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Thursday, July 16, 2009

A Little Ethics ?


Retribution Is Good - But Who Qualifies ?


The Raging American was a walking IED .

He was a threat to himself and others.

He was lucky to find Shri Keillor - a reader, thinker and writer with obvious self esteem issues.

He could have found one of those multitude of Americans who pack guns and are itching to test them.

He has probably dehumanised his wife to "quivering jelly" or worse.

His children are probably growing up as potential Michael Jacksons - defenseless against the "normalities" of existence.

He either was or will soon be fired.

Do we "forgive" this carrier of calamities or do we show him some tough love?

But how many among us have any idea what love is?

I was well into my thirties, before I lucked upon a Rabbi's son who could explain love, psychoses and related issues, with a perspective that I found appealing.With only marginal and clearly awkward traces of ethnocentricity or hubris .(Erich Fromm - start with Man For Himself).

Justice is brilliant and necessary, but why is it that 21 centuries after a martyrdom considered significant by a large mass of the ruling elite of the planet and ages of human experience and wisdom we are unable to cast stones and deliver healing and life?

The moral of Shri Keillor's complex parable appears clear - Tat Tvam Asi - That Thou Art and we have a lot of growing up to do.

Welcome to Divakar's Sathyagraha - News and views from Divakar S Natarajan's, "no excuses", ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India. Now in its 18th year.

http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com/

I would love to hear from you.

And what's with this software. Shri Keillor's name goes unnoticed but all non anglo saxon stuff is underlined in red !

-- divakarssathya
[Read divakarssathya's other letters]
July 15, 2009 10:36 PM

Where's the anger over cruelty?
Garrison Keillor writing at Salon.com

Friday, July 10, 2009

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!

Shri D Subramanyam,
Member Secretary,
Andhra Pradesh State Legal Services Authority,
High Court Of Andhra Pradesh,

Hyderabad. February 20, 2008



Appeal For Legal Services Towards Filing A Public Interest Litigation To Call Attention To Maladministration Of The AP State Information Commission, The Office of the Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh and to seek a remedial writ.


Sir,


Further to our meeting on February 15, 2008, I thank you and Shri T Venkatesvara Reddy, Administrative Officer, for giving me a kind and patient hearing and useful advice on the course to follow to avail the invaluable services of the APSLSA.


I wish to state the following regarding my experiences with AP State Information Commission and later with the Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh.


Andhra Pradesh State Information Commission:

Since I was not familiar with the RTI Act 2005, and since I am not very intimate with our legal processes, I fixed an appointment and met with Shri Radhakrishna, PS to State Information Commissioner Shri CD Arha and on his advice met Shri Mohan Krishniah, Secretary (Law), SIC on Oct O4, 2006.


I drafted my request for information with Shri Krishniah’s advice and his office kindly typed my petition, which met with his approval.


Shri Ramakrishna, then called and fixed an appointment with Ms Soodamani, Dy Secy, GAD at the Secretariat and advised me to hand my petition to her in person.


However when I went to the Secretariat, I was told that the Dy Secy had left and that I could not enter the Secretariat to hand my petition to anybody else.


Two weeks later, on October 23th, after daily telephone follow up by me, I was once again asked by Shri Ramakrishna to meet the concerned officer at the secretariat.


While I was allowed to meet the officer on this occasion, once again she refused to accept my petition, I was made to walk from one corner of the secretariat to the other in the hot sun, taken to the Chief Secretary’s office by another officer of the GAD and this office also refused to receive my petition.


No grounds were offered for the rejection of my petition.


However I left a copy with the tapaal section, and got my petition date stamped.


In this condition, I once again met Shri Krishniah. He advised me to file a complaint, under section 18(1) of the RTI Act which once again was typed by his office and submitted immediately.


Along with the complaint I also submitted a copy of one of my previous emails to the then Chief Secretary Shri Mohan Kanda as reference to my petition for information.


I later learnt that, under the RTI Act 2005, there was no need to do this. There was no need to disclose the reason for my request for information.



Summoned to meet with State Information Commissioner:


Despite calling the PS to SIC on several occasions, I found that he could not provide me with any further information on the progress of my case.


Sometime in late November 2006, the Private Secretary to the Chief Information Commissioner suggested that the Commissioner had expressed a desire to meet me.


When I arrived for my appointment, he informed me that the Commissioner was busy and that he had advised me to meet Shri K Mangapathi Rao, IAS Secretary - Administration.


Shri Rao spoke to me about various general, unrelated subjects, and but did not answer my query regarding the status of my case.


I shared with him all the information in the public domain, regarding the apparent duplicity of the former AP government and the apathy of the present government and the consequent nearly ostracizing effect on the lives and liberties of myself and my family. (This is detailed in “Excellence Vs Perversity” in the appended current file.


A shocking judgment from the Chief Information Commissioner:


It can be seen that the judgment is draconian and does not carry even a bare pretense of the RTI Act 2005.


Standing section 19(5) regarding onus of proof, on its head, the CIC proceeds to plead for the erring PIO.


He does this by concocting a baseless allegation of lack of specificity and insists; repeatedly and in a most outlandish fashion, that I surrender my right to not reveal the reason for requesting the information or any other personal details (Section 6(1) and 6(2).


When I refuse, repeatedly, to gratify his clearly illegal and illicit demand for information, that has no relevance whatsoever for the adjudication of my case, he proceeds to punish me by dismissing my lawful complaint, drafted by his own legal adviser.



Request for information from APSIC dismissed on dubious grounds:


It can be seen that my application dated November 6, 2007, regarding all information, inputs, and advices on the final disposal of my appeal has been dismissed on spurious grounds.


Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh:


On July 18, 2007, I once again sent a request for information to the Chief Secretary.

From Application To Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh.


This request is identical in content and wording to the earlier request faulted by the State Information Commissioner on grounds of lack of “specificity”.


As can be seen, this time “specificity” or the lack of it was never an issue – thus conclusively establishing the falsity of the Commissioner’s allegation.

From PIO (GAD)s 1st response




However, my requests for information have, despite clear evidence of the Chief Secretary’s intervention in the matter, been responded to by a series of false and misleading responses.


My appeals to the appellate authority have been rejected.



My requests for an appointment with the Chief Secretary have not been entertained.


My request for clarifications from the Chief Secretary, filed as a fresh petition under RTI Act 2005, has also been rejected.





Persona Non Grata for my loyalty to the rule of law:


The Supreme Court of India was recently forced to chastise the Government of Andhra Pradesh for the alacrity and doggedness with which APGOV sought to release prisoners serving life sentences after conviction of heinous crimes.


The duplicity with which I have been treated (as described in “Excellence Vs Perversity”) appears to be the other side of the coin of lawless predatoriness that unfortunately appears to have gained force and currency in India today.


My innocent quest to abide by the idea of the rule of law and thus preserve my life and liberty has turned into a virtual struggle for survival.


I have been unable to earn an income since the past two decades. I do not possess a bank account.


In this totally unprovoked contest, I have only been supported by my mother, Smt Kanti Rajan MA BEd – who retired after nearly two decades of service at the Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet and who since the past 12 years has been conducting a Preschool in the Begumpet area.


It is evident that even her enterprise has been seriously hobbled by our family’s unwillingness to conform to the prevailing “kickback culture”.


Under the above circumstances, I appeal for support from your esteemed authority, in order that I receive the satisfactions that I am due under the law.

Sincerely


Divakar S Natarajan


Esteemed readers may click on the documents displayed on the slide show to reach the album. Here the documents are displayed in the right size. The album also has a magnifying glass facility on the top right.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Defreezing Comrade Gupta

From Gentle Revolutionary


To read my profile of Indrajit Gupta, please click on the link or the picture. This will take you to Picasa. If the picture appears too small, please click on the picture. It will enlarge and will display a magnifying glass facility on the top right.



I took the first readable draft of Gentle Revolutionary to Harish Khare at The Hindu. Zip... zip...zip... in not more than ten seconds Khare appeared to have read it and put it on his in tray.

