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Friday,
April 18, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Sword vs trishul Time to repeal POTA Destination Punjab |
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The idea of interlinking rivers
The meaning of Good Friday
A look back at the gurdwara in Baghdad
Video phones bad for the unfaithful
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Sword vs trishul Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot may have revived his floundering political fortunes by ordering the arrest of Mr Praveen Togadia. Of all the Congress Chief Ministers, Mr Gehlot's performance is the least impressive. Now he can claim to have stolen the Congress thunder from his colleagues in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. The arrest of the stormtrooper of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad under several sections of the Indian Penal Code should see Mr Gehlot lead the Congress in the assembly elections with confidence. What should see his political stock rise is the display of the political will for dealing with rabble-rousers and mischief-makers. Of course, the VHP leaders have threatened action against the "undemocratic act". President of the Rajasthan unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party Vasundhara Raje Scindia described Mr Togadia's detention as "murder of democracy". What murder? What democracy? By no stretch of the imagination can actions that whip up communal passions be called democratic. Unrestrained freedom to whip up communal sentiments results in murder and mayhem. The nation has not completely got out of the trauma of Godhra and post-Godhra developments. The fact of the matter is that the advent of television and the proliferation of news channels have allowed political and social non-entities to get too big even for their own boots. Mr Togadia is one of them. Who had heard about him or several other self-proclaimed champions of dubious causes, before TV reporters began chasing them for sound bites? The General Secretary of the VHP had announced trident distribution programmes in Rajasthan as part of the aggressive Hindutva agenda. Mr Gehlot moved swiftly, but with care. He introduced a law that banned the carrying and distribution of "small weapons" (not just "trishul", for that may have aroused religious passions). When a defiant Togadia decided to go ahead with his programme, in spite of the ban, the police moved in and arrested him outside Ajmer — a Muslim-dominated area where he had organised one of the several "trishul" distribution camps. The government did well in having Mr Togadia booked under several sections of the IPC. Most of these sections cover the same ground, with adequate safeguards, as the controversial POTA. Mr Togadia is to be tried for sedition and waging war against the State. Are these sections of the IPC not adequate for dealing with terrorists and other groups who commit a wide range of crimes against the State? Mr Gehlot showed welcome firmness in dealing with Mr Togadia. Unfortunately, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit did see no reason to stop Mr Amar Singh, a political maverick, from holding a Kshatriya conclave, where not small weapons but swords were distributed for arousing "Rajput pride". She can take the plea that under the peculiar administrative arrangement, the police force of the national capital is under the direct control of the Centre. As far as Mr Amar Singh is concerned, he has set a dangerous trend for dealing with the Dalit politics of UP Chief Minister Mayawati. He claims to be a secularist. His claim is bogus, for secularism cannot survive in the company of either communalism or
casteism. |
Time to repeal POTA The arrest of Mr R.R.Gopal, Editor of Tamil weekly
Nakkeerran, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), once again brings to the fore the question of its misuse by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa to settle political scores. The fact that Mr Gopal happens to be the 42nd victim of POTA in Tamil Nadu speaks volumes for its brazen abuse. As in the case of all others, the charges levelled against him are flimsy and do not warrant the use of the draconian law. Mr Gopal was arrested under the Arms Act and on charges of “sedition” on April 11. Since then, the Tamil Nadu Government has been desperately trying to fix him under POTA. Taking advantage of Section 4 (a), which deals with offences relating to “possession of certain unauthorised arms”, Mr Gopal was hauled up under POTA on April 16. His crime? He was found to be in possession of a revolver! His proximity to the former Chief Minister, Mr M.
