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Why no action? Dealing with Dhaka |
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Hopping fliers
Ties with China
Green, green, grass …
Ireland agreement has relevance to J&K The myth of discrimination Delhi Durbar
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Why no action? Twentyone
long years after the 1984 riots only the statutory requirement of placing the Nanavati Commission report before Parliament within six months of its submission seems to have been fulfilled. The action taken report (ATR) has also been tabled — but without any action. Unfortunately justice still eludes the victims of the 1984 riots which remain a blot on India. Clearly, the government is determined to save the skin of some of its leading lights rather than taking action against them. The Nanavati Commission was expected to be more forthright than it has been, but at least it indicts Union Minister Jagdish Tytler saying there is “credible evidence” against him and that he had “very probably had a hand in organising attacks”. However, what it proposes has been disposed of by the government through the ATR which has strangely rejected the recommendation against Tytler, saying “it is clear from the remarks ‘very probably’ that the commission itself was not absolutely sure about his involvement in such attacks”. The commission has also pointed an accusing finger at Sajjan Kumar and H. K.L. Bhagat, but the government has chosen not to take action against them for unjustifiable reasons. Action may be taken against some small fries but the chances of their being duly punished are no brighter than that of removing poverty from India. Isn’t it time that the charade of ordering one commission after another is given a decent burial? The Congress may have succeeded in helping some of its leaders but has in the process compromised its credibility. Its secular credentials suffered a blow in 1984. It has been trying to retrieve its image after that; but its reluctance to punish the guilty can only bring condemnation for it. Opposition parties can be depended on to go to town over the issue. The BJP, which has been as callous as the Congress, has tied itself in knots over the Gujarat riots, but others like the Left and the Akalis will be fully justified in taking the government to task. That does not mean that they will really succeed. Over the years, most politicians have become immune to even meaningful criticism and have developed a thick skin which the truth cannot pierce. Still, the Congress’ silence on the 1984 riots issue will continue to haunt it for all times to come. It still owes an explanation to the riot victims as well as the nation. |
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Dealing with Dhaka External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh’s visit to Bangladesh has been fruitful to the extent that the two countries have agreed to remove some of the irritants coming in the way of improving their relations. Dhaka is going to do its utmost to prevent illegal cross-border activities. This means Dhaka would not allow North-East insurgents to use Bangladesh territory to create trouble in India. There will be coordinated patrolling covering more areas along the 4000-km long border between the two countries. Dhaka has expressed its readiness to allow the gas pipeline from Myanmar to India via Bangladesh. All this indicates that India and Bangladesh are moving forward for better bilateral relations. This, however, does not mean that the mistrust and suspicion between the two neighbours have come to an end. The conciliatory attitude of Bangladesh should be seen against the backdrop of the coming meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in Dhaka. The Khaleda Zia government wants to ensure that the rescheduled SAARC session is a success, which is not possible without India’s cooperation. How far the two countries can go in accommodating each other’s viewpoints on certain sensitive issues like the border fencing idea will be known only when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh interacts with Begum Khaleda Zia after the SAARC summit is over and Bangladesh lives up to the assurances it has given to New Delhi. Serious differences continue to persist between India and Bangladesh over New Delhi’s border fencing plan. India has to complete the fencing project, as announced by Mr Natwar Singh, because it considers it necessary for controlling
cross-border crimes, including illegal migration. India’s view that the border fencing will promote peace and
tranquility between the two countries is, however, disputed by Bangladesh. This is because of some problem in the interpretation of the 1975 Border Guidelines. The time has come when the problem can be sorted out as the two sides have come round to the view that the border should remain free from any kind of illegal movement. Dhaka must understand India’s concern about it. |
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Hopping fliers Considering the number of new airlines with new planes desperately seeking pilots, it is no surprise that 263 pilots of the three armed forces took premature retirement between 2002 and 2004. Still, the figure, announced by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament, is high. The total number of pilots in the defence services is around 1500. Mr Mukherjee rightly rejected as too harsh an MP’s suggestion that service pilots be prevented from flying commercial planes. The phenomenon has to be seen as a part of the churning that is taking place in the Indian economy, and as any strategist worth his salt would aver, economic power is as important as military power for the country. The minister said that most of the pilots had passed the stage when they would be most useful to the service as fliers, but it cannot be that he is not worried about the situation. In any case, when restrictions were eased last year, 14 pilots left after completing less than 10 years and 24 after completing only 10 years in service. Tighter restrictions need to be imposed, and the question of service conditions and additional promotional avenues going beyond the AV Singh Committee recommendations must be seriously considered. Considering the cost at which service pilots are trained, longer service periods are a must before they are allowed to opt for careers in civil airlines. The only real solution to the problem is to increase the supply of pilots, and that has to be done both at the civilian and military levels. Training infrastructure is very poor, and though some moves have been initiated to upgrade fleet strengths and other facilities at our flight training academies, they are inadequate. Private airlines are already hiring out-of-work pilots from other countries. These are short-term steps. In the long run, the government should ensure the expansion of the Indian civil aviation sector, as also the operational readiness and combat worthiness of the Indian Air Force. |
