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Culture of violence
England’s over-reaction
Opportunity for Colombo
Study tour
Dateline Washington  by Ashish Kumar SenA U.S. missile strike that reportedly killed Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in Pakistan on Wednesday was the result of a high-level intelligence sharing between the U.S. and Pakistan. Both countries' intelligence agencies have increasingly collaborated in recent months, resulting in missile strikes by unmanned U.S. Predator drones that have eliminated threats to the Pakistani state. Now, U.S. analysts say, the big challenge is for Pakistan to provide intelligence that will help the U.S. forces go after the Taliban operating in Afghanistan.
Need to control forest fires
Delhi Durbar
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Schools, or shops?
Harried
parents of school children facing arbitrary fee hikes by private unaided schools will heave a sigh of relief with the Supreme Court reaffirming that unaided schools in Delhi could raise tuition and other fees only with the prior consent of the government. The verdict, in principle, would be applicable to all such schools in India. The apex court last Friday dismissed review petitions filed by several schools against its 2004 verdict under which such schools had to obtain permission from the Director of Education for hiking the fees.
The step will go a long way in ensuring that commercialisation of educational institutions stops and there is no profiteering. What the schools that had sought a review of the 2004 verdict should have recognised in the first place was that schools are not shops where lessons are sold for money and that any move to hike the fees should be rational and reasonable, not be aimed at increasing the owners’ margins. The schools will now have to maintain accounts on the principles of accounting applicable to non-business and non-profit organisations, prepare financial statements every year and file these with the education director. In another pro-student decision, the Supreme Court has held that private unaided schools cannot charge capitation fee either. Capitation fee was another convenient device to swindle the parents, which has been held illegal. But in view of the rising input costs, the schools have been permitted to charge development fee not exceeding 15 per cent of the total annual tuition fee. Hopefully, the school owners will not take it as a licence and extract this additional charge without any real development of the school. At the same time, the apex court has strengthened the autonomy of recognised unaided private schools and modified its 2004 order so that if more than one private school was under a single management, then surplus funds of one school could be transferred to another. Such administrative freedom is necessary for efficient management, but any attempt to fleece the parents has to be forcefully nipped. |
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Culture of violence West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi touched a raw nerve last week when he voiced his anguish at the “veritable tandava of political violence” in the state. In many parts of West Bengal, political workers are abducted and killed with impunity by political rivals. Failure of the law enforcement agencies, coupled with tacit support of political parties, has brought infamy to the state, where political arguments are sought to be settled by killing the rivals.
The wanton political killings are not a novelty to the state. The last decade has been marked by an increasing retaliatory violence in which no holds are barred. Entire families have been set on fire; throats of old men have been slit; houses have been ransacked and demolished and young, college-going youth have been shot dead, all because of their association with political rivals. The Governor, who had publicly spoken of his “cold horror” over the violence in Nandigram two years ago, summed up the current situation by pointing out that “ not a day passes without someone somewhere getting killed for his politics”. Stung by Gopal Gandhi’s assessment that violence has not abated because people “who can act” have failed to do so, the Left Front government has accused him of being partisan and the CPM has declared that the Left would not like him to continue as Governor once his term comes to an end later this year. But while there is little doubt that the Governor is pained at the failure of the state government to maintain law and order, to curb the growth of illegal arms and to bring perpetrators to book, it is equally clear that he holds all parties responsible. He has pointedly asked why violence has not abated though all parties claim to be victims of violence and say they are ready to help in restoring peace.
