Tackling terrorism,
US style
Terrorist activities fall in two distinct categories: those that harm US interests and those that do not. The American methods to deal with them also differ accordingly.

Sugar-coated placebo
UNION MINISTER for State for Agriculture Sompal described the delicensing of the sugar industry as a “historic” step. The Indian Sugar Mills Association dismissed it as a “non-issue”. And the ISMA is right; for, it has been demanding the decontrol of sugar price.

Commerce v. cricket
IS the Board of Control for Cricket in India really interested in sending a team to Kuala Lumpur for next month’s Commonwealth Games? The answer to the question is a qualified “no”.

Indian writers come
of age
by Rahul Singh
IT is only recently that Indian writing is being taken seriously all over the world. Indian publishing, though its quality is still not up the best of international standards, has also improved greatly and become much more professional.

Tackling terrorism, US style

Terrorist activities fall in two distinct categories: those that harm US interests and those that do not. The American methods to deal with them also differ accordingly. In the latter case, the tradition is to either ignore the violence as a non-event or punish the victim and fete the aggressor. That is the kind of situation India has faced many a time. But when it was the USA that suffered losses, hell hath no fury to match that of Uncle Sam. This mode is currently in operation in Sudan and Afghanistan where a full-scale attack has been launched on alleged terrorist facilities. Imagine scores of sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles being rained on the camp of Saudi radical Osama bin Laden near Khost, about 45 km south of the Afghan capital Kabul, and a similar attack on a Sudanese chemical plant in Khartoum. There is not one principal norm of international law that has not been violated while doing so. First, the United Nations was not even informed of this massive strike. The Secretary-General was told about this perfunctorily minutes after the attack was launched. Does not that provide a precedence to all others who might have a score to settle somewhere? Second, no evidence was presented against the Saudi billionaire who is an outspoken critic of American policies. The attack was ostensibly in retaliation against the recent bombing of US embassies in Nairobi (Kenya) and Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania) killing more than 250 people. But the hidden agenda, of course, was to divert attention from the stink generated by la affaire Monica Lewinski. President Clinton has rushed back from his holiday on Martha's Vineyard for this diversionary display of his military muscles but the operation has been an unmitigated failure considering that the man he wanted to kill is reported to have escaped and many innocent people are feared to have been killed. The noteworthy point is that Osama bin Laden was holding court in Afghanistan close to the Pakistan border for quite some time. He was openly enjoying the hospitality of the Taliban. In fact, he had been merrily giving interviews to journalists travelling through Pakistan. At that time, the USA was feigning ignorance. Things have changed suddenly after the bombing of US embassies. Compare that with the violent reaction of Washington when India had threatened to go proactive in pursuit of the Pakistan-sponsored terrorists in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh and the duplicity of it all hits one in the eye.

The attack may be successful in making the average American citizen overlook his Commander-in-Chief's sex scandals but it has made US establishments all the more vulnerable. The us-versus-they feeling that is growing in the Muslim world bodes ill. Ironically, Pakistan is caught in a cleft-stick. It has been a willing pawn in the US political chess and at the same time has been playing its own dirty game of exporting terrorism to the neighbouring countries. Now that the pollen of the poisonous trees grown by it has started reaching American shores, it is in a dilemma. It cannot disown America all of a sudden. In fact, it was instrumental in getting arrested an embassy bombing suspect only recently. Nor can it cut the umbilical cord that links it with the Taliban. The opposition to the US attack is growing in Pakistan with several powerful fundamentalist organisations giving a call for a total bandh and asking the Muslims of the world to unite. That call may well be heeded by many. Whatever course it chooses, it runs the risk of being branded the villain of the piece. As far as India is concerned, the right strategy for it would be to use this opportunity to expose the Pakistani mischief in Kashmir and other Indian states before the entire world. That will be in keeping with its long-held policy of condemning terrorism, whether it is privately sponsored or unleashed by a government. The USA has gone overboard in its reprisal. That does not mean that the way the US embassies were targeted was right. The point to be stressed is that India has as much right to defend its sovereignty as any other country of the world, including the USA.

