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Wednesday,
May 28,
2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Bus ride
to peace Why dig then? Iraq calling |
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Cause of
women’s reservation
The
games we play...
A
language department that exists for itself Writers’
Mecca becomes inaccessible
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Bus ride to peace THE timing of the announcement for resuming the Delhi-Lahore-Delhi bus service is significant. It will give Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee something positive to talk about, in the context of the continuing thaw in Indo-Pak relations, during his three-nation visit to Germany, Russia and France. He will be meeting other world leaders from the US, Britain and China at Evian, on the Franco-Swiss border, ahead of the G-8 summit on June 1 at the same venue. There have been minor hiccups on both sides after he extended the hand of friendship to Pakistan last month. There was more confusion than controversy about the premature announcement of the name of Pakistan's High Commissioner to India. Pakistan Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali was evidently not familiar with the proper diplomatic procedure for naming envoys. The only loser seems to be Mr Riaz Khan, who was Pakistan's envoy in Beijing when his name was mentioned "prematurely" by Mr Jamali in the course of an interview to Doordarshan. Mr Aziz Ahmad Khan will now be the new Pakistan High Commissioner. The necessary "agrema" papers have been handed over to India for completing the formality. The resumption of bus service is part of a series of confidence building measures both sides are expected to take for paving the way for summit-level talks on a range of issues. Both have agreed not to allow Kashmir and cross-border terrorism to stall the process of normalising ties. During his three-nation tour, Mr Vajpayee will meet US President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chinese Prime Minister Hu Jintao at Evian. The tercentennial celebrations of the founding of St Petersburg will provide him another opportunity to share with the international community India's view on terrorism and related matters. Having taken the initiative of extending the hand of friendship, followed by a series of other diplomatic gestures, including the revival of the bus service, Mr Vajpayee may find the world leaders receptive when he shares with them India's strategy for fighting the triple curse of terrorism, drugs and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Indian foreign policy, after years of slothful existence, seems to have come alive. The resumption of the bus service between India and Pakistan, the release of each other's nationals languishing in jail on unspecified charges for years, and the willingness of Pakistan to accord India the status of most favoured nation for speeding up economic cooperation — a favour extended to Pakistan by India in 1995 —do hold the promise of the South Asian neighbours emerging as key players in promoting regional peace and cooperation. |
Why dig then? HARDLINE groups like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad have all along been reiterating that a Ram temple stood on the disputed site in Ayodhya before it was pulled down to build a mosque in the 16th century. Now even the government has adopted the same line of argument. Its counsel has told the Liberhan Commission probing the 1992 Ayodhya demolition that the existence of Ram Chabutara and Kaushalya Rasoi on the outer court of the disputed structure where worshipping had been going on for long indicated conclusively that this place could not be the birthplace of any person other than Lord Ram. Not only that, it has rejected the Congress government’s version that the dispute dates back only to 1949. The Centre in its final argument says that the sequence of events on the dispute dates back to 1528 instead when Mir
Baqi, the commander of Mughal Emperor Babar, built the mosque after invading India. Since then there has been relentless struggle by the Hindus to regain the possession of the place. The categorical stand of the government makes the digging at the disputed site an exercise in futility and creates a piquant situation in the bargain. There is no reason why the government should go through the charade of looking for evidence under the debris when it has already made up its mind that the Ram temple did exist there. The judicial reference in this regard also becomes redundant. It must clarify as to what its position will be in the event of the Archaeological Survey of India reaching a conclusion that no temple stood there. Will it be willing to treat the experts’ word as final and agree to abide by the court judgement? If not, then it is meaningless to expend so much time, money and effort on looking for archaeological evidence of a temple at the site. The 1993 white paper issued by the then Central government headed by Mr
P.V. Narasimha Rao had said that the placing of the Ram idol in the central dome of the disputed structure in December, 1949, was the starting point of the chain of events leading to its demolition. By taking the dispute back by more than 400 years, the present government has further complicated the matter. It is quoting the same white paper to establish that the dispute on the structure had led to communal riots as far back as 1934 between Hindus and Muslims causing large-scale damage to it. Since the dispute is centuries old as per the government’s own claim, should not limitation rules apply to it and the status quo be maintained? That apparently does not suit politicians, especially at election times. |
