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Outrage in Afghanistan General view |
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Numbers game
Farmers driven to suicide
Take care
Shackled ombudsman Impact of Iran’s Russian missile defence deal Chatterati
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Outrage in Afghanistan
The Taliban thugs have done it again. They have killed the Indian engineer, K. Suryanarayana, whom they had abducted on Friday. An employee of a Bahrain firm, he is the second victim of the enemies of peace and of Afghanistan, who eliminated a Border Roads Organisation driver, Maniyappan Raman Kutty, last November in a similar manner. Their crime: they were working for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. India has rightly refused to be browbeaten by the Taliban terrorists, who wanted New Delhi to pull out all Indians working in Afghanistan by Sunday evening. The Indians, engaged in mainly infrastructure-building activities in that war-torn country, are there with the full support of the people and government of Afghanistan. The killings by the Taliban are obviously intended to terrorise the Indians, though considered friends and well-wishers by the Afghans in general. India realises the difficulties of Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai regime, fighting to eliminate the Taliban with all its means, but without much success. President Karzai, who has condemned the killing of the Indian engineer in the strongest terms, deserves the unflinching support of the international community in dealing with these forces of death and destabilisation. Despite the humiliating defeat of the hated Taliban regime at the hands of the US-led coalition, these terrorists continue to remain active in certain inaccessible regions and the areas bordering Pakistan. They are the biggest threat to peace and stability in Afghanistan as well as the entire region. They should be put down with all the force that can be commanded by the US and its allies in the war against terrorism. The killing of Suryanarayana is a grim reminder of the Taliban menace. There is need to expose the outside forces providing sustenance to the Taliban. Given the urgent need for stability, Mr Karzai has to take up the matter with the international community with greater determination. Afghanistan’s reconstruction cannot proceed undisturbed so long as the terrorists in the garb of the Taliban remain alive. India will have to ensure better security for its nationals working there. At the same time, it is necessary to pursue and punish Suryanarayana’s killers. |
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General view
An account of the Kargil war from the man who was Army Chief during those months is bound to attract attention. There is much in General V.P. Malik’s Kargil: From Surprise to Victory, to engage and reward scrutiny. The colossal intelligence failure that enabled hundreds of Pakistani soldiers of the Northern Light Infantry to intrude 10 kms into Indian territory, to occupy several heights over a frontage of 160 kilometres, has expectedly received a lot of attention. So has the role of air-power, the nuclear question, and the outstanding valour of young Indian officers leading from the front, and their indomitable men. While the Indian Army eventually did evict the intruders, it was at sizable cost. As General Malik candidly points out, application of combat superiority even at the ratio of 8:1 was not enough. Operations were successful only at 9:1. To this day, Pakistanis prefer to think of themselves as having been overwhelmed by numbers and not by valour. But the fact of course is that the Pakistanis were sitting on the heights and Indian assault teams had to clamber up with little cover to get to them. Moreover, there were several cases of hand-to-hand combat with the Indian soldier single-handedly accounting for several members of the enemy. But Kargil, clearly, should not have happened in the first place. We live in different times now and many lessons have been learnt. We can safely assume that the set-up for obtaining both strategic and tactical intelligence is much better. We are also unlikely to be hesitant about deploying air-power – yes, it is escalatory, but it can also be withdrawn at the same speed. Tiger Hill took hits from laser-guided bombs delivered by IAF Mirages before it could be felled. We have a one-meter resolution satellite and scores of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance. There is reason to believe that there won’t be a Kargil repeat. But there can be something else. Warfare is about surprise, and generals have to prepare for the next war, not the last one. We should be ready. |
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Numbers
game
When politics sneaks into any social issue, it vitiates the whole atmosphere and defeats the basic purpose of even well-meaning moves. Unfortunately, that is what has happened in the case of the reservation issue also. It is being milked more for the sake of how many votes it can fetch, rather than for empowering the deprived sections of society. Many half-baked ideas are in the air, which can be counter-productive – and even downright dangerous — if implemented. One such is to increase the quantum of reservation for persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes in proportion to their population. The plan is reportedly being prepared by the Social Justice Ministry, which has cited the 2001 census to justify the move. Nobody seems to have thought of the undesirable consequences it can entail. The most debilitating can be the possibility of a similar demand being raised by other sections, the OBCs for example. That will not only give fillip to divisive forces in the country, it will also require that the reservation limit of 50 per cent fixed by the Supreme Court is breached. That is why the idea needs to be culled right at the embryonic stage. As it is, there is so much of churning in the country because of the plan to introduce reservation in institutions of higher learning. The country can do without such disruptive policies. Now that the Left has expressed its opposition to the idea in no uncertain terms, it is all the more necessary to abandon it in the absence of the necessary consensus. The proposal has another dangerous dimension. If at all proportionate reservation is given, it will be tantamount to rewarding a particular caste for the unbridled increase in its population. That will run counter to the family planning endeavour and strengthen the hands of parochial community leaders who have been advising their kinsmen to proliferate, unmindful of the need for controlling the runaway population increase. |
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’Tis not enough to help the feeble up,/ But to support him after.
