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Sunday,
October
12, 2003,
Chandigarh, India  
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ON RECORD The importance of national judicial commission |
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Rabindranath: A Gandhian
in letter and spirit
Students are disturbed over militancy and yearning for peace
Rejuvenating women panchayat members
Shock over the conduct of President’s bodyguards
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ON RECORD When he assumed power last year ousting the National Conference government of Farooq Abdullah in a rather keenly contested election which, according to him, was “transparent and fair after long years”, there were high expectations from him to perform. How has he done was the obvious question posed to him when The Tribune caught the Chief Minister this week during his three-day stay in the capital. Excerpts of the interview: Q: After long years of terrorism, what is the state of economy in Jammu and Kashmir? A: The economy is slowly but surely recovering from the rock bottom that it had hit during long years of terror and militancy. Q: But what are the indicators? A: Oh, thanks to good rains we have had a bumper crop this year. You know agriculture and horticulture apart from tourism have been the traditional mainstay of the state’s economy. Even horticulture is on the upward swing. The Centre’s special package of Rs 1,000 crore has given a decisive push. Tourists started coming this year and hotels, guest houses and shikaras were occupied which has naturally brought money into circulation. You know it is a cycle when money enters at one point, everything else starts moving. Domestic handicraft industry has also started looking up. Investments are being made in the field of surgical instruments, herbs, fruit processing, poultry etc. Special efforts are being made to turn the state into a basket of herbs as climate and environment are suitable for that. Q: How is the employment scene in the state as unemployment breeds militancy? A: We have decided to make English compulsory in all government schools from the primary level. Naturally, we need teachers for that. We are going to recruit 28,000 teachers soon. This would be one major step to address the problem of unemployment. Q: What are the priorities? A: Power, education, health and communications are some of the areas we are working on. North-South and East-West corridor joining Kashmir to Kanyakumari is one big factor which is going to emit strong economic signals. The rail project up to Srinagar is now becoming visible as station building at Nowgam on the outskirts of Srinagar is getting ready. This is a firm indication to the people that the Centre’s promise was not an empty one this time. It has created new hope in the people of the state. Obviously, once completed, the rail link up to Srinagar would have economic spin-offs too. The Centre’s announcement of making Srinagar an international airport on the pattern of Dubai has also gone very well. An amount of Rs 65 crores has already been sanctioned for the purpose. Q: How is the coalition arrangement going on? A:
Very well indeed. The Congress is a major partner and the coalition is running smoothly with all partners contributing to the success. We know fully well that we won elections after a very long time which were fair and transparent and we have to redeem the faith reposed on us by the people. Q: You met Congress President , Sonia Gandhi. What was the outcome? A: Yes, I met her. She takes lot of interest in the development of the state. She asks probing questions and reacts. That is understandable as Kashmir has always been the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family’s priority. She is worried and concerned about unemployment in the state. I gave her a status report. She was in Leh recently but could’nt go to Kargil because of bad weather. I again asked her to come to Kargil. Q: How is the security environment? A: A sense of security is returning and one can see people on the streets at midnight also. This is a positive sign. After all, no amount of security and para-military forces can provide total security. It has to be in people’s mind. Almost 150 conferences and seminars were held in the state. An inter-state cricket tournament was held. Hockey and football competitions were organised this year. People are fed up with the gun and their faith in democratic institutions is returning fast as is evident from spontaneous protest demonstrations that are held all over the state over human rights violations, police and
military excesses. But here, whenever reports of human rights violations or excesses are received, prompt action follows which helps further in the restoration of people’s faith in democratic institutions. Moreover, the armed forces have some positive gestures like adopting 100 children of the state for their education from Standard VI to college level and bearing full expenses of their lodging and fees. Five hundren children of the state were taken around the country on Bharat Darshan. Similarly, 500 children of migrants were brought to the state on a familiarisation trip. Q: What about displaced Pandits? A: Without the return of the Pandits, Kashmiriat is incomplete. But without creating a media hype, we want to create conducive conditions for their return. We are going to reserve some jobs for them. Giving them employment would be just one step and we propose to take many more. We are building houses for them in Jammu where migrant camps are located so that they can live in a humane environment. Places of holy pilgrimage are being made more hospitable so that more and more people could go there. Q: Any expectations from Centre? A: Yes, it would be much better if the Centre opened new channels of communications with some groups who have been saying that they would only have dialogue with the Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister. Mr N.N. Vohra is doing a wonderful job but another channel of dialogue, may be in the form of track two, was
