O P I N I O N S

Perspective

Criminal justice reforms
CrPC amendment a big relief for undertrials
by Mandeep Tiwana
The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2005 now enables undertrial prisoners, except those charged with offences punishable by death, to be released on personal bonds if they have served more than half the sentence for the crime they are being tried for.

Civil-military relations on focus
by Brig M.P. Singh (retd)
India is the world’s largest democracy. The supremacy of the civil authority over the military has been projected consistently in the post-Independence period. This is important because Pakistan fell a prey to military rule time and again.

OPED

Equal rights for women
by Jaswant Singh Sidhu
The amendment to the Hindu Succession Act (1956) is most welcome. The Act is unique in that it removes defects regarding devolution of property, makes the Hindu law of succession uniform throughout the country and abolishes the Marumakathayam and Namboodiri laws in Malabar as the latter are in conflict with the former. It takes away the concept of Stridhana altogether. Like men, women too can acquire and hold property.

Profile
A fascinating journey for Lakshmi Mittal
by Harihar Swarup
This man is out to be “Alexander” of the world of steel. Having merged his company — Mittal Steel — with Dutch steel giant Arcelor, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, has formed the world’s largest steel entity. Arcelor-Mittal would be titan of the conglomerate, producing 120 million tonnes of steel a year, employing 3.2 lakh people across production centers in several countries. That would make Arcelor-Mittal three times the size of the now second largest, the Japanese firm, Nippon Steel.

Diversities — Delhi Letter
NCW must rescue damsels in distress
by Humra Quraishi
Isn’t it apt that the National Commission for Women (NCW) take up the case of the  young women of the Kashmir valley who had been trapped in the flesh  trade? True, several of those actual doers (bada machhlees or big fish as they are crudely referred to) are arrested. But what happens to these teenaged girls and young women who were used in the trade?

• Much ado about CBSE

• Jolt to Tibetan refugees

• Of tomatoes & Kashmir

REFLECTIONS

Perspective

Criminal justice reforms
CrPC amendment a big relief for undertrials
by Mandeep Tiwana

The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2005 now enables undertrial prisoners, except those charged with offences punishable by death, to be released on personal bonds if they have served more than half the sentence for the crime they are being tried for. This indeed will provide the much-needed relief to thousands of prisoners across the country.

The spirit of the law is appreciable, but what happens when after spending years in prison, a person is acquitted not because there wasn’t enough evidence or because material witnesses turned hostile but because he was actually innocent. Can the state compensate him for the lost years? — for the time spent away from children; for the loss of livelihood; and for the loss of reputation and dignity.

More than two-thirds of the over 3,20,000 prisoners languishing in jails across the country are undertrials. Endemic delays in criminal trials must be addressed. The Supreme Court has consistently maintained that the right to a speedy trial is part of the guarantee of the fundamental right to life and personal liberty. The Law Commission of India, in its Report on Delays and Arrears in Trial Courts (1978), recommended that a criminal case should be disposed off within six months.

In 1987, the Law Commission stressed the need to raise the ratio of judges to the population from 10.5 per one million people to 50 per one million. However, even after almost two decades, there has been little progress in this front. Today, we have over 56 lakh pending criminal cases in the courts. The National Crime Records Bureau reports that only 31 per cent criminal trials are completed in less than a year. Some take even more than 10 years.

The lack of judges is not the sole reason for the delays. It is the antiquated procedures, inefficient processes and, most significantly, the apathy and lack of accountability of those who make up the criminal justice system, which multiplies the woes of anyone unfortunate enough to have come in contact with it. If you are poor and cannot afford a lawyer, then the chances of getting bail pending the decision of your case, progressively recede. If our jails are overflowing with undertrials, most of whom hail from an impoverished background, we must seriously question the quality of the justice delivery system.

In the Hussainara Khattoon case (1979), the Supreme Court poignantly acknowledged that it is a travesty of justice that certain people end up spending time in custody not because they are guilty but because the courts are too busy to try them, and they, as the accused, are too poor to afford bail. An elaborate set of guidelines to enable the release of poor and indigent prisoners, without having to arrange for someone to stand as surety for them, was laid down.

In the Common Cause case (1996), the Supreme Court issued another set of guidelines to enable the release on bail of persons in custody whose trials had dragged on for inordinately long periods. Unfortunately, bureaucratic indifference and the lack of accountability of those charged with operationalising these judgements has ensured that our jails continue to be filled up by prisoners whose cases have dragged on much beyond the permissible limits of a just system.

