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Vajpayee factor Failure of another round |
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SC on IIM fee cut
Cynicism invades party politics
Press T for ticket
Habib Tanvir has always something to say Delhi Durbar
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Vajpayee factor PERFORMANCE of the Central government is what will decide the fate of the ruling National Democratic Alliance in the Lok Sabha elections. In the case of the four state assemblies for which elections will be held simultaneously, the performance of the state governments will be an added factor. Obviously, the ruling parties in the four states — Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Sikkim — felt that they too could exploit the feel-good factor to their advantage. Of course, some of these states were not as enthusiastic about going in for early elections as the NDA, which got a boost when the Congress lost power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. In fact, it was with great reluctance that Mr S.M. Krishna of Karnataka finally opted for simultaneous polls. What worried Mr Krishna particularly is the possibility of the popularity of the Prime Minister swaying the elections. Simultaneous elections have this disadvantage; national and state issues can dominate the polls. One reason why Indira Gandhi had done away with the practice of simultaneous polls was to free Lok Sabha elections from the influence of local issues. It suited her as at that time nobody enjoyed pan-India popularity like her. At the moment, Mr A.B. Vajpayee has this advantage, a fact which prevented the Maharashtra government from recommending dissolution of the Assembly. Under the circumstances, if it thought that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, it could not be faulted. After all, there is the case of the E.K. Nayanar government in Kerala advancing the polls by one year in the nineties only to lose the elections in the wake of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. Nonetheless, Mr Chandrababu Naidu’s emphasis on e-governance, Mr Pawan Kumar Chamling’s personal appeal, Mr Navin Patnaik’s efforts to prove that he is a leader in his own right and Mr S.M. Krishna’s bid to retain the state in the Congress fold will also be the deciding factors in these elections. The failure of the Congress in Rajasthan shows that good governance need not always be the sole determinant in elections when caste and communal issues too play a dubious role. In any case, good governance alone should be the motive of the electorate. |
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Failure of another round THE failure of the second round of talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme is simply unfortunate. The first round had concluded last August. The failure came at the last stage when a consensus appeared to have been reached on Pyongyang’s offer to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons, allowing it to continue its programme for peaceful purposes. But North Korea took serious objection to the language employed in the draft of a joint declaration by the six participants at the Beijing deliberations. Apparently, there has been an “extreme lack of trust” between the US and North Korea which brought all the efforts to naught. North Korea, it seems, wanted an honourable way out of the 16-month-long impasse. It diluted its earlier position of no compromise on its strategic weapons scheme aimed at acquiring nuclear deterrence. This led to a massive energy assistance offer, particularly from Russia, South Korea and China. They expressed their realisation of North Korea’s serious energy problem. The US and Japan, the other participating nations, were, however, not as sympathetic as they ought to have been. They were also not seriously interested in an economic aid programme. The US, of course, offered to join the other nations in providing security assistance to Pyongyang. For this, it rightly insisted on a “complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of all of the DPRK’s (the official name of North Korea) nuclear programmes, both plutonium and uranium-based, and weapons”. The talks reached a stage where all the parties needed to agree to a language of consensus. This, however, could not happen, leading to a blaming game between the US and North Korea. One feels the US should have been more accommodative, particularly when there was a positive response from the Korean
side. The South Korean nuclear crisis must end in the interest of peace in the region and the rest of the world. |
