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Crime and rewards Tradition upheld Politics of oil |
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Unpredictable voting behaviour
Dom, a poet-gypsy
Joining hands to handle waste Defence notes
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Crime and rewards THE tainted ministers are proving to be a self-worn albatross around the neck of Dr Manmohan Singh. The Opposition has gleefully identified the handicap and has started exploiting it to the hilt. And why not? That is its job. Just as a black stain is all the more noticeable on a white shirt, the reputation of the dirty seven appears particularly scandalous in contrast to the unimpeachable record of honesty and integrity that the new Prime Minister enjoys. He would have enhanced his reputation even further if only he had put his foot down and refused to induct such dubious MPs into his Cabinet, but that was not to be. By going with the current, he has proved that he is not much different from the run-of-the-mill politicians who are deaf to the cries of their conscience. It is true that heading a coalition forces one to make many compromises but a line has to be drawn somewhere. Indeed, the UPA is not the only grouping to have so many tainted men in the Cabinet. The record of the NDA is no better. But just because there are precedents it should not mean that a certain percentage of berths has to go to criminals every time a ministry is formed. Nor is it very logical to say that since they have become MPs, there is nothing wrong with their becoming ministers. Stretching the argument, someone may one day even argue that if a corrupt person can become a patwari, what is the harm if a similar person also becomes a Prime Minister? In this regard, a distinction has also to be made between the cases that get registered during political and trade union movements and serious charges like mafia-related crimes, including attempt to murder and support to the Dawood gang. Not doing so is an expression of the nation’s inability to differentiate between a political wrongdoer and a hardcore criminal — and its disinclination to keep the latter away from august offices. And to say that everyone is held innocent till he is proved guilty is taking legalistic sophistry too far. |
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Tradition
upheld HISTORY was created on Friday when Mr Somnath Chatterjee was unanimously elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha. It is the first time that a Marxist member has been elevated to the august post. This was facilitated by the ruling combine’s decision to follow the convention of allowing the Opposition to have its nominee as the deputy speaker. However, Mr Chatterjee’s unanimous election should not be viewed just as part of a deal with the Opposition. That there was a spontaneous outpouring of support for the man from Beypore was obvious when he was formally installed as Speaker. This is because few other members have the requisite qualifications and stature to hold the post. His long years as a Member of Parliament and his impeccable credentials as a parliamentarian will stand him in good stead as he grapples with the job. There is little doubt that Mr Chatterjee has the potential to join the ranks of the great speakers. But it is not going to be an easy task for him. Observers of Parliament have been noticing a noticeable fall in the standards of debate in the House. Frequent walkouts and boycotts, filibustering and guillotining have become the order of the day. The House is often witness to pathetic situations when business cannot be carried on for want of quorum. Most members do not do their homework even when they participate in debates on important Bills. As a result, Bills are not properly scrutinised and subjected to revision, necessitating frequent amendments. Members who are expected to be models for the rest of the country show a tendency to play to the gallery when they know that the proceedings are telecast live. It is not infrequent for the Speaker or the presiding officer to expunge remarks made by members which are un-parliamentary. Those who have less lung power than some others find it difficult to express themselves, though they may have important points to make. A Speaker who is conscious of these drawbacks of the system can do a lot through his timely interventions and decisive rulings. Mr Somnath Chatterjee is in that unique position where he can use the respect he commands to conduct the proceedings in an exemplary manner. |
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Politics of oil TWO questions arise from the OPEC decision on Thursday at Beirut to raise oil output by 2 million barrels a day from next month, and if need be, additional 500,000 barrels a day from August. Will it lead to a price fall? And will the Indian government raise the oil prices? Though the Saudi-led OPEC’s decision has been widely hailed, the oil prices will not plummet in the short run since the additional output starts from next month and it takes at least six weeks for changes in production to influence the prices. An increased demand from the US (it consumes 25 per cent of all world oil) and China (20 per cent rise in demand this year alone) has led to the present situation. Fears of terrorists disrupting oil supplies have also contributed to the crisis. Since the previous NDA government refused to review oil prices for fear of it upsetting its electoral prospects, the present government has limited options. The Left, however, will resist any sharp hike in the prices, and, at best, may be persuaded to agree to a moderate raise. Since it is politically incorrect for the new government to burden the common man, it can cut or suspend import duty on crude and save the economy from inflationary pressures. The country should have a sufficient oil buffer to cope with a war situation or a terrorist strike on supplies. From a normal price band of $22-28 a barrel, fixed by the OPEC cartel, the oil price has peeked at $42 a barrel this year. This is the highest in 21 years. Why should OPEC oblige the rest of the world by pushing up the production ceiling? That is because the top producer, Saudi Arabia’s royalty wants to keep the US in good humour. The US consumes maximum oil, but is not building any refining capacity. This is to keep its oil reserves intact for future use, though experts believe there is not going to be any dearth of oil in the world. |
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The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment of life is to live dangerously.
