Friday, December 28, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Powerful and Expansive—Infographic Explainer of the General Administration Department

Posted: 28 Dec 2018 04:39 AM PST

YANGON—For 30 years, the military-controlled General Administration Department has been the backbone of Myanmar's public administration. From Union to village level, the GAD is authorized to support government security efforts—such as imposing bans on activities that pose a threat to rule of law and stability or to sue a person who commits arms-related crimes—while reporting relevant information back to Naypyitaw. These include population movements, security incidents, and basic demographic data. Moreover, the GAD still has power to enforce some civil laws.

The GAD's scrutiny and interferences have long been criticized by human rights and political activists who claim the department is basically a tool to oppress their movements while providing on-the-ground information from across the country to the home affairs ministry which is controlled by the military.

The General Administration Department's duties to the Ministry of Home Affairs duties. / The Irrawaddy Infographics

Recently, the government revealed its plan to transfer the department to the civilian-controlled Ministry of the Office of the Union Government, but it hasn't yet announced a timeframe for the transfer.

As of now, the GAD remains part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA). The ministry itself, according to the 2008 Constitution, is one of the three ministries led by a major-general appointed by the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The majority of GAD senior officers have military backgrounds.

The general role of the General Administration Department. / The Irrawaddy Infographics

How the GAD Functions

The 2008 Constitution allows the GAD to act as a primary link between the Union government and subnational-levels of governance as well as the control of the country's administrative institutions: the districts and townships.

At Union level, the GAD has its headquarters in Naypyitaw. The department's branches across the country have to submit their on-the-ground reports at the Naypyitaw headquarters.

According to the 2008 Constitution, the GAD has the mandate to provide administrative and coordination functions for the region and state governments, the region and state parliaments as well as Union ministries and state and region departments.

A graph showing the GAD’s functions and structures at state and region levels. / The Irrawaddy Infographics

The head of the GAD (deputy director general level) for each state and region is the executive secretary of the state/region government. They also supervise the state and region government offices and state and region parliament offices as well.

Furthermore, the 2010 State and Region Government Law allows the GAD to manage all communication, administration, budget and general functioning of both the executive and legislative branches of a state and region governments.

Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe, Myanmar's home affairs minister, in Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State in 2017. / The Irrawaddy

In the government offices, the GAD has two sub-departments to support the chief minister and their cabinet which is focused on economic and social policy support and administration of the chief minister's schedule. In the parliament offices, the department has two sub-departments—engaging legal support including drafting legislation as well as managing Hluttaw sessions.

According to Asia Foundation's report "Administering the State in Myanmar," GAD also plays a strong role in the fiscal architecture and financial management at state/region level. The subnational GAD offices are currently accounted for under state/region government budgets rather than under the GAD Union budget—including the discretionary funds traditionally budgeted to GAD for rural development.

A chart showing the GDA's roles across the whole country. / The Irrawaddy Infographics

The report also said GAD provides fiscal management for several other local development funds such as assessing needs for the rural development budget of the Ministry of Border Affairs, management support for the implementation of the Union government's Poverty Reduction Fund, and needs assessment and implementation of the Constituency Development Fund that allows the constituency's four candidates to select local development projects in their constituency of a value up to five million kyats ($3,200) per constituency. The fund has no dedicated management office and it relies on the GAD and assorted township infrastructure for implementation.

The GDA office in Kamayut Township, Yangon. / The Irrawaddy

GAD offices are also leading bodies in self-administered divisions and zones like the Pa-O, Kokang and Wa regions. In Naypyitaw, according to the 2008 Constitution, the GAD plays a central role in administering the capital's two districts and eight townships from the office of the Naypyitaw Council.

At township and village level, GAD offices are the backbone of engagement between citizens and the state/region. The township offices are under the township administrator— taking the key functions of the government's role such as population registration, land registration, demographics data collection, supervising village administration, assorted land management, local dispute resolution, and tax collection including excise tax, land tax, irrigation tax and mineral tax.

GAD's structure from region and state level to village level. / The Irrawaddy Infographics

References: 2008 Constitution, 2010 State and Region Government Law, Ministry of Home Affairs website, GAD website and Asia Foundation report "Administering the State in Myanmar."