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SC on IIM fee cut THE Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the reduction in the annual tuition fee of IIM students from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 30,000 by the Union Human Resource Development Ministry was not entirely unexpected. Only a few days ago, the apex court, while admitting the petition against the fee hike, had maintained that IIM education could not be the monopoly of the elite. This is also the view held by the HRD Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi. Ever since the announcement of the fee cut, Dr Joshi has been consistently maintaining that the Ministry will make good the losses likely to be incurred by the IIMs following the decision. However, the main reason for widespread resentment against the fee cut is the apprehension of possible erosion of autonomy of these centres of excellence. Apparently, the Supreme Court has upheld the fee cut following the government’s written commitment that it will not interfere with the autonomy of the IIMs in any manner. For instance, the Additional Solicitor-General, on behalf of the HRD Ministry, had promised the court that the government would have no role to play with regard to the corpus of the IIMs, the appointment of the faculty, the teacher-student ratio, consultancy and conducting the Common Admission Test. It remains to be seen to what extent the government will keep its promise of non-interference. The corporate houses should also rise to the occasion and produce their own managers. They should chip in adequate funds to produce managers of world class. In fact, management education is bound to get a fillip if the corporate houses evince keen interest in improving the quality of education in these centres of excellence, matching global requirements. The corporate sector is the user of the IIM talent. Also, funding business management education will mean more autonomy it is seeking. Laughter would be bereaved if snobbery died. — Peter Ustinov |
Cynicism invades party politics NOW that the election schedule has been announced, the pace has quickened. The pulse beats faster and, despite Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani being denied the use of official aircraft and television advertising banned, the Bharatiya Janata Party's love affair with modern technology as a method of gaining power remains undiminished. The shine of India Shining has dimmed somewhat; it seems to have peaked early. But the queue of ambitious politicians in search of power seeking admission to one party or the other demonstrates their survival instinct. Sometimes parties err, as the BJP did in taking in Mr D.P. Yadav, a man with a rich past, who was reluctantly shown the door after an outcry over the level of the party's political cynicism. Surely the prize for the greatest fib must go to Ms Sushma Swaraj for declaring that her party was like a great ocean washing clean the impure streams that might join it. Much of this sound and fury conforms to standard practice at election time in India, dubbed by some as the greatest show on earth. Yet there are trends that distinguish this election campaign from preceding exercises. First, the number of Muslim leaders who have joined, or are aspiring to seek admission to, the BJP is worthy of note. Each, of course, has a suitable excuse although Ms Najma Heptullah could have been more ingenious in finding a reason other than piling up a mountain of abuse on the head of Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Second, outside the much-discussed case of Mr Yadav, the level of opportunism being displayed by individuals and parties alike is breathtaking. Never before has the structure of democracy, which has weathered the Emergency and many other storms, been treated so cavalierly. It is as if the system existed only for advancing individual and party ambitions, to the disregard of all other criteria, the objective being attainment of power. Another notable feature of the campaigns leading up to the general election is the formal obeisance being paid to the god of performance, rather than divisive communal issues, although the communal factor and caste equations are very much in parties' consciousness and calculations. And judging by the scorching pace both Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Mrs Sonia Gandhi has set in campaign travel, the coming weeks, if not months, will entail life on the road (the Prime Minister though is privileged to undertake official air travel). It would appear that Muslim leaders' desire for a share of power has coincided with the BJP's need to woo recognised Muslims. The entire strategy of the BJP this time around is to present itself as a centrist party, one not exclusively of the Hindus. Thus the deep suspicion minorities harbour about the Sangh Parivar is sought to be assuaged by admitting Muslim men and women of some standing, if not renown; they in turn betting on a variation of the present coalition returning to power. Understandably, there are contradictions. The studied manner in which Ms Uma Bharati is merging her courtship of holy men of various descriptions with running the Madhya Pradesh government must strike many as odd. Nor are elements of the Sangh Parivar shy about propagating their divisive philosophy at a high pitch. One must, however, be thankful for the momentary silence of the leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. But the BJP leaders have, by and large, resisted the rhetoric of the vintage rath yatra of Mr Advani or the more muscular declarations that have peppered Parivar speeches until rather recently. One difference, of course, is that in the last general election, the BJP was seeking power; it is now seeking a renewed mandate. Importantly, the BJP's theme song in this election was determined by the new