O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

Stay on injustice
Jayalalithaa can't be a law unto herself
TAMIL Nadu Speaker K. Kalimuthu had issued arrest warrants against five senior journalists of The Hindu newspaper and the Editor of DMK mouthpiece Murasoli pursuant to the power exercised by the Assembly under Article 194 of the Constitution dealing with the privileges of the House. By staying the arrests, the Supreme Court has reaffirmed that the privileges of the House have to yield when the right to life and liberty of a person guaranteed under Article 21 was in question.

Shadow over Riyadh
Al-Qaeda is alive, if not kicking
SATURDAY midnight's suicide attack in a residential area in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh shows that Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network is still alive, if not kicking. This is the second time this year it has hit Saudi Arabia, the biggest US ally in West Asia the first suicide bombing in Riyadh killed 35 people on May 12.

Upbeat business mood
Investor should beware of euphoria
GOOD news continues to pour in from the economic and business front. The Business Confidence Index, jointly managed by the National Council of Applied Economic Research and a financial daily, has touched an eight-year high. But there is need to be cautious. The lay investor should guard against being carried away by the euphoria. Any negative development can lead to a selling spree.

• Thought for the day

 

ARTICLE

Stressful times for the US
Now the quest for ‘democratic revolution’
by S. Nihal Singh
ENTER President George W. Bush in his new avatar as the missionary bringing sweetness and light to the benighted peoples of West Asia. There was not a whisper of weapons of mass destruction as the President broadened his shoulders at the National Endowment for Democracy to declaim on the American goal in invading Iraq. It was to give the people liberty and freedom.

MIDDLE

We need you, Maulana Azad
by Satish Misra
MAULANA Abul Kalam Azad, whose birth anniversary falls today, remains relevant as masses look in askance all around in their search of stability in the prevailing times of confusion.

OPED

IN FOCUS
The state of medical institutions — 11
Faridkot medical college still housed in godowns
Baba Farid medical university operates from a guest house
by Nirmal Sandhu
HERE is a medical university, named after Sufi poet Baba Farid, operating from a guest house even five years after it was set up. It was a political decision to locate Baba Farid University of Medical Sciences at Faridkot. To bolster the vote-bank of his son, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, the then Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, gifted his son’s constituency a medical university, but forgot to earmark funds for its development.

REFLECTIONS

EDITORIALS

Stay on injustice
Jayalalithaa can't be a law unto herself

TAMIL Nadu Speaker K. Kalimuthu had issued arrest warrants against five senior journalists of The Hindu newspaper and the Editor of DMK mouthpiece Murasoli pursuant to the power exercised by the Assembly under Article 194 of the Constitution dealing with the privileges of the House. By staying the arrests, the Supreme Court has reaffirmed that the privileges of the House have to yield when the right to life and liberty of a person guaranteed under Article 21 was in question. The observation made by the apex court while issuing the stay order on Monday should be an object lesson for the Speaker and Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa who is actually calling the shots: "Every institution, be it legislature, media or judiciary, has to respect the other institutions. None of the institutions should cross the ‘Lakshman Rekha’ or be hyper-sensitive to harsh words of criticism". This sacred line was blatantly crossed by Ms Jayalalithaa while ordering the arrests, ironically proving right The Hindu editorial, "Growing Intolerance", which had enraged her so much in the first place.

The lady has a long history of acting vindictively in a fit of pique. But she must be realising to her discomfiture that she has exceeded her brief. There has been nationwide condemnation of her action. No outside party or group has risen to her defence. The Speaker is obviously trying to shield her when he says that she had no role in the "decision of the legislature". The reign of terror let loose on the newspaper in the aftermath of the arrest orders provides further proof that she is venting her anger like a tinpot dictator.

She has been stopped in her tracks by a vibrant judiciary and a vigilant Press. Her action was a crude attack on the freedom of the Press and the basic tenets of democracy. Small wonder that Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani has commented that the Supreme Court order is "good for democracy". She cannot utter "off with their heads" against the persons she dislikes as and when she pleases. Perhaps she may herself be looking for a facesaver after an ill-advised move similar to the ones taken and repented earlier by Rajiv Gandhi and Dr Jagannath Mishra.

