Follow Prime Minister Shastri

Congrats on your Anniversary In the April issue of your esteemed thinktank magazine, you have very accurately analysed the national political scenario in the wake of the fall of the saffron brigade in the very bastion of its powerful Chief Minister Adityanath Yogi. There are clear indications now that if the Samajvadi Party under Akhiliesh Yadav and the Bahujan Samaj Party led by Mayawati remain united in the months ahead and forge a common front to fight the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it might lead to an unprecedented defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party led by the Narendra Modi- Amit Shah combine in Uttar

Lal Bahadur Shastri Pradesh which sends the largest number of Members of Parliament to the Centre. This, in turn, might lead to the overthrow of the current government at the Centre. It has to be seen if the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership learns the right lessons from its defeat in the UP Assembly by-elections and takes appropriate initiatives to save itself as the ruling party. One hopes Prime Minister Modi and all his colleagues would cease to indulge in rhetoric and rather concentrate to deliver what their party had promised to the people during the election of 2014 parliamentary elections.
The record of the Modi government has been very poor on this front so far. In his article, "Agrarian sector on the boil," Hari Jaisingh has portrayed an accurate national scenario on our farm sector across the country. The Modi government would do well to pay due attention to the long-neglected farm sector and remedy its problems without any further delay. It must honour the slogan the legendary Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri gave long time back --- 'Jai Kisan' ( Long live our farmers). Shastri knew how crucial this sector is in the life of the Indian Nation. Modi must follow him .

K Ramalingam
Chennai

Right to life with dignity

It is good that the Supreme Court Constitution Bench has now allowed passive euthanasia and given legal status to 'advance directives' to this effect . It has recognised that the right to a dignified life extends up to the point of having a dignified death. This judgement lays down a broad legal framework for protecting the dignity of a terminally ill patient or one in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) with no hope of cure or recovery.
According to the court judgement, in such circumstances, "accelerating the process of death for reducing the period of suffering constitutes a right to live with dignity". All adults with the capacity to give consent would now have " the right of self determination and autonomy", and the right to refuse medical treatment.
Passive euthanasia was recognised by a Supreme Court Bench in 2011. Now the Constitution Bench has expanded the jurisprudence on the subject by adding to it the principle of a 'living will', or an advance directive, a practice whereby a person, while in a competent state of mind, leaves written instructions on the sort of medical treatment that may or may not be administered in the event of reaching a stage of terminal illness.
Passive euthanasia essentially involves withdrawal of life support or discontinuation of life-preserving medical treatment so that a person with a terminal illness is allowed to die in the natural course. The court's reasoning is very sound that burdening a dying patient with life-prolonging treatment and equipment merely because medical technology has advanced would be destructive of her dignity.

Mujibur Rahman
Hyderabad

Need for transparency

Nirmla Sitharaman A section of politicians has recently accused the Modi government of "compromising" on national security and causing a loss of ₹ 12,632 crore to the state exchequer by buying the jets at an inflated rate.
It alleges while 36 Rafale jets were sold to India at 7.5 billion euros in 2016, 48 jets were sold to Qatar and Egypt at 7.9 billion euros in 2015. This amounts to ₹ 1,670.70 crore per aircraft for India and ₹ 1,319.80 crore to Egypt/Qatar. There is a difference of ₹ 351 crore for each aircraft.
The politicians have asserted if the Modi government had not cancelled the deal struck by the UPA dispensation for 126 Rafale jets, it could have saved ₹ 41,212 crore. The deal under the Modi government was signed in the absence of prior clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Security. The Modi government , its Defence Minister Nirmla Sitharaman in particular, must make the whole purchase price of the systems transparent. The government cannot keep secrecy as to how it spends public money.

