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A pipedream? Save the rivers |
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Showtime Air Force sees ground reality The ruckus over Aamir Khan’s film Rang de Basanti, scheduled for release next week, was entirely avoidable. But since so much dust was kicked up over what are at most fleeting images, it may be instructive to look at why creative expressions tend to raise political hackles; and, in turn, a clamour for censorship. Some busybodies found it objectionable that the film should portray a MiG-21 crash and a defence minister – who gets killed – flying in the aircraft.
Demilitarisation
and self-governance
Humour in
Parliament
Dateline
Washington GM: unborn babies
could be ‘harmed’ Deficit of
globalisation
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Save the rivers It
does not require experts now to point out that rivers in this region are contaminated. This is too obvious to miss attention. Dead fish found floating in the Satluj at Nangal made headlines, but did not stir the sleepy government. The Punjab Pollution Control Board has in a study assessed the extent of river pollution. It is supposed to do a little more: control the contamination of water sources. What requires research is the extent of damage to public health. Some public-spirited citizen(s) or organisation(s) ought to move the court to seek compensation for the victims. Water sources are getting depleted and polluted in Punjab. There are public protests at times, but these usually evoke only ad-hoc action. Media reports point to an increasing number of deaths due to cancer and a significant rise in water-borne diseases, but the administration remains indifferent. No wonder every town and industry finds it convenient to discharge untreated sewage and industrial waste into the nearby river. Even the underground water has become toxic and unfit for human and animal consumption due to the discharge of toxic effluents and excessive use of chemicals by farmers. There is need for joint efforts by the states concerned to stop the menace. The contamination of rivers starts right at the initial stage in Himachal Pradesh and continues in Punjab. The Centre can chip in with funds as water treatment is expensive. But more than money it is the political will that is missing. It is here that courts can step in on citizens’ behalf and force an unconcerned administration to act. The Supreme Court has been pushing the Delhi Government to clean up the Yamuna. Citizens, too, can join hands to save water, the lifeline for life and livelihood. |
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Showtime The
ruckus over Aamir Khan’s film
Rang de Basanti, scheduled for release next week, was entirely avoidable. But since so much dust was kicked up over what are at most fleeting images, it may be instructive to look at why creative expressions tend to raise political hackles; and, in turn, a clamour for censorship. Some busybodies found it objectionable that the film should portray a MiG-21 crash and a defence minister – who gets killed – flying in the aircraft. The arguments were: one, that it would demoralise the armed forces; and, two that this was a not-so-oblique dig at former Defence Minister George Fernandes. Neither of these arguments makes sense enough to justify any cuts. Mr Fernandes himself may laugh it off as permissible artistic licence. His successor, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, took time off, probably for the first time in decades, to see the movie along with the chiefs of the Army, Navy and the Air Force. And, none of them found anything objectionable in the portrayals in the film, although some suggestions were made by way of an advisory. In fact, Mr Mukherjee’s description of the scenes as “powerful” is more a lay response than a critical appreciation, for he confessed that he knows nothing about films. Hats off to the big brass for taking this in their stride because they have shown themselves to be more liberal than other uniformed sections, which are quick to pounce on any filmy portrayal that offends their self-image. It is a curious feature of Indian society that the clamour for censorship is louder than cries for freedom. The moment any creative expressions emerges, one section or another is often up in arms demanding that it be censored or banned. In a democratic society, one would expect that protests against restrictions would be wider. On the contrary, in this country people go to courts – which are intended to uphold freedoms – to curb the right to expression. Civil society could take a tip or two from the service chiefs. |
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Pain never really goes away; you just elevate and get used to it by growing stronger.
