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Overkill by BCCI Trucks across border |
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Floods in Punjab
PM calls the Left’s bluff
A salute to Virabhadra
Poor undertrials
denied justice A beautiful politician Merit should decide Army promotions
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Overkill by BCCI THE sacking of Kapil Dev as the National Cricket Academy chairman by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is a condemnable act of cynicism and self-serving ruthlessness. It only confirms that the BCCI has let its monopolistic hold of Indian cricket and its enormous money and marketing muscle go to its head. Its declaration that none of the players whose names have been announced as part of the Indian Cricket League will be “taken back” or allowed to play for India or any of the state teams is particularly out of line. That the BCCI anoints the India cap on a player is a matter of privilege, and not a right. The BCCI does not own the country. It should immediately revoke its decisions and allow the ICL full play. If Zee does manage to make a success of its Indian Cricket League venture, it won’t be just about money and media power. The ICL may have got its timing just right with Twenty20 cricket set to enter the mainstream. The new, super-short, super-charged version of the “gentleman’s game” may just do to the ICL what one-day cricket, with lights, coloured clothing and a white ball did for Kerry Packer’s World Cricket Series on Channel 9. Packer revolutionised the game and made one-day cricket the popular, TV-centric money-spinner that it is today. While big names like Brian Lara may steal some of the limelight, the actual focus will eventually be on the quality of the games being staged, and the new Indian talent that the League manages to throw up. For now, many Ranji teams have been hit hard, with Hyderabad losing many of its players. Also affected are Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Punjab. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, as eventually, it is to be hoped that the additional slots this opens up will infuse loads of fresh talent into the game. While the players have clearly been attracted by the big money reportedly being offered to them, it is also to be wished that they manage to find a sustainable avenue for their talent and energies. It also remains to be seen how much of a genuine cricketing experience the Twenty20 format offers, and whether the League, as a package, will have many takers — especially with the players no longer playing for a nation. Can a rival league created around a curtailed version of the game produce first class cricketers, who will eventually make the Indian Test team? ICL board chief Kapil Dev will have his work cut out for him — he can do without the BCCI breathing down his neck.
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Trucks across border BECAUSE of the acrimony between India and Pakistan, trade relations between the two have been lukewarm at best. Many Indian items like Paan leaves and tyres reach Pakistan, but only via Dubai, making them prohibitively expensive. The little movement of goods that does take place across the border is badly affected because of the standoff due to which trucks of one country cannot enter the other country. The end result is that trucks carrying goods from India stand at the border, unload and everything is carried by porters on their heads for nearly one kilometre to warehouses on the other side. Exactly the same thing happens in the case of goods moving in the opposite direction. This perennial bottleneck leads to cost and time overruns. At long last — full 60 years after Partition — the two countries have agreed to allow cross-border movement of commercial vehicles from October 1. Needless to say, this facility will give an impetus to bilateral trade, which the two countries are committed to increasing to $10 billion in the next few years. Not only that, it may also aid the peace initiative by removing the atmosphere of suspicion. From October 1, trucks are to be allowed up to designated points both at Wagah (Pakistan) and Attari (India). Their drivers won’t require passports, visa or international driving licences. In future, trucks may even be allowed to farther destinations, after moving through designated cargo gates. Much will depend on how well the customs authorities are able to keep potential smugglers and mischief-makers at bay. If the experiment succeeds, it will be feasible to permit such movement across other border points also. Such trade will be in the interest of both countries. Movement of goods can also be allowed through the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, at least for a limited number of items to begin with.
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Floods in Punjab WITH the monsoon on the retreat, the Punjab government has decided to prepare a “master plan” to tackle floods. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal visited some flood-affected villages near Anandpur on Sunday and ordered an assessment of damage to crops and property. In all, 31 villages of Ropar district have been affected. Apparently, the floods were caused by a breach in a rivulet and could have been averted had the banks of the rivulet been strengthened well in advance. Floods are an annual feature and yet the government agencies are often caught unprepared. It is the people who pay the price for official inaction and indifference. It was perhaps the lack of financial resources that had held back the work of cleaning canals and drains in the state. This is clear from the small amounts given to districts like Patiala and Ropar. Against a demand for Rs 1.41 crore, Patiala district got Rs 27 lakh and Ropar received Rs 28 lakh while it had pleaded for at least Rs 75 lakh. Now that the damage has been done the least the district administration should do is to ensure that only the actual victims get the flood relief. While some areas get flooded, there are villages like Malsinghwala in Mansa district where the residents have no access to safe drinking water. In some areas groundwater is saline, elsewhere it is polluted by chemicals, resulting in water-borne diseases. The rivers stink. The sewerage in cities remains choked during the rainy season. Due to the filling of village ponds, rainwater goes waste. The over-exploitation and under-replenishment of groundwater has led to a drastic fall in the water table. This has raised public spending on health and water requirements. Instead of a master plan, Punjab needs a comprehensive water management system on priority.
