EDITORIALS

PM's plainspeak
Terror and talks can't go hand in hand

PRIME Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's speech at the UN General Assembly on Thursday will be remembered for the plainspeaking he did on a variety of subjects. If he felt compelled to give a tit for Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf's tat, the latter has only himself to blame. The General's speech conformed to the Pakistani practice to use the UN platform for needling India. He sought to put India in the dock for not initiating a dialogue with Pakistan little realising that he was falling into his own trap. Mr Vajpayee has picked holes in his statement, particularly when he promises cessation of violence in Kashmir for "reciprocal obligations and restraints". This is tantamount to admitting that violence in the Valley, which often spills over to other areas like the Parliament House in New Delhi and Akshardham in Gujarat, is sponsored from across the border. The mindset of the General remains the same as when he ordered surreptitious occupation of the Kargil hills in the mistaken belief that such a "masterstroke" could fell a nation like India.

Under these circumstances, India cannot be faulted if it is unable to hold bilateral talks with Pakistan. President Musharraf's strategy has been to call terrorists, freedom fighters and push them into India. When these "freedom fighters" cause mayhem in the state and outside, kill innocent people, attack armed forces and make mincemeat of peace, the government cannot turn a blind eye to them and hold interminable talks with Pakistan. All the promises the General made in the past to come down heavily on the terrorist camps and jehadi schools operating all along the Indo-Pakistan border have been broken. Even when India adopts a step-by-step approach to restore a semblance of normalcy to bilateral relations, Pakistan creates roadblocks. The inability to normalise air links between the two is a case in point. Yet, Islamabad has the audacity to claim the high moral ground.

While the West, particularly the US, is obsessed with fighting global terrorism, it is unable to see the perfidy of the Pakistani administration which has been hosting terrorists while claiming to be in the forefront of the war against terrorism. It is in Pakistan that Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden has found a sanctuary. Again, it is from the Pakistani soil that the Taliban have been mounting pressure on the Karzai government in Afghanistan. Despite these, General Musharraf claims that Pakistan is on the side of those fighting global terror. Talks and terror do not mix well. If, as Mr Vajpayee has pointed out, Pakistan really wants bilateral talks with India, it should stop overt and covert support to the jehadis. For that, the General should, first, get rid of his Kargil mindset and the jehadis enjoying hospitality in his country.

Wasted exercise
The people won't like it

THE just-concluded session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha lasted only two days. With no official business being transacted on the first day, barring obituary references, it was effectively reduced to a one-day exercise, which was gone through in about two and a half hours. It is another matter that even such a brief session cost the state exchequer quite a packet. What is all the more galling is that the session was viewed as only a perfunctory obligation -- fulfilling the constitutional requirement of holding a session within six months of the previous one. When the Chief Minister of the state himself says there was no business before the House and it was an exercise in futility, its usefulness can well be gauged. Mr Amarinder Singh said it in so many words but the opinion of the other representatives did not seem to be much different.

Had even this curtailed meeting been utilised for some constructive purpose, the brief session would not have looked like a mockery of itself. But almost the entire period was used by Mr Amarinder Singh and former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to aim personal barbs at each other. The debate on adjournment motion became an excuse for personal attacks, that too in language which would have been more appropriate in a wrestling contest. It was a miserable sight to witness these veteran leaders berating each other in a no-holds-barred manner. The result was that the vital issues concerning people were forgotten.

If it is any consolation, things are no better in the neighbouring Haryana. The length of the assembly sessions has been shrinking there as well, and so has the standard of debate. The monsoon session which began on September 9, lasted merely five hours spread over two days. No public interest issue was raised in an effective manner. Oh yes, the House did rush through 10 Bills, including the one aimed at raising the loan admissible to the MLAs for purchasing flats in a cooperative society already floated for the benefit of "Jan Pratinidhis". Now that the constitutional formality is over, MLAs of Punjab and Haryana can conveniently forget about their responsibilities for another six months. After that period, history will again repeat itself. The worthy legislators ought to know that this kind of desultory and casual approach would not be liked by the people.

An unNobel attack
Might of pen turns men to mite

JULIUS Nyerere would have enjoyed the latest round of verbal duel between Booker prize winner Salman Rushdie and Nobel laureate V. S. Naipaul and may even have made a wise comment for posterity to quote. At the height of the Cold War rivalry between the Soviets and the Americans a diplomat at an international conference observed that when two elephants fight it is the grass that suffers. The Tanzanian leader shot back: But when they make love it is even worse. The world of literature is, of course, in no immediate danger of seeing that happen between the two traditional rivals. Although there is much that is common between the two celebrated authors. For instance they share a common heritage. But Sir Vidia may object to Rushdie's Pakistani past. So what if his wife too is from the land that has often received his unkind attention?