The post Powerful and Expansive—Infographic Explainer of the General Administration Department appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

SSPP: ‘We are Not Bloodthirsty Militants’

Posted: 28 Dec 2018 04:23 AM PST

Fighting has escalated recently between two rival Shan ethnic armed groups in northern Shan State. At the same time, the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, has announced a halt to its military operations across much of the country, including Shan State. The Irrawaddy interviewed the vice chairman of the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army-North (SSPP/SSA-N), Major General Khun Hseng, about these developments.

People are quite concerned about the clashes between the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the combined forces of the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Shan State Progress Party. Why are the clashes happening?

When the government launched an offensive against us in 2011, the RCSS offered its help to our chairman. We didn't ask for help from anybody. It is notable that we have not established a stronghold on either the Thai border or the Chinese border. We are only active in Shan State, inside the country, with the support of Shan people.

So the RCSS/Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) offered to help us fight back. We didn't tell them to help us or not to help us. We said if they were really willing to help us, don't let Tatmadaw troops cross the northern Shan State border at Panglong and Lai-Hka if they can. That's all we said.

So the RCSS/SSA-S didn't really fight the enemy. At that time the enemy was launching an offensive against our Wan Hai headquarters [in Kehsi Township]. From the very beginning, our troops were stationed across northern Shan State, since the Shan revolution in 1958, when the Shan State Army emerged. Our troops were stationed in Hsipaw, Lashio, Muse, Namkham, Kyaukme, Nawnghkio, and Mongmit townships, but not in Namhsan in northern Shan State, since April 24, 1964. People need to understand this fact, otherwise they will lose track of the history.

So when [the military launched its offensive] in 2011, we withdrew the troops stationed across Shan State to Wan Hai, and we carried out both defensive and offensive military operations to prevent losing Wan Hai. There were intense clashes in 2011. Even after we signed a Union-level ceasefire in 2012, the Tatmadaw launched an offensive against us in July the same year, and we lost control of some important bases. More than 1,000 troops took part in major clashes. Again in 2014, the Tatmadaw launched a massive offensive against us in important places near our Wan Hai headquarters.

We withdrew our troops at the request of [former] President U Thein Sein. But the Tatmadaw didn't withdraw its troops. They are still stationed there. Again in 2015, the Tatmadaw launched a large-scale offensive with artillery fire and air support near Hai Pa in southern Shan State. Then we withdrew our troops from there. At that time we had only guerilla and administrative forces in northern Shan State.

Under these circumstances, the RCSS/SSA came to northern Shan State citing various reasons. It gave the excuse that it came to help us fight the military. But in fact there was no fighting at that time in northern Shan State.

While we were gathering our troops in Wan Hai, RCSS members in plain clothes infiltrated our bases in places such as Kyaukme, Muse and Namkhan in northern Shan State. Our local people had to bear the burden. They had to give them food and arrange accommodation for them.

We told them repeatedly to go back to the places where they were active before 2010. We also offered to hold talks with them to solve the political problem around the table. We went to their headquarters more than 10 times to hold negotiations. They only came to us three times.

After signing the NCA (Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement) in 2015, the RCSS clashed with the Palaung [TNLA]. The RCSS criticized us for not supporting it in the attack. It said we didn’t love the Shan race. We said we ethnic minorities should not fight each other because we are the oppressed.

In its latest statement, it asked us to surrender and join it or be attacked. (RCSS Chairman) U Yawd Serk said the RCSS would not be able to make progress with the SSPP/SSA. U Yawd Serk said the RCSS would fight the SSPP/SSA anywhere it encountered it. We have called for solving the political problems at the negotiating table in a peaceful way. This is our stance. We are just defending ourselves against the attacks of the RCSS. We have never declared war on the RCSS or made a formal decision to attack it.

The Tatmadaw has declared a ceasefire in five conflict zones for four months. Some say this will contribute a lot to the peace process next year. What is you assessment?

The civil war has been going on for some 70 years. Everyone knows that it was born with independence. So just think whether those problems can be solved in four months. In any case, we welcome the ceasefire declaration whether it is four months or four days or four hours.

We have issued a statement that four months is not enough to restore the trust that has been undermined for 70 years. We are not bloodthirsty militants. We are only making demands in accord with the Panglong Agreement. Without the Panglong Agreement, there would not be today's Union.

What is the cause of the civil war that has lasted for 70 years? It is because the Panglong Agreement was not implemented. What we want is a federal democratic union that can guarantee equality for us based on the pledges of the Panglong Agreement and on reality. As for the four-month ceasefire, half a loaf is better than no bread.

