P A G E
Friday, October 23, 1998
today's calendar
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E D I T O R I A L P A G E |
Friday, October 23, 1998 |
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Tackling
terrorism
Job
problem: how to meet
BJP's
patchwork politics |
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Excise
Revenue |
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Tackling terrorism WHILE the nation is struggling to contain terrorism in Kashmir and other parts, certain signals from an otherwise peaceful Punjab are alarming. Not that there is an immediate danger of revival of militancy in the state. Nothing of the sort is in sight. For, the people's commitment to democracy looks total and unwavering. This, however, does not stop some mischief-makers to play their usual destabilising game, though the tactics applied for the purpose are new. Director-General of Police P.C. Dogra has given details of the formation of a new terrorist group which is organising "people smuggling". The modus operandi is to hold out the carrot of money and overseas assignments to the unemployed youth. Neither ideology nor religion is at play in this game. Apparently, the entire operation is organised in collaboration with Pakistan's ISI. The Punjab police deserves credit for nabbing four members of such a terrorist group which includes a would-be human bomb. It has, of course, been no secret that certain terrorist groups have been desperately trying to regroup in Punjab, though, mercifully, with very limited success. The pointers are, however, sharp and clear. First, the forces of militancy in Punjab may be down but they are certainly not out. Second, apart from stepping up its activities in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir, the ISI has once again cast its evil eye on Punjab as part of its larger plan to destabilise the country. In the past few weeks, there have been varied reports of agreements among the Pakistani authorities, the Taliban and the remaining sections of terrorists for a renewed offensive on a bigger scale. Elaborate preparations are said to be afoot for a blitzkrieg in the region. Third, the Taliban, blessed by Osama bin Laden, has emerged as a key factor in Pakistan's gameplan. Small wonder, the mercenaries have taken direct charge of spreading the wings of terrorism in the Punjab-Kashmir area. It is a pity that despite the overconfidence exhibited by the Indian authorities from time to time, the country has not been able to effectively tackle the problem of terrorism. The official response so far has either been ad hoc or half-hearted. Union Home Minister L.K. Advani has often talked about a proactive policy to tackle this problem. Even a seven-point action plan has been adopted. A special task force has been set up. Greater coordination has been promised between intelligence agencies and paramilitary forces. A white paper is proposed to be placed before Parliament during the winter session. These are well-intentioned moves. But the people want result. There can be no two
opinions about the fact that the country has to adopt
tough measures to tackle the problem of terrorism. No
mercy ought to be shown to those who play with the lives
of the people. In real operation, India gets projected as
a soft state under whose umbrella criminals and
terrorists thrive with impunity. At international fora,
we are invariably on the defensive. Why can't we talk
tough? Terrorism goes against all the value system that
human civilisation stands for. Even in our negotiations
with Pakistan, we have to make it clear to Islamabad that
it must end its sponsorship of terrorism as part of the
proposed confidence building measures between the two
countries. In fact, the entire focus of Indian diplomacy
should be on the problem of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
Unfortunately, we have not been able to put this problem
in proper perspective before the international community.
There should not be any soft-peddling on this issue.
