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Monday,
August
27,
2001, Chandigarh, India   |
A matter of credit There is life after Poonch! |
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Remembering Nazi attack on Russia Militant diktats contrary to Islamic
thought
Anupam Gupta
When the boss calls ... sue him
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A matter of credit AVAILABILITY of easy and cheap credit is the second major crippling factor in agricultural operations. The first is the effect of the vagaries of weather and market forces, read the avarice of the middlemen. Even before Independence cooperative societies came up to provide crop loans or loans against the mortgage of land and at low interest rates. These were actually no profit, no loss organisations, since the members were shareholders and had a personal stake in the smooth running of these rural or semi-rural institutions. The elected office-bearers were shareholders and had intimate knowledge of the potentialities and problems of the rural folk. The cooperatives had one or the other focused issue — farming, handloom weaving or sugarcane growing. Most states set up agricultural credit societies; Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are front leaders in bringing together weavers and Maharashtra is the champion in building cooperative sugar mills. Handloom weavers in the two southern states have tasted the success of this mutual help endeavour and the sugarcane growers of western Maharashtra are a political force to reckon with. The kisans all over the country are the ones who have not benefited and for obvious reasons. The cooperative banks are under dual control of the RBI and the state governments. Hence they have remained unclaimed babies. Worse, states misuse the power to topple the management of those institutions controlled by rival political parties, sidestepping the democratic norm of election and power. Prime Minister Vajpayee wanted depoliticisation of the running of these cooperative institutions and the closure of those which could not be revived. He was addressing Chief Ministers on this subject on Saturday. It is a call in frustration. Depoliticisation is not possible these days when even religion and education is deeply politicised. First an authentic apolitical atmosphere has to be built before the government can demand depoliticisation. Two, closure of rural credit institutions will cause a lot of pain to the needy in these days of acute kisan stress. A way out is to infuse funds through a new organisation, as the Jagdish Capoor committee has suggested and as Haryana Chief Minister Chautala and Union Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh have demanded. These are genuine concerns and warrant immediate and “depoliticised” action. As it is, securing credit from cooperative banks is time-consuming and hurtful to the pride of the kisan. (It is well to remember that the recovery of rural loans has been an eye-popping 90 per cent or more and suicides reflect the extreme reaction of not being able to return the money in time.) The rural credit system has become moribund and the dominance of the arhtias in rural areas is a telling evidence. Rural credit is not a matter of conference talk but of concrete action. Of the latter, the country is yet to see any action. |
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There is life after Poonch! THE account of the death and disability written brazenly on Friday night by Pakistani militants in Poonch city cannot be routinely added to the current year’s black book of terror in Jammu and Kashmir. The ultimate precaution of extending the Disturbed Areas Act and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (1990) to the entire Jammu region has been taken. Looking down from Srinagar towards Jammu one’s gaze stops almost midway at Poonch. The spot of the attack, a police station, is like the core of the city. It should be expected to have round-the-clock tight security and vigil. An Army camp, a station of a CRPF company, the Police Lines and a number of nakas or check-posts are located within a radius of 150 metres or so. Offices and residential premises of top administrative persons are located there. You can compare the place situationally to Srinagar’s Badami Bagh. Killers walk in dressed up as military men, hoodwink every guard (or was there none except an “ex-serviceman” at the police station ?), kill at least seven policemen, have a breather and disappear in their green hideout. It sounds like the proverbial cakewalk. The figure of such deaths, conservatively computed since January at 2020, rises. Many questions remain unanswered even three days after the gory incident, which is said to have been redeemed by the elimination of the killers. What does special military empowerment mean to an oft-targeted border town like Poonch? Or to Rajouri? There was a grenade blast before the firing