It is possibly too late for the state government to act and take steps to retrieve the situation, restore peace and end the culture of political violence that has done the state enormous damage. |
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England’s over-reaction
England’s
“unfortunate” decision to suddenly pull out of the World Badminton Championship that began in Hyderabad on Monday reflects poorly on the understanding of the English team managers. They went by the Union Home Ministry’s routine security alert which had no specific mention of any threat to the tournament, considered the world’s most prestigious championship after the Olympic Games. The security alert was issued in view of the coming Independence Day celebrations. “There were no specific intelligence reports about a terror alert particularly for this event”, as Andhra Pradesh intelligence chief has clarified. The tight security arrangements that have been made at Hyderabad’s GMC Balayogi Stadium are meant to ensure that the players and spectators feel totally safe. Badminton England Chief Executive Adrian Christy’s assertion is surprising when he says that the English side went by the advice of their Foreign Office and the British High Commission in New Delhi on what it saw as a “specific Lashkar-e-Toiba threat”. If the British had any credible information they should have shared it with the Government of India. Their panic reaction is not going to make much of a difference, as the English team does not have top players in the singles category.
“Safety is of paramount importance”, as Mr Christy says, but creating uncalled for scare is not a sign of maturity. Badminton England refused to send their players in April, too, to participate in the Indian Open Grand Prix at the same venue in Hyderabad, but all the other participants did not bother about the English decision, which was clearly based on unrealistic threat perception.
The event went on well. The current tournament will also conclude undisturbed in the same manner. Terrorists continue to pose a threat to peace almost everywhere in the world, including Britain, but this does not mean that all kinds of activity should come to a halt. |
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People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like. |
Opportunity for Colombo IN the first local elections in northern Sri Lanka after President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s famous victory over the 25-year-long guerrilla war conducted by the Tamil Tigers, the results were good for the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance in Jaffna, wresting a majority with very low voting figures, while the supporters of the Tigers in the loose grouping Tamil National Alliance won most seats in Vavuniya in a turnout of around 50 per cent. Expectedly, the ruling party won a landslide in southern Uva district.
Conditions were far from perfect for holding elections and the only conclusion one can draw from the timing is that President Rajapaksa was seeking to prove a political point. The war is over and it is time to think of the future. But some 2,50,000 Tamils remain in government-supervised “welfare camps”, and they had to apply to vote. Besides, no independent journalists were allowed in. Expectedly, the pro-LTTE website TamilNet came to the conclusion that the results were an expression of Tamils’ no-confidence in the state, and a civic monitoring group spoke of an escalation of violence in the days leading to the election. But President Rajapaksa and his government can take the setback in Vavuniya in its stride because lingering Tamil suspicions will come as no surprise. The holding of any elections in the North has a resonance. Even the main opposition United National Party has described the elections as being corrupted. Norwegian minister Erik Solheim, who brokered the 2002 ceasefire and shuttled between the government and Tiger camps for 10 years, believes that President Rajapaksa has “won the battle but not won the peace”. The problem, of course, is the kind of peace the victorious President has in his mind. He has promised a “northern spring” of development in the North and the resettlement of 80 per cent displaced Tamils by the end of the year. There are obvious problems in resettling people in the North - the sheer physical scale of the operation and the de-mining exercises that must first be concluded. The process of winnowing out LTTE cadres among the displaced is also taking time. A self-proclaimed successor to the Tigers’ leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, arrested abroad, is being interrogated in Colombo. But the Tamils’ fear is that even as President Rajapaksa undertakes his exercise to build a consensus among the Sinhalese, the projected political reforms will not be far-reaching enough. In other words, Tamils will still miss the feeling of belonging in their homes and areas in the North. President Rajapaksa obviously has an eye on when to call the next election to try to obtain a big majority on the strength of his remarkable feat in defeating the Tigers. While the Tamil minority can only remain ambiguous, his