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President’s musings Terror in Jordan |
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Load factor Problem not limited to trucks THE Supreme Court order striking down the scheme that permitted overloading of trucks is illustrative of how rules are made with provisions that allow for violations.
Volcker report and after
British “cold” shoulder
IT’s a mixed blessing British Sikh cop saves life, faces ire of superiors Chatterati
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President’s musings THE executive has been murmuring all along that the other pillars of democracy, the legislature and the judiciary, have been transgressing into its domain. But it would have never expected the President to advocate its case, at least not as forcefully as he did at a function to mark National Legal Literacy Day last week. Mr APJ Abdul Kalam said it in so many words: “How can we expect the executive to function independently when each of its action is questioned and its functioning is made regularly actionable by, and accountable to, the independent powers enjoyed by the legislature and the judiciary?” The message was loud and clear: the independence of the executive has been eroded. As if there was still some doubt, he removed it by remarking: “A large number of regulations exist to constantly keep the actions of the executive under the watchful glare of the legislature and the judiciary and that unquestionably takes away the much bandied about independence of the executive”. The President has every right to make such an observation but surely he also knows that when the executive crosses the Lakshman Rekha within which it is expected to operate, there have to be certain checks and balances. That is not a theoretical argument. There have been such excesses galore in real life. The dissolution of the Bihar Assembly, which Mr Kalam himself signed, happened to be one. Should such incidents be overlooked? The debate over what the President has said will become even hotter after the Law Minister emulated him a day later. While Mr Kalam used a tiny mallet to drive home his point, Mr H R Bhardwaj used a sledgehammer. He is reported to have held the Supreme Court responsible for quashing its own image as a champion of civil liberties. He said it was futile to enact new laws to provide relief to undertrials at a time when judges were refusing them bail even in small cases. Such caustic comments are going to rankle for a long time. The relations between different arms of the State seem destined to pass through turbulent times.
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Terror in Jordan THE Al-Qaida in Iraq, which has claimed responsibility for carrying out Thursday’s suicide bombings at three major hotels, killing 59 people in the Jordanian capital, Amman, appears to have redrawn its destructive strategy. The terrorist outfit, headed by Osama bin Laden’s most trusted lieutenant, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian by birth and a Palestinian by descent, has begun to destroy peace in the country which has been among those on the forefront to help the US and its allies in the war against terrorism. Jordan has been the most committed supporter of the Americans in their drive against the Saddam regime. King Abdullah II, who initially protested against the US-led action against Iraq, has been following in the footsteps of his father, the late King Hussein, then known as the closest Arab ally of the US. Zarqawi, like his mentor Osama, believes in overthrowing all the regimes in the region, as he considers them “anti-Islamic”. The anti-US sentiment among the Arabs may be helping him in his destructive design. On July 24 this year, Zarqawi’s suicide squads killed a number of tourists in Egypt’s resort town of Sherm Al-Sheikh. But Jordan, perhaps, has greater significance in Zarqawi’s scheme of things. It serves as the gateway to Iraq for most Western multinationals, besides the US armed forces. The terrorists operating in Iraq can also easily shift to Jordan to cause death and destruction. Zarqawi, having been born and brought up in Jordan, must be having some following there. King Abdullah II has vowed to bring the perpetrators of the Amman blasts to justice, but he has a major handicap to overcome. Jordan has a large presence of Palestinians settled after their country disappeared from the world map. The King’s major support base is among the locals, the Bedouins, but in minority. He will have to ensure that the combing operations, already underway, do not lead to socio-political disturbance, which is what Zarqawi and his supporters want. Yet all those behind the Amman killings must be punished to send across the message that anybody indulging in such heinous activities will not be spared.