"Arre baba, this is just a draft. Give me a response." I pleaded.

"What response ?" Khare grimaced and said nothing.

Harish Khare is too cool to respond to pleas from the likes of a Divakar S Natarajan.

Google "Gentle Revolutionary" today and you will find around four thousand results. Including one from the Soviet archives. But this was a year before Google and I thought I had minted it.

The 2003, Kamal Haasan, Madhavan, starrer "Anbe Sivan" is without a doubt inspired by this article and it would be nice if somebody out there admitted it.

From Shri Indrajit Gupta With My Little One


From Smt Gita Mukherji, Hon'ble Member Of Parliament, Lok Sabha


From Shri Harish Khare

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Shiney Ahuja Versus The Chief Information Commissioner Of India

In India today, where the systems of delivery of justice are in a frightfully derelict state, mutual consent is a mutual delusion.





A Chief Information Commissioner who has systematically perverted the RTI Act 2005 is no less psychotic, no less heinous and an infinitely larger menace to Indian society than an individual who has run amok.

And those who just stand silently and watch this violence, let me just say, they have lost the right to innocence.

Consider the facts: A suffering Indian citizen, petitions that his life and liberty have been conspiratorially incarcerated since decades, and submits impeccable evidence in support of his plea.

CIC contemptuously dismisses his plea and further counsels the petitioner to submit to the arbitrariness of officials.

This act alone completely violates both the letter and spirit of the law that he is sworn to uphold.

When the suffering but public spirited citizen does not obey his diktat, the CIC punishes him by throwing his appeal into a dark dungeon where it does not emerge until close to two years have passed.

Only in India will we lay hope on a process that comes to a culmination after years.

Self respecting people would consider this process a joke and the people who administer this farce as less classy, but more sinister than The Joker from Batman.



When finally the case does come up, the CIC smugly but relentlessly violates and distorts the petitioners pleas, eagerly laps up the Prime Minister's Office's (no offence to the Prime Minister - I have had a ring side view of how our babus treated another good man in high office) lazy lies and demonstrates once again - as if there were any doubts about that predilection of our babulog - how people in high places can skewer the law with brutal impunity and leave hapless law abiding citizens eating the dust.

And what about India's lapdog press and decadent editorial class ?

That dark mass of Dementors
dutifully photocopy the CIC's handouts of his wisdom and the next morning every sorry Indian is reading about the swashbuckling derring-do of our marvelous baburatna !

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Why Prabhu Chavla, His Esteemed Publication And India's Editorial Class Have Decayed And Are Dangerous

If corruption is eradicated, many of our national problems can be solved. Don't you think people have ignored this menace or accepted it as a necessary evil? June 13, 2009

—Asked by Vijay
vijaydandiwala@yahoo.com

I think people have accepted it as a reality as they have lost hope in the political leadership.

Prabhu Chavla


You are probably an honourable man Shri Chavla, but if you come to me with that attitude, you should not blame me if I conclude that you and your esteemed publication stink.

Why ?

Because you are a powerful man and yet you pass the buck on to the usual suspects - "the people" and "the political leadership"

You have not even applied your mind, just tossing of a pernicious prejudice, which the rest of us have to suffer.

Your apathy is rotten and destructive and you force your dementia down the rest of struggling India!

You and your esteemed visitors are cordially invited to Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong !http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com/2009/01/excellence-versus-perversity.html
News and views from Divakar S Natarajan's, "no excuses", ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India. Now in its 18th year.

Read also about how the CIC has colluded with the PMO to frustrate my Right To Information

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com/ and other posts.

The fact that you may be unconscious about your pathological conformism and servility, is exactly that which makes you , your esteemed publication and India's media in general such a toxic burden for the rest of us.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies

The following is the CIC's "decision" on my appeal.

Complaint No.CIC/WB/C/2007/00653 dated 17.10.2007
Right to Information Act 2005 – Section 18
Complainant - Shri Divakar S. Natarajan
Respondent - Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)

Facts:

By an application of 18.7.07 Shri Divakar S. Natarajan of Begumpet, Hyderabad applied to the CPIO PMO seeking the following information:

“Please provide me with all information, including files and notings, regarding action taken on the matters petitioned vide my emails to Dr. Sanajaya Baru dated 5.12.2005 and Shri Muthu Kumar PMOSB 25.7.05, 26.7.05, 31.7.05, 31.8.05 and five emails on 18.8.05.”

To this he received a response dated 14.8.07 from Shri Kamal Dayani, as follows:

“Your emails on various dates to Dr. Sanjaya Baru, Media Advisor and Shri Muthu Kumar, Director, Media are not readily traceable as the data pertaining to the period is no longer available in the Computers. You may provide details of the letters written by you, if any, in this regard to enable this office to reply accordingly.”

Aggrieved by this response, Shri Natarajan moved his first appeal before Ms. Vini Mahajan Jt. Secretary on 30.8.07 by Email criticizing the response as follows:

“1. It appears to be misdirected to me. This query ought to be directed to Dr. Baru and Shri Muthu Kumar for appropriate results.

2. The RTI Act does not permit any conditions to be imposed on the petitioner by the CPIO to “enable this office to reply accordingly”

It passes my comprehension as to why the CPIO should seek details from me again, when I have already done so.

I am sure you will agree, that prima facie this response from the CPIO appears to be a rather flimsy and frivolous dilatory tactics contravening both the letter and spirit of the “revolutionary” RTI Act 2005 of which our Hon’ble Prime Minister is justly proud.

In the event, I request you to kindly do the needful under the law and procure me the complete information that I have requested.”


The CIC has chosen to leave out the following introduction:

Madam,

Further to my request for information under RTI Act 2005, dtd 18th July,2007 I have received what appears to be a strange and awkwardly worded response from the Director and CPIO Shri K Dayani.

I have been asked "to provide details of the letters written by you "if any" to enable this office to reply accordingly."

Because "the your emails are not readily traceable as the data pertaining to the period is no longer available "in the Computers".

Gentle Reader, would you not have been shocked and amused, if you had received the above response from office of the leader of the emergent IT Super power?

Who could have reasonably imagined that the PMO's email system would have been hacked?

So why does the CIC remain tight lipped about the PMO's clearly incomprehensible communication ?

Why does the CIC have no sympathy for my bewilderment?


Were my complaints justified or not?

Why has the CIC chosen to gloss over the critical fact that the appellate authority did not bother to give me any answer whatsoever.

My very first line in my appeal to the CIC was:

" I am disappointed to state that I have had no response whatsoever from the above appellate authority, regarding my request for information of July 18, 2007."

It is telling that rather than take immediate and summary action, the CIC has chosen to ignore the appellate officer's dereliction and instead has sent my case to the "dungeon" from where it has been allowed to emerge only at the fag end of this government's term.

This PMO officer appears to be some kind of a serial offender. And in other cases has been "admonished" by the CIC - why not in my case?

Have I become a lesser citizen and earned the CIC's wrath because of my two decade long individual,non partisan, ultra peaceful sathyagraha against "the patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption that has cretinised us Indians."?

On not receiving a response Shri Natarajan has moved his complaint before us with the following prayer:

“Whether Hon’ble PM has been properly briefed and kept current on my ultra peaceful “no excuse” individual, non partisan, satyagraha against corruption, now in its 17th year.”


Once again,the CIC, with the most egregious prejudice, has chosen to edit the following.

"Has he (the Hon'ble Prime Minister) been made familiar with Dr Baru's (Dr Sanjaya Baru - then the media adviser to the PMO) 1991 Economic Times review of my documentary in Urdu "Hyderabad August 1948."?

Has he been told about the martyr Shoebullah Khan in the context of the recent attacks on Taslima Nasrin in Hyderabad ?"

This was followed up with an Email on 29.11.07 addressed to Chief Information Commissioner seeking an out of turn hearing,
which was not agreed to, upon which the appellant submitted a CD containing three separate files.

It is unfortunate that The Chief Information Commissioner implies that I was asking for something "out of turn" .