Terrorism is democratic India's No 1 enemy and it has to
be treated as such — decisively and ruthlessly. We
must not allow men with guns to take over the centrestage
and enact a macabre drama. Their cause carries no
conviction. We are seeing what damage fanatics can do. A
poignant example is Afghanistan! |
Crop insurance THE kisan is like a distant and sparingly used limb of the body: it commands attention only during acute pain. These days the farming community in all of Punjab, much of Haryana, the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh, several districts of Karnataka and a few pockets in Maharashtra is busy toting up its losses. An angry kisan frightens the politician and no wonder then all leaders, from the panchayat level novice to the state and central level big dadas, are incessantly talking of saving the poor soul. The latest to add his own to the welter of ideas is the Prime Minister himself. His recipe is to provide insurance cover to grain growers. That is his way of discharging his responsibility of holding the additional charge of Agriculture. Come to think of it, this is not the first time that he has expressed himself in favour of extending insurance to all regions and all crops and without a ceiling on the assured amount. (He spoke on this subject during the election campaign earlier this year when he was canvassing for support in the then drought-hit Marathwada. The voters did not favour his BJP or its ally, the Shiv Sena, and the crop insurance theme did not figure in the grandly titled national agenda for governance.) In other words, like so many others, the Prime Minister too wants to radically rewrite the existing laws to heavily tilt them in favour of the kisan and thus cover the entire nation with an agricultural safety net. It is an ideal solution, and like all ideal solutions, this too bristles with practical difficulties, as experts have pointed out during the past one year or so. At present limited
insurance cover is available in two dozen selected
districts to those who secure loan from commercial or
cooperative banks. The loan documents double up as the
basic papers and the premium comes as a subsidy from
state and Central governments but tied to the loan. But
the problem is that the total insured sum is limited to
Rs 10,000, indicating its eighties origin and also the
government’s indifference to moving forward. No
doubt, the scheme has failed to excite anyone other than
a few politicians who find it profitable, if not
mandatory, to strike a strident pro-kisan posture. The
biggest hurdle in making crop insurance farmer-friendly
is to fix the premium amount for various crops in various
regions (depending on how prone they are to damage) and,
more importantly, collect this amount from big and small
farmers without causing tears. One novel idea is for the
state governments to set apart a fraction of the various
forms of cess they collect from the kisan to bankroll
this insurance. This has the additional merit of
providing a very reasonable estimate of the total crop
value of each farmer. In an adverse year, the percentage
of damage can be worked out to settle the insurance
claim. Once put into operation, there are bound to be
initial complaints of irregularities, even fraud, and
under-assessment of the damage. But these are not
insurmountable. What is insurmountable is the apathy that
will set in once the present mood of total loss fades
into memory, no matter how many leaders talk of crop
insurance and how often. |
BJP's patchwork politics
WHILE trivial issues engage the attention of our rulers, the basic problems affecting the common man remain unattended to and uncared for. Practically, all political parties are guilty on this count. Regrettably, the present leaders are not cast in the mould of pre-Independence leaders. They show all the weaknesses of manipulation, class and caste affiliations, etc. Those who thought that the Bharatiya Janata Party will be different in words and action are now increasingly feeling disappointed at the way the party is going about the business of power management. Going by its performance at the Centre and in the states, it does not know how to govern and manage the complex polity of this vast nation. This is a pity. Perhaps the BJP will learn from its mistakes. It is no secret that the BJP leadership at various levels has failed to set the pace for anything worthwhile which would improve the quality of life of ordinary citizens. Take the onion price. The authorities in Delhi failed to take the necessary correctives in anticipation of the impending crisis. After all, the damage caused to the onion crop as a result of heavy rain could not have been a nature's closely guarded secret. The official indifference is mind-boggling. The export of onions continued till recently. No wonder, the price skyrocketed to an all-time high of Rs 60 a kg. It was only when the public anger was highlighted in the media that the government decided to import onion. Behind this decision was poll calculations — Assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, etc. Delhi's new Chief Minister, Ms Sushma Swaraj, has already promised to sell onions at Rs 5 a kg to her voters. Some consolation! Election is political business. Indian politics revolves around vote banks. The BJP leaders' main problem today is how to win back the confidence of voters in Delhi where the party's credibility is low. A feeling has grown that the BJP-controlled administration in Delhi and beyond has failed in its primary duty of attending to the citizen's problems. Its failures have indeed been glaring — from the adulterated mustard oil scandal to the deteriorating law and order situation to the rising prices of essential commodities. It is openly alleged that the BJP administration does not act against the offenders because it is a party of traders! Similarly, Prime Minister
Atal Behari Vajpayee and others often speak against
corruption. But their non-action shows that they may be
against corruption as such but not against the corrupt.