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Load factor THE Supreme Court order striking down the scheme that permitted overloading of trucks is illustrative of how rules are made with provisions that allow for violations. Under the golden card scheme, if a truck carried a load higher than the permitted limit, all that the transporter had to do was pay a specified amount and presto, it became permissible. Now this is just one example of violation of rules being post-facto sanctioned whereby, for a price, an irregularity can be regularised. Such rules, and overloading, are not confined to the goods transport sector alone. Overloading is rampant in the system and has been developed into an administrative art in India. The most overloaded entity in the country is the government, and not just with staff but with a lot of other resources, too, which are not productively deployed. As a result, the government is run more to bear this overload than keep the baggage low for efficient delivery of governance. Hardly surprising, then, that every sector, from public transport and power to telephone lines and IT highways, is having to contend with its own burden of unmanageable overloads. In fact, whoever thought of the golden card scheme must be a wizard at raising revenue and taken a leaf out of the books of urban development authorities or the railways. In almost all cities, building by-laws are flouted with impunity in the knowledge that violations can be ‘regularised’ by paying prescribed amounts. Similarly, the railways, by introducing the tatkal scheme, legalised queue-jumping by collecting a premium on tickets that passengers want to buy at short notice. “Show me the person and I’ll show you the rules”, was the old adage. It has now been replaced by, “show me the money and I’ll show you that the rules are changed”.
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If you can’t annoy somebody with what you write, I think there is little point in writing. — Kingsley Amis
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Volcker report and after
INDIA takes the UN too seriously, more than most countries of the world do. We have done it in the past and suffered for it. An item in the agenda of the Security Council, created by us, hangs around our neck even today. We suffer pangs of conscience that we cannot subscribe to the NPT and the CTBT. And now we have thrown our own Ministry of External Affairs out of gear at a crucial moment by divesting an experienced, active and trusted minister, with an unblemished record of integrity, of his portfolio just because his name appeared on a piece of paper that bore the insignia of the UN. It did not matter what the source of the allegation was or whether the allegation was investigated at all. Even Shashi Tharoor’s assertion that there was no presumption of guilt in the report did not suffice to correct our exaggerated sense of sanctity of the UN and its reports. The Volcker report is not even a UN report. The committee was appointed not to look into the misdeeds of Saddam Hussein or his supporters, but to look into the reports of corruption and mismanagement in the UN itself. The Secretary-General faced grave charges of not only tolerating mismanagement of the Oil-for-Food programme, but also of shielding his son, who had exploited his father’s name to make profits for his company, if not for himself. A casual internal investigation he ordered exonerated everyone, but the whistle blowers persisted and the result was the appointment of Mr Paul Volcker, the grand old man, who had a reputation to have the determination of a Solomon come to justice. He submitted three interim reports at a cost exceeding $ 40 million, in which he castigated the Secretary-General and his son. The programme itself, which had been praised by the Security Council till it was wound up following the regime change in Iraq, was characterised as a compact with the devil. An unprecedented humanitarian effort was condemned as an inhuman scheme to line the pockets of the UN and Iraqi bureaucracies. Saddam Hussein was shown as a master-manipulator, who, even in the midst of making bombs and resisting his enemies, distributed oil and money to his friends abroad. The UN building reeked of putrid oil. The Volcker report went beyond the UN bureaucracy with its oil paint and left other black faces on its path. Among them were the permanent members of the Security Council themselves, who happily approved of deal after deal without any meaningful scrutiny. At the same time, they ensured that their own firms got as many contracts as possible, by edging out firms from other countries by virtue of their veto. Saddam, of course, was the arch-villain, but the Secretariat, including its oversight services, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the agents and the companies were guilty in different degrees, according to