He does not appear to have the heart to accept responsibility for the rude,ignorant and prejudiced dismissal of my plea that my life and liberty was incarcerated without the information that I had sought.

The following is the dismissive response. F. No CIC/WB/C/2007/00653 Dtd 31/12/2007

Sir,

Your email dated 14/12/2007 was placed before the Chief Information Commissioner for consideration of your request. The CIC has observed the following.

"This hardly requires for (sic) out of turn hearing. He may be requested to provide copies of documents on which he seeks information to PMO. sd CIC"

This was rudeness verging on the venomous.

Would it not have been more productive and enlightening if the CIC had opted to make public his criteria for "Life and Liberty" consideration?

Would not such a professional response have been reassuring and earned my gratitude?

Evidently earning the gratitude of a solitary sathyagrahi was not a priority for our wordly CIC.


One is a letter addressed to the Jt Registrar praising the efforts of the officials in helping him.

"Praise?" This is a thank you note. Evidence of my scrupulously courteous style. Not "praise".

The second letter is a paper report and the third is a report titled “A resonant validation of an ultra peaceful non partisan 14 years individual Satyagraha against corruption” running into 88 pages.”

The coldness and the lack of affect with which the CIC has refused to apply his mind, his disdainful dismissal of the horror and perversity that has been inflicted on me and the implication that I have somehow grievously erred in submitting copious evidence to support my claim for so called "out of turn" hearing - with due respect, this is Darth Vader stuff. Pure evil.

Rather than take summary action against the derelict PMO official, CIC has left no stone unturned to punish me.

A most vivid instance of "the patronage paradigm's" florid perversity.

In response to our complaint notice Shri Amit Agarwal, Director & CPIO PMO has in letter of 24.4.09 submitted as follows:

“It is submitted that the emails referred to in the application were considered as personal communications and accordingly, no action was taken by the office.

As the emails were not available with the office, the then CPIO had sent a letter dated 14.8.2007 in order to better understand the appellant’s request and respond in light of any correspondence that might have been sent regarding the matter and processed for any action in this office.

As regards, the appellant’s first appeal before the appellate authority in this office (as enclosed with the second appeal to the Hon’ble Commission in the form of an email dated 30.8.2007), it is submitted that despite best efforts, the said emails could not be located in this office.”

The complaint was heard on 27.4.09. The following are present:

Respondents at CIC Studio, New Delhi
Shri Amit Agrawal, Director & CPIO, PMO.
Shri Agam Aggarwal, Section Officer.
Shri Muthu Kumar, OSD, PMO
2
Although arrangement had been made through videoconference with Hyderabad and complainant Sh. Divakar S. Natarajan informed by Notice dated 16.4.2009 regarding the hearing, he has opted not to be present.

In a similar travesty of the RTI Act by the State Information Commissioner in Hyderabad, for which I had to appeal to the High Court, the SIC did not make any appearance, nor even appoint a counsel.

The Hon'ble judge hearing the case obliged the respondent by refusing to hear me,by arguing on his behalf and by producing a rank dodgy judgement.

Given the quality and volume of evidence that was before the CIC, the PMO's admissions of delinquency and the CIC's previous experience with this office, my presence was completely unnecessary.


Finally and most importantly, there is little I could have done to deal with the CIC's deep, subconscious animus against me , his venomous response to my plea for an early hearing, his misleading quotations, his contemptuous dismissal of all evidence of my nearly two decade long ordeal, of "Hyderabad. August 1948" and of course his big, bland lie that I have been provided information by the PMO,that are clearly revealed in his written decision and now open for all to see.

For the record, I have never met the CIC in my life and from what I had seen of him on Lok Sabha Television I had been very hopeful of a truly creative interaction.

Shri Amit Agrawal specifically submitted that the Email addressed to Ms. Vini Mahajan, containing the first appeal remained untraced; hence it had not been dealt with.

To remedy any shortcomings in the receipt of RTI applications through Internet, the Jt. Secretary, PMO has separately taken up the matter with the RTI Cell within the PMO, which also consists of Shri Muthu Kumar, OSD, also present in the hearing, who monitors the RTI correspondence on Internet.

Shri Agam Aggarwal SO PMO submitted that he has spoken to complainant Shri Natarajan on the telephone on the evening of Friday, the 24th April 2009 and explained the position to him. Sh Natarajan has asked for certain documents which have been provided.

Shri Agarwal did call me but only to ask me for my fax number.

I submitted that only government offices with annually expanding budgets had fax machines.

Ordinary people like me used Gmail.

He then asked me for my email address. I then inquired whether he had any of my correspondence with him on file or not?

He confirmed that he indeed had my correspondence on file.

I then requested him to kindly refer to his files for my email address. He said he would and that he would call me back.

He called me back a few minutes later and confirmed that he indeed had my email id. Later that evening, he sent me a copy of his response to the CIC through email.

He could have asked me for a copy of my appeal to the appellate officer. But he did not.

I have clearly and repeatedly stated the details of the information that I sought.

The CIC could have inquired and ascertained from the PMO officials present as to exactly what information was being given to me.

The CIC did not.

In the event,the CIC has vaguely and falsely observed "Sh Natarajan has asked for certain documents which have been provided." And happily closed the case.

Once again, I have no more information on the matters petitioned by me today,than what I had two years ago.

The Prime Minister's Office has given me nothing.


DECISION NOTICE
Having heard the arguments and examined the record, we find that the information held by PMO has indeed been provided to appellant Shri Natarajan.
Shri Natarajan’s petition, however, exposes a possible weakness in the Internet receipt system of the PMO, which is being looked into. Hence there seems no case for our further intervention in this matter.
This complaint is now closed.
Announced in the hearing. Notice of this decision be given free of cost to the parties.
(Wajahat Habibullah)
Chief Information Commissioner
27.4.2009
3
Authenticated true copy. Additional copies of orders shall be supplied against application and payment of the charges, prescribed under the Act, to the CPIO of this Commission.
(Pankaj Shreyaskar)
Joint Registrar
27.4.2009
4

Thursday, April 30, 2009

The Central Information Commissioner Does A CBI

Last week, out of the blue , I received a notice of hearing from the CIC.

I am an optimist. But not an idiot.

I correctly predicted the CIC's textbook authoritarian response.

A response that does not possess even a whiff of the RTI Act 2005.

A response that is analogous to the CBIs exemplary indulgence of the heinous.


A Matter Of My Life And Liberty. File No. CIC/WB/C/2007/000653 Notice to PMO dtd April 16 2009

from divakar snatarajan
to pkp.shreyaskar@nic.in
cc whabibullah@nic.in
date Sat, Apr 25, 2009 at 1:42 PM
subject A Matter Of My Life And Liberty. File No. CIC/WB/C/2007/000653 Notice to PMO dtd April 16 2009
mailed-by gmail.com



Pankaj P Shreyaskar
Deputy Secretary & Joint Registrar
Central Information Commission
New Delhi.


PMO's Forced, Belated and Lame Response.


Sir,

Your notice has forced the PMO to come up with a response,nearly two years after my application.

It is noticeable that the PMO is unwilling to step out of its nest of denial (of information) which is built out twigs of fragile rationalisations.

As I have observed in my email to you of Mon Jan 21,2008 titled Release My Life And Liberty,

"the delinquency of the PMO is clearly not a minor glitch, but a deliberate and dastardly campaign of silence that is threatening and torturous to me."

To a trained eye, it is obvious that the PMO is looking for some outside help to bale it out of this mess.

Going by the performance of the CIC in my case this far, the PMOs fervent prayers will probably find a torrent of sweet sympathy at your office.

As The Hindu, most delicately observed in an editorial comment on the aftermath of the shoe thrown at Home Minister incident, "our institutions generally exhibit an establishment bias." Or words to that effect.*

I have already replied in detail, in my appeal to Ms Vini Mahajan, Appellate Authority, (email of August 14,2007, Don't Let The RTI Down. Administer RTI in the right spirit.)to PMO's weird contention that emails "not readily traceable due to data pertaining to that period is no longer available in our computers"

The PMOs contention that applicant has "now" filed an second appeal, merely shows that time has a way of congealing in the PMO.
My urgent appeal to the CIC is dated October 12, 2007.