fellow Sinhalese will surely reward him with their votes. In any event, few Sinhalese will side with the United Nations, Western governments and non-governmental organisations in holding a broad inquiry into those killed and wounded since major operations began in January. Nor is there much patience among the Sinhalese for demands of an inquiry into alleged war crimes and human suffering, particularly in the closing stages of the war. But President Rajapaksa must bear in mind that his window of opportunity in seeking to win over the Tamils will not remain open indefinitely. In political terms, it is understandable that the ruling party should seek full benefits from the devoutly wished end of the guerrilla war. But the set of circumstances and grievances that led to the Tamils lining up with the Tigers had a beginning. The majority Sinhalese and their leaders must, therefore, show generosity in rebuilding trust through appropriate political moves and actions. Ideally, the solution to the problem of accommodating one or more minorities is in adopting a federal structure within a united sovereign Sri Lanka, on the Indian model or otherwise. But this concept has unwelcome overtones in Sri Lankan politics, given its espousal by the Tigers at one time. If the “F” word is unacceptable in evolving the national consensus President Rajapaksa is seeking, the same objective can be achieved through a different terminology as long as the Tamils feel they can run their affairs in predominantly Tamil areas in the North. As Mr Solheim alluded, winning the peace can be as, if not more, daunting as winning the war. But the world must acknowledge that Sri Lanka has come a long way from being mired in a seemingly hopeless civil war punctuated by imperfect ceasefires, mediated negotiations, bouts of fighting and that most heinous instrument of suicide bombings taking the lives of more innocent civilians than those targeted. The Sinhalese, who feel pride in the President’ achievement when so many of his predecessors failed, deserve their moment of triumph. Presumably, President Rajapaksa will wait until the next election is called and won before making serious moves on the future power-sharing structure. But there is little time to lose in resettling the displaced, which involves the building of homes and civic services and, most of all, giving them a feeling of security. One can understand the government’s anxiety to secure LTTE remnants who could have smuggled themselves in as the displaced, but the shutting down of the so-called welfare camps must not be inordinately delayed. It is better to take calculated risks than prolong the stay of the displaced, building up new resentments. India has been supportive of President Rajapaksa’s objectives and is providing direct medical treatment to displaced Tamils, in addition to helping de-mine the North and monetary help with reconstruction. It must be said for the Sri Lankan leader that he has been astute in keeping India in the loop and briefing Indian officials and leaders at the highest levels, knowing the sensitivities of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Tamil allies in the government. A government that has been harshly criticised for its approach to neighbours, particularly Pakistan, can take some comfort from the manner in which it has handled relations with Sri Lanka in a time of
crisis. |
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Study tour
A
large number of people recently staged demonstrations in front of the offices of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (CMC) against the deplorable conditions of the city’s roads and the numerous potholes on them and demanding compensation for the damage caused to their vehicles by these potholes.
What is generally not known is that way back in 1980, the CMC had set up a Standing Committee of Councillors to look into the problem of potholes and suggest remedial measures and I have been talking to its Chairman. I put it to him squarely that his outfit was being tardy in its work because it was yet to submit its report although 30 long years had passed.
“Nonsense,” he snorted angrily, “your charge is baseless and politically motivated. As soon as the committee was constituted, it met in plenary session and our Member-Secretary suggested that we undertake an extensive tour of Europe, North America and the Far East for a first-hand study of the problem of potholes in those countries.”
“So you took off on your junket at the tax-payer’s expense,” I said. “Look,” snapped the Chairman angrily,” it wasn’t a junket. It was a study tour. The proposal was unanimously accepted without any discussion and the members, accompanied by their family members and senior CMC officials, left for Mumbai en route to Geneva where we looked for potholes on the Geneva-Strasbourge super expressway. We found a few depressions which our expert member, after a minute study, declared were potholes. After shopping for Swiss chronometer quartz wrist watches and designer jewellery, we left for Paris.” “What did you do in Paris?” I asked, “Look for potholes on Champs Elysees opposite the French President’s mansion?
