( From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 19, Dated May 17, 2008)
ENGAGED CIRCLE
activists in trouble
Campaign Pains
A coalition of 150 NGOs campaigning against the BJP in poll-bound Karnataka have run afoul of the State Election Commission, reports SANJANA
POLITICAL PARTIES are not the only ones engaged in a pitched battle in election bound Karnataka. People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) — a statewide coalition comprising 150 NGOs that work on a range of issues from Dalit and women’s rights to farmers’ issues, caste politics and labour — is actively engaged in campaigning against what it calls the BJPs ‘communal agenda’. Says KL Ashok, a PAD convenor, “We have no doubt that the BJP is a communal party committed to treating Dalits, Muslims, women and the working masses as second-class citizens. We have seen what they did in 20 months when they were in power in Karnataka. We are saying — never again!”
Headed by prominent cultural figures such as UR Ananthamurthy, Sara Aboobacker and Gauri Lankesh, the coalition has framed for itself a precise agenda — to ensure defeat of the BJP in the coming Assembly elections and to demand accountability from other political parties seeking to represent the people. It had undertaken a massive public awareness campaign including ‘jeep jathas’ across 100 towns in Karnataka and wide-scale distribution of a ‘people’s manifesto’, backed by about 50,000 posters. The campaign had just started to make waves when it ran into trouble with the Karnataka State Election Commission (SEC) and the police, which stepped in to halt it.
A Election Commission of India (ECI) directive issued to the Karnataka SEC on April 7, 2008 stipulates that “no wall writing, pasting of posters/papers, erecting of cut-outs, hoardings, banners, or defacement in any other form shall be permitted on public property” and that any local law applicable should be strictly enforced. Accordingly, MN Vidyashankar, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka issued strict orders to the police for “criminal cases to be booked against those flouting the directive.”
On April 12, activists belonging to PAD were detained and arrested by police in Madikeri (Kodagu district), Mulbagal (Kolar district) and Bangalore as they attempted to paste posters urging voters to say no to the BJP. In Jamkhandi (Bagalkot district), police authorities denied permission to hold a public meeting. In Bangalore, activists were detained and posters seized. “Everywhere the police demanded that we produce permission letters by the State Election Commission. No matter how many times we told them that we weren’t a political party, they would not listen,” says AMM Shaafi of PAD.
For the State Election Commission too, this was a difficult proposition to buy – a non-political party coalition working to defeat the BJP and distributing copies of its own manifesto. When Shaafi along with other convenors approached the CEO Vidyashankar three days after the arrests, he said, “We want to ensure that they were not indulging in surrogate canvassing. The content of the posters have to be cleared.” The CEO insisted that the coalition submit translated copies of publicity material to the ECI and wait for clearance, citing an April 2004 Supreme Court judgment.
When the coalition obtained copies of the SC order, they found that it had nothing to do with their case, and instead pertained to cable television advertisements by Gujarat political parties during elections. When PAD representatives reverted to the CEO, he was apologetic but held that having submitted the poster for clearance, they had no choice but to wait for the ECI’S decision. With first phase of polling starting on on May 10, the coalition representatives are infuriated, but so far the only reply they have received from the SEC is that the matter is pending due to delays with the ECI in New Delhi.
ELECTION COMMISSIONER Dr SY Quraishi, told TEHELKA that, “PAD is free to do their campaigning; provided they don’t say that BJP is a communal party. That is a specific allegation. But they are free to ask voters to not vote for communal parties.” He also categorically stated that the ECI had conveyed this to the Karnataka SEC during their last visit to Bangalore. But Karnataka’s Joint Chief Election Commissioner BV Kulkarni, says they are “still waiting to hear from the ECI.”
Shabnam Hashmi, member, National Integration Council, who has undertaken similar campaigns in Gujarat, and who also wrote to the ECI on the PAD issue, believes that the organisation should simply get on with the task. “For eight months we carried a strong anti-BJP and anti-Modi campaign. There were cases against us. You can’t keep rushing to officials to get their stamp of approval every time.”
PAD is doing just that. Tired of official dillydallying, they have proceeded with their campaign — albeit in different ways.
