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Lawless cops Meals for students |
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Miracle Imperfect
Nepal in trouble
The bliss of cricket
She picked up tunes from ordinary people Defence notes
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Lawless cops Jalandhar is witnessing trouble; so is Hardwar. The trigger is common: police high-handedness. In Jalandhar the public went on the rampage on Thursday after the death of a truck driver who was severely beaten up by the police. In Hardwar, the enraged public vented its ire after some policemen misbehaved with the wife of a businessman. What followed was all the more shocking. Policemen ran amok, attacking residents and their shops, even disobeying the orders of their seniors. For several days, virtual anarchy prevailed. It appears that at least some of the policemen are giving up their assigned role of protectors of law to become law-breakers themselves. This is a sad commentary on the state of affairs in the police department. Nor are these isolated incidents because there have been similar instances in almost every State. Yet, corrective measures have hardly been applied. All these excesses on the common man are being committed at a time when hardcore criminals are having a free run. Just look at the way some of them walk out of even high-security jails. No wonder the general public is scared of the men in khaki and the lawbreakers are not. With the worsening of the relations between the police and the public, policing will become all the more difficult because the police cannot do its duty if it does not enjoy the confidence of the latter. The way the public has started hitting back is alarming. Apparently, it has reached the conclusion that lawful means of protest are not going to make the errant cops mend their ways. Somehow, the development has not been viewed with the seriousness that it deserves. Instead of cosmetic attempts at compromise, there is need to go into the entire gamut of this burning issue. |
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Meals for students The Supreme Court ruling directing all States and Union Territories to implement the mid-day meal scheme in schools by September 1, 2004, is timely and needs to be enforced in the right spirit. Its decision to make Chief Secretaries responsible for the effective implementation of the scheme is also welcome because this is expected to spur the officials into action. Over the years, several studies have revealed that the mid-day meal scheme plays a vital role in checking the dropout rate in schools. A mid-day meal is not only an attraction to the poor to send their children to school but also improves their health. If Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have achieved a higher level of literacy, mid-day meal is one of the reasons. In Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, the dropout rate of girls in schools has reduced by 50 per cent because of this scheme as it effectively addresses issues relating to school enrolment, retention and learning levels. No doubt, problems have come to the fore in the implementation of the scheme in some states like Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, but these are mostly because of the administrative lapses. Snags — which can be ironed out — should not hold up the scheme, which can mean a lot to children who have no access to education. The Supreme Court has rightly taken note of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s statement that the mid-deal meal scheme would be extended to Class 10 as a “national programme”. It has asked the Centre to submit concrete proposals within two months. If it is made a “national programme”, it would call for a higher budgetary allocation. As recommended by the Abhijit Sen Committee, the Centre should contribute to the recurring costs of mid-day meals. Estimates suggest that with just Rs 2,900 crore a year, which is 0.2 per cent of the GDP, the Centre should not find it difficult to chip in. |
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Miracle Imperfect The landslide victory of the African National Congress in South Africa's third election to the National Assembly was only to be expected. After all it was the ANC's over fifty fighting years that resulted in the dismantling of apartheid in 1994 and ushering in of democracy under the inspiring leadership of Mr Nelson Mandela. In the years since then, which saw not only the end of white minority dominance but also the emergence of a new African consciousness in the world's racially most-oppressed country, Mr Mandela handed the presidential baton to Mr Thabo Mbeki. The ANC under Mr Mbeki taking 70 per cent of the vote and 279 seats in the 400-member parliament underscores that its appeal is not only undimmed but that its appeal as the dominant force for public good prevails across the country's political and ethnic fault-lines. Despite the two-thirds majority won by his party, President Mbeki has assured that no drastic constitutional changes would be pushed through. This should be comforting to his opponents, especially the white-led Democratic Alliance, which came a distant second with 50 seats, and the Zulu-dominated Inkatha Freedom Party of Mr Mangosuthu Buthelezi which bagged 28 seats. However, the Alliance which made efforts to woo black voters, has improved by 4 per cent over its votes in the 1999 elections, with the gains reported to be at the expense of the fragmented opposition. On the other hand, it may also mean greater acceptance of the white-led party for its pragmatic adaptation to majority rule. The massive mandate in an election remarkably free of the kind of violence that marked the last two polls also suggests voter expectations are still high; and that most black people attribute poverty, disease and hardship to the legacy of the long white rule. They expect life to get better, and soon. It is in response to this that the famous musician, Hugh Masekela asked voters to be patient with the "Miracle Imperfect" that is South African democracy.