Sugar-coated placebo

UNION MINISTER for State for Agriculture Sompal described the delicensing of the sugar industry as a “historic” step. The Indian Sugar Mills Association dismissed it as a “non-issue”. And the ISMA is right; for, it has been demanding the decontrol of sugar price. There is a wide difference between the two — delicensing and decontrol. The first deals only with the procedure for setting up new units or increasing the capacity of the running ones. And also such issues as the minimum capacity of crushing, the distance between two units (to ensure ready availability of cane) and a levy holiday for five years. Some of these have been scrapped but the levy exemption and the distance norm have been retained at 15 km. From this it is clear that old units would not benefit from the new decision, and they are gasping for breath. Old and decrepit machinery and an ancient management mindset have crippled them. There is an irony in this. In UP and Bihar sugar mills represent the first attempt at industrialisation and they provided the much-needed surplus to the owners to enter new areas. This is the role cotton textile mills played in Mumbai and Ahmedabad and jute mills in Calcutta. All three mother industries are either in deep trouble or facing extinction.

The latest government move, proclaimed as a major milestone on the road to liberalisation, does have the promise to help new sugar mills. But the harsh fact is this industry is no more financially viable. Equipment costs a pile and sugarcane becomes dearer thanks to the government’s commitment to offer the kisan a remunerative price. What the mills — both old and new ones — do is to formally protest against the annual price rise, agree to the new rates but delay payment to the grower, often by a year or two. This explains why there is no rush to set up new mills. No doubt ISMA has dubbed it a non-event.

Sugar policy has been a muddle for decades. In the seventies mill owners would wrench major concessions just before the general election in exchange for hefty political donations. The sufferers were the grower and the consumer. The Janata Government, seething with anti-Indira Gandhi sentiments, decontrolled the industry and rubbed its hands in glee as the price dipped. But it was a premature celebration and the essential commodity became costlier within a few weeks. Indira Gandhi reversed the policy but relaxed the dual pricing system, under which the mills set apart a portion of their production (now 40 per cent) as levy to the government for sale through the fair price shop network. The government also regulates the release of the mills’ share in the market. These two controls add to the loss-making potential of the mills since they are often forced to hold on to big stocks. This year there is a third threatening element; Pakistan is offloading its surplus sugar production at a lower price and the festive season is almost here. At this time to free investors of some archaic rules is not exactly a historic step. ISMA scores a direct hit.

Commerce v. cricket

IS the Board of Control for Cricket in India really interested in sending a team to Kuala Lumpur for next month’s Commonwealth Games? The answer to the question is a qualified “no”. The popular impression is that the board officials are using all the “dirty tricks” they can to somehow provoke the organisers of the Games to disqualify India from taking part in the first-ever Commonwealth cricket tournament. The BCCI would rather send the best team to Toronto for the annual Sahara Cup — a prize-money contest between India and Pakistan — rather than to Kuala Lumpur where all that the winner of the cricket event would get is a gold medal. By raising unreasonable demands as a condition for participating in the Commonwealth Games the BCCI has made it clear that it cares more for money than national pride. Its stand that it would send the names of the players for the Games through the International Cricket Council and not the Indian Olympic Association is ridiculous and should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves. The ICC itself has clarified that the names should be routed through the respective national Olympic committees directly to the organisers of the Commonwealth Games. The IOA President, Mr Suresh Kalmadi, was not wrong when he said that the “board was only trying to find an excuse not to go to Kuala Lumpur and instead of Toronto to play the Sahara Cup series against Pakistan. My gut feeling is that all these delaying tactics at this stage are nothing but an escape route”. The only way to end the avoidable controversy is for the Central ministry concerned to intervene in favour of the IOA. The ministry should categorically tell the BCCI to pick the best team for the Commonwealth Games under the banner of the IOA. In normal times the autonomy of the various sport organisations should be respected. But the BCCI has created an extraordinary situation by raising new issues and fresh demands.

