A Mollah of the have-nots

Hannan Mollah, CPI(M) MP, West bengal

If you see him moving around in the backseat of a bicycle, would you not stop to think how an MP does this, despite so many terms in Parliament? But for Hannan Mollah, that is routine, and it is invariably his secretary, Gautam Purakayastha who pedals the bicycle. Ask people in his constituency Chengail, a small town in Howrah, West Bengal, and even opposition politicians say, “Hannan-da hasn’t changed one bit.”

Mollah visits his constituency at least once in two months. And he stays in the same dilapidated house, squats on the grass smoking his bidi with workers and farmers. A local teacher, Samudrajhinuk Bandyopadhyay, whose uncle taught Mollah at Uluberia College, says: “My uncle is full of praise for Hannan-da. And we too love him for his down-to-earth approach”. And for the zari workers, who originate from here and fan out across the country, he is God. Whenever they are in trouble, “Hannan-da is the saviour,” said Mohammad Hannan, a zari shop owner.

“If a poor zari worker passes away anywhere in the country, Hannan-da makes sure his body will reach home at the earliest,” said Akram Mohammad, Hannan’s relative. Most of his Area Development Fund finds its way to local schools. “He has helped about 700 schools in the area,” said Shamshuddin, a madrasa teacher. However, Mollah helps only registered madrasas genuinely devoted to help children grow up. No wonder he recommended financial help for Rajkhola madrasa, despite it being under his political rival....Continue

India needs to change its ambiguous land ownership laws

Among the legal inadequacies, unclear land title in big cities is a hazard. Most of the real estate dealings is done on lease for years; even after the land is sold, ownership remains with the government except in Rajasthan, the only state which has introduced guaranteed Land Title Bill to transfer ownership from government to buyers for its cities. The rest of the states remain ambiguous over the issue. Ask any buyer the relevance of guaranteed title or other legalities! Developers require a hundred different authorisations which take three to five years on an average; enough to destroy anyone’s motivation! Moreover, stamp duty in India is very high (over 10 per cent) compared to the rest of the world (2 per cent). This, on one hand restricts demand, and on the other hand, increases property cost. Property tax is a mere 0.002 per cent whereas the world average is 1.5 per cent. This gives the government scope to easily increase its revenue by hiking it a little further, as it is a primary tool for government to generate revenue.

Considering all these, there is one thing clear: government alone can not provide housing to its populace, the country needs strong participation from private players and that can only be possible by better transparency and adequate reforms initiation, at least on the above stated issues. A few states’ individual effort might work as a catalyst but India needs a centrally-motivated holistic approach. Will that be possible in this land of disparity? ....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

The outcome of the Assembly polls in five states has thrown up important lessons for all major political parties as they head for the general election

All this has emboldened BSP chief Mayawati to strike a harder bargain with its allies in seat adjustment talks for the parliamentary elections coming up next year. She has already been projected as the prime ministerial candidate by Left Front leaders Prakash Karat and AB Bardhan. And now with TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and AIADMK president J Jayalalitha tying up with the Left parties, the ground is ready for the proposed Third Front.


The BSP’s emergence has clearly underlined the fact that the General Elections won’t be a two-horse race; and if Mayawati throws her lot behind the comrades, this Third Front could well be in a position to take a shot at power as well.

Another revelation from the just concluded Assembly elections is that a potion of good governance, development, rapport with the electorate and a cohesive party campaign makes a winning mix that is quite capable of negating the anti-incumbency factor.

Indeed, it was this same concoction that helped Sheila Dixit in Delhi, Shivraj Singh Chauhan in Madhya Pradesh and Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh. Is Vasundhara Raje listening? If she failed to retain the gaddi in Rajasthan despite massive development during her tenure and her impressive electorate-connect, it was primarily because she neglected her own party. The state party chief Om Mathur admitted as much when he told TSI that there was a “communication gap” between the party and the government till he took over in January. While the party sought to keep her reined in, Vasundhara wanted a free hand. This much was evident in her opposition to RSS pracharak (preacher) Mathur’s appointment as state BJP president in place of her own favourite Mahesh Sharma. Relations between the party and the government had deteriorated to the extent that officials of a public relations company hired to oversee the BJP’s campaign acted as messenger between Mathur and Vasundhara. The lack of consensus saw fierce arguments during candidate selection and propping up of 75 rebels against the party’s official nominees. The BSP factor and the BJP’s anti-terror rhetoric post-Mumbai attacks too failed to salvage Vasundhara’s fortunes.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Kremlin steps up political ties in Latin America

Chavez and Medvedev met on board a Russian warship harboured in a Venezuelan dock ahead of combined military drills. Medvedev said Russia is stepping up its political ties in Latin America and said Moscow must insistently seek out to shore up its financial position in the region. "One must admit, to put it simply, we have never had a serious presence here – these have been just episodes," he told reporters in Cuba, referring to Latin America. "We visited states that no Russian leader, and no Soviet leader, ever visited. This means one thing: that attention simply was not paid to these countries," he said.

"This is evidently a thrust to swell Russia's sway on the world stage," Andrew Neff, an analyst with IHS Global Insight, told TSI. “Even though Russia was pursuing energy collaboration with Venezuela, the actual benefit was in spreading political authority more willingly than any apparent economic return.”

In fact, Latin America’s intercontinental ties have for long been more assorted than caricature permits, but they are becoming even more so as the globe transforms. For some South American nations, Europe has at all times been in any case as significant as a trade and venture partner as the United States. Trade with Japan and the Middle East grew in the 1970s, while the Soviet Union sold arms to Peru as well as sustaining communist Cuba.

For the Kremlin, this is tantamount to sending Washington a memo: if you intrude in our backyard, we'll intrude in yours.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

…and yet, peace must prevail!

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari might be looked upon with suspicion due to his tainted background, but his recent statement that Pakistan is not threatened by India speaks volumes of his statesmanship. It not only points to an urge to forego jingoism that have clouded the relationship between the two neighbours for 61 long years but also indicates that he has the courage and desire to bring drastic changes in Pakistan's foreign policy that has so far been based on paranoia and mistrust towards India.

However, the reign of terror let loose in India's financial hub Mumbai have temporarily dampened hopes of lasting peace between the two nations who have fought three deadly wars since they achieved independence in 1947 and provided an opportunity to warmongers to unleash hatred and misunderstandings yet again.

It has also generated media hype in Pakistan and India, especially in electronic channels where cooked up stories continue to be aired unabashedly. For instance, Pakistan's military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas was quick to clarify on November 30 that the army has not seen any unusual movement of the Indian troops on the border so far and the situation on the Indian border was normal. The Indian Foreign Ministry also rejected Indian media reports that it was considering suspending the Line of Control ceasefire agreement with Pakistan and increasing troops on borders. The restraint shown by the Indian government is a welcome sign. More so because despite mayhem in Mumbai and the subsequent anger, India has not amassed troops on Pakistan borders as it did in 2002 when its parliament was attacked by terrorists. The patience was also evident when the Indian embassy in Kabul was attacked a couple of months ago.

In an interview with The Financial Times on December 1, President Zardari said: "Such a tragic incident must bring opportunity rather than the defeat of a nation. We don't think the world's great nations and countries can be held hostage by non-state actors." Zardari warned that militants had power to precipitate a war in the region. "Even if the militants are linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, who do you think we are fighting?" asked Zardari....Continue

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The Sunday Indian