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi, analysed 150 cases in Delhi’s Tis Hazari Courts. In trials that experienced undue delay by the Law Commission’s standards, it found that 68 per cent of the hearings were ineffective, i.e. either no proceedings were conducted or the purpose of the hearings was not served.

Of the three major causes of delay, witness absence accounted for 19 per cent of hearings being rendered ineffective; the presiding officer’s absence accounted for 15 per cent. Almost 10 per cent of the hearings were ineffective because of the absence of the accused. Clearly, it is common lapses by criminal justice actors that cause delays in the judicial process.

The Law Commission pointed out that quite often, the police deliberately refrain from producing all material witnesses on the same day, with the object of clearing lacunae in the prosecution evidence once the defence’s case is revealed through cross examination. Many times, the reason for the absence of the accused from court proceedings, resulting in adjournment of the case is poor manpower planning because there is no police escort to take a prisoner from judicial custody to the court and vice versa.

Similarly, a single unplanned for absence by a magistrate or judge whether on account of leave or official duties sets the trial back by a couple of months, causing undue delay and suffering to the person facing trial. Sometimes the accused and their counsel also contribute to the delay, to buy time to turn the case in their favour. Structural and procedural deficiencies apart, it is routine disobedience to, and non-enforcement of existing legal provisions by criminal justice actors to ensure attendance of witnesses, prosecutors, defence counsel and support staff that leads to inexcusable delays in the completion of criminal trials.

Lasting solutions to judicial delay do not lie in the adoption of shortcut methods like the recent introduction of plea-bargaining for certain categories of offences. Amendments in the Code of Criminal Procedure now allow the accused to negotiate lenient punishment on an admission of guilt. Given the fact that it often takes years for criminal trials to conclude, there is a strong possibility of many a disillusioned undertrial prisoner admitting guilt despite being innocent.

Importing plea-bargaining from other jurisdictions may somewhat reduce the current pressure on the courts. However, it fails to resolve the core issue of lack of accountability of criminal justice actors — for performance and coordinated functioning — which creates the bottlenecks in the first place. Holistic reform entails that the police, the prosecution, the prisons department and indeed the judiciary, introspect and review their own processes before seeking changes from outside to rectify ills in the system, caused by their own malfunctioning. Additionally, those responsible for nourishing the system — the executive and the legislature — need to fulfil their part of the bargain. Justice delayed is truly injustice. 

The writer is associated with Access to Justice Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi

Civil-military relations on focus
by Brig M.P. Singh (retd)

India is the world’s largest democracy. The supremacy of the civil authority over the military has been projected consistently in the post-Independence period. This is important because Pakistan fell a prey to military rule time and again.

In India, the psychological impact of military takeover in Pakistan has never been ignored and our generals have been at pains to declare the defence forces’ loyalty to the civil government as a reassurance against a possible military takeover. The armed forces’ loyalty and integrity are important to the government and for national security and integrity.

General K.S. Thimayya’s recently released biography, authored by Brig Khanduri, brings to the fore how the then Defence Minister V.K. Krishna Menon had ignored the Army Chief’s advice on raising, equipping and strengthening of the Indian Army to meet the growing Chinese threat in the late fifties and early sixties. Ignoring the advice resulted in our defence forces’ failure to meet the Chinese aggression.

The civil government’s sensitiveness to the military was adequately reflected on two other occasions. When Gen S.H.F.J. Manekshaw, as the Army Chief, boasted of his contribution to the victory in the 1971 war, albeit jokingly, Indira Gandhi promptly rebutted him. On another occasion, Gen S.F. Rodrigues was served a censure when his statement was misconstrued by the civil government as undermining its authority.

The civil authority’s supremacy over the defence forces has well been established. Governor General Lord Dalhausie (1848-56) was responsible for sacking his C-in-C Lord Napier. The latter had the first unpleasant taste of the former’s power over the disbanding of a Battalion of Native Infantry without consulting the Supreme Council at Fort William, Calcutta.

A more serious conflict arose when the C-in-C ordered a pay hike of the troops at Wazirabad without the concurrence of the civil government. Consequently, the C-in-C was accused of having assumed the functions of the supreme government. The Governor General did not reverse the C-in-C’s orders on increase of pay of troops, but warned him against assuming powers which were “reserved for the supreme government alone”.

