On Patharughat!

Many a great sacrifice has been lost forever, sometimes out of sheer ignorance! The following is the version of one such incident from the lost pages of Assam's historic freedom struggle against the British. A sacrifice perhaps of greater magnitude than the Jallianwala Bagh, 1919. At a time when national sentiments were in their infancy, Assam showed how to do it....Read on to know about it so that we don't have to shake our heads in ignorance when someone blurts out - the Patharughat massacre! The following piece has been reproduced in its original form from another blog - - - 

The date was January 28, 1894. On this day, one of the dark chapters of the Assamese history occurred when the Patharughat massacre took place. History is replete with many accounts of unsung heroes and here Patharughat is just another example. The incident where about 140 farmers were massacred by the bullets of the British government is a burning example of the sacrifices that the peasants of the state have made for the love of justice and equality.

Patharughat, which is in Darrang district, has become a symbol of tyranny and oppression where the oppressed and exploited had to go down to the might of imperialist bullets. The British, who came to Assam with the treaty of Yandaboo, set about changing the socio-economic patterns of the state which caused remarkable upheavals in the lives of the common people. The people of Darrang had used to enjoy various rebates and exemptions under the Koch and Ahom rulers. This was discontinued by the British regime which went about setting up a new administrative system. Land taxes were revised and the rates were increased to the utter displeasure of the farmers. Land surveys were periodically conducted by the British regime and each time the land tax was arbitrarily increased. This literally broke the back of the farmers. A sense of anger and suspicion rose among the general people against the British. A final expression of the discontent was put forward by the people when they unanimously decided to resist these tax increases at the office of the Tehsildar of Patharughat.
In 1868, seven years after the Phulguri Uprising of Nogaon, a huge public of thousands gathered at the Tehsildar’s office in Patharughat to express their grievances. Fearing violence, a huge force under A.C. Comber, the Deputy Commissioner of Darrang was dispatched from Tezpur to control the crowd. When the authorities refused to pay any heed to the grievances of the people, the huge crowd got infuriated and proceeded to set fire to the Dak Bungalow which was housing the Britishers. Scuffle with the police forces followed which further infuriated the crowd. But the situation was controlled by the leaders as they did not want any sort of violence to happen. This was followed by twenty five incident free years, and the Britishers thought that the tides of discontent had settled down. They were wrong.

When in 1893, the Chief Commissioner of Assam, Wilkinson Ward, tried to raise the taxes, the flares of revolt sprang up again. A huge Raijmel (public meeting) was organized at Patharughat on January 26, 1894, where it was decided that taxes would not be paid till an acceptable solution was reached for the tax problem. The Tehsildar Bhabani Charan Bhattacharya requested the crowd to wait till January 28, when the Deputy Commissioner of Darrang, Anderson, would be available for proper hearings. Meanwhile the news of the Patharughat Raijmel reached the ears of the high authorities who decided that Anderson would be accompanied by Darrang’s SP, Barrington, and the SDO of Mangaldoi, Ramson, and a huge armed force.
January 28 was a normal weekly market day. People had began to throng to the open field in front of the Dak Bungalow and by noon a crowd of about a thousand had gathered there. At noon, the trio of White Sahibs entered the field along with their armed guards and was greeted by slogans. The Tehsildar and his staff waited outside being reduced to silent onlookers of the incident. When Anderson blatantly refused to lower the taxes saying that they did not have the authority to change the taxes raised by the Queen of England, the crowd got infuriated. As the White Sahibs made way to the Dak Bungalow, the crowd lost patience and proceeded towards them in total anger. Angry shouts and protests were raised in the air but to no avail. Arguments and counter arguments were made but the situation got hotter by every passing minute. Finally as the crowd proceeded, they were blocked by the security personals from doing so which resulted in a skirmish. As the scuffle began to get out of hand, Barrington ordered his forces to lathi charge. This made the crowd go wild with anger and they started to hit back at the forces with whatever tools, clods or sticks they had. A Thoga Baidya of Biahpara or Fukolu Sheikh of Athiabari managed to hit the head of the Police Superintendent and wounded him. This enraged the DC and he ordered for firing. Triggers were pressed and the people who were in the front of the crowd fell down in minutes. But this did not deter the people in the behind and they continued marching forward. The people fearlessly took the bullets into their chests and fell down to their martyrdom.
As the rounds of bullets continued to come, the peasants fell down. While some died on the spot, others were seriously injured with their heads cracked, bellies burst, hands and limbs torn apart and blood stained bodies lying everywhere. The dead bodies were not even aloud to be attended to leaving them to be devoured by dogs and vultures. Nobody then knew how many had died and the number of bodies that were rotting away. Finally the bullets did manage to disperse a greater portion of the crowd away but a huge damage had been done. Later it came out in the limelight that about 140 people had been killed and more than 150 had been injured.