“That’s right, said the Chairman, “after buying the latest Christian Dior creations and Channel No. 5 and other French perfumes in kilolitre quantities for our trendy teenage daughters, we boarded the Concorde supersonic airliner for a non-stop trans-Atlantic flight to Washington where we were ceremoniously received by a cabbie who assured us of America’s full cooperation to the CMC to tackle the problem of potholes in the interests of democracy and human rights. We then diligently looked for potholes on the Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House and we believe that President Obama was looking out of the Oval Office window and keenly observing our work. “We then flew across the States to sight-see in Disneyland and look for potholes in Adventureland. We also had a cordial meeting with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge who, incidentally, had agreed in principle to give an interest-free loan of $ 6 billion to the CMC to deal with the problem of potholes. “After a surfing vacation on Waiki beach in Hawaii, we returned home via Tokyo, Hong Kong and Manila. While in Tokyo, the entire committee searched for potholes in the Ginza district.”
“I’m sorry that I said you were dragging your feet,” I apologised, “I can see now that you were up to your neck in work. So when do we expect your committee to submit its report?” “Oh, sometime during the latter half of 2025 after we have undertaken more round-the-world study trips.”
“So you want the people of Chandigarh to patiently cope with potholes on their roads?”
“That’s right,” said the Chairman, “and continue falling into them and breaking their precious
necks.” |
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Dateline Washington A
U.S. missile strike that reportedly killed Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in Pakistan on Wednesday was the result of a high-level intelligence sharing between the U.S. and Pakistan.
Both countries' intelligence agencies have increasingly collaborated in recent months, resulting in missile strikes by unmanned U.S. Predator drones that have eliminated threats to the Pakistani state. Now, U.S. analysts say, the big challenge is for Pakistan to provide intelligence that will help the U.S. forces go after the Taliban operating in Afghanistan. Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and currently at the Brookings Institution's Saban Centre for Middle East Policy, believes the operation against Mehsud reflects a better cooperation between the U.S. and Pakistan over threats to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari's government. Mehsud is suspected in the December 2007 assassination of Mr. Zardari's wife, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. "The next challenge is to get better Pakistani cooperation against the threat to the NATO forces in Afghanistan, especially the Quetta Taliban shura and Mullah Omar,"
Mr. Riedel said. Marvin Weinbaum, a Pakistan scholar at the Middle East Institute, notes there is only so much the U.S. military can do with target imagery. "Eventually you need the kind of information that you get from intelligence sharing between the Pakistanis and the Americans," he said. The Taliban's advances in the Swat Valley marked a turning point in Pakistani public opinion away from the militants and led to enhanced intelligence sharing.
But Mr. Weinbaum believes there is a quid pro quo: "One suspects that at the highest levels it was decided that they would assist more and in exchange for that the Americans would give them more intelligence." Over the weekend, Taliban commanders refuted reports of Mehsud's death. Three Taliban fighters - Hakimullah, Qari Hussain, who is known for training suicide bombers, and Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar - called Associated Press reporters and insisted their leader was alive.
"The reports about his death are false," Hussain said, adding that "I will take revenge against the Pakistan government for celebrating the false news of Baitullah Mehsud's death." However, these claims could be a ploy to buy time until a new leader is named. Until Mehsud makes a public statement or is shown on a new video we have to presume that he is dead. "It serves his interest, at this point, to tell his followers he is alive and well," said Mr. Weinbaum, adding, "It doesn't serve his interest not to deny his death." Hakimullah is seen as the most likely Taliban commander to succeed Mehsud as the chief of the Pakistan Taliban. "Hakimullah would be the strongest choice because he has got a record which indicates that he is a pretty aggressive figure and if they want someone in the mould of Mehsud I think he would come the closest," said Mr. Weinbaum. But on Saturday evening, hours after he had refuted reports of Mehsud's death, questions swirled about Hakimullah's own fate following reports of a firefight with Waliur Rehman, another powerful Taliban commander. Pakistan officials said one, if not both, fighters had been killed. If reports of the firefight are true it would be a confirmation of Mehsud's death and an indicator that this development has triggered a battle for control of the Taliban. The death of a likely successor would be a significant blow to the Taliban. "If Mehsud's demise is a setback to the Taliban network, the death of Nos. 2 and 3 would obviously further that process of disintegration of the Taliban," said