It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up. — Vince Lombardi |
Nepal in trouble NEPAL is in deep turmoil. The countryside is smeared with blood as a result of the eight-year-old Maoist rebellion. According to some estimates, the Maoists control more than 40 per cent of Nepal’s territory and 20 to 25 per cent of its population. They are intensely active in 73 of the 75 districts of the Himalayan Kingdom. Nearly 9,000 persons, many of them innocent children, women and old people, have lost their lives. Urban Nepal is in chaos and disorder as a result of the past 20 days of massive protests by political parties led by Nepali Congress and the Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist Leninist. Only the “King’s party”, the Rastriya Prajatantrik Party (RPP), is keeping away from this anti-King movement. Students and professional groups of teachers, doctors, journalists and lawyers have joined the protest. In order to suppress the protest movement, the government is alleging that the Maoists have infiltrated into it to make it violent. The government has imposed prohibitory orders and invoked anti-terrorist laws. Thousands have been mercilessly beaten, tear-gassed and taken into custody in violation of human rights. Some lives have also been lost. And yet the anti-regression movement is growing in strength and defiance every day. At the centre of this turmoil is King Gyanendra’s obstinate assertion to rule directly rather than reign constitutionally. He had taken powers into his hands “illegitimately” on October 4, 2003, after dissolving Parliament and dismissing Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) Party. The King “wrongfully” invoked Article 127 of the Constitution and described the Prime Minister as “incompetent” to justify his unconstitutional move. The Maoists see no place for Monarchy in Nepal in their proposed “New People’s Democracy”. They have been asking for a Constituent Assembly to draft a republican constitution for Nepal. The political parties since the October 4 King’s action, have initially been demanding the ending of “constitutional regression”, through the revival of Parliament and forming of a multi-party national government. According to the political parties, this will help sort out constitutional issues and create conditions for a negotiated resolution of the Maoist problem. With the King’s refusal to heed to them, the protest movement of the political parties is now moving towards the demand for a Constituent Assembly. Though formally, the parties still swear by constitutional monarchy, many senior leaders and youthful cadres are openly pleading for a Constituent Assembly and a Republic. Thus the King’s ambitions and arrogance have brought the Maoists and the democratic political parties closer, notwithstanding the otherwise serious differences among them with regard to their ideological objectives and operational methods. The legitimacy of King Gyanendra’s coming to power in June 2001 was always suspect in public perception, in the aftermath of the intriguing massacre of his brother, King Birendra, and other members of the royal family, including all possible royal successors. This legitimacy now stands more seriously eroded in the context of the Maoist rebellion and the political parties’ protest movement. Never before in Nepal’s history had the King been denounced in such strong and insulting terms as is being done these days, in Kathmandu and elsewhere. King Gyanendra thinks that he will be able to weather the storm in course of time. There are four critical components of his strategy in this respect. First is the loyalty of the Royal Nepal Army. The King hopes that through strong-arm methods he would be able to eliminate the political movement against him and tame the Maoists. He is emboldened in this thought because he has the support of the international community, particularly the US, India and China. These countries are also providing massive military reinforcements to the RNA to ensure that the Maoist revolution does not get an upper hand. The King is also banking upon the party leaders’ vulnerability to the lure of power and the contradictions that exist among themselves as also between them and the Maoists. And lastly, he is complacent about the mass support for the monarchy in the traditional sections of Nepali society. His recent orchestrated efforts to address public receptions in some of Nepal’s principal towns have created a self-perpetrated illusion that he enjoys widespread social support. The reality of Nepal’s political situation on the ground is, however, different from what the King thinks about it. The latest encounters between the Maoists and the RNA in Bhojpur, Beni Bazaar, Janakpur and Pashupati Nagar have