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Elusive justice Welcome release Search for substitutes |
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India-Pak cold war continues
Exemplary loyalty
A new beginning in Manipur ‘Red-light’ street
named after Gandhi Rice to juggle many diplomatic balls in
Asia
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Elusive justice GIVEN the sensitive nature of the Nanavati Commission report, the government would have done well to make it public. This is particularly because there are reports that the Commission had found some prominent Congress leaders guilty of inciting violence against the Sikhs in the 1984 riots in Delhi. Any delay in tabling the report in Parliament will be construed, rightly or wrongly, as an attempt to shield the guilty. Far from assuaging the hurt feelings of a section of the people, the legalistic stand taken by Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee that rules mandated the government to submit the report to Parliament along with an "action taken report" has only rubbed salt into their wounds. The heavens would not have fallen if the report was tabled in Parliament as soon as it was received. The government could have in the meantime continued taking action on its recommendations. That is precisely what was done in the case of the U.C. Banerjee report on the Godhra train massacre, which was published the moment it was received. There can be no disputing that a section of the people are upset that even 20 years after the horrendous incidents that lasted for nearly three days after Mrs Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, justice has not been done. The worst of the killings could have been averted if the government moved the troops from Meerut to Delhi 24 hours earlier than it did. In their perception, the delay was deliberate. They were particularly aghast when the Ranganath Mishra Commission which inquired into the riots ruled that there was no ground to maintain that the violence was organised. But an additional sessions judge of Delhi sentenced 89 persons arraigned before him in September 1996 and remarked that the massacre was the result of a conspiracy, planned by those in power. Notwithstanding his sweeping obiter dicta, not one of them was found guilty of the charges against him. It was under these circumstances that the NDA government appointed the Nanavati Commission to look into the riots afresh. All this underlines the fact that the government has no justification in withholding the report from public scrutiny. |
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Welcome release NO President, certainly not Gen Pervez Musharraf, releases hundreds of prisoners of a neighbouring country on the spur of the moment or on the prodding of a visiting Chief Minister. Apparently, a lot of planning has gone into the “impromptu” decision to let go prisoners from Punjab and other parts of India. Apparently, the good General was keen to reach out to Punjabis, Sikhs in particular. That is also obvious from the way Captain Amarinder Singh was allowed to address a public meting, a first. Whatever the motivation, the news will rightly earn the Punjab Chief Minister a lot of goodwill. Most of the civilian prisoners languishing there had been either duped by travel agents or had strayed into Pakistan. Had the relations been normal, they would have been released long ago. But given the tension, they became bargaining chips in a no-holds-barred game. One hopes this “magnanimous gesture” will not be a one-off event but will become a permanent feature of better understanding between India and Pakistan. Capt Amarinder Singh headed a trade delegation to the neighbouring country. The release of prisoners made an auspicious beginning. Constructive business ties can be sewn up against its backdrop if the two governments show sincerity of purpose. That will be a win-win situation because both need each other's markets. It just does not make sense to trade via third countries when this can be done virtually across their backyard. As has been repeatedly pointed out, trade can be the best confidence-building measure as well. Now that a start has been made through the unconditional release of civilian prisoners, the Pakistan President should also spare a thought for the army personnel who are very much there in Pakistani jails, stout denials notwithstanding. They have gone through hell and have already sacrificed their youth. President Musharraf can bring some sunshine into their twilight years. Being a soldier himself, can he spare a thought for their families whose existence has been hanging on a fragile thread of hope all these decades? |
