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Thursday,
August 8, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Widen the
delimitation scope PSEB’s
shock treatment Bhajan Lal
at the helm |
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Kashmir’s
all-important poll
Scriptures
transport us to the other world
Colds
are in the air Jokes
about Singapore’s water recycling plan
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Widen the delimitation scope THE new delimitation commission headed by Justice Kuldip Singh, a retired Supreme Court Judge, assumes special significance because this is the first in the last three decades. The last time such a commission was set up to remove disparities in the seat-population ratio was in 1971, which completed its work in 1978. Since then there have been demands from various political parties as also the Election Commission to set up a new panel for a fresh review. Public interest petitions were also filed in the Supreme Court in this regard. Normally, delimitation of constituencies of the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies is done on a decennial basis. However, the regular delimitation exercises after each census raised apprehensions among some states, including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, which said that their family planning and other population control successes would reduce their representation in the Lok Sabha. Consequently, through a constitutional amendment, Parliament froze the population figure to that of the 1971 census and delimitation was put on hold till 2001. Meanwhile, the lowering of the voting age to 18 years, the tremendous increase in population and the intensive revision of electoral rolls just prior to the 1998 Lok Sabha elections have all contributed to the rise in the number of registered voters. The backdrop to the vociferous demand for the delimitation of constituencies from across the political spectrum follows from the growth of the population. This growth has been on two counts: a quantum jump in the population since the last delimitation exercise in 1971; and the anomalous growth of population in different constituencies. Clearly, some of the Lok Sabha seats of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh or Bihar have a larger electorate today than those in Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu or Karnataka. The Kuldip Singh Commission is expected to redraw the electoral
boundaries to ensure “equal electorate” in all the seats within the respective states. However, doubts have arisen whether this exercise will really achieve the goal since the new delimitation will be done on the basis of the 1991 census and not the 2001 census. Consider the specific example of Outer Delhi and East Delhi Lok Sabha constituencies. During the last two decades, the electorate in the Outer Delhi has grown at the rate of 159 and 97 per cent respectively as against 118 and 62 per cent in East Delhi during the same period. The same is the case with other seats. According to a study, of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, 74 are urban, 70 semi-urban, 156 rural and 243 are semi-rural. Compared to rural constituencies, almost all urban seats have recorded a higher growth of population. If delimitation should adhere to the principle of equal population to seat ratio within the state, will the Kuldip Singh Commission be able to rectify the major anomaly of unequal size? Of course, there will be no change in the strength of the Lok Sabha or state Assemblies. But how will the new commission address the problem of growth in urban constituencies? More to the point, the new exercise, when completed, will be already 10 years old and there will be no delimitation for the next three decades. Consequently, this will force us to conduct one more Lok Sabha election on the basis of the old delimitation. It is in this context that the suggestion for new delimitation on the basis of the 2001 census — and not on the 1991 census — is worthy of consideration. If this suggestion is accepted, the Kuldip Singh Commission may take some more time to complete the exercise, but it would help achieve the main goal of having an updated demarcation of electoral boundaries and rectification of anomalies to some extent. |
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PSEB’s shock treatment THE Punjab State Electricity Board is often in the news for all the wrong reasons: power cuts, power thefts, hefty bills, tariff hikes, free electricity to farmers, poor return on investments, mounting losses, questionable appointments or plain acts of corruption. For a change, the PSEB is not at the receiving end and has started performing one of its basic duties, that is, recovering dues from defaulters, no matter who they are. So far the impression has gone round that much of its woes are due to the politically motivated free power supply to the farming community. But the board has seldom asserted itself the way it is doing now in dealing with its recalcitrant customers. Rattled by the severe and persistent criticism of its functioning, the precarious state of its finances and unscheduled and frequent disruptions in the electricity supply, the board has severed the power connections of the government departments which had failed to clear their dues. In its own hometown of Patiala, the PSEB has recovered huge arrears from the mighty of the land like the Commissioner’s office, the court of the Sessions Judge, the SSP’s office and served notice on the Deputy Commissioner, among others, to either pay up or face action. The campaign needs to be extended to the other districts