Stop the looting

It is welcome to see that the NDA government has started filing charges against individuals with illicit accounts in Swiss banks. The move has set off speculation that some prominent politicians may figure on the list. Politicians, both ruling and opposition, want to block the release of the names. It means our legal system is flawed. Politicians looting the country are more treacherous than underworld dons. If the Modi government, sticking to its election promise, releases the names, it will be doing a great favour. All those blacklisted should be debarred from politics and sent to jail. The loot money should be declared a national treasure. Parliament should propound strict laws so no politician can loot the nation anymore.

KA Solaman

Alappuzha The Hindu business Line on Oct 23, 2014t

Bird flu outbreak

The outbreak of bird flu in Kuttanadu, Kerala is a matter of serious concern. Several thousands of birds are dead. There is also an official work out to cull as many 1.5 lakh birds, including poultry, in the three affected districts of Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta. The loss of the farmers is terrific. So in this context quick action should be by the government to avert any untoward situation. The farmers should be given adequate compensation.

Since there is a chance of human beings getting infected with the virus, utmost care should be taken to protect the people and their belongings.

K A Solaman

Mullaperiyar fear.

One hundred and eighteen year old Mullaperiyar dam has undoubtedly become a matter of great havoc to people living on the banks of River Periyar. Not only the heavy water height the dam, heated exchange by the political heads has made the situation highly tense. People on the bank of river Periyar are panic. The permitted maximum water level of the reservoir is 136 feet and but with court order it is now 142 ft. As this was a rare phenomenon for past many years, people realized about the vast amount of water in the dam and that also made them more panic.

 Actually, the new leaks and the escalation of the old leaks could be very risky allowing for the age of the masonry dam built of surki, a technology available at the time of construction of the dam. The flaw of the dam is a matter of unending concern to people of Kerala as any danger to it could affect about 40 lakh people living in five districts of Kerala.

It is to be stressed that normal life time of any dam or atomic power plant is about 50 years. And in that case Mullaperiyar dam is a doubly expired one. So, the concern about safety of this dam is not mislaid. It should be abandoned on war-footing basis and new dam should be constructed. But Tamil Nadu is seen neglecting this aspect and not thinking about the dam safety. They are interested only with water they get from the dam and keeps scant regard to lives of million people of Kerala.

So it is time for Paneerselvam and his colleagues to stand favorably for the construction of new dam as there are all chances for the breaking of existing one causing huge human causality. If dam breaks and that too due to the negligence of the TN leaders no human endeavor could be able to repair the damage. So Paneer Selvam and Ommen Chandy, the two chief ministers of the states come together for an immediate discussion to reach a settlement over the Mullaperiyar imbroglio. TN should abandon its stance of strengthening of the dam. Instead the dam should be decommissioned first. Any disaster in the worst would certainly make political bosses of the states redundant and more worse is the loss of innocent human lives

K A Solaman

Iyer’s revelations.

The city of Kochi has become a pilgrim spot as former Supreme Court judge V.R. Krishna Iyer turned 100. Political leaders, legal luminaries, and well-wishers met Mr. Iyer at his residence to wish him. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Myanmar, wished Mr. Krishna Iyer through Twitter. But, he once again entered into  controversy with the once rejected claim regarding the conception of land reforms in the State. It was Iyer’s claim that it was he who wrote the agriculture land reforms law of 1957 and that Ms. Gouri Amma had no role in the law at all.

What Iyer has repeated now is a matter that veteran politician K.R. Gouri had outrightly rejected..
According to her Iyer’s statement was totally wrong and misleading. Gouri Amma had repeated several times that it was on April 11, 1957,  the government issued an ordinance on integrated land reforms, after which the Communist Party of India and the government began discussions on the same. Mr. Krishna Iyer, who had introduced a similar law when he was earlier a legislator with the Madras Assembly, came up with the same law. However, this was rejected by the government since it was restricted only to tenants in the Malabar region and was not comprehensive. Following this, a committee, comprising Ms. Gouri Amma from the Travancore region, C.H. Kanaran from the Malabar region and Gopalakrishnan from the Cochin region, was constituted. The land reforms draft Bill was shaped by this committee, with references to several other existing laws. Though it was first drafted as three laws, it was later integrated into one. This was released for public opinion. Relevant ones from around 2,500 suggestions that came up were incorporated and the final law was passed by the Assembly on June 30, 1959.

However, the Union government did not approve this Bill and sent it back, recommending more amendments, Ms. Gouri said. Mr. Krishna Iyer, she alleged, was not a member of the committee and had no major role in the conception of the law.

So what now Iyer, at the age of100, is doing is rewriting history and most probably there would be no takers for the same..

The learned Ex-Justice V R Krishna Iyer  had taken many  unacceptable stands like this. Another one was  the dragging in the name of Pope by referring to  incident of fishermen’s killing by Italian marines and saying Italy is the land of Pope.  Iyer had forgotten  the fact  that Pope is the legal head of Vatican and not of Italy. Yet another incident  is the  draconian bill drafted by the 12-member committee headed by him recommending provisions for imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 for fathering a third child by Indian nationals.

