O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

Tsunami’s terror
A lot of rehabilitation effort is needed
When Nature unsheathes its frightening weaponry with full fury, there is pretty little that mankind can do despite its many technical advances. That sort of helplessness and vulnerability was witnessed on Sunday when tsunami waves generated by a strong quake hit coastal areas of India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand and flattened everything that came in the way.

Politics of defacement
EC must not allow it
Politicians not only pollute politics, but come elections they also indulge in the defacement of private and public property with impunity. The Prevention of Defacement of Public Property Act is there to prevent them from taking recourse to such activities, but who cares?

World Bank report
The praise is well deserved
A pat from the World Bank is bound to lift the drooping spirits of the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, who are battling with mixed results the oil price rise challenge, which is threatening to destablise economies worldwide.

• Thought for the day

ARTICLE

Left’s base is shrinking
It remains out of touch with the national mood
by Amulya Ganguli
THE leading lights of the CPM Politbureau seem to get up every morning with a determination to say “no” to whatever the Centre might propose. So, if it is “no” to disinvestment today, it will be “no” to petrol price hike tomorrow , “no” to a congratulatory letter from Dr Manmohan Singh to Mr George W.Bush the day after and “no” to let private airlines fly to more destinations abroad on the following day.

MIDDLE

The Principal
by V.N. Kakar
I reached Lahore, by bus or train, I do not remember, took a tonga and dashed off to S.N. Das Gupta College. I cannot recall where it was. Perhaps Nisbet Road. There, on the verandah of the college, I met this man, somewhat short-statured, polite, simple dress, simple looks.

OPED

BJP: a year of disappointments
It’s no longer a party with a difference
by Satish Misra
One year is hardly of any consequence in the life of a political party, but 2004 would definitely be remembered as a year of catharsis in the 24 years’ existence of the Bharatiya Janata Party. It marked the end of its dream and the beginning of a journey in the unknown.

Delhi Durbar
Anti-Sonia front active
Janata Party President Dr Subramaniam Swamy predicts the downfall of the United Progressive Alliance government in March next year. And for that, Save National Pride Front (Rashtriya Swabhiman Bachao Manch), formed a few weeks back, held its first meeting in the Constitution Club. 

• RJD prepares for action

• An un-Hindu Act?

• Apprehensive dotcoms

REFLECTIONS

EDITORIALS

Tsunami’s terror
A lot of rehabilitation effort is needed

When Nature unsheathes its frightening weaponry with full fury, there is pretty little that mankind can do despite its many technical advances. That sort of helplessness and vulnerability was witnessed on Sunday when tsunami waves generated by a strong quake hit coastal areas of India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand and flattened everything that came in the way. Thousands of people have died and the casualty figures are rising by the minute. The loss to property is incalculable. This was perhaps the worst disaster to hit the area in close to 40 years and left the whole of the continent shell-shocked. This unexpectedness multiplied the losses. The nature of the tragedy was such that there was little forewarning. Now that the disaster has already taken its toll, all that can be done is minimising the misery of those still alive to the maximum extent possible. That is a tall order indeed. A concerted, global effort is required to ferry relief supplies to remote areas which are inaccessible even in the best of times and have become all the more so after the calamity.

Time is of the essence and aid givers have to marshal all resources at the earliest because even a minute’s delay can prove fatal. Such earthquakes are followed by many aftershocks for which too we have to be prepared. The crisis management group is monitoring the situation regularly. The next few days are going to test whether it can remain functional even in a crisis of such magnitude.

That is essential because scientists are warning of many such super disasters in the years to come. Only some of these are manmade. All the rest like massive earthquakes and volcano eruptions have an elemental dynamics of their own. Instead of being overwhelmed by them, mankind has to constantly learn to exceed itself and to take these on the chin.

Politics of defacement
EC must not allow it

Politicians not only pollute politics, but come elections they also indulge in the defacement of private and public property with impunity. The Prevention of Defacement of Public Property Act is there to prevent them from taking recourse to such activities, but who cares? The Election Commission, therefore, deserves support for asking the Bihar government to undo the defacement of public property by December 30 and recover the cost from the guilty political parties. And in Bihar the biggest guilty party is the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal itself.

