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The court asserts Exam system has collapsed |
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Iraq is burning
Cult of Vajpayee
The owl of Wellington
Storm over an inter-caste marriage Delhi Durbar
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The court asserts
It is unprecedented for the Supreme Court to transfer a case from one state to another for retrial and reinvestigation. But then, brazen miscarriage of justice of the kind witnessed in the Best Bakery case also does not take place every day. All the 21 accused in the infamous case in which 14 persons were burnt alive in Vadodara in the aftermath of the Godhra massacre, managed to get acquittal from the trial court as well as the High Court, thanks to the tactics of the state government. The apex court's order to hold fresh trial in Maharashtra — that too after removing the public prosecutor from the case — is the severest possible indictment of the Narendra Modi government, which the court called modern-day "Neros" looking elsewhere when innocent children and women were burning, "and probably deliberating how the perpetrators of the crime can be protected". The court is unequivocal that there was ample evidence on record that glaringly demonstrated subversion of the justice delivery system and holds that free and fair trial of the case is still not possible in Gujarat. It has been equally critical of the Gujarat High Court and the public prosecutor. The High Court has been strongly criticised for its "irresponsible" remarks against activists, including Teesta Setalvad, and even against the NHRC. "The High Court appears to have miserably failed to maintain the required judicial balance and sobriety in making unwarranted references to personalities and their legitimate move before competent courts — the highest court of the nation — knowing full well that it could not deal with such aspects or matters". The public prosecutor has been taken to task for acting more as a "defence counsel" and "the trial court in turn appeared to be a silent spectator, mute to the manipulations and preferred to be indifferent to sacrilege being committed to justice". Such harsh words are rare in Indian jurisprudence. The aftermath of the Gujarat episode has proved to be as messy as the riots themselves and the Supreme Court has the reason to transfer the case out of Gujarat where its government has continuously been either obstructive or evasive in the prosecution of the accused in the Best Bakery killings. |
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Exam system has collapsed Last year when answersheets of secondary and senior secondary students were found to be tampered with, it was quite reasonable to expect from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) some concrete corrective steps to ensure that it rebuilds the broken public faith in the fairness of its examination system. No lessons seem to have been learnt. The reports of paper leakage of the Pre-Medical Test (PMT), conducted by the CBSE at the all-India level, have once again shell-shocked not just the affected students and their parents, but all those concerned about the state of education in this country. Why blame the CBSE management alone? There are employees, the proverbial black sheep, who do not mind selling the trust reposed in them for a few lakh of rupees. Worse, there are parents willing to buy leaked-out question papers so that their wards can join the medical profession. It does not matter to them if they lay the foundation of their wards’ career on a dirty deed. The malaise is not confined to either the CBSE or the PMT. Last year question papers of the Common Admission Test (CAT) for entry into the IIMs were sold openly. A few weeks ago the school boards of Delhi and Punjab had also hit the headlines for question paper leakages. Inquiries are announced, some action is taken, and then it is back to leakages. So widespread has been the reach of this unpleasant social reality that it has been captured, quite ably and hilariously, in a recent Hindi film called “Munna Bhaaee MBBS”. The rising expectations and standards of living are perhaps pushing some into unethical behaviour. Some may be haunted by the spectre of unemployment and deprivation. But it is essentially greed for more and craze for economic success at any price that makes many blind to reason. The spread of greed has been accompanied by the shrinkage of moral values. Or the authorities have not been able to evolve an examination system where those who steal do not get an advantage over the honest student. Maybe, the system has collapsed. |
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Iraq
is burning With the preparations on for the transfer of power in Iraq to the Iraqis, things ought to have started moving towards peace. But the reality is entirely different. Incidents of violence are increasing almost every day. Now frequent incidents of kidnapping are also being reported, besides bomb blasts and sniper firings, from different parts of the country. Luckily, the three Japanese held hostage by resistance guerrillas have been released, but the incident must have shaken the morale of the foreign forces helping in the maintenance of law and order and reconstruction of Iraq. Though the captors of the Japanese could not achieve their real objective — withdrawal of the Japanese troops from Iraq —-, they may use this tactic again to put similar pressure on other countries. The resistance forces, which earlier comprised mainly the minority Sunnis, have acquired greater strength after the joining of their ranks by the majority Shias. An idea about their fighting capacity can be had from the fact that for a few days they had wrested from the US troops the control of the main road connecting Baghdad to Jordan, through which the Americans in Iraq get the supply of most of their necessaries of life. This is besides the capture of some smaller towns by those fighting against the occupation forces. With the situation becoming more and more grim, the plan for the withdrawal of some of the US troops has been cancelled. Besides the doubts about the US intentions to leave Iraq to the Iraqis by June-end, increasing human rights violations by the occupation forces and the four militias controlled by some of the Iraqi Governing Council members are forcing people to take to the path of violence. These militias have become a major source of trouble for the ordinary Iraqis, for whom the “liberation” from the tyrannical rule of Saddam Hussein is meaningless. The hungry and harassed people are bound to swell the ranks of the resistance forces if there is no change in the climate of violence. But will this bring them the much-needed peace? Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open. — James Dewar |
