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This is disgraceful! Equal opportunity |
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Competition Commission
Gas from Myanmar
The mayor’s copy
‘Change must touch common Indian’ Delhi Durbar
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This is disgraceful! UNIFORMED men have a long history of saving the honour of their country and the lives of their countrymen. The Army and BSF jawans who pushed four men and one woman to death from a train at the Shikohabad railway station on Sunday were quite the anti-thesis of this glorious tradition. They disgraced the disciplined force to which they belonged. They not only took away the lives of helpless people but also struck a blow to the prestige of the Army. They need to be punished without any mercy. That is the least that can be done to salvage the prestige of the force somewhat. Any attempt to save their neck will give the impression that their seniors or colleagues are condoning their indefensible act. Even if the compartment of the Farakka-Bhiwani Express from which these beasts in uniform pushed out the civilian passengers was reserved for the Army they had no business to manhandle anyone so mercilessly. The loss of life may be a freak accident because the Sampoorna Kranti Express happened to reach the adjoining track exactly when these men and woman were pushed out onto it. But it is a fact that in a group some Army soldiers behave in the most irresponsible manner. If one soldier picks up a fight, all his colleagues jump to his aid even if he himself was in the wrong. This boorish conduct is sometimes noticed when armymen driving a vehicle are involved in a road accident. It is necessary to drum into their head that certain immunities that are granted to defence personnel are not a licence for
misbehaviour. Armymen are as much liable for action as their civilian counterparts. Rather, they should lead by personal example of courtesy and decency. The common man respects the Army. Let this admiration not get diluted because of the misdeeds of a wayward few, as it has happened in the case of the police. May be, the Army authorities have to have coaching classes for the jawans in transit as to how they should conduct themselves when some civilians choose to board the compartment reserved for the men in uniform. |
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Equal opportunity TRUST Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to undo a wrong in his typically modest way. In ordering three per cent of civil service jobs to be “reserved” for people with physical disability, Mr Singh has corrected a grave injustice without being overly preoccupied with a bureaucracy that had perpetuated this wilful negligence for nearly 10 years. Regardless of the Prime Minister’s reticence on this aspect, his order to open up the civil services for the physically challenged is a damning indictment of the institutionalised discrimination that has obtained till now. Had the principle of equal opportunity prevailed there would have been no need for Mr M. Satish, a Scheduled Caste candidate who had qualified and, therefore, by rights deserved to be appointed to the Indian Revenue Service, being deprived of his legitimate due. It is unfortunate that it required the Prime Minister’s intervention in what should have been done as a matter of course on the basis of The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. The discrimination raises a number of issues related to the principles of both equality before the law and equality of opportunity. Those affected by disabilities such as low vision or blindness, hearing impairment and cerebral palsy need to put in extraordinary effort to compete and succeed in the civil services examination. After overcoming these odds, the disabled are then denied their due — not because they did not qualify, but because of their disability. In a humane society, the bar should be lowered, not raised for the physically challenged. Here, on the contrary, they are discriminated against despite having qualified. The discrimination is compounded further, when the services to which the disabled may be appointed are identified in an arbitrary manner — without reference to whether a particular person’s disability would hinder his performance of the job. There are several instances of such exclusion that need to be remedied. For that, the mindset, which sees equal rights of the disabled as a “quota” or “reservation” — when it is merely conformity to existing legislation — needs to change radically. |
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Competition Commission THE Supreme Court has rightly given an opportunity to the Union Government to carry out amendments to the Competition Commission Act (CCA). Ever since some objections were raised on the constitutional validity of these amendments, the fate of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been hanging in the balance. The CCI’s aims and objectives are indeed laudable — to prevent anti-competitive practices in the market and accelerate growth and development. But the problem has been the Centre’s mindset on the issue of its composition and structural framework. For instance, the court had expressed serious reservations over the CCI being headed by a bureaucrat and took exception to the fact that the High Courts were made the executing forum for the decrees given by such a commission. At an earlier hearing, the then Chief Justice V.N. Khare had passed severe strictures on the government, maintaining that it was an attempt by the Centre to bypass the judiciary and that given an opportunity, it would altogether do away with the courts. The apex court has now endorsed the Centre’s proposals that the CCI Chairperson would be an expert, and not a judge, and that only the chief of an Appellate Tribunal would be a judicial person. According to the fresh proposals, the CCI will consist of six members and a Chairperson. Significantly, a three-member Appellate Tribunal would also be set up to hear appeals against the CCI’s orders. It would be headed by a sitting or retired Supreme Court Judge or a High Court Chief Justice. Two other members would be experts in competition and related matters. Both the National Democratic Alliance government and the present United Progressive Alliance government were in favour of a bureaucrat heading the CCI. But the judiciary was not prepared to accept this on the ground that it would lead to the High Courts’ subordination to the executive. The Supreme Court has now endorsed the proposal for an Appellate Tribunal. However, the three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti has kept the issue wide open because it has ruled that it could consider the questions raised in the petitions after the Centre carried out the amendments. Clearly, this puts enormous responsibility on the Centre to prove its intentions. |