— Fridrich Wilhelm Nietzche
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Unpredictable voting behaviour STUDY of voting behaviour in India has grown into a big industry which employs not only its best intellectual talent, including media persons, psephologists, political commentators and social scientists but also marketing and advertising experts. However, the results of election 2004 have eloquently demonstrated their shortcomings in reading the mind of the voters. It is, therefore, time for professional pollsters as well as politicians to draw appropriate lessons from the recent elections and to revise their theories, analytical tools and strategies. The foremost lesson is that the Indian reality is too complex to be comprehended in a single formula. Anti-incumbency factor has certainly become an important influence on the response of the voters. This factor cannot be ruled out in the defeat of the NDA, TDP in Andhra, Congress in Karnataka, Kerala and Punjab, the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and the INLD in Haryana. But there are notable exceptions where this factor was neutralised by other factors, for instance in West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Bihar, UP, Delhi, Himachal and Maharashtra. Even where ani-incumbency factor worked, some other factors added to the disillusionment of the voters. Demand for a separate state was an emotive issue that contributed to the rout of the TDP in the Telangana region of Andhra. Moreover, the IT revolution that brought the state on the cyber map of the world, bypassed its rural and farming population. The reaction of this population has been described as the revolt of the impoverished Bharat against the prosperous India. This phenomenon is generalised to explain the reaction of the vast majority of Indian people to the NDA campaign on the slogans of shining India and feel good. It is true that the campaign was mainly targeted at English knowing, cable-TV viewers, offline and internet user urban middle class where outsourcing computer software, professional services and centres of big business have opened up new vistas of opportunity and high income jobs. The BJP message did reach this segment of population through SMS, recorded appeal of Vajpayee on telephone and TV ads. But it could not reach the countryside where the BJP slogans were not even translated in Hindi. But again the principal metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata remained immune from the propaganda of the BJP. In each place, other countervailing factors worked. The BJP cited impressive statistical evidence, including 10 per cent rate of growth in the last quarter of 2003, which is perhaps highest in the world, unprecedented $ 120 billion stock of foreign exchange and highest
Sensex index, to prove that India was really shining. High growth rate is no doubt a matter for pride for a country. But if in the process inequalities grow and basic necessities are denied to teeming millions, growth causes more pain than pride. Equally impressive statistics were cited by the opposition about rising unemployment, declining social services and suicide deaths of the farmers to prove that India was not shining for the bulk of its population. Such inequalities increased not merely between urban and rural population but also within each of them. But above all it is multiple diversity of the country and the ability of ideologies and strategies of the parties to adjust themselves to it that determine their prospects of coming to power or losing it. The BJP which had started as a party of a uniform homogenised and extremist concept of nationalism but, in its urge for power it tried to accommodate all types of diversities based on caste, region, religion and ideology. It realised, before its rivals did, the reality of caste in Indian society. It tried to woo even those castes which were so far beyond its reach. It made special efforts to win over
tribesmen in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. It elevated an unknown scheduled caste leader Bangaroo Laxman to the post of its president; though he became a victim of Tehelka scam. It took the risk of supporting an unpredictable Mayawati as Chief Minister of UP and invited her to campaign for it in the election to the Gujarat assembly. Another departure from a concept of homogenised nationalism was recognition of the fact, as Advani put it, that regional aspirations cannot be overlooked and ignored. The party “establised links with different regional political parties to cement the federal structure” which “the Congress had weakened”. From a votary of strong Centre, the BJP came to believe in more powers to the State and had accommodated regional parties which had demanded autonomy like the Akali Dal, the National Conference and at one time all the Dravidian parties. Vajpayee