the Volcker report. The Indian Minister and the Congress party were consigned to the annexes without any investigation in the final report, which merely wrapped up the investigation. The final report was not even debated in the Security Council. The debates and action on the serious charges in the earlier reports were calibrated as, unlike India, the rest of the world did not take the report as gospel truth. The Secretary-General, who publicly accepted responsibility for the deeply embarrassing criticism of the Secretariat that there was “maladministration and evidence of corruption”, remained the Secretary-General on the strength of his continuing political support. Though the committee said it was not exoneration, the “not proven finding” was considered adequate to save the remaining term of the Secretary-General. Nothing further was heard of Mr Kojo Annan, who must be still digging for gold in Africa for his Western masters. The permanent members went for cover by arguing that they were too busy with other matters at that time to bother about oil or food. One even said that it was, after all, not UN money, which was mismanaged! The only heads that rolled were those of a few UN officials, notable among them Mr Benon Sevan, an ebullient Armenian from Cyprus, who was very popular till recently, with an impressive record of service in several hot spots. He was nearly hanged with Najeebullah in Afghanistan and he saw the UN chief in Iraq blowing up in front of him. The praise showered on him for performing the impossible task of managing the Oil-for-Food programme was soon forgotten and he was handed over to the authorities, stripped of his diplomatic immunities and privileges. The same thing happened to a few others. The report was used by each member of the UN to push his own agenda for reform and Mr Volcker was all set to wind up and leave. Neither the government nor the media in India took any great interest in the Volcker report. Our delegation did not seek to intervene in the Security Council debate even to deplore the sad state of affairs that the report had unearthed. But the moment the names of the minister and the Congress party were found in an obscure annexe to the final report, Mr Volcker assumed a larger-than-life image and all hell broke loose. The only action required on the part of the government was to ask its ambassador in the UN to seek the documents from Mr Volcker and see if there was any basis for the allegations. Instead, the minister himself protested too much and ignited the fire of indignation among his enemies across party lines. He poured oil onto the fire that was burning on account of the nuclear deal and the Vienna vote. And in the process of defending himself, he cast aspersions on the very policy he was responsible for. The leftists, who had attacked him for his policy just the other day, came to his rescue and the Opposition had a bonanza. In the ensuing confusion, the least that the Prime Minister could do was to move him out of the External Affairs Ministry till he was proved innocent of the allegation, while proclaiming that he was not guilty. If the Volcker report was treated the same way as the UN itself had treated it, we would still have had a minister to defend the policy he helped to shape. The Ministry of External Affairs has only itself to blame for giving the UN a larger-than-life image. It spent its time and resources in the last few months on a quest for permanent membership of the Security Council as though that would usher in an era of prosperity and prestige for India. Support to our candidature became the be-all and end-all of our bilateral diplomacy. Visiting dignitaries were goaded to sign on the dotted line to establish our credentials. If the UN was such a desirable prize, how could we have taken lightly a report of that very UN? It is said of the bureaucracy that it is like a chicken coop. The moment a little chick is hurt in the least, the others will pounce upon him and peck him to death. This is as true of South Block as the rest of the officialdom. Long service of great benefit to the nation is forgotten in a moment when a case involving a few dollars comes to light. The disciplining authorities have no knowledge of the substantive part of an officer’s contribution. In fact, they are not supposed to consider it at all while meting out justice for petty crimes. Ministers seem no exception. If a person is worthy of the nation’s confidence to be the External Affairs Minister of India, surely, he should be trusted to carry on his work till he is proved guilty of misdemeanour. We should have treated the Volcker report as the UN itself has treated it, not as the last word on crime and punishment, but as a harsh light flashed on some unsightly corners that needed attention. Punish those who have been proved guilty, but do not allow aspersions to undermine the institution
itself.
