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A surgeon insulted India’s nominee She sang for Punjab |
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For some
real poll reforms
The deserted village
Dateline
Washington Central Asia rediscovers Islamic roots
Grain exports and imports: a losing game
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A surgeon insulted THE Director of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr P Venugopal, being constrained to proceed on leave as a sign of his readiness to quit is an extremely unfortunate development. The provocation is Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss telling him that he is free to resign in response to Dr Venugopal protesting against political interference, which undermines the dignity and functioning of the institute. Dr Ramadoss, as President of the AIIMS, has been systematically belittling the authority of Dr Venugopal as Director, and replacing faculty and officials through his ministry’s Officer on Special Duty. As Dr Venugopal revealed at a press conference, he is disturbed by the humiliation of his faculty, officers, residents, students and staff; and it is because of his inability to prevent the minister running amok that he has let out his thought that be might resign his post. Such developments in the country’s premier medical institution are highly damaging and the government should have forthwith retreated from its intrusive actions that have generated deep resentment in the medical community. Far from doing that and allowing the institution to function with respect and autonomy, the minister further insults the Director and tells him that he should go ahead and quit. This just betrays his callous disregard for institutional autonomy. Further, Dr Ramadoss seems to be personally motivated by some illwill and grievance against AIIMS, its Director and faculty. These were no doubt aggravated in the climate of confrontation created by Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh’s move for further reservations in medical institutions. Instead of assuaging the feelings of those who have now returned to work and are restoring normality in the functioning of AIIMS, Dr Ramadoss has made matters worse. The situation is serious enough for the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to intervene before it gets further out of hand. There is a need for steps to be taken to ensure that a noted heart surgeon like Dr Venugopal does not have to go out of AIIMS humiliated by the Health Minister and his
babus.
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India’s nominee SENIOR UN functionary and the Great Indian Novel-fame Shashi Tharoor has impeccable credentials to be the next Secretary-General of the world body. He knows the UN system like the lines on his palm having been in its service since 1978. Known for his diplomatic skills, he has been a troubleshooter for Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Now that the Indian government has formally backed his candidature for the post, Mr Tharoor has crossed one major hurdle in his desire to head the UN. Under the rotational system agreed upon among the Security Council members, Mr Annan’s successor should be from Asia. While all this goes in favour of Mr Tharoor, there are many imponderables he has to reconcile himself to in achieving his mission. Much will depend upon India’s ability to drum up support for this London-born writer-turned-diplomat who grew up in Kolkata and Mumbai as he has formidable rivals. Of crucial importance is how India manages support for Mr Tharoor’s candidature from countries like China and Japan. This becomes difficult when there are already some powerful candidates from Thailand and Sri Lanka. Pakistan does not have the ghost of a chance to have one of its diplomats elected for this post but it is quite capable of putting a spanner in the Indian works, given the antipathy it has towards India. All this shows that backing Mr Tharoor is one thing and having him elected to the highest post in the UN quite another. If the manner in which India went about seeking support for its rightful claim to the membership of the Security Council is anything to go by, it has a long way to go in perfecting the art of winning friends and influencing them, to use a cliché. Given that only a limited time is left for the UN to decide on its next Secretary-General, the Indian government must use whatever clout it has in the world to ensure that its nominee wins. Mr Tharoor’s winning the top world job will be an honour for the country.
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She sang for Punjab IF you are a Punjabi, you would not recall even a single family function in the pre-remix era which had been solemnised without a Surinder Kaur song. Birth, marriage, death, all these events had featured in her singing and somehow one or the other song would be just right for a function in the house. “Maavan te dheeyan” was a permanent fixture at the time of every bidai, just as “Lathe di chadar” or “Bajre da sitta” were during the festivities earlier. This was the time when whatever she sang turned into a folk song. No one would go untouched by her melodies. This was perhaps because she chose her songs from everyday life itself. Some were traditional rural numbers, some she had picked up from her mother. No wonder, hers became the songs of the people. She and elder sister Prakash Kaur must have sung a majority of the immortal songs of Punjab of the forties, fifties and sixties. The same holds true of the memorable duets she sang with Asa Singh Mastana. And who can forget her rendering of Amrita Pritam, Mohan Singh and Shiv Kumar Batalvi? These gems had made her a legend in her lifetime itself. Now that she is gone, her songs will still be sung in every home in Punjab. It is some consolation that her daughter Dolly Guleria has put on her mantle. Her grand-daughter Sunaini too sings well. They have extra-large shoes to step into. Nobody can replace Surinder Kaur. Just following in her footsteps will be a big obeisance, considering that many other singers of Punjab today are going wild with experimental singing. It is ironic that the Padma Shri honour came her way, only when she was past 75. Even then, she was the nominee of Haryana, not Punjab. Politicians made many promises while honouring her. Few of these were honoured. It will be instructive to watch how her home state tries to do some thing in her memory.
