Why I lost respect for Modi after hearing his speech in Bihar

http://www.dailyo.in/politics/narendra-modi-nitish-kumar-bihar-assembly-polls-bjp-jdu-muzaffarpur/story/1/5287.html

On July 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Bihar and addressed the Parivartan rally in Muzaffarpur, in the run-up to the Assembly elections, campaigning for the BJP. In close to a half-hour speech that Modi made, among other statements he made (on Bihari DNA, his political alienation by Nitish Kumar, etc), he talked about the power situation in Bihar.

It is important to highlight this aspect in his speech because in a situation wherein the PM addresses a political and public rally, chooses a core infrastructure concern, and makes a promise full of rhetoric and very low on a concrete plan, he loses a bit of his stature.

I belong to a village in Nalanda district in Bihar. I left the state in 2004 for my higher education. When I visited my village for a month-long stay in April 2004, summers had begun to fester the day. There was very little electricity. Power used to be there during the days and/or light up the nights with a lot of irregularities, but still, was enough for basic sustenance. This was relief because years preceding that time saw almost negligible electricity in my village. Today, when I visit the village, I find all the houses lit up. Students no longer study next to kerosene lanterns and eye-damaging bottled diyas. Households share hot food at ten or eleven in the night and are no longer forced to have dinner by the time daylight lasts. Farmers in my village use surplus power for irrigation and other activities. Older people watch their religious soaps and young women and men their daily dose of youth-centric serials.

Statistics suggest that from almost zilch production a decade ago to a draw of nearly 3,182 MW now, per capita consumption of electricity in Bihar has increased by 70 per cent. In the past decade, 16,000 additional villages in Bihar have been electrified. Today, 96 per cent of the villages in Bihar have almost 16-17 hours of electricity every day and share the same story as that of Narayanapur - my village in Nalanda.

Albeit slow and "just there but not enough", the improved power situation has revolutionised the social dynamics of rural Bihar. It is important to understand this change from the vantage point of what Bihar was to what it is today. Therefore, for a prime minister to totally discount the merits of development in the past decade by a chief minister who might not have a favourable position in his mind space, is not just an error in administrative judgment by the head of a democratic state, but also a faux pas in political communication, especially when, during his chief ministership, Mr Modi had waxed so eloquently on the need for cooperative federalism and cordial dynamics between the center and state.

A prime minister's promises to its audience (even if it comes from his political position in a party) sound vacuous without a roadmap. Modi shied away from mentioning the reasons behind the "abysmal" power situation in the state. In a state where power production is a major concern as of now, by bringing in a parallel from Gujarat, he exposed himself to making a comparison that denotes a clear lack of understanding of resources available to Bihar and the other problems that plague the power situation here. For citizens aware and ambitious at the same time, what was expected from the prime minister was a clear communication of short, medium and long-term goals towards improving the power structure in Bihar, if at all he chose to address this concern in an open rally.

One expected him to mention that being the third largest user of solar power in India and one of the leading names to experiment with organic methods of farming, Bihar has a huge potential to harness the sun and bio-fuel and bio-mass (from sugarcane and paddy, for instance) for power production. One expected the honourable prime minister to speak about the need to aggressively commercialise the model of power distribution in the state when consumers in Bihar have readily showed interest in upping their expenditure to meet their requirements. One also expected him to go beyond the theatrics of public speech and point out at the loopholes and promise the audience towards taking sincere steps  in plugging them, if he so wished to come down heavy on the current political ruling.  

In short, the Muzaffarpur rally fell short of Modi's stature as a leader. As a prime minister who addressed a rally in Bihar amidst other state commitments on his maiden visit to the state after 14 months, a visionary roadmap sans fluff was found amiss. Instead, the hashtags on Twitter, such as #ModiInsultsBihar, reek of a grave faux pas as far as political communication is concerned.

http://www.dailyo.in/politics/narendra-modi-nitish-kumar-bihar-assembly-polls-bjp-jdu-muzaffarpur/story/1/5287.html

