E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

Moderate voice gagged
MR Abdul Ghani Lone had not veered round to the Indian point of view, but had clearly seen through the Pakistani perfidy. Of late, he had started speaking boldly against foreign extremists and the agencies (a clear reference to the ISI) which had taken the “Kashmiri struggle” in their clutches. 

POTA comes in handy
Discuss shortage of food during a bumper crop and no one will listen. Wait for reports of starvation deaths in Orissa and Gujarat for the debate on food shortage to be taken seriously. Discuss shortage of water in the middle of freezing winter and you will be thrown out. Now is the time to discuss water. 

Wheat for schoolchildren
There are reports that wheat being supplied to children in government primary schools in Punjab is finding its way to shops, defeating the very purpose of the well-intentioned mid-day meal scheme. 

OPINION

A peep into General Musharraf’s mind
Is India prepared to meet terrorist challenge?
G. Parthasarathy
Mr Satish Chandra, Secretary of our National Security Council, is a childhood friend of mine. While professionally brilliant, he has always been a low key, self-effacing person, given to understatement. He was my predecessor in Islamabad when Mr Nawaz Sharif made the fatal mistake of appointing Gen Pervez Musharraf as the Army Chief after forcing the unceremonious exit of the highly respected General Jehangir Karamat. 

IN THE NEWS

Fernandes’ consultant — a newshound to the core
After the experiment of having a high profile media advisor which bombed, Union Defence Minister George Fernandes has zeroed in on media specialist I. Ramamohan Rao as his information consultant. Clearly, the bad publicity for Fernandes and the armed forces in the wake of the Tehelka controversy coupled with the continuing Opposition attack on him in Parliament compelled him to do a rethink.

• Strategist & planner

• Rocca’s mission

Hindus, Muslims can pray under one roof
B. L. Manocha
The holy Qu’ran has in its first seven lines the real essence of the whole book. These seven verses alone constitute the first sura (chapter). (1) In the name of God — most Gracious, most Merciful. (2) All praises for Him, who is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. (3) (Again) most Gracious and most Merciful. (4) Thee shalt judge all men hereafter too. 

Why is India still third-rate economic power?
Anurag Pal
India — dusty, dirty, Third World, Taj Mahal, low-cost IT, horrible toilets, mathematical geniuses, poverty, oily hair, curry, software, violence, tandoori chicken, lawlessness, arranged marriage, religious fundamentalism, nuclear power, bullock carts. 

Dying from lack of sleep?
American neuroscientists have cast light on the secret world of sleep, identifying key genes in fruitflies which appear to regulate our need for a nap and may even stop us from dying from lack of sleep.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

EDITORIALS

Moderate voice gagged

MR Abdul Ghani Lone had not veered round to the Indian point of view, but had clearly seen through the Pakistani perfidy. Of late, he had started speaking boldly against foreign extremists and the agencies (a clear reference to the ISI) which had taken the “Kashmiri struggle” in their clutches. The only separatist leader who was thus taking on Pakistan has had to pay with his life. If his son openly blames the ISI for the black deed, it only shows that the Pakistani avowal of innocence and the attempt to blame India for the murder has no takers in the valley. By gunning down the septuagenarian leader, the terrorists backed by Pakistan have issued a grim warning to all concerned that the Hurriyat should not dare to be politically independent of jehadis. They have also tried to demonstrate that anyone thinking of helping India to bring an end to the insurgency in Kashmir by taking part in elections would be dealt with in a similarly inhuman manner. This will be a serious blow to all moderate voices in the 23-party separatist conglomerate as well as those outside its area of influence. The symbolism of spraying bullets at Mr Lone at the 12th death anniversary of Mirwaiz Maulvi Mohammad Farooq, another moderate, cannot be lost on anyone. Whether it is Mirwaiz Omar Farooq or expelled Hizbul Mujahideen commander Abdul Majid Dar who had started showing their revulsion at the never-ending cycle of violence in the valley, the killing is bound to cause a lot of disquiet. To that extent, the jehadis have succeeded considerably in sabotaging the forthcoming Assembly elections.