| Iraq calling INDIA'S reluctance to send its troops to Iraq for monitoring in one of the five administrative sectors in the war-ravaged West Asian country is understandable. It had expressed its disapproval of the US-led war on Iraq without sanction from the Security Council. Naturally, it is embarrassing for New Delhi to be seen in the company of the “occupying” powers — the US and the UK — though participating in the rebuilding exercise is a laudable task. This is, however, not a realistic way of looking at the situation in Iraq today. Pragmatism demands something else. Now that the UN has formally sanctified the “occupation” of Iraq for a limited period and designated the US and the UK as the Authority for its economic and political reconstruction, India should not feel shy of playing the role being offered to it. One hopes the country will soon come out of this mode now that “consultations” have begun with the relevant quarters. As stated by Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal on Monday, India is in the process of obtaining “clarifications on the parameters and the scope of the appeal” to help the people of Iraq in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1483. A quick positive response is the need of hour. Even France, Germany and Russia have changed their earlier position and are cooperating with the US and the UK on restoring normalcy in Iraq. India has nothing to lose while committing its troops for an assignment given by Uncle Sam and his sidekick. It will be gaining in many ways. For the first time India will have an opportunity to demonstrate its military prowess beyond South Asia almost independently. This is quite different from playing a peace-keeping role as part of a UN force. Being a participant in the rebuilding of Iraq will enable India to influence the decisions that will be taken with regard to oil resources, etc, in the coming days. The Iraqis have known India as a friendly country. They will, therefore, be happy to see Indians in their midst at a time when they are faced with a crisis they could have never expected. There is no chance of India being treated as a hostile power simply because it will be working along with the “occupying” forces. Moreover, India will gain a new experience in conflict management beyond its immediate neighbourhood. Its stature in the Arab world as well as in the comity of nations will go up considerably. That the country will be benefiting in terms of increased business opportunities is obvious. |
Cause of women’s reservation HISTORY does not repeat itself is a self-evident maxim which most people tend to accept without demur. But now we are witness to seeing history being repeated every year in Parliament in the matter of hypocrisy of all political parties in the context of the Women’s Reservation Bill. Every political party for the last six years has been assuring its support to the Bill which disarms women activists. And then a farce rather than a tragedy is played out by so-called radical politicians, jumping into the well of the House, tearing copies of the Bill and making impossible for proceedings to continue — the House gets adjourned, the Bill is thrown into the dustbin till it is revived in subsequent years with the same result. It is time this mockery stopped, considering that the Congress, the BJP and Left parties proclaim that they are for the Bill in the present form, and really want it to become law. Women are not asking for grace and charity. Their contribution to the cause of nation-building exceeds that of men. An International Labour Organisation study shows that “while women represent 50 per cent of the world adult population and a third of the official labour force, they perform nearly two-thirds of all working hours, receive a tenth of world income and own less than 1 per cent of world property.” Therefore, reservation for women is not a bounty but only an honest recognition of their contribution to social development. An alternative to the Bill suggests to amend the Representation of People Act, 1951, to compel political parties to mandatorily nominate women candidates for at least one-third of the seats on the pain of losing recognition. This is politically flawed and not even constitutionally permissible. It may be violative of the fundamental rights to form an association guaranteed under Article 19(1)(c) of the Constitution. The only permissible restrictions are those in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India or public order or morality, and such an amendment would not fall within these. That apart, this alternative will not achieve the objective behind the Amendment Bill, because even if a third of women candidates are put up by political parties, there is no guarantee that the same number will get elected. It is freely admitted by all parties that because of the inbuilt prejudice against women male candidates will have an unfair advantage in elections. This aspect is freely admitted even by Left parties. Thus, parties will tend to allow women candidates to fight elections from their weak constituencies. Though I am all for the Bill in its present form, it is unwise to underestimate the opposition from the male constituency in Parliament. Given the present instability in political coalitions, and the material that is in Parliament, to expect one-third of the male members to accept political hara-kiri is unrealistic. They are no Gandhians. They will not give up their privileges so easily. There is also some merit in the objection that the