The PMO has in its arbitrary, self serving fashion decided that emails referred to in the application were personal communications.

My observation in my emails that the PMOs silence was "morally bankrupt" does not make them personal communications.

Quite the contrary, the stubborn delinquency of a PMO that publicly takes great credit for the RTI Act 2005, is a matter of considerable public interest.

My correspondence contains appeals from the former Home minister to the former Prime Minister, Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao to the former PM, Appeal from eminent filmmakers to the former PM and Dr Baru's published review of my documentary.

The context for the above are publicly described in my blog http:// sathyagraha.blogspot.com especially Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong.

So the PMOs contention regarding so called private correspondence is nothing but thinly veiled bragging of over weening authoritarianism, perversity and vindictiveness.

Once again the PMO admits to have misplaced the first appeal.

Why did it not occur to the PMO to write to me to reassure me about their competence and sincerity and request another copy?

It is truly intriguing that the PMO appears to find it so much easier to blandly confess to the CIC regarding its serial incompetence and delinquency !

Sincerely,

Divakar S Natarajan

*"The Indian experience is that law enforcers and investigating agencies almost invariably incline towards the ruling establishment."
Exorcising 1984.The Hindu April 13, 2009


India's editorial class of course is as pure as Bislerijal !

The CIC Sends Me To The "Dungeon" !

The following is the last exchange I had with the office of the CIC.
Till last week.

Release My Life and Liberty !

from divakar snatarajan
to pkp.shreyaskar@nic.in
date Mon, Jan 21, 2008 at 5:13 PM
subject Release My Life and Liberty !
mailed-by gmail.com


Dear Shri Shreyaskar,

Further to my email to you of 17 th January 2007, I have been trying to reach you on the phone all day.

Given that I have not heard anything further, must I assume that the copious and irrefutable evidence that I have presented to support my case for hearing on an out of turn basis, has not been considered at all?

Even as I write this, I have to consider the irony of my defending myself, whereas the law and evidence of delinquency that I have presented make it crystal, that it is an incorrigibly delinquent PMO that has to answer.

Also, this delinquency from the PMO is clearly not a minor administrative glitch, but a deliberate and dastardly campaign of silence that is threatening and torturous to me.

The CIC must consider matters with a warm empathy and not take any offense to my candour, which I have been careful to back up with a flood of prime evidence.

After all, despite all the the gratuitous and barbaric torture and humiliation, there has been no duplicity or double standards in my behavior over all this time.

I look forward to hearing a positive verdict from the CIC, with his kind blessings, at the earliest,.

Sincerely,

Divakar




from Pankaj
to divakar snatarajan
date Tue, Jan 22, 2008 at 10:13 AM
subject Re: Release My Life and Liberty !


Dear Shri Divakar
I had received your CD in the matter. I had gone through that and had placed all of them on the file. Insofar as an out of turn hearing is concerned no such decision has been taken so as on today. However you will be hearing from us about the date in due course. You could not speak to me over telephone since i was in VC hearing for some time.
Regards

Pankaj K P Shreyaskar, ISS
Deputy Secretary & Joint Registrar
Central Information Commission
Old JNU Campus
New Delhi 110067
011-26717354


from divakar snatarajan
to Pankaj
cc whabibullah@nic.in
date Fri, Jan 25, 2008 at 5:09 PM
subject Re: Release My Life and Liberty !
mailed-by gmail.com


Dear Shri Shreyaskar,

Thank you for speaking with me this morning.

I am truly disappointed that CIC has not yet responded to all the information that I have sent.

As you observed, it is unlikely that a citizen resisting corruption,would seek recourse to a claim of threat to life and liberty, if this were not substantially true.

Why would anybody seek out of turn anything, if the normal process was tolerable?

More germane is the incorrigible delinquency of the PMO.

With due respect, why humor bad behaviour?

In the absence of any reasonable response, I am beginning to lose my confidence in this process.

Sincerely,
Divakar

I Beg The Chief Information Commissioner Again...

Is CIC "santhusht" ?

from divakar snatarajan
to pkp.shreyaskar@nic.in
date Thu, Jan 17, 2008 at 4:33 PM
subject Is CIC "santhusht" ?
mailed-by gmail.com


Sir,

Thank you for your assurance of Jan 12,2008

Kindly note that a CD containing copious evidence of my nearly two decade long incarceration due to my resistance to corruption, has been sent to you through DTDC courier on 11/01/08. NoF03058774.

In keeping with the spirit of the RTI Act 2005, I shall appreciate more specific information as to how the CIC intends to proceed on this matter and whether I could be of any more assistance in providing information about the brutality I am suffering.

Dates would be welcome too.

Sincerely,

Divakar

Chief Information Commissioner Demonstrates Bias...

"This" is a hiss!

from divakar snatarajan
to pkp.shreyaskar@nic.in
cc whabibullah@nic.in
date Wed, Jan 9, 2008 at 3:32 PM
subject "This" is a hiss!
mailed-by gmail.com


Dear Shri Shreyaskar,

Thank you for your reply of 31-12-07.

I am shocked and pained by the CIC's prejudiced, contemptuous and dismissive response.

To an objective person, it clearly demonstrates the depth of psychological denial in high places about the devastating effects of corruption, lack of accountability etc.

It once again clearly demonstrates the bare, clinical, truth of my contentions in my email to him.

For an objective third party, not so close to the system, it might appear that the RTI Act 2005, was made for me, if not actually inspired by my editorial page article in The Hindustan Times.

However, it appears that CIC without even asking for any evidence, is convinced I am shamming.

I have provided evidence that appellate authority has not even bothered to answer my appeal. I have called her several time and left messages;that were never answered.

This is worse than the appellate authority who was chided by the CIC in Mar 07 for "unbecoming" conduct.

I am unable to provide documents at this stage for reasons that I have mentioned in my note to the appellate authority because such action on my part would constitute a betrayal of "onus of proof "Sec 19(5) .

I am also not clear why CIC has not acknowledged my email of Nov 29,2007.

However, I have attached copious proof of my nineteen year long sathyagraha that never should have been.

I demand that the Central Information Commission find an early and efficient way to deliver me the Information that is my right; the lack of which has my life and liberty incarcerated in a conspiracy of sepulchral silence and deep psychological prejudice.

Sincerely,
Divakar

So I Beg The Chief Information Commissioner...

Urgent Appeal For Out-of-Turn Hearing. Appeal dated 12 Oct 2007.Denial of Information by PMO. Diary number 463221


from divakar snatarajan
to whabibullah@nic.in
date Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 4:51 PM
subject Urgent Appeal For Out-of-Turn Hearing. Appeal dated 12 Oct 2007.Denial of Information by PMO. Diary number 463221
mailed-by gmail.com


Sir,

I shall be grateful for an immediate and out of turn hearing on my appeal on the ground that the information requested has the potential to release my life and liberty from the conspiracy of silence in which they have been incarcerated,since the last 17 years, due to my outspoken resistance to corruption.

The egregious nature of the PMO non response - denial on obviously frivolous grounds and no response whatsoever from the appellate authority - is another compelling reason for CIC to take up my appeal urgently.

Sincerely,
Divakar S Natarajan


With a forward to PKP Shreyaskar Jt Registrar CIC

Dear Shri Pavan Kumar,

Thank you for calling me this afternoon. As per your advice, herewith forward of my email appeal to Shri Habibullah to the address furnished by you.

The import of the "egregious" point is:

In order not to be snowed down by appeals, it may be in the CIC's interest to summarily discourage and disincentivise situations where there is indisputable evidence of absence of application of mind;that too from the PMO!

I look forward to my "information" at the earliest and thank you for your kind courtesy.

Sincerely,

Divakar

Back Home In AP, They Follow The PMO's Example!