**** The writer is a former ambassador with extensive experience of the UN in New York, Nairobi and Vienna.
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British “cold” shoulder
MUCH before my scheduled departure to London, friends had started warning me about how grey London could get at this time of the year. The famed “English winter” and its dullest manifestations were at their very best in all conversations, and were beginning to bother me. My nearly unmanageable luggage spoke volumes on how seriously I had taken my friends. I was equally concerned about getting my way around London, especially after I had heard stories about the “cold British shoulder”. With doubts frantically pacing up and down my heart, I entered the land of Shakespeare with a sceptical heart ready for all greys, even blues. Just as I stepped into a privileged residential location across the Oxford Street — where I was supposed to live for the next three months — I was pleasantly surprised by certain quick happenings. The man on the reception of the luxury apartment complex smiled graciously at me, and paid me more attention than I was expecting right on arrival. He asked me where I belonged, what I was called and why I was there — questions that only a welcoming host would ask. After I had happily answered, he got down to the basics of managing the apartment. What followed was a long list of vital insights into the “top-end” flat and also some very lavish references to how well fitted its living spaces were. “You must clean up the apartment daily and must use the gadgets carefully. In case of fire, use the fire exits which are quite well displayed,” he said. I was only too happy to take tips that came gift-wrapped in genuine concern. Not that I had not used gadgets in the past, but for a while I actually felt re-initiated into the hi-tech world of sophisticated kitchen/toilet equipment. And then, I thought it improper to disappoint the “concerned” elderly Brit by telling him that gadget culture prevailed in India as much as it did in Britain. Also, I could not but pay undivided attention to him. He had, after all, exploded the myth of the “cold British shoulder” which my friends had so laboriously developed to bother me. I was happy to have shed the extra baggage of “grey London” that I had, quite unnecessarily, carried all the way from India and also to have received the unexpected arrival allowance from this man on the reception. But just when I thought I had got it all right and in place, came the last surprise of the day. In chaste Hindustani, the Brit said to me, “Agar aapko Southall jaana ho to mujhe kahiyega. Mere vahaan bahut vaakif hain.” Stunned by this sudden change of identity, I hastened to ask the man his name. And as it turned out later, he was Mr M. Malik — a Brit by occupation and residence but a Pakistani by origin!
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IT’s a mixed blessing A recent study by Jones Lang Lasalle on the attractiveness of various cities from the point of view of business process outsourcing operations has placed Chandigarh (including Mohali) as a tier III city after Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi (tier I) and Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune (tier II). IT activity can benefit Chandigarh in a number of ways. Connectivity with Delhi, the rest of the country and the world will improve. A lot of money will be pumped into the city. Local trade will benefit, property will appreciate and so on. Of course, there will also be a large number of unanchored young men and women with odd working hours, uncertain careers and money to splurge. One could accept the attendant social problems as a necessary price to pay for economic progress. But Chandigarh should be careful not to go the Bangalore way. Bangalore’s problems are at two levels: collapse of civic infrastructure and social tensions. One can be reasonably certain that Chandigarh will handle the infrastructure problem better than Bangalore. Chandigarh has greater sanctity for its bye-laws than Bangalore has. Although overcrowding will diminish the city, but would not kill it. Social tension is a serious problem. Bangalore may be known the world over but has no use for the local people. The local anger and frustration manifest themselves in such demands as job reservation for locals. But this is neither possible nor desirable. When Pratap Singh Kairon invited HMT to set up a factory in Pinjore, the idea was that the facility would create subsidiary jobs which would go to the locals. Times have changed. There are no subsidiary jobs any more and the mobility has increased to such an extent that there is no longer any local work force. The IT (and indeed the whole services) sector is notoriously middle class and urban oriented. Currently the services account for about 57 per cent of India’s GDP but employ only 23 per cent of the work force. In contrast, agriculture’s share in GDP has come down to a modest 20 per cent; yet about 60 per cent of the work force still depends on it for livelihood. IT activity in Chandigarh will almost certainly increase the already troubling urban-rural divide. Is there a solution? The state governments and the city administrations should not undercut one another with a view to enticing IT firms. These firms need the government more than the government needs them. Global presence and market capitalisation look very good when mentioned in newspapers. But IT firms, individually or collectively, do not have the wherewithal to buy real estate from the open market, set up a township and create their own infrastructure. Their biggest requirement from the government is land, which they manage to acquire at concessional rates in quantities more than their actual need. It is noteworthy that the study referred to at the beginning has been carried out by a global real estate services firm! The government should use its position as a land-giver to bargain on behalf of its people. The Chandigarh and Punjab governments should take inspiration from the small Ludhiana village called Gill. In its time, this village offered land free to Guru Nanak Engineering College with the proviso that the college would admit two village students every year. The IT firms should be asked to take upon themselves the task of training local manpower. What is now IIT, Roorkee, started as a training school run by the PWD. In a similar fashion the IT firms with an eye on Chandigarh/Mohali should set up a private institution/university with imaginative courses. Students should be admitted after plus two for periods ranging from one/two to five years. They should be taught social and communication skills in addition to technical subjects. It should be possible for a student to exit with a certificate or a diploma, enter the job market and return to get a degree. Thus the institution will train a whole spectrum of young men and women depending on their intellect, skills and interests, and offer them employment at a suitable level. At present the Indian IT’s share in the world market as also in the national GDP is no more than a paltry 1-2 per cent. In the years to come, the Indian IT sector should expand its repertoire by including higher and higher value services. If the IT sector is to expand and be socially sustainable, it cannot depend on the existing middle class. It must bring in more people into the middle class itself. If it needs the government’s help, this should be the quid pro quo.
