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Sunday,
October
5, 2003,
Chandigarh, India  
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ON RECORD Courts: How India can learn from Canada |
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Dhanraj Pillay plays for India
Talks go on...and the camera moves on
Making us aware of politicians’ doublespeak
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ON RECORD Mr Kumar has been a pillar for the Samata Party and has seen it grow in Delhi in the last nine years. He took over as national spokesman of the party in mid-May after Shambhu Srivastava left to join the Congress. He likes to recall his participation with Chandra Shekhar and
George Fernandes in 1994 in a movement aimed at ousting a foreign company which had bought 15,000 acres of land of Kandla Port. The movement was aimed at protecting the livelihood and interests of nearly 300,000 salt workers. The matter was even taken to Court. The company sensed that resistance would work against their business interests and left the country. In a relaxed interview in his unadorned party office in New Delhi on Gandhi Jayanti, Shiv Kumar discussed a range of issues covering the change in political ideology and principles in the last two decades and the priorities of Samata Party. He also looked back at his university days and attacked the Congress for long decades of misgovernance. Excerpts of the interview: Q: Do you plan to involve film stars during canvassing? A: Elections should not be fought on the strength of the face value and charisma of a hero or a heroine. The candidate’s merit and contribution to his constituency determine his victory. The Congress has spoilt the political structure of the country by giving tickets to musclemen, filmstars, persons from royal families and bureaucrats. This malady has spread to other political groups. Dr Lohia had started a movement to oppose another wrong tradition of the party — transfer of power from one generation to another. We’ve been raising our voice against this. Q: Have the differences between your National President and Defence Minister George Fernandes and Railway Minister Nitish Kumar been sorted out? Will they share a platform to address public meetings? A:
There are no differences. They have only been created and projected. Don’t make an issue by asking whether they will share a platform. This depends on the organisers and I’m sure they will invite both the leaders. Mr Fernandes has had to call off some meetings due to his
engagements in the Defence Ministry this month. On October 7, Union Minister Shahnawaz Khan is organising a huge public meeting in Kishanganj in Bihar to mark four years of NDA rule. The two leaders are likely to share the platform there. As the convenor of the NDA, Mr Fernandes’ presence there is imperative and he will not be able to address a meeting in Chhattisgarh the same day as scheduled. Mr Fernandes will not be able to address two public meetings in Rajasthan on October 13. He will, however, address a public meeting in Nanded in Maharashtra on October 9 and another in Okhla, Delhi on October 14. The meeting in Okhla will enable us test our strength. Mr Fernandes will comment on the performance of the Congress and counter all the false allegations levelled by them. Q: What issues will your manifesto address? Will you have separate manifestos for each State? A:
Separate manifestos are being drafted for each State. If anybody is to be blamed for corruption and unemployment in this country, it is the Congress. They did not devise a way to get rid of unemployment. The Congress formed a government on the basis of prices of onions and not any issues. Employment will certainly be an issue in our manifesto. Q: Will you continue to be in alliance with the NDA in all the five states in the assembly polls? A: We have constituted the National Democratic Alliance. There is no front which is bigger than the NDA. We would prefer an alliance with coalition partners of the NDA. There should be an understanding with the NDA on seat sharing. Q: Will you oppose BJP candidates to assert your party’s identity? A: (Dismisses the question with a laugh and clarifies) If we don’t have an agreement with BJP, then we will work for our party and seek votes for our candidate. Q: Your detractors don’t think much of your presence outside Bihar. Any comments? A:
In the last Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, we emerged number two in seven out of nine seats we contested. We have an MLA in Assam, 33 MLAs and 12 MPs in Bihar, five Ministers in the Jharkhand government, eight municipal seats in Gujarat of which we have majority in seats in Jamnagar and Junagarh. In Maharashtra, we have a major participation in the Hind Mazdoor Kisan Panchayat. Our party candidates are Chairpersons in two
Municipal Corporations in Rajasthan. In the last Lok Sabha polls in Lakshadweep, our candidate lost only by 500 votes. NDA is about to complete five years of governance. It has not departed from its agenda. What will the Congress teach us. Retaliating the
assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, they (the Congress) targeted the entire Sikh community in the National Capital. There was so much bloodshed. Women were widowed and children orphaned during the 1984 November riots. The Congress has tried to destroy the secular fabric of our country. Q: Former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitley was divested of her charge after the Tehelka expose. Does she continue to exercise influence over the national policies of the party? A: What is her fault? Why are people in this country so unjust to her? Jaya Jaitley is a founder member of Samata Party and will continue to be so. Q: What do you remember of political activity during your university days? A: At that time, people were inspired by ideology and principles. The prime objective of joining politics was to explore an opportunity to help people in adversities not to grab power. The “Angrezi Hatao Andolan” started by Dr Lohia evoked overwhelming response in BHU. Continuing the agitation in the 70s, we stepped out of the campus to the city in huge numbers to spot and blacken hoardings and signboards in
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Courts: How India can learn from Canada DURING a visit to the courts at Toronto in Canada recently, I was amazed at the facilities being provided to the lawyers. My Barrister-cum-Solicitor friend, for instance, had a 4-room office complex, computers, two phone lines, office staff, fax, xerox machine, fridge, water cooler, coffee machine and what not. I was told that this is the minimum a lawyer should have. He cannot run his office from his house. He should maintain two bank accounts — personal and a trust account, subject to periodic audits and, if necessary, raids by the law society and seizure of the computer for checking the accounts. I went to the court where my friend was to argue the motion. There were about six court rooms. Not more than 20 people could be seen including the lawyers. I checked the cause list of every court. There were about 6-8 cases listed in every court. Lawyers carry their own briefs and books to the courts. Every lawyer has to indicate on his motion the time he is likely to take, say, two minutes to one hour. The court co-ordinator fixes the motion before the courts consider the nature of the case and the time reserved for the motion. It was 10.30 a.m. (Court No. 4). Only one client and the lawyers are present. All other lawyers work in their offices. The judge entered the room with a laptop computer. Nobody opened the door for him. The lawyers argued and the judge typed out the arguments and clarifications on his laptop. Finally, he picked up a paper, wrote a short order, it being an interlocutory injunction matter, signed it, and pronounced the order. The helper promptly handed over photocopies of the order to both lawyers. Consider the big difference between Indian and Canadian courts. Soon the lawyer logged into his computer and told me “I have a number of closings to handle today”. His office staff is already on the job. “What is a closing?” I asked. “It is a complete process on the part of the lawyer in the sale purchase of properties”. In India, this is down by the deed writer, not the lawyer. In Canada, after a deal is struck, directly or through an agent, the purchaser and the seller have to engage lawyers. The computer explains the entire procedure. The purchaser’s lawyer has to move fast and act with responsibility. Closing has to be done on the appointed date mentioned in the agreement and any lapse can result in postponement, subjecting the lawyer to damages and disciplinary action. The work starts from the search of the title in the Registrar's Office. He clicks on the computer, which is hooked up to the Internet with the Registrar's Office which feeds the property details. The Registrar's Office computer indicates the search fee of $44 to be deposited before the search can be made. For a moment, I am reminded of the ordeal I had to undergo at Chandigarh for depositing Rs 15 in the Government Treasury to obtain a copy of the marriage registration certificate of the very lawyer in whose office I was sitting! He again clicks and transfers $44 from his trust account to the Registrar's account. It is online transfer. No ordeal or hassles. The computer screen shows the deposit and opens the details for inspection. Each entry is checked, rechecked and downloaded. He is satisfied about the title of the person intending to sell and the charge on the property, the bank’s name etc. He then faxes the requisitions on to the bank informing the intended sale of the property and the amount the bank has to be paid. The bank replies back on the computer or through fax. Five more requisitions are processed on the computer: to the electricity office, water department, municipal office, fire insurance and gas supply office for dues, if any, against the property. Soon comes the reply. Then, a fax goes to the Justice Department inquiring if there is any unexecuted decree against the person selling the property and, if yes, the amount of the decree. Now the information is complete. He then calls up the bank, which has sanctioned loan, to release the loan. The bank does not hand over the loan to the purchaser. The loan amount is transferred to the lawyer’s trust account. He issues cheques to the seller, the five departments if any amount is due to them and the Justice Department. He then calls up the lawyer engaged by the seller. Both meet at a convenient office to prepare the documents. The lawyers verify the identity of the persons from their IDs and the documents. The seller hands over the key to his lawyer. Registration can be done from the lawyers’ office. Both lawyers, in their respective offices, hook up their computers to the Registrar's Office computer, feed the details and the documents and deposit the fee online. The lawyers endorse that the documents have been signed in their presence. Both electronically sign and the