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I wasted time, and now doth time waste me. — William Shakespeare |
Ties with China
ONE of the veiled objectives of the US in making overtures to India is to achieve a balance of power in Asia. To be more precise, to counterveil China by making India a “major global power in the 21st century”. China’s rapid economic growth and military prowess is fast becoming a potential challenge to the US security and its unique standing as the sole super power. In fact, China’s economy is growing so fast that in a matter of a few decades, it will close the per capita income gap with the US. Besides, China’s aggressive foreign policy and its intimidating postures coupled with a passionate desire to be a global power pose a direct threat to US hegemony in the prevalent unipolar world dispensation. It would not be long before China is able to challenge the US power in Asia. In fact, the way China is already coordinating with Russia and the others in the region in curtailing US influence in Central Asia through multinational entities like the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) does not quite augur well for the US. Surprisingly, Uzbekistan has already asked the US to remove its forces from their soil within the next six months. Kirgyzstan is likely to be the next country to do so. China is thus a major factor in the US Administration’s
conciliatory moves towards India. It seemed to have suddenly realised that India, with its burgeoning economy, growing military power, technological competence and democratic ideals could well be an asset in balancing China and preserving its pre-eminence in Asia. That is how India becomes a valuable partner in US perceptions and strategic calculus. Interestingly, the current imbalance between India and China is largely the result of the policies followed by the US and its western allies of denying India for the last three decades the technologies that they allowed China to access. Of course, India itself was slow and hesitant in adopting the path of liberalisation and globalisation of its economy, which China did a decade earlier. Closing this very gap fast has now become a US priority. President Bush’s beneficence towards India during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent visit to the US was, therefore, not without a cause. However, if the Americans are now keen to woo India after decades of estranged relations because they have now realised the geo-strategic relevance of India vis-a-vis China, there is nothing odd about it. In international relations, what matters is the national interest. Ethics have no place in geo-politics. Has not China been providing succour to Pakistan for decades and propping it up to balance India? China’s politico-military support to Pakistan emboldened it to challenge India repeatedly. By helping Pakistan with the nuclear bomb and the missiles, China kept India in a constant conflict situation with its neighbour and achieved, to a large extent, its own purpose of preventing India from rising fast. Repeated military engagements with Pakistan had a debilitating impact on India’s economy. At the same time, China kept India engaged in long-drawn negotiations without much tangible results. It managed to obtain peace all along the Sino-Indian borders by signing a “peace and
tranquility treaty” with the late Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao, in 1993. China was thus able to concentrate on building its own economy and the military by precluding the dissipation of resources due to inter-state wars. China displayed a marked propensity to treat India as nothing more than a mere South Asian regional power. It is here that the US assistance to India can help it to grow out of the regional quagmire and face China with more confidence. However, China has lately begun to realise that it can no longer ignore India. India’s fast growing economy, industrial potential, excellence in information technology, nuclear weapon status and military prowess can no longer be cold-shouldered. India, as China, would be one of the five fastest growing economies in the world over the next two decades. It is the size of the economy and the level of strategic technology that governs the basis of a global power. Validation of India’s Agni-III capabilities of delivering warheads over a range of 3,000 towards the end of the year will not only project India’s enhanced strategic capabilities but also the credibility of its deterrence. China is also gradually realising India’s growing stature in the comity of nations and like the rest, beginning to come around to accepting India’s nuclear weapon status despite its being outside the NPT. What has also helped in the matter is the parliamentary legislation on preventing nuclear proliferation passed recently by the Manmohan Singh government. These factors have led China to reappraise its policy towards India and give it the space it deserves in Sino-Indian relations. Political and military leaderships have begun to exchange visits to each other’s country. While the two Defence Ministers visited respective countries in 2003 and 2004, the Army Chiefs did so in 2004 and 2005. The CBMs enshrined in various joint statements issued by both sides in recent years have helped the normalisation process. Their implementation, however gradual, has led to ushering in a modicum of trust. It is in India’s interest to come out of its past prejudices and engage China in a spirit of give and take, notwithstanding the pledges and commitments made in Parliament under the emotional stream of 1962 trauma. India must ensure that Sino-Indian relations remain self-determining and independent of Indo-US relations. India will not have much option but to reciprocate to the extent possible to all-encompassing US investment in it. National interest being paramount, it has to have the prerogative of deciding as to when, with whom and what type of relationship should it have with others. India cannot afford to give up its strategic autonomy or sovereignty. If for India, Sino-Indian relations are important, so are the Sino-US