Pasting posters on the walls of government buildings and putting up hoardings, buntings, etc, at public places are in violation of the model code of conduct, which has come into force after the announcement of the Assembly elections in Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana. On Saturday the commission had directed the authorities in the three states to ensure compliance of the Act and anyone found indulging in undesirable activities must be brought to book. The commission acted swiftly in the case of Bihar after its three-member panel held a meeting to look into the charges of violation of the model code by the RJD with regard to its “maha rally” on December 23 which could not take place ultimately. RJD workers did not spare trains, railway stations, police stations and even the High Court building.

The tragedy is that no political party respects the law on the defacement of public property. The Election Commission has rightly taken every party to task for the large-scale violation of the Prevention of Defacement of Public Property Act in Bihar. The commission must be strict in proceeding against the guilty. If political parties cannot behave in accordance with the law themselves, they must be forced to do so. After all, nobody is above the law. Politicians should know better than anybody else that the voters today are too mature to be misled by their false claims made through posters, buntings, hoardings, etc. 

World Bank report
The praise is well deserved

A pat from the World Bank is bound to lift the drooping spirits of the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, who are battling with mixed results the oil price rise challenge, which is threatening to destablise economies worldwide. Only the other day the government faced a tough Opposition protest against the price rise with BJP leader A.B. Vajpayee alleging that the UPA’s economic policies are incoherent. However, the World Bank has praised the Indian government for effectively managing the oil shock. Its Global Economic Prospects report, released in Delhi on Wednesday, has also appreciated India’s strong growth, robust exports and higher forex reserves. According to the bank, India is expected to get a foreign direct investment (FDI) of $5 billion this fiscal.

There are at least more two positive developments for India. One, the appreciation of the rupee against dollar in the recent days will not only reduce the country’s oil import bill, but also the external debt burden. Although the rising value of the rupee may hit India’s exports, an overall improvement in the productivity and competitiveness of the manufacturing sector will compensate for any setback on the export front. Two, there are indications that the oil price will plummet significantly to a more acceptable level of $35 a barrel from the present level of $42 due to a lower demand in the US this year following a mild winter.

Earlier this year, AT Kearney’s global confidence index had described India as the third most preferred destination for investment after the US and China. All this, however, should not lead one to complacency. One should not forget what the World Development Report 2005 had said about India a couple of months ago. The report had found fault with India’s investment climate: high costs due to rampant crime and corruption, unreliable infrastructure, policy uncertainty and bureaucratic controls. The report had said in India it took 89 days to start a business after going through 11 separate procedures and 10 years to resolve insolvency. In China the time taken and the cost incurred for similar work are half of that. The message is clear.

Thought for the day

We all know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realise truth.

— Pablo Picasso

ARTICLE

Left’s base is shrinking
It remains out of touch with the national mood
by Amulya Ganguli

THE leading lights of the CPM Politbureau seem to get up every morning with a determination to say “no” to whatever the Centre might propose. So, if it is “no” to disinvestment today, it will be “no” to petrol price hike tomorrow , “no” to a congratulatory letter from Dr Manmohan Singh to Mr George W.Bush the day after and “no” to let private airlines fly to more destinations abroad on the following day. However, it is worth remembering that these “nattering nabobs of negativism”, to use former US vice-president Spiro Agnew’s phrase (coined by Nixon’s speech-writer William Safire), have been in denial for virtually throughout their history.

In 1942, they said “no” to the Quit India movement because the Hitler-Stalin anti-imperialist pact had become a Hitler vs Stalin “people’s war” by then. Then, in 1947, they said “no” to Indian independence — yeh azadi jhooti hai - because power, in their view, had merely been transferred from foreign to domestic exploiters of the “people”. To right this wrong, the communists launched a “liberation struggle” in Telengana, a violent and futile exercise in lunacy which is still continuing in fits and starts.

In 1962, they said “no” to the reality of Chinese invasion because a socialist country could not commit “aggression” since it was merely expanding the territorial boundaries of the rights of the working class. It was this resort to negativism which caused the first rupture in the ranks of the communists between pro-Chinese and pro-Soviet groups in India, reflecting the Sino-Soviet schism of 1956. Since then, the two have come closer together, and have been celebrating their unity by jointly saying “no” to whatever the government proposes.