But elections are several months away. By striking at this stage, the terrorists and the ISI have tried to kill several birds with one stone. The tension between India and Pakistan is at its peak. Every act of violence at this stage brings the two closer to war. That is what the ISI strategy has been. A deliberate attempt is being made to provoke India into taking precipitate action. The Lone killing, which coincided with the visit of the Prime Minister to the valley, was one of a piece with the Kaluchak carnage. A war can help the hardliners grab centre-stage in Pakistan more effectively than they do today. Delhi has kept its cool despite numerous such provocations in the past. But the gravity of such incidents has crossed all limits. India can be expected to offer its cheek to a bully once but not repeatedly. Defence experts are also unanimous that unless the cost of waging a proxy war becomes unacceptably high for Pakistan, it is not going to mend its ways. By deliberately negating all civilised options, it is only inviting nemesis. How to punish it suitably without falling in its trap in any way is a test for Indian diplomacy. 

POTA comes in handy

Discuss shortage of food during a bumper crop and no one will listen. Wait for reports of starvation deaths in Orissa and Gujarat for the debate on food shortage to be taken seriously. Discuss shortage of water in the middle of freezing winter and you will be thrown out. Now is the time to discuss water. Now is also the time to discuss the need for effective and harsh laws for combating terrorism. The thrust of the debate on the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance before the attack on the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in October last year and the one on Parliament House on December 13 was on the possibility of the law being abused for settling political scores. Now with POTO having become POTA after the extraordinary joint session of Parliament the reservations about using POTA need to examined threadbare. More so with the clouds of war hovering over the country. In fact, now is the time to explain the need for POTA to those who were till today unwilling to listen. A good starting point would be the Congress-ruled states. They have taken the position that law and order is a state subject and that they would not use the provisions of POTA for dealing with even acts of terrorism. The latest developments, the fidayeen attack in Jammu and the threat to carry out a similar operations in Ayodhya and elsewhere, should make the opponents of the anti-terrorist law shed their reservations.

The ruling given by a two-judge Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court should, in fact, go a long way in removing the confusion over the need to have a new set of laws for dealing with an old problem. The court rightly pointed out that the Act aimed at reducing procedural tangles and armed the courts with the power to impose effective penalties. Of course, it can always be argued that no man-made law is ever perfect. Yes, there were certain provisions of POTA that were rightly opposed at the discussion stage itself. For instance, the provision that put unfair restrictions on the media. And the government did make amendments in the original draft to make the law less controversial. However, those who have opposed the law need to be reminded that POTA-like laws have always been used for tackling the problem. And the reason why the earlier laws failed to make any difference is not difficult to understand. Laws provide a mechanism for punishing the guilty. They cannot, no matter how harsh or elaborate, be a substitute for good policing and efficient intelligence-gathering. Inefficient policing results in innocent people being arrested just to show “results”. It was primarily for this reason that POTA did not receive wide support. However, in view of the threat to national security because of developments on the border the need of the hour is to close ranks. The Centre and the states should step up vigilance and use whatever tools are available for dealing with the threat to internal security from well-entrenched groups of terrorists. POTA is one such tool and the Punjab and Haryana High Court has given its seal of approval to it for dealing with the enemies of the nation.