Cult of Vajpayee There have been two significant developments in the national election campaign thus far. Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani has made the first public confession by a senior BJP leader that his party has had to dilute its ideology to govern a pluralist country such as India’s. Second, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee has been deified to the cult status once promoted by China’s Chairman Mao. The two strands are interwoven in the campaign to win votes outside the BJP’s core constituency. Hence the emphasis on Mr Vajpayee’s peace moves towards Pakistan. And the leader has been promoted to the level of an icon. The icon speaks to you over the mobile telephone. Songs are sung by the queen of Indian music Lata Mangeshwar to the verses of his poetry. The bus that took Mr Advani on the latest of his political yatras was emblazoned with a larger than life image of Mr Vajpayee. The BJP’s vision document was illustrated with more than 50 photographs of the party’s helmsman, to be greeted by a self-deprecatory objection, in keeping with his iconic status. A subsequent version of the document displays only a few of his photographs. BJP leaders compare him to India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. But even Nehru was not accorded the status by his party to compare with the gilded image being promoted by the BJP. It is, of course, not entirely Mr Vajpayee’s fault that he has been made the brand ambassador of his party. Once the BJP had decided on adopting a centrist course in the election campaign to try to win a second term, there was no alternative to projecting the leader. And the BJP’s propensity to employ modern technology to promote its cause, as illustrated in the recent assembly elections, meant that the ad man had the last say. First it was India Shining, and in ad-speak, it had to be followed by Vajpayee Shining. Ironically, the age of the cult has arrived in India after China exorcised it by denigrating the Gang of Four. Neither Deng Xiaoping nor Jiang Zemin quite acquired a similar status. Indeed, the new leaders of China give the impression of being business executives in grey suits, rather than men sitting on the pinnacle of the power structure of a country on the verge of becoming a super power. It can, of course, be argued that a country as diverse as India requires icons and heroes to equate leadership with individuals in the popular mind. But the BJP’s reliance on one individual to win votes — to the exclusion of everyone else — is an indication of its limitations. It was not that long ago that the BJP was counted as a minority party with a radical agenda. Its ascent to power on the strength of Mr Advani’s blood-curdling rath yatra leading to the destruction of the Babri Masjid hardly brought comfort to either the secularists or the minorities. Winning the last general election on an emotional and divisive issue, it was that much more difficult for the party to present itself as a responsible and moderate ruling organisation. It was Mr Vajpayee’s astuteness that he was able to square the circle with his ambiguity and aphorisms, convincing many that he is a moderate not in hock to the wilder elements of the Sangh Parivar. He is, of course, many things to many men, becoming a swayamsevak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on occasion, bending with the Parivar wind on the Gujarat pogrom at other times. His one consistent theme from the time he was External Affairs Minister in the Morarji Desai government in the seventies has been friendship with Pakistan, a legacy he hopes to leave. In a sense, a leader’s task is to manage contradictions and the fact that Mr Vajpayee has been able to complete a full term at the head of a motley coalition called the National Democratic Alliance is a tribute to his abilities. He is also apparently enjoying his new role and he was quick to dispel the impression that after serving as the mascot of the BJP, he would fade into history if the party returned to power. He is, in effect, serving his party notice that having been proclaimed Chairman Vajpayee, he would rebel at being placed on the shelf of history. The strength of the Congress party over the first decades of Independence was the larger than life leaders of the freedom movement and the umbrella party it has traditionally been. The BJP, as its earlier avatar, the Jan Sangh, started from a narrow base. It was only by exploiting the disintegration of the traditional Congress supporters, with regional resurgence and the growing ambitions of the so-called backward castes, that the BJP could aspire to become the ruling party at the Centre. The BJP’s attempt this time around is to improve its own score in the parliamentary elections to be less dependent upon demanding coalition partners. At one time, a favourite preoccupation of politicians and political pundits alike was, After Nehru, Who? This question is more pertinent in relation to Mr Vajpayee because he carries so much of his party’s baggage with a light step. Logically, his deputy, Mr Advani, should ascend the gaddi but he would find it hard to dispel the label of hardliner he has acquired, despite many in the NDA flocking to the BJP for opportunistic reasons. Perhaps Mr Advani’s most recent road show was also to give his image a makeover. He has been harping on moderate centrist themes to dispel the ghosts of his 1990 yatra. His new theme song on Ayodhya has, in fact, irked the Sangh Parivar in the temple town during the yatra. But one yatra does not make a summer and Mr Advani will need more time and space to convince the people about his new avatar. The larger problem of the Vajpayee cult the BJP is promoting will need to be resolved, as China’s experience with Mao demonstrated. There is no indication thus far that the Sangh Parivar is grappling with the problem. Perhaps the influentials in the Parivar believe that once the BJP consolidates its hold on power in New Delhi, the future is theirs to