needed. |
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The importance of national judicial commission THE Constitution (Ninety-Eighth Amendment) Bill to set up a National Judicial Commission is a step in the right direction. The Constitution has accorded a pride of place to the judiciary. It is to act as the sentinal on the qui vive of the rights and liberties of the people. In the last few years, it has come to play an increasingly important role even in areas which were not the traditional domain of the judiciary. The Constitution makers, after considerable debate and discussion, settled for the manner of appointment of judges as provided in Articles 124 and 217 under which the appointment was to be made by the President inter alia after consultation with the Chief Justice of India and such other judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts as may be deemed necessary. The Constitution makers were loath to lodge the power of appointment of judges with one wing of the government exclusively, be it the President (executive) or the Chief Justice of India and his colleagues (the judiciary). Nor did the example of the US of the involvement of the legislature commend itself to them. Within a few years of the working of the Constitution, dissatisfaction was felt about the manner and quality of appointments. As early as 1960, Chief Justice Gajendragadkar spoke of a crisis of character in the judiciary adding that although the High Courts and the Supreme Court continued to command the confidence of the public, these courts were being carefully watched by the public. The Law Commission headed by Mr M.C. Setalvad observed: “This indeed is a dismal picture and would seem to show that the atmosphere of communalism, regionalism and political patronage have in a considerable measure influenced appointments to the High Courts”. It suggested that Article 217 of the Constitution should be amended to provide that a judge of a High Court should be appointed only on the recommendation of the Chief Justice of that state and with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of India. In S.P. Gupta’s case (1982) the court by a majority held that as among the three consultees under Article 217(1), namely, the Chief Justice of the High Court, the Governor of the state and the Chief Justice of India, the opinion of the Chief Justice of India does not enjoy primacy in the matter of appointment of judges to the High Court. However, in the Second Judges’ case (1993) and later in the 1999 Presidential Reference, it has been clearly emphasised that the process of appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the High Courts is an integrated participatory consultative process for selecting the best. Thus, from 1982 to 1984, the pendulum has swung from one extreme to the other. While one accorded primacy to the executive, the other, by virtually rewriting the Constitution, gave near total primacy to the judiciary, a course which the Constitution explicitly eschewed. Both systems have not worked satisfactorily. The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitutional suggested a mode with the participation of both the executive and the judiciary in the making of such recommendations. It proposed a Collegium which provides for effective participation of both the executive and the judiciary of the state as an integrated machinery for appointment of judges. The proposed National Judicial Commission is to make recommendations for appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, for transfer of judges, to draw up a code of ethics for judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, to inquire into cases of misconduct or deviant behaviour of judges other than those calling for his removal and advice the Chief Justice of India or the Chief Justice of the High Court accordingly and its recommendation shall be binding. There is scope for some differences about the composition of the Commission which is proposed to comprise the Chief Justice of India (chairperson), two seniormost judges of the Supreme Court, the Union Minister of Law and Justice, and an eminent person to be nominated by the President in consultation with the Prime Minister in case of appointments to the Supreme Court and including the Chief Minister and Chief Justice of the state when appointments are to be made to the High Courts. An eminent parliamentarian may also be chosen in consultation with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. Such a commission will not impinge on judicial independence. There is no need to be unduly squeamish about the inclusion of executive nominees on the commission. As Sardar Vallabbhai Patel said in his letter dated December 8, 1947 to the Governor-General of India regarding the procedure for filling vacancies: “Purity of motives is not the monopoly of a Chief Justice nor nepotism and jobbery the vices of politicians only”. Moreover, H.M. Seervai observes, recalling the words of Lord Devlin in his introduction to Mr Henry Cecil’s book “Tipping the Scales”, that on the whole, judges are no better than the society in which they lived. Lord Devlin observed that the moral of Mr Cecil’s book was that judicial integrity might easily slip away if the public and the legal profession are not vigilant. In the context of our pluralistic society, it devolves upon the government to afford equal opportunities to all even in the judicial sphere. For ensuring real participatory democracy, outstanding and meritorious candidates belonging to all sections should find representation in the higher echelons of the judiciary. Judges perform a divine function. No court work should commence in the morning without all those present (lawyers included) seeking Divine help, the judges to dispense justice and the lawyers to argue and plead for justice. The writer is former Advocate-General, Punjab |