The following is my email to Chief Secretary, Government Of Andhra Pradesh.

Sounds familiar ?




Kindly Support Secretary to Government(Ser), General Administration Department Re: Letter #11365-DG/PAGB.1/A1/07-1 Dtd25-07-2007


from divakar snatarajan
to cs@ap.gov.in
date Thu, Aug 2, 2007 at 10:28 PM
subject Kindly Support Secretary to Government(Ser), General Administration Department Re: Letter #11365-DG/PAGB.1/A1/07-1 Dtd25-07-2007
mailed-by gmail.com


Sir,

Further to my request for information under RTI Act 2005-Reg dtd 18.7.07, regarding information taken on the matters petitioned vide my emaiI to the then Chief Secretary dtd 25,26,29,31July 2005 and #rd August 2005 along with a CD containing supporting evidence presented to the then PS to CS, I have received what appears to be a strange response from the Secretary - General Administration Department.

I have been asked to " furnish a copy of the above emails ...for taking further action in the matter".

The request appears strange because,

1. The RTI Act 2005 does not permit any conditions to be imposed on the petitioner by the Public Information Officer, "for taking further action in the matter".

2. It passes my comprehension as to why the Secy GAD, should seek copies of material that clearly ought to be a part of your files and records.

I am sure you will agree, that prima facie this appears to be a rather frivolous and flimsy dilatory tactic contravening both the spirit and letter of the "revolutionary" RTI Act 2005.

It is of course my hope that such is not the case.

In the event may I respectfully request that you kindly make available the above records from your files in order that "further action may be taken" without any delay.

I shall also be deeply grateful if your officers prefer email to snail mail for the same reasons.

With my deepest regards,
I am sincerely,

Divakar S Natarajan

The Prime Minister's Office Messes With My Right To Information

Exasperated by the PMO's stubborn silence, I decided to exercise my Right To Information, with such results as can be seen from my complaint to the so called appellate authority.

In my experience it is the so called appellate authority that literally dictates the lowly Principal Information Officer's response.

The PIO is a mere Deputy secretary usually near retirement. He is expected to extract transparency from the hyper powerful Indian Administrative Service!

Only in India!

The appellate authority,did not bother to reply or even take my calls.


from divakar snatarajan
to pmosb@pmo.nic.in
date Thu, Aug 30, 2007 at 12:55 PM
subject Attn: Smt Vini Mahajan, Joint Secretary Re : No.RTI/453/2007 Dtd 14 Aug,2007 Don't let The PM down. Administer RTI in the right spirit.
mailed-by gmail.com


Madam,

Further to my request for information under RTI Act 2005,dtd 18th July,2007 I have received what appears to be a strange and awkwardly worded response from the Director and CPIO Shri K Dayani.

I have been asked " to provide details of the letters written by (me) "if any"," to enable this office to reply accordingly".

Because "the data pertaining to the period are not readily traceable as the data pertaining to the period is no longer available in the Computers".

This request appears strange because,

1. It appears to be misdirected to me.
This query ought to be directed to Dr Baru and Shri Muthu Kumar for appropriate results.

2. The RTI Act does not permit any conditions to be imposed on the petitioner by the CPIO to "enable this office to reply accordingly"

3. It passes my comprehension as to why the CPIO, should seek details from me again, when I have already done so.

I am sure you will agree, that prima facie this response from the CPIO appears to be a rather flimsy and frivolous dilatory tactic contravening both the letter and spirit of the "revolutionary" RTI Act 2005 of which our Hon'ble Prime Minister is justly proud.

In the event , I request you to kindly do the needful under the Law and procure me the complete information that I have requested.

I would especially like to know whether the Hon'ble Prime Minister has been properly and exhaustively briefed and kept current on my 17 year long sathyagraha against corruption?

Has he been made familiar with Dr Baru's 1991 Economic Times review of my documentary in Urdu "Hyderabad.August 1948" ?

Has he been told about the martyr Shoebullah Khan in the context of the recent attacks on Taslima Nasrin in Hyderabad.?

I shall be deeply grateful for a complete and exhaustive response including the files and other material that I have asked for.

Kindly feel free to call me at 09247584877 for any clarifications.

Sincerely

Divakar S Natarajan

The Prime Minister's Office's Amazing Disgrace..

from divakar snatarajan
reply-to divakar snatarajan
to pmosb@pmo.nic.in
date Tue, Aug 2, 2005 at 9:11 AM
subject Attn: Shri Muthukumar Amazing Disgrace Re "Own Up. Don't Cover Up."
mailed-by gmail.com



"Own Up. Don't Cover Up".

Dear Shri Muthukumar,

Keeping in mind that more than a year has passed without even an acknowledgement from Dr Baru or the AP government, and that I have been making all the calls at considerable expense, and that even now the object appears to be to merely finesse the matter, ( like trying to hide a full pumpkin on the dinner plate) I have to reluctantly conclude that at present my chances of finding anything approaching fairness and justice from the government are no brighter than before.

Obviously the absurd "tomato face" of these officials is entirely subjective and has little to do with either the epic evil,-Kovalan comes to mind- that I have been subject to or indeed any serious concern regarding the reputation of the PMO.

If the PMO does not grab this opportunity to bite the bullet,(" cut the Gordian knot"your words Shri Muthukumar) and do the right thing, I don't care how many hysterical voices you have on your side, I guarantee it would emerge as completely morally bankrupt and stupid as Sarma, Reddy and the others.

So what is it that makes Sarma, Reddy or for that matter Hitler or Bush/Bliar appear so smart and yet act so stupid ?

Consider this:

" For the sadistic character, there is only one admirable quality and that is Power. He admires, loves and submits to those who have power and he despises and wants to control those who are powerless and cannot fight back" - Erich Fromm " The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness"

"The most important feature(of the "authoritarian" or "sado-masochistic" character} is its attitude towards power.

For the authoritarian character, there exists, so to speak, two sexes. The powerful ones and the powerless ones.

His "love", admiration and readiness for submission are automatically aroused by power, whether of an individual or an institution.

Power fascinates him not for any values for which a special power may stand, but just because it is a power.

Just as "love" is automatically aroused by power, so powerless people or institutions automatically arouse his contempt.

The very sight of a powerless person, makes him want to attack, dominate, humiliate him.

Whereas a different kind of character is appalled by the idea of attacking one who is helpless, the authoritarian character feels the more aroused, the more helpless his object has become."

- Erich Fromm "Escape from Freedom"

In other words, as a rule, people in or close to "power" are quite stunted in several ways and have only an intellectual acquaintance with human potentialities like, Integrity,Equity, Truth, Objectivity, Love etc.

Duplicity is natural to this character.

Bottom line, if I do not receive a definitive response from the PMO in the next twenty four hours, I'll have to reluctantly conclude that while you may have the head and the heart and all the right words,the nerve and stomach are atrophied.

In other words I have to, to my immense sadness , conclude that you guys are morally bankrupt are merely tripping on expediency and are an amazing disgrace to the high office that you hold.

I will then seek the next call on my tryst with destiny.

Sincerely,
Divakar

Prime Minister's Office: Out Of Order

After several calls to my old friend Dr Sanjaya Baru and emails like the following, and some under the title"Own Up. Don't Cover Up." I was compelled to write what appears in the following post.

from divakar snatarajan
reply-to divakar snatarajan
to pmindia@pmo.nic.in
date Fri, Jul 15, 2005 at 3:22 PM
subject Out of Order ?

To:pmindia@pmosb.nic.in
c/o Shri Muthu Kumar

The following may please be forwarded to the "grievances" section of the "Write to Pm" section of your website, which has been out of order all day.

PMO's opacity in response to my emails to you 13 Jul, and Dr Baru 3 Ap,Ma 12, regarding my 14 year "no excuses" sathyagraha against corruption is medieval.

With today's story in the DC,"Schuster presented fake letter" such dysfunctionality appears to reveal a radical but familiar infirmity.