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Search for substitutes THE rapid rise in the global prices of oil, which touched a record $57 a barrel on Thursday, has led the International Energy Agency to ask the developed world to cut demand, improve energy efficiency and promote alternatives to oil. The IEA advice comes after it realised the oil price hike was not manipulated by speculators, but was a consequence of the demand for oil outstripping the addition of refining capacity. The increase in demand is mostly from the US and China, the world’s largest consumers. The price surge is despite the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreeing to a 2 per cent immediate increase in its output at its meeting in Iran on March 16. This should propel a rethink on the huge waste and inefficient use of oil and other sources of energy. India wastes electricity and petroleum energy worth Rs 1 lakh crore annually, according to the government’s own admission. The country uses about 2.5 times of the world average energy consumption to produce the same quantity of goods. Experts attribute the rise in oil demand to consumption in transportation, where alternatives to oil or gas are limited. Indian oil companies have not yet implemented the Centre’s order to blend 5 per cent ethanol in petrol in nine states and three Union Territories. Even the use of agricultural residues like paddy straw for power production is limited. While thermal power is expensive, nuclear energy has not been tapped to the desired level. It contributes less than 4 per cent of the energy needs. There are reports that eight more nuclear power plants will be commissioned shortly. Significantly, US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, during her recent visit to New Delhi, offered US cooperation in nuclear energy. Much, of course, remains to be done. Security and leakage concerns are limiting the spread of nuclear power plants. Punjab lost one such project due to its proximity to the border, though these days no place is beyond the reach of deadly technology. |
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The race goes not only to the swift nor the contest to the strong, but that's the way to bet your money. — Unknown |
India-Pak cold war continues
That the cold war between Pakistan and India continues to be alive and kicking is unfortunate. The latest example of it are three developments in Pakistan: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has while reviewing a naval parade in Karachi said that Pakistan would not let any power, meaning India, to dominate the Indian Ocean; he emphasised the role of the tiny Pakistan Navy that would perhaps do good to its morale. But it would be read differently in India. The second development was the quick growth of disputes with India over water. Pakistan has threatened to take the Kishanganga dispute to the World Bank if India does not cooperatively resolve it. The third is the Pakistani drive for influence and forging economic ties with Central Asian Republics; President Pervez Musharraf has just completed a tour of several Asian republics, signing agreements and protocols for increased contacts and more trade. The current Indian policy is in sharp contrast. In a recent meeting with the Foreign Minister and the Foreign Secretary in Delhi, I came away with the impression that they controvert Pakistan’s well-articulated apprehensions that the bilateral dialogue is going nowhere. They were at pains to assert that India is far from running away from Kashmir or any other disputes; it is intent on resolving all disputes peacefully. And India is out to befriend all neighbours, particularly Pakistan. But all this required some reciprocation of goodwill and not working against Indian interests in the international arena. They invited neighbours to treat India’s economic progress as an opportunity to share it through cooperation. At this stage it must be noted that the cold war can get out of the hand and the two may revert to square one. Disputes over water should be taken far more seriously than it has been. South Asia is overpopulated. Water is going to be increasingly scarce. All downstream countries or areas always complain about the behaviour of upstream power or groups. This trouble is taking place both inside states as well as among the states. India has a taste of it in both contexts: it had had a long dispute over Ganga water with Bangladesh until a satisfactory agreement could be negotiated by IK Gujral, with the help of Jyoti Basu. Some such thing is needed for Indus waters. Pakistan too faces the problem internally as well as internationally: Sindh, Balochistan and Frontier are dead set against another dam in Punjab, the Kalabagh Dam. The Central and Punjab administrations are determined to build the Kalabagh Dam regarding it as vital for country’s future requirements of power. But the Sindhis proclaim that the intent is to withdraw more water from the Indus leaving Sindh relatively dry. The whole matter should be thoroughly investigated on scientific lines. It would be best if the parties concerned were to approach UNESCO and the World Bank to institute a commission of eminent scientists of all relevant disciplines ranging from ecology, hydrology, soils, hydel power production and so forth. They should draw up a comprehensive and optimal water utilisation plan for each major Valley in South Asia in which both states should cooperate, ensuring water’s equitable distribution and maximum agricultural production, power generation and protection of environment. This should be an advisory commission. But the regional powers should come together in a spirit of enlightened cooperation; voluntarily agreeing to a regionwide river training programme involving optimal use of existing waters without abridging the historical users’ rights - unless alternative technology is available. But the idea is a long shot and there are few buyers of it. What is relevant is Pakistan’s orientation. Guided by usual security experts, with the help of vested interests, the Authority wants to keep distrust of India alive. The Indian Ocean is today dominated by the major ally of India and