admitted that the party used to have faith in unitary form of Constitution which it “gave up in favour of federalism” Its ideological flexibility extended not only to cover regional nationalism but also from the Shiv Sena to the socialists as also to apolitical and non-ideological personalities. The party started with militaristic chauvinist postures with nuclear explosion and threats of Aar Par action against Pakistan. But it soon discovered that it earned more dividends in terms of international goodwill by a peace initiative towards Pakistan. The response of popular opinion within the country to it was unexpectedly very warm. In a characteristic Vajpayee style, he tried to sell to his countrymen the U turn in his Pakistan policy. Armed with the certificates from Pakistan, where Vajpayee was hailed as a man of peace, the BJP made another bold bid of entering a field which so far was forbidden for it; by trying to woo Muslims of India. While the BJP achieved notable gains, as discussed above, in other fields, its policy towards Muslims was badly handicapped by the ideological and political baggage that it was not able to shed. The BJP leaders were wooing
Muslims on the plea that the government led by it has improved Indo-Pak relations. In its election campaign in the Muslim areas of UP, it displayed portraits of Pakistan President General Musharraf and of its Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali hugging Vajpayee to appeal for Muslim votes. Whatever positive impact of improvement in Indo-Pak relations on Hindu-Muslim relations may be, the synonymity of the two, presumed by the BJP leaders, implies that Muslims of India are influenced by Pakistan. In fact, it may be truer to say that Hindu suspicion about the loyalty of Muslims is influenced by improvement in Indo-Pak relations. It needs to be remembered that the BJP-RSS have not been against the way Muslims worship or their theological beliefs but because they were supposed to be not patriotic enough to treat India as a holy or sacred land and that they were not sufficiently anti-Pakistan. The traditional view of the BJP-RSS is that Hinduism or Hindutva is not a religion but a nation (rashtra). It is a religionised version of Indian nationalism of which most revered goddess is Bharat Mata. It is not merely better arithmetic calculation that brought Congress-led alliance to power. It is also ideological victory of pluralism as against uniformity that has triumphed. The battle of secularism versus communalism is only a part of
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Dom, a poet-gypsy ABOUT a fortnight ago, I rang up Dom Moraes in Mumbai. As always he picked up the phone himself. We caught up briefly on things that had happened since our previous conversation in the winter of 2000. He told me that his Collected Memoirs were out and that he was no longer writing for The Hindu on Sundays. Dom had been through trying times of late healthwise. Yet, despite his cancer, he was up and about and was going out for lunch. Namita Gokhle, celebrated writer, has already written about Ravi Singh, Dom's editor at Penguin, talking about his "amazing generosity in making himself accessible to a young editor and treating him like a friend." I could not have chosen better words to describe my first meeting with Dom at the India International Centre in New Delhi in 1993. I was participating in a Writers Workshop, organised by S. Nihal Singh, the then Director of the Press Institute of India. At the workshop, I began by addressing him as, "Mr Moraes." Dom immediately intervened and said, "You can call me Dom." I discussed with him his latest book, "Never at Home", and his troubled relationship with his mother, towards whom he was, nevertheless, tender. Over the next two or three days of his stay at the India International Centre, Dom and I grew close. He had brought with him a copy of his book, "Never at Home", to gift it to his step-daughter, Priya, his wife Leela Naidu's daughter from her previous marriage. But he could see no way to go to a nursing home in south Delhi where Priya had delivered a baby boy a few days ago. He autographed the book and gifted it to me. I was overwhelmed and made it a point to buy another copy of the book and hand it over to Priya at the nursing home myself. I didn't realise then that that was the time when Dom was drifting apart from Leela and growing close to an architect, Sarayu Ahuja, as she was known then. He was concerned about Leela but was in a dilemma. One night, I found Dom, deep in thought, sitting in his room all by himself. He talked to me about a few lines of poetry by Dorothy Parker: "When you hold him in your arms, shivering and sighing/ And he swears his passion is infinite, undying/ Lady, take a bet on it/ One of you is lying." When the workshop came to an end, I went with Dom to see him off