In fact, senior cricketers themselves should take the initiative of forcing the board to send the best team to Kuala Lumpur. They should learn from the healthy example set by Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, who too, like the cricket players, make a living by participating in ATP-sponsored prize-money tournaments. But they have never opted out of representing India in the Davis Cup if the timings clashed with an ATP tournament. They have won many a stirring Davis Cup battles for India. This in spite of the fact that Davis Cup victories do not help tennis players improve their ATP ranking. Currently Paes is on a giant-killing spree in a prize-money tournament in the USA. He beat a much higher ranked player in the first round and followed it up by beating Sergi Bruguera, winner of a French Open title, in the second encounter. But the icing on the cake, was the straight set victory against Pete Sampras, counted among the best in the game. Asked for his reaction at the post-match Press conference Paes said that “he is one of my all-time heroes as a tennis player and it is almost like a dream come true to beat him. But winning a bronze medal at the Olympics was better. There is something special about playing for my country that takes me to another level.” Yes, it is a very special achievement either by teams or individual sportspersons to make the participating countries stand up as a mark of respect to the tune of their national anthem. If the best cricket team is not sent to Kuala Lumpur, the BCCI would have much to answer to the nation.

PRICE OF DUALITY
Gathering storm over Kashmir
by Harwant Singh

IN an earlier article in these columns it was pointed out that in the post-Pokhran-II and Chagai phase, Pakistan would increase its efforts to project J and K as the most likely and dangerous flashpoint for a large-scale conflict and thereby bring it increasingly under international focus and attention. Therefore, those who expected a favourable outcome from the Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers’ talks at Colombo have been misreading the developing situation. Pakistan would not easily let go the advantage it gained, first by bringing the Kashmir issue into sharper relief and then the helping hand Mr Clinton extended in trying to involve China in the resolving of Kashmir issue during his recent visit to that country. Mr Clinton delivered a big blow to bilateralism which, after all, was India’s ultimate achievement at Simla consequent to that stunning victory in 1971.

It was also brought out that Pakistan would intensify efforts to increase its nefarious activities in J and K. Such anticipation did not require any faculties of clairvoyance but a simple reading of the motives and emerging opportunities. The increased killings in Doda and other areas of Jammu region are in line with those fearful forecasts. Therefore, Indian moves should have been anti-insurgency-centric and not directed towards escalation of the situation on the LOC. If Mr L.K. Advani’s idea of “proactive” stance also encompasses increased pressure on the LOC then he is on the wrong track and barking up an equally wrong tree. Such an action will serve no useful purpose but merely bring Kashmir into sharper relief and draw international attention and possible UN involvement.

Economically and politically Pakistan is on its way down and would do all that is possible to drag India along. Therefore, our reactions to Pakistan’s bellicosity and hostility on the LOC and killings elsewhere have to be based on our own best interests. While Mr Nawaz Sharif may be willing to move towards the resolution of bilateral problems between the two countries with a reasonable frame of mind, he has his compulsions at home. His stance at Colombo needs to be appreciated and assessed in this background.

Both at the political and the military level we seem to have run out of ideas. The dialogue with Pakistan stands stalemated with no one on the Indian side being quite clear on the parameters within which Kashmir issue can be approached for even starting a useful dialogue, leave alone the final resolution of the problem. Such a situation is the result of duality in the positions taken by our politicians; one their private view and the other, the rhetoric for public consumption. They stand trapped in the duplicity of their own stance. Nor is there coherent thinking on the means and methods of tackling insurgency in J and K in a purposeful manner.

Thinking at the military level also appears to have shifted in as much as the aim appears to have been lost sight of. The thrust at this moment should be to check infiltration and intensify anti-insurgency operations and not to activate the LOC. By resorting to increased use of artillery of higher calibre we stand to gain nothing. The sooner we get out of the syndrome of “Mooh Tor Jawab” the better it is for us. Often it is difficult to determine as to who started the fire and who is keeping the pressure going. Exchange of fire across the LOC should never deteriorate into targeting towns and villages. In this game we will end up exposing some of our larger and important towns to observed artillery fire from across the LOC, with devastating effect. One has to learn to live with the problems at the LOC. Sometimes, patience, forbearance and staying under cover is better than massive retaliation.