Rabindranath: A Gandhian
in letter and spirit Called affectionately Rabinbhai by his admirers and friends, Upadhyay initially helped the poor villagers to get their lands freed from the hands of the ‘Mahajans’ by loaning some amount from voluntary institutions and thus relieving them from the clutches of usurious money lenders. The scheme did not make much headway because the money lending business had made deep inroads in the rural areas of Assam and lenders were too manipulative and powerful; did not hesitate to use strong-arm methods. Though Rabinbhai could not completely rescue poor villagers from the clutches of ‘Mahajans’, he became their hero, to whom they could look for help in distress. He did help them with money and legal aid if required. A strong trait of Rabinbhai’s personality is that of a crusader of peace and a relentless fighter against injustice and this inevitably led to confrontation with anti-social forces all the time. He has been a peacemaker even often at the risk of his life. Bruises and fractures neither frightened nor disheartened him; even though 75 he remains a crusader. He did commendable working during Chinese aggression in 1962 in Assam and
Arunachal Pradesh when exodus from these areas began. Rabinbhai’s first success came in 1960s as he pioneered the concept of a common granary for the rural areas where villagers can deposit their produce according to their capacity and take it back at the time of need. Also with the help of the German organisation “Bread for the World”, warehouses were constructed in four neighbouring villages where members stocked their grains for a nominal charge and withdrew the stock when they could sell the grains at a profitable price. An irrigation project too was started simultaneously. Born in Uttar Pradesh and worked in Bihar from 1951 to 1962, he subsequently shifted his activities to Assam where he experimented in non-violent defense and rural economic programme under the guidance and inspiration of Jayaprakash Narayan and Vinoba Bhave. He established a peace centre in Tamalpur Development Block of Nalbari District. Come Emergency and Rabinbhai courted arrest and put behind bars. The end of Emergency brought him back on the scene again but he did not choose politics nor did he contest election. He embarked upon constructive work with renewed missionary zeal, creating new institutions. Setting up “Balwadis” (schools for children), building low cost sanitation, biogas plants and boring wells to ensure potable water to villagers have been some of his notable achievements. In addition, the TAGS incurred an expenditure of over Rs 50 lakh in relief operations to famine affected agriculturists and also the victims of communal riots. Besides heading his own organisations, Rabinbhai has been guiding several other institutions. He was a member of the Khadi Village and Industries Commission and President of “Sarva Seva Sangh”. He currently heads “Khadi Gramodyog Prayog Samiti”, Ahmedabad. Under the auspices of the Khadi Village and Industries Commission, he started a training programme called the “New Weavers’ Training Centre”. The project builds sheds, hostels and provides equipment at reasonable rate to weavers, spinners and other
artisans. |
Students are disturbed over militancy and yearning for peace THE longer a political issue festers, the more intractable it becomes. That may seem like a trite observation but a recent study among Kashmir’s students threw up disquieting evidence to back it. The study showed that violence has come to dominate minds to the extent of not only distorting behaviour patterns but also repressing historical memory. Almost none of the students who participated could recall events and facts from before the period of militancy. “Almost all were stuck in these ten years, remembering only security-related matters and the history of these ten years,” says Dr Arshad Hussain, the mental health consultant for the study. Although some of the students who participated were in their late twenties and should have had some memories of the period before violence erupted in 1989, their responses indicated that violence had so permeated their consciousness that no mental space was left for other memories. Even responses regarding the education system or infrastructure focused on the political context and the environment of violence. Kashmiri Muslim students themselves conducted the study, titled “The Impact of Violence on the Student Community of Kashmir,” sponsored by the relief agency, Oxfam (India) Trust. They interacted with students from a dozen colleges and other institutions of higher education, including medical colleges, the engineering college, polytechnics and the University of Kashmir. Dr Hussain notes that most of the students were from the urban upper classes. The psychiatrist describes his amazement during interactive sessions such as workshops at the lack of memory about events that occurred before the violence began. Asked to name the first event of one kind or another that they remembered, they invariably pointed to something from the period of violence. He adds that, although most of the students were within the normal range of mental health, he came across a few classic psychiatric ailments and even some complex traumas such as child sex abuse. The report bluntly states that Raees Ahmed Beigh “had lost his mental balance” after