— Philippos |
Demilitarisation and self-governance Among
the over 30,000 people who have died in terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy picked up momentum are two distinguished political leaders - Mirwaiz Maulvi Mohammed Farooq assassinated in May 1990 and Abdul Ghani Lone gunned down on May 21, 2002. Mirwaiz Mohammed Farooq was killed by the ISI-backed Hizb-ul-Mujahideen because of his refusal to toe Pakistan’s line. Abdul Ghani Lone was killed by a hit squad after the ISI-sponsored United Jihad Council in Muzaffarabad decided to eliminate him for refusing to obey ISI diktats. Lone had made it clear at a meeting with General Musharraf and in his comments while visiting Pakistan for the marriage of his elder son that he favoured dialogue with New Delhi and that jihadi groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba should end terrorist violence and “leave us alone”. Apart from Lone, the ISI-supported jihadi groups killed 31 activists of the National Conference, two PDP members and one Congress member in the run-up to the 2002 elections. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Bilal Ghani Lone are the sons of the two leaders assassinated by ISI-supported terrorists. Listening to the statements of the Mirwaiz and Lone during their current visit to Pakistan as leaders of the Hurriyat Conference, one cannot help asking whether they have forgotten who killed their respected fathers. The Mirwaiz has repeatedly echoed the views of General Musharraf on the need for “self-governance” and “demilitarisation” in Jammu and Kashmir while in Pakistan.. More importantly, he has said that that “self-governance” and “demilitarisation” are merely interim measures and that any “solution” will involve the division of Kashmir into five “entities” called the “United States of Kashmir,” with each “entity” having its own flag, police and legislature. This proposal, mooted by the Washington-based Kashmiri businessman Farooq Kathwari, also envisages a “Kashmir Authority” to regulate trade and movement of people. Both the Mirwaiz and General Musharraf supported the concept of dividing Kashmir on religious and sectarian lines at the OIC conference in Saudi Arabia. It is now clear that General Musharraf will continue to support terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in India. He will make Hurriyat leaders support proposals for “demilitarisation,” involving the withdrawal of Indian forces from urban centres like Kupwara, Baramula and Srinagar . Effective control of these urban centres will then pass into the hands of well-armed jihadis, who cannot be tackled by the local police and can intimidate politicians like the Mirwaiz and Bilal Lone to obey their instructions. At the same time, he will make efforts to forge unity between the Hurriyat and fundamentalist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani by facilitating contacts in Saudi Arabia. There are, of course, monetary incentives also, for those who fall in line with ISI policies. A Pakistani friend of mine, who hails from Kashmir, noted after a recent visit to Srinagar that he was amazed to see how affluent many of those advocating a “freedom struggle” had become after militancy and violence commenced in J&K in December 1989. Not surprisingly, Mirwaiz Farooq waxed eloquent in Islamabad and Lahore about alleged human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir while ignoring the repression of Shias in the Northern Areas of the state. The response of the Manmohan Singh Government to General Musharraf’s posturing has unfortunately been hesitant and timid. New Delhi has invariably reacted to General Musharraf’s constant stream of “proposals” rather than being pro-active and moving in a direction that promotes its interests, priorities and perceptions. The most notable example has been the inability of New Delhi to focus attention on the constant refusal of General Musharraf to open the land route between Kargil and Skardu in the Northern Areas for tourism, trade and travel. The General obviously has much to hide about the repression he has let loose in Gilgit and elsewhere, as all foreigners are barred from travel to the Northern Areas. The response to General Musharraf’s proposals for “self-governance” has also been unimaginative and hesitant. New Delhi has evidently not undertaken a comprehensive study about how Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the Northern Areas enjoy no autonomy and are virtual colonies of Islamabad. While General Musharraf claims that he respects the “wishes” of the people of Kashmir and his Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz claims that people in PoK enjoy “freedom,” the