This incident is a watermark in the history of peasant uprisings in India. Patharughat’s significance after all these years lies in the fact that though the oppressors have gone away, the conditions of our peasants still remain deplorable. It is still noteworthy that in a country where farmers have made considerable contributions to the freedom struggle, they are still subjected to injustice and hardships of all kinds. If their lands are taken away for some constructive purpose by the government then the required compensation is not paid. Or even today many of them commit suicide due to the burdens of debt and penury. And all this constantly reminds as to whether the blood of the peasant martyrs of many Patharughats have gone wasted in the hope of a better future. More than 100 years have passed since the Patharughat massacre. But the farmers of this nation still continue to lead a dissatisfied life.
Sadly, today Patharughat has remained as one of the many incidents that have got lost in oblivion among the pages of history. This glorious incident of martyrdom is hardly remembered by many people or even finds proper mention in any history textbook. Patharughat’s tragedy lies in the fact that the people of Assam do not remember them properly leave alone the Indian nation. And this is in stark contrast to the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre of 1919 in Punjab which received huge publicity. The memory of these martyrs must remain forever in the hearts of the people and just erecting a martyrs’ monument is just not enough for the proper honour for these heroes.

Let us all remember the martyrs of Patharughat and strive to make sure that no farmer ever faces any injustice in our free democracy.

5 explicit reasons to worship BATMAN....read on and don't dare to differ!

Let us thank Bob Kane and Bill Finger (co-creators of Batman) first. They gave us a hero with unparalleled charisma and valor. No adjective can aptly describe the Gotham's vigilante. He is too big to be subsumed in text! And you will know exactly that, once you devote yourself to the study of the man's journey. 

"Sometimes I admit, I think of Bruce as a man in a costume. Then, with some gadget from his utility belt, he reminds me that he has an extraordinarily inventive mind. And how lucky I am to be able to call on him."    - Superman

Christopher Nolan has beyond doubt, dignified our age by attempting to portray bits of the Bat's life and events on celluloid but the cosmic truth remains that the lesser mortals are far from understanding the enigma called - Bruce Wayne. You may decide not to be fascinated by him and I can't do much about it but yes, I can tell you never to ignore him because in your life, sometime or the other, you need him - shades of his personality, his dedication, his perseverance, his activism, his bravura, his tenacity, his poise, his spirit and his conviction. Decide for yourself which of the following reasons pull you closer to the Bat - - - - 

1. With an empire left for him to thrive on, he instead chose to take on the big bad dark world of crime. And that was not impulsive, mind you! He knew his time would come and for that to happen, he prepared himself - trained his mind and body and never succumbed to bouts of depression. Patience is the word and he showed the world that you don't need personal glory in your bid to do good. What is important is a burning desire to pursue your goals and not lose sight of them even in the darkest hour.

2. With tragedies the only gift in his lonely life, he decided to make them his ally. He never found love but that didn't deter him from spreading it, arguably in his own discreet style! He took whatever fears he had in his stride and confronted them instead of melting before them. He gave a new meaning and identity to the lives of countless species of one of the most despised mammals on earth - the bat. 

3. He knows how to respect honest souls like Gordon and his Butler! He never hinted that he alone could do what he dreamt of; created the bat-signal, Robin and then there was the Arkham Asylum. He showed his pragmatic side when he allied with the Outsiders and as an original founder of the Justice League. He is more of a facilitator than controller in difficult times and let everyone develop his or her skills to contribute to a situation. That way, he encouraged initiatives and promoted democracy.

4. Without super-powers at his possession, he does only what he can. His physical might and mental prowess have been proven assets that no one can take away. He too bleeds like us but never winces. He has mastered pain and has one thumb rule - - if something is wrong, correct it and if you can't, then learn to accept it. The latter part refers to his fate, the irony of his parents' demise, his failing love life. But undeterred, he drags on the war against evil and who knows, someday, you might find him beside you when you join hands with the good forces!