carrying the body of his dearest friend, who had been killed in cross-firing between militants and security forces. Indeed, some of the responses that have been included verbatim in the report sound hysterical. Mohammed Ashraf Jamal of the Degree College Anantnag, says: “A land where people were used to seeing the colour crimson only during sunset has seen over the last 12 years lakes filled with blood of their kith and kin. Don’t ask me anything more about the present situation. You won’t be able to stop me from crying.” Many of the students focus most forcefully on repression by security forces, revealing a state of mind that is terrorised by the constant possibility of search, beating, torture or getting shot in indiscriminate return fire. Some speak of the traumas of militant violence too. Rukhsana Jabeel of the Degree College, Baramulla, for example, describes how militants took her father away. First, they summoned him out while the family was having dinner and began to yell at him, presumably to demand a monetary contribution. When the family thrashed some of the intruders, she says, they took her father away. “A dead body severely tortured and beaten out of shape was returned. Thus was laid down the only source of income of our family.” Several women spoke against being forced in the disturbed situation to adopt such restrictions as the veil. Mehbooba says: “I am harassed on the roads and in the bus. People cannot stand a woman traveling alone. Every time I passed by a certain road, a man would comment behind my back they will throw acid on you! He would probably say so because I do not cover my head. Last time, I felt that it was enough. So I stopped and slapped him across the face.” Some of the male students focus on alienation, describing the trauma of being forced by worried families to move to locations outside Kashmir. Amin says that, “though I am physically in Saudi Arabia, my heart is in Srinagar. I may not come back because I cannot stand what is happening to our society but I will always love my people and work towards their betterment.” On the other hand, Najma of Ganderbal speaks of disruption within the valley: “I think militancy, which started in 1989, disrupted the decent way of living. We are living an unsafe life in uncivilised conditions. We are unable to live our lives fully. There is tension and fear always on our minds.” That appears to be the keynote of what Kashmir’s students feel after 14 years of apparently never-ending violence. One of the students interviewed provides a sobering insight — that, if children are a society’s future, young people are surely its present. A yearning for peace, and a solution that lends dignity, comes through the various students’ voices but the overwhelming shadow that violence has cast on their minds is an ominous sign for the prospect of such a
solution.
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Rejuvenating women panchayat members
ON last visit back home to India, through our rural project, we invited a large number of village women for a dialogue. It was to explore the possibilities of initiating a training programe for the women panchayat members in the villages we were working in. Amongst those present, were the elected women panches and sarpanches, besides ordinary residents? We were looking forward to a rejuvenating and a learning experience of hearing the elected representatives of the villagers…and those women who had the courage to stand up to be counted. After the refreshments were over, we did an interaction with them, which for us was a new insight. It made us realise a few ground truths. Here are the excerpts: Q: How do you all feel as elected members of the village councils? A: Nothing. There is nothing to it. We are mere rubber stamps. Our men come with the papers and we merely put our thumb impressions on them. We sit apart away covering our faces and feel shy saying anything… Q: Why do you do this? A: Because they are men! They control it all. We have no say. Nobody listens to us. And then our opinion does not matter any way. Our men just put us up. And we accept. After all they are the ones to decide for us. And it is all right by us. Q: Do you, as women, not let them know that it is not right? And, that you would like to exercise your own responsibility? A: How can we do? We have no power to tell them. They will never care to listen to us. Q: What about you all women? If you all get together can you not exercise influence? A: Oh! We are all divided. Actually we women ourselves are each other’s biggest enemies. We are always fighting amongst ourselves — daughter-in-law versus the mother-in-law, sister-in-law versus the daughter-in-law. The men in fact are shouting us down in our fights. We are also more worried with our household duties, tending to the cattle and the fields and ensuring there is enough water storage, grain and fodder in the house. The men are busy politicking, entertaining and gossiping. But they rule over us because we are always going to them for our problems and they take advantage of this fully. Q: So what do you think is the way out? Is there any hope for you women in playing your roles in village management? A: Yes, we need to be educated. We need to know how to deal with each other. But most of all women will have to support women. And not be adversaries as they are at present. Why do you not tell us what we should do? Q: Will you come to this centre once a fortnight for an awareness programme? A: Yes if you send us the bus again as you did…(and they giggle). We all agreed to meet once in 15 days. We accordingly planned a programme for them called ‘Shubtintak’ project. More than 40 women came. We began by showing them the map of our country and asked them to tell us what they thought it was. They said it was a picture of a dead cow! The Q&A and the subsequent interaction made us realise that all panchayat training must begin with comprehensive women’s education, wherein they realise, for themselves, the reasons of their slavery. What is of concern is, will ‘their’ men allow this? Perhaps the first batch will have to suffer a backlash. We as supporters and community workers saw how gigantic the task was. But then if we as nation are to realise our full potential, the issue of women’s education has to be addressed, house-to-house, and