reservation of seats for women would mean rotation of seats at every general election with the result that the members will not be able to nurse their constituencies and also that candidates will be uncertain of anticipating their future constituencies. This will be thus breaking their link with the electorate. Notwithstanding these ticklish problems, I would have continued insisting on the present Bill. But there is another alternative which can give one-third seats to women without in any way asking the male members to make the way. This alternative gets further strength now that the Delimitation Commission has been asked to adopt the 2001 census for delimiting the constituencies, and therefore the same inevitable consequences must follow. Article 81 provides for the Lok Sabha to have not more than 530 members. Further amendments were made to freeze the number of Lok Sabha members on the basis of the 1971 census till another census after 2000 had been published. Article 82 provides for the allocation of seats upon the completion of each census. As per the 1971 census, the population of India was about 54 crores. Now after the 2001 census it has risen to about 102 crores. So the strength of the Lok Sabha can be easily increased by one-third to 750 well within the requisite formula. This will take away the fear of any male member to vacate the present seat. These extra seats could be dovetailed into double-member constituencies, which will ensure the reservation of one seat for women and, even permitting two to be elected, if the other woman candidate gets the maximum of the votes polled. This is what happened in former President Giri’s case during the 1957 general election when both seats were won by Scheduled Caste members — one reserved and the other a general seat — because SC candidate got more votes than Mr Giri. The argument that the women’s quota will be monopolised by urban women is a red-herring. There are about 200 OBC candidates in the Lok Sabha. It is a stark reality that it is not their public service, but merely the caste configuration that has preferred them. Similar results will follow even after the reservation for women. The only difference will be a big chink in the male bastion. That is the real reason for opposition by male MPs. In my view, the provision of a sub-quota for the OBCs runs the risk of being held as unconstitutional. A sub-quota for Muslim women would violate secularism, a basic feature of the Constitution, and even an amendment would be illegal. Article 325 provides for one general electoral roll for every constituency and mandates that no person shall be ineligible for incursion on grounds of religion. In the matter of the fight against injustice and discrimination, women as a class should not be weakened by seeking to bifurcate them on caste lines. Reservation for women would check the muddy politics that the menfolk have brought about. It would bring social consciousness to political life. It will also help in breaking the criminal-politician nexus — the real danger to our democracy. But, I am afraid, the strategy of women’s organisations has been faulty from the start. Holding seminars or lobbying political leaders in their offices or on television will not help. All women’s organisations, irrespective of political affiliation, should form a common platform with a single agenda. It must become a mass social movement and send out a message to all political parties, warning them that women will withdraw their backing in the next election if they do not support the Bill now . The writer is a retired Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi |
The games we play... IN the matter of games, I have a mentor in my grandson. It was he who recently corrected me about the name of the programme that he is so fond of. “It is not WWF but WWE,” he told me and added, “E stands for entertainment.” “Entertainment!? Oh, yes, of course, I should have known it, after all, entertainment is the new word for sports. No wonder, once a gentlemen’s game, cricket is now entertainment, pure and simple. Our star performers on the field turn film-stars overnight because their aim remains the same — entertaining those who watch. No wonder, too, as you told me the other day, nobody has ever talked in your school about sportsmanship. This WWE of yours is all so horrible, what is so entertaining in it?” “A lot, Dadaji. We could begin with the beginning — the verbal bouts. I am so amused by the challenges — the rhetoric of the rocky fighters, their taunts and boasts, their villainous grinning, their grinding teeth, their fiery green eyes, their looking daggers, and so on. And, then, there are those twists and turns — the way the farcical outbursts may change into gory assaults, a musical instrument may turn into a lethal weapon, a mighty giant may find himself punched to pulp or thrown out of the ring, a half-dead man writhing in pain and wriggling like an insect may bump back and wring the neck of the one who was a moment ago crowing like a cock or strutting like a peacock, a second or two may appear from nowhere and turn the tables, or a referee may find himself flying in the air. It is all so dramatic; I love it. I am surprised that you don’t.” “I too, don’t like WWE like Bhaiyya does,” chipped in the latest edition of our family brand. “But, then, Dadaji, what is your favourite game? I haven’t seen you playing any. You don’t go to office like papa, nor do you have home task to do; you have all the time and yet you don’t play. Not even with us. You always have the excuse of the trouble in your knee. If so, you can at least see action on sports channels.” “But how can you say that I don’t play games or watch them; I do.” “Really? But when? We have never seen you doing that. What’s your channel?” “W.W.