relations for the US. It is, therefore, in the mutual interest of both India and the US that they do not overplay their emerging relationship to the detriment of all three. Whatever be the impediments or the difficulties, building of simultaneous bridges with both the US and China is imperative. Between India and China there is at present enough convergence of interests that can be further strengthened. After the EU and the US, China is India’s next big trade partner at $ 15 billion. Besides, both India and China are together championing the cause of developing countries in the WTO for market access to the US and other developed western countries. The US propensity for unilateralism is also unpalatable to both. It was for this reason that India refused to send its troops to Iraq in support of the US. The way to further this relationship with China is to concentrate on areas of convergence rather than rivalry. It all depends on India how it plays its diplomatic card in building bridges of understanding with both the US and China all at the same time and without alienating either of
them. |
Green, green, grass …
Early in the morning a patina of dew veils the lawn of my garden. As the first rays of the sun touch the grass, it glistens like a shimmering lake of liquid green. I step on it barefoot, to feel the cool tingle of its moist blades. In the evenings, I sink on its soft surface to savour the
tranquility of a star-spangled sky above, and the gentle caresses of tender leaves beneath. My romance with grass is evergreen. During monsoons, quite magically, grass sprouts and takes root in any neglected nook or corner of the house - cracks in the driveway, roof tiles, or even on the concrete cantilevers! It volunteers to clad the vacant plot next door, crops up along the uncared road berm, and clandestinely covers a garbage heap. Grass is nature’s hardy Samaritan endlessly engaged in charitable chores. Chandigarh’s Leisure Valley with its gently rolling mounds, convex and concave curves and a pastoral landscape, is an endless carpet of green, green grass .. Meandering narrow paths run through it randomly for the lazy walkers, who may spot some rare wild flowers amidst the fresh ambience of green. The “green belts” running through each sector have untended grass cover on which organic patterns of dusty brown pathways are formed by wayward cyclists and pedestrians. During the rains, these brown unkempt areas turn lush green overnight. The luxuriant growth of grass has to be shorn off its unwieldy growth by a myriad mowers to make the areas accessible to people. Grass, which modestly lets colourful flowers on its fringes steal the show in gardens, unnoticed by most, has its own flowers too. They are unpretentious and small, but bestowed with unique beauty. Each grass flower opens only once in its lifetime, and that too for only about an hour or so. Grass has inspired poets and painters alike. To Walt Whitman, it symbolised freedom, individualism and the “most democratic thing among all living organism.” Tagore imparted to grass a spiritual significance by writing, “In the audience hall of God a blade of grass occupies the same place as that of a king.” Impressionist painters like Monet and Van Gogh captured on their canvases the wildness of grass with bold dabs and dots of brush, whereas Constable lovingly painted its mellowed moods along streams and English gardens. A grass plant is eternal. It refuses to die even when cut by the sharp blades of steel, razed to the ground by squelching shoes, or burnt by fire. This “beautiful uncut hair of the graves” imparts a misty melancholy to the last resting place of many. Amidst the transience of time; a blade of grass stands
evergreen. |
Ireland agreement has relevance to J&K Some political analysts have approvingly mentioned the Good Friday Agreement as the one which can help solve the intractable problem of J&K. This agreement has been successfully implemented in Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement was arrived at in April 1998 among the British Government, Northern Ireland and the warring factions of Unionists, wanting to continue to be a part of the U.K. and the Nationalists, fighting for its secession and merger with Irish Republic. The agreement has three important ingredients. One is the devolution of sizeable power from the British Government to the Northern Ireland. Secondly, it creates a broadly inclusive power sharing arrangements providing for equal representation in the government for the pro-British (Unionists) and pro-Irish (Nationalists) communities. Thirdly, is the cross-border institutionalised framework linking the British-governed Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. The basic premise of this agreement was that there was a need to create an institution that accepts and accommodates unreservedly all the competing national identities and attempt to ensure their participation in the genuine democratic processes and in the governance of the country. The second part of the agreement was the creation of the institutional framework of cross-border linkages and co-operation. There is a North-South Ministerial Council. It is comprised of Ministers from the autonomous government of Northern Ireland and their counterparts from the Republic of Ireland. Its task is to explore and develop cooperation in those areas which can yield benefit to both sides, thus enunciating some kind of confederal set-up in their politico-executive decision-making processes. For building a harmonious and mutually beneficial relationship between the governments and the people of United Kingdom and the Ireland, a British-Irish Council has been set up which is a deliberative body and jointly chaired by the Prime Ministers of the U.K. and Ireland. It consists of ministers in both governments members of Parliaments of the U.K. and Ireland. Another institution by the name of British-Irish Inter-Governmental Conference has also been created with the Foreign Minister of Ireland and the Secretary of State for the Northern Ireland affairs of the U.K. as co-chairmen. It “gives a consultative access to the Ireland on the policy formulation on the matters of Northern Ireland”. On the pattern of the Good Friday Agreement, there can be a permanent India-Pak Governmental Council, to be chaired by the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan with Foreign Ministers, Defence Ministers, Home Ministers and Leaders of Opposition of both countries as its members. Like the North-south Ministerial Council stipulated in the Good Friday Agreement, there