5. Worship him because he is the BATMAN.....invincible, universal and lasting!

I welcome all Bat followers to contribute to my praise for the bat and help me in spreading his legacy...And for those who doubt - no, he ain't dead! Long live the bat! 

Put an end to pesky calls and SMSes!

Dial or SMS 1909 (toll free) and register in either of the two categories:


Fully blocked category - - stoppage of all commercial calls/sms [START 0 to 1909]


Partially blocked category - - choose from preference list for receiving preferred SMSes


START 1 --- Banking/Insurance/Financial Products/ Credit cards
START 2 - - Real estate
START 3 - - Education
START 4 - - Health
START 5 - Consumer goods and automobiles
START 6 -- Communication/Broadcasting/Entertainment/IT
START 7 - - Tourism




A redressal mechanism:


If a customer receives UCC (Unsolicited Commercial Communication) even after 7 days of registration, he can register a complaint with his service provider within 3 days of receipt of such UCC by dialling or sending sms to 1909.


SMS COMPLAINT FORMAT:


SMS telephone no. - xxxxxxxxxx, dd/mm/yy, Time hh:mm to 1909


Its worth knowing that "140" number series has been allocated to telemarketers, allowing mobile subscribers to identify such calls. 


Fines for slip-ups ranges from Rs. 25000 (first offence) to Rs. 2.5 lakh (sixth). Habitual offenders would be blacklisted. 


*** 29 SMSes per day is the average usage among Indians in urban cities. 75% of them however receive at least 4 marketing/promotional texts a day.

Good Governance in an era of Globalisation

If managed well, the interplay between globalisation and good governance could become a trans-formative process to stabilise society. Such a type of stabilisation can be achieved through:


- Improvement in public security, economic management and public administration
- Shared system of values through core public and private sector institutions
- Development of civil society and indigenous executive, legislative, judicial and administrative institutions
- Following the good governance norms, democratic development and an effective capacity for development


Because of the profound transformations the global economy is witnessing - transformations arising out of the global market economy and out of the amazing new ICTs - there is an imperative need for efficient and equitable governance, robust global co-operation, strong institutions, exemplary leadership and perhaps especially a powerful global rule of law.

India set to expend more on atomic power!

For the 12th FYP, the Centre's proposed nuclear investment envisages a cumulative investment of close to Rs. 87000 crore. This is undoubtedly the highest allocation ever on beefing up atomic generation capacity. Of this, about Rs. 64800 crore has been fixed on new starts, which largely entail imported light-water, reactor-based projects to be set up with equipment supplies from global vendore such as France's Areva, US firms GE-Hitachi and Toshiba-Westinghouse and Russia's Atomstroyexport.


Currently, there are 20 nuclear reactors in India being operated by state-owned NPCIL, that add up to a capacity of 4,780 MWe (mega-watt electrical). NPCIL - which has a surplus of Rs. 12000 crore, including cash reserves - has said that it funds new capacity of up to 10,000 MWe through its own financial resources and is looking for financing from other sources, including through JVs with core sector PSUshaving strong financials and cash flows such as NTPC, IOC, Nalco and ONGC.


Progress is expected despite strong protests from locals and activists. The end to the Kudankulum stalemate is seen as a positive signal for new projects on the anvil. The Centre has, in principle, given a nod for 6 greenfield sites in Haryana, AP, MP, Gujarat and WB for setting up a string of new nuclear units. The bulk of this capacity augmentation by NPCIL will be through large-sized indigenous 700 MWe PHWRs and imported LWRs ranging between 1000 MWe and 1650 Mwe. For the LWRs, the govt. has shortlisted Toshiba-Westinghouse's ' AP1000' reactors, GE-Hitachi's 'ESBWR" reactors, Areva's EPRs and the Russian 'VVER' reactors, which are already being deployed at Kudankulum. 

P.A.

Q. The greatest menace among the All India Services is that it is highly politicized. Comment.

Ans: With the rise in the number of complex activities involving social security schemes, welfare programmes, and handling of technical tasks, the civil servants today increasingly find themselves placed in the political arena. No public bureaucracy operates in vacuum. The All India Services have to be seen in a political context and the long held politics-administration dichotomy has given way to a more effective concept of cooperation between the bureaucrats and the political class. Although policy making within a political environment is one of the core functions in the higher echelons of civil services, yet the concept of neutrality has long been held as a desirable aspect.   

