Page 316 - EW September 2024

Postscript

Hindenburg’s media chorus (Amendment) Act, 1974, which abolished tenancy farm-
One of the provisions of the Karnataka Land Reforms
ing and transferred land to the tiller, was that agricultural
N ITS SECOND OFFENSIVE IN INDIA, THE US-
based Hindenburg, a self-confessed short-seller land could be sold only to bona fide agriculturists (s.79).
The grassroots impact of this provision was that the rural
I‘research firm’ of no fixed address and five employees, elite increased its landholdings by purchasing farmland
has targeted Madhavi Buch, the first private sector and at below market price, particularly since discretionary
woman CEO of SEBI (Securities & Exchange Board of power was vested in government to make exceptions to
India). She is allegedly involved with an offshore invest- s.79 “in the public interest”. This exception enabled rural
ment fund connected with Vinod Adani, elder brother elites to buy cheap and sell dear to industrialists and busi-
of Gautam Adani, India’s fast track infrastructure and nessmen. According to the Association for Democratic
development tycoon. In the first offensive in 2023 the Reforms which tracks the wealth of politicians, the value
target was Gautam Adani, one of India’s wealthiest indi- of assets of H.D. Kumaraswamy, the humble farmer for-
viduals (assets value: Rs.11.61 lakh crore) and his several mer chief minister of Karnataka, multiplied 10x between
companies, for alleged listed shares price manipulation two general elections.
by offshore companies controlled by Vinod. In 2020, the BJP government of the state amended
It’s important to bear in mind that for six years (2011- s.79 permitting non-agriculturists to purchase farmland
17), Madhavi Buch, an IIM-Ahmedabad alumna who be- enabling farmer politicians to sell their landholdings
gan her career with ICICI Bank, was employed in Greater to industrialists and businessmen at true market price.
Pacific Capital, Singapore where she invested in a global Now the incumbent Congress government of the state
investment fund perhaps without knowledge that Vinod has mooted a proposal to amend the Land Reforms Act
Adani was also an investor. To draw an inference from to again restrict the sale of farmland to agriculturists, to
this tangential circumstance that after she was appointed protect poor farmers from exploitation. This will again
to the SEBI board in 2017 and chairperson in 2022, she facilitate the accumulation of farmland by the rural elite.
colluded with Vinod Adani’s alleged manipulation of the That’s socialist smartness difficult to surpass.
shares of Adani Group companies in India is far-fetched
speculation as argued by legal luminary Harish Salve on
NDTV (owned by Adani). History agnostic LoP
The underlying problem of lefties and media pundits
is that they have little understanding of the role and pur- OLLECTIVE MADNESS BEST DESCRIBES suc-
pose of the stock market. Deep in their hearts they believe cessful opposition resulting in the withdrawal of a
that stock exchanges are anti-social gambling casinos. Cpublic advertisement issued by UPSC (Union Public
They have little patience or understanding that the stock Services Commission) on August 17, inviting applica-
market is a forum on which entrepreneurs with big busi- tions for 45 professionals in industry, academia and other
ness ideas and management expertise can raise necessary vocations to serve with the Central government on short
capital to fund nation-building industrial and business three-five year contracts.
projects. Lateral entry of highly qualified and experienced
In the circumstances, it reflects very poorly on duffers professionals from industry and the professions to inject
in the media that despite being aware of Hindenburg’s expertise into government, is not a novel idea. Several
dubious antecedents, they have given high credibility and prominent lateral entrants include former PM Dr. Man-
credence to this shady entity’s second effort to destabilise mohan Singh, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and
the Indian stock market and make a second killing. chief economic advisor Dr. Kaushik Basu among others
who invested their wisdom and expertise in government.
Smart humble farmers by Rahul Gandhi, de facto chief of the Congress party
Surprisingly, withdrawal of this ad was also advocated
and LoP (leader of the opposition) in Parliament. RaGa
LTHOUGH EX FACIE THEY ARE MODEST, has transformed into a champion of caste-based politics.
humble souls, India’s rural politicians possess The LoP seems unaware that public interest demands
Aa native cunning and smarts difficult to emu- the elimination of divisive caste consciousness which will
late. True, in the early years after independence, lordly atomise Indian society, and adversely impact already low
zamindars — beneficiaries of the Permanent Settlement productivity in government, academia and industry.
negotiated with grandees of the British Raj under which On economic issues as well RaGa advocates Nehruvian
in consideration for annuities the former were granted za- socialism and PSE (public sector enterprises)-led growth
mindaris, the right to levy and extract taxes from peasants which transformed high-potential post-independence
toiling in large swathes of real estate — lost this privilege India into one of the world’s poorest countries. Moreover
as land rights were transferred to tenants. Since then he regularly trashes India’s most successful businessmen
these very tenants mainly from OBCs (other backward (Ambani-Adani) and naively ascribes their success to
castes/classes), have morphed into an equally exploitative Prime Minister Modi’s special support.
peasants elite which has cornered all the gains of rural In woke circles, criticism of RaGa’s wrecking-ball ut-
development. Despite a plethora of affirmative action terances and initiatives is interpreted as support for the
(reservations) legislation the new rural elite has success- BJP/PM Modi. This presumption is unwarranted and
fully prevented socio-economic upward mobility of SCs & should not prevent outing the naive blathering of this
STs (scheduled castes and scheduled tribes). history-agnostic, over-promoted LoP.

316 EDUCATIONWORLD SEPTEMBER 2024