They have both done Muslim-bashing through their writings, but their approach was different. Rushdie had the subcontinent's Muslims baying for his blood for the uncharitable references to Islam in "The Satanic Verses". Naipaul's was a more serious analysis of the faultlines in the fastest growing faith in the world. But the present verbal jab by Rushdie at Sir Vidia has its roots in the Nobel laureate's characterisation of Hindu nationalism as a great creative force. Rushdie seems to be upset because Naipaul's observations have been usurped by fundamentalists elements for their own purpose.

The irony is that he managed to raise £1,020 for the Jaisalmer in Jeopardy fund at a function in London by saying that Naipaul "is not a fanatic, but when a Nobel laureate makes remarks like that they get magnified. Photo copies of it are being used as a recruiting tool because these become useful words and he becomes a useful Nobel fool". Indophile William Dalrymple too was part of the Naipaul-bashing in London. When Rushdie gets going he ignores the commas and whizzes past the full stops. That is what he seems to have done by saying that "Hindustani is nothing but Urdu spoken with a Hindi accent". He should now put the phone off the hook. 

Thought for the day

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.

—Bill Gates

OPINION

What is wrong with Panjab University
The problem is the way it is structured
by R.K. Chhabra

OF late The Tribune has been publishing a series of valuable articles on universities in Northern India and the maladies they are suffering from. The main focus in these articles has been on the political interference in the governance of universities, teachers’ apathy to teaching and research, students unrest and, above all, the rampant favouritism in the appointment of the university staff and Vice-Chancellor. However, in this article my focus is on the basic issue of restructuring of the different authorities of the university and in particular of the supreme academic and administrative body of Panjab University Senate which is a dire necessity of the hour.

After the partition of the country in 1947 East Panjab University was established by Ordinance-VIII of 1947 for which Prof M.G. Singh, a former Registrar of Panjab University, had played a significant role. This ordinance was repealed later and the university was named as Panjab University.

By an amendment to this Act it was decided in 1960 that the university will be located at Chandigarh.

Consequent upon the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, Panjab University became a corporate body under Section 72 of this Act.

In accordance with the provisions of this Act, Panjab University was to continue functioning and operating in the reorganised states of Punjab, Haryana, Union Territory of Chandigarh and the Union Territory of Himachal Pradesh in the same manner as prior to the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966. The Central Government was also given the power to modify the Act of the university to the extent it deemed necessary. For this the Central Government issued 11 such notifications between January 11, 1966, and October 27, 1997.

Though the Central Government had made modifications in the Act of the university the basic structure of the Panjab University Act has remained unchanged to date. While the Acts of even the universities of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay established in 1857 have been drastically modified and changed, keeping in view the present concept of the governance of universities and exigencies of the times as envisaged by the Education Commission and the committee as set up from time to time by the University Grants Commission, no attempt has been made to amend the Panjab University Act. The acts of other universities in Punjab are broadly in line with the guidelines issued by the UGC.

According to the Panjab University Act (Section 8) the supreme authority of the university is vested in the Senate which apart from the Chancellor (Vice-President of India) and Vice-Chancellor consists of six ex-officio Fellows (which among others include the Chief Minister and Education Minister of Punjab and Chief Justice Punjab and Haryana High Court). The Ordinary Fellows (whose numbers is not to exceed 85) comprise 36 nominated by the Chancellor, two elected by the Punjab Legislative Assembly and the remaining elected from different constituencies of which the majority are registered graduates and different categories of teachers and heads of affiliated institutes. Only four are elected to the Senate from among the university appointed teachers. Again in the Executive Committee apart from the Vice-Chancellor, DPIs Punjab and Chandigarh, 12 are elected by the faculties. Even here the elected members are drawn predominantly from colleges.

The matters relating the university are either governed by the regulations framed by the Senate with the sanction of the Central Government or taken up by it at its meetings.

In fact, these matters are now decided by the Syndicate/Executive Council/ Board of Management in the universities consisting of 15-20 members and unlike by the Senate in Panjab University which has 91 Members.