at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. As we went in, we got the news that Bombay was on fire. There had been a series of blasts there and all flights to Bombay had been temporarily cancelled. Dom, nevertheless, made me call up Sarayu to tell her that he would be catching the first available flight to Bombay that very day. I bid adieu to a marvellous man who, in his amazing generosity, treated me like a friend and remained one. He met me again in New Delhi a few years later and introduced Sarayu to me. By this time, he and Leela had divorced. I was destined to speak to him at least one more time before he was finally gone. As he himself put it: "We shall leave in ways we believed/ Impossible in our youth,/ A little tired, but in the end/ Not unhappy to have
lived." |
Joining hands to handle waste
BHARTI Chaturvedi always knew that environment was her calling. It was, however, not clear how she would make a career out of it. “I was never a people’s person and when my peers were studying hard for the civil services, I was not too sure about how I will proceed. All I knew was that it had to be wildlife and environment”, says Bharti. Together with a group of environment and wildlife enthusiasts, Bharti formed an NGO called Shrishti.
“This was in college, I was enrolled in Hindu College and there were people like Vivek Menon (currently with the Wildlife Trust of India), Pia Sethi, Alok Malhotra, Mohit Aggarwal, Rajesh Thadani and Gazala, who wanted to do something for the environment and wildlife”. It was during this time that issues like the Narmada Bachao Anandolan and issues related to the conservation of nature were gaining momentum, “I was interested in these and tried to read and gather as much information as I could about these.” Career in banking or the government “would not excite me”, recalls Bharti Shrishti, which began in 1993, has long wound up, but Bharti’s quest found an outlet in Chintan. “My main concern is that our ecological damage must be minimised. We do not just have to save the natural resources, we have to provide environmental justice, which is denied to people”. “We work with garbage collectors, ragpickers and they all complain that they are looked down upon, that people, policemen and municipal workers beat them up and harass them. We at Chintan are trying for them to get a better life, not sympathy”, says Bharti. Elucidating on the role of Chintan, she says: “Chintan works in the area of environmental development and addresses issues of sustainable consumption and social equity. We seek to improve consumption choices and practices that benefit both our health and our environment; practices that are sustainable and do not put any additional burden on the poor”. She further states: “Our work begins at the grassroots. We work across different sections of communities, building capacity, linking diverse groups, joining hands with a wide range of stake-holders: municipal officials, ragpickers, policymakers, recyclers, waste managers, community residents, corporate managers, activists, schoolchildren, doctors and scientists”. Passionate about helping the poor find respect they deserve, Chintan also ventures into informal waste recycling, environment education and health issues with emphasis on women and children. “Our work includes training, non-formal education, awareness, publications, improved design and its application, action-oriented research and studies and actually undertaking waste handling for various establishments. We believe that these are diverse ways of addressing a single concern: environmental sustainability”, says Bharti. Chintan focuses on building capacity within communities to act upon information about their environment and live healthier lives while protecting the environment. “We work to empower the poor, particularly those involved in waste recycling, social security and enhanced professional skills. With more prosperous communities, we offer solutions to many local environmental problems. In schools we work with children and their parents to create environmental awareness materials. Besides these, we also work to reduce the impact of toxins and environmental factors on children’s health”, explains Bharti. Chintan works with resident welfare associations and teaches them ways to manage waste. “We help all those who come to us, including those from schools and offices. We believe in doing our bit for society. There is a need to create awareness about toxin. Doctors have amazing information on how waste and garbage are producing toxins, which have disastrous effects on health”, puts forth Bharti. Advocating the need for a change, however, is not easy. “We did encounter antagonism and red-tape. It takes months to get across to people sometimes, it is hard to counter opposition even when you are doing good work. There were people asking for bribes, there are unruly