The Myanmar Army called for signing the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement at the same time that it declared the ceasefire. Is the SSPP prepared to sign the NCA?

It depends on the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC, an alliance of armed groups of which the SSPP is a member). We still have to negotiate on the NCA and the political framework. The NCA is still incomplete and the political framework has yet to be changed. Section 33 of the NCA calls for the inclusion of all [major armed groups in the peace process]. Because it has not been implemented, we are in trouble today.

Why is the SSPP not ready to sign the NCA? Is it because the United Wa State Army is reluctant to sign it, as some have suggested?

As I've said, there is no problem if the all-inclusion policy is implemented. The principle of the FPNCC is to sign the NCA all together. We will sign it only if no group is left out. We should take an objective position rather than make unrealistic demands. Otherwise we will not be able to build trust. We have to consider our younger generations.

It appears that China is going to play a bigger role in Myanmar's peace process. Do you believe China sincerely hopes that Myanmar will achieve peace?

It is in the mutual interest. No matter which country it is, if it acts for the sake of peace in our country, it is a good thing.

The Wa, Palaung and Pa-O are demanding self-administered states in Shan State. What is the SSPP's take on this?

There are United Nations resolutions and conventions regarding the rights of ethnic minorities. We accept those rights and principles. But we, the SSPP/SSA, alone can't make decisions. It calls for peaceful negotiations at the table between all political parties, ethnic groups and revolutionary armed groups in Shan State with magnanimity and a policy of equality.

We need not reject it [self-administered states] if it complies with international laws. But it doesn't comply…. We are in a democratic era and we need to get the approval of the majority.

What is the SSPP’s take on the Myanmar Army's demand for non-secession from the Union and a single army?

No country in the world argues about a single army. If we are to build a federal union, the army should be the federal army under the principle of equality. The military is meant to resist invasion from foreign countries, not to fight a civil war. I am okay with a single army if it is established based on equality and justice.

General Aung San pledged in the Panglong Agreement that ethnic minority states could secede after 10 years [of the signing of the agreement]. But nobody is demanding secession today. We won't secede because we said we will build a federal union. But nobody can coerce us not to secede. There are two sides to self-determination. We don't want a union that oppresses us for various reasons. It is important that equality is guaranteed.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post SSPP: ‘We are Not Bloodthirsty Militants’ appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Northern Alliance Demands Ceasefire Covers Rakhine State

Posted: 28 Dec 2018 03:50 AM PST

If the Myanmar Army (or Tamadaw) do not stop fighting in Rakhine State, the Northern Alliance also will refuse to adhere to the ceasefire conditions in northern and northeastern Myanmar's conflict zones, according to a statement released by the group on Thursday.

The Northern Alliance, a collective of four ethnic armed organizations—the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA)—released the statement following a meeting to discuss the ceasefire this week.

The statement comes amid ongoing conflict in northern Rakhine State between the Myanmar Army and the AA, and almost a week after the Army's announcement of a four-month ceasefire in Myanmar' Kachin and northern Shan states.

"They (Myanmar Army) are attacking only the AA now. If they cannot stop attacking them, it is not practical for us to hold peace negotiations with Myanmar Army," Northern Alliance spokesperson, TNLA's Brig-Gen Tar Phone Kyaw, told The Irrawaddy on Friday,

"If the Myanmar Army cannot stop their fighting, our side (the Northern Alliance) have to fight too. It will be difficult for us to stop fighting," he said.

The Northern Alliance members initially welcomed the Myanmar Army's ceasefire announcement as a step in furthering peace negotiations. However, the Northern Alliance said that considering the short period and limited area the ceasefire applies to, it will be difficult to work on peace negotiations and thus the group has asked the Myanmar Army to declare a nationwide ceasefire.

The Northern Alliance will continue to follow their former stance and meet as an alliance, not as individual groups, and this is the best way to make progress in peace negotiations, according to Brig-Gen Tar Phone Kyaw.

His comments come one week after the Myanmar Army's Dec. 21 announcement which stated their intentions to engage in peace negotiations during the ceasefire with individual armed groups in their respective areas, and not with the alliance.

The Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC) will act as a political wing of the group, but the Northern Alliance is the armed wing which remains to be in conflict with the Myanmar Army. The Army needs to first deal with the Northern Alliance before approaching the FPNCC for discussions, according to Brig-Gen Tar Phone Kyaw.

