E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

PERSPECTIVE

Kairon: Punjabi dynamism, American accent, lasting legacy

Roopinder Singh IT was 1963. The occasion — the inauguration of the Bhakra Dam. Foreign journalists had been invited by the State government and were told that the Chief Minister of Punjab, Sardar Partap Singh Kairon, would address a press conference. There was some of sniggering — Kairon was not known for his sartorial elegance or urban sophistication.

Sardar Partap Singh Kairon

Redefining Governor’s discretionary powers
V. Eshwar Anand
THE Supreme Court judgement quashing Ms Jayalalitha's appointment as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister because of her conviction in the Tansi land deal and Pleasant Stay Hotel cases is a watershed in the annals of constitutional history as it not only corrected a grave error committed by the then Governor, Mrs Fathima Beevi, but also redefined the discretionary powers of the Governor under Article 164 of the Constitution.

What America should not do
Manish Tewari
THE terrorist strikes on September 11 in New York and Washington D.C. have woken the USA up to the reality, horror, and ugliness of global terrorism. This is the moment of truth for the US and its leadership.

KASHMIR DIARY
The beginnings of insurgency
David Devadas
MUSHTAQ Ahmed Bhat looks pretty relaxed as he strides in, one hand manacled to a thick chain. The other end of the chain is held by one of the posse of policemen who accompany him. It is his day to appear before the trial court at Srinagar just off Lal Chowk. Mushtaq-ul Islam, as Bhat likes to be called, has spent most of the past ten years in custody. 

Harihar Swarup
The best option to save Afghanistan
RETURN of the deposed King of Afghanistan, Mohammad Zahir Shah, appears to be the best option to pull out his war - ravaged country out of an impending doom. Living in exile in Rome for 28 years, the 86-year old Monarch has expressed willingness to return home to end bloodshed in his country.

DELHI DURBAR

Battle royale in Western UP
THE turf war in Western UP is getting complex and interesting as the elections to UP Assembly approach. INLD chief Om Parkash Chautala is seeking to gain ground in the Jat heartland which has traditionally supported Chaudhary Charan Singh and his family. Congress, virtually defunct in the area for the past decade, is trying to revive itself through Parivartan Yatras and rallies by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

• Mishra scores

• Honour politics

• Swadeshi twist

• Disinvestment blues

Humra Quraishi
Focus on culture seems a trifle hazy
POST-Sept 11 developments have certainly affected the general mood in Delhi. The focus seems a trifle hazy, though Delhi will host important events. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban would be visiting here and a series of cultural events stand lined up to coincide with his first visit to the country.

PERSPECTIVE

Kairon: Punjabi dynamism, American accent, lasting legacy
Roopinder Singh

IT was 1963. The occasion — the inauguration of the Bhakra Dam. Foreign journalists had been invited by the State government and were told that the Chief Minister of Punjab, Sardar Partap Singh Kairon, would address a press conference.

There was some of sniggering — Kairon was not known for his sartorial elegance or urban sophistication. People wondered how he would address the foreign reporters. At the press conference, the confident Kairon spoke in English with an American accent. At the end of the meet, one reporter got up and said: “We have been asking ourselves ‘Who after Nehru?’ Well, we have received an answer today.”

This was one of the anecdotes that Sardar Hukam Singh, a former Speaker of the Lok Sabha, often narrated.

The foreign correspondents should not have been so surprised. Kairon, his appearance notwithstanding, was quite cosmopolitan. Khushwant Singh recollects when he asked Kairon the question about what men and which books had the most influence on him. Pat came the answer: “Abraham Lincoln, Lenin, Tilak, Gandhi, Patel and Nehru. As for the books, Uncle Tom’s Cabin still remains my favourite.”

But then Kairon was not someone you could slot easily. Partap Singh was born on October 1, 1901, in Kairon village. He was one of the five children of Nihal Singh, a retired soldier who was active with the Singh Sabha movement and was a pioneer of women’s education. He founded a Sikh school for girls in his village, Kairon. Partap Singh did his schooling in the village, and then went to Khalsa College, Amritsar, from where he left for the United States of America in 1919.

