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BHOPAL: Year 2017 was a highly stormy year both for the government and the people of Madhya Pradesh. Unprecedented happenings took place during the year. Most important was farmers’ agitation. The agitation was so violent that the police had to kill about six agitators when the situation went out of control. The angry farmers and their supporters destroyed public property including buses, vehicles etc. In a bid to defuse the crisis, the chief Minister announced help of Rs. One crore each to the families of diceased.

With British Prime Minister Theresa May unable to handle effectively the Brexit issue and the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn emerging as the most favoured candidate for the top job, a section of the Labour leaders opposed to Corbyn’s entry into the office of the prime minister have launched a sinister campaign against him.

It is good to know that the government is working on a first ever national employment policy that will address the crucial issue of jobs creation in the country. The policy is intended to outline a comprehensive road map with focus on creation of quality jobs across sectors through economic, social and labour policy interventions. It may be announced in the upcoming budget session though it may take several months before the final document is ready. The task is, by no means, easy. The existing economic environment and job market situation are quite complex. Manufacturing, a universal source of stable employment, is playing a second fiddle to the services sector. The government’s ‘Make-in-India’ programme is yet to make an appreciable breakthrough. Imports of low-technology products and components are flooding the market. Job seekers are increasingly facing the curse of underemployment, part-time and contract assignments and low remuneration. As it is, their future looks uncertain. High unemployment rates generally benefit employers to freely fix employment terms based on the demand-supply situation.

Installation of Pravin Togadia as the executive president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad by the Parishad executive at Bhuvaneshwar last week is indirect but unmistakable message to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he should not assume that he would be automatic choice of the Sangh Parivar for the second term. In fact the political observers’ analysis that there was no alternative to Narendra Modi as no one else who could defeat him may have contributed to the move for the Sangh Parivar to allow Togadia, a harsh critic and detractor of NaMo for more than half a decade to win the battle in the Parishad Executive against Justice VS Kogaje and Jagannath Shahi, either of two proposed by the Prime Minister’s camp. Reluctance of Nitin Patel, deputy chief minister to join the Gujarat cabinet has to be viewed in the light of the coup at Bhuvaneshwar as both Togadia and Nitin Patel are Patidar leaders from the north Gujarat.

Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has not only livened up the Upper House with his one-liners, he has also refused to toe the imperialist mindset that wouldn’t let go even the venerable elders in India’s Parliament. On Friday he reiterated his opening day “suggestion” not to “beg to lay on the table” but “to rise to lay on the table”.

What’s all the brouhaha about? Prime Minister Narendra Modi backstabbed “best friends” US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on December 21 at the United Nations and Palestine envoy to Pakistan Walid Abu Ali joined with global terrorist Hafiz Saeed to backstab India a week later in Pakistan. Par for course. Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 is potentially more harmful than it aims to protect. Obviously, the issues that might arise in the aftermath of its becoming an act are not well thought.

Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Anantkumar Hegde created a storm with his obscurantist call to fellow countrymen to identify themselves by their religion and caste and not to fancy themselves as ‘secular’ because such people have no respectable parentage to claim. He even promised to amend the Constitution so that the word secular could be removed from it. Hegde’s conduct shocked everyone, including his ministerial colleagues, who took no time to distance themselves and the government from whatever he said and implied.

The year 2017 was an eventful year, perhaps more eventful than previous years. The year gone by saw a surge for the BJP: the saffron party, for the first time, has its president in Rashtrapathi (APJ Abdul Kalam was a consensus candidate and not a party man). Congress party’s Pranab Mukherjee completed his five-year term as president, ending a long and eventful career in politics. Entering Parliament at the age of 34, Pranab Babu to his friends and Pranab da to younger people, he had unparalleled experience in governance; having held various portfolios as minister of Defence, External Affairs, Commerce and Finance. Soon after joining down the highest office of the land, he published a three-volume autobiography: The Dramatic Decade; The Indira Gandhi years, The Turbulent Years and The Coalition Years.

BERLIN: Berlin and Germany offer plenty to write about, sometimes much of it unpleasant. As we approach the New Year, none of it is burningly new or urgent. Bargaining on forming a new government will last well into 2018, with little prospect thus far of change for the better, or of hope generally. So, with this a holiday season for so many, I decided to stray briefly from politics – if you will permit.