——” Before I could complete it, dozens of eyebrows popped up. The little one who had asked the question looked almost stunned. After the collective shock, her brother was the first one to find his voice. “That is great, Dadaji; so at long last I can depend at least on your vote in sticking to my favourite channel.” “Yes, at long last, he has entered, it appears, his second childhood,” said his father with a touch of undisguised irony. “No, my boy, I didn’t say WWE; I meant WWH — an interactive programmes in which one may not only watch the game but also play it.” “Really, that’s great! On what channel can we see this WWH of yours, Dadaji?” “No, you can’t see it. It is a secret channel — a special channel that is totally closed to kids. They must not see it; it is too dangerous for little minds. Not even all adults can follow it, not even your papa. It is a channel for the big daddies who have really-grown — the ripe, old folk.” “Does it mean that they have launched something for the senior citizens only?” “It has been there all the time, since the very creation of the world. It has been the pet pastime of those who are too ripe and rotten to act. Past the age of Karma, they prefer to leave things to Honi, to fate — to the gods and angels who will do things for you or see to it that what you want never happens. The life-long search for truth ends, as it were, in a very simple four-word formula — ‘Thy will be done’.” “What is it that you are saying, Dadaji? What we were talking about was the channel for WWH.” “That precisely is what I am talking about, my child — the game of Waiting, Watching, and Hoping. And the name of the channel is Endgame.” |
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A language department that exists for itself
THE facts first. The State Language Department, headquartered in Patiala, is functioning at a fraction of its conceived potential. It gets little else expect salaries for its employees in the non-planned budget of the state government. Planned schemes are executed in fits and spurts with no budget being allocated during the last year of the Akali-BJP regime. It is still to give the Shiromani awards for excellence in literature to writers for three years in a row. Its publication work is stalled due to non-payment to government and private publishers. Needy writers have not been paid their pension for one year at a stretch. Its own building is under utilised and the Writers Home created in the same complex looks more like a haunted castle being without even power for nearly two and a half years at a stretch. Research activity is at an all-time low and the department is not able to fulfil even its prime task of ensuring
implementation of Punjabi in official work. Lack of any political thrust as to how the department is to be used as a tool for propagating Punjabi is apparently responsible for its present status. The successive governments have provided lip service to the cause of Punjabi, with even the present Chief Minister's Office, besides bureaucrats, still preferring to work in English. Without any direction, the Language Department has become an almost non-functional body which is neither able to provide intellectual leadership nor fulfil the state programme on use of Punjabi in government offices. It was not always like this. Pepsu State Raj Pramukh Yadavindra Singh had mooted a proposal to set up a Punjabi department in the Pepsu State. Despite it being part of the Education Department and given the nomenclature of Language Cell, it was able to make its mark because of clear-cut policies. These included increasing the use of Punjabi in official work as Persian had been the official language of the state till then. The cell first gave officials three months to learn the language. After one year it announced that the Treasury Department would not pay salary to any employee who could not certify in his pay bill that he was working in Punjabi. The Language Department is unable to ensure functioning in Punjabi in state government offices, particularly the Secretariat. The department, after years of warnings and taking action against junior officials, had mooted a proposal to have a punishment clause for those not working in Punjabi. The proposal has been gathering dust as a department source himself said "who will punish whom when the top men themselves do not conduct official work in Punjabi". While lack of proper direction on this score could be responsible for the non-implementation of Punjabi in official work, there apparently is no reason why the department should be denied funds for everyday functioning. Out of the total Rs 3.80 crore non-plan budget, as much as Rs 3.50 crore is spent on salaries alone. The department has to account for the maintenance of its building, power, water and telephone bills, rent of district offices and medical expenses of its employees out of the rest of the money. As it is difficult to stretch funds to such a limit, the department had to forgo one of its only two phones for a few years and also do without power for brief spells due to the non-payment of bills. As far as the planned budget of the department is concerned, it did not get any funds during last year of Akali-BJP rule. It has not been able to give the Shiromani awards to writers in 13 categories, including a prize money of Rs 1 lakh each, for the last three years. It has not constituted the advisory committee for selecting awardees more than one year after the earlier