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Knowledge dwells / In heads replete with thoughts of other men;/ Wisdom in minds attentive to their own. — William Cowper
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PM calls the Left’s bluff
IT is a lasting shame that Parliament was so raucously disrupted by vulgar demonstrations even as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of Independence. The BJP-led NDA and Left joined in an unholy alliance to prevent the Prime Minister from speaking on the 123 Agreement before noisily storming out of both Houses. A renewed opportunity for debate, clarification and consensus, so urgently sought, was rudely scorned as the nation watched in disbelief. Both the BJP and the Left revealed an innate political immaturity and inferiority in trading invective for argument. The BJP has dismissed the official stance as an amalgam of "untruths, half-truths and pure white lies", forgetting its own initiative in trying to build a new strategic partnership with the US, while the Left, an adept practitioner in doublespeak, suddenly discovered that doing business with the US imperils sovereignty! It is nobody's case that the prevailing status quo, that technologically quarantines India, represents a state of bliss. Yet a major departure in the international non-proliferation regime that makes a unique concession to India's concerns is inexplicably seen as hurtful. It betrays a terrible lack of self-confidence for critics to argue that the country is going to be more of a pushover for the United States with the 123
Agreement in place. India is no banana republic and has earlier too dared to stand alone. Rather than closing options and enslaving India, the 123 Agreement, together with the related IAEA and NSG agreements that remain to be negotiated, has the potential of liberating and elevating Indian foreign policy in keeping with its emerging economic muscle and soft power. Dr Manmohan Singh rightly argues that the government has been singularly transparent over the deal and that whatever has been done fully conforms to the assurances given to Parliament and takes account of the scientific concerns earlier expressed. There is no nuclear weapons cap; rather the Agreement opens the door for civilian nuclear cooperation and collaboration in the procurement and development of advanced technologies other than those that have a dual use in relation to nuclear enrichment and reprocessing and heavy water equipment. This should give a fillip to the further development of India's technological base and speed up that process, apart from facilitating the country's civilian nuclear energy programme. It is important to remember that once the 123, IAEA, NSG Agreements are in place, India can turn to France, Russia and other suppliers and will not be solely dependent on US civil nuclear collaboration. However, the US nuclear industry and others will themselves become a major India lobby in order to procure a slice of the cake. The other argument, that India's perceived nuclear energy programme will only meet the country's energy deficit to a limited extent may be true in the short run. But over time, the nuclear energy component could grow exponentially, sooner rather than later with the thorium-based fast breeder reactors kicking in. With climate change and oil prices possibly soaring to $100 per barrel, India needs an alternative to dirty coal. The usually mild-mannered Dr Manmohan Singh has called the Left's bluff and told it that he is prepared to face the consequences should they withdraw support. Coalition politics does require give and take, but there is a limit to blackmail. That line has now been drawn and while there is no reason to break relations with the Left, the latter must know that they are not going to be able to get away with totally unreasonable demands for self-serving reasons. So, will the Left pull the rug from under the feet of the UPA? Possibly not. It knows that it is unlikely to get anywhere near the 60-plus seats it enjoys in the Lok Sabha today. The CPM is in disarray and on the back foot in West Bengal and Kerala. The BJP, too, is rudderless and confused and torn between becoming a liberal hub for a broad-based right-of-centre formation that the county needs or a narrower, revivalist, jingoistic Hindutva party that, having extracted all the juice it can from its sorry Ayodhya caper, is now pathetically engaged in huffing and puffing over the Ram Setu issue even as it nervously awaits what Gujarat and the Nanavati-Shah and Liberhan Commissions have in store for it. Sowing hate brings its own nemesis. So, the electoral prospects for the BJP do not look rosy. Not that the UPA can rest on its oars. Hopefully, the recent turn in events will make it more decisive and less prone to indulge in damaging vote-bank politics. People want good governance, not lollipops. Police reform, mending the criminal justice system, and fighting corruption and crime syndicates are obvious priorities. Economic growth must translate into inclusive growth. The mindless Independence Day season violence in the Northeast and J&K speak of the desperation and cowardly politics of misguided "freedom fighters" and their mentors. The government must press ahead with the peace process in both wings. The best way of commemorating 60 years of Independence is to hurry to spread its blessings more widely so that more people have more to
celebrate.