Like most immigrants of that time, he had to work hard. He plucked fruit and worked as an industrial worker for the Ford automobile company. He also studied and was awarded a Master’s degree in political science by the University of Michigan.

During his stay in the USA, he came in contact with the Ghadar Party activists. He returned to India in 1929, and for a while pottered around. He started a weekly paper in English, The New Era, from Amritsar on April 13, 1931, that was closed down when he became active in politics.

Kairon joined the Akali Party initially, but later changed over to the Congress and was jailed on three occasions. He spent a total of five years in jail.

He entered the Punjab Legislative Assembly as an Akali nominee in 1937, defeating the Congress candidate, Baba Gurdit Singh of Sarhali. Kairon was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Punjab for 26 years. From 1947 to 1949, he was a minister in the Gopi Chand Bhargava’s Cabinet and from 1952 to 1956, was a minister in the Bhim Sen Sachar cabinet. On January 23, 1956, he was sworn in as Chief Minister, and shortly thereafter again in April 1957. He held the position for eight years.

As Professor Harbans Singh says: “First as the Development Minister and then as the Chief Minister, Partap Singh Kairon led Punjab in all-round progress and change. Much of his work in the government was concerned with vital details, the removal of hurdles, the creation of opportunities and the psychology and will for work, and the belief in change.”

He did singular service in resettling refugees from East Punjab and during his tenure Punjab made significant progress in creating educational, medical, and other infrastructural facilities. His special contribution was in the field of consolidation of fragmented land and creating an irrigation network, both through canals and tubewells. On a different note, he was responsible of affecting an attitudinal change in the popularising of rearing and consumption of poultry in Punjab.

As Kairon said during a debate in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on September 18, 1963 on the no-confidence motion moved against him: “Mr Speaker, the per capita income of Punjab was Rs 321 in 1952-53 when the Constitution commenced and the new government came into power. At that time the country’s per capita income was Rs 256 which means that our income was Rs 65 more than the all-India figure. Our per capita income rose to Rs 331 by 1955-56. Whereas, our income was Rs 65 more than the All-India (in 1952-53), it was Rs 75 more than the national figures in 1955-56. This means that the difference had increased by another Rs 10.

“Punjab’s per capita income in 1961-62 was Rs 401 as compared to India’s average of Rs 293. How come that I have done all this? This party and its government have achieved this after channelising people’s energy. People have been given land, electricity, factories and roads.”

He was bitterly opposed to the demand for Punjabi Suba and faced various kinds of communal tensions as Chief Minister without conceding much and without compromising on his basic principles. He was a man of vision. Many houses in Leh have Kairon’s portraits. He is credited with having provided roads and introduced potato cultivation, thereby significantly improving the local agrarian economy there.

Kairon was a man of the masses who would often enquire from his visitors the health of their family members as well as that of their livestock, not necessarily in that order. At the same time, in a special commemorative issue of Quami Ekta, Balwant Gargi recollects that he spent a long time with Kairon discussing the former’s tour of Japan, the USA, England and Europe where Gargi had been lecturing on Indian theatre.

This was the time when Kairon was very busy because of the war with China in 1962. He made singular contribution in mobilising the masses and in gathering gold from the villagers for the national war effort. In fact, Punjab made the biggest contribution of gold to the national treasury. He was also an institution builder. The Kurukshetra University, and Punjabi University, Patiala, owe their existence to him.

Jawaharlal Nehru said about him that: “In terms of patriotism, initiative and public spirit, in my considered judgement, in the whole of India there is not another man who can measure up to Sardar Partap Singh Kairon.” The same man during the fag end of his life had to face charges of irregularities and corruption that ultimately forced him to leave office in 1964. The commission of enquiry exonerated him in most cases. But some of the allegations stuck.

He continued to be involved in public service and might have staged a comeback had he not been shot dead by gunmen on February 6, 1965.

Kairon was a multi-faceted personality. He had a larger-than-life image that influenced the shaping of the then Punjab in numerous ways. In developing Chandigarh as the new capital of the partitioned Punjab, for example. Old-timers particularly remember the fight he had with a venerable politician from what became Haryana about the importance and feasibility of Sukhna Lake.