Please do not waste my goodwill and snatch defeat and cynicism from what could conceivably result in a bracing moment of reason.

Kindly eschew Big Brotherism for honesty and humanity.

The Prime Minister's Office Does Not Care

from divakar snatarajan
reply-to divakar snatarajan
to baru@pmo.nic.in
date Thu, May 12, 2005 at 12:12 PM
subject Clear Message From The Mystic Microscope
mailed-by gmail.com

Dr Sanjaya Baru
Media Adviser to
the Prime Minister of India
New Delhi May 12th 2005.


Sub: Clear message from the mystic microscope.

Dear Sanjaya,

With the benefit of the insight provided by the passage of one and a half decades, it would be safe for me to say that "Hyderabad. August 1948" the documentary that I conceived, researched, scripted, edited, presented in Urdu and produced in 1990, had hit a rare "sweet spot" in our national consciousness.

As I have never tired of telling you, the vibrant and insightful review that you wrote in the Economic Times has been a pillar of my strength and sanity.

But while your response was articulated with a refreshingly incandescent conviction and vitality, you know it was not unique. Freedom fighters, distinguished historians and the reviewing fraternity within the press, they all welcomed "Hyderabad. August 1948".

In all these years, I doubt that any other Doordarshan/Prasar Bharathi commissioned work has received the kind of response that "Hyderabad. August 1948"enjoyed.

Neither the "legendary Allah Baksh" ("Allah Baksh versus Savarkar", Anil Nauriya, The Hindu) nor the Goa liberation struggle ("Dangerous Currents" Maria Aurora Couto, The Hindu, 6th Jan '04) appear to have received the kind of treatment they merit.

Clinching proof of a monstrous witch-hunt.


Now your appointment by our Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, as his hand picked media adviser is clinching proof that over 14 long years, successive Doordarshan managements have made a mockery of their duties of care and reasonableness.

That they have abused their power to denigrate my work, nefariously withhold and thus steal the recognition, rewards and maim the opportunities that are due to me.

By their conspicuously incongruous response, they have not only cast aspersions on my competence and character but most unconscionably on the legacy of the brave Shoebullah Khan. ("Why has Mandi House Murdered Shoebullah Khan Again?" V H Desai, The Deccan Chronicle, Jan 17 ,1993)

They have repudiated and denigrated appeals for consideration from freedom fighters and some of the nation's most eminent luminaries on my behalf.

By their bureaucratic autism they have wreaked a black hole where the light of reason has never been allowed to penetrate.

They have harassed and defamed me with a preposterous litigation (value Rs 25,000/-) since 1998, on precisely the same matters on which a year earlier (1997) the then Chief Minister of my state had requested the attention of the then MIB Shri Jaipal Reddy.

There is no escaping the conclusion that the successive managements of Doordarshan have monstrously abused their immense power by demeaning my distinguished offering, crippling my career, and terrorising me and my family by pursuing a most perverse and predatory witch-hunt over fourteen long years.

Ringing endorsement of an ultra-peaceful, non-partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption

Considering Dr Manmohan Singh's extraordinary reputation for fairness and integrity, your appointment is a ringing endorsement of the petition submitted by some of our finest and most creative minds to the former Prime Minister, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Endorsing Shri Chandrababu Naidu's representation that Prasar Bharathi commission me as a "filmmaker of acknowledged eminence" to make films to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of our Independence, Sarvashri Soumitra Chatterji, Shyam Benegal, Derek Malcolm, Jean Claude Carriere, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Siddhartha Kak, Om Puri and others observed,

"Given that his Doordarshan commissioned documentary, "Hyderabad.August 1948" has been nationally acclaimed for celebrating our nation's core values and given the abundance of open support that he has received, it appears credible to us that he is being severely punished for his resistance to corruption in Doordarshan".

Abetting the witch-hunt

It is another depressing fact that despite the glittering words that he had written as
Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha) and despite the phenomenal support that he had received from Shri Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh and Convenor of the "secular" United Front and Shri Indrajit Gupta, Minister of Home Affairs in the United Front government, Shri Jaipal Reddy did nothing to stop the witch-hunt.

In a representation to the former Prime Minister, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, endorsing the Shri Chandrababu Naidu's recommendation that I be commissioned as "a film maker of acknowledged eminence" to make films to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our Independence and forwarding similar representations from Hon'ble Ch Vidyasagar Rao, then Minister of State for Home Affairs, Hon'ble Shri R Kumaramangalam, then Minister for Power, Hon'ble Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, then Minister of State for Urban Affairs and Employment, Hon'ble Shri Bangaru Laxman, then Minister of State for Railways, Hon'ble Shri Ram Jethmalani, then Minister of State for Law Justice and Company Affairs, Prof M L Sondhi, then Chairman, ICSSR, Hon'ble Shri G M C Balayogi, then Speaker , Lok Sabha, Hon'ble Shri K Yerranaidu, MP and Hon'ble Shri Prafulla Goradia, then MP (RS), Shri Indrajit Gupta, former Minister of Home Affairs observed,

"… the recommendations have also noted the extreme mistreatment that Shri Divakar has received at the hands of previous administrations of Doordarshan /Prasar Bharati.
Indeed even the thoughtful recommendations made by your kind self, in your capacity as Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha, has not yet been implemented.

Crucial correspondence from the Hon'ble Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh and Hon'ble Ch Vidya Sagar Rao, had been misplaced and had hence not been considered at an earlier date.

Despite the enormous personal costs that he has had to pay, over a period of more than eight years, Shri Divakar has stayed the course. He has not sought to 'buy' his peace. Nor has he accepted defeat. Instead he has tolerantly but tirelessly pursued his case through our legitimate, democratic processes.

In his courageous resistance to the "patronage paradigm – the paradigm of irresponsibility, shoddiness, cronyism and corruption that is crushing the spirit of our grand nation and making pygmies out of us all," Shri Divakar has rendered an exemplary service to the cause of the values of a civil society and sane polity.

It is my deep regret, that despite my best efforts, the UF government was not able to make the best use of this young man's potentialities. We failed to give him the justice he deserved."

Herd behaviour? Shri Chandrababu Naidu's insouciant ingratitude.

I have detailed the well-documented negligence of the Andhra Pradesh government and specifically the negligence of the former Chief Minister in my email to you.
Kindly take a moment to respond to it.

Startling vindication of a fourteen year old "experiment with truth"

Given how almost everybody who has spoken out for me has been inquisitorially denigrated into ineffectualness, there is this mystical "untouched – by – human - hands" quality to your appointment that marks what is clearly and irrefutably my vindication.

It is like some wrathful and impatient God of Truth and Justice dropped this steaming, trumpeting challenge for Justice bang in the most powerful office in the land.

How rare is it that the one person respected for his unimpeachable character, picks as his advisor for the most challenging and powerful job of his life, a man who has written the most affirming review of the work of another who has spent the best part of his adult life battling against "the waste caused by violence and irrationality"?

And even if one is not given to peering through mystical microscopes*, there is a powerful message here.

India – a productive economy, not a predatory society


That the task of apologising and officially vindicating and restoring me and possibly others like me, who have demonstrated the power to rise above prejudice and to persuade and who have stuck to our faith in achieving positive purposes through benign means and who have been loyal to the monumental sacrifices of our freedom fighters and their dreams for India and who have held our ground against tsunami like odds and humiliations, mostly inflicted by rogues in Government, is not one that is peripheral to your administration.

There must be no doubt that the task of rehabilitating with an exemplary indulgence persons like me, who have been gouged and maimed by successive governments, and to restore to us our full justice, honour and dignity and to take responsibility for our vitality and vigorous performance in society is a rare honour, opportunity, central political strategy and responsibility of your unique and extraordinarily special government.

To acknowledge this existential mission is to be ambitious about curing our wounded society of the "colonial hangover".

To conspicuously honour the idea of the dignity of the rule of law, the principles of equity and fairness in relationships between citizens and to relentlessly pursue accountability in order to help India develop as a productive economy, not just proliferate as a predatory society.