village-to-village. |
Shock over the conduct of President’s bodyguards THE first world conference on children’s concern would be held in New Delhi from November 22 to 24. Organised by the Delhi Public School, the conference is significant as the child is not safe on the road or in the park or just about anywhere. A survey on underprivileged children roaming about on New Delhi’s streets reveals that - most of these kids had been sexually abused. It is equally important to mention the latest incident. The rape of a 17-year-old college allegedly by four Army men from the President’s bodyguards has shocked the national capital. The incident took place in the midst of the Buddha Jayanti Park not far from the Chanakyapuri area, an area which boasts of housing diplomats, high commissioners, luxury hotels, bhavans of various state governments, exclusive restaurants and shopping centres and bungalows of New Delhi’s who’s who. The much talked about bungalow which was recently purchased by Ms Mayawati, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, from publisher Yunus Dehlvi lies in this very locality. Focus on Tibetans In New Delhi’s Nizamuddin locality lives German Countess Dagmar. She has made New Delhi her home. She has been writing one book after another. The latest one, edited by her, is on the Tibetans living in exile in India and abroad. Published by Orient Longman, it would be released on Monday at Max Mueller Bhavan. Chants rent the air Last week, three evenings were bliss as chants from the various religions and the not-so-religious groups rendered the air at IIC lawns. Organised by Tibet House, the actual ceremony took off from the Buddha Jayanti Park in the presence of the Dalai Lama and former President R. Venkataraman. In the western part of this park stands a 40-feet high canopy made of sandstone and under it is installed Lord Buddha’s 8-feet statue, which was originally installed by the Tibetans 10 years back. After the formal opening, the venue was the IIC rose garden — rows after rows taken up by people looking for peace. But then, looking around one was dismayed to see that most in the audience were the elderly and the middle-aged. I wondered why. What about the young? I tried to find an answer by asking a group of Tibetan women sitting next to me. They had come from Dharamshala to perform in this festival. They’d call themselves — Tehor Khampa ladies’ choir — but they were not particularly keen to answer my queries. Offbeat art forms Moving indoors to one of the exhibition halls lessened my pessimism. I saw young artist Tapan Chakrabarty busy installing offbeat art forms and craftwork of Buddhist images on palm leaves. Chakravarty, who hails from West Bengal, told me that he has been experimenting with this craft for the past decade and focuses only on Buddhist themes. Satish’s expo As expected, almost all those in the who’s who category, turned up for the opening of Satish Gujral’s exhibition. With his wife Kiran standing by his side, daughters Alpana and Raseel and son Mohit standing close by, it made a perfect picture. Matching his works and his sentiments, I quote him from his autobiography — Kasb-e-kamal kun keh aziz-e-jahan shavi (achieve excellence in your vocation, for that is the way to win the
world).
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God is Life, Truth, Light. He is Love. He is the Supreme Good. — Mahatma Gandhi Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, and all else shall be added unto you. — Saint Matthew Accursed is the life which is lived only to fatten one’s belly. — Guru Nanak My way is the way of Sankara Acharya. — Sree Narayana Guru The worth of a state, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it. — John Stuart Mill Good deeds ring clear through heaven like a bell. — Richter A noble deed is a step towards God. — J.G. Holland |
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LAST year when the People’s Democratic Party-Congress coalition government came to power in terrorism-ridden state of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was catapulted to power fulfilling his long-term ambition for which he had performed many political somersaults from the National Conference to his own People’s Democratic Party via the Congress and the Janata Dal.
RARE are selfless persons like Rabindranath Upadhyay, recipient of this year’s prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj Award for outstanding contribution in constructive work. A Gandhian in letter and spirit, he is an exceptional combination of a constructive worker and a crusader against violence. Having worked with the rural populace of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh for 41 years, he has come to be known as a “symbol of integration, decentralised economic development, human kindness and a force against injustice and disharmony”. The Tamalpur Anchalik Gramdan Sangha (TAGS) that he created after long years of hard work to achieve his cherished ideals is not only adjudged best in Assam but also likened to the best setups anywhere in the country. Secretary of Nagaland Gandhi Ashram who recommended Upadhyay for the award wrote: “The nation ought to publicly acknowledge its debt to such a noble spirit”.