Shadow over Riyadh
Al-Qaeda is alive, if not kicking

SATURDAY midnight's suicide attack in a residential area in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh shows that Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network is still alive, if not kicking. This is the second time this year it has hit Saudi Arabia, the biggest US ally in West Asia the first suicide bombing in Riyadh killed 35 people on May 12. This time the US had credible information that terrorists might strike in a big way harming Western interests, but it could do little to prevent the tragedy. Washington only closed its mission in Saudi Arabia and alerted its citizens in the Kingdom to remain vigilant, particularly when they happened to be in a residential area dominated by people from the West. This must have led to tighter security arrangements in the diplomatic zone in Riyadh. That may be the reason why car-borne suicide bombers could not reach this area and struck at the Muhaya complex, 5 km from the embassy area where many Saudi palaces are also located. Only two days earlier a militant blew himself up in Mecca and security forces killed one in Riyadh.

Whether it has happened accidentally or by design, most of the victims of the latest incident are Arabs and have suffered in Ramazan, the holiest month of the Islamic calendar. This is bound to turn the people against the terrorists. The Riyadh incident can be used to launch a fresh drive against the menace. People should be made to realise that killing innocent persons in the name of jihad can serve no purpose. Islam, a religion of peace, can never justify terrorism, more so suicide bombings.

However, there is need for sincere efforts to eliminate the factors used by terrorists to get fresh recruits. The most quoted factor is the trouble involving the Israelis and the Palestinians. The US will have to concentrate more on this front despite its engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Saudi and other West Asian governments too will have to sit together to find a way to tackle the problem at their own level. Terrorists of the Al-Qaeda variety seem to have become active in the entire region, particularly in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE, besides Saudi Arabia. This is an alarming development.

Upbeat business mood
Investor should beware of euphoria

GOOD news continues to pour in from the economic and business front. The Business Confidence Index, jointly managed by the National Council of Applied Economic Research and a financial daily, has touched an eight-year high. Similar surveys by the FICCI and the CII have also given a thumbs-up to the emerging business environment in the country. It is not an above-average monsoon alone that has spread cheer all round. The unabated flow of foreign investment in the country’s stock market has also contributed to the prevailing upbeat mood. The foreign reserves are at an all-time high of $90 billion despite large outflows due to the redemption of Resurgent India Bonds and a ceiling on NRI deposits. In spite of the strengthening of the rupee, the exports surged 16 per cent in September.

Naturally, the stock market has stayed bullish. The BSE sensex has crossed the 5,000 mark sooner than many had expected. By and large good corporate results in the latest quarter have enthused the investing community. The Supreme Court’s recent ruling allowing tax exemptions to Mauritius-based foreign institutional investors was another positive development. Name a global mutual fund and it has its presence in India. That is because the returns from the growing Indian market are relatively higher. Corporate scandals in the US in the recent past have led many global investors to look at the emerging markets like India. Finally, the US economy is also beginning to look up. That can mean a recovery at a much wider level.

But there is need to be cautious. The lay investor should guard against being carried away by the euphoria. Any negative development can lead to a selling spree. Economic reforms have come to a standstill with the disinvestment of public sector units virtually left to the next government. The election results or violence during campaigning can affect the market sentiment. Political decisions with an eye on electoral gains can spell trouble. The export-led growth can be hampered by the appreciation of the rupee. Besides, there is the general rule: whatever goes up, comes down.

Thought for the day

You may object that it is not a trial at all; you are quite right, for it is only a trial if I recognise it as such.

— Franz Kafka

ARTICLE

Stressful times for the US
Now the quest for ‘democratic revolution’
by S. Nihal Singh

ENTER President George W. Bush in his new avatar as the missionary bringing sweetness and light to the benighted peoples of West Asia. There was not a whisper of weapons of mass destruction as the President broadened his shoulders at the National Endowment for Democracy to declaim on the American goal in invading Iraq. It was to give the people liberty and freedom. It was, he said, “a watershed event in the global democratic revolution”, the administration’s new “forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East”.

Previously, President Bush had identified four nations as the “axis of evil”. Now we have four nations in which dictatorship is doomed to failure. They are North Korea, Myanmar, Cuba and Zimbabwe, North Korea being the only common thread. But he was very critical of Iran and Syria. More surprisingly, the President was critical of previous US administrations for winking at authoritarianism in West Asia for reasons that are no mystery.

West Asia has already given its answer to President Bush’s new revolution in the form of official reaction, newspaper headlines and comment. Appropriately, the region has taken the US President’s protestations with bucketfuls of salt. But the rest of the world needs to take a close look at the new crusade in West Asia to discern the development of the neoconservatives’ strategy after the unveiling of America’s right pre-emptively and preventively to invade a country of its choice, forming “coalitions of the willing” as it follows its unilateral impulses.