ENGAGED CIRCLE
activists in trouble
Campaign Pains
A coalition of 150 NGOs campaigning against the BJP in poll-bound Karnataka have run afoul of the State Election Commission, reports SANJANA
POLITICAL PARTIES are not the only ones engaged in a pitched battle in election bound Karnataka. People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) — a statewide coalition comprising 150 NGOs that work on a range of issues from Dalit and women’s rights to farmers’ issues, caste politics and labour — is actively engaged in campaigning against what it calls the BJPs ‘communal agenda’. Says KL Ashok, a PAD convenor, “We have no doubt that the BJP is a communal party committed to treating Dalits, Muslims, women and the working masses as second-class citizens. We have seen what they did in 20 months when they were in power in Karnataka. We are saying — never again!”
Headed by prominent cultural figures such as UR Ananthamurthy, Sara Aboobacker and Gauri Lankesh, the coalition has framed for itself a precise agenda — to ensure defeat of the BJP in the coming Assembly elections and to demand accountability from other political parties seeking to represent the people. It had undertaken a massive public awareness campaign including ‘jeep jathas’ across 100 towns in Karnataka and wide-scale distribution of a ‘people’s manifesto’, backed by about 50,000 posters. The campaign had just started to make waves when it ran into trouble with the Karnataka State Election Commission (SEC) and the police, which stepped in to halt it.
A Election Commission of India (ECI) directive issued to the Karnataka SEC on April 7, 2008 stipulates that “no wall writing, pasting of posters/papers, erecting of cut-outs, hoardings, banners, or defacement in any other form shall be permitted on public property” and that any local law applicable should be strictly enforced. Accordingly, MN Vidyashankar, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka issued strict orders to the police for “criminal cases to be booked against those flouting the directive.”
On April 12, activists belonging to PAD were detained and arrested by police in Madikeri (Kodagu district), Mulbagal (Kolar district) and Bangalore as they attempted to paste posters urging voters to say no to the BJP. In Jamkhandi (Bagalkot district), police authorities denied permission to hold a public meeting. In Bangalore, activists were detained and posters seized. “Everywhere the police demanded that we produce permission letters by the State Election Commission. No matter how many times we told them that we weren’t a political party, they would not listen,” says AMM Shaafi of PAD.
For the State Election Commission too, this was a difficult proposition to buy – a non-political party coalition working to defeat the BJP and distributing copies of its own manifesto. When Shaafi along with other convenors approached the CEO Vidyashankar three days after the arrests, he said, “We want to ensure that they were not indulging in surrogate canvassing. The content of the posters have to be cleared.” The CEO insisted that the coalition submit translated copies of publicity material to the ECI and wait for clearance, citing an April 2004 Supreme Court judgment.
When the coalition obtained copies of the SC order, they found that it had nothing to do with their case, and instead pertained to cable television advertisements by Gujarat political parties during elections. When PAD representatives reverted to the CEO, he was apologetic but held that having submitted the poster for clearance, they had no choice but to wait for the ECI’S decision. With first phase of polling starting on on May 10, the coalition representatives are infuriated, but so far the only reply they have received from the SEC is that the matter is pending due to delays with the ECI in New Delhi.
ELECTION COMMISSIONER Dr SY Quraishi, told TEHELKA that, “PAD is free to do their campaigning; provided they don’t say that BJP is a communal party. That is a specific allegation. But they are free to ask voters to not vote for communal parties.” He also categorically stated that the ECI had conveyed this to the Karnataka SEC during their last visit to Bangalore. But Karnataka’s Joint Chief Election Commissioner BV Kulkarni, says they are “still waiting to hear from the ECI.”
Shabnam Hashmi, member, National Integration Council, who has undertaken similar campaigns in Gujarat, and who also wrote to the ECI on the PAD issue, believes that the organisation should simply get on with the task. “For eight months we carried a strong anti-BJP and anti-Modi campaign. There were cases against us. You can’t keep rushing to officials to get their stamp of approval every time.”
PAD is doing just that. Tired of official dillydallying, they have proceeded with their campaign — albeit in different ways.