The military hierarchy appears to be at a loss as to what to do next. After having scraped the bottom of the barrel and with nothing else to fall back on, it has summoned some of the armoured regiments to abandon their tanks and head for the valley. There is a stage in counterinsurgency operations where the induction of troops reaches a saturation point and any additions can only prove counter productive. Moreover, a given infrastructure too cannot support troops and operations beyond a point. There is no shelter or suitable equipment for even the existing strength of troops and the communications are extremely poor. If there is a requirement of inducting more troops into J and K, then it is better to raise a few more RR battalions than to induct armoured regiments. Tank regiments and their personnel would be happy to go to the valley,but the same may not be in the best service interest.

Escalation on the LOC and the developing situation could lead to a larger conflagration. In fact, Pakistan may be egging India on in that direction and the latter may find itself increasingly drawn into this trap, in which case the absence of these armoured regiments from their designated places may lead to major setbacks in some vital areas. Areas of core competence of units have much relevance in the army. Authorities would do well to remember that in this age of specialisation and high technology defence equipment, absence of even a few months requires reorientation of personnel to man their own charge. Moreover, in counterinsurgency operations, if numbers alone could tilt the scales, we would not have faired so poorly during our Sri Lanka misadventure.

For the present, India needs to focus on concentrating all its efforts at combating insurgency and give the widest possible publicity to Pakistan’s direct involvement in terrorism, large-scale killings of innocent civilians and human rights violations in Kashmir. It must be put across to the international community that Pakistan is driving India into a position where it will be compelled to retaliate. A massive diplomatic offensive is called for and if it has not come about so far, it is more due to the chasm that exists between North and South (Blocks).

The need for a long-term strategy for Kashmir cannot be overemphasised. It is incorrect to assume that infiltration of militants; flow of weapons and money, takes place mainly from across the LOC. Other routes and avenues are also in use and perhaps far less hazardous. Some of the Jain hawala money noted in the famous Jain diaries was linked to the ultras in J and K. To save reputations and skins, we buried that case by not digging out corroborative evidence. How long can a nation survive such shenanigans?

The structure of successful counterinsurgency operations can only be raised on four essential pillars of state functioning. One, a positive and purposeful move towards a political solution of the problem. Two, a responsive and at least passable administration. Three, a first rate intelligence set-up. Four, centralised control of all agencies involved in the counterinsurgency endeavour, including the intelligence organisations. All the four elements are missing in the case of J and K, with the added burden of rampant corruption. To all this if you add the element of confused thinking and a world of make believe, there is the Kashmir situation for you in which we hope to muddle along; perhaps for another 50 years.

While we make every effort to tackle the problem of insurgency in a concerted, co-ordinated and purposeful manner another indirect approach could also be explored. For all intents and purposes Pakistan is waging a war on India, albeit by proxy and by reviving the defunct and the dead “two nation theory” and bring about the break-up of this country, trigger large-scale riots and chaos. Under such situations international treaties between countries concerned come under serious strain. Pakistan needs to be told that if it does not desist from waging a war on India, we will be forced to look afresh at some of our treaties, including the Indus Water Treaty. In a vibrant democracy and competitive politics, a government would find itself under increasing pressure to act decisively or quit.
—The writer is a retired Lieut-General.

Indian writers come of age
by Rahul Singh

IT is only recently, with the success of essentially India-based authors like Arundhati Roy and Vikram Seth, that Indian writing is being taken seriously all over the world. Indian publishing, though its quality is still not up the best of international standards, has also improved greatly and become much more professional.

I have before me, four recent books by Indians of excellent literary value and pretty production standards.

The first and most handsomely produced book is on the painter, Jehangir Sabavala. One usually associates great modern painters as struggling, penurious, bohemian and slightly demented types. Jehangir Sabavala does not fit this mould. He came from a rich, aristocratic Parsi family of Bombay and is the perfectly-mannered gentleman. No going about barefoot, a la M.F. Husain, or outraging society, for him.

His paintings have a gentle, pleasing, dreamlike and charming quality about them. Just like the man himself, they are serenity personified. They don’t shock, in the manner of a Goya or even a Picasso. They soothe, they transport one to a higher plane. Arun Khopkar made a marvellous film on Sabavala and his work a couple of years ago. Sabavala has now got two excellent writers, Times of India journalist Ranjit Hoskote and Richard Lannoy (author of the seminal “The Speaking Tree”) to write about him and his art.

