| Published on 08-09-2008 In General |
| Viewed 1353 times |
| What did Yeddyurappa's jumbo delegation to AKKA achieve? |
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Written by
A. Jayaram |
In June 1948, K.T.Bashyam, the foremost among the freedom fighters of princely Mysore had to visit San Francisco in the United States as India's delegate to a conference of the International Labour Organisation. He was at that time the Minister for Law and Labour in the K.C.Reddy Cabinet. The relevance or lesson of that trip to the US, in these days when foreign visits have become commonplace , is that neither the Government of India which selected Bashyam as the nation's delegate nor the Government of Mysore of which he was a minister, sponsored the trip !
Bashyam had to foot the entire expenses of Rs.50,000 for travel by air, his stay in the United States and so on, himself. He had sacrificed a rising career as an advocate and all that he had earned, for the freedom struggle, and had no savings to make the foreign trip. His home in Cottonpet in Bangalore had also served as the Congress office. Bashyam turned to Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar against whose rule he had led the movement for "Responsible Government", for a loan. The Maharaja obliged and Bashyam made the trip to the U.S. The great Congressman, who should have become Mysore's first chief minister, was never able to repay the loan obtained from the Maharaja. He passed away in May 1956 at the age of 61 as a debtor. Bashyam's career as an advocate had ended in 1940 as the then British Chief Justice of Mysore , Sir D'Arcy Reilly cancelled his sanad (as also that of nine others) to practise for participation in the freedom movement. He was also a leading trade unionist.
Foreign trips in those days meant heavy expense. Even travel by ship, which was the order till even the late 1950s, was backbreaking for most people.
Contrast the Bashyam trip of 1948 with the recent exodus to Chicago on the part of some of the ministers, legislators as also others to attend the conference of the Association of Kannada Kootas of America (AKKA). The jamboree of Kannadigas in the U.S.and the customary attendance of Karnataka politicians has become an annual event. So also the public interest litigation filed every time in the High Court. This time too, the Court rejected the petition and the Government had claimed that the 108 legislators were going to the US on their own and not at its cost.
It appears that in the final count only 31 legislators were in Chicago or elsewhere in the U.S. Besides the Chief Minister B.S.Yeddyurappa, his ministers Katta Subramanya Naidu (Information, IT and BT) and B.Janardhana Reddy (Tourism) attended the AKKA sammelan and also some other engagements. However I am not one of those who oppose the participation of the Chief Minister and the ministers. When Kannadigas settled or working in the US holds a sammelan, it is natural for them to invite the Chief Minister and the others.
The organizers of AKKA cannot escape blame for inviting so many from the State and especially politicians. Generally Indians settled or working in the U.S. are critical of those at the helm in India and especially our politicians and bureaucrats as they have benefited from better governance and civil societies. But how is that they want so many politicians from Karnataka at their annual meets ?
This is not the first time a chief minister, ministers and legislators have attended an AKKA sammelan. Nothing tangible came out from their attendance in the past. The "foreign returned Karnataka politician" learnt nothing and forgot nothing. They should atleast imbibe from American politicians' traits like loyalty to the party, patriotism and concern for American interests. This is not to suggest that there is no corruption or other ills in the U.
S. It has had its quota of Richard Nixons and Spirow Agnews (Nixon's vice-president), a President who misbehaved with an intern in the White House itself (Bill Clinton) and the two war mongers George Bush (senior and junior).
One wonders as to why the Karnataka politicians did not evince much interest in making the trip to China for the recent Beijing Olympics. Is it that they value a visit to the US more than one to China?
Our politicians and officials have learnt nothing from history. The first time a major political controversy arose over a foreign trip by a group of government sponsored individuals was in 1970. The then Congress (Organisation) government of Veerendra Patil selected a team of favoured politicians, officials, student leaders, academics, writers and others and sent them to Japan for the "Expo-70" an international exhibition cum business meet held at Osaka. Many with no connection whatsoever with that event were sent at government expense. Students in Bangalore and some other places protested violently. The art of burning buses was perfected during that agitation and some of the student leaders made it to politics through the Congress (Indira) and much later the Janata Party. However I do not find any of them in the present AKKA delegation. Might be they have grown tired of foreign trips.
However this is not to fault the holding of the AKKA conference. They are convened to discuss issues of concern to Kannadigas in the United States and might be also to those concerning the State. Many NRI Kannadigas have come forward to develop the State in varied fields. An appreciable quality of the average Indian or Kannadiga living abroad is his or her concern for India, its religion and culture. Kannadigas are still way behind the Punjabis, Gujaratis and even the Andhras in "colonizing" foreign lands. No wonder the U.S. Government has decided to open a second consulate for South India in Hyderabad and not Bangalore.
Karnataka ministers were making foreign trips even in the days of socialism and much before the policy of liberalization was adopted. Ministers holding portfolios like Industries used to visit the U.S, Japan or Europe accompanied by officials in the name of luring investors. They knew full well that no foreign entrepreneur would make an investment in Karnataka or elsewhere as the policies discouraged it.
B.S.Yeddyurappa who has been barred under the Constitution from forming a jumbo sized ministry and is finding it difficult to accommodate the new converts to the BJP, has however the satisfaction of having led a jumbo delegation to Chicago. It is hoped that all those in the delegation were invitees and not gatecrashers. Those holding ministerships and elected to the Legislature should have pride in their positions. They represent the people at large and not bend or crawl to get an invitation to a foreign country. But only the legislators are not to be blamed. Sometime ago, some MPs enjoyed a purposeless but free visit to South Africa sponsored by a richer colleague of theirs. They were known to have visited some holiday resorts and safaris during the pleasure trip.
It is high time that an Ethics Committee was set up in our Legislature to keep a watch on the behaviour and doings of our legislators. The Committee on Privileges is inadequate as it is meant to safeguard the legislators and not deal with the wrongdoer among them. Already the stock of our politicians including ministers and legislators is low. The general view is that they are corrupt and inefficient whichever party is in power. |
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