The superiority of the civil authority over military was scrupulously maintained even earlier. Towards this goal in 1774, the Court of Directors had granted a special commission to the Governor-General and Governors in the Presidencies, constituting them ‘Governors and Commanders-in-Chief of the fortress and garrison of their respective presidencies’.

There is merit in the principle of the civil government’s supremacy over the military. For, without this, the government would find it difficult to function. At the same time, the civil authority should not ignore the professional advice rendered by the military.

The writer is a former Colonel Commandant of the Army Educational Corps

On Record
Parliament may consider banking Bill: Bansal
by Rajeev Sharma

Pawan Kumar Bansal

In his new avtaar as Union Minister of State for Finance, Pawan Kumar Bansal, who is in charge of Banking, is very cautious in fielding questions from scribes. Observing that the Banking Regulation Amendment Bill would be moved in the monsoon session of Parliament, in an interview to The Sunday Tribune, he expressed confidence that Parliament would pass the Bill despite the Left’s strong reservations. Representing Chandigarh in the Lok Sabha for the third time, Bansal has been a member of several parliamentary committees. He has been keenly taking up the cause of the City Beautiful in various fora.

Excerpts:

Q: The SBI has sought permission from the Government and the RBI to set up a full-fledged branch in Pakistan. What is the current status?

A: To further strengthen ties in trade and economic relations between India and Pakistan, both countries have agreed to allow opening of bank branches in each other’s country. An understanding has been arrived at for opening two branches of Indian banks in Pakistan and vice-versa on a reciprocal basis. The RBI has received requests from the SBI and the Bank of India for opening two branches in Pakistan. These are being examined.

Q: Most Indian banks are aggressively pursuing an overseas expansion programme chasing dollar dreams. Is the government following any standard policy for this?

A: To help public sector banks carry out their functions efficiently, the government announced an autonomy package for them on February 22, 2005, which, among other things, allows them to pursue new lines of business as part of the overall business strategy and make suitable acquisition of companies or businesses, close or merge unviable branches, open overseas offices, set up subsidiaries and exit a line of business, subject to statutory requirements, government policy prescriptions and regulatory guidelines issued by the RBI.

Q: Our banks are also acquiring foreign banks. The SBI has recently acquired a few banks in countries like Kenya and Indonesia. Which other banks are in the picture?

A: All Indian banks are allowed to open branches abroad keeping in view their overall ability to withstand international competition. Banks are also permitted to enter into joint ventures with banks abroad and also set up subsidiaries.

Q: What is the current status of the Banking Regulation Amendment Bill?

A: Introduced in Parliament on May 13, 2005, this Bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance for examination. In its report to the Lok Sabha, the committee has recommended some changes in the Bill. These were examined and it was decided to modify the Bill with some amendments. In the monsoon session, Parliament is likely to consider the Bill and pass it.

Q: When will the consolidation among public sector banks in India take place?

A: These banks account for about 76 per cent of the country’s total banking business. To bring the banking industry to global levels, new initiatives are being contemplated. These are also evaluating consolidation as a strategy to strengthen themselves, increase their competitiveness and add value.

Q: The SBI is India’s largest bank and is among top global banks. This reflects the small size of the Indian banking industry on a global perspective. What is the government doing to correct this?

A: The government is willing to consider specific proposals from nationalised banks. Any proposal for consolidation by way of merger etc of one bank with another has to come from the management of the banks with the government playing a supportive role as the common shareholder. The Government or the RBI has not issued any directive on consolidation. The Boards of Banks have to take a decision in this regard based on the synergy levels of merging/ consolidating entities. While supporting any merger proposal, the government will protect the stakeholders’ and the employees’ interests.

Q: What about the government’s move to lend to farmers at the rate of 7 per cent for the coming kharif season? Banks have sought a subvention for this lending programme.

A: To help agriculture sector receive credit at reasonable rates, the Finance Minister announced in the Budget that the Centre will give a certain level of subvention to NABARD so that short-term agriculture credit (STC) is made available to the farmers at 7 per cent with an upper limit of Rs 3 lakh on the principal amount. During consultations with the RBI, NABARD and various banks on operationalising this announcement, it transpired that in the rising interest rate scenario, subvention to NABARD alone may not be sufficient for ensuring that the total expected flow of STC of around Rs 1,05,000 crore by RRBs, commercial banks and public sector banks in 2006-07 is disbursed at 7 per cent annually. NABARD’s refinance at an economical rate to cooperative banks and RRBs will take care only of that portion of STC which is disbursed by them out of refinance from NABARD.