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A salute to Virabhadra WHILE on duty in Tamil Nadu as an Election Observer, we halted at a village shop for our “degree-kaapi” to be served in steel “tumblers” and davaras. I spotted a small structure painted in the usual colours of a village temple. Thinking it was one of the several Maari-Amman (Goddess of Small Pox) shrines that dotted the countryscape, I continued to sip my pepper-flavoured coffee as we had already paid our respects to three Ammans that day in between checking out polling stations and attending training sessions for election staff. Suddenly I saw three police constables in uniform coming out of the temple. They retrieved their belts and caps from the branches of a tamarind tree in the courtyard, they stood in a straight line facing the temple, saluted in proper police style, turned smartly on their heels and left. Policemen in our country are no different from all of us and tend to retain their religious convictions and superstitions throughout their long stint in khaki, but this formal salute to the village deity was unusal. My curiosity was aroused. The temple was dedicated to Virabhadra, a powerful martial icon — the Generalissimo of Lord Shiva’s hordes. The air was redolent with the scent of camphor and incense. We gazed in awed silence at the terrifying visage of Virabhadra who had been created out of a single lock of Shiva’s matted hair. The sword and other weapons in the idol’s hands added to the aura of fear and strength that befitted the Guardian Deity of the village. There were dozens of red threads tied round Virabhadra’s arms. “Should I tie a thread around His wrist too?” I asked Selvan, my guide. I could use some protection from Lord Shiva’s Commander-in-Chief, I said to myself. It turned out that the villagers tied threads around Virabhadra’s wrist praying for the return of stolen articles. Apparently, the curse of Virabhadra stirred such conscience pangs that the thief would be compelled to return the loot to the doorstep of the owner under cover of darkness within a day or two. “Makes sense”, I told myself. Who would want to annoy the Ultimate Destroyer’s fiercest servant! Not here in this small village in erstwhile Chola country where Shiva worship was a way of life. But there were occasional cases where miscreants from outside the village or young people who had not heard of the myth indulged in petty theft...a few hens, brass utensils or even clothes hung out to dry. “Then the police here must be quite relaxed,” I quipped. “What were the three constables doing here a few minutes ago?” The priest replied, “Somebody stole a gold chain and cash from the village barber’s house two days ago. Finding no leads, the policemen tied threads on the Lord’s wrist yesterday morning. The stolen stuff was returned last night, so they came to thank Him today. Since Virabhadra is a General, they feel that a smart salute is the ultimate
offering.”