Aptly titled “Pilgrim, Exile, Sorcerer”, the book traces Sabavala’s life from his rather privileged upbringing, to his apprenticeship in some of the leading studios in Europe, and then to his return to a newly-independent India. It is not a book to be read at one stretch, rather to be dipped into, every now and then, while appreciating some of the well-reproduced paintings that accompany the text. It is a great pity that other top Indian artists have not been as well-served by writers and film-makers.

Another book that is difficult to read at one go is Sundeep Waslekars “Dharma Rajya”. When I say “difficult”, I do not mean that the language is difficult to read, only that the book is packed with so much thought and good sense that there is only a little that one can digest at a time. I first met Sundeep, soon after he had finished his studies at Oxford University. I was then the Editor of the Indian Express in Mumbai and gave him his first job in the paper’s financial section.

But he was clearly cut out for better things and a more meaningful role in the affairs of the nation. After some academic research at New Delhi’s Centre for Policy Research, he set up the “International Centre for Peace Initiatives”, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), dedicated to resolving conflicts. His NGO sent teams of observers to several disturbed areas (I happened to go, as part of such teams, to Kashmir during its troubled days and to the North-East last year).

Sundeep has interacted with many of the world’s leading figures and in “Dharma Rajya”, he comes out with some provocative solutions to the problems of governing India, while using India’s ethos and ancient wisdom. He is close to the present Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government and I hope its leading lights read his book. They could do with some good advice, considering their present, sad predicament.

The third book with me is titled rather unimaginatively, “The United Nations and the Third World Shifting Paradigms”. But it has a wealth of information for those interested in the world body and its interactions with developing countries. It is not written by an academic but a senior income tax official, Bimal Chakraborty, who happens to be married to a charming Japanese lady. Believe it or not, it was an arranged marriage, as I discovered when I met the writer for the first time, a few months back.

Bimal comes from a rare breed which used to be quite common in the British days: Civil servants who found time to write or specialise on subjects not directly connected with their immediate work. Bimal Chakraborty has a simple, non-academic and extremely readable style, full of concern and idealism.

Finally, there is “Down Memory Lane” by one of my oldest friends, Hiro Shroff. This is a collection of pieces he wrote, initially for the Bombay Indian Express in 1984-85 but which were also carried abroad, as well as in several Indian language newspapers. As the title indicates, the articles are reminiscences of well-known people Hiro encountered and momentous events he experienced in his very full life (he worked for many years for the international news agency, Reuters).

Personalities like J.R.D. Tata, the Dalai Lama, Mao Tse-Tung, Ho Chi Minh, Mahatma Gandhi and Nasser figure in this most readable collection. There is also a great deal in the book on Hiro’s great passions: sailing, mountaineering and the Raj. His many interests took him in all kinds of directions. He was even the Press Officer for the Pope when the Pope came to India in 1964, the first time any Pope had ever come to Asia. Hiro has an easy style, almost as if he is talking to you. He makes people and events come alive.

A budding bud
by Mangu Ram Gupta

IT is a great grace of God to be an octogenarian and even acquire the coveted and exalted status of a great-grandfather. Indeed, The Almighty has been so kind to me. Though I came to have this status a few years back, it was reinforced on the Ist of July, 1997, when my grandson was blessed with a son who was christened Madhav some days after his birth.

“A babe is a living jewel dropped unstained from heaven; a sweet new blossom of humanity, fresh fallen from God’s own home; and a link between angels and men”; says a wit. A babe is thus a symbol of sweetness and serenity; a paradigm of purity and peace; and epitome of freshness and felicity; an icon of innocence and innoxiousness; and a haven of heavenly bliss and blessedness. So is Madhav who seems to have been endowed with the alchemy of converting one’s blues into a bliss; and this dull, drab earth into a paradise of peace and pleasure. When my old-age ailments overwhelm me or I am having an agonising time on that account, I repair to his room. The moment he sees me, he beams a smile at me. I pick him up; fondle him; caress him; shower all my love on him; and bless him a million times. I forget everything about my ailments. My blues vanish; despondency disappears; despair dissipates; and I transcend into the domain of divine bliss as if by the touch of a magic wand. Such a sparkling source of ethereal pleasure lovely, little Madhav is!