of the killer rounds of bullets; why was the alarm not raised by the nearby units, installations or posts? There was an encounter near Supowal in Samba tehsil. The exchange of fire lasted “more than 10 hours”. The result: three Armymen were brought home dead. The new security regimen has been put in place for better effect, which should mean a climate of safety. Quite a few persons might have erred in allowing foes to pass as friends at Poonch. They should be made to pay for their delinquency. The time seems to be good for stepping up vigil in the state. The Army has a free hand. The people have easily accessible sources of support. The instrument of internal assessment is discovering the black sheep among the “surrendered” militants. Expectations for better life are rising. Mothers whose sons are joining the Army are feeling proud. The availability of consumer goods is in evidence. Pakistanis are gradually recognising, to quote General Pervez Musharraf, “the enemy within”. The Sindh government’s crackdown on “sectarian outfits” and “jehadi fund-raisers” is being seen as a model move. Hizb-ul-Mujahideen leaders like Muhammad Javed Qasuri and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen General Secretary Fazal Rehman are seeing red because there are few takers for their “incomplete agenda of partition”. If “jehad” funds are depleted and terrorist faces lose their “freedom-fighter” masks, Poonch and Supowal would regain their sense of fearlessness. The security forces are in Jammu and Kashmir to stop the erosion of self-confidence in people. There is abundant life after Poonch and
Supowal. |
Remembering Nazi attack on Russia AMONG
a host of events dominating the Russian scene in the last few weeks, including the visit of Chinese President Ziang Zemin to Russia, President Putin’s meeting with President Bush and a long railway journey to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong II, one event which drew the maximum attention from the common Russian people, especially the older generation, was the 60th anniversary of the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union in June, 1941. It was at that time that Hitler’s huge fascist forces had attacked the then Soviet Union quite unexpectedly and treacherously. The Soviet Union was so badly prepared for such an eventuality that each of its two soldiers had only one rifle at their disposal. On the other hand, the attacking, well-equipped fascist forces consisted of three million soldiers, seven thousand guns, three thousand tanks and two and a half thousands war planes. According to military experts, there is no example of such a gigantic military build-up in human history. German fascist forces started their attack on a small fortress of Brest, near the Polish border, and in a few days spread their war campaign over a vast area of 3000 kilometers. A small number of Soviet soldiers defending the Brest fortress faced the situation bravely, but had to retreat when their stock of 15 bullets for each soldier was exhausted. The soldiers did not have even bandages to wrap their bleeding wounds. Such was the pitiable condition of the Soviet army when it was attacked. One can’t simply understand how a highly clever, strong and alert leader like Stalin with a big, active and efficient KGB network was so easily deceived and duped. But it did happen. It was, therefore, no surprise that fascist forces captured Minsk, the capital of Belarus in five days, and the Soviet forces suffered defeat on all fronts for quite some time. Fascists had reached pretty close to Moscow. In such aweful circumstances, the Soviet war machine was geared up at a high speed to meet the life and death challenge. The positive result was the successful defence of Moscow, and it became the first convincing proof of the Soviet Union’s ability to change the war theatre in its own favour. The events that followed in the next few years ultimately led to the unconditional capitulation of the Nazi forces. The Soviet Union and its allies won the victory on May 9, 1945. But at what price? The Soviet Union had to bear the maximum possible burden of this long-drawn and horrible struggle against the Nazis, who wanted to capture large territories of Europe, including the Soviet Union, and dominate the world with their dangerous philosophy of racial superiority. About 30 million Soviet people lost their lives in this war. There was hardly any family which did not lose some of its near and dear ones. The demographical imbalance created in those years continues even today. About 3 per cent women are more in number than men. Hundreds of villages and towns were destroyed. The Soviet economy was shattered. The country had to be rebuilt from ruins. The courage, bravery and patriotism of the Soviet people of those years is really unimaginable and unparalleled. Numerous examples of their heroic deeds can be recollected and recounted. But, probably, the