— William Shakespeare |
Farmers driven to suicide
Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, the prosperous states with a rich output of food as well as commercial crops, industrially vibrant, politically aware, technologically and financially up-to date, yet in their villages the hapless tillers of the land and the faithful sons of the soil are succumbing to a tempting long noose. Or to pesticides that proved so ineffective at their real job. In the past few years over 20,000 farmers have killed themselves. Debt-to-death tragedy is a recent phenomenon. Earlier, Jat Sikh farmers even hesitated to admit debt in their families. Suicide is not a matter of shame anymore. Villagers speculate who’s next. Death by suicide is among the most horrible consequences of the policies of the government. What is even more shocking is that the government ignored the repeated cries of distress of the peasantry. Sale of kidneys by farmers, farmers villages on sale and suicide deaths of farmers are now common affairs. Humiliation resulting from harassment by moneylenders is the main reason for farmers’ suicides. They charge interest at exorbitant rates ranging from 24 per cent to 60 per cent. But at the same time the farming community depends upon private moneylenders for 75 per cent to 80 per cent of its financial needs. Institutional credit meets only 20 per cent to 25 per cent of its requirements. The burden of the agrarian crisis has obviously fallen on the small and marginal farmers. An average holding in India is only 1.4 hectare, only 15 per cent of the farmers can be called large. Nearly half of Indian farmers are crippled by debt. Average debt of an Indian farmer household is Rs 12,585. Every farmer household in Punjab having an average indebtedness with Rs 41,576 tops the indebtedness graph. A Haryanvi farmer’s family carries the debt burden of Rs 26,007. The states of Punjab and Haryana thus are paying the price for becoming the food bowl of the nation. The Indian farmer needs a new deal or else, marginalised by the new economy and orphaned from the state support, the kisan faces a certain debt. Agriculture in India as well as elsewhere is uneconomic. But in European countries it is kept on artificial life support. The US and the European Union are providing $1 billion a day subsidy to their farmers; we in India are debating to bring agriculture under income tax net. The OECD estimates that subsidising farmers produces a tax burden of $ 1,000 a year on each family of the US, the EU and Japan. But taxpayers there don’t complain. Paradoxically, the Indian farmers are being exploited by one and all. Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is on the job for central economic package to avoid suicides of the farmers. He, however, could not touch the major cause of suicide at a meeting of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka at Hyderabad on April 10. Above all, he ignored the cases of suicides in the Green Revolution belt. Besides economic relief, some legal measures will be needed to help the debt-ridden farmers. At present, 300 million people in India are malnourished. The successful effects of the green revolution, which helped avoid death and famine in India, are beginning to fade with agricultural output reaching a plateau. With India’s population expected to reach approximately 1.5 billion people by 2050, agriculture production needs to increase 100 per cent. We, therefore, are aspiring for an evergreen revolution which cannot be brought out without the active involvement of the peasantry of Punjab and Haryana. The full extent of indebtedness in Punjab and Haryana is not known to many people. At present, the rural debt in Punjab amounts to over Rs 24,000 crore and it aggregates to about Rs 13,000 crore in Haryana. It is back to square one. The first half of the last century had been quite an eventful period in the political history of Punjab. It was the arrival of Chhotu Ram era (1923-1945) in the province. Sir Chhotu Ram was one of the rare souls who descended on earth to save masses from torture and exploitation. The immediate task that awaited his innate creative genius was to jerk the peasants out of their centuries-old slumber, so as to make them conscious of all those causes and conditions that accounted for their exploitation at the hands of the unscrupulous moneylenders. Priority was accorded to the task of welding them into the unity of a forceful organisation. Sir Chhotu Ram had to move heavens and earth to do what he thought he ought to do in the fulfilment of his predetermined mission — debt-free peasantry. The moneylending class, the Muslim Leaguers, etc, were hungry for his blood yet Sir Chhotu Ram remained