PoK Constitution provides that “no person or party in Azad Kashmir shall be allowed to propagate against, or take part in activities prejudicial or detrimental to the ideology of the state’s accession to Pakistan”. JKLF leader Amanullah Khan was incarcerated for protesting against this provision. While POK ostensibly has an elected legislative Assembly, real power is wielded by an “Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council” that is presided over, not by the “Prime Minister” of PoK, but by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who nominates five of the 13 members of the “Council”. The rules made by the “Council” are not subject to judicial review. All senior appointments and allocation of finances are controlled by the Federal Minister of Kashmir Affairs and not by the “Prime Minister” of PoK. The PoK government merely implements decisions of the “Council”. Economic progress in PoK is primarily because of remittances from the over half a million “Mirpuris” living abroad. The Northern Areas of Jammu and Kashmir with a population of 2.8 million is, for all practical purposes, a colonial territory. People in the Northern areas have no fundamental legal, political or civil rights. The region is governed by the Frontier Crime Regulations, making it mandatory for its people to report all their movements. There are no empowered representative institutions and the Federal Minister of Kashmir Affairs is its Chief Executive. New Delhi should insist that it will consider General Musharraf’s proposal for “self-governance” only if elected rulers in PoK and the Northern Areas enjoy the same powers and autonomy as the Chief Minister and Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir. India should demand the disbanding of the Kashmir “Council” and the Muzaffarabad-based United Jihad Council. It should also be made clear that Sunni settlers brought into the Northern Areas since the 1980s should leave the territory, as we cannot countenance forcible demographic changes in a territory we regard as an inalienable part of India. Finally, we should insist that institutional arrangements have to be put in place to end the isolation of the people of the Northern Areas by permitting trade, travel and tourism across the Kargil-Skardu sector. Subtlety, understatement and excessive politeness are regarded by military rulers like General Musharraf as manifestations of indecision and weakness. New Delhi should never forget this in dealing with the ruling elite in
Pakistan.
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Humour in Parliament
In
a democracy based on party system,
Parliament functions under great stress and strain. But even in the
midst of confrontation, one comes across instances of wit, wisdom and
amusing remarks. Quoted below are some such observations in and about
legislatures in India and abroad: Once Giani Zail Singh, as Home
Minister, was piloting a Bill in the Rajya Sabha. Piloo Mody, a member
of the House, had participated in the debate. While replying to the
debate, Gianiji referring to Piloo Mody’s comments on the Bill,
stated in Hindi: "Piloo Mody to bade seasonal member hain".
The whole House started laughing. Another minister sitting next to
Gianiji, whispered to him to say that the word is "seasoned"
and not "seasonal". Thereupon Gianiji again said:
"Mujhe to angrezi thodi aati hai. Inko to inki biwi ne angrezi
padhai hai". Piloo Mody thumped his desk and raised a point
of order. The whole House was looking at Piloo Mody. The Deputy
Chairman asked: "What is your point of order?" Piloo Mody
stated: "Gianiji is grossly misinformed. My wife did not teach me
English. I taught her English." The whole House burst into
laughter once again. Piloo Mody’s wife was a Swiss. Mr Abdul
Gafur, as Union Urban Development Minister in the 80s, while replying
to a question on acute water shortage in Delhi, stated,
"Government has decided to augment water supply to Delhi from 150
to 250 mega watts per day". The whole House burst into laughter.
His brief from which he read, mentioned 150 MGD. The minister could
make no distinction between MGD and MGW. Sitting at the head of the
Table of the House, I wrote a small note to a minister sitting next to
Mr Gafur, saying, "Sir, I am also Dilliwala. I shall be grateful
if you could advise the Hon’ble Minister to give us only 100 kms of
water instead of 250 mega watts water". Much to my embarrassment,
the minister passed on that slip to Mr Gafur. Before he could read it,
I retrieved it from his desk saying that it was not meant for
him. The late Mr Madhavrao Scindia had a great sense of humour. Once
in a while he would write some humorous comment and pass it on to me.