Pakistan. Both are not worried about American domination of the Ocean, though the US role in Asian waters is far from confidence inspiring. The problem is not Pakistan’s alone; in India too the hardline security experts operate more insidiously but quite intrusively in keeping distrust of Pakistan alive. That keeps their cold war going. It seems no lessons have been learnt from the painful experiences of 2002. A lesson one wishes to underline is that, arguing from facts alone, India with all its advantages did not in the end invade Pakistan, although its threat to do so was credible for Pakistanis and foreigners alike. The mobilisation was convincing enough. The intent could only be to do the job. In the end, Pakistan gave what was demanded: a promise not to permit infiltration of militants or jihadis into Indian-controlled Kashmir. It has lived up to that promise. That should open vast opportunities for reversing the cold war. Instead of paying the cost of a cold war, entailing non-stop and escalating arms race in various fields — conventional armaments, atomic weapons and missiles — a partnership between the arch rivals based on grassroots reconciliation will be far more satisfying and profitable. If gains by the vested interests can be sacrificed, far greater benefits to the peoples of both countries will accrue. Arms races suck resources from social sectors and devote them to acquiring instruments of death and destruction. That alone will enrich economic, social and cultural lives. Do peoples of India and Pakistan want an improvement in their lives? Or do they prefer allround losses? All these two states are required to do for a people-to-people rapprochement is to shift their first priorities from acquiring the means of death and destruction to become rich. Today in South Asia the number of people outside the mainstream might add up to 750 million. But out of the remainder a good half has also to struggle to make ends meet. It is only the top 25 per cent in each South Asian country that are doing well; the rest are in varying degree of hardship and penury. The Gordian knot can be broken by a policy of partnership between India and Pakistan, to begin with, and friendly cooperation of the peoples of South
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Exemplary loyalty
In 1974, I was Brigade Major (BM) of an Artillery Brigade at Kaluchak near Jammu. My Brigade Commander was a tough taskmaster. To “test” our operational efficiency and effectiveness he ordered “mobilisation” of my General Staff (GS) Branch. It was a three-day exercise in which all aspects, including our operational tasks, were to be rehearsed. Accordingly we deployed ourselves in the given area which was not far from our permanent location. Since ‘A’ & ‘O’ Branches were not “mobilised” they continued to function from the permanent location as also the Commander’s Main Office. On the second day of the “exercise” I saw an ungainly looking, shabbily dressed soldier outside the office tent of the Commander as his “Stick orderly”. I recognised him straight away. He was Gunner Mohinder Singh. A Stick Orderly is the one who conveys Commander’s or Commanding Officer’s messages to the concerned ones, removes the files, performs all sorts of sundry duties, including ordering tea etc as and when required. He follows the boss on latter’s “rounds”. He is supposed to be always the smartest one with best turnout and is selected with great care. Gunner Mohinder Singh was none of that. I was furious as to who put him on the “Stick Orderly’s duty”. After the commander left for permanent location, I asked Mohinder Singh: “Who detailed you as Stick Orderly”? He said no one had detailed him. I again asked him then why was he standing outside the Commander’s office doing ‘Stick Orderly’s duty? He said, “Saab, the Commander Saab was banging at the callbell furiously (Government issued callbells — issued through the Stationery Depot — needed severe banging before they produced any sound) and there was none to respond and I was just passing by, so I just went in, saluted and he asked me to remove the files and I did so and took them to the Head Clerk. Thereafter I stood there, should I be needed again”. “But why did you do so when you were not so detailed? Have you looked at your turnout,” I asked him getting angrier. He replied: “There was no Stick Orderly and the Commander was sounding the bell, if I had not acted he would have got furious and would have taken you to task and you in turn would have done so to the Senior JCO and he would have done so to the Havildar Major and others. So to save you from Commander’s wrath and to control the situation I thought I should do something and hence I acted as the ‘Stick Orderly”, though I knew I was not well dressed for the same”. “If the Commander had got angry don’t you think ‘our’ exercise would have been spoiled?” he asked a counter question. I had punished Gunner Mohinder Singh with 14 days’ Rigorous Imprisonment (RI), just about a month back, for a minor financial irregularity committed by him, (which in civil no one would have bothered to even notice). When I asked him that was he not resentful about the punishment I had awarded, he replied that I had just done my duty and that he had taken it (punishment) sportingly since he had committed the mistake (financial irregularity) and paid for it. I felt so humbled. I had learnt a lesson in “loyalty” if there was a need to do
so.