can also be a permanent Inter-Governmental Council of our part of J&K and the Pak Occupied Kashmir comprising ministers from Indian J&K and that of occupied Kashmir to play a consultative role in the governance of the part of J&K under each other’s control like drawing a common programme to enhance border trade and commerce, intra J&K water ways, transport, agriculture and to build tourism potential on both sides of the border and other local issues. There can be a large quantum of delegation of financial powers and a carefully calibrated autonomy in the decision-making. There have been genuine grievances from the people of Jammu and Ladakh that power is being controlled by the political and administrative bigwigs from the Kashmir valley and that they are given a step-motherly treatment while allocating the budget for development and in recruitments. It needs to be corrected. We must seriously think of creating autonomous regions of Jammu and Ladakh in addition to the Kashmir valley with their own legislatures and bureaucracy accountable to them and with a sufficient devolution of funds. I may also add that in April 1953, the Constituent Assembly’s Basic Principles Committee on the initiative of Sheikh Abdullah proposed a scheme for the devolution of powers by suggesting the creation of elected assemblies with competence to legislate on local specified subjects for both Jammu and Kashmir with a separate Council of Ministers and a separate District Development Council for Ladakh. The Committee also proposed the name of the five constituent units, including that of Poonch and Northern Areas as “Autonomous Federated Units of the Republic of India”. It needs to be implemented now. However, the Good Friday Agreement also has a potentially inflammatory plebiscite provision. It stipulates that there will be a referendum on the question of union of Northern Ireland with British or the Irish Republic after 10 years. Any kind of plebiscite in J&K will have the polarising effect and may set in a massive migration of the population and a civil war as happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) after the result of referendum which was massively boycotted Bosnians. Hence not acceptable. We should go in for devolution of more financial and decision-making powers to J&K, create a permanent Indo-Pak Government Council on J&K, set up government consultative machinery of both parts of J&K for facilitating access to the mutually beneficial decision-making processes. |
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The myth of discrimination Chandigarh:
While holding forth on the plight of minorities in India, politicians and religious leaders generally tend to paint an extremely alarming picture. The sum total of it is that they are a persecuted lot. A few instances of violence that takes place against them are cited to give credence to this thesis. But if a dispassionate study of their social, political, economic and cultural condition is done, many of these myths would stand exposed. At least that is the conclusion one draws from “a comparative study on socio-economic and demographic status of Muslim and Hindu migrants in Ludhiana” done by Dr Bindu Duggal of the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh. One city may not be indicative of the whole country but it is certainly a representative slice. On some of the socio-economic indicators like income levels and living conditions, Hindu and Muslim migrants, most of whom belong to the artisan class, stand on more or less the same ladder, says the study. If the Muslim community is worse off on other parameters, it is not because of any sort of discrimination but because of problems which are internal in nature, like lack of education. The study reveals that in majority of the cases, there was no discrimination experienced by the Muslims from the people of other religious community. Majority of the Hindus generally do not maltreat the Muslims and so the Muslims are not an oppressed group. Muslims happen to have the lowest sex ratio, low literacy rate, lowest female literacy rate, low female work participation rate, least acceptors of family planning, high fertility rate, large family size and low educational profile. With cost of education going up, most of the Muslims prefer to send their children to madrassas, where they get largely outdated education. This is particularly true of the girl children, whose education is totally neglected. The study specifically points out that the communal feelings and passions are a hype created by the political and religious leaders to secure their own identities and to strengthen their position. Since majority of the Muslims are illiterate, they have a blind faith in their religious leaders and follow their teachings, get excited on religious issues without actually inspecting the reality and inquiring as to what is actually required for their development. The most forceful recommendation the study makes is regarding reforming the madrassa education, so that Indian Muslims could come to terms with the changing needs of the contemporary Indian society. Educational backwardness of Indian Muslims is a national problem. But so long as they do not respond to remedial measures, it is difficult to be resolved. Madrassas must be transformed into modern educational institutions with Islamic subjects as optional courses. The study recommends that the state should create awareness of migrants’ fights for both Hindus and Muslims and set up mechanisms of redressal by freeing them from harassment, perhaps issue temporary ration cards to them so that they can benefit from the public distribution system. The government should enact laws to prevent communal propaganda created by religious and political leaders, media and the Press. It should encourage interaction between the government, the police, the bureaucracy and representatives of the Muslim community for redressal of grievances. |
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Delhi Durbar Tourism Minister Renuka Chowdhury is doing her bit of trying to put Jammu and Kashmir back on the tourism map of the world. The effort is to transform the image of J and K plagued by continuous militancy to one of being a safe destination for tourists. The Tourism Ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs appear to be working in tandem and impressing upon foreign governments to withdraw their travel advisory on J and K. The government is actively considering taking some foreign envoys to J and K to show that the state is safe for tourists.