Till after the 2004 general election, the antics of these habitual nay-sayers didn’t matter much. The communist influence has always been so limited at the all-India level that their views created no more than a ripple in the nation’s consciousness. For instance, it was of little consequence if they thought that the Indian independence was unreal or Mahatma Gandhi was an agent of the bourgeoisie or Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose a quisling. These outlandish views were on a par with their carping against computers — to be treated with amusement and disdain.

It is only now, for the first time in their history, that the communists are in a position to make their contrary outlook have an impact. In this matter, they share the (dis)honour with the BJP. The latter’s communalism, too, had little social and political effect on the Indian scene till recently. Only about two decades ago, the saffron camp was regarded as comprising oddballs who were politically irrelevant. The reason why both the fascists and the communists have currently started playing a role quite out of proportion to their earlier influence is obvious. It is the shrinking of the middle ground of Indian politics, represented mainly by the Congress, which is responsible for their rise.

It may be a temporary phenomenon because the politics of extremism and sectarianism which they represent cannot have a future in a country as diverse as India. But as long as they retain their present clout, it is a matter of concern because of the damage — though, in all probability, a short-term one — which they are likely to inflict on the social scene (by the BJP) and on economic progress (by the Left). The BJP’s retreat is already evident, so the danger posed by it is passing. But if the communists are still able to bend the Centre to their will, it is because of the Congress’s unfortunate dependence on them for survival in office.

Even then, what all their curmudgeonly “noes” confirm is the huge gap which exists between the national ethos and the views of the communists. What can explain this chasm ? To quote Subhas Chandra Bose, who was not unsympathetic to the communists: “I may say that in spite of the universal and human appeal of communism, communism has not been able to make much headway in India chiefly because the methods and tactics generally employed by them are such as tend to alienate rather than win over possible friends and allies … where communism is deficient is that it does not appreciate the value of national sentiment”.

The refusal to accept Indian independence and the virtual endorsement of the Chinese invasion are the two glaring examples where the perverse views of the communists were at variance with the “national sentiment”. It is nothing short of shameful that the Chinese themselves had to give a lesson in respecting such sentiments to a group of grovelling Naxalites when they went to Beijing to pay their respects to their lords and masters. As Sumanta Banerjee noted in his In the Wake of Naxalbari, Zhou Enlai told them that “to regard the leader of one country as the leader of another party is against the sentiment of the nation”. This was in reference to the Naxalite slogan: China’s chairman is our chairman. The reason for this inability to appreciate the national sentiment is the communists’ slavish adherence to the Marxist dogma, which raises proletarian solidarity above the nation, reflected in the phrase: workers of the world, unite!

It doesn’t take much political insight to see that if the communists have failed to make much of an impact at the national level — the combined percentage of votes of the two major parties, the CPM and the CPI, add up to a mere 7.39 — it is because they are forever out of sync with the national mood. If this perverse contrariness made them condemn the jhooti azadi of 1947, it is now making the communists try to reverse the tide of economic reforms. Again, their dogma is their guiding star. Since the reforms give a boost to the private sector, the communists simply cannot bring themselves to support measures which have a capitalist orientation.

But the curious fact is that one of their own comrades - Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya of West Bengal — has learnt from the bitter experience of running a state, which has lost its lead in the industrial field because of irresponsible trade union tactics, that there is no escape from depending on private enterprise for an economic revival. Hence, his preference for FDI (foreign direct investment) as well as investment by domestic entrepreneurs even if this runs counter to what is written in the Marxist tomes. Unfortunately, however, the decision-making process of his party is still in the hands of unelected apparatchiks based in Delhi, who remain as blind to what is happening in India and the world as they were in 1947.

However, adherence to an anti-capitalist dogma would at least have been a respectable explanation for their cussedness. But they are also seemingly motivated by their need to preserve their shrinking base, which has now dwindled virtually only to the trade unions. A competitive environment is unwelcome to the latter for it would make them shed their current comfortable reluctance to work. What the communists do not realise is that by trying to protect the lethargy of the pampered trade unions, they are in danger of losing the support of the middle classes, who could be counted on earlier as a part of their base. 