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A new beginning in Manipur
Q: You took over as the Governor of Manipur at a time when the situation in the state was volatile. How has been the experience so far? To be honest, I find Manipur quite absorbing. I took over at a time when the circumstances were extremely difficult. In fact, it would not be wrong if I said that the situation was so volatile that 2004 can be termed as the most tumultuous year during the last decade. When I took over, there was day and night curfew and it continued for about three weeks after I took over. My basic objective and that of the administration was to ensure that there was no further incident which would give a further fillip to violence. The last serious law and order incident in the entire state was on August 16 last year when a student committed self-immolation. Apart from this, one can say that the situation has been relatively peaceful, although there have been peaceful protests and demonstrations in the form of road blockades and sit-ins. Q: The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) of 1958 gives tremendous powers to the Army and the paramilitary forces in their hunt for extremists. There have been numerous complaints over the years that these powers have been used arbitrarily and often without justification. What are your comments? I would say that the security forces also have a difficult role to play. There have been reportedly 46 cases of alleged rape and loss of human life. It is felt that there is a need for a more humane enactment which also addresses the security concerns. Q: There is also a view that New Delhi wakes up only when protests over popular demands reach a pitch. This attitude has spread alienation in the North-East which, in turn, is breeding all forms of violence. In the case of the AFSPA, the Union Government had decided to reconsider the legislation only after the alleged custodial rape and murder of a woman ? The state of Manipur, which has been declared as a "disturbed area" since 1980, has gone through various phases. The unfortunate incident could have been handled in a different way. Insurgency in Manipur, and in the rest of the North-East is deep rooted. It is a very complex situation and, therefore, there cannot be a rectilinear approach. The government has now formed a committee to review the AFSPA. The committee has done a fair amount of study and background work in terms of gathering information and inputs from Manipur, and also from other states of the North-East. It will submit its report in six months and we have to wait till then. The overall objective of all concerned is to ensure that Manipur, which has all the potential with a vibrant society and strong entrepreneurial and sporting skills, does not lose ground in the national calculus. Q: You had coined a new nomenclature " dissatisfied brethren" to address the insurgents. This is in contrast to the usual expression of "misguided youth" often used to describe insurgents in the North-East. Have you received any feelers from the agitators? Yes. In my New Year’s Address and in the Republic Day Address I had asked all members of the "dissatisfied brethren" to join the mainstream. The doors for dialogue are always open. There are in all 26 insurgent outfits in Manipur. Out of these 15 are well recognised and are effective. While eight of these operate in the Valley, seven organisations are predominantly operating in the hills. The response to my appeal has been very positive with a leader of the major outfit coming out with a written statement. The PLA (another major group) said that it was watching the situation. My message has been clear and simple: shun the path of violence and they should pursue their demands in a democratic manner. I have apprised the Prime Minister and the Home Minister of the developments. I have said that this-third-party business (of holding talks in a third country) does not take us anywhere. There should be no conditions from either side. Q: There is also the question of sub-nationalism. A couple of years ago people of Manipur had reacted angrily when the question of extending a ceasefire agreement with Naga insurgent outfit NSCN (I-M) to cover other states of the region, including Manipur, was discussed. The majority opinion in Manipur was that the state’s territorial integrity was being trampled upon. Your comments? All that I would say is an integrated approach is required for the entire North-East, at least from the contiguous states. Th. Muviah, NSCN (I-M) leader, incidentally, comes from Ukhrul district of Manipur. A feeling of sub-nationalism has emerged within the state. The concerns of the people of Manipur are well known to the Ministry