documents are registered. The lawyers can download the registered documents. The original documents are signed before them and the keys are exchanged by lawyers. The last step is intimation to the five departments by the lawyers that the property has been sold to the person concerned. The entries are changed in the departments’ computers. The purchaser's lawyer sends the intimation to the bank, which advanced the loan giving details of the amount paid to people. Then he hands over to the purchaser the original documents, the keys and a statement of account mentioning every dollar paid including the fee charged and gets himself relieved. The closing is done. His job is over. In such a system, where is the scope for corruption? I recall the hazardous process in India, the money spent and the time wasted. Don't we have the capacity to do all this? Why not? The writer is Advocate, Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh |
Dhanraj Pillay plays for India The India-Pakistan hockey match has been the most exciting event since the Partition of the sub-continent. When the two teams face each other in the field, it is a do-or-die for both. It was so at Kuala Lumpur too. They might prefer to lose in a semi-final or a final to any other team but would not like to be trounced by each other for they consider such a defeat as personal humiliation. In no other sport event, including cricket, Indian and Pakistani players show such hostility as in the sphere of hockey, as if, reflecting the mood of the rulers of the two neighbours. A hockey match also arouses unprecedented excitement in the people of the two countries and they are seen glued to their TV sets as if a war is being fought. A defeat in the field of hockey has the same demoralising effect as losing a war. Kaula Lumpur’s National Stadium provided such a scenario and Dhanraj was, as if, the General leading the attack. Dhanraj may have become a household name but few know the traits of his personality, humble origin and how hockey became a part of his life. Mercurial, five feet and eight inches tall, fit like a fiddle and magnanimous, he has brought romance back in the game of hockey. There was a time when as a young boy he played on the soft, muddy, surface with his brothers and friends and learnt the skill with broken sticks and discarded hockey balls. His constant effort was to follow the style of legendary forward and his idol, Mohammed Shahid. Pillay’s childhood and early youth were spent in the Ordinance Factory staff colony in Kirkee, near Pune where his father was a groundsman and playground in the factory premise his battleground. Dhanraj says his mother, whom he gives credit for his meteoric rise, encouraged all her five sons to play hockey despite leading a hand-to-mount existence. Dhanraj moved to Mumbai in the mid-eighties to join his elder brother Ramesh, who was playing for RCF in the Mumbai League. Ramesh had already played for India in international matches, and his guidance helped his brother to develop a potent, speedy striker. Pillay then moved over to Mahindra and Mahindra where he was coached by India’s defender, Joauim Carvalho.
With brilliant performance for his employers and for Mumbai in the national championship, he carved out a rightful place in the Indian hockey team. He was selected to play in the Asia Cup of 1989. Since then, Dhanraj has won almost every honour the hockey has to offer. An Asian Games Gold medal as captain, the Arjuna award and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna have been his prized decorations. The only glory that has eluded him was an Olympic gold, though he has been to the quadrennial games twice — in 1992 (Barcelona) and 1996 (Atlanta). He has established a record having played in three Olympics, three World Cups and three Asian Games. He captained the Indian team in 1998 World Cup and crowned his career by leading the team to the Gold medal at Bangkok Asian Games besides playing for foreign clubs in Germany, Holland, Malaysia, France, UK and Bangladesh. Though Dhanraj may have still to rise to the exalted status of a Dhyan Chand, he has certainly qualified to be in the category of Balbir Singh and Mohammed Shahid, his one-time role model. Dhanraj is 35 when most of the players in a fast game like hockey hang their boots much earlier but this wonder man from Kerala has, as if, the God-given stamina. Most of the players in both Indian and Pakistani teams are a decade younger to him but in speed, agility and stamina, he is far superior. This is indeed a miracle. Dhanraj may too call it a day before long but his name will always be remembered in the annals of hockey. In the time come, he may also be described as legendary. Tough challenges are ahead for the Indian team; soon they will meet Pakistan again in the Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad and have to prepare for the Olympic Qualifier in Spain in March