real story of one war veteran, one hero, who died quite recently at the age of 85 would be sufficient to illustrate this point. Alexei Maresyev was a fighter pilot. His plane was shot down over German occupied territory in April, 1942. Wounded and bleeding, he continued creeping through the snow covered forests for 18 days to reach his own army. Both of his legs had to be amputated below the knee and he was given prostheses to enable him to walk. He worked hard and painfully with his artificial wooden legs and was able not only to walk normally but even dance. He then insisted that he should be allowed to go back to the front, fly the fighter plane and fight the fascists. The Soviet War Commission agreed to his repeated requests with great difficulty. Ultimately, he returned to his regiment, fought bravely against the Nazis and downed their 11 planes. He was honoured with the title “Hero of the Soviet Union” and his life story was penned by a well-known Soviet writer, Boris Polevoy, “Tale of a Real Man”. This book is still quite popular with the Russians and has been translated in dozens of world languages, including Hindi. Modest Maresyev never liked to be called a hero or a legendary figure. About two months back, his friends and admirers had made elaborate and impressive arrangements to celebrate his 85th birthday, when he suddenly died and the birthday party turned into a mourning meeting. Soviet war history has many such accounts of bravery. But will it not be more desirable that the world does not have to face such horrible times again? On the 60th anniversary of the fascist war against the Soviet Union, President Putin rightly emphasised that “We should not forget such terrific events of history and their lessons. Even now some small armed conflicts are taking place here and there, and these can turn into big wars. In our times, terrorism has become one of the greatest dangers and the whole world should fight it jointly.” Yes, terrorism, fundamentalism and extremism pose the greatest threat to the world peace. Fascists and racists are on the rise. Unfortunately, many people, especially the younger generation in the West, have no idea about the horrors of such a destructive war as the Soviets had to face. One must not forget the tragic events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki also and remember that a big war in our nuclear age can completely annihilate mankind. Ever since I came to Moscow 45 years ago, I have been hearing one sentence quite often from my Russian friends, acquaintances and even strangers — “If only there was no such war!” The same was repeated by many at the 60th anniversary of the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union, especially by the representatives of the older generation, with much greater fear for the future. One can easily understand their feelings. The wearer alone knows where the shoe pinches. The writer is based in Moscow. |
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Militant diktats contrary to Islamic
thought MILITANT diktats in the Kashmir valley commanding women to wear a burqa (veil) have terrorised them. This resembles the Taliban code in Afghanistan. But is Islam “uncompromising”, “lacking liberal thought” and, above all, “militant and fundamentalist in outlook”, as made out by most of us? The militants are wrong. When in the name of religion injustice is inflicted upon humanity, the loftiness of religion gets eroded. It is a distortion of a religion that has permitted it to be used as a tool of domination over the elite and the masses. Based on the Quran and Hadith (sayings of the Prophet), the tenets of Islam actually seek to uplift society. Emphasised in the Quran is the import of building one’s intellect, the pursuit of knowledge and the reason for human development. The Quran repeatedly uses the expression “Why do they not reflect? Why do they not ponder?” Prophet Mohammad had said, “Economy (frugality) in spending is half of livelihood, love for people is half of wisdom and intelligent questioning is half of learning.” He also said that to seek knowledge is the duty of every Muslim (male and female). Regarding women’s attire, Kamal Matinuddin in his “The Taliban Phenomenon, Afghanistan 1994-1997” brings out an interesting point. Questioning the Taliban directives which made it compulsory for Afghan women to cover themselves from head to toe while venturing outside their homes, he confronts Anwarul Haq, who helps to run a famous “deeni madarsa” in the NWFP. Matinuddin reminded Haq about the Quranic verse, “and tell the believing men to lower their gaze and be modest and tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest.” (Verses 24.30 and 24.31.) How is that possible, he questions, if the eyes of the women are not exposed? Evading this poser, Anwarul Haq obfuscates the issue: “Women’s eyes and hands can be the cause of immoral deeds. Many ulema (religious