Wheat for schoolchildren

There are reports that wheat being supplied to children in government primary schools in Punjab is finding its way to shops, defeating the very purpose of the well-intentioned mid-day meal scheme. Introduced at the national level, the scheme purports to lure children to school, remove nutrient deficiencies in them, get rid of part of the mountain of foodgrains and reduce the cost of its storage. The noble idea of helping children belonging to the disadvantaged sections of society also appealed to the Supreme Court which recently directed all state governments to implement the scheme in earnest. During arguments, some of the states pleaded helplessness in providing cooked meals to schoolchildren because of the increased overhead costs, apart from other hassles. But the court did not buy their objections and set a deadline for the scheme’s implementation. States sought more time. In Bihar children with empty plates demonstrated for mid-day meals. Rajasthan showed particular enthusiasm and implemented the scheme well before the deadline expired. There were other problems. Some caste-conscious parents did not like the idea of their children eating the same food as those for lower castes. However, the advocates of the scheme saw this sharing of food as an excellent opportunity to pull down caste barriers among children. There were also complaints that substandard foodgrains were supplied to schools. Willy-nilly, the states have to overcome hurdles and provide mid-day meals in schools.

The Punjab Government has chosen the easier option. Instead of cooked food, the education authorities have arranged for the supply of wheat. While under the rules schoolchildren are to get 100 grams of wheat everyday, the teachers assigned the unpleasant duty of distributing foodgrains dispose of the monthly wheat quota of 3 kg per child in one go in a day or two during which time studies come to a halt. Thus, the purpose of encouraging school participation of children from the poor families is lost. Instead of taking the wheat home, most take it to the nearby shops. The easy money thus received helps them realise their not-so-innocent fantasies like gambling, smoking and buying narcotics. The programme that aims to improve the physical well-being of children may end up ruining their health, apart from initiating them to a life of lies, deception and crime. Being better-off than others, Punjabi parents don’t care for the wheat arrivals from school. Their children need other incentives, perhaps eatables not easily available at home and, more importantly, a congenial atmosphere at school. Teachers coming from reasonably well-off families cannot be expected to cook meals for children in schools. A fresh, hard look is required at the whole scheme and it needs to be amended as per the requirements of each state. 

OPINION

A peep into General Musharraf’s mind
Is India prepared to meet terrorist challenge?
G. Parthasarathy

Mr Satish Chandra, Secretary of our National Security Council, is a childhood friend of mine. While professionally brilliant, he has always been a low key, self-effacing person, given to understatement. He was my predecessor in Islamabad when Mr Nawaz Sharif made the fatal mistake of appointing Gen Pervez Musharraf as the Army Chief after forcing the unceremonious exit of the highly respected General Jehangir Karamat. According to the Kargil Committee, Mr Chandra assessed General Musharraf in his report to our government in 1998 as being duplicitous and unreliable. He added that the General is “an ambitious and scheming individual” and a “hardliner” on India. Prophetically, Mr Chandra predicted that it would not be surprising if General Musharraf acted “either to instal another civilian government or to frontally take over from the (Nawaz Sharif) government.” Sadly, for reasons of professional integrity, I am not in a position to state what my views on this subject were during my tenure in Islamabad!

One of the fundamental requirements of national security is the ability to correctly assess a potential adversary. Interestingly, at the time of the Kargil conflict, the assessment of the Clinton White House about General Musharraf was not very different from ours. Writing about the American approach to the Kargil conflict, President Clinton’s Special Assistant Bruce Riedel has noted that while Mr Nawaz Sharif appeared keen to stick to the commitments made during the Lahore Summit, his Army Chief, General Musharraf, was cast in a “different mould”. He describes General Musharraf as a “hardliner” on Kashmir and a man who was “determined to humble India once and for all”. It was after all the very same General Musharraf, who had proclaimed on April 12, 1999, just before the Kargil conflict heated up, that low intensity conflict with India would continue even if the Kashmir issue were resolved. The one mystery that still remains is why, despite such clear assessments about the character of the President of Pakistan, our government still chose to embrace him in Agra and subjected our armed forces to the humiliation and torture of presenting him the guard of honour last year.

