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By:

Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Crossing Lines

A protest for a genuine cause or problem earns public sympathy by appealing to the nation’s conscience. It begins to lose it the moment its members indiscriminately start abusing the nation’s institutions. That is where the CJP agitation now stands. It has outlived its purpose. The movement began with a legitimate grievance against the NEET paper leak and demanded some systemic education reforms. Millions of students deserve an examination system that is transparent, secure and immune to...

Crossing Lines

A protest for a genuine cause or problem earns public sympathy by appealing to the nation’s conscience. It begins to lose it the moment its members indiscriminately start abusing the nation’s institutions. That is where the CJP agitation now stands. It has outlived its purpose. The movement began with a legitimate grievance against the NEET paper leak and demanded some systemic education reforms. Millions of students deserve an examination system that is transparent, secure and immune to manipulation. The government has acknowledged that imperative. Activists Sonam Wangchuk has ended his fast after receiving assurances that the Centre is prepared to engage. The issue has dominated headlines for weeks. But success in a democracy is not merely forcing the government to listen, it is also knowing when to stop shouting. The CJP agitation has disturbingly drifted into something altogether different. What started as a student movement has resembled a full-blown political mobilisation with students as its public face. For nearly three weeks the protests remained largely peaceful. The escalation coincided with Parliament’s session and the arrival of political parties eager to turn a campus issue into a national confrontation. Equally disturbing was the descent in public discourse. Protesters were heard using obscene and deeply offensive abuse against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In any democracy, citizens are free to criticise their elected leaders in the strongest political terms. But vulgar personal abuse is not dissent. The inevitable question now is whether this remains a movement of students or one increasingly directed by professional agitators and political interests. How many of those leading confrontations are candidates anxious about competitive examinations? How many are seasoned protesters who migrate from one agitation to another, regardless of the issue? Those are legitimate questions that deserve answers. The law must distinguish carefully between peaceful dissent and criminal violence. Students marching peacefully deserve protection. Those who assaulted police personnel, vandalised public property or incited violence deserve prosecution. Organisers who encouraged lawlessness should face accountability irrespective of their political affiliations. Governments, too, have obligations. They must deliver credible examination reforms, prosecute those responsible for paper leaks and restore confidence in institutions that determine the futures of millions of young Indians. But the protesters have an obligation as well. A movement that has secured national attention, compelled governmental engagement and placed its concerns firmly on the public agenda has achieved its strategic objective. Persisting with confrontation serves diminishing public interest and growing political opportunism. Every successful protest reaches a moment when continuing becomes counterproductive. The CJP agitation has reached that moment. It should end before history remembers it not for the students who began it, but for the disorder that consumed it.

BMC auctioning three land parcels to raise funds, says Aaditya

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Aaditya

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday alleged Mumbai’s civic body had decided to auction three land parcels to raise funds and make up for the “loot” of the metropolis by the Eknath Shinde government.


The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which is being run by an administrator now, has decided to auction the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Mandi (Market), the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Malabar Hill Receiving Station and the Worli Asphalt Plant, Thackeray pointed out.


“The sale of Mumbai is being done by the Eknath Shinde regime to benefit its favourite builders and contractors,” he alleged.


A criminal investigation will be conducted into the matter after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government comes to power, Thackeray added.


“So on one end, they looted the BMC and Mumbai and gave the money to their favourite contractors. Now, by auctioning these iconic and important land parcels, the BMC will be left without both funds and plots,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former state minister claimed.


When Shiv Sena started controlling the BMC in 1997, its finances were in deficit but by 2022 his party turned around the fiscal health of the civic body, Thackeray said.


Alleging that the Shinde government wants to drive Kolis and fisherfolk out of Mumbai, he said, “We will oppose this. It has to remain and be made into a fish market, and (should be) in the ownership of the BMC.”


Aaditya puppet for urban naxals: Shelar

Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar has called Uddhav Thackeray’s son and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray as a puppet for urban naxals after former’s comments on the Dharavi Redevelopment project and has also challenged him for a debate.

Ashish Shelar said that the project is a necessity and a priority project, adding that Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Congressleader Varsha Gaikwad are peddling lies.

Aaditya Thackeray seems to have become the spokesperson of urban Naxals. Without studying the subject (Dharavi) in detail, Aaditya Thackeray is speaking like an ignorant. I have seen that these people have been trying to set a narrative regarding Dharavi and the re-development work,” Ashish Shelar said.

He challenged Aaditya Thackeray and Varsha Gaikwad in a debate on the Dharavi Redevelopment Project.

“Uddhav ji and the people of his party – Aaditya Thackeray and Varsha Gaikwad have started this false narrative regarding Dharavi. I openly challenge Aaditya for a debate. I want to ask him that 70 per cent of the homes in the Dharavi Redevelopment Project will go to Marathi people, Muslims and Dalits. It is their rightful home, so why are they putting roadblocks by creating a false narrative?”

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