The Aarushi case receives a timely, thrilling investigation

http://www.sunday-guardian.com/bookbeat/the-aarushi-case-receives-a-timely-thrilling-investigation Journalism has undergone massive changes after the digital boom in India. Video journalism, backed up by social media, has created a space where the relevance of the old rules is slowly diminishing. The old model had journalists focusing on careful, research-base chronicling and the patient chasing of stories. This has gradually been replaced by a culture of real time, breaking news stories coupled with aggressive analyses in the form of opinion-based content. While one may argue that this has, to an extent, diluted the quality of journalism, it cannot be denied that it has also resulted in a democratisation of media space that has gripped the national consciousness. It is in this context, especially, that I feel Aarushi, Avirook Sen's second book, is an important and timely one: to an extent, it combines the virtues of both the old and the new models of journalism. Sen's gaze is that of a seasoned and perceptive researcher. He patiently sifts through the documents of the case, a significant volume of criminal files, by any standard. The book raises a series of questions on the investigation. By the end of the narrative, one realises that the manner in which the Aarushi case was hastily finished by the police is unfortunately representative of the police and the legal system of our country. Perhaps the most admirable thing about Sen's endeavour is his never-say-never approach, a must when you have to chase a story set in the murky suburbs of Noida. It is as enthralling for readers as it is inspiring for budding journalists. Aarushi is written in a gripping style, quite reminiscent of a crime thriller. Sen maintains a remarkable restraint throughout: he does not overly dramatise the story, which is the right call because of the highly volatile media attention that this case has received. At the same time, not a single page in this book compromises readability. This is easier said than done. Here, for instance, he provides us with a small but revealing sketch of Dr B.K. Mohapatra, one of the CFSL scientists who conducted DNA tests on the evidence collected from the crime scene. "At lunchtime one day I found Mohapatra sitting unaccompanied in the courtroom, minding two large folders on a table in front. He was a short, spectacled man, with a thick Odiya accent that sometimes confused people from the north ('blood', for instance, would become 'blawed'). He looked simple, and so were his concerns. As I sat next to him, he complained about the unpleasant extended summer, and the long waits in court. He then said it must be very hard work for reporters as well. He had seen us standing at the courtroom's door all day because we weren't allowed in. I mumbled something about everyone having to do a job, when he asked me: 'Do you get TA/DA?' I told him we didn't, but he was entitled to allowances, surely. He nodded, and I thought how the government had taken over the scientist in Mohapatra." In recent years, books like Dilip D'Souza's The Curious Case of Binayak Sen, Chander Suta Dogra's Manoj and Babli: A Hate Story and Ritu Sarin's The Assassination of India Gandhihave given Indian investigative writing a shot in the arm. These books aim to provide some kind of closure to the respective criminal cases they tackle, while pointing a finger at the system. However, books like these also run the risk of losing objectivity due to ideological fervor, in some cases. Aarushi, when seen within this larger trend, appears as a text striving to make a statement by not just telling an untold story but also trying to establish readers' connection with this kind of writing. So while the book bares the futility and the exasperation of a grimly ambitious legal and social system in India, it is also highly conscious of its literary ambitions; at places, the overall tenor of the book approaches Agatha Christie territory. By doing so, Sen walks a tightrope. But Sen is no stranger to this style: even his debut book, Looking For America, took quite a few risks with its all-or-nothing style. It had its share of detractors that criticised it for its alleged sensationalism. The uniqueness of Aarushi lies in engaging with this concern headlong. Sen rebukes the insensitive reportage of the Aarushi murder by most mainstream media houses. And he does it like an old school journalist should: by not offering judgment or analysis but leaving enough cues and facts to build an argument. For instance, the section about the narco-analysis (commonly known as the "lie detector" tests) speaks volumes. "As the story panned out, the Talwars' undisputed presence in the flat that night burdened them with having to not just plead their innocence, but also answer the question 'If you didn't do it, who did?' They did not know. In fact, investigators knew much more than them; the CBI had enough material to, at the very least, form a plausible alternative hypothesis. This is the material they hid from the Talwars, and prevented from being brought on the record in court. This material was gathered by investigators in the months of June and July 2008. They are the reports of the scientific tests on the three servants. A few fragments were leaked in 2008, but once AGL Kaul took over, they were just buried." While chronicling the various gaps in the CBI's final narrative of the case, while explaining the profile of the households which interrogate the case — Talwar's family, relatives and friends, household helps and the government machinery, which ought to help in dire situations — the author all but accomplishes what sociologists and social scientists would aim for in a detailed academic paper. Barring a few editorial overlooks, Aarushi is a highly recommended read. http://www.sunday-guardian.com/bookbeat/the-aarushi-case-receives-a-timely-thrilling-investigation

Seven cold questions Aarushi book leaves us with

http://www.dailyo.in/politics/aarushi-talwar-murder-case-avirook-sen-rajesh-talwar-nupur-hemraj/story/1/4967.html

The nation woke up to a sensational murder case in May 2008. A 14-year old girl, Aarushi Talwar, was found dead in her apartment at Noida’s Jalvayu Vihar. After a five-year long ordeal, the court pinned the "guilty" tag on the Talwars – Aarushi’s parents. Currently, the couple serves their term in Dasna jail.