As the terrain along the Line of Control and the international border heats up both because of the summer sun and the prevailing strategic environment, it is important that the people of India understand the ambitions, compulsions, prejudices and motivations of the military rulers across the border. The Bush Administration knows that while it cannot publicly acknowledge that Mr Bruce Riedel was professionally accurate in his assessment of General Musharraf, it is dealing with a General very adept at what the Americans call “double dealing”. They will urge “restraint” and tell us that General Musharraf really wants to end cross-border terrorism and that he should be given more time to do so. But within their inner councils they surely know what the good General is all about. We will also have no dearth of simplistic pundits who will aver that the attacks on the J&K Assembly, the Parliament complex and innocent women and children in Kaluchak on May 14 were caused by irresponsible terrorists opposed to General Musharraf. But when you ask these worthies how such terrorists acquired their weapons, communications equipment, maps, funds, local contacts and targeting information, there will be a hushed silence. After seeing the way the Pakistani media has responded to the farcical referendum of April 30, it would be no exaggeration to say that there are perhaps more apologists for General Musharraf in India than in Pakistan!

New Delhi is slowly running out of diplomatic options to directly turn the screw on General Musharraf. Measures like expelling the High Commissioner, a further reduction of the diplomatic staff and withdrawal of the MFN status are not likely to impress the hard-boiled military establishment next door. No doubt for good reasons, the Ministry of External Affairs seems squeamish thus far about using the potent leverage of the waters of the Indus and its tributaries to squeeze Pakistan. Thus, further turns of the screw will necessarily have to be done with a military element. There is considerable loose talk in India about us emulating what is being done by Israel. One should never forget that despite the rapaciousness of its leadership, the Pakistan armed forces are professional and motivated organisations. The balance of power on our borders is not exactly similar to that between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Thus, even as we pursue the present process of coercive diplomacy, we need to ensure that actions that we take are carefully thought out and internationally justifiable. We should ensure that apart from the USA and its NATO partners, Pakistan’s friends like China and Saudi Arabia are persuaded to ask their friend to see reason. Both countries did play a useful role in persuading Mr Nawaz Sharif about the folly of Kargil. We should also not take the friendship and understanding of our traditional friends in Russia for granted.

America’s war against terrorism is now shifting from Afghanistan to Pakistan. After considerable debate and discussion, the Pakistan army is now said to be hunting elements of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Waziristan along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. This is going to be something of a wild goose chase, as there is no dearth of Taliban and Al-Qaeda supporters in the ISI and among elements that the USA so generously allowed to escape from Kunduz, who will ensure that their former comrades are protected. Mullah Omar has recently publicly threatened attacks on the White House and other sensitive American targets. We are also seeing the emergence of new jehadi outfits bearing weird and ominous names like the Lashkar-e-Omar, the Hezbullah Alam and the Lashkar-e-Jihad- ul-Islami. Virtually all these groups are united in their hatred for the Americans and their allies. The leaders and cadres of these groups have invariably had long-standing links with the ISI. There is no doubt that groups like the Lashkar-e-Jihad-ul-Islami that have fled from Afghanistan and regrouped in strength in POK will be used by the ISI in Jammu and Kashmir. But one hopes that the USA has learned from its past follies and recognised that Islamic terrorist groups inevitably have inter-linkages and multiple targets.

Pakistan is going through turbulent times. The attack on French technicians in Karachi is just one manifestation of how highly motivated jehadis are likely to cause havoc in that country. For over two decades now the Pakistan army establishment has misused the name of Islam for promoting its interests within Pakistan and across the world. The chickens are now coming home to roost. There is no need for India to shed tears over General Musharraf’s predicament of using jehadis to bleed this country on the one hand, while assuring the Americans that he wants to build Pakistan into a “moderate Islamic State” on the other. Nor do we need to be too concerned that if General Musharraf is replaced, a full-blown fundamentalist like Gen Aziz Khan will succeed him. Pakistan’s Generals are too used to the comforts of life. Most of them have family and other connections in the USA, the UK and elsewhere. They will see reason in dealing with India and eschewing efforts to bleed us only when they are compelled to realise that the cost of pursuing such policies far exceeds any possible benefit.