scholars) have, therefore, given fatwas (religious edicts) that women must cover all parts of their bodies, including the eyes and hands.” Matinuddin cites the following example but he does not draw any conclusion from it. Asma bint Abu Bakar, sister of the Holy Prophet’s wife Aisha, one day came to the Prophet’s house wearing thin clothes. The Holy Prophet turned his head away and said, “It is not proper that you should reveal anything except this and this,” pointing toward her face and hands. Suggested by this advice of the Holy Prophet is the requirement that women’s dresses should not be revealing. Moderate and refreshing views on Islamic thought and concepts are contained in “This is Islam” (edited by K.K. Usman) to which eminent scholars of this religion have contributed. It explains that the dress code in Islam is intended to cover one’s shame, beautify the human personality and uphold his/her dignity. It accepts as true that the pattern of dressing will necessarily reflect the culture, customs, climate, prevailing fashion and socio-economic conditions of a people. As explained in the Quran: “O Children of Adam! We have bestowed raiment upon you to cover your shame as well as to be an adornment to you; but the raiment of piety (which covers and beautifies the inner self) is the best.” For women Islam has specific guidelines on the dress code. The Quran enjoins: “O Prophet! Tell your wives and daughters and all the believing women to draw their cloaks close round them whenever they go out of their homes. It is for their own protection so that they may not be molested...” While Islam does not specify a particular style or form of dress, what is required according to the aforementioned Quranic verse is that it should cover the woman’s body properly and conceal her form so that undue attention by strangers is avoided. An observation by Dr Ali Shariati sheds more light on the issue. In the past the chador (head-to-toe garment) was the mark of distinction for elite groups, a measure of social prestige, and a sort of sanctuary offering women dignity and reverence. Today it is considered by many as a restricting fetter upon the woman. Contemporary thinking regards it as ugly and odious. Used as a means of exploitation and suppression, religion becomes a negative force when its teachings are viewed in a narrow context and as a pretext for prejudice and persecution. In sum, the basic Islamic concepts regarding the dress code contain three parameters: The dress must be clean, and it should conceal rather than reveal. It should beautify one’s personality, thus enhancing one’s dignity. It should not be wasteful or extravagant. |
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Back to the terrorism days
but with a slant THE
Punjab and Haryana High Court dropped a bombshell last week. At a time when the patron-saints of terrorism and secession like Wassan Singh Zaffarwal and Jagjit Singh Chohan are being openly rehabilitated without any signs of judicial consternation, a learned Single Judge of the High Court has used the vexed “ORP” promotions issue in the Punjab police to deride the entire battle against terrorism in Punjab. And to assail, repeatedly and vociferously, the “then Director-General of Police”, Punjab, who led that battle from the front. And whom, rather than the terrorists, the Judge obviously considers to be the main culprit of Punjab’s recent, strife-torn past. ORP, observed Justice J.S. Narang last week, mixing personal conviction with legal interpretation, is “nothing but a misnomer coined... for preferring blue-eyed boys over senior persons and that too at that time when almost absolute power had been acquired by the then Director-General of Police under the name of terrorism.” Found on page 19, this quote from the judgement in Bachan Singh Randhawa’s case, pronounced on August 20, is but one of the 15 occasions when the word “then” has been prefixed by the Judge to the term “Director-General of Police” to refer to Mr K.P.S. Gill without naming him. Spread all through the 58-page judgement, the first time on page 2 and the 15th on page 56, the repeated use of the prefix coupled with the tone and slant of the observations made, has the clear effect of laying the entire blame on Mr Gill. Not only for ORP promotions, or promotions in “one’s own rank and pay” — the immediate and only issue before the court — but also for the larger crime of combating and vanquishing terrorism. “To understand terrorism, one has to experience it,” Mr Gill’s predecessor, Julio Francis Ribeiro — the first top-notch police officer to apply himself to the task in Punjab — writes in his memoirs “Bullet for Bullet”, published by Viking in 1998. It was a phenomenon, he says, that he had not encountered earlier. He had dealt with ordinary as well as organised crime; crimes of violence as well as white-collar crimes; but terrorism was a totally new concept. It is necessary sometimes to