Perhaps the wisest reaction to come out of West Asia was that President Bush’s declamation was for his domestic audience, rather than for West Asia or other parts of the world. Admittedly, these are stressful times for the US administration, with the recurring flow of body bags having a drip effect on Americans’ support for the Iraq war or for the stated reasons in invading Iraq. Therefore, President Bush had to cast the post-war Iraq endeavour in the heroic images of Ronald Reagan’s declaration of war against the Soviet Union’s “evil empire” or the US endeavour in rebuilding war-shattered Germany and Japan. For his people though, the reference point is increasingly Vietnam and the quagmire the country got itself into in that South-East Asian country.

At one level, the effrontery of President Bush’s formulations is so amazing that he or his advisers can hardly take the arguments seriously. In proclaiming the quest for a “democratic revolution”, he can only chide Palestinians for their deficit in democracy while he has not a single word for Israel that has been in occupation of Palestinian land since 1967 and is continuing to build illegal settlements and encroaching on further occupied land to build a repugnant variation of the Berlin Wall. The President’s rhetoric will not convince the world that his Iraq adventure was not guided by ensuring the supply of Iraqi oil and catapulting Israel to regional stardom.

How can any Arab take President Bush’s word for his attempt to spread democracy in West Asia when the very American policies of previous US administrations he cursorily decries are a staple feature of the new mantra? There is faint praise for Saudi Arabia for beginning its journey along the long road to democracy while Iran, which has a vibrant elected parliament, whatever its other failings, is banished to the land of the condemned. And Egypt, the first to make a separate peace with Israel to receive about $ 2 billion of subvention every year, is given a gentle nudge to take a path it has shunned so far.

The neocons, as the world knows, are split between the realpolitik and missionary persuasions. Obviously, it serves President Bush’s interest in this instance to clothe the American desire to maintain world supremacy in the garb of the missionary. The only people who can be taken in by such a transparent ploy are Americans, the majority of whom believe that Saddam Hussein was directly connected with the hijackers who crashed planes into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. But the costs of the unfinished war and the all-too-constant killings of American soldiers are making them uneasy.

It is, indeed, open to question whether Americans are convinced by President Bush’s new arguments for going to war in Iraq. Thanks to Nine Eleven, he keeps harping on the relevance of the American pacification drive in Iraq to protecting Americans against terrorism on home soil and around the world. But the power of propaganda has its limits and, apart from the neocons’ core constituency supported by the Christian right, more and more people will stumble on the truth.

The truth is that President Bush and his administration are in a fix. Having unveiled the grand agenda of ruling the world in perpetuity and used Iraq as the stalking-horse to implement their agenda, they are finding the costs too high, both in treasure and in alienating the better part of the world. And the fact that the American occupation of Iraq has proved so difficult means that the grand strategy proclaimed with fanfare is coming to grief at the first hurdle.

The lesson the Bush administration is already learning is that, however, great its hard and soft power, America cannot rule the world alone, making its own rules as it goes along. Hence the return to the United Nations Security Council it had dismissed so contemptuously; hence the attempt, however, half-hearted, to try to persuade other countries to see the problem from its perspective. Thus far, these have been largely tactical gestures. The US administration refuses to give up some of its substantive powers in order to let the UN shape the political process in Iraq. But it is a beginning. American officials are employing a less peremptory vocabulary to win support.

How long the United States will take to give up its empire-building dream will depend, in part, on the length of its stay in the Iraqi quagmire. A characteristic that has stood Americans in good stead is that befooled as they often are by clever politicians and empire-builders, they have always displayed the ability to correct course and give up roads that lead to nowhere. Vietnam was a wrenching experience, but after their humiliation Americans picked themselves up again to fight another day.

The presidential election next year will be an early test for Mr George W. Bush in assessing his people’s ability to see through the neocons’ pipedream. Should President Bush win a second term, Americans will have to wait another four years to repudiate the mirage being offered them.

MIDDLE

We need you, Maulana Azad
by Satish Misra

MAULANA Abul Kalam Azad, whose birth anniversary falls today, remains relevant as masses look in askance all around in their search of stability in the prevailing times of confusion.

Though I have a very faint memory of Azad as he passed away when I was just 10 years but when I grew and studied him along with Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Jaya Prakash, Ambedkar and many others, it struck me that he had a seminal contribution in the making of modern India rather an independent India that we are living in today.

His speech to the Muslims of Delhi delivered on October 23, 1947 from the steps of Jama Masjid is reflective of the man and the ideas he stood for and fought for. Tormented with the course of events in the aftermath of partition, Azad was able to offer advice to his Muslim brethren quoting the holy Quran:

“Do not fear and do not grieve. If you possess truth, you will gain the upper hand.”