K A Solaman

Mullaperiyar level

The tussle over the age-old Mullaperiyar dam row has again reignited . Tamil Nadu has been operating the dam. Apart from providing drinking water to a number of districts, the dam is also the lifeline of irrigation. The question now is about dam safety and not about water sharing. In a quake-prone area, an old dam is a potential threat. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister must immediately start talks with his counterpart in Kerala and allay fears.

K.A. Solaman, Alappuzha

The Hindu published on 18 Nov, 2014

Dam fire again.

The fire over the age-old Mullaperiyar dam row has once again ignited. This time the Government of Kerala is approaching the court for relief to its people living near dam-river site.

The Tamil Nadu government has been operating the dam, produces hydro-electric power and distributes it in state. Apart from providing drinking water to the people of Madurai, Theni, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram, the diverted water is used to irrigate about 80,000 hectares of dry land in these districts.

Originated in Kerala and fully flowing through Kerala, Periyar is a rich source of water. For more than 100 years Tamil Nadu is irrigating and making power. Now the question is not water sharing but safety of the Dam. In an earth quake area, a 120 year old dam constructed without cement is a potential threat to 40 lakhs of people in Kerala. All reliable studies suggest a possible Mullapperiyar-dam collapse would collapse Idukki dam and eight others. And then the damage would be colossal.

As such it is the responsibility of TN Chief Minister to have a talk with his Kerala counterpart to alleviate the fear of several lakhs people living in the shores of Periyar.

K A Solaman

State honour for segregation

Educationist, critic, writer and orator professor B Hridayakumari has been cremated with full state honour, on the other hand bureaucrat and ace writer P C Sanal Kumar IAS has been denied it at his burial. This is seemingly obnoxious and needs a satisfactory explanation from those in charges of the affair.

If Hridayakumari was known for her proficiency in and understanding of both English and Malayalam intelligent Sanal Kumar was not below her in any aspect. He was a popular figure in literature and bureaucracy and deserves all state respects. State honour should not become a tool to segregate the dead based on influence and communal facet.

In fact the life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living and it has no tie up with state honour.

K A Solaman

Hats off the Principal

The Principal of Maharaja's College, Ernakulam should be congratulated for suspending 10 students for organizing a Hug of Love to express solidarity with the recently held Kiss of Love non-sense campaign. It is the duty of the principal to teach the students of his College that there are some lessons pertaining discipline. Ignoring warnings from authorities and teachers the Hug of Love students have openly stood against the code of conduct. And it is laughable to see that the students, who were suspended for 10 days, are planning to approach the court challenging the principal's decision. Most possibly the huggers will be awarded another reprimand from the court for wasting its precious time. The action of section of comrades endorsing the kiss-hug events is interesting as they have become insolvent of ideas.

Inter-caste marriage is not a big-event in this country. Nevertheless dragging girls in love and later tormenting them would result in more cases relating sexual abuse. The state, of late, is witnessing a lot of cases where girls have been fraught and have undergone mental stress due to this undesired independence. Let the colleges remain disciplined and be a place for learning rather than ruin.

It is questioning on the part of channels to promote kiss-hug events for attracting more edgy viewers who once found pleasure in the gimmicks of solar con-woman.  

K A Solaman  

Mani should resign

In the backdrop of the allegation by liquor bar owners that a bribe of Rs 1-crore has been given to Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani, he should resign immediately from the post. At the same time penal action must be taken against Kerala Bar Hotels president Biju Ramesh for bribing the minister. CPM State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan’s call for a court-supervised investigation into the accusation that Mani had taken the bribe, is pointless as the court could not interfere in this matter without any petition before it.

It is a matter pity on the minister who speaks volumes for the working class, to take bribe for exhilarating them and thereby ruining thousands of poor families. Mani’s channel plea asking Keralites to take a Karunya lottery seems ironical when most people are diseased by Government sponsored public intoxication

K A Solaman  

Kiss of chaos.

Mark Twain said: “Everything human is pathetic. The secret source of humour itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humour in heaven”. Yes it is true in the case “kiss of love” protest in Kochi. The agitators have turned city into a hell of chaos with sorrow and humour. Some faces seen in kissing are not that much good for the act. In fact the kiss-chaos guys need some crude publicity. Next these people would argue that they would engage in more public nonsense. Their public kiss would move from cheek to lip to neck to where else and they tint that everyone opposing them as cavemen.

The kiss of love sponsors have close parallelism with Hippies of the 60s.  Hippies, by their dress, and lifestyle had seriously offended and outraged the society. They were dispensed with boring middle class customs such as bathing, neat dressing, and family discipline and outraged the conservative members of society. Nevertheless, the Hippism was finally wiped out from the globe.

If a person and his friend are in love and kissing, why should passersby is forced to witness personal act? The kiss-of-lovers are holding their rally without permission. It means they do believe in societal anarchy for negative publicity.

K A Solaman