clearly demonstrated the gaps in the RNA’s capabilities and the resilience and ferocity of the Maoists. Assessments in the US, the UK and India are coming round to the view that the RNA cannot tame the Maoists in the foreseeable future, no matter how well it can be equipped through modern arms and training. The diplomatic community in Kathmandu has already started whispering such views. The statements attributed to the US and Indian Ambassadors during the last week bear a testimony to that. The EU diplomats are also strongly raising the question of human rights violations by the RNA. The King is further mistaken not only on the extent of popular support for the monarchy in Nepal, but also on the lure of power among the political leaders. The King has lost much of his credibility and the momentum of support for a republican order is growing so fast at the popular level that any leader’s unprincipled co-option by the King would discredit that person instantaneously. The pace of developments is fast and the time is certainly not in favour of the King. Accordingly, his promise of elections within a year is not cutting much ice among his opponents. There are only two exit routes for him in the prevailing chaos in Nepal. One is that he revives Parliament, hands over power to the political parties, initiates an unconditional dialogue with the Maoists and unequivocally gives up his ambitions to exercise political power. There are no signs that King Gyanendra is thinking along these lines. He will, therefore, face a political upheaval along the lines that the monarchical panchayat system did in 1990. And the outcome of that upheaval would be the emergence of a republican political order in Nepal. There is an interesting historical parallel here. In 1950, Gyanendra had been illegitimately crowned as King by the Rana rulers of Nepal. He was then also supported by the US, the UK and other Western powers. Nepal experienced three months of turmoil and a political revolution that ended the Rana system. History seems to be going to repeat itself for King Gyanendra. At stake this time is the future of the Nepalese
Monarchy. |
The bliss of cricket Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had expressed satisfaction that India and Pakistan were competing with bat and ball instead of exchanging bullets. Truer words could not have been spoken. The day our men in blue played their hearts out against men in green, it was as tense a time as during the four wars fought between the two arch-rivals. Cricket lovers skipped a heartbeat now and then. And swings of mood that went with every sixer or fall of an untimely wicket! Not surprising in this “mausam” of Indo-Pak series that roads were sans mad traffic. The toothless grandfather and the playful grandson, the corporate executive and the retail merchant, all were glued to the small screen at homes, eateries, movie halls or shops. Even in the vegetable markets they put up small screens, earning a living and still never missing out a single boundary or sixer! Amusing to see rickshawalas plying rickshaws with transistors on. In fact, the whole atmosphere was surcharged with “Jeeto India Jeeto”. Who would like to go to office on a day when the Saurav Ganguly team and the Rawalpindi Express clashed? All activity would come to a standstill. Papa promised a treat to the kids if India won. The housewife too would declare a holiday from household chores. Felt privileged to order home delivery of eatables. She must watch the game, though LBW, Clean Bowled et al may be all Greek to her. After all, she had to discuss the match with her “kitty friends”. Our team’s victory! A moment worth million dollars. A lifetime experience. Hilarious yellings and blaring car stereos would be heard on the roads. Youngsters would blow “tootis” (toy trumpet) out of sheer glee. Their feet spontaneously danced to the “dholak” on popular Punjabi songs. Fans who literally breathed, ate and slept cricket expressed their deja vu through fireworks. God forbidding if the men in blue lost, seemed heavens had fallen on the earth. They felt like smashing TV sets. Some even slept empty stomach out of anguish. A cricket match, more so an Indo-Pak, becomes a question of life and death. The media deserves kudos! It captured the mood of passion — rather frenzy — by splashing striking pictures of alluring belles waving their dupattas (tricoloured, of course) to cheer the team. Ironically, these pictures displayed curves of their chiselled bodies more than dupattas. Photograph of a man getting haircut done on the roadside with a transistor in his hands makes a niche for itself in our heart. In fact, a nation gone all “mast” — oblivious of endless problems glaring right in its face — that is the “bliss” of cricket.