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Poor undertrials denied justice IN a historic intervention, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court advised lower courts to be sensitive on the issue of granting bail to undertrials who are accused of minor crimes. Lower courts need to change their mindset as they have been used to acting according to the letter of the law and not by its spirit. Santosh Dhanvare, a young and poor rickshaw puller of Surat was lodged in police custody for 30 months after he was arrested in July 2004, on a charge of theft of Rs 4000. His pleas of innocence fell on deaf ears and he was produced in the court of the First Class Magistrate 30 times in those 30 months, as the hearing was put off each time due to absence of witnesses. Even his own lawyer, who was appointed for him by the court as Santosh had no resources to pay for did not turn up. Each time, he was sent back to custody with a new date for hearing. In desperation, he was willing, on January 3, 2007, to admit to the crime even though he had not committed one. He wanted to be awarded the due punishment, but not a new date, something that had become a nightmare for him. But the magistrate refused to accept his plea on the grounds that witnesses were not present. Hence, she assigned yet another new date. Santosh expressed his frustration by throwing his chappal at her. Santosh had lost his father soon after his arrest. He mother was washed away in the swirling and unprecedented flood waters of the Tapi River in August 2006. He had nothing in life to cling to. If the instructions of the High Court Bench were to be followed, he could have been granted bail. But Santosh did not even seek one as he knew he would not be able to raise the bail amount, nor find anyone willing to stand surety for him for the bail amount. His poverty had condemned him to remain inside the jail as long as his case was not disposed of. His poverty had ensured that he remained in jail beyond the period of due punishment if his crime was proved. Several persons accused of involvement in serious crimes including involvement in terrorist acts, organised crime and murder have managed to get their freedom on bail as they had money power to back their bail applications. A close perusal would have been sufficient to tell the magistrate that Santosh had spent more months in jail pending the completion of his trial than the warranted maximum punishment for his minor offence. He was punished without his trial moving an inch only because witnesses did not behave with responsibility. They had no compassion to realise that their absence on the due date in the court would only go to prolonging the period of incarceration for Santosh. The magistrate continued to provide the benefit to the prosecution even though it had failed to produce the witnesses that it had named in its chargesheet filed with the court. The police and the prosecution saw no injustice in this case because of their interest in seeking his commital rather than disposal of the case. The court appointed lawyer saw no benefit in seeking justice for Santosh because he was not earning from it. Witnesses were not obliged to attend the court. Santosh was a victim of the insensitive system where the main players were the police, the prosecutor, the magistrate and witnesses over which he had no hold nor could he expect them to play fair and just in the interest of real justice. Santosh is not the only victim of insensitive delivery of justice. Even the National Human Rights Commission admitted in its report in 2005 that more than three lakh undertrails were languishing in jails all over the country for periods longer than that which their minor offences would have invited as punishment. Nearly 821 inmates – all of them under trails for minor offences – have recently been released from the Tihar jail in the capital after the Supreme Court ordered a special review of inmates’ cases by the special courts inside the Tihar Jail. Nearly 83 per cent of inmates in the overcrowded Tihar jail were under-trials. Even this measure was only to reduce overcrowding in the jail rather than to meeting the ends of justice. Santosh’s misfortune, his expression of frustrated anger, calls for a comprehensive reform of the judicial system at lower courts, in order to speed up disposal of minor offences’ cases. In this instance, his case could have easily been disposed off at the third or fourth hearing date after the named witnesses failed to turn up. In fact, in all cases where witnesses do not turn up for a fixed numbers of hearings, advantage should go to the accused and not to the prosecution. Or there should be a system of accountability for prosecution to produce witnesses named in the charge sheet. Only such reforms would meet the ends of justice for those who do not have the money power to seek justice and freedom. Sensitivity is also required to be displayed in disposal of cases and not only in granting bails.
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A beautiful politician
TARKESHWARI SINHA stepped out of college to step into the portals of Parliament House where for 19 years she spread radiance of a kind the august institution had seldom been accustomed to. Hardly 26 when she was sworn in as a member of the first Lok Sabha in 1952, the two sobriquets she earned instantaneously and which stuck to her indelibly were “Baby of the House” and “Glamour Girl of Indian Politics”. Her face might not have “launched a thousand ships” like Helen of Troy but it certainly turned fellow members’ heads every time she strode into the House or stood up to make an intervention. When girls of her age were reading Mills and Boons by the dozen, she plunged into the 1942 movement as a student of Bankipore Girls College, renamed Magadh Mahila College in Patna. Her family thought her honeymoon with politics was over when she tied the nuptial knot with the scion of an aristocratic zamindar family of Chapra, whose tenant was once the first President, Dr Rajendra Prasad. Married life in Kolkata did not keep her