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In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on. — Robert Frost
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For some real poll reforms
Maneesh Chhibber’s “Exclusive” (The Tribune, May 22) reporting the suggestions made by a Parliamentary Panel on electoral reforms evokes mixed feelings. A number of the suggestions made by this Parliamentary Committee on “Electoral Reforms” under the chairmanship of E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan, a Congress member of the Rajya Sabha, make eminent sense. Some of these pertain to derecognition of political parties which “even contain hints of communalism in their constitutions or manifestoes”, making it “mandatory for candidates contesting election to provide details of the income tax returns filed by the candidate and his or her family in the five years preceding the election”, “valuation of assets based on current market price and not the price when the property was originally purchased”, candidates being “allowed to take benefit of reservation by contesting on a reserved seat” only for two terms in his or her life, candidates not being allowed to contest for more than one seat. While setting up a Parliamentary Committee to make suggestions about improving the electoral system is obviously welcome, it does seem absolutely unnecessary in the current situation. The electoral system has been studied almost ad nauseam. Following up on several committees such as those headed by Dinesh Goswami and Indrajit Gupta among others, the final word on electoral reforms, I think, was said by the 15th Law Commission in its 170th Report on Electoral Reforms submitted to the government in May, 1999. Another recent and existing source of information on electoral reforms is the report of the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC), headed by a retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, appointed by the President in February 2000, which submitted its report in March 2002. In view of the detailed information and suggestions already available in the above sources, it seems quite unnecessary to have appointed another Parliamentary Committee to, what might well be said, rehash the same issue. Setting up of one body after another to study the same issue over decades can, quite justifiably, be interpreted as a disinclination to take real action. Given the possible disinclination of the political establishment to make any significant change in the existing system and the need for appearing to do something, one might even welcome both, the setting up and the suggestions of the Parliamentary Committee. Where the suggestions fall short is that they have left out what may, arguably, be said to be the most important component of the electoral system: the political parties. The Parliamentary Committee, going by the “exclusive” by Maneesh Chhibber, has not said anything about political parties. This may well be in keeping with the Constitution which is practically silent on the issue of functioning of political parties. Some of us might find it surprising that the Constituent Assembly, while crafting the longest written Constitution in the world, did not deem it necessary to mention anything about political parties. In my opinion this is because it was a group of principled and high-minded people who drafted the Constitution. I assume they must have thought that people similar to them will lead the country even in the years to come. The Law Commission Report as well as the report of the NCRWC are, however, not silent on the functioning of political parties. The Law Commission maintains that a democracy and particularly a parliamentary democracy without political parties is inconceivable. It is paradoxical that a number of them are highly undemocratic in their own internal functioning. We all know of political parties, and leading ones at that — both nationally and regionally — in which internal elections are hardly ever held. It is these internally undemocratic parties which often claim to be the upholders of the democratic tradition in the country or in their respective states. The total lack of transparency of the financial affairs of political parties is another anomaly. The Law Commission came to the conclusion that it is necessary to introduce internal democracy, financial transparency and accountability in the working of political parties...by law. In this connection, it has proposed that a new part titled “Organisation of Political Parties and matters incidental thereto” be added to the Representation of People Act. This will specify things such as regular holding of elections, transparency of financial affairs. Non-observance of these provisions will attract de-recognition as a political party. The Law Commission also suggests making it mandatory for all political parties to maintain detailed accounts, get them audited, and make then available for inspection and scrutiny