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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Manufactured Martyrs

The attempt by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) to turn activist Sonam Wangchuk into the next Anna Hazare has exposed how manufactured symbolism cannot compensate for the absence of genuine public outrage. What began as a grievance over the NEET paper leak, one of India’s gravest examination scandals in recent times, has drifted into an exercise in political pageantry, where the cause has been eclipsed by its chosen mascots. Wangchuk’s indefinite hunger strike was plainly meant to recreate a...

Manufactured Martyrs

The attempt by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) to turn activist Sonam Wangchuk into the next Anna Hazare has exposed how manufactured symbolism cannot compensate for the absence of genuine public outrage. What began as a grievance over the NEET paper leak, one of India’s gravest examination scandals in recent times, has drifted into an exercise in political pageantry, where the cause has been eclipsed by its chosen mascots. Wangchuk’s indefinite hunger strike was plainly meant to recreate a familiar script where an allegedly unassuming public figure embraces personal sacrifice and a reluctant government buckles under mounting moral pressure. But history does not repeat itself on command. Anna Hazare’s fast in 2011 succeeded not because fasting possesses mystical political powers, but because it rode a tidal wave of public anger against corruption. Millions identified with the cause. That equation is conspicuously absent today. The platform that ought to have belonged to students who suffered from the NEET paper leak, or to parents whose children bore its consequences, instead became crowded with the usual constellation of professional activists, ideological campaigners and political fellow travellers. The faces dominating the stage were not those most directly affected by the scandal. A movement demanding educational accountability gradually came to look like another gathering of Delhi’s permanently aggrieved activist class. Even Wangchuk appeared to sense the contradiction. During the protest he reportedly lamented that while he was observing an indefinite fast, many around him were happily eating meals, urging at least a token one-day fast in solidarity. Successful protest movements depend upon authenticity. Once the public begins suspecting that an individual is being deployed less as a leader than as a moral accessory for someone else’s ideological project, sympathy quickly evaporates. Nor does Wangchuk arrive without controversy. Questions have been raised over the cancellation of the FCRA licence of SECMOL, the educational organisation associated with him, and over allegations regarding subsequent foreign funding arrangements. Critics have also challenged aspects of the carefully cultivated public mythology surrounding his achievements, from the origins of the ice-stupa concept to the popular belief that he inspired the protagonist of 3 Idiots. These matters deserve scrutiny on their own merits rather than hagiography or character assassination. The greater failure here surely belongs to the protest’s organisers. The CJP has mistaken optics for momentum and symbolism for public sentiment. Instead of allowing the victims of the NEET scandal to speak for themselves, they attempted to manufacture another national conscience by placing a familiar face at the centre of the stage. Political legitimacy cannot be outsourced to celebrity. Nor can mass movements be assembled from social-media influencers and habitual protesters. Anna Hazare became powerful because the public chose him. Attempts to manufacture his successor merely underline how rare such moments really are.

Remove minister till probe over: Rohit

Says aircraft owners being ‘shielded’

Mumbai: In more no-holds-barred revelations, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar claimed that efforts were on to ‘save’ the VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd company officials after the January 28 Baramati air-crash. He demanded the removal of Minister of Civil Aviation K. Rammohna Naidu till the investigations into the Learjet 45 aircraft are completed.


Making a second presentation in a week, Rohit Pawar brought up issues pertaining to illegal registrations, document tampering, insurance manipulations and video-evidence hinting at a potential deliberate act leading to the air-crash in which Nationalist Congress Party President and Deputy CM Ajit A. Pawar was among the five killed.


“Several leaders of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of Andhra Pradesh and former ministers from Maharashtra attended the wedding of VSRVPL owner V. K. Singh’s son Rohit Singh. The company is still operating flights and top politicians continue to use the Learjet planes. Instead of trolling me, the Bharatiya Janata Party should support my demand for a transparent probe,” Rohit Pawar said sharply.


The NCP (SP) lawmaker alleged that the ill-fated Learjet was illegally registered in India with help of Directorate General of Civil Aviation officials. According to him, the plane was imported from the USA, owned by five others earlier, was worth barely Rs 10-15 cr., but deployed to ferry VIPs here.


US Registration

He referred to the sudden appearance of a US registration No. N80PQ’ on the plane’s wreckage after the crash which was not visible earlier, and contended that the aircraft was re-painted at home instead of authorized facilities which could cost Rs 3-4 cr.


Rohit Pawar questioned the AAIB’s claim that the Black Box was burnt in the crash and quoting experts, emphasized that Digital Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder can withstand temperatures of up to 1,100 C for an hour. He wondered why the recorder was sent to Canada when India has a Rs. 90-cr lab capable of the analysis inaugurated last year.


Building up pressure, Rohit Pawar contended that the crash may not be accidental, but the aircraft tilted before crashing as it may have been carrying extra fuel that made the explosion more severe and deadly for those on board.


“Instead of turning back, the plane hit the ground directly. Why did it not fall on the runway but veered off to the side? The DGCA norms stipulated 5000 m visibility but the conditions at Baramati that day were around 3000 m. In such a situation, the flight should have aborted landing or returned to Mumbai as alternatives like Pune, Solapur or Sindhudurg may be technically unfeasible,” Rohit Pawar argued.


Diving deeper, the Karjat-Jamkhed MLA questioned the insurance value of Rs 55 cr and liability coverage of Rs 210 crore for the aircraft allegedly worth just Rs 10-15 cr. He raised doubts on the pilots’ licensing claiming that the Captain Sumit Kapur and a company official allegedly illegally operated different types of aircraft without proper licenses.


Flight Plan

Alleging flight plan tinkering by a Mumbai-based handler named Gopi, Rohit Pawar demanded valid CCTV footage, emails and time-stamped data instead of just ‘paper added to paper’.


Warning investigating officers against playing with the documents, he said “any discrepancy between official records and the video evidence” in his possession could lead to serious questions and repercussions.


Rohit lauds aunt Sunetra Pawar

Rohit Pawar welcomed the move by NCP leaders including his aunt and Deputy CM Sunetra A. Pawar, her son Parth, Sunil Tatkare, Praful Patel, Hasan Mushrif, seeking a CBI probe into the Baramati crash. He noted that they had included several issues raised by him in the letter to CM Devendra Fadnavis.


On the political angle, he said there could be a couple of possibilities – speculation that the NCP (SP) would merge with the SP and join the NDA at the centre, or the SP and Ajit Pawar would quit the NDA; but certain forces were upset with either scenario unfolding.

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