Karunanidhi, is well known. When he was in power in 2000, the editor was sent as an emissary of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments to forest brigand Veerappan to negotiate the release of Kannada superstar Rajkumar and others. Equally known is Ms Jayalalithaa’s reservations on this episode. She has recently ordered a probe by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption
(DVAC) on the reported “payment of ransom” to Veerappan. While the Chief Minister is entitled to pursue the case under the law, she is abusing her authority by invoking POTA against him. The manner in which she has rounded up MDMK leader Vaiko, the Tamil Nationalist Movement leader Nedumaran and many others under POTA is deplorable because the victims can, by no stretch of the imagination, be called terrorists. POTA has already acquired the notoriety of the dreaded legislation TADA. Even though it has been flagrantly misused in several states like Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand apart from Tamil Nadu, the Centre seems unable to stop its abuse. Moreover, it has no control over POTA’s enforcement because the state governments are the implementing authorities. During the debate in Parliament, NDA allies had themselves voiced apprehensions about its abuse in their home states. They even reminded the treasury benches of the horrors of TADA. But the Centre was unmoved. Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley’s claim of “adequate safeguards” to prevent its misuse rings hollow whenever persons like Mr Gopal are arrested under POTA. The Centre’s promise of review committees to give a fair trial to the detenus looks like a mirage. Why not repeal POTA if its continued abuse cannot be checked? |
Destination Punjab If policy announcements and framing of new laws alone could boost tourism, Punjab would never have landed itself in the present hopeless situation. The Chief Minister’s announcement of the state tourism policy in Delhi may get it good media coverage, but that would not get the state any new tourists. One need not highlight Punjab’s mismanagement on the tourism front by comparing it with the outstanding performance of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, the state has distinguished itself as the last choice of a tourist, domestic or foreign. Many Punjabis themselves like to go outside the state for a holiday for within the state enjoyment is quite likely to turn into a nightmare. Driving in Punjab is an inconvenience undertaken only out of compulsion. The lawlessness and chaotic traffic apart, the condition of many roads is definitely going to make a tourist’s journey a nerve-racking experience. The Punjab Chief Minister, no doubt, prefers to fly in a helicopter. The other ministers have security guards in Gypsies to clear the way for them and they all drive at a mind-boggling speed. If a tourist happens to stay in any of the state tourism complexes, he is sure to get an inferiority complex. Chances are some VIP would also be partaking the state hospitality and the entire staff would be at the latter’s beck and call. Beware of the hoteliers! They may complain that there is only religious tourism thriving in the state and tourists prefer to stay in gurdwaras free of cost, but given a chance, they too would make the tourist part with whatever he has. They charge at will. They have a union which can even get an evening train cancelled forcing the travelling public to spend the night in hotels. In this scary scenario it does not matter what sops the state government offers to lure tourists and tourism-related projects. What’s more important, there is an immediate need to change the mindset — of the political leadership to project itself as service-oriented, of the bureaucrats to work as public servants and of the policeman to learn to respect every citizen, instead of seeing him as a potential criminal. Personal safety, courteous
behaviour, honest dealings and affordable accommodation are the first things on any tourist’s mind. A friendly environment needs to be created before a place is projected as a tourist
destination. The government has no business to be in any business, least of all the hospitality sector. Tourism has so much potential for self-employment and it suits the Punjabis who, by temperament, are
adventurists, fun and food loving, and great drivers. If well-maintained roads, disciplined driving, regular power supply, safe drinking water, healthy food and reasonably clean places of tourist interest are ensured, then sky is the limit for this globally money-spinning business. The state has innumerable religious, historical and heritage sites which need to be spruced up and marketed effectively. Policy initiatives, of course, have to be competitive to attract private investment. |