Accusation flew just three days into the ceasefire period when the TNLA said the Myanmar Army launched an attack on their forces in Kutkai, northern Shan State on Dec. 24—a claim which the Myanmar Army has strongly denied.

With troops remaining in place on the ground in ethnic areas, fighting could break out anytime should the Myanmar Army come to attack ethnic armed groups, said Tar Phone Kyaw.

The post Northern Alliance Demands Ceasefire Covers Rakhine State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

USDP Says Taking Key Govt Department Away From Military ‘Risky’

Posted: 28 Dec 2018 01:00 AM PST

NAYPYITAW — A spokesman for the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) said the civilian government’s plans to place the General Administration Department (GAD) under its control could leave key government operations worse off.

"I would say the move is risky if it is done with the intention to free [the GAD] from the control of the commander-in-chief of defense services," U Nanda Hla Myint told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

"Some complain that the current government is doing it in preparation to win the 2020 [general election]," he added.

President's Office spokesman U Zaw Htay said last week that the GAD would soon be transferred to the Ministry of the Office of the Union Government.

U Nanda Hla Myint said the GAD, central to much of the government’s day-to-day operations, will function less effectively if moved out of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The department has been a charge of the Home Affairs Ministry — one of three run by the military as per the constitution the then-ruling junta adopted in 2008 — for the past 30 years.

Former President U Thein Sein had considered transferring the GAD to the Ministry of the President’s Office during the previous, USDP-led administration but ultimately decided the idea was unrealistic, said U Nanda Hla Myint.

"The current government also needs to consider the possibility of conflict of procedure and conflict of law. But if the move is aimed at [benefitting] the interests of the country, improving governance and cleaning up the administrative system, we have nothing to say," he added.

"So for the time being it is difficult to say if the decision is right or wrong. But it is not good for the country if it is done with the wrong intention, as I have said. We will know if it is a good or bad move depending on the outcome."

In an interview with Mizzima on Thursday, Mandalay Region Chief Minister U Zaw Myint Maung argued that the Home Affairs Ministry would keep other important departments such as the special branch, police, corrections and special investigations and that the President’s Office had to run the GAD at the very least to do its job properly.

"The GAD is involved in all aspects of administration. The township administrator is the chairman of all the [government] committees in a township. Only when that administration is under the control of the president can it be overseen by the chief minister. Only then can a carrot and stick policy be implemented," he said.

Myanmar's jurisdictions can generally be divided in descending order of size into regions and states, districts, townships, wards, village tracts and villages.

The Ministry of the Office of the Union Government is one of the new ministries created by the current administration. A retired colonel and former pilot for the Burma Air Force, U Min Thu, was appointed its new minister in November.

U Zaw Htay said U Min Thu was appointed knowing that the GAD would soon be put under his supervision.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post USDP Says Taking Key Govt Department Away From Military ‘Risky’ appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Military Using Villagers as Human Shields in N. Rakhine Battles

Posted: 28 Dec 2018 12:15 AM PST

YANGON—In a joint operation between Myanmar military troops and border police, approximately 100 members carried out thorough household checks across Yae Gaung Chaung Village in northern Rakhine State’s strife-torn Rathedaung Township, forcing the entire population of the village to move to a Buddhist monastery on Thursday following days of clashes between the Arakan Army (AA) and Tatmadaw (Myanmar Army) troops.

Yae Gaung Chaung villager Ko Tun Win Naing who managed to escape from the village told The Irrawaddy over the phone that fighting broke out in the mountain range near his village on Wednesday, leading the military to suspect that residents of his village were colluding with the AA. On the same day, a military column from Say Taung Village in Buthidaung marched to Yae Gaung Chaung in order to surround the AA rebels in the densely forested area.  On Thursday morning, they entered the village without forewarning the residents and ordered every villager to leave their home and go to the monastery.

According to Ko Tun Win Naing, while at the monastery, at least one health officer and a woman who had made a trip to Kachin State (where the headquarters of the AA are located), were handcuffed by soldiers. Approximately 30 men and a number of women were questioned at the monastery. As of Thursday evening, the villagers expected the army would remain stationed in Yae Gaung Chaung overnight.

“No one remains in the village—they (the army) contained everyone at the monastery. They even searched the toilets {in the village),” said Ko Tun Win Naing.