Krishnendu Chatterjee
Kanpur

Peace elusive

Kiren Rijiju Notwithstanding the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party led him in the recent Assembly elections in parts of the North East, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is losing his credibility very fast. The impression gaining ground is his word does not mean much.
He has proved very inefficient in the case of Nagaland . In August 2015 Prime Minister Modi signed the Nagaland Peace Framework with National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) to end the insurgency in the region.
There is still no clarity over the Naga peace accord.
The other day Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju just said to media persons in Guwahati that several "serious" demands had been dropped from the agenda of the ongoing peace talks with the Isak-Muivah faction of National Socialist Council of Nagalim.
These included the issue of sovereignty of the areas inhabited by the Nagas. Rijiju claimed that the Centre had made headway in peace talks with other extremist groups of the region such as United Liberation Front of Assam (Progressive). Prime Minister Modi must see to it that the Naga accord reaches its fruition at the earliest.

Christopher Johnson
Kohima

Panel against erring judges

An in-house committee has recently concluded that a judge of the Allahabad High Court had committed judicial impropriety serious enough to warrant his removal. The judged in question had come under adverse notice before a Supreme Court Bench headed by its Chief Justice last year. The Bench found he had violated a restraining order from the apex Court by allowing a Memorial Trust in Lucknow to admit students. This amounted to violating judicial propriety. The CJI then formed a three-member committee,
comprising Chief Justices of the Madras High Court, the Sikkim High Court and the Madhya Pradesh High Court, to examine his conduct. This committee has found the allegation against judge substantial . The apex court must apply the same mechanism in the case of all such allegations. The process of removing a judge is somewhat cumbersome. Our judiciary must act against all erring judges.