His contribution in the development of PGI, despite opposition from senior members, is also recollected. He is also credited with the development of Faridabad as an industrial hub, the first example of someone exploiting the periphery of the national Capital.

Some old timers treat Kairon as a living entity. His memories are still alive in their minds. His legacy at least is still alive in Punjab and Haryana. More than 36 years after he died many lives are still impacted by what Kairon did. What more could a man want as an epitaph?

Redefining Governor’s discretionary powers
V. Eshwar Anand

THE Supreme Court judgement quashing Ms Jayalalitha's appointment as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister because of her conviction in the Tansi land deal and Pleasant Stay Hotel cases is a watershed in the annals of constitutional history as it not only corrected a grave error committed by the then Governor, Mrs Fathima Beevi, but also redefined the discretionary powers of the Governor under Article 164 of the Constitution.

As the underlying objective of this amendment would be to establish the supremacy of the Constitution, it will not tantamount to changing the basic structure of the Constitution.

What America should not do
Manish Tewari

THE terrorist strikes on September 11 in New York and Washington D.C. have woken the USA up to the reality, horror, and ugliness of global terrorism. This is the moment of truth for the US and its leadership. They need to clearly define this first war of the 21st century. They have two options: The first being, a sterling television performance of US warplanes pounding an already destroyed and ravaged Afghanistan, the US seals or marines storming into Afghanistan seeking Osama bin Laden or his corpse so that it can be strung to the nearest flagpole.

The second is a sustained political, military, diplomatic and ideological battle against all forms of terrorism, support to democratic processes, sanctions against dictatorial and military regimes as well as a serious attempt to address the underlying causes and inequities that produces the human fodder for terrorism.

Though US Secretary of State General Colin Powel has been paying lip-service to not making a distinction between the content, context and locale of terrorism, he said in an interview to the BBC that “terrorism is a curse and its campaign would be against Kashmiri, Irish and Basque terrorism”. While it is one thing to talk tough, what the US would need to do in the coming months is to walk the talk. While President Bush and his cabinet are professing a commitment to the second option, they are at the moment singularly focused on implementing the first. Rhetoric and reality are as different as chalk and cheese. This could well be the nemesis of the mighty US.

It would be in the national and strategic interest of the US not to succumb to the first option but throw its might and resources behind the second. While bringing Osama bin Laden and others to justice, “double standards” on terrorism would have to be eschewed once and for all.

Sadly, the US leadership is seeking the help of the very same nation which is responsible for globalising terrorism. The Taliban regime is a proxy of the Pakistani establishment. And Afghanistan is the strategic depth of Pakistan. If there is one country that is today responsible for the mayhem in America, it is Pakistan and ironically, the US is turning to Pakistan for support in its war against terrorism. More than 60,000 people have died in Punjab and Kashmir alone in the last two decades not to mention Chechnya and other nations, thanks to terror being elevated and refined into a state policy by Pakistan. Civilised society is paying the price in blood for the flawed Afghan policy of the US and its NATO allies in the 80s and 90s. The world is bearing the brunt of the jehadisation of civil society in Pakistan.

Eliminating Osama bin Laden just may not resolve the problem. It may just tantamount to cutting just one of the heads of a hydra-headed monster with the severed head being elevated to the status of a “cult figure” inspiring other misguided zealots to follow suit. The solution lies in eliminating the monster by throttling its “real” support structure. The support structure in this case being the Taliban government of Afghanistan and more so the military establishment in Pakistan that has conceived, conceptualised and implemented the basic philosophy of jehad around the world.

As a first step, the US must insist upon fresh election in Pakistan to restore civilian rule. The street protests in Pakistan in support of bin Laden are a manifestation of the military regime’s attempt to run with the hare and hunt with the hound. It is an attempt to show to the US that the Pakistani government, despite hostile public opinion, is trying it’s best to be a loyal “friend” of the US in it’s hour of need. The US must not allow itself to be fooled by these shenanigans.

President Bush’s attempt to occupy the moral high ground since September 11 would lose much of its sheen if it is seen cozying up to a dictator for narrow partisan ends. Moreover, if Pakistan does not want to play footsie with the US anymore, there is the real danger of its military-mullah combine transferring its nuclear wherewithal to the likes of bin Laden. This would constitute the single biggest threat to global civil society.