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British Sikh cop saves life, faces ire of superiors A British police constable of Indian origin saved a man’s life but has been reprimanded by his seniors for using too much force while grabbing the man as he threatened to jump from a second-floor window. The constable, Amerjit Singh, 26, restrained the suicidal man, who was high on drink and drugs and acting aggressively, but instead of being commended, he has been disciplined after the man’s father complained that Singh used unnecessary force. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) ordered the officer be given a verbal warning after ruling that he did not use a “Home Office-approved hold” designed to minimise risk of injury during the incident in Peterborough last year. Singh’s fellow officers described the commission’s ruling as “unbelievable”. Tony Laud, secretary of Cambridgeshire Police Federation, told the Daily Mail: “This was a young officer doing what he believed was the best thing and, rather than receiving a pat on the back, he found himself being told off. He feels really disappointed.” David Sanders, a local Conservative-councillor and member of the Cambridgeshire Police Authority, added: “Will a cop put himself out time after time just to find a complaint against his name at the end of it? “If a bobby is out of order he should be disciplined. But the abuse of the system is sapping the morale of many good officers.” Singh, one of the first Sikhs to be recruited by Cambridgeshire Police, was in his first year in uniform when he and two colleagues were called to the house in September 2004. They arrived to find the man in a violent rage. When they tried to calm him down, he threatened to throw himself from the window. Singh managed to grab the man despite being assaulted himself, including being kicked between the legs. The man’s father entered the room as Singh was holding his son down and, despite being told of what had just happened, made a complaint of heavy-handedness. Len Jackson, IPCC’s commissioner for Central England, said: “It is clear that an inappropriate and potentially dangerous hold was used and advice was therefore given to the officer in this regard.” Singh was given “words of advice” — the lowest form of disciplinary action. Cambridgeshire Police said Wednesday it was “satisfied the officer involved intervened with the best intentions”. A spokesman added: “The method in which he dealt with the incident was found by the IPCC to have been inappropriate and he has been given words of advice. “This matter has now been resolved and finalised.” Singh’s father, Manjit, said: “It’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s the father who should be reprimanded.” Singh, who gave up a career as a legal executive to join the force, became one of Cambridgeshire’s first two Sikh officers when he was recruited with his cousin Indarjit. In an interview at the time, he described how he wanted to make a contribution to his community. “I hope my joining will encourage others from Peterborough’s large Asian community who may have any trepidation or fears about joining the police,” he said. The IPCC’s ruling was described as “barking mad” by Singh’s Conservative MP, Stewart Jackson: “We should be applauding the bravery and commitment of this young man rather than pillorying him.”