Radhika Bose
Kolkata



		EDITOR'S MAIL FROM THE EDITOR POLITICAL IRONY POLITICS OF CONFLICT UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY QUESTION PAPER LEAKS FRANKLY SPEAKING REALPOLITIK SHAME INDIA ! SHAME INDIA ! SIGNS OF THE TIMES POLITICAL SCENE EXPORT DRIVE KASHMIR WATCH KASHMIR WATCH HIMACHAL PRADESH POLITICS IN PUNJAB CHANDIGARH DIARY COMMONWEALTH GAMES HITS & MISSES INDIA'S TIBET POLICY SYRIAN CRISIS REMEMBERING S. NIHAL SINGH REMEMBERING TVR BOOK BAZAAR BOOK BAZAAR YOGA IN DAILY LIFE STORY OF GURUGRAM CINEMA ART OF LIVING Issue:May' 2018 Subscribe Now	EDITOR’S MAIL Follow Prime Minister Shastri Congrats on your Anniversary In the April issue of your esteemed thinktank magazine, you have very accurately analysed the national political scenario in the wake of the fall of the saffron brigade in the very bastion of its powerful Chief Minister Adityanath Yogi. There are clear indications now that if the Samajvadi Party under Akhiliesh Yadav and the Bahujan Samaj Party led by Mayawati remain united in the months ahead and forge a common front to fight the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it might lead to an unprecedented defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party led by the Narendra Modi- Amit Shah combine in Uttar Lal Bahadur Shastri Pradesh which sends the largest number of Members of Parliament to the Centre. This, in turn, might lead to the overthrow of the current government at the Centre. It has to be seen if the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership learns the right lessons from its defeat in the UP Assembly by-elections and takes appropriate initiatives to save itself as the ruling party. One hopes Prime Minister Modi and all his colleagues would cease to indulge in rhetoric and rather concentrate to deliver what their party had promised to the people during the election of 2014 parliamentary elections. The record of the Modi government has been very poor on this front so far. In his article, "Agrarian sector on the boil," Hari Jaisingh has portrayed an accurate national scenario on our farm sector across the country. The Modi government would do well to pay due attention to the long-neglected farm sector and remedy its problems without any further delay. It must honour the slogan the legendary Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri gave long time back --- 'Jai Kisan' ( Long live our farmers). Shastri knew how crucial this sector is in the life of the Indian Nation. Modi must follow him . K Ramalingam Chennai Right to life with dignity It is good that the Supreme Court Constitution Bench has now allowed passive euthanasia and given legal status to 'advance directives' to this effect . It has recognised that the right to a dignified life extends up to the point of having a dignified death. This judgement lays down a broad legal framework for protecting the dignity of a terminally ill patient or one in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) with no hope of cure or recovery. According to the court judgement, in such circumstances, "accelerating the process of death for reducing the period of suffering constitutes a right to live with dignity". All adults with the capacity to give consent would now have " the right of self determination and autonomy", and the right to refuse medical treatment. Passive euthanasia was recognised by a Supreme Court Bench in 2011. Now the Constitution Bench has expanded the jurisprudence on the subject by adding to it the principle of a 'living will', or an advance directive, a practice whereby a person, while in a competent state of mind, leaves written instructions on the sort of medical treatment that may or may not be administered in the event of reaching a stage of terminal illness. Passive euthanasia essentially involves withdrawal of life support or discontinuation of life-preserving medical treatment so that a person with a terminal illness is allowed to die in the natural course. The court's reasoning is very sound that burdening a dying patient with life-prolonging treatment and equipment merely because medical technology has advanced would be destructive of her dignity. Mujibur Rahman Hyderabad Need for transparency Nirmla Sitharaman A section of politicians has recently accused the Modi government of "compromising" on national security and causing a loss of ₹ 12,632 crore to the state exchequer by buying the jets at an inflated rate. It alleges while 36 Rafale jets were sold to India at 7.5 billion euros in 2016, 48 jets were sold to Qatar and Egypt at 7.9 billion euros in 2015. This amounts to ₹ 1,670.70 crore per aircraft for India and ₹ 1,319.80 crore to Egypt/Qatar. There is a difference of ₹ 351 crore for each aircraft. The politicians have asserted if the Modi government had not cancelled the deal struck by the UPA dispensation for 126 Rafale jets, it could have saved ₹ 41,212 crore. The deal under the Modi government was signed in the absence of prior clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Security. The Modi government , its Defence Minister Nirmla Sitharaman in particular, must make the whole purchase price of the systems transparent. The government cannot keep secrecy as to how it spends public money. Krishnendu Chatterjee Kanpur Peace elusive Kiren Rijiju Notwithstanding the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party led him in the recent Assembly elections in parts of the North East, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is losing his credibility very fast. The impression gaining ground is his word does not mean much. He has proved very inefficient in the case of Nagaland . In August 2015 Prime Minister Modi signed the Nagaland Peace Framework with National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) to end the insurgency in the region. There is still no clarity over the Naga peace accord. The other day Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju just said to media persons in Guwahati that several "serious" demands had been dropped from the agenda of the ongoing peace talks with the Isak-Muivah faction of National Socialist Council of Nagalim. These included the issue of sovereignty of the areas inhabited by the Nagas. Rijiju claimed that the Centre had made headway in peace talks with other extremist groups of the region such as United Liberation Front of Assam (Progressive). Prime Minister Modi must see to it that the Naga accord reaches its fruition at the earliest. Christopher Johnson Kohima Panel against erring judges An in-house committee has recently concluded that a judge of the Allahabad High Court had committed judicial impropriety serious enough to warrant his removal. The judged in question had come under adverse notice before a Supreme Court Bench headed by its Chief Justice last year. The Bench found he had violated a restraining order from the apex Court by allowing a Memorial Trust in Lucknow to admit students. This amounted to violating judicial propriety. The CJI then formed a three-member committee, comprising Chief Justices of the Madras High Court, the Sikkim High Court and the Madhya Pradesh High Court, to examine his conduct. This committee has found the allegation against judge substantial . The apex court must apply the same mechanism in the case of all such allegations. The process of removing a judge is somewhat cumbersome. Our judiciary must act against all erring judges. Radhika Bose Kolkata