Slowly but surely, the politico-administrative scenario began to change. Civil Servants increasingly became pliant tools in the hands of their political masters as they learnt quickly that they should not rock their boats too much. While R.N. Bannerjee, who was full-time Secretary to Nehru and Patel, could state that Secretaries in his time never felt that they were 'politically influenced, embarrassed or over-powered by them', there has been a steady deterioration in the 'ministerial timber' and the mounting populist pressure to deliver election promises compels the politicians to use the civil servants as sacrificial lambs. The problem is compounded by arbitrary, capricious or unfair political actions - transfers or disciplinary proceedings against a neutral officer. Many of the capable and honest officers thus give in. Ministers increasingly prefer officials who love to say "Yes Sir", thus blindly supporting their line of action without asking uncomfortable questions. This is one step away form the civil servants anticipating the views of the Minister and advising accordingly. Thus builds up a nexus or cozy relationship, where both stand to gain. The recent arrest of two IAS officers in Hyderabad by CBI officials has brought the matter to notice once again. The ARC report had also made a mention of this growing nexus. Such unhealthy practices tend to threaten the very fabric of the AIS. A further development of this unhealthy trend is the emergence of personal affiliations leading to an element of "politicisation" among civil servants. Following the rules in transfer and posting remains the only solution to end this nexus. 

 Fortunately, there have been civil servants who have had the courage of conviction to stand up and fight for the values they cherish and the principles they uphold. There was A.K. Chatterjee, an IAS officer in Patna, who in 1992 sought voluntary retirement after exposing the perverted politico-administrative system in Bihar attributed to the greedy politicians and corrupt self-seeking civil servants. Then there was P.S. Appu, who resigned from LBSNAA, Mussorie to stand by his principles. Therefore, it is not right to paint the entire All India Services with the same brush. 


B.G. Deshmukh, a former Cabinet Secretary believes that bureaucrats should not play politics but understand how politics works. They should be guided by a self-imposed code or by some broad principles enforced by a committee of peers. A belief that the service should never get politicized was religiously upheld by our the leaders of the past and it should remain true even today. Sardar Patel correctly stated, "The Services must be above party and we should ensure that political considerations either in its recruitment or in its discipline and control are reduced to the minimum, if not eliminated altogether". Hence, a civil servant cannot afford to be depoliticised, but he certainly cannot be fully politicised. Put differently, his involvement must be in policy politics and not party politics. 

LPG : Implementation - the main challenge in India.

Globalisation implies the integration of a country's economy with the world economy. It refers to the cross-border exchange of goods, services, products, capital, ideas, technology etc. Liberalisation refers to the policy of removal of restrictions, trade barriers and protectionist measures to enable the free flow of capital, technology and services. Privatisation involves attempts to transfer activities from the public to the private sector or a reduction in the size of the public sector. It also implies a reliance on the market and deregulation by the govt.


Liberalisation is a direct consequence of globalisation of credit and commodity markets while privatisation is a by-product of a composite of factors including the recognition of the need to for the improvement in efficiency and competition, reduction of public budget deficits, widening of the ownership of the economic assets, elimination of political interference in the management of various PSEs, up gradation of technology etc. Today, privatisation is at the top of the economic agenda of many developing countries. Most of them are restructuring the public sector in order to gain financial solvency and to reduce the revenue deficits. It is a fact that the growing interest in privatisation is a direct consequence of the maladies of the PSEs. The emergence of the concept of LPG has given a jolt to the time-honoured conception of state activity and the doctrine of the infallibility of state-controlled economic activity. Even a communist nation like China has taken a pragmatic course in its drive towards modernisation.


During the last decade, the enterprise reform has deepened with greater autonomy. Ownership has been separated from the management and government from enterprises by introducing the contract responsibilit system, leasing property transfer etc. so as to inject more dynamism into the enterprises and help them become independent entities responsible for their own profits and losses. A market system has been gradually taking place yet many critics believe there is a still a lot to do in this front.


Economic development is a complicated phenomenon and not amenable to simple and clear cut formula. it needs a supportive environment with the interweaving of sophisticated technology, skill diffusion, social ethics and values and a state structure with specific forms of mediation in regard to the capital-labour relationship.