The idea of interlinking rivers The government is planning to link the rivers by taking the water from the surplus ones to deficient rivers by gradient flow. Water will be tapped from the rivers flowing at a higher elevation and taken to rivers flowing at a lower elevation. This is probably the least-cost method that can be adopted. However, this is not necessarily in the best interests of the nation. Only part of the water is absorbed by the plants when a field is irrigated. Some water is lost by evaporation. About 15-25 per cent percolates into the ground. The Indira Gandhi Canal System in Rajasthan has irrigated the districts of Bikaner, Ganganagar and Jaisalmer. But a lot of benefit has gone to Pakistan as well. The water that percolates into the ground flows towards Pakistan. The level of ground water in Multan has increased. The farmers of Multan are extracting that water by installing tubewells. The flow of water in these underground lakes, called aquifers, too follows gravity. The underground water will flow to the lower elevation towards the sea or our border areas. The water that is percolated is “lost”. Large areas of coastal Andhra Pradesh are irrigated by canals. The water that percolates in these areas flows downward towards the sea and is lost. If this water had been used to irrigate the fields at a higher elevation, then the percolated water would have flown to aquifers in the coastal areas and could have been extracted there. The cost of transporting water through gradient flow is less. But in this approach water necessarily flows towards the low-lying lands. In our country, the low-lying lands are located near the sea or near our borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh and hence it may not be the best solution. The alternative before us is to lift the water to a higher elevation. Instead of irrigating the low-lying fields of Bikaner and Jaisalmer, we could have lifted the water and taken it to irrigate the land in the upper district of Nagaur. We would have incurred much cost in lifting the water. A huge electricity bill would have to be paid. But the benefit would be that our irrigated land would have increased much more. The water that is used for irrigating the fields of Nagaur would percolate into the ground. The ground water in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer would increase. Farmers of these areas would be able to extract this ground water and use it for irrigation. Much more areas could thus be irrigated. The Tarun Bharat Sangh had built a lake in Suratgarh village of Alwar. The level of water in the wells downstream increased. But the benefits to other villages were much greater. A study found that villages up to 20 km away reported an increase in the water level. It was estimated that the increase in indirect irrigation was about 10 times the increase in irrigation in Suratgarh itself. This happens because the water that is stored in aquifers is used very efficiently. The farmers have to pay for extracting this water. Our planners, however, do not take the benefit to the villages downstream into account. Only “direct” benefits are taken into account. This practice leads us to waste much of our water. We do not look at the benefits of using the water that percolates. On the other hand, huge costs have to be incurred in taking water to a higher elevation. We have to examine whether these huge costs are less than the equally huge benefits that accrue by using the percolated water. The Chief Engineer of Indira Gandhi Canal said the state government was finding it difficult to pay the bill of Rs 200 crore per year for power consumed for the small lift canals that are at present under operation. Lifting all the water of the canal would involve much greater cost. But the benefits would have been equally immense. The main problem is how to recover the cost of water from the downstream farmers who extract ground water. This is the problem that planners must attend to. One possibility can be to impose a tax on the power consumed by the farmers in the downstream areas. This may be a difficult proposition politically. But that is the real challenge. It will be unwise to let the underground water be lost simply because we cannot recover the cost from the farmers who extract it. Therefore, lift irrigation schemes should be considered seriously in the river linking plan. The use of aquifers for storage and transport of water should also be considered. Israel and other countries have developed this technology. Instead of storing water in open surface reservoirs, water can be allowed to seep into the ground into aquifers and extracted when and where required. A report submitted to the Rajasthan Government by Israel-based company Tahal explains this system. They take the sewage from the city and spread it on the surface of the land. The water percolates into the aquifer. They have mapped the area of the aquifer. They have calculated how much time it will take for the water to move from one place to another. Based on this calculation, they extract the water at a distance so that water remains in the ground for about 100 days and gets purified during this period. The report explains: “Treatment of the sewage is based on the high-rate activated-sludge method. Recharge is carried out in the ground. Simulations in computer-based models were used to determine