MIDDLE

The Principal
by V.N. Kakar

I reached Lahore, by bus or train, I do not remember, took a tonga and dashed off to S.N. Das Gupta College. I cannot recall where it was. Perhaps Nisbet Road. There, on the verandah of the college, I met this man, somewhat short-statured, polite, simple dress, simple looks. He greeted me and asked gently whether I would like to have a wash. I very much wanted to have it and so I said to him. He took me to one corner of the verandah where there was a wash-stand, with a washbasin, a mirror, a towel and a jug. The man poured water out of the jug on the palms of my hands and some on my head and then, after I had dried myself with the towel, stood silently watching me taking out my little folding ivory comb from the back pocket of my trousers and combing my hair with it.

I had gone to Lahore from Ferozepur to participate in an inter-college declamation contest. I do not know what the subject was. The year was perhaps 1942. World War II was on. My father, an army officer, was on the war front. I was officiating as the head of the family in his absence. My elder sister, whose husband, too, had gone to the war, was also living with us. So, I was looking after her, too. I was yet to complete my graduation.

S.N. Das Gupta College in Lahore was famous for private coaching and organising debates and declamation contests. From my college, I was the only student. There was another, too, a girl. Her parents got the shivers at the last moment. They did not relish the idea of sending their young daughter with a young boy all alone to Lahore. Our stay was to be taken care of by the college. Boys and girls from outside Lahore were to stay separately. Still, boys will be boys and girls will be girls. At all time. Particularly in Lahore. So her parents thought.

“Would you now like to have a cup of tea?” the polite, simple gentleman put it to me gently. “No,” I said, “I would rather meet the Principal.” He looked at me, a bit squeezed, and then remarked softly, “I am the Principal.” The ground slipped from under my feet.

Long time has gone by. I have churned the dust of almost all parts of our land. And I have met countless men and women, high and mighty, from Jawaharlal Nehru to his two grandsons, Rajiv and Sanjay, along with their mother (that was at the Cross Maidan in Mumbai at an exhibition called Our Heritage). And I have also rubbed shoulders with the lowliest of the low whose plight I have tried to depict in countless articles. In the vaults of my memory many of them keep on lurking.

But the one man who pushes them all aside right now is that gracious Principal of Lahore’s S.N. Das Gupta College. Maybe, this is because these days I see on my TV set rather too much of another good man, Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, helping people, almost silently, wash their faces and comb their hair. 

OPED

BJP: a year of disappointments
It’s no longer a party with a difference
by Satish Misra

One year is hardly of any consequence in the life of a political party, but 2004 would definitely be remembered as a year of catharsis in the 24 years’ existence of the Bharatiya Janata Party. It marked the end of its dream and the beginning of a journey in the unknown.

At the beginning of 2004, the BJP claimed that it would return to power by winning about 300 Lok Sabha seats but when the general election results were announced its wish to have another five-year term to turn an “India Shining” and “India Rising” into an “India” in the ranks of developed countries came crashing down.

Most of the BJP leaders were at a loss to comprehend the reasons for the electorate’s rejection, and they refused to accept the popular verdict. As a result, the top leaders started nursing a dream that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government would sooner than later pave the way for the return of an NDA government obviously headed by Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The BJP continued with its old set of policies as its top leadership was convinced that a new political polarisation would begin after the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh.

The then party chief, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, was himself convinced that the Progressive Democratic Alliance government of the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) would be rejected by the people of Maharashtra, making the way for a Shiv Sena-BJP government.

After capturing the financial capital of the country, the party leadership sincerely hoped that the defeat of the UPA government on the floor of the Lok Sabha would not be an impossible task.

The BJP MPs were told to remain alert and oppose the UPA at every possible juncture which resulted in almost total boycott of Parliament leading to two unproductive sessions of the House.

The party remained united and the Vajpayee-Advani duo was in command of the party affairs. The BJP went with great elan and expectations in the arena of the Assembly polls but its failure to capture power in Maharashtra exposed the party’s claim of being a disciplined force as swords came out in the open.

A realisation that both Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani may not be leading the party at the next general election brought out in the open the suppressed and hidden ambitions of the second-rung leaders like former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharati, former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj, high-profile General Secretaries Pramod Mahajan and Arun Jaitley and others.

Unable to cap the rising ambitions and their public pronouncements, the party president had to resign, giving family reasons. The party unanimously felt that Mr Advani alone could restore the BJP’s health and credibility in the eyes of the public.

