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China must keep off PoK
Heroin haul in Amritsar |
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Slow and bumpy ride Make more efforts to develop roads Promises are seldom kept, especially in the political arena, but for a government that is avowedly focussed on development, it is particularly galling that an announced target is missed, and that too by a proverbial mile.
New phase in India-Afghan ties
Doga for people and pooch
India needs a uniform civil code
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China must keep off PoK Army Chief Gen V.K. Singh has brought into sharp focus a very disturbing development in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). He told journalists on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi on Wednesday that the Indian security establishment was greatly concerned about the presence of nearly 4000 Chinese construction personnel, including combat engineers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), in PoK. India has been aware of this provocative Chinese activity for some time. New Delhi has already lodged a strong protest with Beijing, reminding it that any kind of engagement in PoK without India’s consent or permission is illegal as the area is a part of Jammu and Kashmir but under illegal occupation of Pakistan. Therefore, the entry of Chinese military and other personnel in PoK is in clear violation of international law. The Chinese behaviour in the case of PoK becomes more alarming when seen in the backdrop of its attitude vis-à-vis the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The Chinese practice of issuing stapled visas to visitors from India’s J and K shows that China refuses to recognise the status of Kashmir the way the international community views it. This duplicity in its conduct needs to be exposed. China is engaged in PoK in building the Diamer-Bhasha dam and the upgradation of the Karakoram Highway. It is working on having a shorter land route to Central Asia and West Asia through Pakistan. It has not only helped Pakistan in the construction of Gwadar port in Balochistan, but is also involved in many other significant projects there. Chinese presence in Pakistan and PoK is widespread and growing rapidly. India cannot sit idle under the circumstances. Though it cannot oppose what China and Pakistan decide to do as part of their national policy, India has a right to oppose the illegal Chinese activities in PoK. One can understand that Pakistan is prepared to give any kind of concessions to China, its “all-weather friend”, because of Islamabad’s tense relations with the US. But China must remember that it cannot emerge as a responsible global power by behaving irrationally.
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Heroin haul in Amritsar THAT narcotics originating in Afghanistan passes through Pakistan and the Punjab border in India to reach some of the global destinations is by now well known. Yet, enough effort and planning have not gone in at the Central and state levels to smash the network. In this context whatever the security agencies and the state police do is not only commendable but should also be nationally recognised. The BSF jawans who seized 27kg of heroin, valued at Rs 135 crore, on Thursday deserve wider appreciation apart from better monetary reward. The Punjab police too has made significant catches. Last year in the first nine months the police recovered 160kg of heroin apart from large quantities of opium, cocaine and other deadly items. The drug menace has larger dimensions than a simple cat and mouse game between the state forces and drug smugglers. Given the Army pressure on the Jammu and Kashmir border, drug traders, it seems, find it easier to pass the banned stuff through gaps in the fenced international border in Punjab, which itself is a large and growing market. Drug addiction in Punjab has been frequently highlighted and it is not confined to educated youth. While there is too much rhetoric about the spreading menace and some genuine effort to rehabilitate the victims, the disease has taken the form of an epidemic and needs all-out coordinated national effort to eradicate it.
The importance of sealing the international border in Punjab, Rajasthan and the North-East in particular cannot be over-emphasised. That some politicians and policemen are hand in glove with narcotics smugglers is also known. How to crack the nexus is the challenge. Maybe the need is to make rewards for drug seizures more attractive. Any direct or indirect involvement or compliance in this deadly trade should invite stiffer penalties. Some countries award the death sentence for drug trafficking.
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Slow and bumpy ride Promises are seldom kept, especially in the political arena, but for a government that is avowedly focussed on development, it is particularly galling that an announced target is missed, and that too by a proverbial mile. Former Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath had set the target of 20 km of road to be built daily, but even during his tenure, it could not be achieved. Now, it has come out that only one fourth of the target has been achieved so far. The Road Transport and Highways Ministry is, of course, citing issues like land acquisition and funding to account for the lack of progress, but that’s not explanation enough. There has been a decline in the rate of construction of roads, and it has fallen from an average of 7.37 km a day in 2009-10 to 4.88 km a day in the last fiscal. No doubt, there have been issues in acquiring land for the roads, and in funding too, but such problems are to be expected and should have been resolved promptly. It is, indeed, time for CP Joshi, the not-so-new Road Transport Minister, to revitalise his ministry and make the building of roads a top priority.
The ministry has made incremental improvements in the tendering processes, and in removing some of the bottlenecks, but on the financing front, it has not been able to do much, given the global financial situation. The National Highways Authority of India is expected to raise Rs 10,000 crore through debt-free infrastructure bonds, which would provide the necessary capital. However, it is for the Transport Minister to provide the leadership and create an environment that will help
develop and build the urgently-needed roadways.
