelming majority of the rich class in the Assembly. He had hoped that when the first Parliament of India will be elected by the votes of the ordinary citizens, comprising the representatives of the poor people as they being in majority would be the dominating electors, the first task it may perform should make appropriate laws to reduce the “gap” between the rich and the poor, so that the the purpose of freedom can be achieved.

Notoriety of the Nehru Government

But, that never happened, as the caretaker Congress Government of Nehru played two notorious games to make the first Parliament advantageous for the rich.

The rich class, eager to engulf India after the British was afraid of Gandhiji.

His emphasis on programs like Village Swarajya was enough to restrict exploitation of India by the rich.

So, firstly, the Nehru Government ensured that Gandhiji, whose active guidance could have inspired the people to use the franchise for creation of the first Parliament with representatives of their own class in order to achieve economic emancipation along with political freedom, was silenced.

Reports galore that with Sardar Patel as the Home Minister, intelligence reports on threat to Gandhiji’s life were ignored.

Thus the first general election to the first Parliament could not be actively guided by Gandhiji and hence there was no voice of Gandhian (Aam Admi) economy in the first Parliament.

Secondly, the Nehru Government ensured that voice of the working class also remains absent in the first Parliament.

With deliberate design, the Communist Party of India was banned, forcing most of its leaders go underground.

Resultantly, the rich class dominated also the first Parliament.

The new danger

Ambedkar’s hope for eradication of the “contradictions” inherent in the rich class produced Constitution was shattered and lost.This happened, as the rich people elected by the poor citizens acted in their class interest.

The rich people in AAP will not act differently. They will act in their class interest. Hence, ‘Aam Admi’ will not really gain. They shall stay pawn in the game the rich play.

Therefore, Kejriwal is the new danger the country shall have to face in the new year.