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She picked up tunes from ordinary people
The nightingale of Punjab, Surinder Kaur, who even the great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, dubbed the pioneer in popularising Punjabi folk music, has finally decided to settle down at Zirakpur, near Chandigarh. “Though this is not the Punjab that I can call home, but I have decided to spend the last years of my life here,” she says, as she sits at her rented home in Panchkula, looking over the layout of her house, under construction at Zirakpur in Punjab. She ruled the Punjabi music scene for almost three decades and every singer worth his voice wanted to cut an album with her. She has been the music company, HMV’s leading star for years and has rendered her voice for duets, bhajan kirtan, and Sufi kalam. It is not without reason that when she went for a performance to Pakistan, the then Pakistani premier, Mr Nawaz Sharief, called her at his residence for a performance, and the media in Pakistan made endearing references to her in their headlines like “Surinder Kaur peke aayi.” Guru Nanak Dev University conferred on her a doctorate in the year 2002 though she has hardly had a formal education, other than in music. Says Surinder Kaur, “ Most of my life has been spent in Delhi. Born and brought up in Punjab, the part that is now on the other side of the border, I never thought of moving out of Delhi. But now, the pangs of being separated from my ‘mitti’ began pulling me and I decided to build my house in Punjab, and spend the evening of my life here.” She recalls how over the years, the political bigwigs in Punjab had made several public announcements regarding allotting her land in Punjab so that this doyen of Punjabi folk music could build a house here. “A former Chief Minister, the late Mr Beant Singh, had announced that the Punjab Government would allocate me land in Punjab for my contribution to Punjabi folk tradition. Later, the then Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, while conferring on me the title of ‘Singer of the Millennium’, too had announced that a house be built for me. But I walked up on the stage and announced that I was averse to such political announcements, and will come here on my own, using my own resources.” Having lent her voice to Bulle Shah and Shiv Kumar Batalvi’s verses, and poetry that still haunts the listener, music for this singer has been her “sadhana” and “ibaadat”. Her songs — Maavan te dheeyan…, Jutti Kasuri, paireen na poori, Madhaniyan, Kiven akhiyan che pavan kajra…, or Ghaman di raat lammi hai jan mere geet… — have inspired generations of Punjabis. But it is disheartening that this foremost Punjabi folk performer’s work has not featured in any coherent reissue programmes, and she is under-represented. “I still do my ‘riyaaz’ daily, but now I also indulge in the i’baadat’ of the Almighty. But yes, I no longer hold concerts in India. Now people regard singers as ‘tamaashbeen’. “There was a time that the singer would sit and perform, and would sway the crowds to get up and dance. Now the singer is expected to perform, while the audience sits back and gawk at them. I come from an era where the voice was important, how can I perform today, when the musical beats and body language are used to captivate the audiences’ attention,” she says. Talking of her long journey, from a small girl in Lahore to international acclaim, by reviving the Punjabi folk tradition, Surinder Kaur recalls how her melodious voice captured her brothers’ attention while she was 12 years old. “Even though my parents, who were devout Sikhs, were initially reluctant, they sent me to learn music from Master Inayat Hussain, a nephew of Bade Ghulam Ali Sahib. My elder sister, Prakash Kaur, was married by then, but her husband, too, encouraged her to learn the finer points of music. I still remember the day, August 31, 1943, when my first programme was aired on All India Radio, Lahore, and was widely appreciated. “After partition, we moved to Ghaziabad, and I got married to Prof Joginder Singh Sodhi. And unlike most men, my husband, recognised my talent, and became my support system, when I started a parallel career as a playback singer, or when I went globe-trotting on numerous trips to Russia, Canada, France or anywhere else. He encouraged me to reach the zenith of my career, while he pursued his academic career, and took care of our three daughters. He groomed me completely,” she says. The lady with the golden voice says that the reason for her enormous success is that she never gave up learning. ”A life well lived