Family of ‘foreigners’ At a recent function hosted by Vikramjit Singh Sawhney of the World Punjabi Organisation, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar went out of his way to assure the Pakistani guests that India had no intention of bossing over its neighbours. However, what had the guests applauding was the Petroleum Minister’s comment that all in his family were foreigners. Starting from himself he pointed out that both he and his wife were born in what is now Pakistan, his youngest daughter was also born in Pakistan, when he was the first Counsel General in Karachi and similarly his other siblings were also all born outside India.
BJP MPs unhappy After nearly a five-hour debate on Maharashtra in the Rajya Sabha, a section of the BJP MPs was unhappy over their leaders demanding more central assistance for the rain-ravaged Mumbai. Their argument was why should the BJP leaders plead the case of the Vilasrao Deshmukh Government when its state unit was highly critical of the manner in which the Congress-NCP government handled the relief and rescue operations.
Importance of being Mr Pillai Is a new power centre emerging at 10 Janpath, the residence of Sonia Gandhi? It would seem so if the hushed talks in Congress circles is to be believed. The buzz is about S V Pillai making his advent at 10 Janpath. Being a central government employee Pillaiji is on deputation. It is said that Pillai Sahib fixes appointments, vets the reports of Congress General Secretaries before putting them up and that he controls access to the Congress President. Congressmen keen on catching the eye of Ms Gandhi are making a beeline to Pillaiji.
Tintin in Hindi After regaling people all over the world for the last 75 years, the legendary cartoon character by the famous French cartoonist Herge is now ready to enter India. Star Entertainment Pvt Limited, backed by the French Embassy, has now brought the Tintin animation movies to India in four languages — Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi. Contributed by R. Suryamurthy, Gaurav Choudhary, S. Satyanarayanan and Smriti Kak Ramachandran |
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From the pages of Forward Policy: 110 Wars!
ONE hundred and ten wars within 50 years! Only think of it. We doubt if the wildest imagination of the author of the Arabian Nights could have dared to attempt conception of 110 wars within the space of only 50 years. And yet the feat has been performed by the Government of India, though at a cost which is more than enough to stagger humanity. When we try to find out the benefit which we may be believed to have derived from this enormous sacrifice of life and money, for what it is scarcely possible to define, we find it an effort to feel the inspiring influence of this grand feat of our “forward” Government. We do not think we are guilty of exaggeration when we say that there is not a single ray of light to relieve this dark and dismal record of 50 years’ unnecessary bloodshed and throwing away of money. If all the money spent on the 110 wars, which it could well have been done without, were brought to a better and more reasonable use, how different would have been the condition of India today! |
There is a portion for men from what is left by their parents and closet kin, and there is a portion for women from what is left by their parents and closest kin: whether there is little or much, there is determined portion. — Book of quotations on Islam They are reasonable in whatever they say and are conscious of their inability to know everything about God whose works are countless. — Guru Nanak Though a man strives, his knowledge will not be perfect while his thought remain scattered to the winds. While his faith wavers unsteadily like a flame in the breeze, his knowledge will not shine forth in total radiance. — The Buddha When one spends his life thinking of material wealth, how can he expect his mind to turn to matters divine at the time of death? — Book of quotations on Hinduism If you’ve got correct goals, and if you keep pursing them the best way you know how, everything else falls into line. If you do the right thing right, you are going to succeed. — Book of quotations of Success One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory. — Book of quotations on Happiness |
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