Of course, it will be unfair to solely blame the BJP for
corruption. The Congress was the main culprit in this
regard. We know for sure that corruption has virtually
become a way of life. In the past 51 years or so only two
prominent persons — Mundra and Dalmia — have
been convicted and now Hiten Dalal (in the hawala scam).
Thousands of politicians, bureaucrats, public officers
and others accused of the corporate frauds have managed
to go scot-free. Why? Will it be wrong to say that the
rulers are no longer interested in punishing the corrupt?
They do not seem to bother about the failure of the law
or of the police or of the system in this regard. Practically every aspect of governance has failed. Only criminals have succeeded is sabotaging the system. A number of them have got elected to legislatures, especially in UP and Bihar. What sort of India are we building? We surely do not want democracy to become a play thing in the hands of criminals, scoundrels and middle men. In this scenario only the ordinary citizens are at a disadvantage. The earlier hope that the BJP would be different has been belied. Looking at the working of the party, one gets a feeling that there is hardly any difference between the BJP and the Congress of the yesteryears. In fact, the BJP today looks like a saffron version of the Congress of the past. Its style of functioning smacks of the same old stinking order. There is no innovation of any sort in any critical area of government functioning. The BJP as the dominant party of the ruling coalition has hardly initiated any solid step to cut down wasteful public expenditure. True, there had been setbacks and disappointments in the past. However, few really doubted that given patience and skill, this could be put right. But this mood of optimism has been steadily eroded and come to be replaced by the loss of hope in the face of what newspapers report almost everyday from one part of the country or another. We are surely witnessing a complex transition. Against this background, a number of questions have to be answered by the political leaders and their parties. There has been a general failure in creating an alternative system which can revolutionise the very process of a peaceful transition. What we probably require is a more responsive system so that the search for answers becomes a meaningful exercise. Instead of indulging in gimmicks, the BJP as the main party in the ruling alliance should try to set the pace for tackling the basic problems facing the people. It must appreciate the fact that there are no shortcuts to the socio-economic revolution in India. Those who attempt to short-circuit this part by dogmatic formulas and cliches or by unprincipled manoeuvres are bound to come to grief sooner rather than later. The mess in Delhi should make the BJP leadership do some soul-searching. It is a fact that the party has not been able to sustain the goodwill of the people. Why is it so? Mr Madan Lal Khurana bowed out gracefully when his name figured in the hawala scandal. Then came Mr Sahib Singh Verma. Once Mr Khurana's name was cleared by the court, the Chief Ministership of Delhi should have gone back to him. But Mr Sahib Singh Verma had his own game plan backed up by the Jats of Outer Delhi. The caste factor is very much at play in the BJP's vote bank politics. So, how is it different from the other parties? Ms Sushma Swaraj's installation as the Chief Minister of Delhi was nothing but an exercise in deception. The BJP high command apparently thinks that Mrs Sushma Swaraj's oratory and her youthful face could reverse the party's slidedown. From the people's point of view, the issue is not whether Ms Sushma Swaraj will be able to carry the day at the hustings or not. The issue is whether there is enough will among the BJP leaders to tackle the basic problems facing the people in Delhi and other parts of the country. What is regrettable is that the BJP does not seem to learn even the hard way! Democracy essentially is government of the people. It must, therefore, reflect the people's hopes and aspirations. Political leaders of all shades of opinion must realise that democracy cannot be sustained by borrowing ideas from outside or by swearing by the high-sounding provisions of the written Constitution. All these and other checks and balances can only be aids to decide how best and in what manner the people wish to be governed. Unfortunately, the people's will these days seems to get lost amidst the failures of the administration and political leaders. What can be a sadder
spectacle than the fact that in the law of the jungle
prevailing in the corridors of power, the ordinary
citizen thinks that the best way to get his problem
solved is to approach an official through some personal
link. An official who likes to work strictly on
impersonal principles finds it very difficult to resist
the pressures from the vested interests that have got
