Mumbai Musings

Misunderstanding Madrasas? 

In keeping with the trend of regular and frequent controversies, the BJP ministers found themselves in a fresh tussle over derecognising Madrasas, religious institutions that impart Islamic education to children, as schools. What started as a notification that says any institute which does not teach English, Maths and Science formally, will not be recognised, will also not be eligible for government grants and the children enrolled in these institutes will be considered out-of-school, ended up in a full-blown exchange between political parties and those running Madrasas. And there is confusion galore. 

Mostly Madrasa educated children do appear for the SSC exam in Class 10, privately and then enrol in colleges. Some mainstream universities also recognise certificates of selective Madrasas. There is a plan to modernise madrasas, which some in the Muslim community approve. Already there are plenty of Madrasas that, along with teachings of Islam, Urdu, Persian and Arabic, also teach other subjects. When it came to the issue of government grants, turns out not many receive grants anyw??ay. State Education Minister Vinod Tawde clarified they will not be termed out-of-school, which was interpreted as "illiterate", but they want to encourage Madrasas to teach primary subjects. 

Congress and Samajwadi party accused the BJP of trying to create a divide and disrupt communal harmony. 

In the meanwhile, in what was touted to be a massive exercise, to determine out of school children in the state around 46,000 children were found to be out-of-school, a number too less for a state as big as Maharashtra say activists. 

Pardesi pardesi jana nahin... 

As if the frequent foreign trips by themselves were not making enough news, this time CM's take off itself hit the headlines. CM Devendra Fadnavis, reportedly made Air India delay its flight, with 162 passengers, so that his chief secretary Praveen Pardeshi, could get his visa from home. Reports said, Pardeshi, who has two passports and the US visa was on the old passport, which he incidentally did not carry to the airport. 

The CM, on reaching US, denied any interference with the authorities. He took to Twitter to explain, "Enough is enough. Once I m back to India I will initiate proceedings of criminal defamation… If at all any report that has been submitted, states that I refused to travel without my delegation then it is a blatant lie because...passengers sitting besides & behind me are witness that I was sitting quietly waiting for departure. Not even once I asked to offload me."

Mumbai Mirror reported, quoting the said report, that "passenger inconvenience" was indeed the reason for the delay. In the meanwhile the Civil Aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju apologised for all those affected by the Maharashtra and Leh incident, "As Civil Aviation Minister, I apologise to all those affected (by these incidents)," he was quoted as saying in Delhi. 

In the meanwhile, the CM continues to woo investors to Make in Maharashtra and promises they will be welcomed with a "red carpet and not red tape."

Achhe din for Congress? 

As days and weeks go by, more and more congress leaders are stepping out and stepping up their attack on the current BJP government. In one press conference after another the leaders are presenting "proof" for alleged corruption scams with regard to Pankaja Munde and others. The attack over lack of adequate measures to support the farmers, even as rains play truant yet again, is getting stronger by the day and state-wide agitations are planned.

Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan also addressed a presser, after a long time, and demanded a relief of Rs 3 lakh crore from the Centre for farmers and at least Rs 15,000 crore package from the state government. He reminded the current BJP government of the time when UPA government had declared Rs 72,000 crore and the state had given a relief of Rs 7000 crore to debt ridden farmers. It of course helped them come back to power in 2009. 

However, how much of it reached the farmers, how useful was it and whether it led to any concrete steps towards protection of farmers from nature's vagaries, which are becoming a routine in the state is another matter of debate. Be that as it may, it seems like interesting times are here, for politicians. For people, it is either potholes or drought, take your pick. 

Marathi Mc Donalds 

After Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, (same same but different) took on different issues of sons of the soil by enforcing use of Marathi language, culture and traditions at various times, it is now time for former Sena man Narayan Rane's son Nitesh Rane to take up the same cause. His NGO Swabhimani Sanghatana gently warned eateries such Mc Donalds, Little Italy, Burger King, Dominos etc to issue their menu cards in Marathi, "because many Marathi people go to these places for eating and it is only fair that they are able to read the menu easily, in their local language," says one of their statements. 

Reports from Pune newspapers indicate that the restaurants have agreed and menu cards have been printed and presented to customers. Must read one of them in Devnagari script and see how a quatro formaggi pizza reads like. 

Memorial for INS Vikrant

After losing the battle to preserve INS Vikrant, the well-known air-craft carrier warship, which served India during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, now the civic body has come up with a novel idea. The metal collected from scrapping of the ship will be used to create a memorial to be installed on a traffic island opposite Lion Gate in south Mumbai. Retired naval officer Commodore M Bhada, who incidentally served in the same war, had bought the scrap metal for sentimental reasons. He expressed a desire to turn the metal into a fitting memorial. 

Although it sounds like a good idea, activists who had earlier fought for preserving the warship as a museum feel it's counterproductive to build a memorial in a high security area, where ordinary people cannot come together to appreciate the memorial. "We fail to see the need for a memorial like this on such a small location near a high security zone, which will be out of bounds for the public and create security hassles," Kiran Paigankar, the campaign leader for several years, told IANS. Point to be noted. 

Old is gold and orange and yellow

Last week the Bombay High Court Chief Justice Mohit Shah noted that there can be no compromise on appearance of the iconic Marine Drive. Earlier this year on insistence of union ministry the sodium vapour street lamps, which give out a lovely orange yellow light were replaced by more energy efficient and hence cost effective LED lights, which are not as bright and attractive as previous ones. The civilians, activists and politicians including the Shiv Sena were up in arms against the decision. Now that the High Court itself has noted its preference for "Queen's Necklace" it is upto the civic body and the state government to rush and sodium vapourise the LED mess. 

This must be one if those rare times when we agree with Shiv Sena. To quote Thackeray Jr's tweet. "I thank the Hon'ble High Court CJ for voicing Mumbaikars against the wrongfully imposed LEDs on Marine Drive, that stole away its charm. Marine Drive is known as the Queen's Necklace. I'm not against LEDs, but that identity known to Mumbaikars and tourists must remain forever. Im glad that Marine Drive will glow in gold again and the charm every Mumbaikar missed, will be restored with honour." 

And if you haven't taken a stroll on Marine Drive after a heavy downpour, late at night, under the orange glow and squeaky sparkly streets as the Arabian Sea roars in absolute darkness, you have been missing an opportunity to make a real glowing memory.