reiterate the elementary. Terrorists, writes Mr Ribeiro, operate by causing terror — a “quantum of terror beyond the imagination of people living outside the area of their operations.” Innocent people are gunned down at the most unexpected spots, at the most unexpected times, with the sole intention of causing panic. A man-eater attacks at random. Nobody knows who will be the next victim. Hence, everybody in its vicinity lives in fear. Terrorism operates on the same principle. Ordinary citizens, even children, can be struck down only because they happen to be convenient targets. In sheer desperation, Mr Ribeiro goes on, people in Punjab began demanding more protection. They expected the government to end this menace. The government kept assuring them that it was doing its best to provide protection at as many places as possible, and to track down the culprits and deal with them as per law. “Most people,” he says, however, “had lost faith in the courts. They wanted the terrorists to be liquidated by the police. It was the plea of desperate people, in search of desperate solutions to an extreme situation.” Interestingly, he adds (and this is important), “many judges did not want the cases to come to the courts. This is because the judges or their sons or other male relatives were killed if they dared to reject bail applications.” That is not all. “Judges appointed specially to try terrorist offences were, for much of their time, on leave or engaged in influencing their superiors to shift out of such risky jobs.” So much for the rule of law, the criminal justice system and judicial independence. But let us go on. Politicians, Mr Ribeiro writes, responsible for causing the problem in the first place, refrained from visiting villages and terrorist-affected areas out of fear. With judges and politicians out, the “result was that the field was left open to the terrorists and to those who wielded guns on behalf of the State, that is, the police.” Elsewhere in the book, Mr Ribeiro — who, as everyone knows, is no friend of Mr K.P.S. Gill — makes the same point even more succinctly and forcibly. It was inevitable, he writes — speaking of his relations with the senior IAS bureaucracy (or the “State Government”, the usurpation of whose jurisdiction by the DGP the judgement has much to say about) — that in the days of terrorism, the police would have a greater role to play than any other department of the government. “The terrorists had reduced politicians, the political process, bureaucracy, administrative process, judiciary, and the judicial process to irrelevancy. Everybody (says Mr Ribeiro) was challenged. Everybody feared for their lives and for the lives of their progeny.” “They demanded police guards and escorts even for their children. A siege mentality prevailed. The police were hard-pressed to meet all the demands. In this atmosphere, those with guns ruled. Only the terrorists and the police had guns. Hence, only they mattered.” Judges, bureaucrats, politicians — can anyone who has lived through those turbulent times deny, his hand on his heart, the truth of these words? Mark now what the learned Single Judge pronouncing the August 20 verdict has to say on the subject. Mark the words, the tone, the tenor, and the indistinguishable mix of the comment on the violation of rules with the comment on the general situation then prevailing. “By coining the word ORP (reads the verdict), the then Director General of Police created a force within the force because it is obvious that a person who is given the higher number of stars/rank gets the authority over the senior who holds the lower rank and less number of stars... . “It is violation after violation which had been committed by the then Director General of Police and the Government was rendered a helpless and hapless spectator despite the fact that power vested in the Government, yet, it was allowed to be exercised by the then Director General of Police.” “The rules contained in the books (it reads further) were put on the shelves and almost anarchical situation had been created under the garb of terrorism. The rule of law was given a complete good-bye.A patriarchal system seems to have been invoked for governing affairs of the State.” All this, as also the quote from page 19 which I set out earlier, purports technically to be a part of the contentions of the writ petitioners. None of the words quoted find place, however, in the writ petition from which the contentions have been taken and I believe I am not being at all unfair, or incorrect, in treating them as an expression of the Judge’s own deeply held views. Any doubt on this aspect of the matter would be dispelled by what is admittedly, and in any sense of the term, the Judge’s own finding. “It is obvious (he holds) that total and absolute freedom was acquired by the then Director General of Police and that dehors of the rules and regulations, the orders were passed