How to celebrate I-Day?

by T.V.R. Shenoy
HOW should we mark next week? Should we celebrate the 51st anniversary of India’s Independence? Or mourn the splitting of the country with all it entailed? Or curse the calendar that made Independence Day fall on a Saturday, thus wasting a holiday?

Punjab must follow
Chennai example

By Satyapal Dang
BEFORE the Lok Sabha elections, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had, in a writ petition filed by an MBBS doctor, directed the Government of Punjab to submit a report on the number of persons practising medicine in Punjab, though not qualified to do so.

. A highly complex personality by Harihar Swarup RARELY has the prestigious Time magazine published cover page story of a person twice and that too within a span of five months. The issue of February 2 carries a smiling photograph of US President Bill Clinton and one-time intern in the White House, Monica Lewinsky, now involved in a sex-and-perjury scandal. The caption reads: “Monica Lewinsky next to President Clinton at a White House lawn party the day after the November, 1996, election”.

75 Years Ago

Babbar Akalis in the
House of Commons
WESTMINSTER: (Questions in Parliament): I have extracted from Hansard the following interesting Parliamentary questions with reference to the Lawrence statue, the alleged revolutionary movements of the Sikhs and other matters that are of special interest to your readers.

How to celebrate I-Day?

by T.V.R. Shenoy

HOW should we mark next week? Should we celebrate the 51st anniversary of India’s Independence? Or mourn the splitting of the country with all it entailed? Or curse the calendar that made Independence Day fall on a Saturday, thus wasting a holiday?

In all probability, my last guess is probably closest to the truth. When they look at Pakistan today, Indians can only thank their stars that all those power-crazy generals and fundamentalists belong to some other country. Sardar Patel spoke of partition as “cutting off the diseased limb”, and time seems to have validated his judgment.

But it is little comfort to know that India is better off than Pakistan. Making a catalogue of all the ills in this country is beyond the scope of this column, but let me list some of them anyway.

Permit me to begin with Parliament. When we were celebrating the golden jubilee of freedom last year, our representatives called for a special session. Parliament set some records in the process — P.C. Chacko earned a world record for presiding over the House and there was a marathon sitting of 18 hours straight. (The catering staff proved equal to the occasion, rustling up not just dinner but breakfast too.) And the lofty thoughts and resolutions were collected into a special book.

Most of it may have been so much bunkum, but it was nice to see members from all parties listening to each other with a modicum of courtesy. Twelve months later, the situation has deteriorated so far that a special session to mark the 51st anniversary has been called off altogether!

I can’t say that I disagree with the wisdom of that decision. Nobody has forgotten the disgusting behaviour orchestrated by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Laloo Prasad Yadav over the issue of women’s reservation. But that rowdyism was only the tip of the iceberg.

Truth be told, the Titanic of parliamentary democracy has been sinking for quite a while. Zero hour, for instance, has become a time when zero work gets done thanks to all the shouting. In fact, matters have reached a point where Lok Sabha members were openly wondering if their fellows shouldn’t be frisked for concealed arms before entering the House.

Thoughtful ruminations on the global arms race 12 months ago. Ponderings over arms control of a more immediate nature today. Those two facts tell us the story of the decline of Parliament in a nutshell!

How about the judiciary? One year ago, it was widely perceived as the panacea to the ills of abuse of power and/or abdication of responsibility by the other wings of the state. Can we honestly say the same today?

I am saddened to note that even the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has become a controversial figure. The President of India has been forced to ask the Supreme Court for an opinion on their chief’s use of his prerogatives. It does not inspire confidence when we see judges sitting on one of their own, even less so when it is the head of the judiciary who is being examined.

It is a shame because the Supreme Court has never been quite as important as it is today. Frankly, it is still the only institution that seems capable of knocking some sense into our politicians’ heads, as for instance in the Cauvery dispute.

The year 1998 is a special year; it falls between the 50th anniversary of Independence and the golden jubilee of our adopting the Constitution. So how can we get everyone to celebrate this Independence Day, not just mark its passing?

Well, August 15 falls on a Saturday this year. I suggest we make it a three-day weekend, making a holiday of Friday. Now that will be a reason to celebrate!