One day, during question hour, he sent a note saying: "Secretary
General, you seem to have run out of your humour as we are running out
of funds for the Seventh Five Year Plan." I sent him a one liner
quoting a British Member of Parliament, saying: "The trouble with
political jokes is that half of them get re-elected". Acharya
J.B. Kriplani and his wife Sucheta Kriplani were both Members of the
Lok Sabha. While he was in the Socialist Party, Sucheta Kriplani was a
Congress Member. Once when a member drew the attention of Acharya
Kriplani to the fact that he was criticising the Congress party which
had attracted his own wife, the quick-witted Acharya retorted:
"All these years I thought Congressmen were stupid fools. I never
knew they were gangsters too who ran away with others’ wives".
The writer, Governor of Uttaranchal,
is a former Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha. |
Dateline Washington In
the midst of battling
lawsuits in India over purported violations at its plant in Kerala,
and charges of intimidating workers in Colombia the Coca-Cola company
has been hit by boycotts from students on some university campuses
across the United States and Britain. In an interview Kari Bjorhus,
Director of Health and Nutrition Communications at Coca-Cola Co. in
Atlanta, denies the allegations and says officials have responded to
"every request" for information on its business practices in
India. Excerpts: Question: The University of Michigan has
become the latest to boycott Coca-Cola. It accuses the firm of causing
environmental pollution in India and deadly violence against its
workers in Colombia. How do you react to these allegations? Answer:
The allegations are not true. Regarding Columbia, two different
judicial inquiries in Columbia — one in a Columbian court and one by
the Columbian Attorney General — found no evidence to support the
allegations that bottler management was complicit in violence against
union leaders. Q: Do U.S. universities make up big business
for Coca-Cola? Over a dozen have ended contracts with the firm. Are
these boycotts hurting the company? A: It’s difficult to
estimate the size of our college and university business because the
contracts are with individual bottlers (we have more than 70 bottlers
in the U.S.) or through third parties. But regardless of the sales
volume involved, we are concerned about these false allegations and
want to make sure that people know that our company has a history of
protecting worker rights, producing quality products and adhering to
rigorous environmental standards, and responding decisively when our
standards are not being met. We hope that other schools will look at
the facts and will not make decisions based on unsupported
allegations. Q: What is Coca-Cola doing to allay concerns
raised by universities? A: We have met administrators,
faculty and students on many campuses to discuss these issues and have
responded to every request for information on our business practices
in both Columbia and India. Additionally, we developed the Web site
www.cokefacts.org, to respond to these allegations. Q: Since
these charges first surfaced what has Coca-Cola done to change its
practices in India? A: I’d like to highlight several
accomplishments in our effort to improve our processes, address the
challenges facing us, and build trust with our partners and other
stakeholders. The Coca-Cola company has continued to reduce our water
use ratios in India (24 per cent between 2000 and 2004, from 5.12
liters per liter of product to 3.9). In fact, through our rainwater
harvesting initiative in Kerala, we would be able to return a
substantial percentage of the water we remove from the aquifers. Due
to the ongoing litigation that plant has been closed since March 2004.
However, we are working with the local communities to discuss the
future of the plant. We have installed rainwater-harvesting systems in
26 of our plants and in eight communities, and we are expanding these
efforts. Our Environment & Water Resources Department has
reinforced standards with our plant managers in India in connection
with the generation, composition and management of biosolids. Since
2003 we no longer distribute biosolids to any area farmers. We are
also furthering our work with industry associations and the Indian
government to encourage the development of additional solid waste
disposal sites and clear government policies regarding disposal. Q:
There are concerns in India and on U.S. university campuses that
Coca-Cola products contain pesticides. A: Regarding the issue
of pesticides, it is a well-known fact that pesticides are widely used
in agriculture in India, and if misused have the potential to
contaminate water sources and agricultural products. However, we
constantly monitor our ingredients and products for quality control
and continue to strengthen our processes and procedures to ensure that
involuntary contamination by pesticide residues is reduced to a level
well below the safety limits. Water used in our products is passed
through a multi-barrier water treatment system which includes an
activated granular carbon filtration and purification process designed
to ensure every drop is safe for use in our beverages. We test for