Hence, the Centre has decided to go beyond the budget announcement of providing subvention to NABARD on its refinance to cooperatives and the RRBs on their own funds used for STC. The subvention to be provided by the Centre for short term agriculture credit disbursed by the banks will be 2 per cent per annum.

OPED

Equal rights for women
by Jaswant Singh Sidhu

The amendment to the Hindu Succession Act (1956) is most welcome. The Act is unique in that it removes defects regarding devolution of property, makes the Hindu law of succession uniform throughout the country and abolishes the Marumakathayam and Namboodiri laws in Malabar as the latter are in conflict with the former. It takes away the concept of Stridhana altogether. Like men, women too can acquire and hold property.

According to the right of inheritance of the property, a woman makes no distinction whatsoever on grounds of sex. The daughter is treated exactly in the same way as the son. It completely abolished the notion of limited or life-interest. A heir, whether male or female, takes the property absolutely. Even a life estate is to be converted into absolute one as per the Act. The rules of devolution are by survivorship in the case of joint family property.

The general rules of succession relating to property held by Hindu men and women are as per Class II of the Act’s schedule. These are men, whether they are governed by the Mitakshara, Dayabhaga or Malabar law, all their property, including interest in the joint family property except in the case mentioned in the Act, devolves on their death in the first place upon the son, daughter, widow (or widows jointly) and mother or such of them as those who survive the individual. They take the property in equal shares.

In a case, where son or a daughter dies before the individual concerned, the son, widow and daughter of the pre-deceased son and also (i.e. son or daughter or widow) or the son of a predeceased son are entitled to inherit the property in the same way as if the son or the daughter were alive as per Class I of the Schedule would inherit the property of the individual.

In the absence of heirs listed in Class I of the Schedule the heirs as listed in Class II would inherit the individual’s property. As regards women’s property, it may be classified as her self-acquired property; property inherited by her through her father or mother; and property acquired by her through her husband.

The rules of succession with regard to the three categories of property are different. Legal heirs are normally categorised into four: i.e. mother and children of the deceased will fall into A category of legal heirs in case of a male and husband and children in case of a Hindu woman. If no legal heir in A category is alive, the property is to be distributed equally among B category of legal heirs consisting of brothers, sisters and father of the deceased male and parent-in-laws, brother and sisters of her husband in case of married Hindu woman provided that the property and assets have been inherited by her from her in-laws.

However, if she has inherited property from her parents, the assets and property will be transferred to her parents’ heirs after her death provided that none amongst her children is alive to stake claim to the property. If no legal heir of both categories is alive to stake claim, the ownership of title of assets and properties left behind by the deceased are transferred to the third category and it is further categorised into two categories, namely, “agnates” and “cognates”. A woman will be the last link of chain of descendents amongst the agnates and cognates. If any legal heir of a person predeceases him, the wife and children of the deceased will automatically be the legal owners of his share of property which are inherited and not the self-acquired ones.

In case of self-acquired properties, the possessor or owner has full right to be beneficiaries of his assets after his death. The nearer the relative excludes the more remote, and in the absence of heirs the property is escheated to the government. There are other miscellaneous provisions in the succession law. For instance, a child in the womb has the same right as the child born before the death of the intestate, if it is born alive but not dead. While the changes detailed in the Hindu Succession Act of 1956 may cause hardship to individuals or classes of individuals, suitable provisions have been incorporated in the Act to minimise such problems.

The old institution of joint Hindu family is crumbling fast under pressures of modern economic development and conditions. The changed social milieu is adversely affecting the joint family system. If the Constitution has given equality of status, this Act gives women equality of right to property and inheritance equal to those of men to enable them to become economically and socially independent. History and social experience enlightens us that liberty and equality are not ends by themselves but that they release forces conducive to human happiness and well-being.

Even after 50 years of the Hindu Succession Act, matters concerning inheritance to property and assets of deceased are not always accorded their legitimate and natural rights conferred by the Act by executive action. There is lack of awareness among people, particularly about the legal rights of inheritance to deceased person’s property. There is need to educate people so that they get to know the intricacies of this Act. The executive machinery has a responsibility to bring home to all concerned at the time the inheritance mutations are executed in the presence of all claimants so that none is deprived of his or her legal and natural rights. There should be transparency and accountability in the execution of inheritance cases by the executive in particular. Implementation of this Act in letter and spirit will reduce much of litigation in the civil courts whenever there are aberrations created by the executive action.