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With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown. — Chinese proverb
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New phase in India-Afghan ties The Af-Pak story takes another turn with the visit of the Afghan President, Mr Hamid Karzai, to Delhi earlier this week. In Afghanistan’s first strategic pact with any country, Kabul and New Delhi signed a landmark strategic partnership agreement during Mr Karzai’s visit. As part of the new pact, bilateral dialogue at the level of National Security Adviser has been institutionalised to focus on enhancing cooperation on security issues. New Delhi is hoping that Kabul will take the lead in defining the exact terms of this engagement. Along with this strategic pact, two other agreements on India-Afghan cooperation in developing hydrocarbons and mineral resources were signed further underlining India’s role in the evolution of Afghanistan as a viable economic unit. The two nations agreed to enhance political cooperation and institutionalise regular bilateral political and foreign office consultations. The strategic pact that commits India to “training, equipping and capacity building” of the Afghan National Security Services will certainly raise eye-brows, especially in Pakistan. Not surprisingly, Islamabad was quick to remind the Karzai government that it should behave responsibly. For a long time, India had been rather cautious in taking a leap into this realm so as not to offend so-called Pakistani sensitivities. The West further supported this posture by encouraging India to be a player in Afghan reconstruction efforts but actively discouraged India from taking on a more forceful security role. But Pakistan’s machinations continued with or without Indian provocation. Its proxies kept on targeting Indian interests in Afghanistan. As NATO forces leave Afghanistan over the course of next few years, no one expects the Afghan security forces to be able to face the challenge of the Taliban and other extremists without any outside help, and Indian training would be very influential in this regard. And India cannot be expected to ignore its genuine interests in Afghanistan just to keep Pakistan in good humour. So, the plan to train Afghan forces that was first mooted six years back by Kabul has become a reality now. Meanwhile, as Pakistan decides to up the ante in Afghanistan, the Afghan government is seeking international support in tackling Rawalpindi’s growing sense of adventure. The pact with India is Afghanistan’s way of trying to deal with an increasingly menacing Pakistan. During his visit to New Delhi, Mr Karzai was categorical in suggesting that South Asia faced “dangers from terrorism and extremism, used as an instrument of policy against innocent civilians.” He is seeking strategic pacts with the US and the NATO as well to ward off the challenge from Pakistan. Mr Karzai’s position has changed significantly in recent months. After calling the Taliban “brothers” and encouraging the insurgents to reconcile with the Afghanistan government, he has become more hardnosed in his appraisal of the Taliban and its sponsors in Pakistan. The Afghan President has now suggested that peace talks with the Taliban are futile unless they involve the Pakistani authorities who are the real masters behind the shenanigans of the insurgent groups. Mr Karzai’s attitude has been particularly affected by the killing last month of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, the Afghan government’s chief peace negotiator, by the Taliban. Kabul has been categorical that this assassination was plotted in the Pakistani city of Quetta with the active support from the ISI. The reconciliation effort, as a result, is in tatters. Ever since the death of Osama bin Laden in May, the US-Pakistan ties too have been in disarray. The security establishment in Pakistan wants to retain its central role in the negotiations with the Taliban and to prevent the US from having any long-term military presence in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Washington has been signalling that it would not tolerate the continuing use of terrorist groups, aided and betted by the ISI, to kill Americans and their allies in Afghanistan. In a radical departure from the long-standing US policy of publicly playing down Pakistan’s official support for insurgents operating from havens within Pakistan, Admiral Mike Mullen, the just-departed chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the Haqqani network as a “veritable arm” of Pakistan’s ISI. Much of the blame for the current turmoil in the Af-Pak area lies with the Obama Administration that made it clear that it wanted to exit Afghanistan as soon as it could without any concessions to the rapidly changing ground realities Pakistan’s sponsorship of the Haqqani network has been an open secret for quite some time as has been the fact that the Haqqanis have been responsible for some of the most murderous assaults on Indian and Western presence in Afghanistan. The US was reluctant to take on Pakistan on this issue till such time as their interests did not come under direct attack. As the Western forces prepare for a pullout, New Delhi is right in strengthening its partnership with Kabul. Strengthening the security dimension of the India-Afghanistan ties is extremely important for India as it is in New Delhi’s interest to help Kabul preserve its strategic autonomy at a time when Pakistan has made it clear that it would like the Haqqani network and the Taliban to be at the centre of the post-American political dispensation in Kabul. It is true that given the logic of geography and demography, Pakistan cannot be ignored in the future viability of Afghanistan. Mr Karzai was assuaging Pakistani anxieties when he suggested that “Pakistan is a twin brother” while “India is a great friend.” But India and Afghanistan can certainly change the conditions on the ground, forcing Pakistan to acknowledge that its policy towards its neighbours has not only brought instability in the region but has also pushed the very existence of Pakistan into
question.