by anyone, including general public. The recommendations also require the accounts to contain details of where and whom did the money came from and how it was spent, including itemwise details. The Commission considers it “absolutely essential” that such a law should be passed and also that it is implemented effectively. The Law Commission’s insistence on effective implementation is critical. The NCRWC, in its report of March 2002, has also recommended that “a comprehensive law regulating the registration and functioning of political parties or alliances of parties in India should be made”. The recommendation elaborates that every political party should hold “regular elections at an interval of three years at its various levels of the party”. Failure to do this “should invite the penalty of the party losing recognition”. The recommendations go on to suggest that it should be “compulsory for the parties to maintain accounts of the receipt of funds and expenditure in a systematic and regular way. All such details should be open and available to public for study and inspection.” (emphasis added). It is interesting that while the Parliamentary Committee has recommended that candidates should disclose details of the income tax returns filed by the candidate and his or her family in the five years preceding the election, it seems to have shied away from suggesting similar requirements for political parties. It should be clear from the above that the most important and critical reforms necessary for improving the electoral system and making it more representative of the public opinion is to regulate the functioning of the political parties “by law” so that political parties: (a) are required to be transparent and democratic in their internal functioning, and (b) have to be transparent and open to public scrutiny about the details of the sources of their finances and expenditure. Unless these two are done, electoral reforms will remain a
chimera. The writer is professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a founding member of the Association for Democratic Reforms.
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The deserted village We
had lived in Oxford for over six years and had no idea that there existed this old parish called Binsey right across the meadows to the west of Oxford. An Indian artist visiting Oxford had recommended it to us. When no one in our college could give us the directions we procured a map of Oxford, and one Sunday morning took this long and peaceful walk over Port Meadow, crossed the Thames and reached the other side. The first person we met was a young lady grazing her sheep in a nearby field who directed us to the village which we could see at a distance consisting of just a few houses; I think, there must have been five. As we walked into probably the smallest village in England, we were surprised that there was not a soul there. Perhaps, all the inhabitants had gone for work in the fields. We knocked at a door, thinking it was worth finding out if they let out any rooms so that we could return to stay in this quiet village some day. Only the livid bark of a dog answered our knock. Exasperated, we headed for the church of St Margaret. A narrow winding road led us to it, but there was nobody here either. Nevertheless, we entered the church, and were taken aback by the ancient furniture and the frescoes that furnished its interior. Deafening silence was all that we could hear. Luckily, a priest appeared after a while, cheerfully welcoming us and informing us that we were standing in the oldest documented church in England. He added that we were in for another pleasant surprise. Leading us to the West end of the church towards the bell tower, he showed us a tiny well that had a pretty, slanting roof. This is the holy well dedicated long ago to St. Frideswide. As the myth goes, she had fled to Binsey in her endeavour to escape marrying the king of Mercia who pursued her to the gates of the church only to be struck blind by lightning. But on her plea to God, a spring appeared, the waters of which healed the blind king. To our astonishment, it was this well which had inspired Lewis Carroll to imagine the ‘Treacle Well’ in Alice in Wonderland, “treacle” apparently meaning “healing unguent”. On our way back, I mused over my childhood reading of Alice in Wonderland and imagined Carroll almost a century ago standing at the same place conjuring up one of the most enthralling stories of the century. By now we had become quite thirsty. We decided to have a beer at the Perch, a pub dating back to the 16th century when it was an inn for the pilgrims visiting the church. And to our astonishment, there were not less than 200 visitors swarming over the lawns of the pub, a joyous gathering which I am sure included the villagers too, frolicking on that Sunday morning under Binsey poplars that Gerald Manley Hopkins wrote so delightfully about. No wonder the village had looked
deserted.