the well locations so that ground water would remain in the aquifer for mixing with its natural water and further purification for a period of not less than 100 days prior to recuperation by pumping.” The advantage of this system is that it does not require building of dams. The aquifers are used for both the storage and transportation of water. This reduces the cost of rehabilitation because less displacement of people takes place. The water moves free of cost from one location to another. However, this system may not be very suitable for our climate where rain occurs only during four months. Percolation will have to be carried out during these four months only. Nevertheless, experts should examine this possibility. We should not get swayed by the criticism that we are unable to manage the distribution of water in our existing canal systems and, therefore, such big schemes will prove to be white elephants. We must build the river linking system and also improve water distribution. The two can go together. A similar mismanagement of distribution is taking place in the power sector. That has not prevented us from building new power plants or the national power grid. If we can manage a huge power rail network, there is no reason why we cannot manage a national water network. It is time to look forward and take grand schemes in hand. |
The meaning of Good Friday The message of Good Friday, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”, resounds louder and clearer in our time to every human heart that is vexed with hatred and suspicion across the globe. Human life, spanning millions of years, was marred by the two great wars. Numerous regional conflicts still show the same mistakes, in Jesus own ancestral land, claiming tens of thousands of innocent lives and causing untold misery and ever-growing poverty to millions of people. We all live surrounded on all sides by death, destruction and annihilation. Much of the earth’s resources and manpower are used at the service of death. The war industry eats up a huge part of the national income of powerful nations. The stockpile of conventional and nuclear weapons increases day by day. The paradox of our life is that millions of people earn their daily living by turning out products which, if ever used, could only produce death. The world today is ruled by the merchants of death. On Good Friday each one of us thinks of the crucifixion of Christ. The powers of death crushed Jesus on the Cross. Not only by fear-ridden judgement of Pilate and the torture of the Roman soldiers but also by the powers of the principalities and religious leaders. Jesus was nailed to the Cross and for three hours he lay dying. He died between two men. One of them said to the other, “We are paying for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Jesus lived and died for others. The total exhaustion of the body, the abandonment by his friends and even of God all became an offering of self-gift to His Father without any complaint and bitterness. “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains a single grain, but if it dies yields rich fruits.” “People are dying daily every hour, even every minute. They die suddenly or slowly. They die on the streets or in their homes. They die in isolation or surrounded by friends and relations. But in every case they die along facing the unknown. Dying is a reality of daily life and dying belongs only to the living.” On Good Friday we all focus on the death of Jesus on the Cross and see the reflections of His death on the dying world of today. Jesus on the Cross drew all people to himself and died millions of deaths. He died not only the death of the rejected, the lonely and the criminal but also of the high and the powerful, the famous and the popular. Above all, he died the death of the simple people who trusted in God, believed that their lives were not in vain. We all will die alone and no one will make that journey with us and, therefore, dying is the greatest of all human moments by letting go what is most our own and trusting that we did not live in vain. As He hangs stretched out between heaven and earth, He asks us to look at our mortality straight and to believe that death does not have the last word. Therefore, we can look at the dying today and give them hope. We can hold their bodies in our arms with the trust that mightier arms than ours will receive them and give them the peace and joy they always desire. In dying all humanity is one. And it is into this dying humanity that God in Jesus entered so as to give us hope when we die. |
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A look back at the gurdwara in Baghdad The historic gurdwara in Iraq, which has suffered damage in the recent war, will be repaired through kar seva. On the initiative of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, plans to approach the US Ambassador to India, Mr Robert D. Blackwill, for permission to send jathas to the gurdwara. Here is a detailed account of Guru Nanak’s visit to Baghdad, which has been taken from SikhSpectrum.com