Insofar as Afghanistan is concerned, the US should not commit the folly of committing its ground troops to a short or a long term battle. The geography of Afghanistan is it’s biggest ally from outside elements.

The USA’s attempt to prop up deposed ruler like Zahir Shah would be a non-starter. The US would have to create conditions conducive to the establishment of a government duly elected by the people of Afghanistan in a free and fair election conducted under international supervision once the Taliban is exterminated. Afghanistan must become the litmus test of the US’ commitment to democracy.

The US must not allow the conflict to acquire the overtones of a civilisational clash. All talk of crusades against terrorism conjures up images, which the Islamic world both theologically and historically is not comfortable with. A clear distinction has to be made by the US between Islam and terrorism.

If the US is finally serious about eradicating mindless violence and making the world a safer place to live, it would have to make fundamental course corrections in its foreign policy orientation.

The “company” that the US chooses to keep in the coming days in its first war of the 21st century would reflect its resolve and seriousness to fight a sustained war against terrorism.

The US will have to visibly demonstrate that it considers all forms of terrorism as equally reprehensible,be it in New York or New Delhi. Caesar’s wife would not only have to be virtuous but also look to be virtuous.

The writer is a practising lawyer and a former president of the Indian Youth Congress.

KASHMIR DIARY
The beginnings of insurgency
David Devadas

MUSHTAQ Ahmed Bhat looks pretty relaxed as he strides in, one hand manacled to a thick chain. The other end of the chain is held by one of the posse of policemen who accompany him. It is his day to appear before the trial court at Srinagar just off Lal Chowk. Mushtaq-ul Islam, as Bhat likes to be called, has spent most of the past ten years in custody. He sits in the varandah and looks relaxed.

Mushtaq’s mother is already there with food. She offers lassi to the policemen who watch interestedly, particularly when we talk of the beginnings of Kashmir’s insurgency.

Mushtaq may be only in his mid-30s but was a pan-Islamic demagogue in the 1980s. He first burst into the limelight when he ran onto the field during lunch break on the first day of an India-West Indies cricket match in 1983 and dug up the pitch. He was nicknamed Guga as a child and, during the formative years of the insurgency, was called Guga-djinn or Guga sahib, depending on whether one liked him or not. Mushte the chief commander of Hizbullah, one of the smaller Kashmiri militant outfits, but the largest among the few that subscribed zealously to a pan-Islamic ideology.

As then, he believes now that the entire Islamic ummat or community should be under the religious and political control of a single authority, a modern day Caliph. Iran’s 1979 revolution helped to spark the Caliphate, or “Khilafat,” sentiment in the boy and, unlike many of those who shared the view in the 1980s, he continued to hold to the principle. He says he doesn’t approve of killing innocents but has high regard for Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, who base their doctrine on reviving Khilafat. Mushtaq looks clear-eyed and at peace as he says that, even today, the Khilafat movement worldwide is strong and not just limited to the Taliban. Indeed, he seems to know a great deal and says that Lebanon is the biggest centre for this ideology today, after Afghanistan.

Recounting the beginnings of the movement in Kashmir, he says that, unlike groups that sought independence and those who were committed simply to the state’s accession to Pakistan, he believed in accession to Pakistan only as a first step towards the establishment of Khilafat. He still does not believe that Pakistan is truly Islamic, he adds. Among other Kashmiri groups that shared this ideology were Jamiat-ul Mujahideen, the largely Shia Hizb-ul Momineen and Pasdar-i-Inquilabi-Islamia. Jamiat.

The Jamaat-e-Islami, which adopted the leading militant group Hizb-ul Mujahideen and thus became a dominant force in 1992-93, is relatively reserved. Indeed, G.M.Bhat, Kashmir’s Amir-e-Jamaat, disavows militancy altogether, cleverly taking the line that the Hizb may have claimed that the Jamaat was its patron but the Jamaat never once declared that the Hizb was amaat’s nominee in the Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, is more forthright than Bhat. He acknowledges that the Jamaat adopted the Hizb. Plus, he holds firmly that Islam must control every aspect of a believer’s life, including the political. The Jamaat’s founding doctrine too supports the establishment of a Caliphate rather than nationalism. Geelani states, however, that he has always believed that, when the subcontinent was partitioned, Kashmir should have become part of Pakistan. Khilafat, no doubt, has to wait for the right time and nationalism must fill the gap.