bend. |
The owl of Wellington As children when we learnt the alphabets, the letter O was for Owl. Its picture showed it staring straight — probably right into our eyes. On committing a mistake, we were often rebuked that “Don’t be an Owl” or “Ullu ka Pattha”. An ugly looking person too was taunted, “What an Owl”. On growing up, we learnt that an owl is a nocturnal bird of prey. We wrote essay on many an animal and bird but never on an owl. It was only when I cleared the competitive exam for the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) and received the joining instructions embossed with its insignia of the owl that the inner curiosity arose to find why of all the birds an owl was chosen for the most prestigious institution of the Army. On approaching Wellington (not to be mistaken with the one in New Zealand), the abode of the DSSC in the salubrious surroundings of the Nilgiris in the south, one found the owl inscribed almost everywhere. It was there along the road under the traffic cautionary signs like “horn please”, “sharp turns ahead”, “give way to uphill traffic”, “whisky is risky on the roads”, “look down at the gorge and test our recovery” and so on. It was a bit more visible within the college campus. Not only that, every building was adorned by the owl. The college flag had it and the dress code specified wearing a necktie with small owls embroidered all over in a pattern. Even the college magazine in our time was titled The Owl, and whoever got his material published therein was awarded the owl insignia in the form of a cravat, coatpin etc. In fact, in any field of excellence you were given an owl in form. Our commandant’s wife, talented as she was, designed a beautiful cover for the college journal with the owl in a frontal posture — a little different from the usual side posture owl perching on a twig. The Ladies Club too had an owl memento which was presented to all the ladies who passed out along with their husbands from the portals of the Staff College. During the 10-month stay the owl becomes a part and parcel of one’s life. One carries its deep brown textured profile in one’s mind for a long time. In some mythology owl is even considered to be inauspicious. And it must be true as most of the prospective Staff Officers, to put it in the words of our Chief Instructor (later Chief of Army Staff) often end up their careers as Colonels and not as Generals as is the dream of one and all; for the shadow of the Owl of Wellington looms large — perhaps larger than
life.
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Storm over an inter-caste marriage
It was a nightmarish experience for the residents of Daro-Devariya in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh when they woke up to discover the brutal murder of two elderly men of their Dalit community on the morning of March 28. Though recovering from the repercussions of an inter-caste marriage, the two communities have still not reconciled to the idea of an upper caste girl and a Dalit youth eloping to tie the nuptial knot on March 20. Never before had such an incident disturbed the area’s serene and tranquil atmosphere. Armed with sticks, a gang of more than two dozen men attacked 94-year-old Kapur Singh and his 58-year-old son Saaligram around 11 a.m., beating the duo to death. Their frantic cries could not be heard due to the secluded location of their house in Motipur village. Though Saaligram, soaked in blood, managed to crawl to his brother’s house, less than 100 metres away, he soon succumbed to his injuries. The incident, which came to light the following morning, has created communal tension in the region. The fearful villagers preferred to either maintain silence over the issue or left for their relatives’ houses in the adjacent villages. Though the police has arrested as many as nine persons responsible for the murderous assault, including four uncles and one brother of the girl, this has not led to the cessation of hostilities between the two communities. The fact that the boy and the girl have not returned to their village ever since they tied the knot speaks volumes about the lurking fear of rejection of their relationship. The girl, who was appearing for her B.A final year examination from Solan, chose not to return home on March 20 and instead informed her parents that she had married the Dalit youth. The first signs of trouble came to the fore when her uncle lodged a written complaint with the Solan police of her having gone missing. The upper caste family members of the girl tried to make good sense prevail, but they failed to separate the couple. Naturally, they took the girl’s marriage to a Dalit boy as an affront to their dignity. Meanwhile, tension mounted between members of the two communities residing nearby culminating in the murderous attack on March 28. Some members from both communities continued to make efforts to find a peaceful solution. In a community in which males dominate the social scene and women attend to household chores having virtually no say in important decisions, the hard fact is yet to sink in that an upper caste girl has chosen to defy the mighty cultural