On Saradha scam and British Parliament discussing Kashmir

For over three years now, the CPI(M) has been actively demanding the intervention of Central investigation agencies to unearth the Saradha scam, identify the culprits and to bring them to book in accordance with the law of the land. Under the Left Front government, a letter was sent to the financial regulator, SEBI, asking for a thorough investigation into the scam. Subsequently, after 2011 assembly elections and the change of government, CPI(M) and Left Front delegations have met the President of India twice, the Prime Minister on three occasions and the minister for corporate affairs twice. 

In all these meetings, the CPI(M) had stressed an urgent need for Central agencies to step in and ensure that the properties of the Saradha group of companies be confiscated and the consequent amounts used to compensate the victims adequately. But the then UPA-II Central government pleaded helplessness as the Trinamool Congress state government was not agreeing to a probe by the central agencies. It is now clear why the Trinamool Congress and its government refused such an investigation. It was precisely because it wanted to hush up this scam and, instead of confiscating the properties of the scamsters decided to nominally compensate some of the victims, financing this through the state exchequer. 

A full scale drama was enacted when the Chief Minister transported people from all over Bengal, at state government’s expense, to the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata and handed over cheques for paltry amounts to some of those who were defrauded. The people of Bengal eventually had to pay for the fraud committed by the scamsters. Clearly, the Trinamool Congress and the state government were protecting such scamsters. 
—People’s Democracy, Editorial

The House of Commons of British Parliament has taken up a special debate on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The timing of the debate is ironic. One the one hand J&K is facing unprecedented floods; on the other hand UK is engulfed in panic with Scotland voting on referendum for self-determination on 18th September 2014. It has been the stated position of the British government that the territorial issue of J&K can be addressed only in the bilateral framework between India and Pakistan. Then, why is the British Parliament meddling in the internal affairs of India? Is it because of the continuation of their colonial mindset? Or, Is it because they want to fulfil their unfinished agenda of keeping the strategically important Kashmir valley under their control? Or is it just succumbing to vote bank politics in the UK where Pakistani migrants have become a substantial number of voters? 
Though it is true that this petition is not going to change the fact that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and if at all any issue is pending, it is of illegal occupation of Indian Territory by Pakistan. Still the content, intent and proponent of the petition need to be questioned so that the fraudulent representation of J&K is exposed. 

The petition brings issues of human rights, Article 370 and presence of army to the forefront. The selection of issues itself shows the intent, because the petition conveniently twists the issues to support the separatist voices from Pakistan. For instance, the motion starts with ‘human rights in Kashmir’ but ends with ‘self-determination for Jammu and Kashmir’. Since independence, it is the people of Jammu and Ladakh who are denied the basic human rights, why not talk about them? 
—Organiser, Editorial