Now, vote for rhino poachers

The past few elections in Assam – whether that for Lok Sabha or for the State Legislative Assembly – had seen the arrival of former militant leaders as candidates of different political parties, several of them also making it to the hallowed Houses. Several of them are currently ‘hon’ble members’ – at least one of them of Lok Sabha, and many in the Assam Legislative Assembly. While the ‘hon’ble Lok Sabha member’ who was a dreaded ULFA militant is an independent candidate, at least one former ULFA militant is currently a ‘hon’ble MLA’ from the BJP. A sizeable section of the BPF, an ally of the BJP, on the other hand comprise of former BLT militants. Whether the ULFA or BLT, both the outfits were responsible for numerous incidents of violence that had led to the death of a large number of innocent people across Assam in the past several decades. Among them is the incident where at least eleven innocent children had been killed the Dhemaji blast on August15, 2004, caused by the ULFA.

This time round, with the state heading for panchayat elections, at least two persons accused of rhino poaching have been given party tickets. Going by media reports, while one such person has been nominated by the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) in Bokakhat, the assembly constituency represented by Atul Bora, president of the regional party, another such person called Dilowar Hussain has been reportedly nominated by the Congress for the post of president of the Suwaguri Gaon Panchayat in Biswanath, a district from where Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Ripun Bora hails.

Television news channels have aired visuals showing past recording of Ganesh Doley, the AGP candidate for the post of president of the Mori-Dhansiri Gaon Panchayat, inside a police station with handcuffs on. Doley was reportedly arrested for poaching rhinos inside Kaziranga National Park, a World Heritage Site, Hussain too was arrested several times for allegedly killing rhinos inside the same Kaziranga National Park.

Though the BJP has so far not nominated any such person for the Panchayat election, the people of Assam clearly remember that the party, along with its allies AGP and BPF, had during the run-up to the 2016 State Assembly polls, made rhino poaching a major election issue. Ironically, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed an election rally at Bokakhat, veteran AGP leader and former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta had gifted him a wooden replica of an one-horned rhino – the pride of Assam. Prime Minister Modi on his part had in his speech hit out at the Congress for not only failing to prevent rhino poaching in Kaziranga, but had also indirectly accused the Congress party of being hand-in-glove with rhino poachers.

These acts of political parties – in the instant case of the AGP and Congress – would only encourage criminal activities including poaching or rhinos. The silence of the BJP on the other hand would only mean that the main partner of the ruling alliance in Assam approves of offering tickets to criminals, in the instant case to rhino poachers. These acts also prove that all political parties, including the AGP, Congress, BJP and BPF have helped criminalisation of politics trickle down to the grassroots, i.e., the panchayat level. This also speaks volumes about the quality of leaders who head these political parties, and the kind of commitment they have for the people.

Adieu Ad-guru

The passing away on Saturday of Alyque Padamsee, widely referred to as the “Brand Father of Indian Advertising”, has brought the curtains down on the life of one of India’s pioneer advertising personality. The genius came from a humble background with his ancestors belonging to a traditional Khoja Muslim family hailing from the Kutch region of Gujarat, which had its roots in the charan caste of bards and court musicians. It was his grandfather, a sarpanch, who was popularly known as Padamsee – a corruption of ‘Padmashri’ – for his magnanimous act of emptying the family granary for the villagers during a famine in several decades ago, a word that came to stay as the family surname thereafter. Despite being rich, the family was not well-educated; in fact neither of his parents had reached high school. Eldest boy after three sisters among eight siblings, Alyque is said to be the first to have attended high school and learnt English, and this in a situation where his sisters weren’t much encouraged to go to school. Having disclaimed religion at the age of 18 – theirs was a devout Muslim family – Alyque went landed up in Mumbai where he joined the advertising industry and helped Lintas India become India’s topmost agency in a few years. Since then he worked with different agencies including also setting up his own agency later in life, and helped different companies build over 100 brands just with the power of his creative advertisements. Some of the most memorable advertisements for which he will be always remembered in India’s advertising industry include Lalita-ji for Surf, the half-nude-half drenched Liril girl in the waterfall, Hamara Bajaj, Cherry Charlie for Cherry Blossom, the Kamasutra ad featuring Pooja Bedi, the Fair and Handsome ad featuring Shahrukh Khan, to name a few. Also a well-known theatre personality, he was known for his theatre productions like Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar and Tuglaq. He had also appeared in the silver screen, the most memorable role he played being that of Md Ali Jinnah in Sir Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi. Awarded the Padmashri in 1999, he was a member of the PM’s AIDS Task Force, and has left behind a wonderful autobiography called ‘A Double Life’, besides numerous admirers and fans.