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Dateline Washington
DR Louay Bahry, an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, served as the chair of the Department of Public Administration at the University of Qatar and has taught at several universities, including the University of Tennessee, Ohio State University, and the University of Baghdad. In an interview, Dr. Bahry discussed the significance of terrorist leader Abu Musab Zarqawi’s death in a U.S. airstrike north of Baghdad last week and the brewing civil war in Iraq. Excerpts: Q: What does Abu Musab Zarqawi’s death mean for the insurgency in Iraq? A: It is a major blow for sure. He was the official representative of al Qaeda in Iraq and he had acquired a huge reputation as a tough, ruthless person who would stop at nothing. One should not under judge the consequences of his death they are huge. The remnants of al Qaeda in Iraq will need some time to reorganize. The question is will they be able to return to the same level of ruthlessness and brutality which they were at under Zarqawi? Q: Is ruthlessness going to be
A: Yes, he was a ruthless person. He inflicted vicious methods. Before him these were unknown – the beheadings, bombing of mosques, it is not comparable to anything. We had the civil war in Lebanon that lasted for over a decade and never did we see anything like this - when Muslims would attack churches or Christians attack the mosques. That never happened. Zarqawi waged a war against the Shias. He killed them, burned their mosques and executed them. This led the Shias to attack Sunni mosques, kill them and reciprocate with similar ruthlessness. He introduced new tactics and ruthless methods that were unknown in Iraq. Q: To what extent were his tactics responsible for the current fighting between the Shias and the Sunnis? A: He was responsible to a large extent for this. He expanded on his war from the first day. He initially declared he was acting against the Americans, and then he turned around and started saying he was trying to wipe out the Shias and establish a Sunni state in Iraq, and accused the Shias of being heretics and non-Muslims. He justified their killings and torture and kidnappings and burning of their mosques. He was responsible to a certain extent for the start of sectarian killings and brutality in Iraq. Q: There are reports that someone in his inner circle betrayed Zarqawi. Have cracks developed in the ranks of al Qaeda in Iraq? A: The Jordanians captured an Iraqi connected to al Qaeda a few months ago. He confessed about his relationship and led them to Sheikh Abdul Rahman, Zarqawi’s spiritual leader, and they put Jordanian agents behind him. This led ultimately to Zarqawi. To some extent the Jordanian security played an important role in opening the doors to Zarqawi. Q: Do you believe Zarqawi’s replacement, Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, will carry on Zarqawi’s legacy in Iraq with the same degree of brutality? A: We have to wait and watch for that. They just conducted more beheadings so they will probably continue the same tactics. Al-Muhajir might be an Iraqi. They would probably choose an Iraqi to carry on what they do. It takes time for leaders to come and do things. We have to see how they will try to reorganize themselves. Zarqawi’s death is a big loss. It is not a small thing. It will not be easy for them. Q: Is Osama bin Laden involved in picking the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq? A: The terrorists have their own hierarchy. The members of the Shura Council of the Mujahideen of Iraq have to approve the new leader. (The Mujahideen Shura Council is an umbrella organization made up of Jihadist groups in Iraq, including al Qaeda). Q: Is Iraq in the midst of a civil war? A: Yes. It is a low-intensity civil war concentrated in three provinces in Iraq – Baghdad, Diyala and Basra province where big Shia and Sunni areas exist. The insurgents are in most Sunni areas. The insurgent activities are much more widespread than the civil war. The insurgency is targeted against the American presence in Iraq and against what they consider a puppet government of the Americans. The people who are conducting the civil war are mostly religious people waging a war between Shias and Sunnis. Q: Has the security situation in Iraq reached the point of no return? A: There is no point of no return in Iraq. Iraq has never seen sectarian violence before. This started less than two years ago and intensified in the weeks after the explosions that led to the destruction of the sacred Shia shrine north of Baghdad on February 22. A few days later there was a spike in sectarian violence. Now it is not at the same level. But that does not mean it will not go up again. It all depends on the acts of the new government. On whether it can control the situation, whether sectarian forces will be disarmed, whether a new national unity government will be built up, and so on. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has only a few months to prove he can do something to start a dialogue with the Sunni insurgents. We are coming to a big political battle in Iraq, which is going to have consequences for years to come. It is a battle for the constitution. They are supposed to set up a committee to fill up the gaps in the constitution and finish that work. If they don’t do that this year it will be a problem. Q: Would the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq – or at least setting a timetable for such a withdrawal – ensure peace in the country? A: The problem is that the Iraqi government, up till now, doesn’t feel that it has full control. They feel that they need American presence to help them control the country. I don’t think the Americans want to leave their forces in Iraq indefinitely. There is a big movement in Washington to withdraw the troops from Iraq. Both the Iraqis and the Americans want the troops out but they are just waiting for an appropriate moment. How long that will take I cannot say. The Iraqi government needs to re-establish public services, provide water, electricity and security.