unruffled and much to the rejoicing of his supporters and the displeasure of his detractors he got as many as nine Acts passed in the Punjab Legislative Council. All these enactments, ever to emanate from a single mind, presented a proud record of Chhotu Ram’s political life. He had amply justified the various epithets his countless admirers had so affectionately showered on him; such as “Rehbar-i-Azam” and “Deenbandhu”. The Restitution of Mortgaged Land Act of 1938 terminated all old mortgages existing before June 8, 1901, when the Punjab Alienation of Land Act had come into effect. It is in this way that an estimated 3, 65,000 peasants became the owners once again of 83,500 acres of land which in the remote past had been taken away by the moneylenders under the laws of land then in force. Thereafter, a new peasantry rose in Punjab and transformed the agricultural scenario which culminated in green revolution. It was the greatest political experiment carried out by Sir Chhotu Ram. It had no precedent. During 20th century three revolutions involving peasantry were witnessed. The Russian revolution (1917) and the Chinese revolution (1948) came after shedding blood. The third revolution, “Kisan Mukti Kranti” witnessed in Punjab in 1938 and brought out by Sir Chhotu Ram was a bloodless one. But his ethical idealism has been ignored by almost all writers which, in my opinion, is not fair to a true understanding of the great peasant leader. The fact that he contrived to do something really remarkable has immortalised his name in the annals not only of the Punjab but also entire country. On the 125th birth anniversary of Sir Chhotu Ram being celebrated this year many loud voices are coming out from various quarters to provide relief to the heavy debt burdened peasantry of Punjab and Haryana under Chhotu Ram’s enactments. It will be a real tribute to Kisan Messiah — Chhotu
Ram.
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Take care
OK! Bye then. Nice being with you. Take care, huh?” “It was great talking to you and catching up. Now you’d better keep in touch. Bye sweetie, take care!” “Dear Mom, this is just a short mail to tell you that I’m doing fine here. Couldn’t catch up with you earlier but I’ll be more in touch now. Bye. Love you. Take care!” This “take care” business bamboozles me. Take care of what? Everyone is always advising everyone else to take care. So am I to take care to lock the gate after they have left? Or am I to take care to dust my shoes on the doormat before I enter my house? Or must I take care to modulate my voice to an acceptable level when I speak to the servant? Perhaps it’s all about appearance! I should be taking care to wear clean and ironed clothes or should I take care to brush my teeth before I go to bed? Aha! Got it. I’ve got to take care to groom my pet dog. Or maybe, I should take care to cover the milk pateela. I was finally a bit irritated with this phrase after I’d been asked 18 times that day to “take care, haan!”. I demanded of the last “take carers” just what it was that I was supposed to be taking care of? “It’s just a phrase” they replied. “Why get so hassled about it? Just chill yaar!” CHILL! That’s another one of those phrases! Chill what? Chill the milk? Chill the coke? Chill the water? Its funny how all these “phrases” just leave you dangling midair. What do they mean? Where do they come from? How come the world is using them with impunity with nobody challenging them? I decided to enquire of one of my friend in the Department of English in Panjab University. Surely the academia was concerned about this insouciant use of phrases that left you floundering for meaning. “Oh, yes. One has noticed the use of such new-age phrases among the metropolitan English speakers,” said she “But why let it disturb you? Let it go. Enjoy!” Oh! Does it ever end? Enjoy? Enjoy what? Enjoy a movie? Enjoy a walk? Enjoy some golguppas at the chaatwalas? How could such unqualified “phrases” have acquired such significance in the Queen’s language? I finally convinced myself that I shouldn’t react so strongly at what were after all only “signing off” phrases which started as being “different” for most users. Too bad they are getting so overused and as such, clichéd and dull, dull, dull. Guess I’ve got to be happy with that. Ciao then. Be seeing you. Till then, chill, enjoy and do take care,
haan? |
Shackled ombudsman
