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Return of the prodigal Woes of Kofi |
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Lingua fracas Milestones as millstones THERE are many milestones in the popularisation of Hindi language that may be recalled with a glow of pride. Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee speaking in Hindi in the United Nations is, of course, the high-water mark that Hindi enthusiasts never fail to cite when speaking of the spread of the language.
The reformer in Rao
Year of Sonia and Gudiya
Bulls, bears and the common man Chatterati
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Return of the prodigal THE factors which made Ms Uma Bharati lash out publicly right in front of Mr L.K.Advani have not vanished. She herself has expressed regret at the gross indiscipline only in a roundabout manner. And yet, the firebrand leader is back in the BJP, mainly because the party needs her as much as she needs the party. The outfit which could take back Mr Kalyan Singh did not have to stretch its moral fibre too much to be equally magnanimous towards the sanyasin. The BJP leadership knows that at this stage, it cannot afford the luxury of losing a senior member and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister who too realises that even a sinecure position within the organisation is better than a pariah status outside. In any case, her fits of temper are nothing new. More than that, despite bursting out at Mr Advani, she did take abundant care to make up with him and Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee almost immediately. Realpolitik filled in the blanks. What has to be remembered is that she has considerable clout in the Hindutva scheme of things which the BJP hopes to adopt in the days to come. Vote-catching capabilities have thus been given precedence over personal quirks. What the re-admission does to the party’s claim of being a disciplined cadre-based outfit is apparent. If she can get away with this type of defiance, others may also be encouraged to be equally rebellious. But the budding rebels will only have to remember that they will need to achieve her level of importance and position before trying out a similar trick. She has staged a comeback but it is doubtful that she will get back her earlier position as well. Even if she does worm her way up the party ladder, surely she cannot hope to be equally successful and quick when it comes to political position. Her successor has not exactly covered himself with glory but it will be a surprise if she is given the Bhopal throne. It is a homecoming all right but she is going to be under a close watch for a long time to come. The party bosses may have reconciled themselves but she has certainly not won over the middle-rung leaders whom she had targeted sharply. |
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Woes of Kofi United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has full two years to go, yet he has started counting his days. Though he asserted that he would complete his second tenure, he also gave enough hints about the pressure being brought on him to resign. He finds himself in the dock following allegations of corruption in connection with the oil-for-food programme under which Iraq under Saddam Hussein was allowed to export oil to take care of its essential requirements during the period of the UN sanctions. Those baying for his blood refuse to accept his version of the story that he was not aware of the full facts about the dealings between his son Kojo Annan and Swiss company Cotecna investigating the charges of fraud in the implementation of the UN’s Iraq plan. Certain US legislators want the Secretary-General to put in his papers as soon as he can. Even the UN staff union has been instigated to declare a vote of no-confidence against Mr Annan, which never happened in the history of the world body. His failings could have been ignored had he been in the good books of the Bush administration, but that is not the situation today. Mr Annan is on the US firing line mainly because he took a stand contrary to that of Washington on the Iraq war. He described the war not in conformity with the wishes of the Security Council and the UN Charter. Hence the US drive to make him pay for his otherwise bold and independent stand. It is true that Mr Annan, like most of his predecessors, did not show similar guts during his first term, as that could have spoiled the chances of his getting a second term. Yet he deserves the international community’s support for completing his full tenure honourably if nothing serious is found against him. The head of the world body should not be treated shabbily by any member, not even the super power. |
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Lingua fracas THERE are many milestones in the popularisation of Hindi language that may be recalled with a glow of pride. Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee speaking in Hindi in the United Nations is, of course, the high-water mark that Hindi enthusiasts never fail to cite when speaking of the spread of the language. Mention an Indian language that has gone ‘international’ and, invariably, people think of Hindi. In truth, Tamil is the Indian language that enjoys official recognition in more countries than Hindi. Hardly surprising then that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa should have raised objections to milestones on national highways in the state being inscribed with names of places in Hindi. These are literal, not figurative, milestones and have a practical function of letting people know where they are or where they are headed. It serves little purpose to appropriate them as ‘milestones’ to map the growth of Hindi. Although many may believe that it is better to journey hopefully than to arrive, few would deny that the wayfarer needs to know the places he is passing through as well as the name of the destination. And this would not be possible unless inscriptions on milestones are in a language familiar to the people of the area. Even very educated Indians do not know that Tamil – like the other 14 languages inscribed on the currency notes — is as much a national language as Hindi. The greater importance to Hindi because of its status as a language of administration does not diminish the ‘national’ stature of the other national languages. Zealotry is the enemy of zeal. The people of Tamil Nadu have great enthusiasm for learning Hindi or, for that matter, any other language that would help them go places in education and employment. The figures put out by the Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha bear this out. But that is no reason to force Hindi down their throats when most Hindi speakers cannot pronounce, leave alone spell, for example, Gobichettypalayam or Tiruchirapalli. |
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The true genius is a mind of large general powers, accidentally determined to some particular direction. — Samuel Johnson |
The reformer in Rao
History will judge Narasimha Rao’s premiership more positively than his own party which had isolated him. When one looks back to examine the moment when liberalisation became a fact rather than a catchword, it was 1991 when Rao took over the reins. If India has joined the select club of emerging economies of the world, it was due to Rao’s bold decisions. Though revisionists within the Congress party hark back to Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, few people remember that both were willing to only go a few steps at a time. Even Rajiv Gandhi started with a lot of good intentions but was stopped by his own party’s rank and file. He had to revert back to slogans of socialism due to political compulsions despite his modern ideas. In fact, several economists have accused the Indian governments of the 1980s of profligacy. How did Rao become a reformer? It was mostly due to the force of circumstances. When Rao took over in 1991, he was trapped in a situation where inaction was not an option. If one measures a statesman by his actions, then Rao stepped boldly into the shoes of an economic liberaliser and became the “father of economic reforms”. Rao provided his then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh with political protection and a buffer zone against incursions from angry Congressmen and the Opposition. Dr Manmohan Singh, who was a novice to politics, often felt hurt at the criticism levelled by his own colleagues and offered to resign a few times but Rao always tore up his resignation letters. However, Rao had to look at the political realities with elections looming large and put a break on hard decision on economic reforms, including exit policy and disinvestments, during the last two years of his regime. Interestingly, Rao did not have much knowledge of economics and often did not understand the jargon. He used his common sense coupled with his immense political sense. He chose the right man for the right job and left it to him to do the rest. Rao chose Dr Manmohan Singh because he was internationally known and recommended highly by people whom Rao trusted. India needed a good credible face and the man he had chosen was perfect for this purpose. Rao wanted to build up a good team and offered Cabinet berth to another internationally known economist I.G. Patel but the latter rejected it both times. Rao was looking for a good corporate face to include in his Cabinet but did not succeed in finding a proper person. Meticulous cautiousness brought Narasimha Rao his moments of glory as well as ignominy. While it worked well on the economic front, it backfired on issues like Ayodhya. Ultimately, his failure to protect minorities overshadowed his achievements of bringing economic prosperity to the country. Rao had never forgiven himself for believing the BJP leaders in the case of the Ayodhya issue. Later, he had painstakingly collected all the evidence about what happened at that time and was planning to publish a book but was waiting for the Liberhan Commission to complete its work. The book, whenever it sees the daylight, will be an eye-opener on many things relating to the issue. Ayodhya was haunting him all through although he believed that he was helpless and did his best. His defence was that constitutionally he could not act unless requested by the state government and the then Kalyan Singh government was keeping silent until the masjid fell after which he resigned. Rao often used to recall how he was sucked into the foreign affairs of the country. After Indira Gandhi won the 1980 Lok Sabha elections, even before the Cabinet was announced, Rao had a surprise visitor at his doorstep — then Foreign Secretary Ram Sathe. He informed Rao that Mrs Gandhi had asked him to consult Rao on an urgent foreign affairs matter. Rao immediately realised that he was going