Voice from the Rooftop

Some want ban on fossil fuels. They say fossil fuels are the main reason for climate change. It means end of petrol and diesel cars/other vehicles and air travel, use of coal, natural gas, kerosene and LPG.
There are no easy alternatives for fossil fuels. Electric cars are few and recharging them for long distance is a problem. Bullock carts and horse carts are slow and bringing them as replacement for cars will lead to protests by animal rights activists.
In France, Emmanuel Macron increased tax on petrol and diesel. That led to protests. Many protesters joined Yellow Vest protests. Macron had to decrease tax. Participation in Yellow Vest protests declined.
Natural gas is a fossil fuel. It is said to be less polluting than petrol or diesel and is used in buses and autorickshaws.
Coal is a fossil fuel used to generate electricity. It was used in trains. Diesel replaced coal in trains.
Diesel Generator Sets are used to generate electricity. Large parts of India do not have enough electricity. Many countries have one Earth Hour in a year where they switch off electricity. India has many Earth Hours like that every day. Replacing electricity with solar or wind power will take time.
Kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas are used for cooking. Use of firewood or cow dung cake will increase pollution.
Afforestation is a solution. However existing forests are not protected and forest fires cause destruction. This year Amazon and Indonesian forests had fires, some caused by men. Spain and Portugal have forest fires practically every year.
Great Green Wall is a project to plant trees in arid regions of Africa. It covers 20 countries. It is meant to reduce the size of Sahara and reduce temperature.
People were not using fossil fuels when the Last Ice Age ended. Before that when Ice Ages began and ended there were no human beings.
16 young people have filed a human rights complaint against Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Turkey for violating children’s rights by failing to take adequate action against climate change. The complaint was filed under Convention on the Rights of the Child. Except USA, other members of have ratified the Convention. The complaint is as per an optional protocol that allowed children to file complaints to Committee on the Rights of the Child if they feel their rights are violated. The protocol is ratified by 44 countries. India, China and USA have not ratified the protocol.
Solutions to greenhouse gas emissions should be practical and not that will take back to Stone Age.

AAP began with great expectations. There was hope of new type of politics. It was to be an alternative to all political parties. There was talk of grassroots democracy, no high command, no government accommodation to ministers and MLAs and so on.
In 2011 there was India Against Corruption movement. Anna Hazare was the face. Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Baba Ramdev, Santosh Hegde, Shazia Ilmi, Swami Agnivesh and many others were part of it. Lokpal Bill was the main demand. Cracks developed in the movement. Some wanted to join politics. Anna Hazare did not want to join politics. Arvind Kejriwal and others formed Aam Aadmi Party on 26/11/2012. It had members from different parts of India and viewed as a national party.
AAP contested Delhi elections and won 28 out of 70 seats. Congress with 8 seats supported AAP. Arvind Kejriwal became CM. He had disputes with Central Government and Lieutenant Governor and resigned after 49 days.
In the Lok Sabha elections that followed in 2014 AAP contested more than 400 seats and won 4 seats in Punjab. Arvind Kejriwal contested against Narendra Modi in Varanasi and lost.
In 2015 AAP had said good bye to grassroots democracy and so on. High command had taken over. Arvind Kejriwal was the high command. In Delhi elections AAP got 67 seats out of 70. Within weeks there were actions against Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav. Both were out of the party. This shocked and disillusioned many. They quit AAP.
In the years that followed AAP contested elections in Punjab, Goa, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan without much success. When the time came to send AAP members to Rajya Sabha, out of 3 seats 2 went to who were not members of AAP. This disappointed many. Ashutosh and Ashish Khetan left AAP. Some MLAs started leaving AAP. On 6/9/2019 Alka Lamba quit AAP and joined Congress. She was in Congress before.
Some politicians against whom Arvind Kejriwal had made certain accusations filed defamation cases against him. One of them was Arun Jaitley. After fighting them for some time he submitted apologies. That dented his credibility.
As elections draw near Arvind Kejriwal resorted to freebies and waivers. He said it is free ride for women in buses and Delhi Metro. Water bill payments will be waived. Supreme Court on 6/9/2019 ruled against free ride for women in Delhi Metro as it will cause loss to DMRC.
Like most parties in India AAP has become property of one man. It is just like other parties. While other parties did not give much hope of different politics at their founding, AAP gave that hope. Disappointment is great. Cynicism about anyone who talks of different politics is great. Not many will miss AAP if it ceases to exist.

Palaniappan Chidambaram is in jail. On 20/8/2019 Justice Sunil Gaur of Delhi High Court rejected his anticipatory bail application in two cases of corruption and money laundering related to INX Media. The court said it was a classic case of money laundering and Chidambaram is the kingpin i.e., the key conspirator in the case. Later that day CBI team went to his house. He was not found. CBI officers pasted a notice to appear before them in two hours.
On 21/8/2019 Chidambaram’s lawyers tried to get a hearing from Supreme Court to prevent his arrest. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid and others represented him. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for CBI and opposed granting bail to Chidambaram. Bench of Justices N. V. Ramana, Mohan M. Shantangoudar and Ajay Rastogi heard the arguments. Justice Ramana said he was sending the matter to CJI. Sibal cited urgency. Justice Ramana replied “Usually, we send all these proceedings in the evening. In your case, we are sending immediately to the Chief Justice. The five judge bench headed by CJI was hearing Ayodhya case. It dispersed at 4 p.m. after ending day’s hearings. At 4.45 p.m. the office of the Registrar (Listing) informed Chidambaram’s lawyers that the case has been listed for 23/8/2019.
Meanwhile many talked of Chidambaram as an absconder. Chidambaram held a press conference at Congress office on Akbar Road and read a statement. He said he was not running away. He wanted a hearing. He was working whole night and day with his lawyers. Between life and liberty he will choose liberty. He is not accused. There is no chargesheet against him.
After that Chidambaram left for his Jor Bagh residence. CBI officers could not get through the door. They scaled the wall and arrested him.
Chidambaram was Finance Minister and Home Minister of India. He is a Rajya Sabha member. He is a member of CWC. Congress spoke against his arrest.
When India Against Corruption had a movement it had list of 15 ministers who were said to be corrupt. Chidambaram was one of them. The list included Kapil Sibal and Salman Khurshid. Arvind Kejriwal had tweeted wives of Chidambaram and Khurshid are also corrupt. If CBI had been free, they all would have been in jail.
Congress and supporting parties have condemned Chidambaram’s arrest and called it political vendetta. BJP justified Chidambaram’s arrest. AAP, SP, BSP, TRS and YSRCP have been silent.
There was no chargesheet against Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy. He spent many months in jail. That was because he opposed Sonia Gandhi. She overruled the demand of AP Congress MLAs that Jaganmohan be made CM. Jaganmohan was unhappy. He used his TV channel against Sonia Gandhi and other Congress leaders. Chidambaram was minister. Jaganmohan landed in jail. That was political vendetta.
At one time Chidambaram was Home Minister and Amit Shah was in jail. Today Amit Shah is Home Minister and Chidambaram is in jail. The wheel turns.
Chidambaram was a guest at inauguration of CBI headquarters on 30/11/2011. Chidambaram spent the night after his arrest in suite no. 5 of guest house.