I was born in the bullock-cart age. Madhav is, nevertheless, a progeny of the supersonic, sputnik, and satellite age, or more precisely of the computer age. The children of that age accordingly stood poles asunder from those of this age. The former were surely no match to the latter, whether compared intelligence-wise or otherwise.

Madhav is as such not only unusually intelligent but also equally agile. He has a number of plastic toys. Playing with these toys certainly needs a lot of intelligence and ingenuity on the part of the child. One of these toys thus has a circular base and about six-inch-long plastic rod fixed in its centre. It has also 10 circular pieces of different hues and sizes with holes in their centres. Through their holes, these pieces are required to be put round the rod sizewise, starting with the biggest one in size, so as to form a carrot type of thing. I did it twice or thrice while Madhav kept watching the whole exercise very intently. I then asked him to do it. He picked up one circular piece at random and then tried to put it round the rod. As his hands are not very steady at this age, it was after three or four abortive attempts that he was able to do it. But having done it, he felt tremendously happy and confident. He can now do it in a still better manner. Madhav is thus fast enough to pick up things which provides us the measure of the Tiny Tot’s intelligence as well.

Madhav’s mother is a doctor. As and when she finds him sitting in a sluggish manner with his arms drooping on both sides, she at once commands in a sharp, shrill voice, “Madhav sit straight.” Mind you, she gives this command in these very words and in English only. Madhav forthwith fully stretches himself up; sits absolutely straight like Maharshi Dayanand; and remains in that posture for a couple of minutes. This is surely a spectacle which is, by all norms, superb, splendid, and sparkling; gorgeous, glorious, and glittering; and lovely, lofty, and luminous: What a deluge of delight it brings to us; how stupendously it gladdens our hearts; words are undoubtedly incredibly inadequate to describe or delineate it. A million blessings spontaneously emerge from the innermost recesses of our hearts and envelop Madhav from all sides. That a tiny tot of one year should understand what the command means and then carry it out in an exquisitely beautiful manner is certainly a most marvellous feat.

All this apart, Madhav is a keen observer of things. He intently watches whatever happens around him. Even a lizard on the wall of his room attracts his attention. Every morning, after taking my bath, I go to his room and fondle him. One fine morning, while I was indulging in such an exercise, he happened to see the watch on my wrist and wanted to have it. I took it off and put it against one of his ears. He was immensely delighted to listen to its “tick-tick, tick-tick”. After keeping it there for a minute or so, I removed it from his ear and tried to put it on my wrist. Before I could do it, Madhav grabbed it from me; and lo and behold, put it against his ear and held it there. After he had enjoyed its sound to tick-tick for a little while, I wanted him to give it back to me. On my coaxing him to do so, he was nice enough to coolly comply with my wishes and hand over the watch to me. This incident thus amply exemplifies what an unusual power of observation Madhav has and how beautifully he copies and imitates what others do.

May this budding bud bloom and blossom forth into an exquisitely fine flower and gladden everyone’s heart with its fantastically fresh and flitting fragrance: — is accordingly the ardent prayer that unwittingly and inexorably emanates from deep down my heart.

75 YEARS AGO
Payment by international loans

LONDON: In the new Reparations Note Germany proposes that 20 milliards gold marks shall be raised by bonds issued at normal rates on the international money market, before July 1, 1927, 5 milliards before July 1, 1929, and 5 milliards before July 1, 1931.

The first 20 milliards shall be offered for subscription immediately. The interest on the bonds up to July 1, 1927, shall be paid into a special fund under the control of the Reparations Commission.

If the 20 milliards cannot be raised by a loan before July 1, 1927, interest at the rate of five per cent shall be paid thereon from that date, also one per cent amortisation. If the two amounts of 5 milliards each cannot be raised fully before the dates fixed an impartial international commission shall decide whether, when and how the amount outstanding can be raised.

Germany will also make payments in kind in accordance with the existing treaties to an extent still to be determined.