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Central Asia rediscovers Islamic roots TURKESTAN, Kazakhstan: In Soviet days, people walked past the Khoja Ahmed Yasawi mausoleum, a holy Muslim site in the steppe of southern Kazakhstan, and pretended it wasn’t there. “It was as if there was nothing but empty space. People were afraid to notice it,” Beisekul Aladasugirova, a middle-aged librarian, said as she pointed at the burial site of the 12-century Sufi mystic. “But now people are making up for that. Pilgrims come here in thousands, just like in the Middle Ages,” said Aladasugirova, who had travelled about 300 km (190 miles) to pray at the site. Today, the shrine with the blue-tiled facade is at the centre of an Islamic revival rolling across Central Asia. Some 15 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it is rediscovering its role as a centre for study and pilgrimage. Bearded men in robes, backpackers and scholars with copies of the Koran pray together underneath its green-and-gold dome, the largest of its kind in Central Asia. But the revival does not sit comfortably with most of Central Asia’s long-serving leaders who have been criticised by the West for using the Islamist threat as a pretext to clamp down on dissent and religious freedom. “After the Soviet collapse, the ideological vacuum was filled with all kinds of false teachings. It is only now that people are beginning to understand true Islam,” said Muzaffar Haji, a cleric in the ancient Silk Road town of Turkestan. “Only now people are beginning to see that (Central Asia) is not just a backyard of the Soviet Union, but a region with deep historical roots ... But it’s a different question whether political leaders have the same goals.” A resurgence of Islam and its practices in the dying years of the Soviet Union formed part of a desire to break with communism which had tried to quash religious traditions. Mosques and religious schools have mushroomed across the region. Studying Islamic law and Arabic abroad – mainly in Turkey and Saudi Arabia – became popular among young people. The revival has not been welcomed by the region’s leaders, increasingly autocratic and criticised for human rights abuses. As in Soviet days, Uzbekistan tolerates only a state-approved version of Islam. It has cracked down on all groups operating outside the system as part of its fight against Islamist militants who, it says, seek to overthrow President Islam Karimov. Karimov says Islamist “terrorists” attempted to stage a coup in the town of Andizhan last year. Witnesses estimate hundreds of unarmed people were killed when government troops opened fire on a large crowd. The government says 187 people – either Islamist extremists or police – were killed. The West has criticised Uzbekistan for using the uprising as an excuse to step up its campaign against dissent. Many Uzbeks fear they will be labelled extremists if they speak publicly about Islam. Many Muslims who have breached the tight restrictions imposed by the state have ended up in jail. “We hear all the time about extremists, about (the puritanical form of Islam) Wahhabism, (Islamist group) Hizb ut-Tahrir. It’s all empty talk,” said Umarali, 58, a pilgrim from Uzbekistan’s Ferghana Valley, where the Islamic revival has been most intense. His fellow pilgrims nodded but declined to talk. Wahhabism, the official religion in Saudi Arabia, is a term used pejoratively in Central Asia and Russia to describe Islamic militants. Hizb-ut Tahrir calls for the establishment of a worldwide caliphate through non-violent means and campaigns mainly by issuing leaflets. It is banned in Central Asia. Experts say the only real militant force in Central Asia, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, is largely defunct after being wiped out by the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. “There are radicals and evil people in every religion,” said Sayebek Kulmakhanbetov, a senior cleric at another holy site, the 11-12th century Aisha Bibi shrine near the Kazakh city of Taraz. “Evil forces make people commit acts of terror... Officially we have a democratic state but many people are afraid to talk.” Tajikistan, where Islamists and President Imomali Rakhmonov’s Moscow-backed government fought a civil war in the 1990s, is the only Central Asian state with a registered Islamic opposition group. Islam dates back to the 7th century in Central Asia, but the region is still torn between its Soviet and Islamic pasts, with Muslim traditions often intertwined with communist habits. In Turkmenistan, President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov tightly controls all aspects of life and tolerates no dissent. His book “Rukhnama” – a collection of his thoughts and quotes – is kept alongside the Koran in state mosques. Absattar Derbisaliyev, Kazakhstan’s chief mufti, is a former member of the Soviet communist party. Now, young Central Asians, who matured after the Soviet collapse, want a clearer division, with many seeking an end to state meddling in religious matters. Imam Esirkep Meiranbek is one of the youngest religious leaders in Central Asia. The 25-year-old says his purpose is to teach a form of Islam that has nothing to do with politics. His mosque in the Kazakh town of Kentau was opened only a month ago, sponsored by a member of parliament. A leaflet explaining why extremism is bad is posted on one of the walls. Meiranbek, wearing an embroidered skullcap, says the number of pupils at his Islamic school tripled to 90 after the opening. “We teach them how to be clean, how to eat healthy food, how to do good things. ... It’s the first time in the history of our town that we have our own mosque,” he said. “People come here from far away. It was worth working for... Because this is our own little revival.”— Reuters