as well. A message has to go around that there is no such thing as a free lunch and everyone has to pay for whatever one consumes. The PSEB authorities deserve to be congratulated on showing guts in performing their duties. It is a commercial organisation and has to be run professionally. The Electricity Act imposes on the management an obligation to ensure at least a 3 per cent rate of return on the net value of the board’s assets. With its losses projected at Rs 950 crore, as Press reports indicate, the board authorities cannot afford to be lax. Transmission losses is another area which the board needs to focus on next. Power pilferage, widely seen as a result of the customer-official connivance, cannot be stopped or minimised unless the corrupt elements within the board are first weeded out. Although the board’s proposal for an increase in the power tariffs for various sectors is under consideration of the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission, the state government, and more particularly the political leadership, should not use the board to nurture its vote-banks. Whatever help has to be extended to the needy and deserving sections like the drought-hit farmers and the recession-hit small units should come from the state government itself and not at the cost of the Punjab State Electricity Board. On its part, the board has started a few cost-cutting measures like reduction in the staff strength through initiatives like allowing payment of bills through post offices. This indicates an attitudinal change on the part of the board management. Once the desire to change is there, solutions are not hard to find. |
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Bhajan Lal at the helm Mr Bhajan Lal celebrated his long-cherished coronation as the chief of the Haryana unit of the Congress in style on Tuesday. The function in Chandigarh was reminiscent of the oath-taking ceremony of a Chief Minister, with crowds brought from all over the state to clap and dance. It was a massive show of strength by the former Chief Minister. As they say in the case of economy, upbeat mood is a prerequisite for rejuvenation. The same holds true of politics as well. The Congress in Haryana is not in the pink of health and Mr Bhajan Lal has a huge task cut out for him. He has made little of the challenge posed by Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala but he obviously knows how formidable the contest is. However, the real competition at the moment does not come from the Indian National Lok Dal or any other party. The real fight is with the detractors within the Congress. Not even a false show of unity was put up on the day of the takeover function. Mr Bhoopinder Singh Hooda, with whom Mr Bhajan Lal swapped places, decided to stay away along with his supporters, among them more than half of the MLAs that the party has. Even the excuses made by senior leaders for the absence (boycott?) were unconvincing and contradictory. While some said he could not come because of bereavement in the family, the others claimed that he was caught in a traffic jam! If such are the fissures at the very start, the days to come are not going to be very smooth. Mr Bhajan Lal remained in the oblivion all these years mainly because he could not establish a rapport with Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Faith reposed in him at this stage, that too in the face of a strong protest from the other faction, is indicative of the thinking of the central leadership that only he can revive the fortunes of the party. But can he? An acknowledged organiser that he is, the task ahead is daunting. To take the entire party along, he will have to dig into some hitherto unexplored bags of tact and diplomacy. Since he has to accomplish this without the benefit of spoils of office, his job becomes all the more ticklish. His advent may help the party in his home district and northern districts like Ambala and Karnal, but weaning away Jat votes elsewhere will be a daunting proposition. That could have been possible to some extent if Mr Hooda were with him solidly, but that is unlikely to happen. Mr Chautala is a seasoned politician and knows that the threat from the Congress has now been stepped up. He is going to take care of his flock with renewed vigour. |
Kashmir’s all-important poll PERHAPS the most interesting and apt comment on the perfervid activity in relation to the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir came from a villager whom I overheard purely by chance. He was telling his companions that the government in Delhi was behaving rather like the family of a girl about to be married. Only when the baraat (marriage party of the groom) is at the door do the bride’s relatives realise that they have left a lot yet to be done. Witness the acid comments of Mr Ram Jethmalani, better known as a hugely successful lawyer and a political maverick than as a former Union Law Minister. Strangely, he has blamed the Election Commission, rather than anyone else, for having announced the poll schedule “too soon”. Not only does he overlook that the Chief Election Commissioner could not have framed the timetable without consulting the Central and the State governments. But also he fails to explain why he did not begin earlier his praiseworthy efforts to persuade the separatist groups in the sensitive state to abandon their habitual boycott of the elections. Was he waiting for official encouragement at the highest level that had come rather late, reported because of initial differences at the top in New Delhi? Mr Jethmalani is not the only one, however, to bestir himself belatedly. Another