Ma Khin Aye Nu was one of a few women who managed to flee to a neighboring village. Over the phone with The Irrawaddy, she explained that she was harvesting paddy in the field when the soldiers came into Yae Gaung Chaung and so she managed to escape. She is concerned about her family, however, as they have been unreachable by phone since the army entered the village on Thursday morning.

Before entering Yae Gaung Chaung, the team of military and border police detained 11 villagers from Say Taung, a neighboring village situated in Buthidaung Township. Ko Kyaw Thein Hlaing, one of the detainees from Say Taung, told The Irrawaddy that he and another 10 villagers were forced to lead the soldiers along the route from his village to Yae Gaung Chaung because army troops had previously been ambushed by the AA in that area. According to him, about five high-ranking army officers wearing border police uniforms ordered two villagers to stay close to each officer as they walked. In some places, the villagers were forced to walk first and then army column followed the villagers.

“It seems [they were] using us as human shields in the battlefield,” said Ko Kyaw Thein Hlaing.

Yae Gaung Chaung village administrator U Maung Thein Nyunt confirmed the dentations at his village on Thursday morning. According to him, army troops experienced three landmine attacks by the AA on Tuesday and some unconfirmed information circulating among villagers claimed that dozens of army soldiers were killed in that attack. Although the villagers could not provide hard evidence, some people speculate that soldiers who entered the forest did not return to the village as of Thursday. Some villagers from Yae Gaung Chaung and nearby Ka Yu Chaung villages saw an army truck come to the area right after the three mine explosions and return quickly to the military command in Yae Gaung Chaung.

When The Irrawaddy phoned Rakhine State’s security and border affairs minister Col. Phone Tint on Thursday afternoon, he declined to comment, saying he was in a cabinet meeting at the time.

AA spokesperson U Khine Thukha said that the AA clashed with military troops in four locations—two in Rathedaung Township and two in Chin State’s Paletwa Township. He confirmed a number of causalities on the military's side but refused to reveal the death toll from clashes on Tuesday and Wednesday. He said the military randomly fired heavy howitzer artilleries into the forest in Rathedaug Township continuously for five hours.

U Khine Thukha said, “As the army has reinforced the frontline with more troops, fighting will surely intensify and the locations of the skirmishes will broaden.”

The Arakan National Party (ANP) released a statement on Thursday afternoon demanding that the military not block humanitarian workers and the relief efforts of those trying to help the displaced persons on the ground. They also urged them not to threaten or forcefully use villagers on the battlefield. The ANP statement says the Myanmar military's recent ceasefire announcement on halting military operations in five commands while continuing battles in Rakhine State is contradictory to the all-inclusiveness of Myanmar's peace process.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced on Thursday afternoon that they were assisting over 1,000 displaced villagers who were affected by the fighting in the area.

On Friday, Rakhine State security and border affairs minister Col. Phone Tint told The Irrawaddy "there was no such thing."

"The villagers have already arrived back home. We just inquired as we met them in the forest, then we released them. They have already arrived back home. We have asked the [concerned] village administrators [about it]."

When asked by The Irrawaddy if the regional government would ask the military not to force the local villagers to help the army in its military activities in the future, the minister said the military has to respond according to the situation in the conflict zone.

"They (the army) didn't use the locals. They just questioned them. Today, nobody forced civilians to serve as porters as others accuse. There is no reason to do so and no one will accept it. Once we heard about it we asked the lower levels but nobody does such things in this era," he said.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Friday with comments from Rakhine State's minister for security and border affairs.

The post Military Using Villagers as Human Shields in N. Rakhine Battles appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Collapse in India’s Onion Prices Could Leave Modi Smarting in Election

Posted: 27 Dec 2018 11:16 PM PST

HIVARGAON/MUJAHIDPUR, India—A spike in the price of onions has led to the ouster of governments in Indian elections in the past. Now, prices of the staple have collapsed, and many impoverished farmers are saying they will make Prime Minister Narendra Modi pay in next year’s general election.

Steep drops in recent weeks in the prices of onions and potatoes, both staple foods for India’s 1.3 billion people, have badly hit the rural economy in large states.

In interviews with dozens of farmers last week, Reuters reporters found resentment welling against Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not helping support incomes in the countryside, where a majority of the population lives.