With the passing of the Lokayukta Bill by the State Assembly decks were cleared for the appointment of a Lokayukta in Haryana, for independent enquiry and investigations into allegations of corruption and grievances against public servants. Hopes were raised for impartial redressal of public grievances and for just administration, as the Lokayukta, enjoying the terms and conditions of service of a serving High Court Judge, was empowered to take cognizance suo-motu or otherwise of allegations of corruption against public servants. It was stipulated that to initiate an enquiry in any case, it would conduct a preliminary probe either by itself or direct any other person to do so, for ascertaining the existence or reasonable ground for further investigation. And if the charges were found wholly or partly established, a report containing his recommendations and suggestions was to be sent to the competent authority under intimation to the complainant and the public servant concerned. The report was to be examined within a time frame of three months and then action taken thereon was to be communicated to it. Despite all these provisions in the Act, the appointment of the first Lokayukta was delayed by almost two years, putting a question mark on the intention of the State Government. And when it was appointed on January 5, 1999, it is interesting to note it was not allowed to start working because of the sheer apathy of the political bosses at the helm of affairs of the state. This is how the government can make any powerful enactment bite the dust as and when it so desires. The government that followed went a step ahead and made a mockery of the institution by killing it in its infancy through getting an Ordinance promulgated for repealing the Lokayukta Act, 1997 on the pretext of providing it with additional teeth. The result was obvious. The first Lokayukta was removed abruptly on September 18, 1999, just after 8 months in flagrant contravention of Article 310 (2) of the Constitution of India. What an apt example of the wayward ways of the politicians in power. Again, a new Lokayukta Law was enacted in 2002 and several changes were introduced, perhaps with a view to make it more pliable and suitable to the whims and fancies of the politicians running the government. To be specific, the whole gamut of actions of a public servant i.e. administrative decisions, recommendations, findings, were brought within the ambit of the Act by inserting a new clause. The meaning of the word ‘grievance’ was widened by covering various dimensions of mal-administration. Further the competent authority was bifurcated in two parts i.e. ‘the Governor’ in the case of complaints against the Chief Minister and the ‘Chief Minister’ in the case of complaints against all other public servants. Consultation with the Leaders of Opposition was made ‘persuasive’ instead of obligatory on the part of the Chief Minister. Taking advantage of this provision in the Act, the then Chief Minister, O.P. Chautala tried to appoint former Justice N.K. Kapoor as Lokayukta without any consultations with the Leader of Opposition. But his move in this direction was thwarted as Justice Vashistha had already approached the Supreme Court to seek compensation for his term appointment as the first Lokayukta. More strikingly, another blow was dealt to the office by removing the powers of taking cognizance of allegations of corruption suo-motu and of making enquiry into such allegations committed in the past. This has made the institution weak and fully dependent on the initiative of the government. It is undoubtedly endowed with powers of search and seizure by invoking Section 93 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and Contempt of Court Act, 1971. The experience of the past nine years has shown that politicians in power have never been serious even about the appointment of the Lokayukta. They have rather fiddled with the Lokayukta Act with a veiw to making it weak and dependent on the government. The intention of the state government can be well gauged from the fate of the first Lokayukta who was hounded out of its office by repealing the Lokayukta Act, 1997. As a matter of fact no political party in power wants the office of the Lokayukta to become powerful and pose a challenge to its might. It is because of this inherent fear that the Haryanvis have virtually had no Lokayukta for the last nine years. Even the Congress government that assumed office in March 2005 has delayed the appointment of the 2nd Lokayukta. Now we have former Justice N.K. Sud appointed as 2nd Lokayukta on January 16, 2006 after a gap of over 6 years. The new Lokayukta has asserted that he would be quite independent, impartial, transparent and objective in his functioning. However, it would not be easy for him to do so in view of the past experience and several shortcomings in the Act. No provision for relief to the people from administrative failures and injustices on the pattern of Swedish Ombudsman has been made in the Act as such. It is now an