built into the system. Amidst the increasing problems faced by the citizens, these vested interests seem to be working overtime to have things their way. In fact, they have hijacked the system. Everybody knows that Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee is a well-meaning leader who would like to take the party and the government in a definite direction. But he apparently finds himself helpless as the coalition partners bully him into submission even with regard to the distribution of Cabinet portfolios . Nothing can be more pathetic than this. This is a sad commentary on the sick state of affairs. As the days go by, the people seem to realise that if the Prime Minister and his party cannot have their way with the coalition partners on small matters, and cannot even discipline their own partymen, then how can they expect their longstanding problems to be tackled and solved. There is an agonising choice and perhaps their state of helplessness is reflected in an Oriental song: Sumai enters the forest and collects leaves He does not know how big the forest is For a leaf is not even a tree and definitely not a forest. Like Sumai's predicament, the people do not know what is what and what to look for, and where. How can they find a "tree" when "forests" are being felled ruthlessly? Politics in India these days has two faces — one visible and the other invisible. And given the complexity of the Indian situation, it is the invisible face that rules the roost. The loot mentality pervades everywhere. It was so during the Congress time. It is there under the regime of the BJP-led coalition. Things can only be said to have gone from bad to worse. The people want to arrest
and reverse this drift. Elections alone cannot solve the
basic problems. We need to radically change the system.
And the answer lies in adopting the presidential system
of government with the requisite checks and balances.
There has to be at least visible governance of the
country on a continuous basis without any hindrance from
the negative forces operating on behalf of the vested
interests in the name of the parliamentary system! It is
time the ruling elite cared for the dreams, aspirations
and desires of the people living on the margins! Is this
a tall order? Certainly not. All that we require is the
will to govern correctly and honestly for the good of the
people. |
Job problem: how to meet the challenge UNEMPLOYMENT is a challenge to development economics as it is practised in today’s world. It is essentially a twentieth century phenomenon, thanks to the wonders of science and technology if there is a technological solution to any problem, as some wizards may claim, there is a socio-economic problem to such solutions. Aren’t the breakthroughs achieved in medical science partly responsible for the burgeoning population, particularly the greying fraternity? This is typical of the twentieth century paradoxes. Be that as it may, let’s appreciate that people are not just consumers of the limited resources we have, but also the potential producers of wealth. Human beings constitute a renewable resource, and the governments ought to invest in this resource to augment the human capital. In fact, the poverty afflicting the world today is not a modern day disease. Humankind has witnessed the worst form of it throughout its history. What is exceptional is the wealth of the modern developed nations which have acquired it, not by adding to the developing world’s want and misery but by creating wealth. And wealth they amassed by bestowing on the citizenry the economic freedom which led to economic development. This is precisely the essence of liberalism which India has cautiously embarked upon. It is against this backdrop that the recently released World Employment Report (1998-99) should be viewed. This doleful document from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) lays stress on the development of high quality skills of the labour force, particularly in those countries which are in the throes of globalisation. There will be “two societies” in the future: highly paid knowledge workers and low-paid service workers. Few will disagree that protection against international competition also protects “low technical competence”! Training is a means to reduce obsolescence among workers and organisations in the face of relentless technological innovations. Living organisations have no option but to re-engineer themselves technologically and re-structure socially, a la the snakes which molt and shed their skins periodically. Given the value-addition through training, workers will not only cease feeling technologically beleaguered but also emerge as stakeholders in the organisation. “Downsizing” is anathema to the workers who are mortally scared of being axed as the industries undergo the period of “creative destruction” . Instead of laying off people, the possibility of inventing productive and profitable jobs should be collectively explored. On the other hand, it is quixotic that hordes of the government staff rendered surplus in the wake of