promise in the Indo-Pakistani relationship. The Sangh Parivar's traditional anti-Muslim stance cannot go with Mr Vajpayee's effort to build bridges with a very difficult neighbour, a policy approach which jibes with the Prime Minister's own ambition of leaving behind a legacy of peace. Hence the effort to use the party's new centrist stance with a new slogan: Muslims should vote for the BJP because it is seeking reconciliation with their co-religionists across the border. Indeed, the very fact of easier and cheap travel to Pakistan for millions of divided families is a boon. The new levels of cynicism that have invaded party politics are disturbing in their connotations and scale. All parties must share the blame although the BJP's share is the largest. How it achieved power in Uttar Pradesh in the nineties is a bar even the Congress will find difficult to breach. Its quest for seeking a respectable proportion of seats in UP in a bumper total of 80 first led the BJP to prostrate itself before Mr Kalyan Singh to woo him back and led it to the dangerous path of welcoming Mr D.P. Yadav. In party terms, the BJP seems more methodical and efficient than the Congress and the impression it gives often is of an organisation determined to secure power at almost any cost. Nor has Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party covered himself with glory by his manoeuvring, in particular in his special pleading for Raju Bhaiyya, now in jail, whose activities in the badlands of UP are legendary. And it was not the Congress party's shining hour in striking a deal with Tamil Nadu's DMK, embedded in the minds of the Congress rank and file as a party with empathy for the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers, held responsible for Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. The question politicians and parties must ask themselves is that although politics is often a game of compromise, there are red lines which should not be crossed. One red line the BJP discovered the hard way was by inducting Mr D.P. Yadav. But it has had no compunction in crossing many other red lines, beginning with its successful quest for power by invoking the Ayodhya movement, with its stark divisive overtones. Despite what writer V.S. Naipaul believes, the destruction of the Babri mosque was a shameful act and, at least in moral terms, Mr Advani must take part of the blame. Thus far, the BJP can claim that it has convinced some Muslim leaders that their political future lies in a political party they had derided not so long
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Press T for ticket IT is election time and the rush to join the BJP ostensibly seems to be on the rise. If it increases any further, I won’t be surprised if those ringing up its office get to hear the following recorded message: Jai Sri Ram. Welcome to the telephonic check-in counter of the BJP, the shining party. Those needing some information, please press A; those wanting to join the party, please press B. Thank you for your interest in the party with a difference. If you are desirous of coming to us all alone, kindly press X; if you have 100 followers with you, please press Y. If you have 1000 or more supporters, press Z and wait for our executive who will be ringing your doorbell within 20 minutes. Please indicate whether you are a former minister, governor, speaker, MP, MLA or senior bureaucrat by pressing V. Those related to any such dignitary should press W. If you happen to be a sports celebrity or film or stage actor, please press P. Please also indicate if you had already joined the BJP some years ago and are now doing a retake by pressing 1. If it is a fresh entry, please press 2. Thank you. Now also press 50, 60, 70, 80 or 90 to indicate to which decade you belong. If you are a current heart throb, press S, T, A, R in quick succession and wait for a call from Advaniji. May be, we can send you your ticket by courier. Kindly press V, V, I and P if you are a proclaimed offender and only V, I and P if this status is yet to be conferred on you. Kindly also let us know your area of specialisation. Dial M for murderer, F for Financial Scamster and G for General Practitioner. This is just to complete our database. Those found in possession of unaccountable wealth below Rs 1 crore please press 1, those below Rs 10 crore please press 10 and those above Rs 10 crore 100. Do let us know how much you can donate to the party’s election fund. Those having CBI enquiries against them, please press A; only police investigation B and no enquiries C. On joining our party if you can make do without demanding any ticket please press A; if you must have MLA’s ticket, press B: for Lok Sabha seat, press C; for the Rajya Sabha seat, press D and for Rajya Sabha nomination please press E. If you have always praised BJP leadership, please press 1; if you have praised only Atalji, please press 2 and if you have abused even him, please press 3. You must know that we forget and forgive at election time. And in case you happen to be an ordinary honest, truthful, sincere and decent sort of fellow without any of the above-mentioned qualifications, please hang up and call later, after the elections maybe. Meanwhile, you can feel good.