Better Things To Do?

Consider this. The very first act of the new AP government was to free many prisoners serving life sentences. Among them was an alleged Lashkar E Toiba activist who had shot and killed a Superintendent of Police.
This release was described as "inadvertent".
In my case, a whole year has gone by without any substantial response from you or the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
I am baffled by your defensiveness. Your silence is disturbing.

Time to Kill?

This is a perilous circumstance where some of the most powerful, unscrupulous and evil people appear to have ranged themselves against me.
But like Shoebullah Khan and Sathyendra Dubey, I am a proud citizen but a Non Privileged Indian. A non-scion. A common man.
I have already been made to serve a life sentence and if you don't step on it there is nothing that prevents anybody from doing a Sathyendra Dubey on me.

Dr Manmohan Singh's special obligation?

It is during Shri P V Narasimha Rao's time that the good folks at Doordarshan took it upon themselves to reward a young man's "powerful debut" (your words, Sanjaya) with a despicable witch-hunt.
As a path breaking Finance Minister during Shri Rao's time and now the Prime Minister, Dr Singh may feel a singular outrage at my violation and a special obligation to ensure full justice.

A Proud, Young Indian's 14 Year Sathyagraha Urgently Invites The Honour of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's edifying touch

As a proud Indian who feels himself to be second to none in this world, I feel uniquely privileged that an intellectual and person of the calibre, reputation and experience of Dr Manmohan Singh is my Prime Minister. I am thrilled to consider the extraordinary opportunities that his leadership represents.
As I have never tired of telling you, I am proud of you.
And I now urgently look forward to being instructed and restored by a fitting and productive "healing touch" administered by your august mentor.
Sincerely,


Divakar S Natarajan
*my coinage

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Waging a lonely battle

From Waging... The Pioneer New Delhi Nov 2,1999



Notice how the story makes out as as if maladministration and corruption are matters of  "a lonely battle."

Sunday, March 29, 2009

How My Water Supply Was Disconnected Since April 5,2002


Kanti Rajan,
109, Mount Santoshi Apartments,
Mayuri Marg, Begumpet 500 016.

Tel: 776 15 79. April 5, 2002

The Commissioner of Police,
Hyderabad A.P.

Sub: Collusion of Inspector, Begumpet Police Station with criminal vigilante behaviour of so-called Mount Santoshi Apartments Owners Association.

Sir,

I am a former teacher of the Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, who after 20 years of impeccable service, founded a pioneering Early Childhood Education Centre which is rendering sterling service to young parents of the twin cities, since the past six years.(Re:Appendices)

My father is one of the first actuaries that India produced and he retired as an Executive Director of the Life Insurance Corporation. He is also a holder of the Tamra Patra since was arrested during our country”s freedom struggle. I am proud to state I come from a family has rendered excellent service to society in areas as varied as classical Indian music, to Himalayan mountaineering.

I have lived in apartments for a large portion of my life in Bombay, where several Bharat Ratnas and other eminent personalities have visited our home and where we were also neighbours and friends to the illustrious Mangeshkars, especially our beloved Lataji.

My son Shri Divakar S Natarajan, is an eminent film maker whose documentary “Hyderabad. August 1948” has been nationally acknowledged as succeeding in creating a feeling of “revulsion against waste caused by violence and irrationality”. His film is credited with having revivified the national memory of the heroism of Shoebullah Khan and other brave Muslims who risked their lives and reputations to stand up to the mob hysteria and pathological conformism of those times in order to lead people on a constructive path.

Shri Divakar’s work and his effective contribution for the cause of cyclone relief has also been warmly acknowledged by our Hon’ble Chief Minister.

Several other eminent personalities, including former Home Minister Shri Indrajit Gupta and Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao have also testified to Shri Divakar’s decade long,individual, non political satyagraha against corruption.(Re: Appendices)


Sir, I have had to provide you with the above lengthy introduction, not with a view to gain any special consideration – the criminality of our neighbours’ vigilante action is clearly evidenced by their own “notice” - in reality, a threat and defamation - but to provide a compelling context to the utter irrationality, violence and the ultimate self-destructive nature of their actions – this seen in the larger context of a great, traumatized nation, struggling to fulfill its potential.


This larger context is necessary, for in the unabating, irrational, unprovoked venality and hatred of a few of our “well educated” neighbours, their raging power lust even in as trivial and personal a matter as the running of a apartment maintenance society, in the dumb acquiescence of others, in their practiced penchant for using the law without any respect for its tenets and in the aggressive collusion of officers of the law in this mob criminality, I see in microcosm, the pathologies of, what I would call the “old ways” that have horrified, shamed, stunted and leeched our self perception and self confidence from the times of Partition to now in burning Gujarat.

My family and I have always conducted ourselves in the “new way”. We have invested our creative energies, and unfortunately suffered some pain, loss and humiliation, because of our limitless faith in the tenets and values of a democracy – respect for the dignity and autonomy of the individual, checks and balances, rule of law and due process. Because despite all the dismal and horrifying evidence, we believe, this is the only way , the only discipline, through we will achieve and develop our full human potential as citizens and emerge as a great and productive nation.

The Case.

Around 12.30pm yesterday,fourth April, my grand daughter, who is very busy studying for her crucial 12th standars examinations and a few Common Entrance Tests, heards the sound of somebody hammering against the kitchen wall. She found the Shri G Anandam ,President of the society in the company of Shri Chawla another resident , directing a plumber to break our water line. She alerted my son, who warned them of the criminality of their assault and requested them to take recourse to the proper judicial process to make their case. Since, they did not stop, my son appealed to the plumber, asking him , “If somebody pays you money to hit somebody, will you do it ?”

The plumber realized he seriousness of the situation and stopped. But he was being hectored and threatened by the others. My son now called the Begumpet police station , but was advised to wait till 4pm, since there was nobody at the station. Apparently most of the men had been called for bandobust for the visiting Indonesian President.

Undeterred my son called your office, and was given a polite hearing, immediately thereafter a jeep load of policemen, headed by the sub inspector, came to the house, conducting themselves with exquisite and inspiring courtesy, they surveyed the damage read the incriminating notice, agreed that there was no justification for anybody to take the law into their own hands and finally advised my son to give a written complaint at the police station, which my son agreed to do.

Seeing the police arriving in strength, both Shri Anandam and Shri Chawla made themselves scarce. My son decided not to press the issue at that point.

However, in the evening my son noticed that the water supply to the flat that commences at 5.30 pm was not commencing.

At this time he called the Inspector at the Begumpet police station, who rudely told him to “co operate “ with the Association, he mentioned that he had received a complaint from the Association three days earlier, and advised my son to pay up the spurious “dues” allegedly owed by me.

My son now called the ACP , Begumpet and was given a polite hearing. The ACP asked him to speak to the Inspector after a delay of a few minutes.

However, my son was not optimistic of a better response, given the earlier definite and prejudiced reaction of the inspector, and so called your office for help. Given the urgency of the situation , he was advised to meet the ACP personally. However, the ACPs tone had changed. The ACP was rude and provocative, confirmed that the Inspector had received a prior notice of intended criminal activity from the Association. He too advised my son to “cooperate”. He refused to give my son a proper hearing.

He also threatened that if we did not heed the ACPs advice, we would no longer be able to live in our apartment. I must mention that this is my own flat purchased from my own savings and income.

Also till the time of writing this complaint, 10.30 am of 5th April, there is no water supply to our flat.


Background.


Sir, I am deeply saddened, this so called “notice’ issued by the Association, is the first irrefutable evidence their ten year long campaign of hatred against me and my family.

This is because in my own interest as a flat owner and also in accordance to my beliefs, I have attempted to take an active part in the Association and have strenuously objected to the uncouth ways of some of its members. I have also sought to to discuss, some of the several malfeasances of the Association.

Since my participation was proving counterproductive, I have had no option but to dissociate myself from its activities however, I continued to pay the maintenance fees. Since even this was raised to an exorbitant amount, I stopped doing so. I had no choice.