Mr. Weinbaum. C. Christine Fair, a South Asia analyst at the RAND Corp., contends people in Waziristan had no great affection for Mehsud and would no doubt welcome
his demise. "While he did not directly operate against Afghan, NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, he offered a hospitable terrain for Jalaluddin Haqqani and other Taliban," Ms. Fair said in an e-mail interview from Afghanistan, referring to the leader of the Haqqani network of militants. The decapitation of the Taliban's upper echelons will open two options for the Pakistani government to pursue. First, the military can, from a position of strength, offer a political solution to the demoralised and broken Taliban. Second, and this is an option analysts believe would be most agreeable to the U.S., the military can use this opportunity to destroy the movement. The second option would also eliminate Pakistani Taliban support for the Afghan Taliban of Haqqani and curb the influence of al-Qaida. The ball is now in the Pakistani
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Need to control forest fires
Forest fires during the period April-June every year have become a common occurrence, particularly in the pine forests of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and J&K. The estimated direct financial loss on account of these fires during the current year (till July, 2009) in Himachal Pradesh alone has been computed by the HP Forest Department at more than Rs 2.72
crore. The consequential ecological and environmental damage on account of such fires is not only many times the financial loss but at times is irreparable. As per the HP Forest Department statistics for the year 2006-07, the area under chir pine is 1346 sq.km. and the growing stock is approximately 12.50 million cubic metres. Every year nearly 30 per cent of the total area under chir pine gets affected due to forest fires. Though chir pine is considered a fire-hardy species but it has been observed that complete recovery is not possible and further recurring fires, particularly in consecutive years in the same patch, cause almost a killing effect.
These fires (coupled with the widespread impression that chir pine prevents growth of grass underneath) have created an obvious repulsion in the minds of the people, especially farmers against further planting of chir pine. Before suggesting any remedies to control the menace of forest fires, it is important to put things in right perspective so that misgivings do not come in the way of appreciation of these suggestions.
The chir pine forests exist over nearly 25 per cent of the total wooded forest area in Himachal Pradesh while the extent of the area under broad-leaved species and the conifers (other than chir pine) is approximately 38 per cent and 37 cent respectively. Owing to the existence of vast barren areas in the state, there is ample justification for planting nearly 30 per cent of the total planting area in Himachal Pradesh with chir pine during the period 1950-2007.
Since there remained a good market for rosin (processed from chir pine resin), until recently, there was also economic sense in maintaining the chir pine forests as pure blocks and not considering about the next step of succession i.e. conversion into broad-leaved forests. In this backdrop, the following are some of the remedies suggested to control the increasing menace of forest fires in chir pine forests:
It is time the Forest Department starts a massive plan to convert the chir pine forests into the broad-leaved (preferably oak) forests as a long-term strategy to control the menace of forest fires. Apart from the oak, the planting of wild-fruit plants is extremely significant as that would vitally help in mitigating monkey-menace as well. This task is not easy because of the practice of open grazing of a large cattle population in almost all areas covered under chir pine.
Secondly, the broad-leaved species are not hardy and cannot withstand the hazards of draught, fire and adverse biotic interference etc.
Thirdly, the cost of planting would be higher compared to chir pine planting and that need be fully appreciated by the government.
Fourthly, the survival percentage could be lower and a particular area would need tending and protection for longer duration in comparison to the conifer species.
In view of these factors, a policy decision is required to be taken at the highest level in the government to duly factor the costs as well as the hardships likely to occur to the people on account of restrictions, so that this programme gets implemented smoothly rather than in a slip-shod or ad-hoc manner. The cleaning and silvicultural operations in chir pine forests have to be done very meticulously and regularly so that highly inflammable pine needles are removed before the onset of the fire season (April) every year and the thinning of the congested crops is done on a regular basis as per the norms of scientific forestry.