off from politics for long. The INA trial in Delhi rekindled her passion for politics and soon she found herself elected President of the Bihar Students Congress, which broke away from the All India Students Federation. She was among those who received Mahatma Gandhi when he arrived at Nagar Nausa in Nalanda district to quell the anti-Muslim riots in the aftermath of Partition. The Mahatma also had a taste of the people’s fury when he was “manhandled” there. Within a few months, Tarkeshwari was at the London School of Economics doing her M.Sc in economics. “Harold Laski had just left LSE when I joined there”, she had told me in an interview. However, she had to cut short her research on Indian taxation and return to India when her father died. By then India had become a Republic and the first general elections had been ordered. She won from Barh defeating veteran freedom fighter Sheel Bhadra Yajee. The “Beauty Queen” took such an active part in the debates in the Lok Sabha that Jawaharlal Nehru immediately noticed her debating skills. However, it was only in 1958 that Nehru chose her for a ministerial assignment. She became deputy to Finance Minister Morarji Desai. They became so close that tongues began to wag. And, when the Congress split in 1969, she sided with Morarji Desai and it marked the end of her political career. Indira Gandhi disliked her so much that when greenhorn Dharambir Sinha defeated her in 1971, she rewarded him with information and broadcasting portfolio. Tarkeshwari returned to the Congress and contested on its ticket in 1977 when every Congress candidate in Bihar was routed. Eventually, she quit politics and took up social work. It was in that capacity that she once came to invite me to Tulsigarh, her native village in Nalanda district. Tarkeshwari wanted to show me a hospital she had set up in memory of her brother Capt Girish Nandan Singh, an Air India pilot who died in an air crash in New Delhi. During the journey to Tulsigarh, she told me how she had raised nearly Rs 25 lakh, a big sum those days, to construct the two-storeyed hospital where treatment was almost free. She also prided herself in taking the initiative to construct a road to link the village with Chandi and Harnaut in Nalanda. During the return journey, I summoned up courage to ask her about her insinuated closeness to Morarji Desai. “We became Central ministers on the same day. He trusted me and I trusted him. When Lal Bahadur Shastri died, I felt that he should have been elected Prime Minister. There was nothing more to our relationship”, she replied in a matter of fact manner. Caste also cemented their relationship. Bhumihars of Bihar, of whom she was one, trace their ancestry to Lord Parasuram. They believe that Morarji Desai, too, was a Bhumihar. It is a pity that when this stormy petrel of Indian politics died after a prolonged illness in New Delhi last week, few newspapers cared even to report her death.
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Merit should decide Army promotions THE names of three
major generals forwarded by Army Headquarters to the Ministry of Defence this month for promotion to the rank of lieutenant general have reportedly been rejected by the ministry. The reason cited was that the three officers had serious glitches in their career. Similarly, the entire board proceedings for selection of brigadiers from the 1974 batch to major general have not been accepted by the ministry and a review is underway. This is not the first instance where promotions in the top level have kicked up dust. Rather, controversies shrouding promotions of generals have over the past few years, tended to increase. This is apparent from the numerous media reports and writ petitions in the high court. Military leadership emanates from strength of character and a high moral fibre. To lead men into battle or in operations where the risk to life and limb is very high, and to get them to achieve their laid down objective, is an awesome responsibility. It is not for everyone and great military leaders have few equals. Increasingly, political interference, nepotism, favouritism and even bribery have come into play in promotions in the armed forces. Regimental affiliations, cast and community have emerged as major, if undesirable, behind-the-scene factors while selecting candidates for promotion. Senior officers resorting to political clout for furthering their careers is now a well established fact. The Armed Forces have a well defined promotion system, with qualitative requirements listed out. The annual confidential report (ACR) forms the basis for selection to the next higher rank. The organisation being a steep pyramid, vacancies progressively decrease on the way up and in today’s fiercely materialistic world, the competition to move up is intense. Getting a good ACR and remaining in the good books of superior officers seems to be the order of the day. Though capable and honest officers are generally assessed fairly, a significant proportion of sycophants and mediocres also get promoted because of the venality of weakness of the assessing officer. It has also been seen at several officers in the recent past who have risen to the level of Army Commander, the second highest position in the Army, have got their promotions to lieutenant general but in the first go, but in review or special review boards. This speaks for itself. When juniors know that their superior officers have got their ranks not for their professional competence but rather as a result of extraneous factors, they are not likely to hold them in high esteem and be not willing to take his word for granted. Here lies the biggest challenge to discipline. A lopsided and corrupted promotion system will have a direct impact on the cohesiveness and fighting efficiency of the Army. A career in the Army has already lost its sheen and if political interference and nepotism are not checked and the trend reversed, there lies a danger of the Army’s identity of being a professional and apolitical
organisation.
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