A map of Baghdad in 1931 shows the location of Guru Nanak’s shrine. It is one mile to the right of the Tigris river and a mile and a half from Baghdad railway station west. To the northwest is an old and extensive graveyard, extending from the town of Zubaida Khatum. To its east stands a magnificent edifice (118 feet by 55 feet) commemorating the famous Jewish saint, Nabiullah Usha, and to the northeast is the shrine of Sheikh Ibrahim forming a square of 27 feet. It is believed that during his stay in Baghdad Guru Nanak Dev had a large following, including the successors of Sheikh Bahlol Dana (the wise) and those of Sheikh Muhy-ud-din Abdul Qadir Jilani. A front view photograph of the shrine was taken in December, 1931. On the platform where the Guru sat is a plaque in Arabic. The tomb of Bahlol is toward the west. Another tomb is in the centre and the platform is 7 feet by 4 feet. In the mausoleum of Bahlol is a small rectangular garden (26 feet 5 inches by 12 feet 5 inches) in the centre of the courtyard with a masonary pavement round it. There are a few tut (mulberry) and palm trees. In Baghdad Guru Nanak stayed at a graveyard outside the town, and
Mardana, as usual, was with him. Early in the morning before dawn, Mardana played the rabab and the Master sang his song about the infiniteness of God and His Creation wherein occurred the expression: there are numerous “patals” (earths) and innumerable “akashs” (skies), when some Muslim who was listening to it and understood its purport went and reported the blasphemy of the utterance, inasmuch as the Koran had mentioned seven earths and seven skies only, to the Sajjdanashin of the Shrine of Pir Dastagir Abdul Qadir
Jilani. The Pir ordered that the offender be stoned to death and numerous people armed themselves with stones and rushed out. In the meantime Guru Nanak concluded his morning prayers with the greeting “Sat Kartar”, in a voice divinely electrifying, which immediately disarmed the mob. On this, a pir [saint], Bahlol by name, came forward and had a discourse with Guru Nanak Dev on the subject of the morning prayer. Accompanying the pir was his son and such was the effect of the Guru’s answers that first the son and then the father confessed their conversion and admitted the truth of the maxim that creation was not confined to seven earths and seven skies only. Guru Nanak Dev stayed in Baghdad for four months and had many discourses with other holy men. Before his departure from there, he was presented a chola [robe] as a token of respect on which verses in Arabic are inscribed. This chola is preserved in the gurdwara at Dera Baba Nanak in Pakistan. During the Great War when the British and Indian armies conquered Baghdad, they discovered the place where Guru Nanak Dev had his discourse with
Bahlol. It lies to the west of the town and between the old graveyard to the north and the present Baghdad-Samara railway line to the south.
Dr. Kirpal Singh, then a Captain in the Indian Medical Service, also saw it during the war, and he, in his letter, dated October 15, 1918, described it as follows: “It is really a humble looking building and known to very few people except Sikhs. To some Arabs it is known as well by the name of tomb of
Bahlol. You enter the building by a small door, on which something is written in Arabic, not visible to a casual visitor. Even with attention it is difficult to read. I could not read it hence could not copy it. I have taken the photograph of the outside... Entering the building, you come to a brick paved passage going to your right straight into the room (with a verandah), wherein you find the tomb and the raised platform. In the courtyard there are a few trees, mostly pomegranates. The room that has the tomb and the platform has two doors, one of which is open whilst the other is barred. As you enter the room, you come face to face with the platform, which is roughly 2 to 2.5 feet high and about 3’ by 4’ in dimensions. It is now covered with handkerchiefs of various colours presented by Sikhs. In the centre close to the wall you find a picture of Sri Guru Nanak, presented by some energetic Sikh, above which you find the slab with the writing which I reproduced in this letter for you. The name of the man in charge is Sayed
Yusuf.” People of Baghdad depend on the Tigris river for water. Wells, in and around
Baghad, are brackish. It is said that the Guru’s disciples together with others who visited the “takia” complained to the Guru about the difficulty in procuring drinking water. Guru Nanak got a well dug in the southeast corner and it produced sweet water. Even now, it is the only well with sweet drinking water. The mutvali in charge of the shrine told Sardar Kartar Singh Kartar that he had an old Arabic manuscript containing an account of Guru Nanak’s visit, but unfortunately it was stolen in 1920. In the same year, another stone inscription related to the Guru’s visit was found in the wall to the east of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani’s shrine near Baghdad railway station east. It had been seen by many, but was missing in 1926, when the wall collapsed. It is possible that similar relics may be found there. Bahlol Dana’s tomb and other buildings were in a sad state of disrepair, but in 1120