Mushtaq, on the other hand, seems to believe that the time is fast approaching, his manacles notwithstanding.

PROFILE

The best option to save Afghanistan
Harihar Swarup

RETURN of the deposed King of Afghanistan, Mohammad Zahir Shah, appears to be the best option to pull out his war - ravaged country out of an impending doom. Living in exile in Rome for 28 years, the 86-year old Monarch has expressed willingness to return home to end bloodshed in his country. Curiously, he did not resist his ouster in a coup in 1973 as he was more anxious to prevent “unnecessary bloodshed” than rightfully claiming his throne . He was indeed committed to the well-being of his people.

The octogenarian Sovereign asserted as the ruling Taliban were isolated and a fierce battle looked certain: “Afghanistan is my country. I have waited for years to be able to return to my homeland and that as soon as possible I want to return among my people to whom I am committed”. He has convened a meeting of “Loya Jigra” (grand assembly), comprising chieftains of various tribes, to elect an interim head of the state and a government in transition. In a speech broadcast over western radios and beamed to Afghanistan, King Zahir called upon “ “compatriots, brother and sisters and my children” to unite and expel “foreign-imposed terrorists (terrorists led by Osama bin Laden) from our homeland”.

Though ending tyrannical Islamist rule of Taliban may take time, a provisional government is certain to be set up under King Zahir.

Almost all Afghans long for his return, considering what happened to them after his removal from power. The deposed ruler is known to be absolutely fit and lives in Rome with his two sons - Ahmed Shah and Nadir Shah. Bald and mustached Monarch wears banker’s suit and greets visitors, whose numbers have been going up since America’s war on the Taliban, in his Roman villa. He speaks both English and French fluently and his first language is Persian even though he is a Pashtun.

America and its allies see Zahir Shah as the only individual who can unite a people plagued by long years of homicidal conflict as, they reckon, he is one of a very few Afghan leaders who might be able to reconcile the Pashtu-dominated south with the non-Pashtuns in the north. There was a time when Pakistan too showed inclination to restore the rule of Zahir Shah. During her first term as the Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, indicated her willingness to restore monarchy in the neighbouring country but the then army chief, Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg and the ISI Chief Hamid Gul, frustrated the move.

Zahir Shah succeeded his father Muhammad Nadir Shah who was assassinated at a prize-giving function in 1933. He is a Pushtun of Durrani clan which has provided most of the rulers to Afghanistan. The landlocked country saw a period of comparative stability and prosperity during Zahir Shah’s rule for 40 years coinciding with the period of the Second World War followed by Cold War. One reason for his success was that he kept away from the cold war rivals and maintained neutrality. In effect, he kept under control the rivalry between the competing Cold War powers seeking to gain influence in Afghanistan. Kabul had during the rule of Zahir Shah excellent relations with India.

An important aspect of political equations, according to J.N. Dixit, who served as India’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, was that country’s animus against newly created Pakistan at the time of partition of India. Afghanistan historically claimed areas described as the North West Frontier Province and portions of Baluchistan as part of Afghan territory on the basis of the jurisdiction which Afghan Kings exercised till almost the middle of the 19th century. With the departure of the British, Afghanistan revived its claims to areas of the North West Frontier Province and portions of Baluchistan. Afghanistan was not happy with the western democracies led by the USA generally questioning Afghan territorial claims and this was, perhaps, the reason that it tilted towards the Soviet Union in the spheres of economic matters and defence requirements.

For example, an incident involving King Zahir Shah and the U.S. President Eisenhower as far back as 1955 is worth quoting. The King approached the U.S. for military assistance which included not only weapons but training of Afghan officers in America. President Eisenhower rejected the request outright on the ground that U.S interest did not extend that far . Soviet Union, too willing to woo Afghanistan, jumped in the fray, not only supplying military armaments but arranging training of top Afghan officers in USSR. The Soviets also built the Salang tunnel, through rugged Hindu Kush mountains, which came to be known as an engineering feat; tanks and armoured personnel carriers could pass through it. Though King Zahir continued his neutrality, his soft corner towards Moscow was inevitable.