former Law Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley, is the official interlocutor, with a Cabinet rank, primarily with the Abdullahs — father Farooq and son Omar — on their demand for greater autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir. He, too, was entrusted with his mission a trifle too late. What kind of an understanding with the National Conference can he reach in a matter of days when the two sides have a different concept of what is actually under discussion? Srinagar says the issue is “autonomy”. New Delhi asserts emphatically that it is nothing more than “devolution of powers”. As for the mission of Mr K.C. Pant, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, that began a good two years ago and cannot therefore be said to have suffered for want of time, the less said the better. It just did not take off. In short, it is unrealistic to expect any miraculous last-minute agreements either with the alienated, separatist groups (some of them are unabashedly pro-Pakistan) or with the National Conference that is also disgruntled with New Delhi for reasons to be discussed presently. But it will be absurd to blame only the Vajpayee government for this unhappy state of affairs. Other factors such as the Hurriyat and its diverse constituents, Mr Shabir Shah’s Democratic Freedom Party, the outfit of Mr Hashim Qureshi and so on are also at serious fault. They cannot go on pretending that they represent the “real voice of the Kashmiri people” and yet refuse to put this claim to the test of the popular vote on one pretext or the other. Their legitimate grievance is that the elections might be rigged as so often in the past. It is not just that the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, has staked his and indeed the country’s reputation on ensuring a poll that is not only free and fair but is also seen to be so. A large number of Indians, individuals as well as institutions, are absolutely determined that the old-style dishonesty is not allowed to be repeated this time around. The Vajpayee government — and more than it, the Election Commission — has disallowed only foreign “monitors” with self-given right to certify the fairness of the election or the lack of it. There is no ban on foreigners coming in to observe the conduct of the poll. In his talks with the visiting US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, the Prime Minister went so far as to tell him: “You can send the entire US embassy in New Delhi to Kashmir for the duration”. The oncoming Kashmir elections would indeed be under the most intense national and international scrutiny. Any attempt to monkey with them would instantly destroy their credibility and create enormous problems with the international (community over Kashmir which is “on international) agenda”, whether we admit it or not. No sane government in New Delhi can or would risk this. The elections in Jammu and Kashmir have been routinely rigged, right from the days of Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, except in 1977 when the poll was held under the rule of the then Governor, L.K. Jha. But the Centre, by itself, has never done this. It has only looked the other way when the Ministry in Srinagar did the dirty work. This, mercifully, is no longer the position. However, deeds that matter more than words, and that is where some long overdue action of the Chief Election Commissioner, Mr J.M. Lyngdoh, comes in. He has announced steps to ensure that no one is left out of electoral rolles and Kashmiri Pandits, languishing in relief camps, are able to vote wherever they are. He has also decided to deploy high officials from outside the state to oversee the poll’s conduct and to intervene wherever wrongdoing is suspected. This is welcome but not enough. Those abominable local officials who are experts in rigging elections on behalf of their political masters must be removed from the scene. Strangely, no one is talking about an important, indeed critical, element in the situation that can make or mar the elections. It is rather like the famous Sherlock Holmes story about the dog that did not bark in the night. Pakistan’s interest in disrupting and subverting the Kashmir elections is manifest. The key question is how far the Musharraf regime would go in view of international, principally American, warning that nothing should be done to “destabilise” this all-important election from which alone can flow a lasting solution of the issue, internally and externally. The shape of things is clear from the almost daily and apparently calibrated terrorist incidents directed specifically against actual and potential candidates of the National Conference. The murder of Mr Abdul Ghani Lone, the moderate Hurriyat leader, was clearly a warning to others. The purpose of the attack on Amarnath pilgrims is also the same. Will the leaders of the separatist groups continue to be scared of the Pakistani threats or have the courage to take part in the poll and establish their credentials to speak on behalf of the Kashmiri people? It would have been ideal if Governor’s rule could be imposed on Kashmir at this stage. At one time it had indeed appeared that this wise course would be followed. But that is no longer the case. The Abdullahs, both father and son, have rejected the idea emphatically and the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, has also ruled out the elections in Jammu and Kashmir being held under Governor’s rule. Behind this dismal about-turn lies the untold story of New Delhi’s regrettable treatment of Dr Farooq Abdullah and the strident reaction of not only the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister but also his son. Omar, forsaking his usually impeccable manners, used unacceptably offensive language against the Central government of which he continues to be a member. There is no doubt that the Vajpayee government had promised Dr Farooq Abdullah the office of Vice-President. This became impossible with the emergence of Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as the most acceptable presidential candidate. When asked for his preference for an alternative job in Delhi, Dr Abdullah opted for a Cabinet seat and External Affairs portfolio. But he refrained from pressing his demand when told that it would not be right to replace a minister of the calibre and experience of Mr Jaswant Singh. However, when the indispensable Mr Jaswant Singh was shifted to Finance and Mr Yashwant Sinha, with no known flair for foreign affairs, made External Affairs Minister, Dr Abdullah was understandably incensed. Exigencies of the election and disagreement over autonomy have soured his relations with the Centre even more. This is an unhappy state of affairs that needs to be repaired without delay. |
Undeterred Najma Heptulla sets her targets high Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptulla is in the news with the Congress refusing to back her candidature for the post of Vice-President on the plea that they had supported a minority candidate in President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam for that high office. The argument advanced was that how there can be two members of the minority community occupying two top constitutional posts. Besides, the Congress insists that it had accommodated the suave and amiable Ms Heptulla in the Rajya Sabha for four terms. That has, however, not deterred Najma from setting her targets high and to some extent the BJP-led NDA is willing to play ball much to the discomfiture of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. First, the talk centred around Ms Heptulla making the bid for the high post of Secretary -General. She felt she could muster the requisite support among world parliamentarians, thanks to her association with and popularity in the International Parliamentary Union (IPU). There is no doubt that she has made some influential friends among global parliamentarians. While heads of African missions and other countries felt Ms Heptulla might be a good choice, supporting her candidature will depend on various other factors and how Western powers feel inclined towards her. Now, it appears a near certainty that the BJP-led NDA will offer her the chairmanship of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations with the rank of a Cabinet Minister. The move is clearly intended to raise the hackles of the Congress that the Vajpayee government is not averse to choosing a Congress woman, thus giving a goby to the precedents and claims from its own ranks. The 62-year-old Ms Heptulla, who was born in Bhopal and has done her Ph.D in Cardiac Anatomy, has an impressive CV and public record. She has diverse interests ranging from galvanishing parliamentarians for human development, the environment and sustainable development to population and disarmament. Ms Heptulla has travelled extensively all over the globe and was invited to the first summit meeting of the Council of World Women Leaders at Harvard. Gujarat CM’s troubles Headaches are growing by the day for Gujarat caretaker Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP’s central leadership. Dissidence against Mr Modi’s peremptory style of functioning is gaining momentum which can disturb the saffron brigade’s applecart in the state. Though Mr Modi had called on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee the other day to assure him that all was well in Gujarat, the BJP faces the rude shock of Mr Haren Pandya quitting the Modi government. This might well be a harbinger of things to come as there is a churning going on in the Gujarat BJP unit. Mr Pandya is a close associate of former Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel who had to make way for Mr Modi. Mr Patel refused to join the Atal Behari Vajpayee Cabinet in the recent expansion-cum-reshuffle undertaken by the Prime Minister on the ground that the powerful Patel community in Gujarat wanted him to stay put in the state. Clearly, Mr Patel is like a wounded tiger on the prowl, and with dissidence growing against Mr Modi, the BJP can find itself on a highly sticky wicket. In the run up to the assembly elections in Gujarat and thereafter, the BJP strategists might well rue having retained Mr Modi as Chief Minister after the carnage in Godhra and subsequent communal riots in the state. Despite the loud talk of polarisation, Mr Modi might turn out to be the baggage that the BJP should have discarded some time ago. Justice H.R. Khanna Justice Khanna in turn observed that “old age has its own honours and royalty and I thank each one of you for making me feel important in your life.” After being an advocate at the Lahore High Court in 1940, Justice Khanna moved to Amritsar and mostly dealt with civil cases. He was appointed District and Sessions Judge in Punjab in February, 1952. He became an Additional Judge of the Punjab High Court for two years and a permanent Judge in 1964. He was transferred to the Delhi High Court in 1966 and appointed Chief Justice in August, 1969. He was elevated to the Supreme Court in October, 1971. Justice Khanna resigned as a Judge of the Supreme Court in March, 1977. He was also Chairman of the Law Commission and a Union Minister for a short period before bowing out in August, 1979. |