to be the new External Affairs Minister. Once he moved to South Block, Rao never looked back. With his vision and quick grasp of things, he studied the problems with deep interest. Even when he became the Prime Minister, Rao’s first interest had always been the foreign policy and he knew many officers by their first name. It was during Rao’s regime that the Indo-US relations began to look up and it was taken forward by the successive governments. He was the father of “ Look East policy” which has paid dividends today. He built up relationships with Malayisa, Singapore and Thailand. When Mr Nawaz Sharief was the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Rao had set up a separate private channel with him. He helped Sri Lankan President Chandrika during crucial times. He believed in cultivating smaller Islamic nations and African countries . He not only visited them but also mobilised their support for India’s claim for a permanent member’s seat in the UN Security Council. On the security front, Rao had kept the option open to go nuclear if he came back to power after 1996. This was kept as a secret. In fact, he was ready even 1995. He conveyed to his two quick successors, Mr A.B. Vajpayee and Mr Deve Gowda, about the readiness of the nuclear blast. However, it was Mr Vajpayee who ultimately took the decision in 1998. On the political front, there had been ups and downs. He managed to convert his minority government into a majority one. The Congress had good relationship even with the BJP until the Babri Masjid demolition. He built up new equations with smaller parties. He believed in social engineering and wanted the Dalit-upper caste combination in UP to revive the Congress and had a poll tie-up with the BSP. He was happy to see Ms Mayawati becoming the first Dalit Chief Minister of UP and Mr K.R. Narayanan the first Dalit President of India. He believed in having good relationship with Chief Ministers of other parties, including N.T. Rama Rao. When he lost the electoral battle in 1996, he did not hesitate in supporting Mr Deve Gowda’s United Front. While Rao was making progress on the government side, there was some setback on the party side. He was not a mass leader and could not give adequate time to party affairs. Even as he was knitting the Congress with smaller parties, the Congress split with some of the senior leaders parting ways. Mr Arjun Singh, Mr Natwar Singh and Mr N.D. Tiwari floated the Tiwari Congress in 1995 while the late G.K. Moopanar formed the Tamil Maanila Congress protesting against the Congress tie-up with the AIADMK in 1996. The hawala became another haunting issue when Rao’s own government slapped cases against 14 of its ministers. All of them had a grouse against him. There were many other scams, which came to surface like the sugar scam, urea scam and stock scam. All these took a toll on his popularity. After 1996, he got embroiled in three major cases — Lakhubhai, St. Kitts and JMM. He took his conviction on the JMM with equanimity and was cleared by the High Court later. The one mistake Rao did not mind acknowledging was making the late Sitaram Kesri his successor. Then began Rao’s isolation from the party which continued until his death. Rao was disappointed that he could not achieve much in one or two areas. The first was the land reforms; he lost his gaddi in Andhra Pradesh while trying to implement it. The second was rural development for which he had allocated huge sums. Both of these were dear to his heart. He was also a believer in the holistic approach to human resource development and health. At the end, Rao’s political personality loomed large in his public image rather than his image as a reformer. As years go by, historians are bound to see the good things that happened during Rao’s regime, and he is bound to find his place in history. The writer is a senior journalist. |
Year of Sonia and Gudiya
Crimson rays of the setting sun Have settled on the other side of the hill Proudly proclaimed “eventful” Thou fragment of time called 2004 Eventful? an illusion mere A deception par excellence Eventful in changing powers to be, of course But ask Gudiya, Sonia, Darshna and the like Were you really eventful? Poor victims of tele-Panchayat and Khap Panchayats Where men spit venom and dictate terms To one worshipped as “janani” One who toils day and night Bears, rears and keeps the hearth alive But devoid of all rights Supposed to be a meek slave If raises voice against The male mindset and muscle power Kick her away. Callous men devoid of all emotions Care two hoots for innocent lives Growing within Gudiya, Sonia et al Caste, creed a’ religion are men’s lifeline Not a pulsating little heart. Ask the ones made scapegoats Of “honour killings” Still eventful! am shocked. The unborn girl child goes missing To save the family land! Not one eye sheds a drop Nor one lip leaves a sigh When an innocent little life is stiffled Her whimperings they profess They didn’t listen Or cared not to listen Good God! They don’t stand her in the womb too. They mourn not the death of “liability” Rather rejoice to get rid of it And yet they call themselves humane! Cheering themselves with a “glass” that night. Countless young lives Satisfied their lust The wolf within them feeds upon the fair body Thrown to the merciless winds When a new life plants itself therein Why swellest thou “naughty one” A’ call yourself eventful! I mourn not your going “Alvida”
2004.