Hijri, Qazim Pasha practically rebuilt the tomb. The roof and verandah of Guru Nanak’s shrine had also collapsed. On August 6, 1932, Sardar Kartar Singh Kartar, the late president of the Central Sikh Committee, Baghdad, wrote to S. Manjeet Singh: “Sikhs desired to rebuild [the shrine]. Once the Central Sikh Committee applied to the Auqaf Department for repair of the shrine but no reply was received. At last the Central Sikh Committee, Baghdad, again sent an application to His Excellency the High Commissioner of Iraq in 1931, who, I have come to know from a very reliable source, has very kindly given sanction to carry out the repairs at the expense of the Committee.” Again on February 1, 1952, S. Kartar Singh wrote to S. Manjeet Singh: “The Sikh Committee, Baghdad, was very anxious to repair Guru Nanak Dev’s shrine as early as possible, but it was not an easy job to approach the Iraqi Government for the purpose. All such buildings are under the control of the Ministry of Auqaf whose sanction was absolutely necessary to carry out the necessary repairs. At last the Iraqi Government was kind enough to give the sanction during 1934 and repairs were done. “In addition to the repairs of the existing building a room is also added in front of the room where Bahlol Dana’s tomb exists. It is really gratifying to note that the Sikh community in Iraq has done a splendid job in repairing the shrine of their Guru, who is well known among Arabs as Baba Nanak or Hindu
Pir. “I returned from Iraq early in 1932. As I was much interested in this matter, I therefore had to remind the Central Sikh Committee, Baghdad, a number of times to accomplish this work as early as possible. At last in 1934 I was glad to receive the information that repairs to the Guru’s shrine in Baghdad had been completed. The Central Sikh Committee, Baghdad, was kind enough to allow me to publish this news in the papers. I did this work with the greatest pleasure.” |
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Video phones bad for the unfaithful It isn’t only people with secret sex lives who hate the idea of phones that can take pictures. Some London nightclubs are banning them on the premise that anyone who owns one has the potential to turn into a potential paparazzi. Meanwhile, in Japan, these phones come with alarms which screech into life whenever someone takes a picture, scotching ‘camera-up-skirt-on-tube’ opportunities. Then there are those people who’d rather not have to prove to their bosses that they really are stuck in bad traffic. The only people who’ll like video phones are those who have yet to acquire lives of any real interest, complexity or sexuality. Those who do have something to photograph usually prefer not to. Who will buy these relationship-endangering gizmos? The women didn’t want to be caught in unflattering drunken multi-chinned poses; the men didn’t want to be caught - period. One man griped that, although he wasn’t actually up to anything ‘that bad’, he mourned the ‘death of trust and mystery’ in modern relationships. All proving that whatever these phones could be, they could never be romantic presents — unless you’re thinking along the lines that it’s better to give than to receive. Indeed, you can imagine the scenes under the tree as shifty spouses unwrap their video phones with ill-disguised dread. It would be the ultimate gift that keeps on giving — a headache, that is. ‘Where are you?’ would turn instantly into ‘Show me where you are’; ‘Late at the office again?’ would become ‘Stand at your desk on one leg with a clock behind you and a copy of today’s newspaper.’ In the same way kidnappers have to prove their hostages are still alive, so ordinary people will have to prove they are where they say they are, when they say they are, and as alone as they say they are. And don’t try any funny business with time delay - any paranoiac worth their salt will love you enough to find you out. Just as old-style mobiles ‘enabled’ infidelity because you never knew where people were ringing from, these new ones will cause havoc with secret lives, and make sexual and emotional captives of us all. It’s a sign of the times. Lorry drivers have to put up with the ‘spy in the cab’; now we have the ‘spy in the breast pocket’. Instinctively, we know video phones for what they are — the ultimate in moral, controlling anti-permissive technology that discourages autonomy and mobility. Be careful out there, girls and boys — for some of you, the immobile phone has arrived. The Guardian |
To think of wealth as most important, is a sign of polluted intellect. For righteousness (dharma) one needs mind, not wealth. Wealth, by itself, does not enslave man. He himself becomes a slave to wealth and thus has a fall. It is not sure whether unjustly earned wealth would be useful, but it is certain to attract punishment. — Swami Ramsukhdas, Drops of Nectar |
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