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Talks go on...and the camera moves on WHY do the world’s discussions on poverty take place in the plushest resorts and conference complexes — Cancun in Maxico today, the Canadian Rockies yesterday, Seattle the day before and, of course, Washington, Melbourne, Montreal etc? Places when, out of conference-time, participants from sub-Saharab Africa, suicide-prone farmlands Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, poverty-punished Guatemala or Ecuador, couldn’t afford a room in the dingiest and grungiest of shanty-hotels? Why do these discussions always end in smoke, to resume two, three or four years later from the very point where they had begun and end with the same echoingly-hollow resolutions? It is Africa at last which has surfaced in conclaves on poverty. An African coup, one of ever so many, takes place in Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo or, the latest, Guinea-Bissau and we learn that people in Guinea-Bissau live not even on a dollar-a-day but on 25 cents a day — and thus the camera moves on or the newspaper page is turned. The Czar of Iraq, Frank Bremmer, begins the revival of the police force of the country with the second largest oil reserves in the world at a pay of $40 a month and nobody in the US seems to find it odd! American soldiers search car and bus passengers at gun point often after getting them to kneel or lie down, no one seems to shudder at this humiliation. But it is exactly this kind of humiliation that the Chinese have never forgotten from the “international concessions” in China where the laws of China did not run and where the Chinese could not move with dignity. It seems like repeating the obvious and then once again without the wisp of a constructive policy. Commentators are speaking about a front of the poor nations with China, India and Brazil and some 13 others. But can it last? Has it ever lasted? China is making very rapid strides in economic development, will it bring behind it the army of the poor? India’s superpower illusion, will it be fed with the newly-united Phalcon of Israel? Much to the resentment of the Middle Fast or, should I say, the people of the Middle East because the kings and dictators, the Emirs and Presidents of the Middle Eastern countries are mightily reluctant to confront Israel. The others of the G16 might be picked off one by one — as Turkey was, Guinea, Angola and Bulgaria. The attempt to establish Marxist social democracy, starting with post-1918 Austria and German Marxists failed. When the Soviet Union collapsed it brought down with it the socialism, albeit imperfect, of Central Europe. The United States, with bomb and Nepalm in Viet Nam and with the allurements of tourism and trade wounded the socialism of Cuba. It lasts precariously still and will survive till Castro, an economy where a concierge of a tourist hotel makes several times more than a brain surgeon. In this season of the monsoon there is a wonderful sense of security when, sitting inside a pucca house early in the morning with the rain drumming on the roof and windows, giving little thought to the rising Mahanadi or Brahmputra and the hundreds of thousands left homeless and foodless in Orissa perched shivering on rooftops or being ferried to high ground in Army dinghies. The equanimity of our 250 million in Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai or Goa are not disturbed, only the cloud-enveloped watery sun rises threateningly in Orissa and Bihar. For a while emotion will prevail and our young people will rush to Gujarat’s demolished cities and villages and to Bihar where Jayaprakash Narain once fought a famine single-handed. Elsewhere the newest restaurants of Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi, with permits screwed out with lashings of grease to municipal authorities, will open their evenings with champagne cocktails and sea-food platters. The interiors of the restaurants will be built to resemble havelis and Moghul dastarkhanas and the fabulous expenditure on Rashtrapati Bhavan will attempt to keep up the splendour that the Raj needed to awe its subjects. Which is to be our role model, Rashtrapati Bhavan or Wardha? How little time it takes for a country to lose its reputation for human rights. September 11, the fighting in Afghanistan and the occupation of Iraq have shaved off many of the rights America and visitors to it took for granted. Australia has dropped a few notches down much to the regret of its liberals. Overt and covert rules bind down India with the complicitness of politicians and the bureaucracy and the country is now in the grip of khaki, olive-green and black. We imitate the Soviets in the display of military hardware every year. At the same time, patients are two to a bed in Safdarjung Hospital, one of Delhi’s biggest, temporary marriages between young girls and elderly Arabs go on quite openly. In the trafficking of women India is notorious, perhaps only a step behind the countries of Wester Europe. The most cunning of pressures extract bribes followed by startling efficiency once the price has been paid. The corrupt must be clever, criminals must be like Sherlock Holme’s adversary Prof Moriarty. Who but the ruthlessly clever would manufacture spurious medicines? Or deprive people of water in India’s capital? Getting a ration card is a nightmare for a migrant villager, the police levy charges for the smallest of favours which are often the right of the individual. Expert vandals are willing to procure and sell the finest of India’s art treasures to private collectors abroad, most rare books have already disappeared. No effort was made to preserve Portuguese books after Goa joined India and many of these books are now showcased in Austin, Texas. On Teacher’s Day, September 5, a Headmaster from Taikonda in Guntur said “I want a few chairs for teachers. And sports kits for children. Even a football would do”. A headmistress from Sitamarhi, Bihar said: “Just repair my school building and give me two more teachers. It is difficult for eight teachers to attend to 500 students when the roof leaks every monsoon”. These first or the Phalcon?