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Bulls, bears and the common man
IN more ways than one, year 2004 for the Indian economy was characterised by the textbook model of a boom-bust cycle. While January heralded a historic high of over 10 per cent quarterly growth, the end of December 2004 has somewhat punctured the notional hype of the feel-good factor. In the intervening 12 months, the economy has seen it all. Even before the dust had settled down on the feel-good and India Shining blitzkrieg in the aftermath of the Lok Sabha elections, a volatile capital market greeted the UPA government with the sensex falling into a tailspin in May. Investor sentiments were affected as many anticipated that a Left-supported government at the Centre carried the danger of decelerating the reform process even though the original team of reformers led by Dr Manmohan Singh was back at the helm of affairs. The UPA government had the onerous task of sustaining the growth momentum with the avowed promise of carrying the reforms process forward with a “human face”. The explosive reaction of the stock market was the most unfavourable jumping board any new government would have expected. More than seven months later, stock markets are telling a different story. The sensex has breached the 6,000 mark on a consistent basis. Buoyed by high buying activity and unprecedented attention of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sensex crossed the 6,400 level for the first time in December. Indian bourses are among the hotspots of investment destinations. Analysts tracking the movements in the capital market believe that the decision of the California Public Employees’ Retirement Scheme (CALPERS) — a 170 million dollar American pension fund — to enter Indian bourses underscores the growing importance of the domestic market among international investors. Domestic retail investor confidence also seems to be back and is being described by analysts as a reflection of the maturing of Indian bourses. Moreover, analysts believe the success of several public offerings — NTPC, TCS, etc. — carries the undertone of the conviction of retail investors. So much so that during the first few months of the next year a series of big-ticket IPOs are expected to hit the markets with a combined size of crores of rupees. The real sector of the economy, on the other hand, did not typify similar bullish trends. As much as the government tried to live up to the promise of the Aam Aadmi slogan, a chain of exogenous factors unleashed strong contractionary forces. The volatile fluctuations in the global crude oil prices had an adverse cascading effect on the Indian economy as the country meets more than 70 per cent of its crude oil requirements through imports. The government deferred the politically incorrect decision of hiking the retail prices of petrol and diesel till it could. But eventually prudent economics prevailed even though it meant bad politics. As the prices of petrol and diesel increased, the consumer began to feel the pinch as it manifested itself in rising inflation and the cost of living. The rate of inflation, which was hovering around the 5 per cent mark during the last regime, began its northward march and breached the 8 per cent level, raising concerns that the economy may dubiously fall into a stagflation mode. Clearly perturbed, the government went into a huddle, and sought to address the issue using several monetary and fiscal instruments. While the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) attempted to suck out excess liquidity from the system by raising the Repo rate, keeping the cash reserve ratio (CRR) rate unchanged, the government tried out fiscal innovations to insulate the consumer from the rising prices. Quite interestingly, the tax component in the retail prices of petrol and diesel are on the higher side, so much so that a consumer in Delhi pays about Rs 17 as tax while purchasing a litre of petrol for about Rs 37. The anomaly was partially rectified in August in the wake of rising global crude oil prices as the government reduced excise and customs duty. However, as it has argued, a blanket removal of all taxes from the prices of petrol and diesel, as demanded by the Left parties, is fraught with risks. For one, it would seriously damage the revenue considerations as projected and leave the government with little resources to fulfil the plethora of promises made in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP). The LPG price was also sharply affected as it increased by Rs 20 per cylinder and was originally announced to rise by Rs 5 per cylinder per month for the next 26 months. The second part of the pricing policy, however, succumbed under political onslaught, both from within the UPA and outside, and the government hastily rolled it back. With a consistent decline in the prices of global crude oil in the last few weeks and the effect of fiscal and monetary measures beginning to show up, the inflation rate has slowly begun to come down. In fact, for the first time in several months, inflation based on the wholesale price index has come down to less than 7 per cent. