“President Droupadi Murmu, an Adivasi from the Adivasis were here on this hallowed land before any of us, I dare say, even before the Dravidians- Julio Ribeiro”
Highlights By: Balbir Singh Sooch-Sikh Vichar Manch
2. Naturally, she will be indebted to the party that had the numbers to propel her to this high office.
But she must not forget that she also has a responsibility to the Constitution and the people of the
country. Any attempt to curb people’s rights of movement, free speech and equal opportunities should
meet with disapproval or, at least, wise words of advice. I sincerely hope and pray that she fails not!
3. Recently, Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, stated that the country would develop only after
the coal and other natural resources of the country were fully exploited.
I am particularly unhappy with the manner in which ‘an officer and a gentleman’, a description that
fits Yashwant Sinha, was left abandoned. Can you ask a good man to be a ‘consensus candidate’,
and then abandon him even before he gets started? It is highly unethical even if the excuse is that
the dictates of politics have induced this ‘under the belt’ punch.
All those who believe in the equality of sexes, like I do, will admit that person-to-person, Sinha was
far superior to Murmu as a presidential prospect. He is highly intelligent, knowledgeable,
experienced in administration and statecraft, and most of all, fair-minded and just in his dealings.
He was a faithful acolyte of that great statesman, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who, like him, was fair-minded
and just and had no bias against the minorities. Vajpayee’s ‘Hindutva’ did not entail second-class status
for them. And it certainly did not include elimination!
Murmu has had a cakewalk. Sinha knew he was going to lose. Yet, he continued to fight. I salute him
for it.
The people of India should welcome an Adivasi President as an acknowledgement that the Adivasis
were here on this hallowed land before any of us, I dare say, even before the Dravidians. Naturally,
she will be indebted to the party that had the numbers to propel her to this high office. But she must
not forget that she also has a responsibility to the Constitution and the people of the country. Any
attempt to curb people’s rights of movement, free speech and equal opportunities should meet with
disapproval or, at least, wise words of advice. I sincerely hope and pray that she fails not!
Murmu should use her exalted position to ensure the tribal rights of the Adivasis. She has done so in
her role of the Governor of Jharkhand. The Jesuit priest, Fr Stan Swamy, was fighting for just that.
Probably because his activities militated against ‘development’, he was picked on for being a
hindrance. Recently, Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, stated that the country would develop
only after the coal and other natural resources of the country were fully exploited.
Development is a natural concern of the government, but it has to be formulated within the legal
rights of the Adivasis, codified by law. If those rights are trampled on and the coal and minerals are
mined without the consent and cooperation of the Adivasis, who have been living on the
usufruct of such forest land for millennia, the incoming President should raise the issue and protest.
Her reservations should be made known to the public for the sake of transparency in governance.
The BJP is way ahead of the Congress and other Opposition parties when it comes to political
manoeuvrings! Its choice of Droupadi Murmu, an Adivasi, a self-made woman from the Santhali
tribe in Uparbeda village of Mayurbhanj district in Odisha, left the Opposition red-faced! Many
Opposition sparties that had endorsed Yashwant Sinha for the honour developed second thoughts.
By Julio Ribeiro : TRYSTS AND TURNS; Women of substance: Updated At: Jul 22, 2022
06:08 AM (IST): The Tribune, Chandigarh:
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India: Isn’t? By: Balbir Singh Sooch-Sikh Vichar Manch
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hallowed land before any of us, I dare say, even before the Dravidians-
Julio Ribeiro”