Speaking at a function on March 11 to remember and respect those who died on September 11, 2001, President Bush proclaimed: “There will be a day when the organised threat against America, our friends and allies is broken. When the terrorists are disrupted and scattered, many old conflicts will appear in a new light, without the fear and cycle of bitterness that terrorists spread with their violence. We will see then that old and serious disputes can be settled within the bounds of the world beyond the war on terror. With courage and dignity we are building that world together.” One sincerely hopes that persons like Secretary of State Colin Powell and Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca, who never miss an opportunity to shower praise on General Musharraf, will apprise the good General about this vision of the war against terrorism of their boss.

IN THE NEWS

Fernandes’ consultant — a newshound to the core

After the experiment of having a high profile media advisor which bombed, Union Defence Minister George Fernandes has zeroed in on media specialist I. Ramamohan Rao as his information consultant. Clearly, the bad publicity for Fernandes and the armed forces in the wake of the Tehelka controversy coupled with the continuing Opposition attack on him in Parliament compelled him to do a rethink.

In a low-key affair, Ramamohan Rao assumed office in the Defence Ministry last week in the rank of Special Secretary. Before moving to the Defence Ministry, he was adviser on Kashmir in the Prasar Bharati set-up. A newshound to the core, the affable officer's association with the armed forces, especially the army and subsequently as Director (PR) of the Defence Ministry besides overseeing the publicity of other Union Government ministries and departments, is nothing new spanning almost four decades.

After superannuating as the Principal Information Officer to the Union Government in 1992, he had been associated as information adviser first with the Jammu and Kashmir government and later with the Punjab government. From 1996-98, Ramamohan Rao was in Trinidad where he set up the Mahatma Gandhi Centre.

Ramamohan Rao, who will be in constant touch with Fernandes, has more than his hands full with tension mounting on the Indo-Pak border and the fight against cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir entering a decisive stage as promised by Prime Minister Vajpayee. For Ramamohan Rao, there has rarely been a dull moment or one without a challenge.

Strategist & planner

Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh who has been appointed as the new Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command is not only a brilliant marksman but also a keen golfer. Considered a strategist and planner par excellence, Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh till recently was involved with the integration of the armed forces. Heading the Implementation Cell in Ministry of Defence (MoD), he steered all issues relating to restructuring of the higher defence organisation eventually leading to the country getting its first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Before being appointed as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command he was the Chief of Personnel at the Naval Headquarters.

A gunnery specialist, Vice-Admiral Madanjit Singh was commissioned into the Indian Navy in January 1966 and has held various key appointments in the navy. He has had the unique distinction of commanding five ships including the frigate INS Ganga and the aircraft carrier INS Viraat. He headed the Indian navy team in Nigeria from 1980-83 for setting up an Officers’ Training Academy. An alumnus of Pune’s National Defence Academy, he did the staff course at DSSC, Wellington in 1977 and graduated from the National Defence College, New Delhi in 1991. He was promoted to Flag Rank in March 1993 and took over as Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command. He was promoted Vice Admiral in April 1998 and was Deputy Chief of Naval Staff till April 1999 and as Director-General, Defence Planning, till March 2001.

Rocca’s mission

United States' Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca was in the subcontinent recently for doing a job she apparently failed in. Her task was to defuse Indo-Pak tension and bring the two hostile neighbours to the negotiating table. But her visit coincided with the May 14 massacre of Indian troops and their family members in Kaluchak near Jammu.

After a long chain of events — Red Fort attack, Jammu and Kashmir Assembly incident and the terrorist strike on Parliament — Kaluchak proved to be another flashpoint in Indo-Pak relations. Home Minister L.K. Advani was quick to put the Kaluchak incident at par with Parliament attack. The Vajpayee Government galvanised itself into action as ministers and top military officials fanned out to border ares to take stock of the war preparedness.