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Habib Tanvir has always something to say
HABIB Tanvir has never allowed regulations to trammel the enterprise of theatre. For over six decades, the thespian has been writing his own codes and evolving his own styles for reinventing tradition in a contemporary context. His theatre is far from flippant. It is honest and true to life — often vicious and disturbing, but never dead or didactic. Tanvir has always used theatre fearlessly to reflect India as a pluralistic land. No wonder, he has ripped the establishments apart, mocked at communal forces that undermine life and upheld tradition by converting classic theatre into folk idioms. His plays enrapture not just because they tell tales of common men, but because they tell them simply, using real-life characters lifted for the stage from the villages of Chhattisgarh. Tanvir has justifiably been cited among the top 25 Indian personalities, apart from being bestowed with national honours. But rewards are just a passing phase in the ongoing drama of his life, which is dedicated to truth. As always, his art continues to be anti-establishment. But it also begets pleasure that flows from rustic rhythms of Chattisgarhi folk artistes. In a heart to heart with The Tribune, the director, who will shortly feature as Bahadur Shah Zaffar in the film, “The Rising”, shares his deepest concerns about art. “It is said all art is useless, but I feel all art must essentially be stimulating. Pleasure that does not disturb is worthless”. His theatre, right from “Agra Bazaar” to “Bahadur Kalaren”, raises pertinent questions about society and its binding codes. He lifts themes from life, so that they are relevant to society. “Many of my plays have been criticised by the self-styled guardians of Hinduism who had problems with “Ponga Pandit” and by the so-called traditionalists, who could not sensitise with my Bahadur Kalaren," says Tanvir, who was recently in Patiala to stage “Charandas Chor”. But that does not keep the director from voicing the truth by translating classic themes in a way that they pulsate with the reality of modern times. In this sense, his theatre, though rooted in folk traditions, is modern, not folk, theatre. Tanvir clarifies, “Folk theatre is primitive. It lacks the depth and undertones, which a play demands. My plays use folk styles, but their thrust is modern.” So it is, with all its popular appeal and entertainment value that stems from Chhattisgarhi dance, music and poetry. Strangely though, bringing villagers within the discipline of theatre was easy, as Tanvir explains, “They come from rustic theatre. So they come with all the abandon which theatre desperately demands. If literacy means literal education, they are illiterate. But if it means cultural richness, they are wealthy with their legacy. They have mastered the epics. They know all about herbs and water cycle. They can rejuvenate the earth. They can reflect India in their costume. They are thus gifted. I have only worked at grouping and choreography.” The director is also known for bringing out the best in his actors from Shakespeare’s “Midnight Summer’s Dream” to “Agra Bazaar”, where he used Nazir Akbarabadi’s satirical writings as verses. His greatest ability lies in tiding over urban pressure to sustain the rural. And this he does not just on stage, but also in real life where he treats members of his group, “Naya Theatre” as family. His wife Moneeka and daughter Nageen cooks for them. And no matter how small the space of Tanvir’s accommodation is, his actors live with him, rehearse in his courtyards. There was a time when Tanvir lived in a small Class IV government apartment in Ber Seraj outside Delhi for years, without allowing inadequacy to demoralise him or his artistes. His wife Moneeka explains, “We are pained when we are lodged in five-star hotels and our artistes are lodged somewhere else. We would rather live in one room and eat the same food.” Tanvir shares the feeling, “We are one. Once an actress even gave birth to a child during rehearsals of the play. The idea is to practice what one preaches through theatre. I am a socialist without any political ambitions.” Having been a Rajya Sabha member, Tanvir exactly knows what politics is all about. He lashes out at the system, “Had these policy makers any concern for India’s welfare, they would not have allowed television channels to air crudity into our homes. I am pained by the decaying social fabric and I hold the satellite invasion responsible for this.” It is to fight these flaws of governance that Tanvir practices art. He says, “Society always has room for improvement. You are not talking worthwhile if you are not talking against the establishment. It is incumbent on all artistes to dig out social evils and reflect them. This is our prerogative. Politicians won't do this. They would rather earn divine blessings by prefixing Shri to Ram or by unleashing terror in the name of religion. But we must stand for a cause. Ours is an inconvenient, difficult, often dangerous position.” Praising contemporary theatre in India, Tanvir adds, “It is good to see theatre doing well, despite handicaps posed by consumerism and globalisation.” A precursor of the likes of