technological upgradation and de-control measures wait endlessly to get gainfully redeployed. The programmes aimed at retraining and redeployment of the redundant staff have met with little success so far. The mindset of “I want a job, but I will not work” will have to change. Our protective labour policies protect a bad worker too! The ILO report presents a grim employment scenario, made worse by the ongoing financial crises the world over. It suggests that the emerging economies like India should resist the temptation of going back on the reforms and invest more in education and training of their work-force. India accounts for 23 million unemployed or underemployed persons out of the global figure of one billion. And worse, less than 10 per cent of the new entrants to our labour force possess any formal training. On the rural front, the scenario is grimmer. Both in rural and urban India, double digit inflation is going to erode the real wages, even though the wages for agricultural labour have steadily risen over the past three years. Lingering recession in major segments of Indian industry has led to a considerable decline in non-farm employment, particularly in the construction sector. Less than 5 per cent GDP growth likely this year cannot but further constrict the employment market. The government would do well to develop appropriate transport linkages between the metros and their satellite townships so that the former get decongested, and dispersion of opportunities takes place to the advantage of all concerned. This would, however, call for the creation of infrastructural parity, among other things. Promotion of the age-old
craftsmanship and skills is expected to give the much
needed boost to the downtrodden who have been hit hard by
the spate of mass-produced goods. Here again appropriate
training in the modern methods of technology and
management is vital to improving upon the cost and
quality of the products. This was aptly emphasised by the
Prime Minister while launching the KVIC’s intensive
rural employment generation programme (IREGP) on the
Gandhi Jayanti day. |
Search on for new C’wealth
Secy-Gen MORE than a year early, two candidates — a politician from New Zealand and a diplomat from Bangladesh — have thrown their hats into the ring for the job of Commonwealth Secretary-General. The post becomes vacant in less than two years, when Chief Emeka Anyaoku of Nigeria has to step down. Foreign Minister Donald McKinnon and former permanent head of the foreign ministry Farooq Subhan have been nominated by their governments and begun their campaigns to win over the 54 member countries. Subhan began his campaign nearly a year ago. For months now he has been touring the world seeking support. He has visited Africa, lobbied the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Durban and gone to London several times. There is plenty of time for other candidates to enter the race, but the field will be limited because it is generally agreed that the post must be filled this time by someone from the Asia-Pacific region, the first three secretaries-general having come from North America, the Caribbean and Africa. India and Pakistan, as the two biggest Commonwealth countries, would seem to have a priority, but Canada for one has indicated that it is unlikely to support candidates from either as a result of their nuclear testing. Pakistan is backing Subhan. A Malaysian candidate has been expected, but there is no sign that the obvious person, former Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam, wants the post. No candidate is in sight from the Pacific island countries. Subhan claims strong support, while the New Zealanders say that already 30 countries have agreed to back McKinnon, who has been Foreign Minister for eight years and won high praise for his success in mediating a peace deal in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. A nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, McKinnon was foreign minister when the Commonwealth summit in Auckland, New Zealand, suspended Nigeria from membership after the hanging of Ogoni writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995. Since then he has been deputy chairman of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) of eight foreign ministers which has been grappling with the Nigerian problem. Anyaoku officially ends his term of office on June 30, 2000, and the appointment will be made when Commonwealth leaders meet in South Africa, probably Durban, for their biennial summit in November, 1999. Under new rules agreed at the 1993 summit in Cyprus the term of a Secretary-General was reduced from five to four years and limited to two terms. Hitherto there was no such limit and Shridath Ramphal of Guyana held the job for 15 years. Last time it fell vacant, in 1990, the contest was keenly fought. Anyaoku’s challenger was former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. Each travelled the Commonwealth to win support, and to the end Fraser claimed majority backing. So the matter had to be taken to the vote — breaking the tradition that the Commonwealth never votes on any matter but decides by consensus. The leaders voted at their 1989 Kuala Lumpur summit and Anyaoku was the clear winner. Given that there have only been three secretaries-general in the 33 years of the secretariat’s life, arguments over the nature of the role persist even today. The debate in Commonwealth