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By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity. Another man’s, I mean. — Mark Twain
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Gas from Myanmar THE most important of many reasons for welcoming the Myanmar-Bangladesh-India agreement is the impact on relations between two distant neighbours. India and Bangladesh will survive without Myanmar gas but they will not survive comfortably if, in the absence of trust, coldness drifts towards enmity. Perhaps enmity is too strong a word. Yet, beneath the surface calm of diplomatic propriety and Bengali kinship stir passions that have prevented the promise of 1971 being realised. Dhaka’s connection is with Delhi but it can never bypass Kolkata. That is both advantage and drawback for every word that is said here, whether in jest or anger, echoes resoundingly in Dhaka. West Bengal can be a powerful positive force in bilateral ties but it can also present an insuperable obstacle to closer cooperation. Such sensitivity is inimical to rational partnership. But Bengalis are seldom rational. It is in the nature of subcontinental dynamics that an element of strain, suspicion and even friction will always tinge India-Bangladesh relations with uncertainty. Neither can ever be able to take the other for granted. That makes the task of consolidating ties all the more challenging, and the search for factors that bind even more compelling. Singapore’s dependence on Malaysia is a case in point. The water that unites is sometimes itself the subject of acrimony. But even amidst heated argument, with Singaporeans seeing Mr Mahathir Mohamad’s proposal for a new bridge to link the two countries as only a ruse to demolish the present causeway along which the water pipes run, neither side can ever really forget that the two countries stand or fall together. Prosperity shapes politics; economic self-interest can be a solvent for the accumulated burdens of history. That is why Tata’s commitment to invest $2 billion in Bangladeshi steel, power and fertiliser plants serves a larger purpose. So will the conduit for Myanmar gas across Bangladesh territory. When Titash gas was being discussed during Hussain Muhammad Ershad’s regime, a bright young spark of Dhaka society suggested that the President should have no qualms about selling to India. “Then, we can switch it off the moment the Indians get difficult!” That kind of understandable strategy explained Mr Inder Kumar Gujral’s advice to Sheikh Hasina Wazed, when they were both Prime Ministers, not to sell direct to India but via an American consortium. Since then, Titash, indeed Bangladesh, oil and gas have turned out to be greatly exaggerated. Apparently, Khalida Zia’s reluctance to sell really is because of rising domestic demand and not a sop to her Islamist partners. Politically speaking, Myanmar gas is a better substitute. It is less likely to rouse ultra-nationalist sentiments in Bangladesh. Indians view it as only another resource. It holds no bittersweet associations of language or liberation. It is neutral. But the provision for intervention could make it an active instrument of diplomacy. If India can inject Tripura gas into the pipeline, Bangladesh might consider doing the same with surplus gas from Sylhet. Gas, like water, need not be a dead asset. Again, a Southeast Asian parallel suggests itself. Singapore does not only buy water from Malaysia. It also purifies it at plants in Malaysia and sells the purified water back to Malaysia at a discounted price. This mutually beneficial interaction at several levels can be repeated with gas too. There is an acute need for such interlocking now that allegations and accusations are whispered in this country and picked up and magnified in Bangladesh. One relates to fears of Bangladeshi illegals swarming all over eastern India, if not the entire country. Since these immigrants are Muslim, concern acquires a sharp communal edge. Bangladesh becomes a factor in Indian politics as India, perceived as patronising the Awami League, has always been in Bangladeshi politics. It follows that a Bangladesh Nationalist Party government starts off with a disadvantage where Delhi is concerned. Deeply conscious of this, Ziaur Rahman demanded an assurance before his first state visit to India that he would be accorded exactly the same honours that had been extended to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It would not be surprising if his widow feels similarly inhibited. With coalition partners like the Jamaat-e-Islami and Islamic Oikya Jote, she must be under pressure to adopt policies that compound India’s existing suspicions. Bangladeshis must have similar stereotypical views of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. They were not surprised when Lal Krishna Advani criticised illegal immigration; what cut them to the quick was that Buddhadeb Bhattacharya did so too. Subversion is another contentious point. Indian charges of training camps run by Pakistani intelligence and of northeastern rebels lurking in Bangladesh may be exaggerated; but like migration, cannot be dismissed