Rocca had a brief formal meeting with External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh but her requests for a meeting with Defence Minister George Fernandes came a cropper as Fernandes was away in Goa on May 13. The next day Kaluchak happened and Fernandes had to rush to Jammu. Rocca could not even meet Principal Secretary to PM and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra during her visit. This was Rocca's fourth visit to India since she took over on May 31, 2001.

Rocca was an intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1982 to 1997. Prior to her joining the Department of State, Rocca was Foreign Affairs Adviser to Senator Sam Brownback during which assignment she specialised on issues relating to South Asia. If there was any doubt about the Rocca mission failure, it was put to rest when reports emanated from Washington that the Bush administration is now preparing to send her immediate boss, Deputy Secretary to State Richard Armitage to the subcontinent.

OF LIFE SUBLIME

Hindus, Muslims can pray under one roof
B. L. Manocha

The holy Qu’ran has in its first seven lines the real essence of the whole book. These seven verses alone constitute the first sura (chapter). (1) In the name of God — most Gracious, most Merciful. (2) All praises for Him, who is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. (3) (Again) most Gracious and most Merciful. (4) Thee shalt judge all men hereafter too. (5) We worship Thee and seek Thy help. (6) Show us the righteous path. (7) The way of those on whom Thou has bestowed Thy Grace, Those whose (portion) is not wrath and who go not astray.

(Islamic commentary of the word “wrath” is “The negative of Grace, Peace or Harmony”).

Further, in chapter 59, A-29 the Qu’ran again describes the attributes of God: “He is Allah, the Creator, the Originator, the Fashioner. To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Whatever is in heavens and on earth, doth declare His Praises and Glory. And He is the Exalted in Might and Wisdom.”

Athur Veda (chapter 2) says, “One and only one is worthy of adoration and worship.” According to Rig Veda, octave 1, “wise men call This One God by several names.” As per Yajur Veda, chapter 36, “God is Self-Subsistent, Self-Conscious and All Bliss. We mediate on the All Pure Effulgence of the Master of the universe. May He guide our intellect on the right path.”

Guru Gobind Singh, in Rahras-XI swaiya-1, said, “Eversince I have sought Thy door, Oh Lord Supreme,/ I have yielded to none else my self-esteem./ “Thou are Ram”, ‘tis what puranas affirm/And Rahim is but the Qu’ranic term”.

What an identical understanding regarding attributes of The Almighty and the human prayers before or towards Him in religious books?

Some Hindus worship Ram as son of King Dashrath and regard him as their personal god, while others regard Ram as the Absolute Omnipresent Reality as the Creator-cum-Ruler of the universe. (ek Ram Dashrath ka beta, ek Ram ghat ghat mein leta.)

As a personal god, Ram is worshipped through an idol. In the Absolute form, He is to be perceived with full Faith, closed eyes and concentrated mind — more or less like Qu’ranic Namaz (prayer). A beautiful fusion of Faith and Grace. The Kindly Light that leads fills the Soul with immense Joy. A call and scope for meditation!

Places of worship are also classified differently. One: temple for idol worship, two: centre for meditation where one cannot find any idol. Those who begin with idol worship generally switch over to meditation for further spiritual advancement. During meditation, mind is calm, retracted from wordly (mundane) desires. One of the Most Beautiful Name, Ram, finds its place (As Absolute God) in 2533 places in Guru Granth Sahib.

Mother Teresa said, “God speaks to us in the silence of the heart, And we listen.” This fact has been perceived by many human beings. And the Qu’ran adds: Be not like those who say, “we hear” but listen not. (chapter 8, A.21)

In India, Gujarat has seen Godhra carnage and its shocking reaction. The imbroglio is about Ram temple and Babri masjid. According to Dr S. Radha Krishnan, “irreligion is a malady and a sweet dose of religion is a cure of it.” He also adds:” We must set in a process of fomentation to prevent faiths from hardening into moulds of orthodoxy.”