Forty-year old rule of King Zahir ended on a sad note. Having ruled Afghanistan for four decades, he never thought he could be dethroned. He left for England on June 25, 1973 for eye treatment . His Prime Minister Daud Khan, an henchmen and blood relative in a coup overthrew the monarch, ending his 40-year-long rule. King Zahir Shah could have made an attempt to stage a comeback but he never did. The reason as he had said himself many times was “to prevent unnecessary bloodshed”. 

DELHI DURBAR

Battle royale in Western UP

THE turf war in Western UP is getting complex and interesting as the elections to UP Assembly approach. INLD chief Om Parkash Chautala is seeking to gain ground in the Jat heartland which has traditionally supported Chaudhary Charan Singh and his family. Congress, virtually defunct in the area for the past decade, is trying to revive itself through Parivartan Yatras and rallies by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. It is trying to cut into the support of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party by making special efforts to woo minorities and Dalits. Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh, who carries the legacy of Chaudhary Charan Singh, has been proving a point or two by holding rallies in Western UP occasionally.

As the big parties clash to take the prized cake in the region which has over 100 Assembly seats and is closest to the national capital, intra-party tussles are slowly showing up. In the Meerut rally of the Congress, which was one of its biggest in the Parivartan Yatras through Western UP, there was a melee as former UP Congress chief Salman Khursheed’s turn came to speak. A Congress MP, who apparently does not see eye-to-eye with Mr Khursheed, decided that it was time for him to move out. And he did not do it alone. There were hordes of his supporters who virtually carried him out of the rally venue. What would have become of the rally is not difficult to imagine.

Mishra scores

It was only a short while ago that there was a concerted effort to get Brajesh Mishra out of the Prime Minister’s Office. Not only the Opposition, but even allies of the National Democratic Alliance were baying for the blood of the high profile Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister. The fallout of the controversy was that External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh had emerged as the key man of the Prime Minister. There was glee in the External Affairs Ministry as they have been eyeing Mishra’s role in foreign policy with suspicion.

The terror attacks in the United States, however, seem to have changed the equations in the PMO. Brajesh Mishra is back with a bang. It is being pointed out that when US President George Bush called up Vajpayee, the Prime Minister promptly suggested that Mishra, who is also the National Security Advisor would visit Washington. At the time of the call, Mishra was already in Moscow. On his return from the capitals of Russia and US, Mishra made another high profile visit to Paris. As for Jaswant Singh he has taken off from where Mishra left. He is currently on a visit to France, US and Germany.

Honour politics

Rao Tula Ram is known to be the last recognised monarch of the Yadav community in India. The release of a postal stamp on him recently was a national honour. However, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) seems to have messed up while conferring the honour, which was in any case late. Surprisingly at the stamp release function in which Information Technology and Communication Minister Pramod Mahajan was the chief guest, there was no member from Rao Tula Ram’s clan and the community was represented by Rajya Sabha member D.P. Yadav.

None of the direct family members of Rao Tula Ram, one of whom has been a former Union Minister and another a member of the BJP itself in Haryana, were at the forefront during the function. It seems the government in its bid to appease the Yadavs went ahead with projecting a person who has no relation with the Rao Tula Ram family. But then, what is in a name till the time right message goes down the line?

Swadeshi twist

US energy major Enron’s decison to sell the Dabhol Power Project and its LNG plant has had few takers among the international firms. With the egos of the Swadeshi votaries being bruised in the multinational controversy, efforts are on to give a new twist to the episode. It is understood that the financial institutions which are working out the sale are suggesting that major public sector units be involved in the takeover. It has been suggested that the power project be taken over by NTPC and the ONGC take up the LNG project.

The two public sector giants have reacted strongly to the suggestions as they don’t have the appetite for taking over the controversy-ridden projects. NTPC has told the Government that it does not want to get involved in the Enron project. As for ONGC, it has said that LNG business was not in synergy with its core business, which was exploration. It seems there are no swadeshi takers for the mega project.