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Grain exports and imports: a losing game India is moving on the fast track in integrating its economy with that of the world. But it seems as if the hidden objective of the decision makers in exporting 35.6 million tons of food grains during the five years ending September 2005, and over 3.5 million tons in nine months of 2005, was to bring down the stocks to such a level that they could import grains in the name of short stocks. The government decided to import 0.5 million tons of wheat in early January, 2006, while they had exported 0.56 million tons of wheat in 2005 up to the month of September. The quantity of wheat to be imported was then increased to 3.5 million tons. This indicates that the government has decided to play at the margin of buffer stocks, buying and selling just like shares are traded in the stock exchange by gamblers. However, the intention here is not trading for profit. According to the Union Ministry of Agriculture food security will be ensured through imports. Against the tenders floated for 3.5 million tons of wheat, offers have been received for 1.3 million tons only. This indicates that international market is very thin for wheat. India cannot therefore import wheat at favourable prices and in no case below the minimum support price at which wheat is procured from our farmers. When off loading wheat into the international market, our exports did not realize even half of the procurement and handling costs incurred. Some lots were sold even below the BPL prices. India has been, thus, operating in the buyers’ market when selling its wheat and is now operating in a sellers’ market while purchasing wheat from the international market! It is bankruptcy of policy that we lose on both ends, at the cost of surplus producers of food grains. This is also at the cost of the consumers because the economic cost of foodgrain supplies would be higher in both the situations – whether we export surpluses or import during shortages. While the government thus plays like a speculator does in stock market, the difference is that the gambler there wins and loses, but the government here is always at the losing end. In the final count, it is the farmers, consumers and the honest taxpayers who pay for this losing game played by the central government. The story repeats itself with rice. The international market for rice is traditionally thin. If we lose all the way in the wheat market which is much deeper, one can imagine the situation when India puts a few million tons of rice in the international market. Even small quantities demanded or supplied by India influences the volatile international market. Even the intention to buy or sell destabilises the international market. It should not be forgotten that India, in spite of all the inefficiencies involved, has been successful in developing an effective system of procurement of food grains through minimum support prices and in improving the access to food for the poor through extensive public distribution system. No doubt these two vital systems need streamlining at this stage, for improvement of their efficiency and effectiveness. Yet, fiddling with these systems and taking recourse to open end liberalisation of trading in food grains in the name of food security will amount to jumping from one roof to another which does not exist. Playing in the international market is the creed of the strong and honest. Unfortunately both these traits are conspicuous by their absence in our system of governance.
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From the pages of S.R.C. Paradoxes It is a truism to say that the States reorganisation problem has cast up more paradoxes than any single issue in the last 50 years. And yet it is not quite a truism. We know that every party has broken up into its linguistic components and that Governments have been as partisan as any group or party outside. The position of vantage conferred by office has been fully availed of to press a favoured cause. The scrupulous avoidance of the word “language” or “linguistic” in naming the Commission, the various committees that have re-examined the proposals and even the agitation, has become a joke, and an unpleasant joke at that, in the face of the unabashed and unbridled pursuit of the interest of one or other language. Most paradoxical of all is the attitude of pious dedication to “larger national interests” affected in more than one quarter, which offers no better cover to the narrow language interest beneath, than the title now worn to shreds of “States reorganisation.”
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