Temple or Masjid is just a roofed-shelter under which prayers are offered. Is it not possible that Muslims and Hindus pray under one roof, Muslims facing towards the West, and Hindus towards the East, yet facing each other elegantly, Muslims praying as per paras 1 and 2, and Hindus as per para 3 above?

Not long back, Swami Ramakrishna (former name Gadah Dhar) realised God as a Hindu, then as a Muslim and third time after embracing Christianity — all in a short life-span of fifty years (1836-1886). According to him, the final Goal (realised form of God) is the same although the approach-paths vary from religion to religion.

No doubt, there is a disputed area in Ayodhya. It can be converted into a well designed single peace-hall where persons of different religions can sit silently and pray; they can listen to the voice of God, (also) silently, in the silence of their hearts, under the aegis of the Almighty, Which is the same Entity for Hindus and Muslims as per revelation of Swami Ramakrishna (described above). In that condition, God would Bless in the trio of Grace, Peace and Harmony. The hall can be called ‘Samjhouta Hall’ or ‘Dial God’ or some other different expression/label like (dil ki muradein pao) ‘seek and thou shall get’.

In this arrangement, no party to the dispute wins or loses. There are, even now, some mosques and temples in India where Muslims and Hindus gather with reverence and attend functions of either religion with full faith. Just on March 25, 2002, in Umaria (Madhya Pradesh), 20,000 Hindus joined the Muharrum procession of 5,000 Muslims, keeping alive a tradition dating back to 1883. Compromises in life are the methods of settling disputes by which each side gives up something that it wanted and neither party gets everything that it wanted. Even Mahatma Gandhi had made a number of compromises in his saintly life. Compromises brings peace of mind, so essential for spiritual advancement.

The immediate result of praying in the ‘Samjhouta Hall’ would be sure cure of some diseases i.e. mental tension, sleeplessness, high blood pressure, fearsome disposition, various phobias etc.

And life sans compromise means: Riots, carnage, fires, looting, burning of mosques and temples. Innocent persons, including children, women and daily wagers suffer most.

Dr Mohd Iqbal has rightly said, “(shakti bhi shanti bhi, bhakton ke geet mein hai/Bharat ke basiyon ki mukti preet mein hai) Peace and power stay in hymns of devoted persons/salvation of Indians lies in their mutual love.

Why is India still third-rate economic power?
Anurag Pal

India — dusty, dirty, Third World, Taj Mahal, low-cost IT, horrible toilets, mathematical geniuses, poverty, oily hair, curry, software, violence, tandoori chicken, lawlessness, arranged marriage, religious fundamentalism, nuclear power, bullock carts. It is sad to see centuries-old culture and a bewildering diversity of people reduced to 20-odd words when it comes to measuring India’s perception in the USA.

This is not to imply that there is no genuine understanding, it exists but with a miniscule segment of the intelligentsia, and some Indophiles. The vast majority of Americans are blissfully unaware of other cultures or countries till some calamity spurs them to do otherwise.

I really now want to explore why India with nearly as many people as China and a vastly superior IT workforce, is still a third-rate economic power and does not register as even a blip when the G7 meets.

What is especially troubling is to see our enormous potential being frittered away, much like the numerous “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory” episodes enacted by our cricket team.

I write this not as an NRI, who is ashamed of his country or culture (there are many here who do so), but as someone who cares about India, plans to retire and die there, and someone very proud to be an Indian. What has become apparent to me over the years is the shirking of responsibility at all levels in society. This is apparent as one spends a day in any Indian city in the air-conditioned plushness of a private sector office or the paan stain-ridden corridors of any government office.

I am not sure if this blatant disregard for responsibilities that come with power is a recent phenomenon, or has always been part of our ethos. What I do know is that their are richie-rich kids who do not think twice about driving drunk and mowing down innocents, and those drunk on their dads’ power kill people trying to date their sisters.

