President hits out at politicians
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Aug 15 — The President, Mr K. R. Narayanan, today voiced concern about departure from order and decorum in parliamentary behaviour and power play and corruption in public life witnessed in recent times.

In his address to a joint session of Parliament at the concluding function of the golden jubilee celebrations of the country’s Independence, Mr Narayanan, touched upon a wide range of issues like reservation for women, uplift of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the backward classes, childcare, international relations in the post-nuclear blasts' phase and the county's economy.

Mr Narayanan stressed the important role played by legislators and those in public life in maintaining democracy and rued the general degeneration.

"Public office was regarded as a sacred space. Today it is regarded by an increasing number of wielders of it as an opportunity to strike gold and enjoy the loaves and fishes of power. It is a matter of deep regret that great cynicism prevails in the public mind about politics and the administration. Floor crossings and cross-votings in power games are no longer rare transgressions of democratic norms,’’ he said.

Referring to corruption, he said the statement of Dr S. Radhakrishnan in 1947 about the need to destroy corruption in high places, root out nepotism, profiteering and black-marketing were relevant even now.

Mr Narayanan said that he could not but voice a "pervasive sense of public concern over the frequent departure from order and decorum in parliamentary behaviour. Scenes of frayed tempers, often degenerating to violent acts in the well of the House, bring no credit to our democracy. Our people take democracy seriously. Let us not betray their faith in it — our most precious legacy"’.

In an apparent reference to the scenes that led to stalling of the the women’s reservation bill, the President urged to "gracefully concede" to them one-third reservation in Parliament and legislatures before they were wrested by "votes of wrath" in the general elections.

On the uplift of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the backward classes, Mr Narayanan said, that progressive laws enacted by governments were being negated at the level of implementation by counter-revolutionary forces.

He warned that unless this "reckless play" was curbed and atrocities on the weaker sections stopped, there was a great danger of things going wrong with the country’s democracy. He also urged that the backlog of vacancies reserved for these sections, especially in the higher rungs of government service, should be cleared.

The President expressed concern about child abuse and said that the state had to play a leading role in providing education, especially to those belonging to the weaker sections and prevent them from working in hazardous occupations and as bonded labourers.

While praising the achievements in the fields of agriculture, industry, economy and scientific development, he said attention must be paid to give nutritional diet to expectant mothers and raising levels of literacy, education and health standards in the country.

Mr Narayanan appealed to non-resident Indians to invest in the country and noted that the opening up of the economy and the presence of the 300-million strong middle class had made India an attractive place for foreign investment.

Turning to international relations in the post-nuclear tests phase, he said that India had always been interested in peace and in a world without arms.

He expressed India’s willingness to join any international arrangements and agreements that were non-discriminatory to rid the world of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

On the Indo-Pak relations, he said that both countries must go by the Simla Agreement and put an end to conflict and confrontation and resolve all differences through bilateral and peaceful means. "Nuclear weapons have now made it compulsory for us to do so", he said

"We have conducted nuclear tests recently not with the intention of using them against anyone. In fact, I believe that atomic bombs are useful only when they are not used. They can only be a deterrent in the hands of a nation,’’ he said.

The President renewed India’s message of friendship and greetings to all neighbours in South Asia and Asia which was first sent by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1946 to the U K, the USA, then USSR, and the people of Asia and China when the country was emerging as an independent nation.

Sans fanfare, Cong campaign launched
From Shubhabrata Bhattacharya
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Aug 15 — Sans fanfare, the Congress campaign has been launched on Independence Day.

Yesterday, Mrs Sonia Gandhi had released the party’s new mouthpiece, "Congress Sandesh". Today, leading national dailies had a half-page advertisement inserted by the Indian National Congress. The advertisement which carried the hand symbol as well as the Congress flag with a charkha had the photographs of Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Azad, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi with the message: "The nation owes 50 years of Independence to the great leaders of the freedom movement and the builders of modern India".

Three other advertisements also appeared with similar themes — all carried photographs of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. A full-page advertisement from the Modi group said: "The nation salutes the architects of our freedom and the builders of modern India". In a similar vein, the RPG group’s advertisement said: "The nation salutes the builders of modern India". An advertisement inserted by the family of hotelier Lalit Suri read: "The nation salutes the architects of our freedom and the builders of modern India".

The similarity in the content, copywriting and visuals of the Congress advertisement and the other three insertions was too close to be missed.

Apparently, at a time when the nation is undergoing political turmoil, instead of harping on its old, much-used coin of stability, the Congress has chosen to remind the nation of its role in both the pre-Independence and post-Independence eras and the building of modern India.

Never before has a party inserted advertisements on either Independence Day or Republic Day. It is increasingly becoming clear that under Mrs Sonia Gandhi, the party’s public relations and publicity approach has undergone a seachange.

The new Congress spokespersons are articulate. The party’s standpoint is being officially communicated bluntly. However, there is one drawback: impromptu, self-styled comments by senior leaders who are not authorised by 10, Janpath, often create a confusing picture.

For example, throughout the present crisis, spokesperson Girija Vyas maintained that the Congress was not interested in toppling the government, but was prepared for the eventuality of the Vajpayee regime collapsing on its own. Senior leaders, including CWC members, however, tried to keep up the "suspense". Mrs Sonia Gandhi herself yesterday clarified the position and Ms Girija Vyas was vindicated.