investigative agency whose recommendations can be disapproved by a majority of the members of the State Legislature, or simply gather dust in the shelves if the government so desires. The onus to prove the allegations being on the complainant visited by severe punishment in the case of his failure is nothing but an additional attempt to prevent the people, who hitherto haven’t been much active, from exposing the corrupt in the administration. Further, no provisions have been made in the Act to protect it from intentional insult or interruption or disrepute caused during the course of enquiry, which may make it feel insecure and unsafe deterring it from independent and impartial functioning. Lastly, the Act can, as was done by the Chautala government in 1999, be repealed at any time on any pretext with motives best known to powers-that-be only. All this seems to suggest that the Lokayukta law has been enacted only to ward off criticism of corruption in public life. And it is this underlying intentions that has kept the Lokayukta in Haryana a
non-starter. ———— The writer is Head, Department of Public Administration, M.D. University, Rohtak. |
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Impact of Iran’s Russian missile defence deal
Let me tell you about the next war. It will start sooner than you think — sometime between now and September. And it will be precipitated by the $700 million Russian deal this week to sell Tor M1 air defense missile systems to Iran. When the war begins, it will be between Iran and Israel. Before it ends, though, it may set the whole of the Middle East on fire, pulling in the United States, leaving a legacy of instability that will last for generations and permanently ending a century of American supremacy. Despite the high stakes, the Bush administration seems barely to have noticed the danger posed by the Russian missile sale. But the signs are there, for those inclined to read them. As international pressure over their nuclear program mounts, the Iranians have become increasingly bellicose toward the U.S. and Israel. Israel has upped the rhetorical heat as well. In June 1981, Israel unilaterally launched an air strike against a nuclear reactor near Baghdad. Iran’s nuclear facilities are dispersed and well-concealed, making a pre-emptive Israeli strike far more difficult this time around. But there’s no reason to doubt Israel’s willingness to try. Of course, there’s no firm evidence that Iran has offensive nuclear capabilities. And even a successful military strike against Iran would be a risky move for Israel, potentially igniting region wide instability. Absent external meddling, Israel has a substantial incentive to wait to see if a diplomatic solution can be found. But Russian brinksmanship is about to remove Israel’s incentive to pursue a peaceful diplomatic path. Russian leaders continue to mouth the usual diplomatic platitudes about democracy and global cooperation, but Russia is actually playing a complex double game. On Tuesday, Russia launched a spy satellite for Israel, which the Israelis can use to monitor Iran’s nuclear facilities. On the same day, Russian leaders confirmed their opposition to any U.N. Security Council effort to impose sanctions against Iran, and their intention to go through with the lucrative sale of 29 Tor M1 air defense missile systems to Iran. The upcoming deployment of Tor missiles around Iranian nuclear sites dramatically changes the calculus in the Middle East, and it significantly increases the risk of a regional war. Once the missile systems are deployed, Iran’s air defenses will become far more sophisticated, and Israel will likely lose whatever ability it now has to unilaterally destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities. To have a hope of succeeding, any unilateral Israeli strike against Iran must take place before September, when the Tor missile deployment is set to be completed. So what is Russia up to? Andrei Piontkovsky, a Russian political analyst, suggests that Russia’s oil and gas oligarchs wouldn’t shed any tears over a war in the Middle East, especially if it’s a war that ensnares the U.S. and keeps oil prices high. Even so, it may not be too late to avert a new war in the Middle East. A quiet but firm U.S. threat to boycott the G-8 summit in July in St. Petersburg might inspire Russian President Vladimir V. Putin to freeze the missile transfer. And a promise to facilitate Russian entry into the World Trade Organization might even get Russia’s oil and gas oligarchs on board. Freezing the missile sale would buy crucial time to find a diplomatic solution to the stalemate over Iran’s nuclear program. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking.