“Whatever they do in the coming months, I will vote against the BJP. I won’t repeat the 2014 mistake,” said Madhukar Nagare, an onion grower from Nashik in Maharashtra state, referring to his backing the BJP at the last general election.

In the 1998 state elections, a sharp spike in onion prices led to the fall of the BJP government in the capital New Delhi.

In the 1980 general election, sky-high onion prices helped former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi dislodge a coalition government that had included politicians who later formed the BJP.

In recent weeks, loss-stricken farmers have staged protests, blocked highways and dumped onions on the road after prices plunged to as low as one rupee ($0.01) per kilogram for a crop that costs about 8 rupees per kilogram to produce.

But because of large cuts taken by middlemen, consumers have not benefited from the low prices.

In Maharashtra, the top onion producing state, farm prices have fallen 83 percent, dragged down by surplus supplies from the previous season’s crop and lower export orders from the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

And in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, which was crucial in Modi’s election win in 2014, there is a similar problem with low potato prices.

Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are both dominated by rural voters and together send 128 lawmakers to the 545-member lower house of parliament. It means that big losses in these two states could either see Modi lose the next election which is due by May or his party be forced to form a coalition government.

Farmers say shortcomings in a government crop support program, and weak overseas demand have combined to produce the current glut of onions. And as prices have plunged, fertilizer and crop nutrient costs have risen, thanks in part to a weak rupee.

Perhaps most important of all, the BJP came into office in 2014 determined to shift away from subsidies. That may have been fine when crop prices were relatively high but as they crashed it has exposed the party in farm areas.

The prime minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

Not "good days"

Many farmers blame Modi for not fixing a price protection program which barely covers 7 percent of India’s 263 million farmers, leaving most growers at the mercy of middlemen.

They also criticize him for not setting up more food processing and cold storage facilities, which would allow them to store their crops without having to sell immediately after the harvest.

“Expecting good days, as promised by Modi, we voted for the BJP, but now we are going through the worst phase,” onion farmer Madhav Pawase said, pointing to his rotting crop stocked in a temporary shed in Hivargaon Village, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) northeast of Mumbai, India’s financial hub.

“I’ve spent more than 80,000 rupees to produce 15 tons of onions from my two acres of land, but I won’t recover more than 3,000 rupees at the current market price,” he said.

Some farmers have decided to let onions rot in the field, saying that harvesting and transporting the produce to wholesale markets would only add to their losses.

The BJP was defeated by the opposition Congress party in three major states in local elections this month because of rural anger, and Modi’s government is under pressure to come up with measures to placate farmers.

Congress wrote off farmers’ loans in the three states which it won and has demanded the federal government do the same across the country.

Although the BJP has so far not commented on the issue of farm loan waivers, Rajiv Kumar, the head of government think-tank NITI Aayog, has said that writing off debt is not the solution for the problems of the farm sector.

Syed Zafar Islam, a spokesman for the BJP, said the government had initiated a number of steps to help farmers get remunerative prices, including a project to electronically provide farmers with real-time market prices and help them directly sell to buyers, eliminating middlemen.

“It’s an ongoing process and the results will not just start reflecting in four years,” he said.

Potato prices

In Mujahidpur village of Uttar Pradesh, India’s biggest potato growing state, farmers lamented that prices have dropped by 86 percent to 2,500 rupees a ton.

“I lost my entire investment of 100,000 rupees to grow potatoes on one hectare,” said Gopi Chand, 55, sitting next to bright yellow mustard fields.

He said he and some other farmers in the area had dumped potatoes in favor of growing mustard.

Farmers in the two states also complained of rising operating costs.

Prices of crop nutrient diammonium phosphate, popularly called DAP, have gone up by 400 rupees to 1,450 rupees for a bag of 50 kilograms, said Babloo Singh in Mujahidpur village. DAP rates have gone up because of higher overseas prices and India’s weaker currency.

“Higher input costs and record low potato prices have left us in deep debt,” said Singh. “The situation would have been different had there been more cold storage facilities and food processing plants in our state.”

The crash in vegetable prices hasn’t helped consumers either thanks to the chain of middlemen.

In Lasalgaon, the country’s largest onion trading hub, most farmers are selling their produce at 2 rupees a kilogram. But consumers in Mumbai are still shelling out 20 rupees. Between Lasalgaon and Mumbai, a distance of 220 kilometers (135 miles), traders say onions pass through at least four layers of middlemen, adding a hefty margin at every stage.