is when it has been a continuous learning process. The folk songs that I sang were learnt from my mother or other relatives, especially during weddings. But a lot of tunes and songs I picked up from unknown people, as they sat humming these tunes. I remember the time when I was called for a performance at a wedding in the royal family of Patiala. At the venue, I heard a group of ‘marasins’ singing some songs. Even as my name was announced for my performance, I did not realise as I was so engrossed in listening to these women. It was later that I picked this up and came with my famous number, “ Jeeve dhola ni mera jeeve dhola – a banna.” She says that she is happy that her daughter, Dolly Guleria, is carrying the family tradition forward, and grand-daughter, Sunaini, too is following their footsteps. The three of them, had, in fact, cut a Punjabi album together in 1995 called “Surinder Kaur- The Three Generations”. |
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Defence notes I ndia and Britain are to explore the possibility of setting up a “joint force headquarters”. The issue will be discussed at a meeting of the India-Britain Defence Consultative Group to be held in the next few weeks. The two will also finalise plans for holding a naval exercise. The joint headquarters is likely to be located either at Bangalore or Hyderabad. and function as a “task force” focussing on the “top-end-tasks”. Sources, however, said that the discussions were still at the preliminary stage but pointed out that both the countries were looking forward to it, specially keeping in mind the long-standing history of joint deployments. Incidentally, both India and Britain are a part of the UN peacekeeping mission and have been providing troops for such tasks in other countries. The two countries have also been holding joint exercises of the three forces and the latest round of naval exercise began off the coast of Chennai on April 17. Encroachment on
Army land
In Naraina village in South-West Delhi, nine encroachers are sitting on almost 1.2 acres of the Army land. Following a protracted legal battle, the Army did manage to get orders from the High Court for the eviction of the encroachers from the piece of land, which now commands a prime price. However, what has stumped the Army now is the role of a senior politician. The Army was hoping to get the piece of land back after almost 25 years, but with the police not providing it the required security to remove the encroachments, it has come up against a wall. The police, on the other hand, says that its hands are tied as the politician has on
appeal got a stay order.
Vegetables in
Ladakh
The Defence Research and Development Organisation has managed to do grow vegetables during winter in Ladakh. Ladakhis used to laugh at the idea,. The DRDO has developed the polyhouse and trench cultivation techniques using local material, which is also affordable for farmers. While during winter green vegetables are grown by these techniques, in summer it helps in growing cucumber, bottle gourd, long melon and even summer squash.
Challenge cup
The Army is organising its annual Army Adventure Challenge Cup at Raiwala (Rishikesh) from April 27 to May 7 in which over 24 teams will participate. Six of these teams will then take part in the finals. This is a prestigious event held at the national level and comprises mountain cycling, hill running and white water rafting. The event commences with nine cyclists of each team competing on the 15-km stretch in the Chilla reserved forest on the state-of-the-art five geared mountain bikes and then the second leg comprises 11 km running up the jungle path of the Rajaji National Park and finally at Pulchatti the participants for 16 km rafting. |
When one’s heart is pure, one would see God and no one could stop it. No church, no priest, nothing could keep a pure heart away from seeing God. — Jesus Christ The Guru is the ladder, the boat, the raft for obtaining access to God’s Name. — Guru Nanak The Paramatman is the sky which is stationary. Its reflections are not permanent. Just as the sky alone exists, so also the Paramatman, which is the Supreme Brahman, is the only reality. All the visible living things are only its reflections. — Sri Rama O Lord of sacred knowledge! When the sages uttered the first and foremost speech, giving a name to the nameless, it was their best and purest, and revealed with love the Divine Secret that lay hidden in their hearts. — The Vedas Ahura Mazda is the Lord of life and wisdom, light and the truth. — Zarathushtra |
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