barriers of caste and walk down the aisle with a Dalit youth. With no let-up in tension, the fęted time-honoured fair organised by the upper caste community at Narag could not take place the following week after the gruesome incident. The girl’s mother, Roma Devi, who was endeavoring to come to terms with the harsh reality of her daughter’s elopement and her younger son’s arrest coupled with her husband’s illness, said, “ We had allowed our daughter to pursue higher education, defying the tradition of early marriage in the hope of her acquiring some job so that she could lead an improved life.” Traumatised at her only daughter’s insolence, she said it had worsened the condition of her father who was receiving treatment from a psychiatrist. Blaming higher education for what has happened, she said it would have been better had the daughter been married off at 18, as was done in her own case. Members of the Dalit community who had gathered in a nearby house said they wanted to end the hostilities. Ruing that the incident had jeopardised their friendly relations with the villagers, the elders commented that talks could solve even the most intricate matters. Virender Mohan, the youth’s brother, while apprehensive of violence, said that certain strangers were seen in the nearby forests and this had spread fear among them. Security has been beefed up in the region. Policemen were seen patrolling the area right up to Narag, where the upper caste community members live. While reproving the incidence, they said hostilities between the two communities were age old. In this case they said the community was at pains to know that Saaligram, who was known to be a tantrik, had instigated the Dalit youth to avenge the hurt of the rape of a minor girl of their community in December last year. The girl had acted under the spell of the tantrik and had taken the erroneous step of marrying a Dalit. They also rued that the upper caste community had been bearing the brunt of the misuse of the SC/ST Act in this reserved Pacchad constituency. |
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Delhi Durbar The problem of dissidence in both the ruling Telugu Desam party of Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu as well as the Congress seeking to regain power is causing tremendous unease in both camps in Andhra Pradesh. While Naidu claimed that the TDP is facing rebellion because of the regional party’s pursuit of social justice, it is an old malady afflicting the Congress not just in Andhra Pradesh but virtually all over the country. The TDP dissidents attacking and setting fire to TDP offices, burning the party flag and banners and threatening self-immolation have stunned the proud Telugus. A similar trend, though to a lesser extent, is discernible in the Congress as well. Though Naidu has threatened disciplinary action against the rebels, the Congress is working overtime to soothe the ruffled feathers in its ranks.
New interpreter for Vajpayee BJP President M Venkaiah Naidu has a new role to perform, if seeing is believing. The other day a grand stage was set up for the release of the National Democratic Alliance manifesto on the sprawling lawns of BJP General Secretary Pramod Mahajan’s residence. A big shamiana with large airconditioners had been erected and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee arrived at the venue. He took measured steps to reach the stage and released the glossy manifesto. The floor was thrown open for questions. Mediapersons started shooting questions. Everytime a question was asked, Naidu had to repeat the same to the Prime Minister, who willingly lent his ears to the party chief. Sensing the awkwardness, Mahajan immediately ordered the airconditioners to be switched off. He thought that the airconditioners’ noise was not allowing Vajpayee to listen to questions but even this did not help the Prime Minister as Naidu had to continue performing his role. ACs were not to blame perhaps.
Learning art of governance Arrangements at the release of the NDA manifesto were so perfect that a majority of the scribes could not resist the temptation of comparing the ruling
party’s show with the main opposition party’s release of the Vision Document. While they had to sweat it out at the Congress headquarters, the environs in the BJP camp were cool and cozy as heavy voltage airconditioners were in full service. “They (BJP) have perfected the art of governance”, a scribe observed, adding that “the Congress has a long way to go.”
Naxalism in states like Andhra Pradesh and machinations of Maoist guerrillas in Jharkhand have sent a chill up the spine of those short-listed for poll duty. In Jharkhand those listed for election duty are coming up with all kinds of excuses to get their names struck off the list. In some Naxal-infested areas of Andhra Pradesh, where the Peoples War is
targeting TDP activists, there is an overbearing element of fear. With Maoist guerrillas having called for a boycott of the polls, government employees are flocking their seniors with medical certificates and other reasons to avoid election duty. In the last three elections in Jharkhand, more than 20 officials and the same number of those on election duty were killed or had their hands, legs or other parts of their body chopped off by Maoist guerrillas. —
Contributed by S. Satyanarayanan, R. Suryamurthy and Gaurav Choudhury |
Nirvana is gained when the fire of lust is gone out, when the fires of hatred and delusion go our, when the troubles of mind, arising from blind credulity, and all other evils have ceased. — The Buddha God’s name is the real place of pilgrimage (i.e. the source of purification). — Guru Nanak If false beliefs are not exposed, many pernicious things find currency in the world. — Swami Dayanand Saraswati Men, at some time, are masters of their fate. — William Shakespeare To dally much with subjects mean and low, proves that the mind is weak or makes it so. — Cowper |
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