Punjab must follow Chennai example
By Satyapal Dang

BEFORE the Lok Sabha elections, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had, in a writ petition filed by an MBBS doctor, directed the Government of Punjab to submit a report on the number of persons practising medicine in Punjab, though not qualified to do so. The writ petition had alleged that most, if not all who called themselves registered medical practitioners (RMPs), were actually unqualified. Notices were issued and officials moved to do the needful. Many were told to stop practising.

When the Lok Sabha elections were announced and campaigning started, the government campaign against unqualified doctors ended. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his colleagues began assuring the RMPs that their interests would be protected. Such promises were made in many election rallies. Some Opposition parties did the same.

After the elections were over, the government campaign started again. Deputations met Mr Badal and others. Nothing came out of them. Resentment against the Akali-BJP Government grew. The RMPs organised themselves into a powerful body. Rallies and demonstrations were held all over the state. On July 27, 1998, there was a big rally at Phagwara. A demonstration that followed was lathi-charged, resulting in injuries to about two dozen doctors. Anger against the Akali-BJP Government has mounted since the incident.

A few days before this, some leaders of the RMP body met me and sought my support. I had a frank discussion with them.

I agreed that MBBS and MD doctors do not generally practise in rural areas. I also accepted that RMPs do help the poor in villages. However, I argued that unqualified doctors with the experience of working only as “compounders” of qualified private doctors do constitute a danger to the lives of patients. I gave some concrete instances. They agreed. I asked them what would be the correct solution. Here are some suggestions.

A list of those having recognised diplomas/degrees but wrongly treated as unqualified should be submitted to the government and the government asked to let them carry on their profession. There are quite a few such cases.

Another list of those who have diplomas recognised by some other states but not by the Punjab Government should be prepared and submitted to the Chief Minister and the Health Minister. The Punjab Government should be asked to recognise them, too. And it should do that except in cases in which diplomas are suspected to have been issued by bogus institutions. Many will fall in this category.

Unqualified persons should not be allowed to go on practising. I told them there is a recent judgement of the Madras High Court dealing with the same problem. The Madras High Court has allowed such medical practitioners to continue subject to two conditions: one, their clinics must display, very prominently, that they are “UMPs” (unqualified medical practitioners). Two serious restrictions should be imposed on the kind of practice they can have .

I feel the Punjab Government should be persuaded to pray before the High Court to decide the writ on the above lines. Of course, a syllabus for some compulsory training of UMPs can also be there.

The leaders who met me appreciated my views and told me that they would take competent legal advice on whether they can be made a party. And, if they succeed, they will formulate a scheme on these lines and place it before the High Court.

Mr Badal may have succeeded in getting some more votes for the Akali Dal and BJP candidates, but such voters have become extremely hostile. The lesson is obvious: populism does not always pay.

Incidentally Mr Badal, the tallest Akali leader, is good at making promises which he knows he will not fulfil. Here is one instance. Some cooperative mills were lying closed and the workers were agitating for their reopening. During the campaigning for elections to the Punjab Assembly in February 1997, Mr Badal had gone to these mills and addressed the workers. The promise made in each case was that the mill would start functioning within days of his coming to power. This commitment fetched him votes. The promise, however, has not been fulfilled. In case of one of these mills, Mr Badal recently ruled out its reopening.

Workers who voted for the Akali-BJP alliance are wiser now. —IPA

A highly complex personality

by Harihar Swarup

RARELY has the prestigious Time magazine published cover page story of a person twice and that too within a span of five months. The issue of February 2 carries a smiling photograph of US President Bill Clinton and one-time intern in the White House, Monica Lewinsky, now involved in a sex-and-perjury scandal. The caption reads: “Monica Lewinsky next to President Clinton at a White House lawn party the day after the November, 1996, election”.

“Look them in the eye and deny it” (the affair), says another caption quoting Clinton as telling Monica. The latest issue of the magazine carries yet another photograph on the cover in which the President is seen hugging Monica. The occasion was a Washington fund-raising function in 1996.@Irrespective of the outcome of Monica’s testimony before a grand jury on Thursday and President Clinton’s deposition on videotape slated on August 17, the alleged affair between a girl in her twenties and the head of the most powerful nation of the world has turned out to be most juicy story of the 20th century. Who seduced whom? Did the President fall for her or did she hook Clinton? Sleeping with a President has been the dream of many young American girls irrespective of the age difference.