Scriptures transport us to the other world It’s a truism when we say that sublimity which manifests itself at all levels of human condition, commerce and communication, is best seen at work in higher forms of art, music, thought, lofty mountains and vast seas, but we have seen the sublime touching us quietly in moments of meditation and prayers. The moment comes, and is soon gone, but the effect of the ineffable abides. Again, one need not labour the point that all religious scriptures and poetry carry in their verses the highest aspects of sublimity. But, as it is, this kind of experience on the heights comes rarely to those not gifted with divine insight. That’s why the saints and the savants are closest to it, for to live continually in touch with the heavens above is a rare boon, and it accrues only through grace or nadar, through God’s will, in short. It cannot be gained through efforts only, for its nature precludes ritualistic worship, offerings etc. Since I’ve elected to write on the nature of the sublime in Sikh scriptures, the Guru Granth being its supreme example, I have necessarily to confine my little discourse to the prophetic verse of the Sikh Gurus and greet Sikh poets in tune with the bani. And since music, as we know, touches sublimity when the voice, the hand and the spirit work in unison as in the best renderings of Shabads in Keertan, I would chiefly dwell on the ragas used in the gurbani. And I may add that the Sikh Guru, Arjan Dev, who compiled the Adi Granth placed the songs of his predecessors and his own in all the 32 classical Indian ragas in tune with the music of the spheres — day and night, the sun and the moon, the ambrosial hour of the morning before dawn and the sunset hour of glory — and gloom. It’s important to observe at the start that my personal knowledge of ragas, of Sikh musicology is extremely limited, and I, therefore, touch upon the use of some ragas that I hear more often. The first thing I do on waking up from my disturbed sleep each morning is to turn to the TV relay from the Harimandir or the Golden Temple. And that raga. Asa, is the dominant feature of the morning service. Asa, as the word connotes, means ‘hope’, and that’s how the Sikh sangat or congregation imbibes the message — ‘the word within the word’, and sets about their daily business. It doesn’t happen in practice, and most listeners lost in their material thoughts remain empty vessels. But the select few drink this amrit, and are transported to another world for the moment. The sublime here becomes a matter of deep experience and consequence. There are some ragas close to Asa, such as Raamkali, Parbhati, that have the same uplifting effects. I owe the summary below to an article “Musical Framework of Guru Granth Sahib” by Amardeep Singh (The Sikh Review, Calcutta, May, 2002): As a musicologist, the author of the article has sought to link different types of songs to different types of ragas, and also to different periods or parts of the day and night. It’s not possible here to go into details regarding the full scale and scope of the ragas, but grouping of certain shabads, ragas and periods has an inner logic which only those close to the sublime can achieve. I pick up the timings and the appropriate ragas to continue our argument. For instance, from six to nine in the morning, in addition to Asa, Bairagi and Devgandhari are used — all in praise of the Lord and man’s quest for union and happiness. The spousal imagery and metaphors which may also be seen frequently in compositions that bring out strong man’s yearning for the life sublime. Similarly, Sarang, Suhi, Gujri, Gond and Todi (9 a.m. to 12 noon), Vadhans, Maru, Dhanasri (12 noon to 3 p.m.), Manjh, Gauri, Talang, Tikhari (3 to 6 p.m.) and Basant, Mouli Gaura, Jaitari, Kedare and Kalyan (6 p.m. to 9 p.m.) define man’s changing states of mind when in stress or pain, in happiness or felicity, in peace and tranquillity etc. In other words, the entire range of human experience is captured within the words and the ragas in question. It’s thus that the sublime in Sikh scriptures manifests itself, and transports us to the other world. |
Colds are in the air Contrary to the earlier belief that flying increases the risk of getting colds and other infections due to air circulation, US researchers now say that travelling with a large number of people is a primary factor in transmission of colds, or maybe the changing time zones and losing sleep could increase rates of viral infections. For the study, Prof John Balmes and colleagues at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) examined 1,000 passengers found that one in five passengers reported developing a cold within one week of flying. Women reported more colds than men. The scientists were originally trying to identify whether the type of ventilation used on planes increased the risks of catching cold. However, their study showed that there was little difference between passengers who travelled on planes which used recycled air and those on planes with a fresh air supply. This led the researchers to suggest other factors may be to blame for high infection rates. “I think there’s a fairly universal feeling that flying increases your risk of getting colds and other infections, but air circulation may not be the key issue, Professor Balmes said. “It may be that just being on a plane, packed with a lot of people is the primary factor in transmission of colds, or maybe travelling is the issue - changing time zones and losing sleep have been documented to increase rates of viral infections. My best advice is to wash up after shaking hands and avoid touching your nose,” Balmes was quoted as saying by BBC.
