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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Raj Thackeray tormented over ‘missing kids’ in state

Mumbai : Expressing grave concerns over the steep rise in cases of ‘missing children’ in the state, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray has accused the state government of treating the matter casually and failing to respond to it urgently.   In an open missive on 'X' to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Raj Thackeray quoted data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) pointing at almost an alarming 30 pc increase in the number of children ‘missing’ in the state...

Raj Thackeray tormented over ‘missing kids’ in state

Mumbai : Expressing grave concerns over the steep rise in cases of ‘missing children’ in the state, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray has accused the state government of treating the matter casually and failing to respond to it urgently.   In an open missive on 'X' to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Raj Thackeray quoted data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) pointing at almost an alarming 30 pc increase in the number of children ‘missing’ in the state between 2021-2024.   When asked for his reactions, Fadnavis told media-persons in Nagpur that he had not read the letter, but the issue raised is important and he would reply to it. Fadnavis stated that the NCRB has also provided the reasons why the kids go ‘missing’, how they return and the period, ranging from 3 days to 18 months.   Dwelling on the sufficiency of the NCRB figures, he contended that they reflect only complaints formally registered by the police and thousands of cases may never be reported.   On the ‘rescue, return and reunion’ of such missing children, he pointed to the sheer psychological trauma they may have suffered and sought to know how such child-lifter networks continued to thrive openly and blatantly.   The MNS chief targeted what he claimed was the “state’s lack of proactive measures to identify and dismantle child-begging rackets” as many juveniles can be seen begging at railway stations, bus stands, traffic signals, often accompanied by adults with doubtful authenticity.   “If some woman claims to be the child’s relative or guardian, should the government not order a thorough probe? Is it inappropriate to consider even a DNA test in suspicious cases,” Raj Thackeray demanded.   Slamming the government and the Opposition, he lamented how both sides failed to prioritise such urgent social issues in the legislature where discussions centre around partisan sparring.   The letter also mentions attempts by the Centre to coordinate with states on the ‘missing or trafficked children’, regretting how political upmanships and symbolic debates prevent meaningful action on the ground.   The NCRB said that Maharashtra has consistently ranked among states with the highest number of ‘missing children’, particularly in urban centres like Mumbai, Thane, and Pune.   Simultaneously, experts, child rights NGOs and activists have warned about trafficking networks that exploit poverty, migration and weak law enforcement and low convictions, despite official rescue missions or rehab efforts.   In his appeal, Raj Thackeray called upon Fadnavis to take concrete, visible measures rather than discussions and conventions. “Maharashtra expects decisive steps from you, not speeches. Jai Maharashtra,” he signed off.     In October 2023,Sharad Pawar red-flagged ‘missing girls-women’ This is the second major social cause by a political leader, two years after Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar had red-flagged nearly 20,000 ‘missing women and girls’ from the state between Jan-May 2023.   In the present instance, Raj Thackeray said that “behind the statistics lies a far more disturbing reality involving organised, inter-state gangs that kidnap children, physically abuse them and force them into begging rings”.   “Little kids are assaulted, made to beg and shifted across states. Groups of children disappear suddenly, and the government appears unable, or unwilling, to grasp the seriousness of what is happening,” said Thackeray in a strong tone.

Thirst Politics

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s knee-jerk reaction to the Bhakra Beas Management Board’s (BBMB) recent decision to release 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana for drinking needs marks yet another low in the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) erratic tenure in the state. His claim that Punjab has no surplus water to share with anyone and that the BBMB cannot dictate terms is not only misleading but dangerously incendiary. Such utterances threaten to undo decades of fragile detente between Punjab and Haryana over the deeply contentious Sutlej-Yamuna waters.


The BBMB, a statutory body under the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966 and answerable to the central government, does not operate on political whim. It was constituted to ensure equitable allocation of water from the Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar dams to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. When the Board acts to supply drinking water to Haryana in peak summer, it does so under clear legal authority and humanitarian necessity.


The idea that Punjab can unilaterally veto such allocations defies constitutional logic. It ignores binding decisions like the 1976 executive order under Indira Gandhi’s regime that allocated 3.5 million acre-feet of Sutlej-Yamuna water to Haryana, despite the latter being carved out of Punjab. It also disregards the Supreme Court’s 2016 verdict that Punjab’s refusal to complete the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal was unconstitutional. The Mann government, rather than comply or negotiate, has chosen a more dramatic route by peddling populism and stoking regional resentment.


Water has long been the political fault line in the region. The incomplete SYL Canal remains a monument to the dysfunction of cooperative federalism with successive Punjab governments, regardless of party, resisting its completion. But while past leaders at least cloaked their resistance in legal argument, Bhagwant Mann has decided to make it a matter of personal defiance and parochial pride. Haryana has so far maintained restraint, but it is unlikely to remain passive if its people face shortages while its neighbour postures on the pulpit. Already, political parties on both sides are stirring old embers in a region no stranger to inter-state animosity.


Mann’s belligerence also reveals a broader pattern in AAP’s governance playbook. Whether in Delhi or Punjab, the party thrives on manufactured conflict, particularly with constitutional bodies and the Union government. What it consistently fails to offer is pragmatic policy or cooperative leadership. For a government that promised change, Mann’s Punjab looks like a rerun of the past, only noisier and more confrontational. Real change would mean negotiating SYL Canal completion terms, investing in water-saving irrigation and rationalising canal flows based on seasonal need. Instead, the Chief Minister has chosen populism over prudence.


By transforming a basic drinking water allocation into a flashpoint, Mann has proven himself less a guardian of Punjab’s interests and more a gambler with its future. Water is too precious to be politicised and too dangerous to be weaponized. India’s rivers do not obey state borders. Neither should the minds of those entrusted to govern them.

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