The framing of regulations and amending the same is a long-drawn process. It nearly takes nine to 12 months before a regulation is approved by the Senate and submitted to the Central Government for sanction. It has been noticed that in most cases the sanction of the government is conveyed after a year or more. It is only when the regulation is approved by the government and published in the government gazette can it officially be adopted. Even the publishing of the regulation in the gazette some time has takes several months as the regulation has to be simultaneously published in English and Hindi even though the Act and the first regulations are only published in English.

In some cases of urgency, the university has acted on the regulations in anticipation of the government sanction. However, in a few cases the court has annulled this as the university could not act on the regulation till it is published in the gazette, after the sanction of the government.

The present jurisdiction of the university extends to the Union Territory of Chandigarh and a few districts of Punjab. Originally the government grants payable to the university were shared among the Central Government, the Government of Punjab and the Government of Haryana. However, in the light of existing jurisdiction of university it is shared between the Chandigarh Administration and the Punjab Government. There has been in the recent past difference in approach by the State Government regarding release of its share of grant (40%). This has caused considerable difficulties with the university.

From the above it is apparent that the university departments have a much smaller — rather an insignificant role —to play in the running of the university, which is dominated by the elected persons, mainly drawn from the colleges, which creates complications.

To enable the university to continue its standing not only as a teaching university, but also to further enhance its status, both in teaching and research, it is necessary that the university is converted into a central university for which amendment of the Act is necessary. By the amendment the university will be a teaching university with the provision to affiliate the colleges located in the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The role of the Central Government will be as it exists in other Central Universities with funding (both non-Plan and Plan) the responsibility of the UGC.

The writer is a former Secretary of the University Grants Commission

MIDDLE

“Parnaam shaheedan noon”!
by Balvinder

BY God, I do not believe in god, and thus in any superstition. However, since the fast increase in the rate of rail/road accidents I plan to get painted on the windshield of my modest Maruti this one line prayer, “Chall Balloo tera Rab raakha”.

Whether you travel by road or rail this prayer, of late, has become an absolute necessity. But what prompts me to get it painted inside the car than on the outside rear, as is the pop-truck-tradition, is a scary story.

The other day I was following a mighty “road-king” that was attractively painted with a rather long but witty poem on its rear. While admiring the delightful decoration, painted on the pattern of old miniature manuscripts, I started reading its interesting poetic contents. Fully engrossed in this “high” (way) “arty” sojourn I suddenly realised that the truck had applied sudden brakes, perhaps to avoid collision with some cyclist or animal who often materialise magically on Indian roads from nowhere. And before I could put my mini car to full halt its bonnet went under the giant truck’s body. Thank “god”, I escaped any physical hurt, though the car did get injured extensively. Again thank “god”, that the car was fully insured, otherwise it would also have hurt my pocket extensively!

This reminds me of a recent controversy that has been raked up in regard to putting up of large ads on trucks/buses that certainly distract one’s attention while driving and reportedly are not allowed as per some traffic law.

If that is the legal position then what prevents our traffic managers from banning all these often amusing but highly distracting decorations and writings that are blatantly displayed on almost every truck on Indian roads and do contribute significantly to the number of ever-increasing road accidents? As far as the visibility of registration number plates of these vehicles is concerned — which again has a specific rule for their display — it gets ignored in the overall dominating “artistic” melee. Though I have not travelled extensively in England but during my recent month-long stay there I did not come across even a single vehicle that displayed similar distractions. Then what? Our truck-drivers at least can boast of enjoying much more freedom than their western counterparts. It is another matter that someone, on road, has to pay the price of their freedom! But then don’t they acknowledge it sympathetically and respectfully by stating “Parnaam shaheedan noon!

IN FOCUS

Time to appoint VCs, staff on merit & competence
University teachers take their jobs too casually without accountability

System out of sync with goals

The articles in the series “State of the universities” just discussed politics in the universities whereas the real problem lies somewhere else. The teaching and non-teaching staff take their jobs too casually as there is no accountability. Course objectives are framed casually and syllabi do not meet the requirement of course objectives.

REFLECTIONS

One single sun runs through all seasons and their various parts and aspects. God is likewise one and permeates through all in various forms and aspects He manifests himself.

— Guru Nanak

He who has freed himself from the phantoms of the senses and lives in the Eternal, enjoys the bliss divine.

— The Bhagavad Gita

Why do you need pen and ink?

Write upon your heart.

Dye yourself in the colour of the Lord,

And you are His forever.

— Guru Amar Das