Disinvestment blues

The hue and cry over the BALCO disinvestment has not even died down that the Government has announced its decision to go ahead with selling its stake in 13 more PSUs. The crashing stock markets after the terror attacks in the United States and the general slowdown in the economy seems to have made no impact on the Government. The decision apparently came at the behest of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee who is in a hurry to show results on the economic front. He has fixed the responsibility for the sale on individual administrative ministries of the PSUs. It remains to be seen if any buyers come forward to clinch the deal. Also, whether the Government gets the right price is a subject matter of discussion. One often wonders on what basis the Government takes such crucial decisions.

Disinvestment Ministry officials explained the other day the casual manner in which the Government fixes its target. In one of the earlier budgets, the Finance Ministry had wanted to know from the Disinvestment Ministry the target it hoped to achieve from the sale of Government equity in PSUs. On being told that the Ministry expected around Rs 100 crore, the Finance Ministry said it was too less and the figure should at least be Rs 10,000 crore. Finally, the figure was fixed at Rs 12,000 crore. Why this particular figure nobody knows? May be, the Government knows better.

Contributed by Prashant Sood, T.V. Lakshminarayan and Girija Shankar Kaura.

DIVERSITIES — DELHI LETTER

Focus on culture seems a trifle hazy
Humra Quraishi

POST-Sept 11 developments have certainly affected the general mood in Delhi. The focus seems a trifle hazy, though Delhi will host important events. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban would be visiting here and a series of cultural events stand lined up to coincide with his first visit to the country.

French scriptwriter and author Jean Claude Carriere will be in the city to conduct a five-day script workshop and also for the release of the English translation of his book ``In search of the Mahabharata, Notes of travels in India with Peter Brook,1982-1985’’. Incidentally, this will coincide with the screening of the film ‘Belle de Jour’ (for which Jean Claude wrote the script). But again the expected enthusiasm is missing.

On the occasion of the World Tourism Day, Shovana Traxl Narayan is presenting an evening entitled `Confluence of cultures’ (Vedic and Gregorian chants followed by depiction of various moods set to lyrics in the traditional style and also to lyrics set to music by the well-known Austrian composer Franz Schubert). Many seem worried about the survival of mankind and of our very cultural ethos in this part of the subcontinent. Though the actual war hasn’t really begun, there seems an eerie build-up. The sight of the tens and thousands of Afghans fleeing their country is disturbing. With the borders getting closed, their survival is at stake.

In fact, right in front of me is the report on the impact of war on children by Graca Machel (now Mrs Nelson Mandela). With war clouds looming close, it is imperative to know the ghastly effects of war on children. During her two-year study, she had come up with a comprehensive report which was submitted to the 1996 session of the United Nations General Assembly. Disturbing facts stare out -- of over 150 major conflicts since the second world war, 130 have been fought in the developing countries and armed conflicts kill and maim more children than soldiers — ``to kill the big rats you have to kill the little rats...” is what one political commentator is said to have cynically expressed in a 1994 radio broadcast before violence erupted in Rwanda. It is estimated that some 200,000 child soldiers under 16 years saw armed combat in 1988. Even as the build-up continues, you have CNN’s former South Asia correspondent Anita Pratap’s written word for it. Her book “Island of blood’’ (Penguin) will be released here this week. It apparently details ``frontline reports from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and other South Asian flashpoints...’’.

Surprisingly, though no other literature has been churned out so far, there is a regular UN update on the Afghan refugees fleeing their country, which is a detailed daily account of these refugees at the borders of Pakistan and Iran. Though there have been no fresh (Afghan) refugee arrivals in India, Sikh associations have urged the Government to ensure the safety of the Indian origin refugees.

There are three Afghan refugee organisations in Delhi and one in Faridabad. For details, contact: (i)All Afghan Association,7/9, Jangpura Extension, Bhogal, New Delhi; ii)Afghan Refugee Association of Malviya Nagar, C 220/5, Savitri Nagar, New Delhi; (iii) Khalsa Diwan Welfare Society, S 1/188A, Old Mahavir Nagar, Tilak Nagar, New Delhi; and (iv) Navjavan Society, No.3, Metro Road, Gurudwara, Faridabad.