The Big Story: Arresting commoners for a faulty system

The Tamil Nadu police seem to be working overtime to book those it has termed as "mischievous rumourmongers". On Monday, two persons from different parts of the State were arrested for spreading misinformation on the health of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who has been in a hospital for 19 days. The police have also filed 43 more cases on this front and more arrests are expected in the coming days.

Essentially, common men and women are being sent to jail for a consciously developed system that obstructs the flow of even basic information to the public. Ever since Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital on September 22, there have been demands for more transparency on the status of her health. The bulletins issued by the hospital have been fuzzy with most still unable to understand the what exactly is ailing Jayalalithaa.

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On the government side, this secrecy has descended to ridiculous levels. Over the last 19 days, none of the ministers have met the media to dispel doubts about the chief minister's prolonged illness. The government also refuses to officially engage on the question of who is running the show in Jayalalithaa's absence and if there could be an interim arrangement in place till she gets well. Handling such criticism has been left to spokespersons of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, who have no role in the government.

Though senior leaders of almost every political party, including Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, have visited the hospital, none seem to have met Jayalalithaa. The media is also rife with reports that a group of unelected bureaucrats, including advisor Sheela Balakrishnan, is running the show.

When such a situation of opaqueness is created, it naturally feeds the rumour mills. Eager to know about Jayalalithaa's status, the public latches on to bits and pieces of unverified information that spreads through the social media.

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The solution to this crisis has to be more transparency on part of the State government. Instead, it has now decided to clamp down on those talking about Jayalalithaa's health using the police.

In Tamil Nadu, this intolerance to criticism and commentary is nothing new. The State is known for filing hundreds of defamation cases to silence the Opposition and the media. It has consciously chosen to remain behind a shroud over transparency, undermining the very idea of democratic functioning.

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The Big Story

  • In Jayalalithaa's absence, is her advisor Sheela Balakrishnan running the government? 
  • Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's health has driven a wedge between alliance partners Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. 

Political Pickings

  1. India's attempts to enter the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group got a fresh lease of life ahead of the BRICS meet in Goa as China has said it was ready to talk on the issue. 
  2. Former Chief of Army Staff General (Retired) VP Malik said on Monday that the Indian Army was ready to enter Pakistan-occupied territory in 1999 but was stopped by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. 
  3. The months of speculation on administrative reforms in Telengana ended on Monday with the State government deciding to carve out 21 new districts, despite caution from critics. 
  4. In Kerala, the clash between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh reached a new low with an activist of the former murdered on Sunday. This is the latest in a series of political murders reported over the last two years. 
  5. While the Bharatiya Janata Party slammed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "trading (dalali) in blood" on the issue of surgical strikes on Pakistan, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akilesh Yadav chose to back Gandhi. 

Punditry

  1. Githa Hariharan in the Indian Express argues against boycotting artists from Pakistan and explains why art and culture do not recognise political borders. 
  2. In the Hindustan Times, Gopalkrishna Gandhi warns against intolerance disguising itself as patriotism in the Kashmir issue and calls for restraint from leaders. 
  3. Andrew Rosenthal in the New York Times says the 2005 tape showing Donald Trump making lewd comments on women has only reiterated what the Republican presidential candidate has always been. 

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Raksha Kumar reports on two young women in Chhattisgarh who have taken up a courageous battle against alleged extrajudicial killings by the security forces in the Maoist-affected Bastar region.

Surrounded by violence, yet unfazed by it, two teenage girls in Chhattisgarh have taken up a battle of a new kind. Nineteen-year-old Suneeta Pottam and Munni Pottam, a year younger (not related), have made six attempts in the last four months to file police complaints against alleged extrajudicial killings by security forces in Bijapur district, which is part of the Bastar region. They have failed each time and, in the process, drawn unwanted attention to themselves. “The security men threatened us and asked us to stop our human rights activities,” said Suneeta Pottam