Rest in peace, Mandela no more

The Great Scientist Albert Einstein once famously eulogized Mahatma Gandhi with the immortal words, "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." These words apply in equal measure to the other great soul of the twentieth Century Nelson Mandela, who left this world on 5 December, 2013 for heavenly abode.

If Gandhi strode like a colossus in the world in the first 50 years of twentieth century, the next fifty undoubtedly belonged to Mandela. No leader was anywhere equal to the moral standing of Mandela in the contemporary world. He inspired people, particularly the youth around the world.

A human being cannot be God. But, if ever a human being came close to be deemed as holy as God it was Mandela. A lawyer by training, Mandela sacrificed his career in the legal profession and fought with fortitude against white minority rule in almost a hopeless situation. He remained in prison for 26 years, most of it in solitary confinement doing hard labour. But, he never gave up, never compromised. Even when he lost his family members, his own mother and son, he could not attend the funeral because he refused to undertake any bond. His fight was political, but also deeply moral like Gandhi. He became the symbol of righteousness, fortitude and courage for millions of people around the world. The Black South African may have been liberated by the struggle that he waged. But, even the rest of the world viewed him as an inspiration and embodiment of all that is good in humans.

Once he became President he could have used his power to prosecute his past tormentors. But, he forgave and inspired everyone else to forgive evil. He was compassion personified. He created the multi-racial, the inclusive rainbow nation that modern South Africa is today. Many countries fought against colonizers, but none of the other leaders became the icon and the inspiration that Mandela was in our times. He brought people of all colours and races together and established the truth and reconciliation commission for uniting people. He could have been divisive. But, he bore no grudge against anyone, not even people who ran the immoral apartheid regime, not those who put him behind bar for long 26 years. He spoke of peace and prosperity and worked for inclusiveness and multiculturalism rather than seeking revenge and justice.

Mandela very openly admitted the influence that Gandhi, Nehru and the Indian freedom movement had on him. In a way the DNA of Indian National Congress and the African National Congress are identical. He was as much Indian as he was South African or even more than that he belonged to the entire human civilization. South Africans cannot claim exclusive ownership over Mandela as much as India cannot claim exclusiveness over Gandhi. The history of the world rarely sees such great inspirations and moral icons.

I am deeply saddened by the death of Mandela and hope he will inspire us to bring people together, to make politics inclusive and of course be as humble and simple as he was. Congress party in India must always stick to the path of Gandhi, Nehru and Mandela and work for an inclusive society. There will be trials and tribulations, but ultimately it is our moral direction that will determine the destiny of our society. Anger, hatred, regional and communal politics will never succeed. That is the story of Mandela.

Rest in peace Madiba, the father of South Africa and the father of the world in our times.    

End Mafia rule in the Meramunduli-Talcher-Angul Industrial Cluster

I visited Talcher to meet Sri Brajakishore Pradhan, Hon’ble MLA Talcher and a close associate. Besides speaking to the MLA and the district officials I also discussed with many members of the public. The situation in the Talcher area is grave.

The Meramunduli-Talcher-Angul cluster has now become one of the top three most polluted places in India and among one of the most polluted in the world. The State pollution Control Board is aware of the problems, but cannot act because of the powerful people who protect industries in this cluster. The ambience air quality is very high on poisonous gases and SPM. Both surface and ground water have been polluted. The soil has become polluted and infertile. MCL has not been able to provide jobs to many displaced families and they continue to languish in waiting lists and moving from pillar-to-post with the hope of regular employment. As adhoc measure some have been provided low-paid contractual jobs. The temperature level in summer has gone up by a whopping 5-6⁰ Celsius and Talcher is now consistently becoming the hottest place in the state reaching 48-49⁰ Celsius in the summer. Winter is gone. From time-to-time people approach various authorities and fail to get their grievance redressed. The development of the area has excluded the local population, who are angry and frustrated. The MLA has been elected by the people and has the responsibility of representing these grievances and in the process he was arrested at the behest of Company officials

During the visit I was told that companies have officials of the state government in their pocket. The affairs of Bhushan steel is not an exception. Over the years many have lost their lives in Bhushan and the factory has become a death-trap. But, how was the company running without clearance from the Pollution Control Board? How was the Company violating standard procedures? Was it without the knowledge of the state Governments and the local officials?

The situation in respect of other companies like MCL is no different. Police Officials from the level of Constables to the highest levels in the state are benefitting from these companies. Many of them are in transportation business, some have got their children employed in these companies, and some have given their houses on rent to these companies. One senior police officer is running a shadow company that is engaged in transportation business. Another senior police officer has given his house in Bhubaneswar on rent to a Joint-Venture Company of MCL. Aren’t these clear cases of conflict of interest? How can senior officers indulge in such dubious dealings? The allegations are far too many. The least that the Government can do is to investigate all these allegations. In fat, no one in Talcher is surprised by the rough and ready method adopted by the police to arrest the MLA.

Talcher Police has no jurisdiction to arrest anyone outside their jurisdiction. They could have issued a notice under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code and if the MLA had not cooperated they should have applied for a non-bailable warrant. An arrest would have been justified if the Police had felt that the MLA was absconding or that they need to subject him to custodial interrogation. The MLA was attending the current session of the Assembly and was in full public and media view. The Police also had no intention of carrying out any custodial interrogation because he was sent in judicial custody almost immediately. The purpose was clearly to use state power to suppress a popular movement around extremely genuine public issues and intimidate the people. The State Government needs to realize that they cannot suppress a popular and democratic movement by using the Police. On their part the Police were more than happy to be used because from top-to-bottom they have their own vested interests. Basically what you see in Talcher is a mafia-type of activity and a clear nexus involving company officials, the police from the top-to-bottom, other district and state government officials and various political power centers in the state.

I have advised the MLA to help authorities normalize coal production and transport because such disruption can affect the power situation in the country. But, at the same time the state government should not neglect the local people as they have done in the past and expect normalcy. Genuine grievances of the people must be addressed expeditiously. The Chief Minister should personally visit Talcher, which he only does during elections.

 The MLA has demanded a C.B.I. investigation into all these dealings and I support this demand and hope that the investigation will extend to Bhusan and in fact the entire Talcher-Angul-Meramunduli cluster. All these Government officers and Politicians must be exposed and prosecuted. The mafia rule there must end.

I hope all these issues will be discussed thread-bare on the floor of the Assembly and the Chief Minister will explain the action that his Government proposes to initiate to break the nexus and stop Talcher from being ruled by the Mafia.