Let’s examine Gujarat. Now unless I have totally forgotten my civics from Class VII, India is a “Sovereign, Socialist, Secular and Republic”. And unless I totally missed a chapter, nowhere does it say that given certain provocation it is totally okay for mobs to take to the street, target a particular community and then carry out large-scale massacre, looting and arson. Police officers who did not go along with these mobs were summarily transferred to remote locations, and Cabinet ministers allowed to sit in control rooms to direct the police away from areas where mobs were on the rampage. Now I don’t profess to understand the underlying tension or centuries-old simmering hostilities that exist in India’s dusty villages and towns, or the anger and frustration felt by the families and friends of the victims of the Godhara massacre. But the simple fact, which we have to decide, is: “are we to be a nation governed by laws” or should we lapse into some medieval impersonation of democracy, where might is right and where the vocal minority makes its own laws?

India is like that special relative (cousin, nephew, niece, son) who gives you fits of frustration and anger as you see so much promise and potential go by the wayside, but whom you cannot help but love. We are not very far from being a great country, but it appears quite far, because of some basic flaws that, however, much we try to disguise, keep rearing their ugly head.

To be great, one of the essentials is to be economically strong, and to be so one has to inspire confidence in our functioning and behavior as a society around the world. To do that we have to ensure that power is not an end and a vehicle for personal aggrandisement. It has to be encumbered with responsibility and the bearer has to accept that. He/she has to accept that responsibility “not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially.” Jawaharlal Nehru said a long time ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and we need to do our very best to redeem that pledge. I have full confidence that we will.

(An electronics graduate from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, the writer works in San Francisco.)

TRENDS & POINTERS

Dying from lack of sleep?

American neuroscientists have cast light on the secret world of sleep, identifying key genes in fruitflies which appear to regulate our need for a nap and may even stop us from dying from lack of sleep.

Sleep appears to be controlled by two shadowy processes. One is a “clock” called the circadian pacemaker which controls when we fall asleep or wake up. It switches on or off the other process, a hormone drive called a homeostat. This complex machine cranks out chemicals to raise the body’s temperature and bring the brain and other organs to alertness when we wake up, and correspondingly lowers those chemical levels when we drift off to sleep.

But until now, very little has been known about the genes, the molecular levers that determine these systems — and even less about how they interact with each other.

Seeking to find out, Paul Shaw and colleagues at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, California, took fruitflies that had been modified so that they lacked a key circadian gene, nicknamed “cycle.”

Normal fruitflies, like human beings, suffer from sleep deficit, they need an extra amount of sleep to catch up for time when they had to keep awake against their natural rhythm.

But “cycle”-less flies suffered terribly from sleep loss.

For every extra minute that they were kept awake, they needed not one but three minutes of additional snooze-time. If they were deprived of sleep for just 10 hours, they died. “The role is so important that when that gene’s gone, these animals will die from sleep loss,” Shaw said.

The findings are relevant because the “cycle” gene also exists in humans, only it is called Bmal1 instead.

Finding out how such these genetic mechanisms work may one day throw up cures for sleeplessness that are a bane of modern-day, hectic society. “We don’t know why we sleep. A lack of sleep is extraordinarily problematic and is costing billions of dollars in lost productivity and accidents,” said Shaw.

He suggests that sleep has “a fairly restricted” but highly important, protective role. One clue, he believes, lies in so-called chaperone proteins. These are an elite guard for other proteins, the workforce chemicals that build the body’s tissues, carry out their functions and maintain them.

The chaperones’ job is to ensue that these proteins are not bent or contorted, as a misshapen protein can malfunction with negative or even nightmarish results.

When the scientists exposed “cycle”-less flies to a three-hour dose of heat, the insects survived sleep deprivation. AFP 

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

Just as a student follows his preceptor, destiny follows (well-directed) actions.

—The Mahabharata

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—A Sanskrit quote