Since local inhabitants from the adjacent areas do not collect these needles from the entire chir pine forest, there has to be specific and ample budget a allocation for this task to clear the entire stretch. The prevalent policy of a complete ban on green felling needs a serious review. The extension work has to be undertaken quite aggressively to educate people about the adverse effects of forest fires on their life and property, particularly on their livelyhood-base of farming and agro-pastoral practices. The currently prevalent myth about having good grass growth as a result of burning of the ghasanies has to be wiped out of the mind of the farmers.
The system of engaging fire-watchers during the fire season needs to be strengthened and may be it should get linked to some NREGA-like scheme of the Central government in order to provide sustenance to the fire protection programme in chir pine forests. The fire-lines need be created and properly maintained in all the chir pine forests in order to put in place fire control systems so that the spread of the fire, in case of its occurrence could be prevented from engulfing the entire stretch, thereby threatening the life and property of the adjoining inhabitants.
Technological advances made the world over in the field of forest-fire fighting should be made use of and proper infrastructure (machinery & equipment) should be provided to the Forest Department. Also, a training and skill development programme should be undertaken to have a professional manpower ready to fight and control forest fires without endangering their lives. Appropriate penal provisions have also to be provided in the relevant Acts (Forest Act as well as Cr.PC/IPC) to deter the recalcitrant elements.
It is time for all sections to make a beginning to undertake the remedial measures to control the ever-increasing menace of forest fires in the chir pine areas before it is too late and the menace becomes
monstrous. The writer is a retired IFS officer and former PCCF (Wildlife), Himachal Pradesh |
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Delhi Durbar
IN the Lok Sabha these days the BSP and the SP find it a little difficult to mount the kind of attacks they used to on each other. The reason is simple — leaders of the two political parties are seated right next to one another in the first row of the Lower House. SP chief Mulayam Singh’s best efforts to stall the move notwithstanding, the No wonder, a lot of stuff between the two that would normally generate heat waves in the House gets cooled these days simply because one of the two ends up laughing at the end of a tirade. Like Dara Singh Chauhan did the other day. He simply smiled and gave up when Mulayam Singh instructed him to “sit down” and not interrupt. The SP chief was seeking SC reservation for 16 castes in Uttar Pradesh, something which Mayawati recently undid.
Advani’s daughter
on the rise Even as L.K. Advani expressed his resolve the other day to continue leading his BJP brigade from the front, an alternative plan is also in place. His scions are getting ready to take over just in case the Sangh prevails upon Papa to let go. Son Jayant has already expressed his intent to queue up for the party ticket soon, ostensibly from Advani’s constituency, Gandhinagar. But Advani dotes more on his daughter. The other day the release of the Urdu version of his autobiography “My Country, My Life,” saw a subtle and discreet launch of daughter Pratibha. She made her debut by addressing a gathering of Muslims at the FICCI auditorium on this occasion. Speaking in chaste Urdu, she defended Papa’s secular credentials by beginning her speech with a famous Urdu couplet: “Mera paigham mohabbat hai, jahan tak pahunche.
All praise for
Jairam Ramesh Just when his ministerial colleagues were facing the Opposition’s heat in both Houses of Parliament, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh gave an impressive account of himself in the Upper House. His reply to the debate on the working of the Environment Ministry was so exhaustive that Deputy Chairman K Rehman Khan had to time and again ask him to finish his speech. However, Opposition members were so hugely impressed by the detailed replies being given by the minister to their questions that even they appealed to the Chair to allow Ramesh to continue speaking. “Sir, he is getting compliments from everyone,” the CPM’s Brinda Karat remarked. To this, the minister said: “I thank my former ally and now an estranged ally.” Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who also was in the House for the next item on the agenda-a discussion on price rise-also quietly asked Ramesh to carry on with his speech. “Cricket ‘samrat’ bhi keh rahe hain ki main bol sakta hoon,’’ Ramesh told the Chair as Pawar gave him a sheepish look while other members had a hearty
laugh. Contributed by Aditi Tandon, Faraz Ahmad and Ashok Tuteja |
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