altogether. The sombre background goes back to East Pakistan when Naga underground officers sought guarantees before surrendering that they would not ever have to fight Pakistan which had helped them with money, arms, training and transit facilities. But there is absolutely no reason to imagine that the Bangladesh government is privy to any conspiracy to destabilise east and northeast India. Maybe, these are problems of perception like Bangladeshi misgivings about India’s hidden hand. For instance, some Bangladeshis chose to regard as deliberately provocative an Indian troupe’s innocent choice of songs — Gram chara oi Rangamatir pathey and Jodi tomar dak shuney keyo na ashey — at a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation event. Nor do Bangladeshis accept that only dedication to an excruciatingly slow legalism explains the 18-year delay in transferring the Tin Bigha corridor and continuing stalemate over Berubari. Misunderstandings will always occur. A 4,096-km artificial border, parts along rivers or through jungle, is a standing invitation not only to clandestine crossing but also to border conflict. Diplomacy should aim to minimise the damage and devise forums in which the two countries can pool their skills and energies so that bickering ceases to be rewarding. That is why BIMSTEC — the Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation group — must be developed. If it took off, it could give a real impetus to the politically more volatile SAARC. Dhaka seems more interested in BIMSTEC than Delhi, partly because smaller countries look to such groupings for succour (Zia did not make himself popular by being the first to propose an association on the lines of SAARC) and partly because India is more confident in dealing bilaterally with neighbours. That is especially true of water disputes with inconsistencies in India’s upper and lower riparian claims. An eastern grid, including India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, might have solved many problems of flooding, drought, erosion, irrigation and power generation. An early Bangladeshi study identified 12 sites in Nepal for augmenting the flow but nothing came of it though the ideas were picked up and three or four of the sites developed later under different auspices. Early resolution of the Teesta question so that the twin canals in West Bengal leave enough water for Bangladesh’s 1,000-crore-taka Teesta barrage to feed the aman crop will set a precedent for sharing the waters of some 50 other rivers. The Myanmar pipeline’s fate depends to some extent on India conceding Bangladesh’s expectation of electricity from Nepal and Bhutan. That raises the question of exploiting water resources in the two Himalayan kingdoms. This has been a thorny question in the past. Even the trade corridor with Nepal was abandoned after the initial and reportedly difficult odyssey of 22 trucks. But Bhutanese apples seem to be flowing smoothly to Bangladesh across Indian territory from Phuntsoling to Phulbari, suggesting that harmonious trilateral cooperation is not impossible. That should be the pattern of the future. The answer for those who grumble about giving in is that a truculent Bangladesh can do great damage to India poised for economic takeoff. On the whole, Bangladeshis are well disposed to this country. But there is also a substantial minority that does not wish India well. Any graceless act that feeds this lobby’s spite would boomerang against
India. |
The mayor’s copy
SHE wrote a letter to Tony Blair of which she sent a copy to her town’s Mayor. Having gone through the strange and incoherent contents, the Mayor got suspicious and ordered a secret enquiry into the woman’s affairs. She perhaps needed help, he thought. Susan was 60-year-old and a widow. Her marriage did not last for more than six months but the couple did not divorce each other legally. The husband died and left her enough money. But money too could not buy her happiness and she became a lone ranger with only a dog as her pet to stay by her side. The enquiry ordered by the Mayor had to be carried out without offending her. Information collected revealed the woman’s indulgence in strange activities like blocking the neighbours’ car silencers with potatoes and watching their disgust on the sly. Fully prepared, a team of social security, cops, a psychiatrist and a social worker, knocked her door. Apprehending an unwelcome and forced ingress attempt by so many “strangers” around, Susan took their photos and told them to leave, without opening the door. Off they all went but to come another time with little more precautions. A dog-handler joined the party. Even then Susan did not open the door. A glasscutter was sent for and a windowpane was removed. The dog-handler took care of the dog while the team finding a forced inlet, took hold of and interviewed Susan. Not convinced that she needed psychiatric help she resisted being taken to the hospital and threatened to sue the team. The tribunal heard her case and adjourned it since the woman wanted to engage a lawyer of her choice who again was to be provided by the State. The tribunal asked the respondents what harm could come to her own self and also to anyone else if she wasn’t admitted to the hospital? They pleaded that since she had been indulging in activities to the annoyance of her neighbours, deterioration in her condition could jeopardise the community’s interests. An order to send her to the hospital for treatment was accordingly made. In less than a couple of months of her treatment Susan realised she did need psychiatric assistance and recovered in about six months time but still being on medication. Once again the Mayor of the town received a letter from her. But this time she profusely thanked all those who cared to get her the much-desired peace of mind at that age. Do we take care of our aged even by standards of a fraction of the quoted ratio? Or does any of the political parties even promise such heed while leafing out their manifestoes amid
fanfare?