— Indo-Asian News Service
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Chatterati THE Capital is abuzz with political scandals. From a panwala to a designer, all are experts on politics. The media hype on non-issues is actually irritating the public. The latest Natwar Singh and Andy Sehgal controversy has once again proved how the BJP is at its best as the “Party of Opposition”. Effigy burning, bandhs and press conferences come easy to it. At times like this, Delhi people also are at their negative best. Natwar Singh is in no way responsible for deeds of his family members and friends. Natwar’s loyalty to the Gandhis is not what is saving him, but his own integrity is unquestionable. And that could also explain the Finance Minister’s great enthusiasm on the matter nowadays. The pending reshuffle is now being awaited with bated breath. Rumours of Chidambram’s going to Home, Pranab to Finance and Patil to Defence are doing the rounds. Fair and lovely Tall dark and handsome men are out guys! The handsome and fair are in. Well, that seems to be the mantra now for the cosmetics industry. For the kind of money, time and energy men spend in parlours having facials, manicures and pedicures, they somehow do not like the idea of a new cream. Obviously! They may use fair and lovely, but you do realise “Handsome and Fair” is too much in the face. Cellulite removal, liposuction go very well with the male, yes! But you can’t talk about it. Removal of blackheads, hair weaving and plastic surgery are fine, but somehow men like Rohit Bal, Cyrus Broacha and Navjot Sidhu do not like the new cream called ‘Fair and Handsome’. Well when the Western world is coming up with tan lotions, we are going backwards. But women have to now realise that looking fair and lovely is no longer a woman’s domain. After sharing their parlours, anti-ageing eye and face lotions, it’s fairness creams now. Socialites get going Diplomats, dancers, artists, journalists, painters and politicians all seem to form one big nexus in Delhi today. Evenings with diyas, colourful dresses, endless rounds of drinks, fixed smiles. The artists in the Capital are divided into two categories. The jhola kinds and the posh ones. Both live in worlds of their own. The common phenomena here being the cocktail circuit. While the artist fraternity turned up in strength, it was the performances by Shanno Khurana and a Bangladeshi singer Prima and three dancers that stole the show. Well all are happy to see Pawan Verma while Anand Sharma, who is waiting in the wings to be inducted into the Cabinet, is also an art enthusiast! Well, socialites have to do something worthwhile after some time. Shalini Passi, mostly known for flaunting her designer bags, shoes, clothes, etc, has now taken to painting. Lalit Suri could not help commenting “her paintings are good, keeping in mind she has just started”. Did the socialites of the Capital miss out on this opportunity to mingle, be clicked by Page 3 and pass their comments on the vibrant paintings and the crowd! No way! They were present and passed comments — catty and complimentary. Everything goes here, my dear. “Yeh hai Dilli meri
jaan!”
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From the pages of O’Dwyer’s “Second Mother”
ONE of the happiest sentiments to which His Honour Sir Michael O’Dwyer has given expression in his recent speeches is wherein he calls India, especially the Punjab, a second mother, the first mother being, of course, the country of his birth. “Some people have styled India,” he said, “a sultry and sombre step-mother. Personally I have found it, wherever I have been placed, but especially in my old Province, a kind of genial second mother....” Therein lies the secret of a civilian’s success in India. Of course, he can erect an impregnable fortress to separate himself from the people and say that Indians are the worst people in this world. He may even say that this beautiful world is not meant for Indians unless they choose to remain as hewers of wood and drawers of water. But when he presents a frozen face, he cannot expect Indians to smile and make him merry. It is not a little comforting, therefore, that now and then men imbued with liberal traditions come forward to remind the service that India is responsive to those who show their affection to and interest in her and her sons.
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Woe to every slandering caviler who gathers wealth and stores it up, figuring his wealth will make him last. No indeed! He will be hurled into the shattering is. And what will convey to you what the shattering is. It is the fire of God alight, that rises to the hearts. Verily it forms a cover over them in towering columns. — Islam It is the ignorant who feel that values change from time to time. They would like values to change to suit their own small and mean ends. But the reality is that from antiquity till today, these values have kept the world going. — Bhagvad Gita The body is the residence of immortal spirit. Would you keep this residence dirty and emaciated? — Sanatana Dharma Yes, there is no hope for a worldly man if he is not sincerely devoted to God. — Ramakrishna Life becomes liveable only to the extent that death is treated as a friend, never as an enemy. — Mahatma Gandhi
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