Reiterating that the partition of India was a fundamental mistake, Azad expressed his anguish: “It was not long ago that I told you that the two-nation theory was death-knell for a life of faith. I entreated with you to reject it, because the foundations upon which it rested were built of sand. But you paid no attention. You believed that the mad race of time would slow down to suit you convenience. Time, however, sped on. Those on whose support you were counting, have today, abandoned you; left you like waifs, exposed to the vagaries of you own kismet.”

Another of his speech betrays note of bitterness that he felt when India stood partitioned. “For thousand of years five rivers of water have flowed in the Punjab. Today, a sixth river is flowing, the river of human blood . On the water we built bridges of brick, stone and steel. The bridge over the sixth river is being built of human corpses.”

Azad recognised and understood that religion — rather faith — was the most stable pillar on which Indian society had been surviving weathering many an alien storms. But he rejected the rituals and advocated the true spirit and reasoning behind religion.

“It drives me mad to see the deplorable sight that today among the Muslims there are two kinds of leaders, first the traditionalist that are the ulemas and the modernist group, the western-educated intellectuals. Both are ignorant of religion and both are paralysed limbs of the community. They have no idea of their destination. The one is unable to see a boat. The other too can’t find the shore.”

As an Education Minister of free India, Azad pleaded that “The educational set-up for a democratic state must be secular. It should provide for all citizens of the state the same type of education without any prejudices.”

Maulana’s artistic vision and aesthetic sensibilities led to the establishment of three Academies, Sahitya Akademi, Sangeet Natak Akademi and Lalit Akademi. The same impulse transcended the national boundaries and led to the formation of Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

Azad, thus, was possibly ahead of times as the dilemmas he faced continue to confront the nation. He rebelled against a system of blind faith and belief and preached to follow path of reason. His thoughts offer many a clue and the countrymen need him more than ever before.

OPED

IN FOCUS
The state of medical institutions — 11
Faridkot medical college still housed in godowns
Baba Farid medical university operates from a guest house
by Nirmal Sandhu

Faridkot medical college students come out of godown-like classrooms. — Photo by Pradeep Tewari

HERE is a medical university, named after Sufi poet Baba Farid, operating from a guest house even five years after it was set up.

It was a political decision to locate Baba Farid University of Medical Sciences at Faridkot. To bolster the vote-bank of his son, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, the then Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, gifted his son’s constituency a medical university, but forgot to earmark funds for its development.

It is yet to acquire some semblance of a university. The big chunk of land, 156 acres to be precise, acquired at an inflated rate, is now used for holding a cattle fair and is without even a boundary wall.

Here is a government medical college, named after Guru Gobind Singh, operating from structures which look more like FCI or Markfed godowns, or sheds as some call these, with a false ceiling reducing the size to a convenient level.

Started as a private institution in 1973 by the Guru Gobind Singh Educational Trust and taken over by the Punjab Government five years later, the college is still without its own building. There are no funds. The decision to take over the ailing medical college in 1978 was also political. Giani Zail Singh was behind it.

The local government hospital, also named after the 10th Sikh Guru, has a decent building, but that is about all. It collects user-charges from patients, provides consultancy, but limited medicines for which it depends heavily on the local Red Cross Society. Lack of grants has held up the project to shift the medical college in the hospital complex.

There is a private hospital, named after former Faridkot ruler Balbir Singh, also called “Raaje da hasptaal”, that provides free or subsidised medicare. Being close to the bus stand, it is convenient to get cheaper treatment here. It has a research centre also. The locational disadvantage and user-charges have deprived the medical college the requisite number of patients for training doctors.

Faridkot is a land of surprises. Baba Farid performed a miracle here and a 13th century ruler named the town after him. Former and modern maharajas developed it, but only haphazardly. The small town now chokes with increasing population and vehicular pressure.

Politicians planted big government institutions here, but failed to give the town decent modern amenities that make life livable. As a result, the ambitious ones and those who can afford tend to run away from the town.

Lacking in purchasing power, residents of the area buy small. Therefore, the scope for big business and industry is limited. Small jobs are almost non-existent, big ones, specially in the medical profession, have no takers.

Those who can afford go to Ludhiana for treatment. Cancer patients find solace in Bikaner. Punjab employees, pensioners and the poor go to local government and charity hospitals. The town’s rich and famous frequent Chandigarh, Shimla and Delhi for a break from the routine.

To retain talent in Faridkot, it was decided to reserve two MBBS seats in the local medical college for wards of doctors completing five years here, but courts did not approve of such incentives. Talent outflow has resumed. The first VC of Baba Farid University left after about a year.