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‘Change must touch common Indian’
One of India’s best known diplomats to America and China, where he was a witness to significant events that marked the eras of Ronald Regan and Mao, Narayanan in his twilight days sits back and reminisces about the changes taking place and their impact on world history. At 84, Narayanan is contentedly retired from a vigorous public duty that spanned over five decades. He was thrice a member of the Lok Sabha, Vice President and finally President of India. His humility charms and makes the visitor completely at ease. For his age and pains in the joints, he is incredibly active with an alert mind and even goes to address public gatherings. But his passion for reading is legendary. He devotes his time to reading and writing. His daily schedule includes walks and meditation and meeting friends and visitors. “The company of books is very rewarding and refreshing. One is always young and grappling with ideas and reflection on events helps build understanding,” he says glancing at book cases in his modest dwelling on Prithivi Raj Road. He was reading Janardhan Thakur’s book on Indian Prime Ministers. Recently he got a fresh stock of books from his daughter. Mr Narayanan’s interests take a breath-taking range. He reads books on literature, politics, foreign policy and economics. You could find him reading books like Joseph Stiglitz’s Globalisation and its Discontent or a book on Dag Hammarskjold’s “Markings: The Enduring Spiritual Classic” translated from Swedish by LeifSjoberg and W.H. Auden. What interests him deeply is literature, particularly poetry, both in his mother tongue, Malayalam, and English. His favourites remain Shelly, Keats and Wordsworth. Mr Narayanan, ever since his college days, has been compiling and indexing articles and news items on a vast variety of subjects from newspapers and magazines. In fact, Mr Narayanan’s short stint with journalism inspired him to do proper research for his lectures and articles. He interviewed Mahatma Gandhi on April 10, 1945 when he was working with The Times of India and he cherishes this fond memory to this day. “His clipping library is a veritable storehouse of information. He has hundreds of folders, meticulously maintained with the help of his dedicated staff on subjects ranging from health to foreign policy, Indian systems of medicine, media, economic policies, politics, history and countries of South Asia, Russia, China and the USA, besides many European countries”, recalls Mr SN. Sahu, former Press Secretary to the President. He has preserved the class notes which he took as a student of the London School of Economics and uses them to refer to the ideas of Harold Laski and other world-renowned teachers who taught him in the late 1940s. Interestingly, these clippings are not from the Indian Press alone, but American, British, Chinese and Russian newspapers too and collected over more than 50 years. Any researcher can benefit from such a huge collection. Interestingly, this month Mr Narayanan’s daughter, Chitra Narayanan, a diplomat and former founder editor and publisher of The Book Review, will take over as Ambassador to Turkey, a position which he himself had occupied years back in 1973-74. Interestingly Mr Narayanan’s first task as the Ambassador of India to Turkey was to sensitise the Government of Turkey to lift the ban on the Gita. The Turkish Government had imposed the ban when they found the Gita in possession of some Communist leaders. They thought that the Gita was a revolutionary document inciting communists. To the question whether his countrymen should expect a book about his memoirs and experiences as a diplomat and a politician, he admits he has not been able to do that though he wished he could. Perhaps it is his minor ailments and those of his wife Usha, a woman of great substance and learning who has translated several books from Burmese into English, that keeps him occupied. During an informal meeting, Mr Narayanan had much to say on several issues. How quietly he was able to put off awarding Bharat Ratna to controversial Hindu leader Vir Savarkar. He just sat on the proposal sent by the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, till finally Mr Vajpayee himself told him that he was not pressing for it. The former President is least impressed by leading newspapers trivialising news and pushing a lot many semi-nude pictures. “One does not mind a picture showing beautiful flowers, children or charming women. But it should not disparage serious journalism. In a democracy, journalism has to be free, feisty and combative and not trifling. This trend, all in the name of catering to the taste of readers and increasing circulation, is misleading and against the mission of