Two most intriguing questions have come to the fore in the aftermath of Monica’s testimony; why did she preserve the stained cocktail dress for so long and why did she sign the sworn affidavit in January denying sexual liaison with Mr Clinton and later reversed her stand? Time magazine says: “As each new tape surfaced, each new detail arose, of secret service logs showing late-night visits when Hillary was out of town, of presents sent by courier, of a dark dress saved as souvenir, spattered with the President’s DNA”.

In phone calls with her friend and Pentagon co-worker, Linda Tripp, Monica disclosed that she had a sexual relationship with the President. Tripp betrayed her and secretly tape-recorded the conversation which has landed the President of the mightiest nation in serious trouble.

Judging by her photographs, Monica has extraordinary sex appeal and dresses in a provocative manner. Long, black and big hair, voluptuous lips, breasts protruding out of a tight outfit has given her a nickname during her White House days. She had come to be known as Elvira, American TV’s vampy Mistress of the Dark. Monica’s White House colleagues often noticed her darting towards the presidential helicopter whenever the drone of the flying machine’s landing was heard and they sarcastically called her “stalker”.

Accounts of Monica’s childhood and upbringing, widely published in American newspapers and magazines, indicate that she is a highly complex personality. She is basically a product of a broken home, so common in the USA as far back as 1987, her mother, Marcia Lewis, divorced her husband (Monica’s father), Dr Bernard Lewinsky. He has established a high reputation as an oncologist (cancer specialist) having a lucrative practice. When the divorce came Monica had just entered high school.

Monica was brought up in affluence. She grew up in a house worth $ 1.6 million located in prestigious Beverly Hills. Her parents owned three cars, including a Cadillac and a Mercedes. The couple spent lavishly on their children; Monica and her brother. The tennis lessons for both cost $ 720 per month. The bill for hair styling of Monica was $ 100 a month. Monthly expenditure of $ 1,800 incurred on a psychiatrist has, however, been intriguing.

Her former colleagues in the White House and Pentagon have been quoted as saying, “She is an attractive girl, an opportunist and a spoiled brat who took advantage of her political connections”. She is known to be sharp-tongued, talkative and would like to seek attention. According to Time magazine Monica had an affair with a married man when she was in college and he promised to seek a divorce so that they could live together.

She got emotionally hurt many a time in the short-lived affair and realised before long that she had chosen a wrong path. “What the hell I have been doing with this married guy”, she reportedly told a friend and broke off the relationship.

Monica arrived in Washington in 1995 having graduated in psychology. She was 21 and had no background in politics and but had connections in high circles. She managed to get the recommendation of a big-wig in the Democratic party for a summer internship in the White House. She was apparently excited; she liked company of the famous and powerful. She joined the White House staff as an unpaid intern in June, 1995.

Monica met President Clinton at a party in November and instantly drew his attention. Evidently, her alleged tryst with the President had begun; she was given a salaried position next month in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. In April, 1996, she was moved out of the White House amidst wild gossip and drafted to work with the Pentagon. In mid-1997, the scandal broke following disclosure of Monica’s taped conversation with her friend and a Pentagon colleague, Linda Tripp. The conversation carried the confession that she had a sexual relationship with the President. In December, 1997, Monica resigned her government job.

75 YEARS AGO
Babbar Akalis in the House of Commons
By Our London Correspondent

WESTMINSTER: (Questions in Parliament): I have extracted from Hansard the following interesting Parliamentary questions with reference to the Lawrence statue, the alleged revolutionary movements of the Sikhs and other matters that are of special interest to your readers:-

Sir John Hewett asked the Under Secretary of State for India whether he has information that the Municipal Committee has determined to remove the statue of the first Lord Lawrence from the Mall at Lahore and to replace it by another statue without an inscription and with a different pose.

The Under Secretary of State for India (Earl Winterton): As it is impossible to reply adequately to this question without unduly trespassing on the time of the House, I hope my honourable friend will, despite its importance, allow me to circulate a reply in the official report.

The following is the reply: According to the information which I have the Municipality passed a resolution last month in the following terms:

“That the present statue be removed and in its place another statue of Lord Lawrence of a different kind, without the inscription and the position, which are considered objectionable, be put up as early as possible. The cost to be shared by the Government and the Municipality is in the ratio of two and one, respectively.