Mr Advani, who was till then the de facto chief of the party, became the de jure head of the BJP and decided to send a tough message to party cadres and leaders that indiscipline would not be tolerated in his regime.

But, possibly, the cerebral politician in Mr Advani had failed to take into account the complexity in the personality of Ms Bharati.

Ms Bharati, who was keen to return to Madhya Pradesh to recapture the chief ministerial chair, was a restless soul. She was sure that leaders of her age group and ranking were out to pull her down.

Mr Advani, possibly, got the shock of his life when Ms Bharati defied him at the party forum and challenged him to initiate action against her. Unfortunately, her defiance was telecast live and so it was well neigh impossible for the party media managers to give another twist to the sordid episode.

The party ostensibly expelled her but no letter of either expulsion or a meeting of the disciplinary committee was given.

Against the specific advice of his party colleagues, Mr Advani wanted to revoke Ms Bharati’s suspension. She would be a great asset in the party’s electoral campaign in Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana, Mr Advani felt.

Towards the end of 2004, her 43 days’ suspension was revoked by Mr Advani, giving a handle to his critics that certain individuals were indeed above the party.

Fire-fighting and ad hocism substituted discipline and character in the BJP, exposing its claim of a “party with a difference”.

The year ended with the fear of failure in the three crucial Assembly elections in Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana. The spectre of an uncertain future of the party is haunting not only the cadres but also the leaders in the coming weeks of the next year.

Delhi Durbar
Anti-Sonia front active

Janata Party President Dr Subramaniam Swamy predicts the downfall of the United Progressive Alliance government in March next year. And for that, Save National Pride Front (Rashtriya Swabhiman Bachao Manch), formed a few weeks back, held its first meeting in the Constitution Club. In the words of Dr Swamy, the front promises to save the pride of India by replacing the UPA government by a combine which will have neither Congress President Sonia Gandhi nor former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, claims Dr Swamy.

The front has the blessings of the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) which seems to have abandoned Mr Vajpayee for now. That is why, both former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti and former BJP General Secretary K.N. Govindaacharya are with the front.

Dr Swamy told a group of newspersons in the corridors of Parliament and took a hearty laugh. Sonia Gandhi is the cementing factor of this front as all those who have nursed animosity towards the Nehru-Gandhi family are part of the front.

RJD prepares for action

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s plans to balance the next Union Budget by cutting subsidies on fertilisers and cooking gas are likely to encounter obstacles not from the Opposition but from the ranks of the UPA itself. Powerful farmers lobby, captained by an RJD MP is active in collecting facts to counter the Finance Minister’s arguments on the issue of subsidies.

Chidambaram is not taking any action against the huge debt of industrialists and affluent classes who get loans at cheaper rates but he wants to end subsidies on fertilisers which helps the farmers. Farmers get loans at higher rates but interest rates on their savings have been going down. The non-performing assets (NPAs) of the banks have been growing but the Finance Minister is reluctant to take action against banks as they have the support of the powerful industry lobby. With these and under arguments, the RJD would defend the farmers’ interests.

An un-Hindu Act?

Saffron sanyasin Uma Bharti’s act of repentance in Ayodhya for not participating in earlier “karseva” for the construction of a Ram temple, while she was a Union Minister in the Vajpayee government, has raised many an eyebrow in not only the BJP but even in traditional Hindu circles. She is using a ritual unknown in Hindu traditions, a VHP leader commented. “But then she has always been mixing up in her perpetual state of confusion”, he observed.

Apprehensive dotcoms

Following the MMS controversy involving students of a Delhi school the management of Baazee.com has become overconscious to protect its website being used for sale of such vulgar and obscene stuff.

According to sources, the portal has ordered improvement of its “suspect word list” to track down this kind of stuff. As part of this exercise the portal has put the name of the school and “Miss Jammu” among its suspect list. But the manner in which reports are emanating from across the country about people, especially teenagers indulging in viewing and dissemination of such mails, Baazee’s suspect list could turn out to be a self-defeating exercise.

Contributed by Satish Misra, Girja Shankar Kaura, S. Satyanarayanan, R Suryamurthy and Gaurav Choudhury

REFLECTIONS

— The Buddhism