Germany’s utmost limits
Germany’s Note declares that the proposal is the utmost limit of Germany’s economic capacity.

After weakening the internal economic organism by the occupation of the Ruhr area, the German Government even gravely doubts whether the proposal does not exceed Germany’s capacity, but if the other side does not share this view, the whole reparations problems should be decided by an International Commission free from political influence.

Nothing much to celebrate
by Tavleen Singh

IF you had gone to Rashtrapati Bhavan for the President’s Independence Day party, last week, you would have been forced to conclude that India had nothing at all to celebrate. The party was meant to mark the conclusion of festivities to celebrate 50 years of Indian independence and considering that it was being held in a house that is renowned as one of the great residences of the world there is no limit to what the President of India could have done had he felt there was really something to celebrate, Ravi Shankar could have been invited to play in one grand hall, classical dancing could have taken place in another, Rahman could have been singing Vande Mataram elsewhere, folk singers could have greeted guests as they arrived and the cuisine could have come from all over the country. Bengali in one room, Punjabi in another and a feast from the President’s own Kerela as perhaps the main culinary treat.

Instead, we got a tacky, little tea party. It rained heavily that day so, unlike other years, he could not have his usual tea party in Rashtrapati Bhavan’s magnificent gardens. The party had to be moved indoors. But, instead of moving it to one of the vast halls that would have accommodated all of us the President decided to split us up into VIPs and riff-raff. So, humble hacks like your columnist, mere MPs, ex-ministers, bureaucrats and other such lesser beings were jammed into a tiny hall that led off on to a series of passages. In these passages tea was served out of cheap China cups along with some greasy snacks. There were so many of us jammed into this area that we could barely move, so more than half the guests chose not to go anywhere near the food for fear of having to fight our way through the crowds.

Usually, at these events humbler citizens have the opportunity to rub shoulders with the President, the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and other members of our ruling elite.

So, it took me some time to realise that the ruling elite, better known in our hierarchy-ridden land as VVIPs, were not among us. A small cordon had been created in the middle of the hall at which we kept gazing in the hope that our rulers would materialise but they did not. And, it was only when some of us started to make inquiries that we realised that the ruling elite were having their own little tea party somewhere to which only diplomats and certain privileged MPs had been invited. At some point in the evening, as we gasped to breathe the hot, humid air and fanned ourselves with our invitation cards there was a flutter of activity in the cordoned off area. We heard that the Prime Minister had graced us with his presence and before that the President had also come and gone. Frankly, I have to admit that I saw neither but I did hear someone mention that the Prime Minister looked quite well considering the rumours that he had fainted at the Red Fort that morning.

It was a big topic of conversation in the riff-raff section of the party that evening. It wasn’t possible to circulate much but in each of the handful of groups that I did manage to converse with it was the Prime Minister’s health that took precedence over Jayalalitha that day. And, the rumour that he had fainted. “We got calls from Calcutta and Chennai” said the editor of a well-known magazine.

Someone from the Prime Minister’s camp said that they had really been having a hard time contending with the ill-health rumours. “There is nothing wrong with him at all”, this gent said, “other than the usual sort of complaints that go with being 74 years old.”

Having satisfied myself with the stability of the Prime Minister’s health I circulated towards another group sweating citizens to make some inquiries about the stability of the government. Among this group I had spotted an important votary of secularism who has been at the forefront of the operation to topple Vajpayee’s Government. When I asked him how soon he expected to see Sonia Gandhi as Prime Minister of India I was quite surprised to hear him say, “Nothing is going to happen. Vajpayee’s Government will survive because there is no way that the Congress is going to be able to get the numbers”.

Another well-known toppler expanded on the theme informing me that since the Congress needed 135 MPs to form an alternative government we should write off the plan for the moment. He added that if the Prime Minister had the courage to throw Jayalalitha out for her constant misbehaviour he would finally be able to do more than just survive and he might find that nothing would happen to his government anyway.

Jayalalitha is the most hated politician in Delhi these days. If someone had taken a poll in the riff-raff section of the President’s tea party that day he would have found that even those who hope to see a Congress Government in Delhi soon spoke with utter contempt about the lady from Chennai. The consensus was that she was irresponsible and completely unreliable and that support from her was the kiss of death. “The Congress deserves her” a BJP MP said in exhausted tones, “They need to find out what it feels like to have support from someone like her”.