traces of pesticide residues in water to the level of parts per
billion, which is equivalent to one drop in a billion drops. Other
ingredients used in our soft drinks are safe and meet applicable
regulations. As stated by the (Indian) Minister of Health and Family
Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs in a speech on August 21, 2003,
"According to the standards prescribed under PFA Rules, the soft
drinks tested are well within the safety limits prescribed for
packaged drinking water at present." |
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GM: unborn babies could be ‘harmed’ Women
who eat GM foods while pregnant risk endangering their unborn babies, startling new research suggests. The study — carried out by a leading scientist at the Russian Academy of Sciences — found that more than half of the offspring of rats fed on modified soya died in the first three weeks of life, six times as many as those born to mothers with normal diets. Six times as many were also severely underweight. The research — which is being prepared for publication - is just one of a clutch of recent studies that are reviving fears that GM food damages human health. Italian research has found that modified soya affected the liver and pancreas of mice. Australia had to abandon a decade-long attempt to develop modified peas when an official study found they caused lung damage. And last May this newspaper revealed a secret report by the biotech giant Monsanto, which showed that rats fed a diet rich in GM corn had smaller kidneys and higher blood cell counts, suggesting possible damage to their immune systems, than those that ate a similar conventional one. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation held a workshop on the safety of genetically modified foods at its Rome headquarters late last year. The workshop was addressed by scientists whose research had raised concerns about health dangers. But the World Trade Organisation is expected next month to support a bid by the Bush administration to force European countries to accept GM foods. The Russian research threatens to have an explosive effect on already hostile public opinion. Carried out by Dr Irina Ermakova at the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, it is believed to be the first to look at the effects of GM food on the unborn. The scientist added flour from a GM soya bean — produced by Monsanto to be resistant to its pesticide, Roundup — to the food of female rats, starting two weeks before they conceived, continuing through pregnancy, birth and nursing. Others were given non-GM soyaand a third group was given no soya at all. She found that 36 per cent of the young of the rats fed the modified soya were severely underweight, compared to 6 per cent of the offspring of the other groups. More alarmingly, a staggering 55.6 per cent of those born to mothers on the GM diet perished within three weeks of birth, compared to 9 per cent of the offspring of those fed normal soya, and 6.8 per cent of the young of those given no soya at all. “The morphology and biochemical structures of rats are very similar to those of humans, and this makes the results very disturbing” said Dr Ermakova. “They point to a risk for mothers and their babies.” Environmentalists say that — while the results are preliminary — they are potentially so serious that they must be followed up. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine has asked the US National Institute of Health to sponsor an immediate, independent follow-up. The Monsanto soya is widely eaten by Americans. There is little of it, or any GM crop, in British foods though it is imported to feed animals farmed for meat. Tony Coombes, director of corporate affairs for Monsanto UK, said: “The overwhelming weight of evidence from published, peer-reviewed, independently conducted scientific studies demonstrates that Roundup Ready soy can be safely consumed by rats, as well as all other animal species studied.” — The Independent |
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Deficit of globalisation Fifteen
years ago it was fashionable to pronounce the eclipse of the nation-state. In a
globalised world, power would flow to supranational bodies: to the North American Free Trade Agreement, the World Trade Organization and the European Commission, and even to a United Nations freed from the paralyzing divisions of the Cold War. Today this trend appears exhausted. Supranational institutions are not exactly retreating, but they have run out of forward momentum. Start with economic institutions. The latest round of tariff-cutting talks under the auspices of the WTO is stalling, not because countries oppose trade but because they do not want to make concessions in this multilateral forum. Ambitions to deepen the WTO’s power to settle disputes beyond trade into labor and environmental issues have (fortunately) fizzled, while WTO rulings against protectionist European food regulation or American cotton subsidies don’t (unfortunately) cause those policies to be reformed quickly. The same story holds for NAFTA. In the 1990s there was talk of building NAFTA tribunals on labor and the environment into influential voices. It hasn’t