Now the university is run, as some observed, by “retired and ad hoc staff”. A Punjab minister recently announced that the medical university would be shifted to Jalandhar, but concerned residents managed to get Capt Amarinder Singh invited to the annual Baba Farid mela where the Chief Minister denied any move to shift the university from Faridkot.

Society in general, and the bureaucracy-controlled government in particular, do not accord doctors the respect they deserve. The Faridkot Deputy Commissioner, usually a raw IAS officer, has a sprawling residence. The DIG, the SSP and the ADC have excellent accommodation matching their status.

But leave alone a suitable official residence, the Principal of the medical college, Dr J.S. Dalal, does not even have an official car. He moves round in a Maruti van. His official residence has been occupied by the Vice-Chancellor of the university. The VC, Dr J.S. Gujral, does have a residence and also a Baleno car and a security guard, but is without a university — a proper university.

Those at the helm live on hope, others find themselves trapped in a hopeless situation. Dr Gujral is quite hopeful that “funds will soon be released for the university. We need Rs 5 to 6 crore to start with. The total project cost is around Rs 70 crore”. The Principal rules out any staff or fund shortage. “Everything here is fine,” he claimed. Dr H.L Kajal, who holds additional charge as Medical Superintendent, admits there is a shortage of nurses.

Junior doctors, however, find the system taxing. “No matter what you people write, things are not going to change,” one doctor told this reporter. He showed me the condition of patients’ beds and unrepaired furniture and equipment, and said:”Do you know there is not even clean drinking water in this hospital. Doctors bring their own water bottles from home”. Those on night duty bring their own bedsheet and pillows. Hospital beds, stretchers and furniture are no match to what private clinics and nursing homes offer.

Nobody seemed to know exactly how many employees the university has. The VC guessed the number was “about 100”; his aide corrected him and said it was “70 to 80”. The Registrar, Dr A.S. Sekhon, said: “60”. Doctors outside the university ask: how many can a guest house accommodate?”. When asked how many employees were regular, the Registrar said: “Half of them”.

Despite the limited staff and limited space, Baba Farid University claims to be number one in the country in efficiently conducting examinations, specially the PMT. “All results are in time and online. If the PMT ends at 5 pm, the result is available the same evening at our website”, boasts Dr Sekhon, who took over as Registrar in June this year after retiring as Medical Superintendent of Rajendra Hospital, Patiala.

With all medical, dental and ayurvedic colleges in the state affiliated, the university tests some 7,000 PMT candidates and 5,000 others. A university team went to Jammu and Kashmir recently to hold a test for nurses of that state. And there were no complaints. The university has developed an in-house software for student registration, says Dr Sekhon.

That means all that this university does is hold examinations. No, the VC corrected, the university also runs a college of nursing. What about teaching and research? “The university proposes to take over Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital”. A doctor at the hospital reacts to this: “They don’t have money to level their own land, let alone meet the financial demands of this hospital”.

The 500-bed hospital complex, attached to the medical college and spread over 75 acres costing more than Rs 100 crore, is poorly maintained. That is because three different government departments are given the responsibility— the PWD, the electricity department and the department of public health. No one seems to be in control.

“Things were even worse before the present Principal took over”, said an insider. “Dr Dalal has at least got the wild bushes removed from the campus and undertaken an operation cleanup with the help of the district authorities, the Red Cross Society and certain NGOs.”

On the condition of anonymity, doctors of the hospital point out: There is no supply of medicines. Whatever limited quantity is made available by the district Red Cross Society, it is passed on to patients. “If an electric plug goes out of order, it will take weeks, if not months, to replace it. If you ask me for a tablet, I don’t have a tumbler to offer you water. There are not even printed slips to write prescription,” remarked a doctor, more in anguish than in anger.

REFLECTIONS

Let merciful God be your object of worship and right conduct your rosary of basil. Make a boat by repeating the name of God and pray: “O merciful God! Be merciful to me.”

— Guru Nanak

O Son of Spirit!

My claim on thee is great, it cannot be forgotten. My grace to thee is plenteous, it cannot be veiled. My love has made in thee its home, it cannot be concealed. My light is manifest to thee, it cannot be obscured.

— Baha’u’llah

The distinction between Christianity and all other systems of religion consists largely in this, that in these others, men are found seeking after God, while Christianity is God seeking after men.

— T. Arnold

I call God long suffering and patient precisely because He permits evil in the world. I know that He has no evil. He is the author of it and yet untouched by it.

— Mahatma Gandhi