The writer teaches at King’s College, London.
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Doga for people and pooch
The Americans are really after us. We grow Basmati and they attempt to patent it. We use Neem in medicines and they claim rights on the remedy. The food prices go up; they say common Indian, who used to sleep hungry earlier, has started eating. Unemployment in America grows; they say it is because of outsourcing to India. When Yoga has become popular in their country too, they have devised ‘Doga’ to soothe the breasts of both person and pooch. Suzi Tietleman, a Florida-based instructor of Doga, says that she stumbled upon this exercise with her dog hugging or fondling her when she used to practice Yoga. Doga is exercise for both – dog and dad; mongrel and mom. Suzi has a training manual, DVDs and classes that have conferred diploma in Doga on about a hundred people, including a few Chinese and Japanese. Thank God, no Indians so far. She says, “We chant together to feel the vibrations, then we start moving into twists and turns.” Chanting, I believe, is pronouncing OM with long sounding O but it may be difficult for a doggie to pronounce it. I have a feeling that there is an element of ‘adjustment’ in Doga — instead of OM; the American may be chanting ‘Bow-Wow’ with long-stretched O in both sounds. Regarding ‘twists and turns’, I have to add that Yoga is inspired by flying and four-legged friends. Out of 169 poses, 37 per cent are named after animals and birds in Yoga. We, in Yoga, not only reproduce the stretches and poses of specific animals but also accept their traits like the spryness of the frog, the patience of the tortoise, the haste of the hare etc. A dog facing downward is one of the significant postures in yoga. A dog, when bored, lifts its tailbone to the sky and touches its head on the ground and gives a required stretch for the spine and shoulders and those who teach Yoga command us to do this Aasan (pose) so perfectly that we behave like dogs. Yoga is union of mind, body and spirit. Union is the vital word here. It is also oneness with all living beings. It is like loving the feathery and furry pals besides humans. So, Suzi! You may not be doing anything other than what Yoga has in it except that your pet Roxy gets up with you, goes to the fitness centre and salutes the sun to perform ‘Surya Namskar’. But that is what our poodle ‘Hazel’ also used to do without being trained in Florida. He used to stand on hind legs and with folded fore-legs greet his holder and the shining star called
Surya.
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India needs a uniform civil code Nevertheless, the dropping of the proposal emanating from recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice as crystallised in the Anand Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2008, has evoked a feeling of uneasiness, especially in Sikh community across India and abroad. For dispelling this disquiet, the following day, speaking exclusively to The Tribune, the Law Minister said: "We are open to examining good proposals that help us resolve the issue. Let someone come up with a modern, sensible idea regarding what can be done and we will examine the same. But we do not want to end one trouble and invite more."
Two issues need attention In our search for a legitimate solution, at least two related questions in the alternative need answering in the first instance. Such a response, we believe, would reveal the desired direction to go. First, whether pursuing the proposal of registration of Sikh marriages by amending the Act of 1909, which was passed during colonial rule, is still worth the while, more especially in the light of developments that took place in free and independent India. Secondly, whether it would be far more advisable to pursue the same proposal of registration of Sikh marriages within the broader constitutional ambit that takes us beyond the narrow confines of religion, race, caste, etc. as envisaged under Article 44 of the Constitution of India, obligating the State to establish a common civil code for all citizens irrespective of their varying religious persuasions. It is indeed true that although now more than a century-old law of 1909 still exists on the statute book, yet its principle purpose of removing "any doubts" as to the validity of a marriage solemnised by performing the "anand karaj" ceremony (blissful event) or "any other marriage ceremony customary among the Sikhs" (sections 2 and 4 of the Act of 1909) has already been subsumed by the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 under its section 7 (dealing with ceremonies). The latter Act represents the amended and codified version of the hitherto prevailing law amongst 'Hindus' - a term constitutionally construed under Article 25 includes within its ambit "a reference to persons professing the Sikh, Jain or Budhist religion." Contextually read, if a marriage is solemnised between two Sikhs by performing the anand karaj ceremony, the marriage between them is perfectly valid under section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955.