committee was dissolved. It has to pay around Rs 40 lakh each to the government and private publishers and is now finding few takers to publish its books. The Government Printing and Stationary Department has even refused to get any work allocated from the department. The department has also not paid 20 writers to whom it has committed to give Rs 800 per month as pension for the last one year. A year ago the writers were given their dues for a five-year stretch in one go. It is not only problems of budget or lack of direction. Writers say a monolith building of the department exists but its soul is missing. They point to the library of the department which is hardly ever used by anyone. This is partly because it is a reference library and there is no lending section. While some rare books can be kept in a reference section, the department has also kept novels and contemporary books in its reference library. Besides this, the library has not been given funds for the last four to five years and no effort has been made to keep reference books in English. "How will non-Punjabi scholars come if there are no reference books in English to help them", a writer said. The department's reference books are also never updated with its Library still making do with the 1985 edition of the Encyclopaedia
Britannica. Research work has also been badly affected during the last many years. While the department has 60 posts for Research Assistant and Research Scholar, presently only 27 are filled. Some of the Assistants have been posted at the district headquarters on promotion. This has resulted in a piquant situation. Persons who are not sufficiently trained are working on the Encyclopaedia and Dictionary projects of the department. Besides, the department does not have money to form a board of scholars for its terminology projects under which Punjabi language terminology for different English words in each subject is coined. It does not even have an Urdu specialist. As a result Punjabi literature written in the Shahmukhi script in Pakistan cannot be accessed by the department. There is little chance of the department becoming even partly self-sufficient as it has failed miserably to market and sell the books brought out by it. Last year the department was able to sell books worth only Rs 15 lakh even as it normally produces books worth more than Rs 30 lakh every year. It has books worth around Rs 3 crore lying in stock with it. Similarly, it has a number of books lying waiting to be printed. The department has to borrow a bus from the Punjab State Textbook Board whenever it has to exhibit its books. Department Director M L Hasiza claims that fund constraints have led to the stalling of many schemes. Some of the problems being faced by the department, particularly that of publication of books, is likely to be solved soon. The Director says the department is continuing with its research activities despite the shortage of staff by prioritising work, adding that it is composing its books itself. The department has sought the government’s permission to set up a small off-set printing press in its basement so that it can bring out its publications itself. He adds that others issues, including the grant of the Shiromani awards and pension to writers are being addressed. |
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Writers’ Mecca becomes inaccessible
THE Writers Home in the State Language Department complex in Patiala is supposed to cater to both the intellectual and material needs of Punjabi writers. Built in a modern style, it has nine rooms and two dormitories on three floors. The ground floor has a completely carpeted lobby along with a sitting room, a dining room and a kitchen. The rooms and the dormitories are situated on the first and second floors. Each carpeted room has a different colour setting with a photograph of a famous writer adoring its wall. Separate enclosures have been created on both floors where comfortable jute lined chairs are kept so that writers can meet and have brainstorming sessions. A fibre glass enclosure has been installed on part of the roof of the building along with chairs and tables for a similar purpose. The writers’ Mecca does not have any caretaker. The department was not given permission to recruit a single employee for the Language Department. It posted a class IV employee on an ad hoc basis to look after the
maintenance of the building. No effort has been made over the years to either maintain the building or run it as a professional guest house for visiting writers. Writers themselves remember that the facilities were excellent in the first three years of its construction. However, the rot began to set in due to lack of funds to maintain the facility. Termites have eaten away carpets and rendered most of the doors and widows of the rooms
irreparable. The curtains have not been washed in nearly 10 years of use. Some of the bathrooms have fittings which do not work and the furniture is also in a bad state. Writers have not been staying in the Home for nearly three years now after the power connection was disconnected due to the non-payment of dues. As even air-conditioned rooms were offered at Rs 25 each, there was no way the Home could have become self-sufficient. Although the power connection was restored recently, the Home is still unfit for habitation because of prolonged neglect. Director M L Hasiza says he has shown the poor condition of the Home to Education Minister Harnam Das Johar during his recent visit. The department has made a Rs 4 lakh estimate to carry out repairs.
— JS
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