By arrangement with LA-Times–Washington Post |
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Chatterati The BJP really seems to be jinxed at the moment. Atal Bihari Vajpayee is still a man in demand whereas Advani is desperately trying to make his presence felt through his “Rath Yatra”. Uma Bharti and Madan Lal Khurana, of course, have their own problems. In Madhya Pradesh the BJP has been unlucky from the start — three Chief Ministers in three years and then Uma Bharti. The BJP members who were looking forward to Madan Lal Khurana unveiling the CD of BJP leaders allegedly in scandalous mode will have to wait now for sometime. The former Chief Minister has postponed the great event, given that Pramod Mahajan is battling for his life in hospital. In UP, Kalyan Singh is also in the hospital. The two main strategy guys for the Rae Barelli elections are thus out of action. Poor Vinay Katiyar has been left on his own to fight Sonia Gandhi. Persuasive power In their glittering saris and red lipstick, they barge into the middle of a queue in front of a polling booth in Kolkata. They clap, laugh, make bawdy comments and even abuse in Bengali. The eunuchs have arrived. This time they were not hankering for money. The intention is political: send the voters scampering home. Sure enough, they were paid by the rival party. For the 8000-odd transgendered people in West Bengal, the first phase of assembly elections gives scope for a different type of tamasha. When 60-70 voters of the rival party line up before the booth, the eunuchs get a signal to go ahead and start their tamasha. Disgusted, they leave. The eunuchs’ interest in elections ends there. Most of them are amused that they are in demand during elections — though for all the wrong reasons. Before polling begins, the local politicians approach the “guru mata” or the head of a tribe of one particular area. Since they don’t have any political favourites, the highest bidder is chosen. But hardly a significant vote bank, they are forgotten after that. An NGO that works with transgenders all over India insist there must be some reservation for sexual minorities too. Does anyone from the community want to stand for elections? No! But they don’t also vote. High flying baraat The rich and famous have their weddings at 5 Star hotels, with streams of imported cars and event managers flying in from all over the world. But the best are the rural landlords in Noida who have taken to flying in helicopters for the wedding. Sometime back the son of Rakesh Bhatti from Salarpur flew to Delhi in a helicopter for his wedding. Next morning, with all the wedding formalities over, the groom flew back with his bride. Now this whole event was enough for other villages to nearly die of envy and determined to make sure that they had their weddings in similar style too. The cost of these flights is usually around two lakhs a trip. There are other expenses which nearly cost as much, like fire tenders and police security for landing and of course keeping the crowd at bay. |
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From the pages of San Francisco Conference
The determination of the big Powers assembled at San Francisco to prevent the small Powers from making their voice in international counsels more effective than it is at present is ominously significant. The old desire that the small Powers should in all vital matters allow their will to be subordinated to the will of the big Powers persists. As the big Powers are themselves at logger-heads, the small Powers which have hardly any means of asserting their united will must naturally join this upper group or that according to their proclivities. As the war is coming to a close power politics are reasserting themselves. Whatever may be the real motive and ultimate object of the USSR, there is no doubt that at present it is also concerned more with somehow gaining the upper hand in international affairs than with ensuring the liberation of all parts of the world and ending the exploitation of man by man and nation by nation. The leading Powers have their own ambitions and their own plans. They are more or less clearly reflected at the San Francisco Conference. The British refusal to liberate India and the Anglo-American reluctance to scrap the colonial system are obviously indicative of the fact that the real causes of war will remain unremedied. |
Who can satisfy lust? One after another they fly thick like a cloud of locusts, picking on the harvest man, leaving the fields bare and denuded. The man who knows this and avoids lust is
wise. — The Buddha A word or deed is said to be frivolous when it causes no substantial loss or material injury to its object, although done or said with a mischievous or bad
intention. — The Koran A man living in society should make a show of tamas to protect himself from evil-minded people. But he should not harm anybody in anticipation of harm likely to be done to
him. — Ramakrishna |
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