Despite the haste and drama that accompanied this trial, there were many layers and edges to the murder that has left one of the most intriguing cases of its times "unsolved" till date. Avirook Sen’s book,Aarushi, is an attempt to lay bare the narrative that went unnoticed, or perhaps was deliberately ignored.

Here are a few questions the book raises, which must stir the conscience of someone somewhere – the legal system, society, police and/or the media:

1. The story that charges the Talwars guilty is rife with contradictions – loopholes that have been systematically ignored. Take, for instance, the assertion that Aarushi was raped. Initial medical reports claimed that nothing abnormal was indicated in her sexual organs. By the time the case was closed, her "cervix was found wide open". What is baffling is that no one – neither the media, which seemed to be engaged in a close scrutiny of the case, nor the legal system – raised questions over this extremely contradictory situation. And in the event of this development, the next question is, what was the reason for an apex body like the CBI to seek the help of either this erroneous declaration or the callousness with which they handled this case to establish something as basic as "Who killed Aarushi"?

2. Continuing with the line of many "misjudgements" and "misunderstandings" on the basis of which the case was established, is the equally baffling case of Hemraj’s blood-soaked purple pillow cover. While the CBI claims that the pillow cover was found in Aarushi’s bedroom, the reality is that it was discovered from Hemraj’s own room. It is frustrating and infuriating to see that such carelessness punctuated the narrative around the whereabouts of the pillow case. Even in the end, the CBI’s final version, touted as the "true version", went unquestioned by the various onlookers and custodians of justice.

3. Bharti Mandal, the househelp who worked for the Talwars, gave her first statement to the effect that the door was locked and "I never touched the door". Later, her version changed to "I tried to open the door but the door did not open", peppered by "I am saying what I have been taught to say". All logical construction of the case required a closer look into this departure of statements from something to the other. Unfortunately, no attempt to investigate was made.

4. KK Gautam, the UP police officer who was involved with the case, on being asked if there was any pressure on him, replied, “It is best we do not discuss this… you already know everything already. Please let us not discuss this anymore.”

5. There was no blood on the stairs that led to the terrace. Blood was found only on the railings and the terrace. Hemraj’s blood soaked pillow case was found in his room. The CBI established that he was killed in Aarushi’s room. Why was the opinion that he could have been killed on the terrace not considered at all?

6. Narco analyses of Krishna, Raj Kumar (other servants linked with the case) and the Talwar couple reveal that the former two are guilty and the latter innocent. If scientific analyses are rendered invalid in the court of law, by what supreme logic was the infuriating, sexist and misogynist "story" - the sensational coverage that Aarushi was a serial flirt, that Talwars were a couple with "loose sexual morals" (stereotyped as becoming of all upper middle class households) - given so much weight that the Talwars were pronounced guilty after a humiliating process of character assassination?

Dr Dahiya’s insinuation that Hemraj and Aarushi were involved in a sexual intercourse (not rape, as the later post mortem suggests) on the day of the crime was touted as a prima facie conclusion that led to other interpretations in the case. It is unbecoming of the legal system and the media to not raise any hue and cry over how this was a confident assertion without any evidence.

7. The most astonishing and infuriating information that the book uncovers is that the verdict in the case was written a month prior to the actual announcement of the sentence on the Talwars, even before the defence could conclude its argument. As Judge Shyam Lal’s team revealed, because there were no good scribes available in the area they worked in and because language (English) had to be perfect in putting across a historic judgement, the "writing" had to be done prior to the actual announcement – before Lal retired!

These questions, and many other ignored facts, uncovered by Avirook Sen’s book cry for a fresh and objective analysis of the case that failed not just a teenager, but the entire concept of justice.

http://www.dailyo.in/politics/aarushi-talwar-murder-case-avirook-sen-rajesh-talwar-nupur-hemraj/story/1/4967.html