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Jokes about Singapore’s water recycling plan Jokes are flowing thick and fast about Singapore’s moves to recycle water from toilet bowls, the latest plan to reduce reliance on supplies from Malaysia. The satirical Web site TalkingCock.com cut straight to the chase with “Singaporeans preparing to drink own pee”. Singapore relies on its neighbour for about half of the 300 million gallons of water it consumes every day, but the two sides have been trading verbal punches before next month’s negotiations on setting a new price after current agreements expire. “We don’t want to sell water to them,” Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday. “We are losing money selling to them.” Resource-parched Singapore countered by saying it would need less from Malaysia in future because it could fill some of its requirements by turning waste water into so-called “Newater”. TalkingCock, which means “spouting nonsense” in Singapore slang, had its own version of the government campaign to sell the idea of Newater to the city state’s four million people. “It’s totally natural, like Evian, except that it doesn’t come down from snowy alpine rivers but from your very own kidneys,” it quoted a fictitious official telling sceptical residents of a housing estate. In reality, Newater has been certified cleaner than tap water by a panel of international experts. Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong gave it his seal of approval by swigging a bottle for the local press after a recent game of tennis. Singaporeans will get to taste it for themselves when 60,000 bottles are handed out at the National Day parade on Friday. Only government officials know to what extent Singapore intends to cut its reliance on Malaysian water, but the heavy emphasis on the possibilities of Newater clearly is designed to be a bargaining chip over price. Singapore now pays three Malaysian cents (less than one U.S. cent) for every thousand gallons of raw water piped in. Malaysia said last month it was ready to rework the pricing formula after a proposal to make the city state pay 100 times more by 2007 was rejected. One joke e-mail doing the rounds envisions a novel solution to the long-standing tensions over water. “In the landmark deal, Malaysia has agreed to divert its vast sewerage network across the peninsula into Singapore so that the island republic can have unlimited supply of human waste for recycling into Newater,” it reads. But TalkingCock said Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s powerful state investment agency, had other plans — collecting the urine of high-ranking politicians to bottle and age like fine wine. “We believe that the pee of our highly gifted leaders is not ordinary urine and should be treated as such,” a fictitious official said. “It’s tentatively called Cabinet Sauvignon.”
Reuters |
Signs of an illumined soul He knows bliss in the Atman. And wants nothing else. Cravings torment the heart; He renounces cravings. I call him illumined. The tortoise can draw in its legs; The seer can draw in his senses. I call him illumined. The recollected mind is awake In the knowledge of the Atman. Which is dark night to the ignorant; The ignorant are awake in their sense-life Which they think is daylight: To the seer it is darkness. He knows peace who has forgotten desire. He lives without craving: Free from ego, free from pride. This is the state of enlightenment in Brahman: A man does not fall back from it Into delusion. Even at the moment of death He is alive in that enlightenment: Brahman and he are one. — The Bhagvad Gita
*** Futility of external practices All talk, all assertion, Is confusion, a trap; Men talk, they profess, they hear, But nothing is achieved by talking; Practice alone bears fruit.... Vain are your penances, Vain your austerities, Vain what you deem Your vast knowledge; Without the Lord’s Name Vain are your meditations; Your contemplations vain. Vain your rites and rituals, Vain your adorations, Vain your do’s and dont’s ; They plunge you into the depths Of the sea of delusion, They will never let you reach The shores of bliss and peace. — From Kabir Granthavali |
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All eyes were rivetted on Justice H R Khanna on August 5 as it was his 90th birthday. Supreme Court advocates Nina and Lalit Bhasin celebrated the occasion in a befitting manner by honouring Justice Khanna, a product of DAV High School and Law College, Lahore. A galaxy of politicians, jurists and personalities from other spheres attended the celebration in New Delhi, where plaques of recognition were presented to Justice Khanna. Former Prime Minister I. K. Gujral described Justice Khanna “as a great human being, a great judge and a great son of India.” Eminent jurist F. S. Nariman said Justice Khanna “is a living legend and a man with courage of conviction who has made us proud.”