elements, we have to encounter on the job, but we are firmly moving ahead”. Chintan seeks to “facilitate citizens to participate in the preservation of the environment and also to provide social safety networks for marginalised groups,” adds Bharti. For this postgraduate student of history, environment as it is taught in schools is “boring”. Instead of rote learning, Bharti, an alumnus of Convent of Jesus and Mary, advocates experiment and interaction. “One learns so many things through interaction. For instance, when we are inspected and our work is studied, we are not just examined, but people have also given us an insight into new things. They have helped us with ideas on what we should do next or how we should approach an issue. Our minds have been sharpened”. Armed with the mission to tackle the urban crisis, which “is not just waste and consumption, Bharti with her team at Chintan seeks to “work with the informal sector involved in municipal solid waste management in enhancing their living as well as working conditions and assisting them to optimise their skills and role in the waste management sector as well as build their capacity to contribute to a healthy, safe society”. Bharti who also writes on the arts, wishes to put pen to paper on the work that she does in Chintan. “I really want to write about my work...”, but her immediate concern is to “educate citizens about their environmental duties and means of implementing them”. |
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Defence notes
TWO frontline ships of the Indian Navy are providing security off the coast of Mozambique for the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting, which is in progress in the capital Maputo. The two offshore patrol vessels — INS Sujata and INS Savitri — had set out on the 4,500 km distance in mid-May, following a request from the Mozambique government earlier this year, arriving there on May 30. Although the ships are expected to stay at their station till June 7, an achievement for the Indian Navy is that a further request has been received from Mozambique that the ships should stay in the region for some more time to provide security for the fourth Africa-Caribbean-Pacific heads of state summit, which is scheduled at the same venue from June 21 to 24.
Delhi Area’s
raising day Earlier this week, the Delhi Area Headquarters celebrated its 84th raising day. Having been raised as Delhi Brigade Area way back in 1920, it was later changed to Headquarters Delhi Independent Brigade Area, Headquarters Delhi Area Headquarters, Delhi District and Headquarters Delhi Area and East Punjab Area. It was redesignated as Delhi Independent Area on September 1 1947 and Delhi Area on September 15, 1947. Later Rajasthan was added to it to make it Delhi and Rajasthan Area. But finally on February 16, 1966 it got its present designation with Rajasthan being taken off and the Headquarters getting the sign of Taurus, which symbolises determination, perseverance and the ‘will to win’. Before Independence, the Area was taken over by Maj Gen Maharaj Shri Rajendra Sinhji, who later became the second Commander-in-Chief of the Army. Since India became a Republic, the GOC, Delhi Area, has been bestowed the special honour to lead and command the Republic Day parade. Besides conducting the national ceremonies, the Delhi Area provides rear area security, administrative and logistic support for the smooth induction of field formations.
IAF rescues lady pilot Sqn Ldr S. Rajkumar, while on board an HS-748 aircraft as a navigation instructor, abandoned his mission to rescue a civil trainee woman pilot and helped her land safely at the nearest airfield while her Cessna trainer aircraft had almost run out of fuel. The incident occurred earlier in May in Hyderabad when Ms N.R. Veda, learning to fly at the Andhra Pradesh Flying Club, Begumpet, apparently lost her position in the skies and sought frantic help from nearby aircraft. She had taken off from the Nadirgul airstrip and overshot her time of arrival back at the airstrip by a good margin. While the Hyderabad radar and navigation aides had no radar pick up or fix on the Cessna and conveyed to the pilot their inability to help her back on the track, Sqn Ldr Rajkumar on a training mission decided to be the knight in shining armour after hearing the SOS. |
He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives Him who sent me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. — Jesus Christ The soul that has tasted the sweetness of Divine bliss finds no happiness in the vulgar pleasures of the world. — Sri Ramakrishna Our bond with God’s court is established only through the singing of His praises. — Guru Nanak He is a knower of the Self to whom the ideas “me” and “mine” have become quite meaningless. — Sri Adi Sankaracharya |
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