Evasion of responsibility in matters of inheritance should not become window-dressing for public or political consumption as those trying to get justice caused by endless litigation wait to see justice reach them at the fag end of their life. The arbitrary clubbing of political motivated actions must stop so that justice reach them in order to fulfil their aspirations of equality as enacted in the Act.

Profile
A fascinating journey for Lakshmi Mittal
by Harihar Swarup

This man is out to be “Alexander” of the world of steel. Having merged his company — Mittal Steel — with Dutch steel giant Arcelor, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, has formed the world’s largest steel entity. Arcelor-Mittal would be titan of the conglomerate, producing 120 million tonnes of steel a year, employing 3.2 lakh people across production centers in several countries. That would make Arcelor-Mittal three times the size of the now second largest, the Japanese firm, Nippon Steel.

Having already established a firm foothold in markets of North America and Europe, Mittal is turning his eyes toward his home country — India — and the communist China. The two Asian giants are known as the fastest-growing steel consumption markets. Known as the world’s richest Indian, Mittal has been reported as saying the new company would now expand to India and China with “priority to my home country”.

On Friday, after talks with Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Mittal announced an investment of up to Rs 40,000 crore for setting up a 12 million tonne steel project in Orissa in two phases. Earlier, he signed MoU with the Jharkhand government for Greenfield project.

Mittal’s first visit to India after merger with Arcelor has raised high expectations as also caused panic in indigenous steel companies. A stark trait of his personality is that he has not forgotten his roots; how he grew up in a small town of Rajasthan, surrounded by shrubs and sand dunes, lived in a dilapidated house and slept on concrete floors. Accompanied by his still boyish looking son, Aditya Mittal, he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Union Ministers. Mittal has very good equation with Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath. He has praised him in a recent interview, saying that Kamal Nath saw his bid for Arcelor takeover in a much larger context — not Mittal versus Arcelor but India versus the world.

During his very busy one-day visit to Delhi, he found time to talk to the media. His clear message was that he is India’s ambassador (of course, honorary) in countries like France and Germany.

Mittal was born in Sadulpur town of Churu district in Rajasthan. He lived in a joint family of 20, which had no permanent source of income. Mittal’s neighbours in Sadulpur say, the family was very poor, lived virtually on day-to-day earning and cooked food on a brick and mud oven in the courtyard. Now 56-year-old Lakshmi Mittal lives in $128 million Kensington Palace Gardens mansion in London.

From the mud-brick house to Kensington Palace, it has been a fascinating journey for him. New vistas opened up when his father, Mohan Mittal, decided to move over to Calcutta and became business partner of a minor steel firm. Marwaris from Rajasthan are known to possess sharp business skill and so had Mohan Mittal. He was a very hard working man, a quality inherited by Lakshmi from his childhood days. The family lived in a rented house in Chitpur road and Lakshmi was put in a school.

He could still visualise trams passing close by his house; its noise sometimes scared him. He did not have enough money for transport and during monsoon had to wade through knee-deep water to reach school. Mittal was diligent, above average but shy and introvert when he entered Calcutta’s prestigious St. Xavier’s College. He could not fit in the company of rich students. Having been educated in a Hindi medium school, he was not as fluent in English as his classmates and suffered from a inferiority complex. Initially, the Principal was reluctant to admit him but he was brilliant in accounts and mathematics, having scored almost cent per cent marks in these subjects. Mathematics enabled him to secure a first division in the college and the Principal became his admirer.

As a student, he had ambition to become something in life and he would write on the opposite side of his ruler — “Dr Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, B. Com, MBA, Ph. D”. Life was tough for teenaged Mittal; he would attend coaching classes in the morning, go to the college and also help his father in the business. “I have been a hard working person from childhood. Hard work is something not difficult for me”, he says. Truly, even after graduation, he continued study, taking evening courses in finance and marketing from the Calcutta University having worked throughout the day in his father’s business.

Mittal was the eldest in a family of five children and then there were many cousins who lived in a joint family. His father was too busy with the business and there was hardly any interaction between the father and the son. When he stood first in his class, his father was not in town; Mittal could not muster courage to call him on trunk telephone. Instead he sent a telegram to his father informing him of the good news. His father, later presented him with a Sheaffer pen which, he says, he still treasures. Subsequently, both came close as Mittal actively participated in the business and left an indelible mark on his personality.

“My father has been my mentor. He was also a great visionary”, he says. Indeed though his father was his mentor, his mother shaped his personality. “I got lot of affection, protection and security from my mother”, he has been quoted as saying. Lakshmi Mittal now opens a new chapter in his highly successful career. One wonders what future beacons him.