of Home Affairs. These concerns are not limited to Manipur alone. The Mizos have a similar feeling. As I said earlier, it is a difficult, complex and deep-prooted situation requiring a non-rectilinear approach. Q: Many people also believe that the Union Government reacted rather late in the aftermath of the rape incident with the Home Minister deciding to visit the state several weeks after the incident had occurred. Do you think the central government was late in responding to the situation, both politically and administratively? I do not think the delayed visit of the Home Minister to the state is really a cause for the sense of alienation of the Manipuri people. Hurrying and jumping into a situation is not a good policy. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the state where he handed over the historic Kangla Fort back to the people of Manipur was a grand gesture which has had positive effects. About 40,000 people attended the ceremony despite a boycott call given by a major insurgent outfit. This speaks volumes about the sentiments of the local people associated with the fort. Q: Another issue is of economic upliftment. Do you think giving away dollops of money is a solution at all? Giving dollops of money is not a solution. But at the same time it would be a fallacy to blame insurgency for every ill in the region. I personally feel, the look-East policy of the government will reap rich dividends for the North-East and Manipur is going to be the biggest beneficiary.
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‘Red-light’ street
named after Gandhi The fashion in South Africa is to rename streets, cities and towns after famous historical figures, but Durban city
authorities may regret their decision to honour the memory of Mahatma Gandhi. In an effort to please the city's 1.5m residents of Indian descent, councillors have just renamed a road after the hero of India's struggle for independence. But when it was discovered that the choice of street, Point Road, is notorious for drug dealing, prostitution, crime and other vice, the result was a storm of protest which has yet to abate. "This is the greatest insult to be ever bestowed on an important historical figure," said Randish Patel, a Durban businessman who is one of the leaders of the backlash. "It is as good as branding Gandhi a criminal. They should have renamed the whole city 'Gandhi City' instead of electing to abuse his name on a street prominent for everything that Gandhi would have opposed". The Gandhi affair is particularly unfortunate, given the noble motives behind the move. South Africa has embarked on an exercise to rename streets and places to assert the dominance of blacks who took power after 50 years of institutionalised racism. A decade after apartheid was dismantled, many historical landmarks still bear the names of people such as Hendrik Verwoerd and D F
Malan, the founders of apartheid. As, gradually, the names of more and more figures of the anti-apartheid struggle appear on street corners, the idea of renaming Point Road was partly an attempt to include the country's Indian community in the transformation. Gandhi spent several years in Durban in the early 1900s and his descendants still live in the city. A torrent of suggestions for a new location are now being hotly debated. The city fathers will not heed Mr Patel and other locals' solution to rename the entire city after Gandhi, and the original renaming proposal has been sent back to the municipality's non-sexism and non-racism subcommittee. In all, nine alternative streets are being considered and Grey Street, the area the Indian community was restricted to during apartheid, is a possible contender. As the debate rages, irate residents are jamming the switchboards of local radio stations and newspapers to make their feelings known. The president of the Hindu organisation Maha Sabha, Ashwin
Trikamjee, said he was pleased the council had at last decided to address the concerns raised by the public. A spokesman for the council said: "It's unfortunate that some people felt that this particular street was not honourable enough. Their concerns have been noted." But after weeks of debate, some of Durban's citizens are now arguing that the lesson of the Gandhi street affair is that name-changing, which came into vogue with the end of apartheid, simply isn't worth the trouble. One Indian resident, apparently tired of the whole saga, said simply: "After all the name-changes will the municipality give us rebates to change the addresses on all our documents and to buy maps of our brave new world?" — The Independent |
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Rice to juggle many diplomatic balls in