giving promotions.... “Ordinarily and as per the provisions of law (he states), the para-military forces and the police force are meant for fighting terrorism, extremism, anarchical situations and for the purpose of maintaining law and order and also for the protection of society at large, but if the ranks are distributed as ‘booties’, the discipline is lost and the protection of society becomes a secondary aspect.” It is plain that the discussion on the legality of ORP promotions, a subject which falls entirely in the domain of service jurisprudence, has grown into larger reflections on the morality of police action against terrorism as a whole. “If the ranks are distributed (the judgement continues) as have been done in the present case, a race would be created amongst the officers to establish and show the alleged effective fights by them to curb terrorism”. This may involve, the Judge adds, “that a fair and honest person may also be dubbed as terrorist for accomplishing the number by the officer(s) concerned.” Then come the concluding observations which leave no one in any doubt as to which side judicial sympathies are inclined. “If such person is eliminated, it shall be a sad day for the administration and ..if such person is arrested and is produced before the court for facing trial, the task becomes far more difficult for the judicial system. These are such kinds of situations of which the benefit of doubt may come to the lot of the actual terrorist or extremist etc.” With great respect to the learned Judge, these words are better found in a report of the Amnesty International than a judgement on service jurisprudence. More on the jurisprudence of ORP promotions and the whole gamut of terrorism, justice and human rights next week. |
AT a special Dewan of the Sikhs of Lahore held under the auspices of Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Lahore, on 2nd August 1926 in Gurdwara Baoli Sahib, it was resolved that a deputation of the Sikhs consisting of the following gentlemen should wait upon the Deputy Commissioner, Lahore, and place before him the facts of the case in connection with the dispute over the lands including the site upon which a house has been built by Sh Ata Ilahi, and the well of Gudwara Bhai Jawahar Singh, (near Mela Ram's tank): Sardars Sunder Singh Chawla, Jagat Singh Kwatra, Bishen Singh (Dr.) Partap Singh Advocate, Mehar Singh Chawla, Saroop Singh, Sardool Singh Kaviesher, Lal Singh, Khazan Singh Giani, Prem Singh Sodbans, and Partap Singh Tehsildar. |
When the boss calls ... sue him Does your boss plague you with irritating phone calls at home? You would be well within your rights to sue, says Britain’s Institute of Management. The body told company chiefs and managers that if they telephone employees at home they could be contravening human rights legislation and could face legal action. Under the Human Rights Act, which came into force in October last year, telephone calls made to an employee at home might be held to be an invasion of privacy. “An employer does not have the right to demand an employee’s telephone number unless it is specified in the contract that the employee has a duty to be available outside normal working hours”, the institute said. “Even when an employee has indicated a willingness to be called at home, managers should respect privacy and not make unnecessary or inappropriate calls”, its guidelines to its 89,000-strong membership added. The institute’s Director-General, Mary Chapman, said: “The Human Rights Act is an important piece of legislation, potentially far-reaching in its impact across the whole of society”. “It will only be through individual cases that its application will become clear. It is important for us to inform our members and encourage them to reflect on its implications for them in the workplace”. The body also said employees are under no obligation to divulge their addresses except for the purpose of receiving “routine correspondence” in connection with their job, such as salary slips. A spokesman for Britain’s main employers’ organisation, the Confederation of British Industry, said employees’ privacy should be respected “but sometimes the needs of business must take precedence”.
Reuters |
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O Bard strike such strains on your string, That it emits the celestial melody of the Word, And the devotee gets attuned to his God. — Guru Amar Das, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, page 908 *** Repeat His praises in reposeful tunes. — Guru Arjan Dev. Sri Guru Granth Sahib, page 409 *** Blessed are the notes of such rags, which put the mind in a tranquil mood. — Guru Arjan Dev. Sri Guru Granth Sahib, page 958 *** Singing hymns is the elixir in this age of materialism; O saints, sing Shabads with full concentration in God. — Guru Arjan Dev. Sri Guru Granth Sahib, page 1075 |
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