On that note I decided that it was time to leave the President’s tea party before I, myself, fainted with the heat. And, as we wended our way out through the bowels of Rashtrapati Bhavan to some side entrance where our cars waited I could not help thinking that the day the President of India can have a real party — a proper Indian mehfil — will be the day we really grow up. All those years of socialism have killed not just Indian style but even the spirit. How else can we explain a tacky, English tea party on Independence Day in a country which has more festivals than any other in the world.

A gloomy Independence Day
by Amita Malik

I think both on and off screen this was the most gloomy Independence Day in my life. It started with that coarse, unpleasant voice, (I wonder who chose it?) saying Vande Mataram on the phone. Because every time she said it, my phone went dead, I think in protest at the ugliness of the voice. Then, the minute I switched on Star News in the morning, a caption said to contact the cable operator who, it seemed, had not paid up the fee required.

Then it started raining, the very heavens seemed to be weeping. And I wonder how many viewers noticed that because of the rain, the Prime Minister slipped twice, dangerously, as he went round Gandhiji’s samadhi. He pulled back and regained his balance in the nick of time, and those TV-conscious security men seemed the least concerned.

They say the camera does not lie, and in the case of TV, everything seems to become even more clear. So while Jayalalitha kept everyone hanging, the most enduring image on the screen was that of Mr M.K. Bezbaruah, the object of everyone’s attention, walking out of his office for the last time with the utmost dignity. Never have the BJP spokesmen, notably the unflappable Mr Naidu, seemed so morose and dejected on the screen.

One of my disappointments was the fact that the normally spontaneous orator, Mr Vajpayee, read out his speech at the Red Fort. It seemed to lack his usual fire, except at the very end. We had some compensation when our democratic President preferred to be interviewed by N. Ram rather than read out the usual formal speech.

My last protest is about the way Lata Mangeshkar has been playing about with the original tune of Vande Mataram. And this is not the first time she has done so. It is a national song and we have all grown up with its familiar notes. I will say this for A.R. Rahman, when he did his version with Nusrat Ali last year, he did his own many interesting variations but never abandoned the original, which was also sung with great feeling more than once. I think that had this been Tagore and not Bankim Chandra, Vishwa Bharati would immediately have objected. I feel strongly that there should be some protective copyright about such matters.

For good cheer I will now, a little belatedly, mention three established TV personalities who brightened up the screen and gave it depth last week. Tavleen Singh’s long interview with Sheikh Hasina in Dacca was tri-lingual and one of her best because she seemed to make Hasina relax in a manner which she does not normally. But I did think it a pity that the interpreter of the Bengali sentences who provided the captions missed all the finer, emotional nuances of the Bengali language and mostly reduced everything to bare bones.

Saeed Naqvi, after his excellent coverage of SAARC in Colombo, where he lined up everyone from leaders to journalists, and spoke to them with his usual panache, continues to provide absorbing foreign stories with Indian interest in his It’s A Small World. And old trouper Khushwant Singh, whom I have so far seen only in his tete-a-tete with Tehmina Durrani certainly livened up the screen. Khushwant adopts a refreshing no-nonsense style while engaging people in conversation and draws them out without being cruel or offensive. He is quite frequently witty as well. But underneath the sort of veneer his publicity hounds press on him, there is a good deal of solid sense and information as a result. He needs neither soft focus for fancy sets, although the one in his programme does seem a bit strange.

TAILPIECE
Everyone made a special effort to shine with August 15 programmes and amongst the most earnest and anxious to make good was Minnie Vaid who made a sortie into three distant villages in Orissa for her programme The Unknown Indian. I might remind Minnie that during the last general elections, some equally intrepid women reporters from Star News made similar sorties into obscure, neglected villages in their programme Village Voice and did extremely well. Secondly, the commentary was delivered in a meek, soft voice which sometimes got lost. The Oriya interviewer shot off questions like bullets and in one instance asked a little boy six sharp questions in a row. Perhaps the interpreter and commentator should have changed places.