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram is optimistic with the view that the worst is over on the price front if no external forces work to the contrary. The next year may well turn out to be the most crucial year for economic management. With the government indicating several hard decisions to go ahead with the second generation reforms, the budget for 2005-06 could be a watershed. Besides, a full-fledged value-added taxation system, the end of the quota regime in global textile trade and political compulsions may lead to a highly challenging situation. |
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Kabaddi outside Parliament by Devi Cherian A
tug of war, kabaddi and competitive shooting. Our respected members of Parliament are literally doing all this on a friendly note. Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad has got his colleagues, seniors and youngsters draining their extra stamina in competitive sports outside the House. Maybe, he is scared it may all come to this in the House. Thankfully, right now it has only reached the level of running to the well of the House, throwing chappals and hurling abuses. Journalists and politicians are used to playing games with each, but this day they pitted their skills on the field and found themselves equally matched. Oh! An energetic pack of women and men journalists beat Parliament’s heavyweights in the tug of war. But 16 MPs proved more than enough to overcome the enthusiastic journalists in kabaddi. Mr Oscar Fernandes, dressed in sleeveless shirt and shorts, displayed his kabaddi skills. Many participants were ignorant about the rules of the game but they enjoyed every moment of the raucous game. While fellow scribes, watching from the sidelines, lustily cheered the journalists, the MPs security guys became the vocal backers of the VIPs. As it was unfair to field wrestler-turned-MP Dara Singh, he was made the referee. Mr Azad and two journalists were injured on the first day. One media person declared, “The Parliamentary Affairs Minister has been retired injured. The woman scribes were upset that not a single woman MP turned up for the event and they want 33 per cent reservation in Parliament.
From the BCCI battlefield
The latest buzz doing the rounds in the Capital is the news of Mr Kamal Nath joining the fray for the BCCI battlefield. Mr Dalmiya must be grinning all the way since his ploy of running the BCCI through the backdoor, using the politicians in power, has again worked. I wonder what Mr Jaitley and Mr Bindra and their ilk have to say about this. After, all they were also at one time actively involved in BCCI affairs with Dalmiya. So much for the politics in the BCCI for personal gains, after winning like Bangladesh only for making individual records. The team still would have to work 10 times harder to beat the Australians or Pakistanis. But the BCCI focuses on filling its coffers and not on improving the standard of the game. The pitches are dead and so is the BCCI administration. The board seems to have become more for politicians than sportspersons. After all, it has cash and power which come with publicity.
MPs and burglars
Oh! Last week was quite harrowing for our members of Parliament. Well, they were not the only ones being troubled by thieves and burglars. Their assistants too have been going through a rough patch. Shortly after the flats of four MPs were burgled in the high security zone a personal secretary of Minister Kapil Sibal was robbed of his car. Three armed men intercepted his car, forced him out and drove away with the car on Thursday when the P.S. was driving home. After all, if the robbers did not find anything in the MPs’ flats they have to do with the whatever the staff has. But when the matter was raised in Parliament during zero hour it was quite hilarious and even UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi grinned as Mr Kripalani went on to explain how worried he was as the thieves who would earlier escape with underwears, vests and water- pipes had graduated to more expensive items. |
The king may have many sons but the subjects may not love all of them equally. The king may have many sons but the subjects may not admire them equally. The king may have many sons but the subjects may not respect their learning equally. —The Mahabharata This is perfectly true; and this very Name is God, so much so that when we take the name of God we feel His presence and, as we practice this presence, we realise His virtues pouring us to fight our evil passions. —Sikhism Only that person who has cleansed himself from all sins, who adheres to the path of truth, who is temperate in thought and action; only such a person can wear the yellow robe of an ascetic. —Buddhism  |
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