journalism”. Commenting on the present regime, the former President is happy that “the communal line-up has been pushed back and finds Prime Minister Manmohan Singh doing very well. “He is an honest person, highly experienced and humble and the country would certainly benefit from this government. But till the common Indian experiences a change in his relationship with the authorities and the development and welfare plans reach him, one could not, in fact, say that there is a change. An efficient and corruption free regime could answer that problem effectively.” Asked to define his essential concerns, Mr Narayanan wants the public discourse not to be only intense and healthy, but also directed towards the people’s welfare. “We should adhere to the Constitution and the rule of law and provide a real equality and opportunity. This is essential for an egalitarian society in the 21st century where India is bound to play great innings.” |
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Delhi Durbar TOURISM Minister Renuka Chaudhary has come out in favour of some of the scenes in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s “Swades”, while unveiling the Tourism Ministry’s ambitious programme “Atithi Devo Bhava” at a city hotel here last week. She related one of the scenes from the Swades movie where Shahrukh Khan goes to collect the rent of the land from a farmer. She pointed out that although the farmer had no money, but he shared his “poor man’s” meal with Shahrukh Khan. That scene, she said, reflected the Indian sense of hospitality where the guest is a god. On the right
side of Left The value added tax (VAT) is viewed by many as a radical initiative. Finance Minister P Chidambaram, for obvious reasons, is not complaining. Recently, Mr Chidambaram said that appointing Asim Dasgupta, Finance Minister of West Bengal, as Chairman of the Empowered Committee for the VAT was a “masterstroke”. “It is sometimes necessary to be on the right side of the Left”, he quipped. Although he did not acknowledge that the masterstroke was actually played by the UPA government’s bete noire — the BJP. A 13-gun salute? While India has made an attempt to downplay the firing from across the border by Pakistan in the Poonch region, in violation of the ceasefire which has been in effect over the months, the Army has looked at it in a lighter vein. A senior Army officer pointed out that the firing from across the LoC was actually as a mark of respect to the new Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen B.S. Thakur. While he took over on January 19 the firing of mortars in Poonch took place on the evening of January 18. While pointing out that it was a 13-gun salute for the Indian Vice Chief of Army Staff, the officer said that we would also wait for the day when the designated Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen J.J. Singh, takes over in the South Block. Will it be a 21-gun salute then? Disciplining Pappu If the arguments forwarded by Pappu Yadav’s lawyer in a case for his transfer from Patna’s Beur jail to some other state are taken note of, the RJD MP has put the entire burden of disciplining him on the Bihar government. “It is the responsibility of the state to enforce the rules inside the jail, if it fails, then the government there has no right to remain in power,” was the argument of his lawyer R K Jain, who wanted the apex court to make observations on the working of the Bihar Government if it was not satisfied with it. But a Bench of Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice S B Sinha brushed aside his plea for any observation, saying: “why should we comment on the state government, don’t try to put words in our mouth.”
**** Contributed by Girja Shankar Kaura, Gaurav Choudhary and S.S. Negi |
As you do to others, so will others do to you. Thus if you think well for others; they too will think well for you. Everything in life has a reciprocal relationship. If one returns bad for the good that we do to him, rest assured that he will suffer the results of his action. — The Bhagavadgita It is the voice of arrogance that decries the achievement of a lesser born. By claiming lineage, an attempt is made to enhance the value of one’s own achievement. Were a jackal to make a sacrifice and a tiger to do the same, what difference would it make to value of the sacrifice? — The Mahabharata To answer brutality with brutality is to admit one’s moral and intellectual bankruptcy. — Mahatma Gandhi  |
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AS ideas crowd his mind and momentous events about the journey of the Indian Republic fill his imagination, words, soft and chiselled, come in a slow measure. Former President K.R. Narayanan, a diplomat, a trained yogi and a man of great learning, had a full measure of life.