The post Collapse in India’s Onion Prices Could Leave Modi Smarting in Election appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Cracks Down on Marxist Group after Mao Birthday Detention

Posted: 27 Dec 2018 10:52 PM PST

BEIJING—A top Chinese university has cracked down on a campus student Marxist society, replacing its leadership after its former head was detained and questioned by police on the sensitive 125th birthday of the founder of modern China, Mao Zedong.

China has an awkward relationship with the legacy of Mao, who died in 1976 and is still officially venerated by the ruling Communist Party.

But far leftists in recent years have latched onto Mao’s message of equality, posing awkward questions at a time of unprecedented economic boom that has seen a rapidly widening gap between the rich and the poor.

In particular, students and recent graduates have teamed up with labor activists to support factory workers fighting for the right to set up their own union. Dozens of activists have been detained in a government crackdown that followed.

Qiu Zhanxuan, head of the Peking University Marxist Society, said he was approached on Wednesday morning at a subway station by plainclothes police who said they wanted him to answer questions about an event he was organizing to celebrate Mao’s birthday. Mao was born on Dec. 26, 1893.

When Qiu refused, the men took his phone, forced him into a car and drove him to a police station where he was questioned for 24 hours before being released with a warning, Qiu said, according to accounts provided by fellow students, who declined to be identified.

Late on Thursday, the university’s extracurricular activities guidance office released a notice saying police had penalized Qiu and he “did not have the qualifications” to continue as head of the society.

The teachers in charge of guiding the group had determined its members had deviated from promises made to teachers when the group was registered and so had “restructured” the group, the office said.

The “restructuring” was an attempt to “scatter” the group after weeks of continuous harassment by campus police and attempts to cast its members as being involved in a “conspiracy,” Qiu said, according to the accounts of his comments.

Qiu declined to comment directly to Reuters.

None of the new list of student leaders released by university authorities were previous members of the group, and many of them are members of the official Student Association that had been involved in harassing the group, Qiu said.

“We don’t recognize this,” he added, according to the accounts of his comments.

The university did not answer calls seeking comment. The Ministry of Public Security also did not respond to requests for comment.

Qiu said his non-academic school adviser, a deputy secretary of the Social Sciences party committee, Shi Changyi, was with him while police questioned him and had advised him not to be “extreme” or “impulsive”, according to the accounts of his comments.

Reuters was unable to reach Shi for comment.

Police gave Qiu a subpoena saying he was suspected of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” which is a crime, but they declined to elaborate, he said, according to the accounts of his comments.

“This was, plain and simple, a plan to restrict my personal freedom and to use these inhuman and illegal means to stop me from going to commemorate Chairman Mao.”

The post China Cracks Down on Marxist Group after Mao Birthday Detention appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Watch That Tweet! China Cracks Whip on Government Social Media Image

Posted: 27 Dec 2018 10:49 PM PST

BEIJING/SHANGHAI — China’s cabinet has warned government departments to clean up their social media image amid a drive to bolster the government’s online presence to help reach tech-savvy young people who get their information from smartphones.

The State Council issued the guidelines late on Thursday saying that authorities’ social media presence needed more regulation and vowed to clean up dormant “zombie” accounts and “shocking” comment from official channels.

“This has a negative impact on the image and the public trust in the government,” the cabinet said on its website.

Government bodies have been pushing into social media as a way to reach younger people, who get most information from platforms like Tencent’s messaging app WeChat, microblog platform Weibo or newer services such as news aggregator Toutiao.

The government is also trying to get a tighter grip on the dissemination of information to the public more broadly and has been tightening regulations on financial news and reining in online bloggers and livestream artists.

The State Council said government accounts “cannot express any personal emotions or opinions and normally should only repost information from government websites or from sources recognized by government.”

Authorities were also forbidden from fabricating social media data or paying for fake followers, it said.

In July, a verified Weibo account of the Yueyang municipal government in Hunan Province called a netizen an “environment protection bitch” in a repost responding to concern about a waste incineration plant. It later issued an apology.

Certain official agencies have large followings online, including the Communist Party’s Youth League, which has 7.7 million followers on Weibo.

Over the last couple of years government agencies have been expanding beyond Weibo, with forays onto video sites like Bilibili and Bytedance’s Douyin, also known as TikTok.

The post Watch That Tweet! China Cracks Whip on Government Social Media Image appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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