K.V. Pannikar, B.V. Karanth and Ratan Thiam, Habib has also shown the way to directors like Bansi Kaul and M.K. Raina to work on meaningful themes. His own repertory is golden, with productions like “Uttar Ram Chant” by Bhavabhuti, “Hirma ki Amar Kahani” (on tribal life), “Duryodhan” by Bhasha and “Motey Ram ka Satyagraha” by Premchand. While themes vary, his Chhattisgarhi tone remains constant, so does his punch, some of which spills over to his roles in films, like “Sardar Patel”, “Prahaar”, “Midnight Embers”, “Burning Season”, “Gandhi” and others. Tanvir, however, does not seek out films. He chooses his script and director. Particularly excited about playing the last Mughal Emperor in “The Rising”, he says, “I’m happy because I feel the role has come on the right time. Like Zaffar I am a poet, I am Urdu speaking and I am old enough to play him.” Tanvir is also about to publish an anthology of his poems, a task never done earlier. “There was no time. Now there is some,” he says. And he also has a verse to offer: “Main tujhe shaer nahi khoon-e-jigar deta hoon…iski tabeer ke afsane kaa unva kar de…” |
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Delhi Durbar FORMER
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is remembered for ushering in the computer
revolution in the country. He was assisted in this task by some
upwardly mobile “backroom boys” many of whom have faded out of
politics. But it is the BJP which has left far behind other political
parties in the use of technology in the election campaign. The party
which has set up a special high-tech media cell-cum-control room is
using the internet and SMS to the hilt to promote their “India
Shining” campaign. Journalists, who used to find it difficult to
keep track of various events of the party and movement of its leaders,
are the happiest lot. The media cell of the party is promptly keeping
the beat correspondents informed about press conferences, other
activities of the party and tours of its top leaders through the SMS
medium. A top BJP leader said this has helped them in getting wider
media coverage. Price to pay for
joining the stir Principal
Information Officer (PIO) Sahab Singh’s leadership in staging a
dharna of Indian Information Service officers has earned the wrath of
the government. The otherwise mild-mannered Sahab Singh is alleged to
have violated the service rules by sitting in dharna in front of the
office of Information and Broadcasting Secretary Pawan Chopra. The
Ministry has written to the Cabinet Secretariat. Though it does not
wish to be vindictive, it has taken a serious view of what it calls
the “unprecedented”’ conduct of the PIO. It wishes that the PIO
had reminded himself of the special place he holds in the scheme of
governance before joining the agitation. A section of information
officers are of the view that Sahab Singh joined the dharna as he is
due to retire on April 30. Juniors vying for
party tickets Some
juniors hailing from political families are making a determined bid to
contest the Lok Sabha elections. Armed with post-graduate degrees and
some having emerged from management schools, these strapping
youngsters in the 27-40 age group believe they have the leadership
potential. They do not belong to any single party but are spread
across the political spectrum in the country. Much as one might
oppose dynastic tendencies, it is there to stay thanks to the backing
of their peers and parents in particular. A sampling of the junior but
enthusiastic political breed provides an insight that they want to get
into the thick of governance. With Priyanka and Rahul preferring to
wait before taking the plunge into politics, others keen to enter the
fray are Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh’s son Manvendra Singh,
Delhi Chief Minister’s son Sandeep Dikshit, the late Rajesh
Pilot’s son Sachin, Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray’s son Uddhav
Thackeray and UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son Akhilesh
Yadav (who was a member of the dissolved Lok Sabha). Others trying to
get tickets are the late Abdul Ghani Lone’s son Sajjad Lone,
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister’s son Ranjit Mohite Patil, the
late Jitendra Prasada’s son Jiten Prasada, Murli Deora’s son
Milind Deora and former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao
Deshmukh’s son Amit Deshmukh. Interestingly, Shiela Dikshit’s son
is keen on contesting from Uttar Pradesh. Contributed by S.
Satyanarayanan, Tripti Nath and Prashant Sood |
Let a man lift himself by himself; let him not degrade himself; for the Self alone is the friend of the self and the Self alone is the enemy of the self. — The Bhagavadgita Ahimsa is a science. The word “failure” has no place in the vocabulary of science. — Mahatma Gandhi Beauty does not still one’s craving; the more one sees it, the more one desires it. — Guru Nanak In vain our labours are, whatsoever they be, Unless God gives the Benedicite. — Rebert Herrick They are not following dharma who resort to violence to achieve their purpose. But those who lead others through non-violent means, knowing right or wrong, may be called guardians of dharma. — The Buddha |
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