In the meanwhile , a coterie has formed, that has sought to, ostracize us and has used every opportunity to vilify , defame and humiliate us. Some of the members have even threatened my son’s life.

However, since we have had little irrefutable evidence, and it was our word against some other ethically confused neighbours, we have had no choice but to put up with this humiliation.

Inferences:

* The Association’s contempt and lack of confidence in the due process of the law is clearly evidenced by its circular and its threatened action. Lacking any legal sanction , the Association’s action can only be characterized as uncivil,’mob’ action.

* By his own admission, the Inspector, Begumpet police station , had received notice of the Association’s intentions. It is unclear why the Inspector took cognizance of a civil matter.

* Even afterwards he did not make any attempt to ascertain my side of the matter. He even appears to have accepted the spurious claim of Rs 26,150/- made by the Association and has urged my son to pay up or face the consequences.

* Unfortunately, the ACP also, contradicted himself and merely mirrored his subordinate’ s illegal position and threatened my son .


Sir, given the dismal and horrifying news that appears in the press day after day, and given our own active and constructive lives , I am constrained to view the incidents narrated above with the utmost gravity.

As such I urge you to take forceful action under the law, so as to nip any unfortunate consequences in the bud.

Immediately, I would like my water supply restored, and Association educated about following the due process of the law.

Sincerely,

Kanti Rajan, MA B Ed.

The Value Of "Hyderabad, August 1948." - a disinterested, historical view.

Allah Baksh versus Savarkar

By Anil Nauriya

Since many of the contrary voices, like those of Allah Baksh, represented the unifying tendency within India, their muffling has fed Hindutva.

SOON AFTER the assassination of the legendary Allah Baksh on May 14, 1943, a young Sikh in Lahore wrote an elementary biography of the murdered leader. The first part of the title of the book by Jagat Singh Bright was "India's Nationalist No 1". Today, 60 years after the killing, India barely remembers Allah Baksh and his resounding challenge to Muslim separatism through the Independent (or Azad) Muslims Conference that this Sind Premier organized in Delhi in April 1940, a month after the Muslim League passed its Partition resolution at Lahore. The Conference, presided over by Allah Baksh, shook up the British establishment.

Azad wrote: "The session was so impressive that even the British and the Anglo-Indian press, which normally tried to belittle the importance of nationalist Muslims, could not ignore it. They were compelled to acknowledge that this Conference proved that nationalist Muslims were not a negligible factor". This all-India Conference, which Nehru described in his `The Discovery of India' as "very representative and very successful" is today a forgotten event. The man who organised it may not even have existed so far as most of our historians are concerned. Instead, the portrait of V.D. Savarkar, who denied Indian nationalism in order to assert Hindu nationalism, hangs in the Central Hall of Parliament. Serious questions arise about contemporary political parties, including the Congress. What makes it possible for persons essentially opposed to its ideals to make a home in and flourish in the Congress, especially in the post-1969 years? There are both political and intellectual roots to this crisis. There was a time when it was the Congress which influenced its allies. Allah Baksh was not in the Congress. But his Ittehad or United Party in Sind was a close ally sympathetic to Congress programmes. His letter to the Viceroy after the Quit India Movement of 1942, protesting against Churchill's speech in the British Parliament, and returning his titles, was remembered even till the 1960s as one of the classic documents of Indian freedom. Gandhi and Nehru were in prison at the time. Subhas Bose went on radio to compliment Allah Baksh. As a result of Allah Baksh's letter he was dismissed from the Premiership of Sind even though he still had a majority in the Assembly. Ultimately, he lost his life upholding the concept of Indian nationalism.

Congress ideological alliances in recent decades are merely alliances to protect its electoral, legislative and parliamentary positions. The ideological factor is missing. The doyen of the Indian socialist movement, Acharya Narendra Deva, had anticipated this when he once chided the Congress for opening its doors to former members of the RSS and the Muslim League. The Jana Sangh and then the BJP alliances have also had electoral and legislative objects. But the Hindutva organisations have taken care to protect and even strengthen their ideological position as well. The recent BJP alliance with the BSP in Uttar Pradesh is being resented by saffron cadres precisely on the ground that a blank cheque has been given to Mayawati.

Alliances are necessary and are often made in politics. But if alliances made between a tradition that led the struggle for freedom and other traditions result in erasure of vital ideological positions this cannot but have consequences for the country. When Indira Gandhi's Congress faction came together with the CPI after 1969 the Union Education Ministry presently went to Nurul Hasan. Historiography was placed largely in the hands of well-intentioned but uni-dimensional historians analytically oriented towards the pre-independence CPI. The Congress-CPI alliance was probably necessary. But its impact on the intellectual front was not well worked out by the two sides and was skewed. These historians wrote in an age when they were tempted to assume that the Congress dominance would be there forever or, if replaced, would be replaced only by a formation in which the Left would play a major role. They, therefore, concerned themselves primarily with the vindication of the pre-Independence CPI, or variations upon this theme. Congress, including socialist, history — for example, the Congress and Congress Socialist role in creating and advancing the all-India peasant movements — went by default. Political training for Indian nationalism was neglected.

The Congress as an organisation hardly took note of what was happening with its own support. Today the effects of this can be noticed in the cultural sphere as well. Urdu poets like Saghar Nizami who stood up for India in the 1940s are largely forgotten. Other poets who backed sectarian movements are considered definitionally and pre-emptively progressive by virtue of their membership of the Progressive Writers' Association. Similarly, after 1989 when the Congress justly incorporated Ambedkar also into its ideological pantheon, it so forgot itself that famous Dalit leaders such as Juglal Chaudhury and Chaudhri Beharilal who had supported the Congress since the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920 and who had repeatedly been imprisoned in the freedom movement were largely eliminated from national historical memory. While the Congress has been willing, even if by default, to erase its ideological heritage, the BJP has throughout not only protected its own but has also sought to build up a basis for it, albeit often a synthetic one.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Hamza Alavi circulated a paper seeking to furnish an explanation of the Pakistan movement as one reflecting primarily the perceptions and interests of "Muslim professionals and the salariat" of northern India. The thesis had an appreciable circulation. If scrutinised closely, it gives rise to several questions. From the point of view of the Muslims in India, their chief concerns apart from security of life and property, remain education and employment. So if the Alavi thesis were accepted, the Pakistan movement in northern India failed to solve the very problem for which it had received support in the 1940s.

Anglocentric writings, which were tied to British foreign policy and strategic objectives and continued to exercise influence in the South Asian former colonies, suffered from a dichotomy with respect to Indian nationalism. They critiqued Indian nationalism. But they did not adequately critique the Muslim separatism which evolved into Pakistani nationalism. The result was that most dissidents or opponents of Indian nationalism were glorified, while the Muslim opponents of Muslim separatism and of Pakistani nationalism were barely mentioned. These contrary voices, like those represented by Allah Baksh, were sought to be silenced, as were the subaltern and artisan voices among the Muslims. This was although the doubts expressed through these voices stood vindicated by history so far as the interests of Muslims within post-Partition India were concerned. These voices have also acquired a renewed resonance in the context of prospects for enhanced cooperation within South Asia. Indian scholarship, however, largely failed to challenge the Anglocentric dichotomy. This was partly because the dominant scholarship in India since the 1970s, being overly self-conscious about the specific line which the CPI took on Pakistan in the 1940s, could not decide whether to challenge or to reinforce the Anglocentric dichotomy. Even when it discussed these voices it could portray them only as victims of Indian nationalism. There were outstanding exceptions. Santimoy Ray's `Freedom Movement And Indian Muslims', published by People's Publishing House in 1979, had presented the relevant facts not only on this but also on considerable subaltern involvement in the national movement since 1919. But this work was not followed up in the same spirit.

Since many of the contrary voices, like those of Allah Baksh, represented the unifying tendency within India, their muffling has fed Hindutva. Savarkar's portrait now occupies the space created partly by this Anglocentric elimination.

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The Hindu 5/14/2003