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Making us aware of politicians’ doublespeak CO-INCIDENTALLY or not so, on the 134th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, I received a copy of Sadhav Mission Patrika. A small publication which focusses on issues relating to justice and a non-violent way of dealing with crisis, it is brought out by Mr V.K. Triparthi. A professor at IIT Delhi, I have heard Triparthi speak at seminars and forums. The man is so taken up by the turbulence in society that he and his friends got together to bring out this publication. Not just leaving things to the written word, he even organises door-to-door campaigns and shanti paths to reach out to people and make them aware of the doublespeak of the politician. Reacting and writing rather too blatantly at the chaos around: “Elections in India are round the corner…there is talk of temple, uniform civil code, cow and similar issues that are not even marginally relevant to the grave crisis of the survival of the masses and freedom of the nation…” With my mind still focussed on Gandhi and the simplicity he stressed on, I walked into the library attached to the Bhai Vir Singh Sadan. I came face to face with the man in charge of this library — J.S. Anand. No, I can’t describe him to be an ordinary librarian, for this elderly man seems so very different. He speaks with so much patience and gentleness as though he has all the time in the world for you...and with that I got talking to him for what seemed hours and you know just one sentence from him was enough to hit. “The biggest virtue in a person is simple thinking... blessed are those who think straight, for people who are complicated in their thinking “And with that Anand went into the hidden virtues of simple thinking... No great wonder that men like Mahatma Gandhi managed to take on the might of the British, through the simplicity of approach. Right now clutched in my hands are 125 postcards on Mahatma Gandhi made by the country’s top artists and put together in an attractive pack by SAHMAT. An excellent and affordable gift for keeps, for generations to come. Distractions
and much more Distractions from the political chaos is not too far away. The International Film Festival takes off here in New Delhi from October 9. In their rather too meticulous way, the French have already announced the French films lined up for participation in this festival. Tempting but then scenes from the traffic chaos snarl up, almost as an anti-dote to those temptations. And before we move ahead, I must tell you that evenings lie fitted with farewell dos for the transferred envoys — Libyan, Lebanese, Bangladeshi, British. At one of these dinners as I sat next to Ladislav Volko, the Ambassador of Slovak Republic, he got talking and he told me that years back (that is before his country, the Czech Republic got divorced into two), he was a journalist, that too, a film critic. In that capacity, he had covered one of the international film festivals in Calcutta (now Kolkata). To my query who is the favourite Indian star, he quipped “Raj Kapoor...till date nobody can match his calibre…” A major exhibition of the works of Satish Gujral — paintings, drawings and sculptures — will start at the Visual Art Gallery (Habitat Center). Like his works, Gujral stands out. He has gone through so much of upheaval in his life, yet he has retained the capacity to reach out. Reading through his autobiography “A brush with life” is essential for, at the end of it, you exclaim, what destined turns and yet, he has survived it all. Lutyen’s lot Next week 43 members from Lutyen’s Trust will be here to see for themselves the buildings of New Delhi designed by the famous duo, Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker. A reception will be hosted for them at the British
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All food is pure; for God himself has blessed us with it as sustenance. — Guru Nanak Jealousy presupposes the possibility of rivalry. — Mahatma Gandhi Follow your bliss. — Joseph Cambell If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. — Voltaire Think that all phenomena are like dreams. — Atisa (Dipankara) Who falls for love of God shall rise a star. — Ben Johnson |
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SAMATA Party’s national spokesman Shiv Kumar first felt drawn to politics as a student of Benaras Hindu University (BHU) in the early 70s. Career took a back seat after Kumar, son of a farmer from Benaras, heard the awe-inspiring lectures of Madhu Limaye and George Fernandes and read about veteran socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohiya, one of the founders of the organised socialist movement in India. He was rusticated for joining the JP movement during the Emergency and languished in Benaras Central Jail for 15 months. In 1980-81, he was elected President of the BHU Students Union. He graduated in sociology, economics and philosophy the same year. Fourth among six brothers and two sisters, Kumar was born into a simple farmer’s family and has not forgotten his humble beginnings.
THINK of hockey and the name of Dhanraj Pillay, the proud Captain of the Indian team, comes to mind like a flash. His speed and agility has given him the status of a celebrity. He may become a legend in his life time. Experts say, he may be on his way to becoming a Dhyan Chand, the hockey wizard but he has still a long way to go. Doubtless, he symbolises the resurgence of Indian hockey. September 28, 2003 was the most gratifying day in Dhanraj’s life when his team trounced Pakistan 4-2 to win the first-ever Asian Cup at Kuala Lumpur. It was an exciting moment for Dhanraj as the Indians had not beaten Pakistan in the final of any major tournament since 1975 World Cup. Beating Pakistan in a final had become an uphill task for the last two decades but Dhanraj’s team made it possible at Kuala Lumpur. It was a mission achieved.