happened. The International Monetary Fund is even more diminished. In the 1980s and 1990s, it had a place at the top table, leading the charge for economic reform in developing countries during the years of the debt crisis, then struggling to manage financial crises from East Asia to Russia to Latin America from 1997 to 2001. But now the East Asians have built up financial reserves, partly to withstand future financial shocks without the IMF’s assistance. Russia is high on petrodollars. And Brazil and Argentina recently paid off the IMF early in a gesture of independence. The world still faces big international financial issues, from the vast U.S. trade deficit to China’s currency manipulation, but the IMF has chosen to duck them. Meanwhile, the World Bank is struggling to define its role in a world awash with private lenders. Its new leader, Paul D. Wolfowitz, wielded power confidently when he was part of the Bush administration, but he is feeling his way along in his new job. Political institutions are in no better shape. Because of the rise of China and other big middle-income countries, the annual Group of Eight summits have lost their old claim to represent the world’s key players; now that Russia has assumed the G-8 presidency, the forum’s credibility has shrunk further still. Far from being reinvigorated by the end of the Cold War, the United Nations is in crisis: It is unable to respond decisively even to extreme moral affronts such as the Darfur genocide. It is tarnished by the oil-for-food scandal. And a laudable effort to modernize its institutions and doctrine petered out last year. The European Union has suffered the rejection of its new constitution at the hands of its voters, and NATO has been irrelevant in Iraq and has moved with imperfect unity and uncertain commitment into Afghanistan. No doubt the pendulum will swing back again. Some day another global trade round may be completed; Argentina’s leaders may trip over their own populism and return begging to the IMF. But for the moment the stalling of international institutions is striking — and troubling. Yes, democratic nation-states have more legitimacy and capability than international organizations; yes, they should remain the key units of international relations. But in a world knitted together by modern travel and communications, so many policy challenges cross national borders that institutionalized cooperation among nation-states must grow eventually. Financial crises, state failure, global warming, bird flu, terrorism: In the end there must be more than ad hoc answers to this constant succession of problems. — LA Times-Washington Post |
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From the pages of Guru-Ka-Bagh Episode
The Punjab Government appears to have no adequate idea either of the gravity of the situation at Guru-Ka-Bagh or of the issue it involves. “The action of the Police”, says communiqué, “has been adversely criticised in the Press and has been made the subject of exaggerated stories of wanton assault and indefensible behaviour. The Punjab Government has no confirmation of these stories which emanate from interested sources.” It would have been impossible for the Punjab Government to have put itself more decidedly in the wrong by any initial statement than it does by these words. It has so far made no independent enquiry of any kind. Could anything be more unreasonable than to dismiss the stories as “emanating from interested sources?” It is not true that all the accounts published in the newspapers are from “interested sources”. We emphatically repudiate that assertion so far as our own representative is concerned, and we are on safe ground in repudiating it equally emphatically in regard to the accounts we have published from such other sources as Professor Ruchi Ram Sahni and Rana Firoze Din. |
Though you don’t even know what will happen the next moment, you prepare for the distant future. Remember, Death comes suddenly like a hawk pouncing upon his prey. — Kabir It is fool who is constantly counting his belongings, his houses, his money, his sons, his lands. He is foolish in not knowing that he does not belong to himself, far less do houses, sons and money belong to him. —
The Buddha “But you will be taken out of there”: Life and death in the world are a temporary trial; the final return to ultimate truth takes the soul beyond the realm of worldly life and death. — Islam The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead. The soul acquires another body after death. The invisible spirit is eternal. The visible physical body is transitory. No one
can destroy the imperishable spirit. — Bhagavadgita Believe in Truth. There are many who discuss this great Supreme Truth but in their hearts of hearts, they do not believe in it. All their knowledge is futile. It is found actionless, built on a bed of shifting sand. —
Bhagavadgita See that man perform great ceremonies. See another make great scarifies. See the third man lead a life full of rituals. All these are in vain without love for God. —
Sanatana Dharma The world is the field of action. Through action one acquires knowledge.
— Ramakrishna |
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