Asia With her arrival in Tokyo on Friday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice finds herself in a region with dangerous flashpoints, hoping that none of them spin out of control. North Korea's nuclear weapons program is the most pressing concern and one that is expected to dominate Rice's discussions in Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing over the next four days. The issue has gained more immediacy since North Korea's Feb. 10 declaration that it has nuclear weapons and would abandon talks aimed at reversing its nuclear ambitions. In recent days, North Korea has stepped up its verbal attacks on Rice after she called the isolated state one of six ``outposts of terror'' in her confirmation hearings. ``She is no more than an official of the most tyrannical dictatorial state in the world,'' a spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry retorted in the country's official KCNA news agency. Rice, the spokesman added, is ``bereft of any political logic,'' reckless and someone North Korea can't deal with. Relations across the Taiwan Straits have become increasingly strained following China's passage this week of a controversial anti-secession law, which gives it a legal framework to use ``non-peaceful means'' if Taiwan declares independence. Also threatening the tense relations between the two adversaries, separated in a civil war in 1949, is the possible lifting in June of a European ban on selling weapons to the mainland and Taiwan's proposed purchase of $15 billion in U.S. weapons later this year. A third concern is the growing tension between Japan and China. Tokyo's military profile in the region has recently expanded. After years of ambiguity, Japan announced last month that Taiwan is among its security concerns. This has raised concerns in China, which considers its dispute with Taipei a purely domestic issue. ``We don't like Japan's frequent actions around the Sea of Japan recently,'' said Liu Guoshen, Taiwan research director at Xiamen University in the southeastern province of Fujian. ``We'd never allow Japan to dip its finger into the Taiwan issue.'' Japan also has angered South Korea at the start of what is billed as 2005 Japan-Korea Friendship Year when a local legislature reasserted the nation's claim over a cluster of rocky islets now administered by South Korea. The islands, known as Takeshima by the Japanese and Dokdo by the Koreans, are uninhabited but surrounded by rich fishing grounds. North Korea' s announcement that it had nuclear weapons should have drawn together the other countries involved in the talks — the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. Instead, it has made long-standing rifts more glaringly apparent. The other parties, with the exception of Japan, have long argued that the United States should be less strident in its dealings with North Korea. But in the past, when the congenial Colin Powell was secretary of State, their different opinions were largely glossed over with diplomatic bonhomie. Rice's more forceful style is exposing the rifts. North Korea has demanded an apology for Rice's ``outpost of terror'' comment as a precondition for resuming talks. But she has refused, insisting that she was telling the ``truth.'' Her statements that the United States refuses to negotiate with North Korea in one-on-one talks, a mainstay of the administration's policy, have also led to calls for greater U.S. flexibility, particular from South Korea. Beijing released one of its highest-profile political prisoners on Thursday, days before Rice's scheduled Sunday arrival. In an apparent return gesture, Washington agreed not to seek a U.N. condemnation of China's human rights record. While Rice's primary concern on her stop in Beijing is likely to be a discussion on how to bring North Korea back to the bargaining table, she is also expected to question China about its military buildup. — LA Times-Washington Post |
The holy teachings that come from the mouths of Godly men seem to be uttered by those men themselves, while in reality they proceed from God. — Sri Ramakrishna He who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. — Jesus Christ 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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Manipur Governor Shivinder Singh Sidhu feels that
giving out dollops of money alone will not solve the problems of
insurgency afflicting the north-eastern region. A career bureaucrat
and an economist, Dr Sidhu is optimistic that the look-East policy of
the government will yield rich economic dividends, particularly in
Manipur. In an interview to The Tribune, Dr Sidhu spoke at length
about various issues concerning the state and the North-East in
general. Excerpts: