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Autonomy for J&K Avoidable confrontation |
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Precious vegetables
Advani’s cloistered world
Mind-boggling millions!
Many roads to green gold Make PU a central
university Delhi Durbar
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Autonomy for J&K THE CPM is one more party that has adopted a definite line on Jammu and Kashmir. The party at its Congress in Coimbatore has in a resolution called for conferment of autonomy on J&K to solve the problem there. The resolution reflects the line the state unit of the party has been adopting. A close reading of the resolution suggests that the CPM wants restoration and implementation of Article 370 in both letter and spirit. It is against vivisection of the state into three units as proposed by some political outfits, though the party wants the identity of the three regions — the Valley, Jammu and Ladakh — protected by all means. It was in recognition of the special needs of J&K that Article 370 was incorporated in the Constitution. It is a different matter that some of the special provisions of the Article have been whittled down over the years. While most political parties have differences on the extent of autonomy that should be granted to the state, there is some sort of a consensus that granting of autonomy alone can satisfy the needs of J&K. Wherever regional questions have come up like in the case of Darjeeling and Bodoland, it was autonomy that came up as a solution. The protracted negotiations the Centre has been having with the Naga leaders are likely to lead, again, to an autonomy formula. One reason why there is some measure of disenchantment in J&K today, it is because legal and administrative provisions have watered down Article 370. In other words, the relevance of autonomy in solving the J&K problem has not been in dispute. On the specifics of autonomy, there is need for a consensus among all the political parties and groups operating in the state. Several rounds of talks were held between the Centre and such groups as are prepared for a settlement within the framework of the Constitution. But for some reason or other, not much headway could be made. The prolonged political uncertainty in Pakistan did have an adverse impact on the situation in the state. Fortunately, the new democratic government in Pakistan has also talked about a settlement of the problem through talks. This provides an ideal situation for the Centre to restart the dialogue with all the political forces within and without the J&K Assembly to evolve a formula that will fulfill the aspirations of the people of the state.
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Avoidable confrontation A casteist remark is unacceptable irrespective of who makes it. It is all the more abominable when it is made by a well-known personality like Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Mahendra Singh Tikait. The heartburn that his unpalatable remarks about Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati caused was thus understandable. But, fortunately, he has owned up his mistake quickly enough and has even apologised for it. After such an unconditional apology, it will not be right on the part of Ms Mayawati to go after him hammer and tongs. The matter should end right here, for no other reason except that such a tussle can bring bad blood between various communities and sharpen the divide. She should remember that not too long ago, she herself had been making incendiary remarks like “Tilak, tarazoo aur talwar; inko maro joote chaar” in a routine manner. We all make mistakes, but we must realise our error and move ahead sooner or later. Exercising restraint in language can always be of help. Frankly speaking, all this hullabaloo has a political tinge to it. Ms Mayawati is being extra edgy because of the forthcoming elections. Her fear is that Opposition parties are ganging up against her on caste lines while she has been trying to widen the BSP’s base. She must realise that her dream of becoming a Prime Minister can come true only if she carries all sections of society along. Not only she, but every politician should strive to rise above the level of being the leader of a particular community or sect or caste. Farmers form a strong lobby, particularly in agrarian states like Uttar Pradesh. That is why most opposition parties like the BJP have risen to the defence of the beleagured Tikait. They have been finding fault with Ms Mayawati for daring to arrest him. This “sympathy” may garner them some votes but not too many. Any exclusivist policy does not make much political sense in present times. A wider appeal can be of greater use than the sectoral approach.
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Precious vegetables Hard
times need not be bereft of humour. In times of stress — political, economic and social – humour helps people to let off steam and cope with frustration and deprivation; it is also a manner of protest. So when the Nonsense Club, led by the likes of Jaspal Bhatti and his wife Savita, decided to draw attention to the soaring price of vegetables, it was done with inimitable flavour. Chandigarh witnessed the amusing spectacle of Savita Bhatti carrying a basket of vegetables and, duly surrounded by “black cat commandos”, proceeding to a bank – to have the vegetables put in a locker. Now that vegetables like all other food items are caught in an inflationary spiral, they are not only dear but far too precious to be left unprotected. At the best of times food items can get easily stolen. In difficult times with essential items beyond the reach of even the relatively less poor, chances of theft are greater. Yet the protest raises ideas as well as questions. The most important question is whether those who are hard put to find the means to buy vegetables can raise the further resources required for hiring bank lockers to keep these in safe custody. Will the banks provide the necessary temperature controls to keep the perishables — including the rupees — from decaying? Can customers who operate a locker for vegetables demand that the locker should be a freezer or refrigerator? Will the terms of hiring the locker ensure that the customer can access it thrice a day – to retrieve the items for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Even as the common man debates these, the banks might find the idea of providing lockers for food items a new line of profitable business. At a time when rising interest rates threaten to bring down borrowings, and thereby lower the earnings of banks, a huge demand for lockers should be most welcome. The banks might be able to bring down their non-performing assets and show better profits. It may even be argued that banking sector reforms should encompass such new lines of business as of keeping vegetables safe for the rainy day.
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We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibres, our actions run as causes and return to us as results. — Herman Melville
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Advani’s cloistered world
Political
biographies constitute a relatively new literary genre in India. L.K.Advani’s “My Country, My Life” therefore aroused expectations as he has played a critical role as a Hindutva ideologue, president of the BJP, Home Minister and, now, Leader of the Opposition and prime minister-designate of his party. The outcome, a voluminous tome, is frankly disappointing. No big picture emerges of what was attempted or what is now envisioned. Instead, we have a self-righteous justification of what are described as “transformational” actions and events with “My Country” being used as little more than a stage on which to portray “My Life”. Mr Advani acknowledges his spiritual debt to the RSS which has made and mentored him and writes in that mould. “Cultural nationalism” is the essence of nationhood for him. Though he describes this as a way of life and not adherence to any religion, his argument becomes tautological in so far as India’s cultural nationalism is said to stem from the primordial soul of sanatan dharam which is equated with Hindutva, Bharatiyata or Indianness. He was dismayed by the Partition of India and rejects Jinnah’s two-nation theory, yet forgets this concept was first enunciated by Savarkar who spelt out the meaning of nationhood in his “Who is a Hindu” and, later, by Golwalkar, who apparently ghost wrote “We or Our Nationhood Defined”. More recently, as Home Minister, Mr Advani eulogised a volume entitled “Religious Demography in India” which classified and saw menace in the alleged demographic growth of “non-Indian religionists” such as Muslims and Christians who in Golwalkar’s terminology needed to be Indianised. From this followed Narendra Modi’s taunt, “Hum pancch, woh pachees” and the justification for pernicious “anti-conversion” Acts and Bills. None of this is inclusive; much is divisive. So where does this leave “cultural nationalism”? Mr Advani describes the 1992 Babri demolition as a “Hindu awakening” and is pleased to cite Girilal Jain’s certificate that “You have made history”. Having taken a bow, Mr Advani describes the day as the “saddest” in his life. Yet he laid the ground for that day with his 1990 Rath Yatra that sowed dragon seeds of hate. The event was followed by a trail of riots that took 600 lives. He lit the fire but blames the wind. The same with the Gujarat riots, one of the worst blots in India’s record since Independence. Mr Advani commends Modi, but disowns any responsibility as a leading BJP stalwart, Gandhinagar MP and Union Home Minister. He cites the communal count of those killed in police firing to suggest even handedness and promptitude of action, setting aside contemporary evidence of official complicity which continues to this day. Police officers who stood firm were promptly “promoted” and transferred! Speaking over AIR, Mr Modi told terrified victims of the holocaust that if they desired peace they should not seek justice. Nothing more despicable could have been said. Alas, Mr Advani fiddled while Gujarat burned. To say that similar crimes had been committed in Delhi in 1984 is to show utter contempt for justice and the rule of law. And when Mr Vajpayee wanted Mr Modi to at least resign, his Home Minister thwarted the move. Even as the Supreme Court is again constrained to order retrials in Gujarat, Mr Advani holds Modi was a victim of vilification. For the most part, the book is a bald narrative of salient events during Mr Advani’s eventful life. He came to realise the importance of “aggregative” politics or alliance building as the BJP simply cannot come to power on its own. Joining JP’s “Total Revolution” Movement and the Janata experiment were first steps in that endeavour. Pokhran-II is retold but there is no semblance of a larger strategic doctrine underlying the decision to go nuclear other than nationalist pride. Mr Advani dissembles in telling the IC 814 hijack story. He informed Shekhar Gupta that he did not know that the Foreign Minister was to accompany the special flight to Kandahar to bring back the hostages. This has been denied by the then Defence Minister, Mr Fernandes, who has asserted that Mr Jaswant Singh’s journey was cleared by the Cabinet with Mr Advani present. The veracity of his account apart, it is remarkable that the Home Minister never subsequently inquired into the matter which he casually dismisses as “a side issue”! Mr Advani has, however, shown imagination and courage in admitting Jinnah’s return to secularism while addressing the Pakistan constituent assembly in August 1947 — for which the Parivar savaged him. He has also boldly advocated two federally and regionally autonomous parts of J&K coming together with India and Pakistan in a confederation. This could sublimate Partition in a new model of togetherness as envisaged by Nehru and Abdullah in1964 and now restored to the agenda by Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr Musharraf. But that has a logic bearing on larger Indo-Pakistan and Hindu-Muslim/secular relationships that Mr Advani has apparently yet to explore and understand. His understanding of the relevance of a uniform civil code- an urgent option in a socially mobile India — and building a common citizenship, seems sadly limited. He pleads for social justice, equality and reform in Hindu society but fails to spell out how this is to be
accomplished.
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Mind-boggling millions!
WHEN I read about our home-grown kudi, Indra Nooyi (IN) receiving an annual ‘compensation’ (read ‘pay, allowances and bonus’) of a whopping 14.74 million US dollars my mind boggled. If I were to meet her, I would like to ask her the same question that my aunt from our village in Rajasthan had asked me when she visited us in Chandigarh about 20 years ago: ‘Tell me, dear, where do you keep all this money that you get every month?’ She had found my princely salary of Rs 5000 a month simply overwhelming! In the simple world that she lived even a thousand rupees a month at that time was fabulous. Yes, I would say even a fifth of what IN gets would be absolutely fabulous. It would still be about two and a half lakh US dollars a month! What would you say? Fantabulous! Isn’t it? Mind boggling! I would say. For I just can’t figure out how much that money really is. It means, when you get up next morning, your bank balance is upped by over 3 lakh INR! And again by 3 lakh INR next morning, and so on, ad infinitum. O my God! As it is, IN is richer by INR 15 lakh with every passing day! Wow! INR 7.5 crores every month! Sorry, I am rubbing it in. But can you beat that? Even by American standards, having just a thousand dollars in your pocket when you are sauntering on Broadway in NY is no mean money. You can take your friend to a theatre, entertain him/her in a bar and dine at a good restaurant; in sum, have a great evening, without feeling any pinch. I don’t know what kind of evening one would have with a million dollars in one’s wallet. Some years ago when Mr Bhajan Lal was Chief Minister, the Haryana government bought an 8-seater King Air airplane costing INR 2 crores, there were whispers in the corridor about sarkari profligacy. Well, with her kind of money, IN can buy a new personal airplane every month and maintain a regular stable. Or have a yacht on a beach in Hawaii or Alaska or the Mediterranean or anywhere she likes around the world. It would still make no dent on her bank balance, which will go on swelling by the day. ‘So what?’ I hear IN muttering ruefully. ‘This fellow NI (Neville Isdell) of the other place (read Coca-Cola) is getting 150 per cent of what I
get!’
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Many roads to green gold Mizoram
is an oasis of peace in the Northeast, surrounded by trouble-torn Assam and Manipur, and the smaller Tripura, where, too, a lingering insurgency ensures that things are only comparatively better. And the Mizos are capitalising fully on the peace dividend, even sending out the message that “peace pays” to the other states in the region. Mizoram’s much admired chief minister Pu Zoramthanga knows what it is like on the other side, in more ways than one. As one of the famed Laldenga’s right-hand men in the days of insurgency, he has been underground, on the run, in camps in Bangladesh, known as East Pakistan those days, and Burma. Today, though, he dreams about raising the per capita income of his beloved state to one of the “highest in the country”, and is focussing on two means to do that - one is bamboo, grown abundantly in Mizoram and known as “green gold”. The other is the Kaladan (or Kolodyne, as it is also known) river project linking Mizoram to the Sittwe port in Myanmar. On Wednesday this week, Zoramthanga would have heaved a sigh of relief, when Myanmar and India finalised the multimillion dollar project, during the on going five-day visit of Myanmar’s Senior General and Vice-president Maung Aye. “This will benefit both Mizoram and India in general, as well as Burma.” Travel time will be cut drastically. There are also, of course, security implications in the project, which will no doubt have been taken into account, to the benefit of both countries. The Kolodyne, known to locals as the Chimtuipui, originates in the Lushai Hills of Myanmar, and crosses the border to flow into Mizoram through the districts of Kunglei and Chimtuipui, going first West and then diving South, before again re-entering Myanmar. The Kolodyne ends its 650-kilometre journey at the Bay of Bengal, flowing into the sea at Sittwe port, also known regionally as the Akyab port. Inside Mizoram, the river runs through dense, hilly, forests – one can imagine it bathing in the lovely sunlight that is so characteristic of the region. The multi-modal transport project, as it is called, will use a combination of waterway and roadway. Several options were being considered. The one that Zoramthanga seemed most excited about using vessels of 500 metric tonnes capacity for transport on the Kolodyne, pto Kaletwa on the border, 222 kilometres from Sittwe. Subsequently, goods will switch to a road link inside Mizoram. Some portions of the Kolodyne within Mizoram are also navigable, and an optimal water-road combination will have to be worked out. Capital costs in development of the highway and the Sittwe port will be a key factor. One of the key benefits that will accrue to Mizoram is that the link will cut down on the time taken for goods to be reached to the state, through existing rail and road links via Assam. Rice from Kolkata, say, has a longway to go via the Chicken’s Neck, through Assam and finally down to Mizoram. The sea route from Kolkata port to Sittwe is much shorter. What Zoramthanga is also thinking about is captialising on Mizoram’s green gold. More than a third of the state is covered by bamboo forests, some 6,500 square kilometres. The Bamboo crop in the land gets periodically wiped out because Bamboo flowers every 48 years and dies – a phenomenon known locally as the Mautam. Mautams wreak havoc, not only because it wipes out the bamboo plants, but because it is accompanied by a overwhelming rodent outbreak. The hugely bloated population of rats, attributed to the abundant bamboo fruits and flowers, then turns on food stocks. Famines accompany Mautams. The state had a Mautam recently, but in a few years, bamboo will grow again. Zoramthanga wants to be ready, not only with the new Sitwe link, which can be used to send the bamboo out to India and abroad, but with plenty of inland roads, for which he is looking towards the Centre for support. The airport at state capital Aizawl also needs an urgent upgrade – with an Instrument Landing System. It is the bamboo wealth which can truly transform Mizo’s economy, he believes, bringing prosperity to the people. He preaches the “gospel of the bamboo” to officials from New Delhi, and he will be hoping he has enough converts. Mizoram, he says, is also “floating” on oil and gas resources and global tenders have been allotted for investigations to identify the richest and most viable reserves. ONGC is to start drilling at select sites soon. So while security and foreign affairs experts study the benefits and implications of the project, especially given Myanmar’s problematic military government, there is no doubt that it can dramatically improve their lives. It may even have a cascading demonstration effect on the rest of the Northeast, further expanding the peace dividend. The Inland Waterways Authority of India is also considering another link, the Tizu-Chindwin-Irrawady system, connecting Nagaland to the Yangon port in Myanmar. Clearly, there is every incentive for the Centre to speedily implement the Kolodyne project and also improve inland connectivity in
Mizoram.
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Make PU a central
university Why
should teachers have to always struggle for genuinely legitimate rights. With the decision of the 6th Pay Commission formidable clouds are gathering again. The teaching community has been delinked from the enormous pay hike gifted to all government servants. In a country where the Civil Services and the Armed Forces are ranked above the university, a bleak future stares us in the face. Does education not need more talented scholars which a pay hike will draw? The experts who are behind formulating education policy must realize that the demands by the academics who mould the very present and the future of our society are valid and justifiable in a globally competitive market. Education is a fundamental weapon of a people striving for economic uniformity and cultural awakening. Our demand for a Central University or parity with the civil servants should not be something we have to fight for. It is in this spirit that the passion and concern at the Panjab University campus for getting the status of a Central University is rising. It is clear to every academic that Panjab University being the fourth oldest University in India has a strong leadership role to play in this region as well as in the country. The history of Punjab is incomplete without the significant contribution made by Panjab University, its oldest centre of higher learning that has occupied a position of pride and scholastic excellence. Undeniably, the university stands at the center of the academic world, not only in the state, but nationally and internationally. It therefore deserves to be allowed to shed its ambiguous status whereby it is 40 per cent state financed and 60 per cent backed by the centre, a duality that is retarding any forward movement. The state funding has been irregular and now stands fixed at mere 16 crores which too is more in the nature of fragile promises. Uncertainties in grants, coupled with the need to keep education affordable have seriously diminished the financial resources of Panjab University as well as imperiled its accessibility and quality. The result is a critical situation that has led to the university endeavoring to generate funds through new courses or by increasing fee which often disables the financially handicapped to join the university. The maintenance of expensive equipment and the procurement of modern infrastructural needs has suffered immensely owing to the lack of adequate financial assistance. New teachers cannot be recruited because of the financial crunch and the existing ones are overworked as they are forced to take up assignments where new courses have begun. Innumerable teaching positions lie unfilled owing to the lack of funds. Indeed, search for excellence is closely linked to increasing demands and decreasing resources. By according it the status of a Central University, the university as well as its faculty and students will usher in an era of economic security and academic advancement necessary for complex societal needs. The service quality we provide as well as the learning climate the students experience depends on the maintenance of international standards. Its age old traditions, its academic achievements, its internationally renowned faculty all indicate credentials which make it at once eligible for this status. With the status of a Central University, the already excellent infrastructure would further undergo improvements in certain areas where there are some inadequacies. This would reflect tangibly on the drive towards innovations in teaching and research in the neighboring universities in the region. Scholarly culture is contagious in a very vigorous manner and it stands to reason that a central university in Chandigarh will move teachers in all universities to involve themselves in advanced research in order to stay abreast of the academic standards set by Panjab University. With adequate funds provided regularly by the Central Government, Panjab University will begin to not only attract more talent to its teaching staff, but also help in pursuing work of exceptional quality that would bring benefit to the wider community, as well as to the institution itself and the student body. This is possible only if the status of a Central University is bestowed on one of the oldest universities in the country. The heartfelt and rational plea of the teachers and students of the university cannot be ignored by the political leadership which must prioritize the academic reason over political expediency of denying it a status that it rich deserves. The Ministry of Human Resource Development is ready to bear the full financial burden. Why should the Punjab Government show any reluctance when clearly and unambiguously the Panjab University would always remain an integral part of Punjab’s history. The writer is dean, faculty of languages, Panjab University
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Delhi Durbar A Nehruvian legacy has been consigned to history books. Founded 70 years ago by the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the National Herald newspaper published its last editorial earlier this week after its operations were “temporarily suspended.” Once a much sought-after daily, the newspaper had been in decline over the last several years. It was incurring financial losses as the organisation was not only overstaffed but no longer attracted sucfficient advertisements. It had also failed to keep up with technological changes. Old timers still recount how passionately Nehru was involved with the newspaper. He would often double as a correspondent and dash off newsreports on his own public meetings, which were invariably descrbed as a resounding success receiving thunderous applause! There is a famous story, handed down generations of journalists, when Nehru reviewed Mayo’s “Mother India” and the editor had the temerity to put it in the magazine section. Nehru immediately ordered that it be moved to the newspaper’s front page, stating imperiously, “When Nehru writes something, it has to be on page one.” When Congress president Sonia Gandhi told party workers in Uttar Pradesh that her son and the Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi will not hesitate to join them in their “jail bharo” campaign against the Mayawati government, the Amethi MP remained quite unfazed by this declaration. In fact, he even managed to joke about it. “What difference does it make if I am in jail or outside... either way I am surrounded by policemen,” he remarked laughingly to his party colleagues seated next to him at last week-end’s Kanpur rally. No frills The CPM Congress in Coimbatore turned out to be quite an eyeopener for mediapersons covering the event. In sharp contrast to the Congress party’s AICC sessions or the BJP’s nation executive meets, this was a no-frills affair. Unlike other political parties which commandeer all the top hotels in the city where their meetings are being held, the CPM bosses were lodged in a two-star hotel. Meals were served only to the invited delegates and no media room was set up by the party to enable correspondents to file their news reports. They can truly lay claim to the Gandhian legacy of “simple living”. Sporting ring At a recent workshop in Vigyan Bhawan where carrying mobile phones are strictly prohibited, a few persons did managed to smuggle them into the main hall without even taking care to put them on silent mode. The mobile first buzzed when the Editor of a prominent national daily was defending media freedom, inspiring the auidience to say three cheers for media freedom. The second time it buzzed was when Justice V.S. Sirpurkar, a sitting judge of the Supreme Court, was speaking on media and judiciary. Commenting on the distraction caused by the mobile, Justice Sirpurkar remarked good-naturedly “That is more interesting.’’ The audience was amused and a mediaperson even complimented the Judge for being sporting. Contributed by Anita Katyal
and Tripti Nath
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