circles has always been whether the post of
secretary-general should be held by a diplomat or a
politician. The answer depends on how important a
political role the Common-wealth should play on the world
stage. Many people see it as primarily a functional body. A former New Zealand Prime Minister, the abrasive Robert Muldoon, once famously said that the Secretary-General, then Ramphal, was only present at heads of government meetings “to take the minutes.” McKinnon is hardly likely to hold that view. Another body of opinion argues that the Commonwealth should raise its political profile. A steadily developing aspect of the Secretary-General’s work is a provider of good offices in disputes within member countries. The first Secretary-General was a Canadian diplomat with a strong political awareness, Arnold Smith, who set up the Secretariat from scratch in 1965. Until then the affairs of the Commonwealth, at that time reaching the end of its evolution from the British Empire, had been administered by the British government. Smith soon asserted himself, particularly in the long struggle with the white regime in Southern Rhodesia, as an independent executive serving all member governments. At the time he moved into Marlborough House, in London’s Pall Mall, there were 21 countries in the Commonwealth. Today they number 54. The Commonwealth has always developed organically, so from the outset the functions and obligations of the Secretariat and its secretary-general were set down loosely. The memorandum of 1965 describes its terms of reference quite vaguely. It said the staff should “be seen to be the servants of Commonwealth countries collectively,” and that the staff and functions “should be left to expand pragmatically in the light of experience”. The only cautionary note was that “the Secretariat should not arrogate to itself executive functions.” A main thrust of Commonwealth policy in recent years has been to further good governance, democracy and human rights. Over the years Anyaoku and his team have tried in many areas, with varying degrees of success, to defuse dangerous or potentially dangerous situations — in Bangladesh, Kenya, Zanzibar, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, West Africa and Lesotho. The development of globalisation and gradual erosion of sovereignty leading to the acceptance of outside international intervention in certain dangerous situations means that the political role of the Commonwealth is likely to increase in the 21st century. This will seem to suggest
that if other contenders do not emerge, a politician like
McKinnon stands the best chance of becoming its next
Secretary-General. — Gemini News |
Israeli mapmakers outwit Arafat IF THE agreement on the 13 per cent Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank is signed, its authors in Maryland will all claim victory, but what will the Palestinians in the occupied territories and the Gaza Strip be thinking about the negotiating skills of their leader, Yasser Arafat? Without doubt, Mr Arafat is still cherished by the masses as their pre-eminent chief, the “rais” who almost singlehandedly formed the global image of Palestinian resistance with his chequered “keffiye” and olive military garb. But as the resistance struggle exhausted its various phases and the Palestine Liberation Organisation finally gained a toe-hold in its old homeland, first in Gaza and now in the West Bank, attitudes towards Mr Arafat are changing. Rumours about his failing health abound but his autocratic style of leadership has never waivered. In the endgame that the Oslo accords are supposed to represent, that style appears to be more of a handicap than an advantage. Mr Arafat’s instincts have always been to divide and rule, which is presumably a wise counsel when one is leading a many-headed resistance hydra with enemies not only in Israel but throughout the despotic world of Arab politics. Unfortunately, such methods run counter to good negotiating practice, leaving loyal allies gasping with incomprehension at being hung out to dry during the complex negotiating process. Witness the resignation of
his chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, last month, Mr Erekat
was exasperated to find that Mr Arafat had sanctioned Abu
Ala, an architect of the Oslo accord, to hold secret
negotiations with the office of Israel’s Prime
Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu which he thought would