Diversities — Delhi Letter
NCW must rescue damsels in distress
by Humra Quraishi

Isn’t it apt that the National Commission for Women (NCW) take up the case of the  young women of the Kashmir valley who had been trapped in the flesh  trade? True, several of those actual doers (bada machhlees or big fish as they are crudely referred to) are arrested. But what happens to these teenaged girls and young women who were used in the trade?

As reports suggest, some of them have been thrown off their families and homes (not really surprising keeping in view the great hypocrisy at work and also at play) and with that don’t know how to go sustaining themselves. To halt a crime is just one aspect to it, but there has to be  emphasis on how to go about halting it for times to come.

It is really a very pertinent query: where do these women go, what do they  do now for a living? Since most of them are very young, the problem gets compounded. There has to be someone reaching out to them and settle  them in jobs right there without uprooting and causing a further upheaval in psyche.

It seems that sex rackets in general have become so rampant that most don’t even give a damn to what happens to the sex workers. And so with that sort of attitude, once trapped the getting out gets even more difficult for these girls, especially in a scenario when  players and stakes are big.

But then, there should be some basic way of reaching out to those who want to give a new start to their lives and genuinely want to move away from the rot.

Much ado about CBSE

It gets difficult to hear the bragging sessions of those whose children got     90 per cent or more in this year’s CBSE examination. All that highlighting  of those supposed academic achievements sounds so hyped and mechanical. For, together with such emphasis on marks and that frenzy of going-up-the-ladder aren’t there coming in big wide gaps. Emotional lows coming about  as never before.

In New Delhi’s Janakpuri area in recent months, there have been at least  five suicide deaths. Of the young killing themselves. Jumping off the concrete structures of Janakpuri’s District Centre (West Delhi), to perish, to  get moving. What are we doing about this, besides gaping at all their dead forms?

There ought to be a U-turn at all levels right from the very education pattern  to the very basic change in our very expectations. Otherwise, the maddening fury of this pace and place will unsettle many more.

Jolt to Tibetan refugees

Majnu Ka Tila is not just a Tibetan refugee basti in the Capital, but almost a mini township with distinct features. Nestled in North Delhi, close to the ISBT and on way to the Delhi University campus, it has been home to over 2,000 Tibetan refugees who had settled down here almost five decades back when, with the Chinese occupation, they had to flee Tibet in 1959.

Some thousands of the Tibetan refugees have settled down in different places — Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir valley and in South India. Now with the news that their stretch — Majnu Ka Tila — would in all probability be evicted to pave way for the Ring Road, there is considerable tension and apprehension.

They would be relocated. But where and when? Once again the entire process of settling down would begin.

Tibetan refugees faced a similar situation when they made Srinagar their    home. Initially, they were living in certain down town areas of the Srinagar city till a majority of these refugee families were relocated to the foothills which lead to the dargah of sufi Makhdoom sahib.

The government had built neat small sized homes for them together with a school, mosque and a small shopping centre. Interestingly, though most of these Tibetan refugees who have settled down in Srinagar are Muslims, they follow their own Tibetan cultural traditions and rarely mix with the local population.

Obviously, this suggests that they keep to themselves most of the time. When I had visited this Tibetan colony in Srinagar last time, it was tough even getting them to talk beyond the formalities. To my query whether they interact with any of the political or religious leaders of the city, they had come up with a firm “no”. “Our leader is the Dalai Lama”, they said.

Of tomatoes & Kashmir

Well, in the midst of all this talk of Kashmir and last week’s focus on tamatars, look what I have got. Just landed is this short story collection, titled 17 Tomato Tales from Kashmir. Written by the Canada-based  Jaspreet Singh and published by Roli, I have yet to get going. What is the connection between Kashmir and tomatoes? Will let you know next week.

REFLECTIONS

I accept God with form when I am in the company of people who believe in that ideal, and I also agree with those who believe in the formless God.

 — Ramakrishna

No one can preserve in the search for Truth without having discarded worldly desires. After sometime, none of these desires will trouble the devotee. With a perception to show the way, correct knowledge of the way and with regular practice, the devotee will achieve his goal.

 — The Bhagvad Gita

Use truth as your anvil, non-violence as your hammer and anything that does not stand the test when it is brought to the anvil of truth and hammered with non-violence, reject it.

 — Mahatma Gandhi