weaken the Palestinians’ bargaining strength. Mr Arafat has little patience with the important details of peacemaking and is particularly fallible on geography and the minutiae of cartography, a factor which Israelis such as the new foreign minister, Ariel Sharon, are quick to exploit. While Mr Sharon can justifiably brag that he has walked every wadi and hilltop of “Judea and Samaria”, Mr Arafat, who was born in Cairo, is unfamiliar with the terrain and has surrounded himself with aides who also lack first-hand knowledge of the land. In 1994 at the signing ceremony in Cairo of the fleshed-out Oslo plan, Mr Arafat deliberately failed to sign the map showing the size of Jericho, which he had always insisted would have to be included with Gaza in the first wave of the territorial handovers. Under Jordanian rule, Jericho had been a large district encompassing 136 square miles, but the Israelis managed to browbeat Mr Arafat into accepting a stricter definition of only 20 square miles. With his dignity at stake and in front of the television cameras, the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, railed at Mr Arafat who duly signed the map. As then, Mr Arafat is now being outmanoeuvred by the Israeli mapmakers who, according to Palestinian sources, prevailed upon their leader three years ago to sign a map known as Military Order No 50, which shows a network of bypass roads linking the Jewish settlements and slicing the West Bank into salami-like strips. The likeliest outcome of any successful final status negotiations is a Palestinian state of little more than 50 per cent of overall West Bank territory. Even Israel’s former pro-Oslo Labour Government negotiators have admitted that they never expected to cede much more than that to Mr Arafat, but it has come as more than a surprise to Palestinians. Writing in the Cairo daily newspaper Al-Ahram, the Palestinian intellectual Edward Said scoffed at Mr Arafat’s recent threats to declare statehood next May, noting that he had already done so in November, 1988 in Algiers, Professor Said tried to imagine the possible future of a country comprising only 60 per cent of the Gaza Strip (the rest is held by Jewish settlers) and 3 per cent of the West Bank. “If the last few things have proved one thing,” Prof Said wrote, “It is the bankruptcy of the vision proclaimed by Oslo and of the leadership that engineered the whole wretched thing. “It left huge numbers of Palestinains unrepresented, impoverished and forgotten; it allowed Isreal to expropriate more land in addition to consolidating its hold on Jerusalem... it validated the notion of what can only be called petty Palestinian nationalism, which in reality was little more than a few worn-out slogans and the survival of the old PLO leadership.” It is not just Palestinian thinkers who believe that Mr Arafat has got it disastrously wrong. The Holocaust survivor and human rights activist Israel Shahak said of Oslo: “The agreement means that Arafat is now annexed by the American-Israeli security system. In return he will get nothing except permission to be a local dictator.” The evidence in favour of this judgement begins to pile up. Rejecting the concept of organisation and ignoring anyone with administrative experience, the Palestinian leader has had three drivers for every car. Everything from distributing aid money to who got a telephone line was decided by the chief,” according to Mr Arafat’s biographer, Said Aburish. “The measure of
anyone’s importance was their ability to meet him
and to have their picture taken with him. Mr Arafat
reverted to his favourite role of tribal sheikh.”
— By arrangement with The Guardian |
THE committee which was appointed some time ago in Behar to consider if it is possible to abolish the excise revenue has issued its report. The enquiry was instituted on account of the growing volume of opinion against the evil caused by liquor. The committee reports that the abolition of the excise revenue would mean bankruptcy to the province and for that reason should not be entertained. It is pointed out that the other sources of revenue are not very promising in the province and it is not possible to forego excise revenue which is the second largest source of income. But the committee was not asked to suggest other means of raising revenue, and it has not explored this field. In other provinces also proposals for excise reform have been negative by the authorities for one reason or the other and no province has had the foresight to take a bold and courageous step in abolishing this source of revenue and finding other sources based on the moral and material advancement of the people instead of their decay and deterioration. The question, therefore,
cannot be regarded as closed. Excise is a transferred
subject and it is still open to a popular minister in any
province to take a bold step with popular support to put
a stop to excise and find other sources of revenue.
Before fresh taxation on a new basis is suggested, people
will ask for effective economy and reduction in
expenditure. |
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