Marriage registration optional More than that, even the abandoned proposal of registration of Sikh marriages by amending the Act of 1909 stands substantially covered under section 8 of the Act of 1955 that specifically provides for registration of marriages performed under the provisions of the Act. Perhaps the lingering limitation on this count is that the registration of marriages of Hindus, including Sikhs, solemnised under the Act of 1955 is still optional or voluntary. This also happily implies that the non-registration of a marriage will not affect its validity in any way. Here it may be added that sub-section (2) of section 8 of the 1955-Act empowers the State Governments to make rules with regard to the registration of marriages. If a State Government is of the view that such registration should be made compulsory, it can so stipulate. In that event, the person contravening the rule would be punishable. There is already complete unanimity amongst all the States and the Union Territories about the desirability of registration of marriages. On the point of compulsory registration of marriages, however, there seems to be some dispersal of opinion. A quick review of the status of registration of marriages on an all-India basis would persuade us to realise the legitimacy of the currently shelved proposal of compulsory registration of marriages, including Sikh marriages. The States of Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat provide for compulsory registration of marriages for all within their respective State territories. Pursuant to the provisions of section 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, the State of UP has framed the UP Hindu Marriage Registration Rules, 1973, and since then marriages are being registered under those rules. However, the State Government has announced a policy of compulsory registration of marriages by the panchayats, and maintenance of such records along with the record of births and deaths. The States of West Bengal, Haryana, Tripura, Pondicherry and the Union Territory of Chandigarh have also framed rules for the registration of marriages. The Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1972, makes it compulsory for the registration of marriages that are performed under the provisions of this Act. For instance, under this Act the relevant entries are made in the marriage register of the church concerned soon after the marriage, and the signatures are appended by the bride and the bridegroom, the official priest and witnesses as a token of correctness of those entries. Likewise, the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936, makes the registration of marriages compulsory for all Parsis. In the territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, the registration of marriages continue to be compulsory under the old Law of Marriages (Articles 45 to 47) that came into effect way back in the year 1911. On an all-India basis the Special Marriage Act, 1954, which applies to Indian citizens irrespective of their religion, makes the registration of all marriages compulsory that are performed under this Act. The States of Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and Meghalaya appear to provide for voluntary registration of Muslim marriages. In the State of Jammu and Kashmir, for the Hindus, who are governed by the Jammu and Kashmir Hindu Marriage Act, 1980, at present no rules have been framed for registration of their marriages. However, the Act does empower the State Government to make rules enabling the parties to have their particulars relating to marriage entered in such a manner as may be prescribed for facilitating the proof of such marriages. As regards the Muslims, the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Marriages Registration Act, 1981, provides that marriages contracted between Muslims after the commencement of the Act shall be registered in the manner provided therein within 30 days from the date of conclusion of Nikah ceremony. However, this Act has not been enforced so far.
Supreme Court ruling The issue of registration of marriages came up before the Supreme Court in Seema v. Ashwani Kumar (AIR 2006 SC 1158, per Arijit Pasayat and S.H. Kapadia, JJ.). In this case, the apex court has "noted with concern that in a large number of cases some unscrupulous persons are denying the existence of marriage [by] taking advantage of the situation that in most of the States there is no official record of the marriage." Although the registration of a marriage per se is not the determinative factor regarding the validity of the marriage, yet it gives rise to a rebuttable presumption of marriage. Stated conversely, the presumption, which is available from the registration of a marriage would be denied to a person whose marriage is not registered. The registration of a marriage, thus, is of a great evidentiary value in all such matters as the prevention of child marriages and to ensure adherence to the minimum age of marriage; prevention of marriages without the consent of the parties; checking illegal bigamy/polygamy; enabling married women to claim their right to live in the matrimonial house, maintenance, etc.; empowering widows to claim their inheritance rights and other benefits and privileges which they are entitled to after the death of their husbands; deterring men from deserting women after marriage, and preventing parents/guardians from selling daughters/young women to any person, including a foreigner, under the garb of marriage. In view of such manifest advantages, the Supreme Court had concluded that "we are of the view that marriages of all persons who are citizens of India belonging to various religions should be made compulsorily registrable in their respective States where marriage is solemnised." [Seema case, at page 1161 (para 17].
Part of vital statistics The crucial question before the apex court was how to accomplish the task of compulsory registration of marriages within the existing constitutional framework without anymore delay. To meet this challenge, the Supreme Court invoked the concept of "vital statistics" as reflected in Entry 30 and read it with Entry 5 of List III (Concurrent List) of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. In this analogical construct, the Supreme Court saw, quite ingeniously in our view, the provision of "registration of marriages" an integral part of "vital statistics", as important as the registration of births and deaths. On this count the legislatures, both at the levels of Centre and States, are empowered to enact laws without much ado. For initiating the move towards compulsory registration of marriages, the Supreme Court directed all the States and the Central Government to take certain steps, which may be abstracted as follows: If the prescription given by the Supreme Court in the year 2006 had been promptly followed, there would not have been the occasion for us to face the present predicament of declining to accept the Anand Marriage (Amendment) Bill of 2008 amending the century-old law in the year 2011 evoking entirely avoidable religious susceptibilities. Let the legislatures arise from their dogmatic slumber and act. That would be, after the stunning silence for decades, the first meaningful step in the direction "to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India" (article 44 of the Constitution).
The writer is the Director (Academics), Chandigarh Judicial Academy, Chandigarh
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ON September 1, 2011, the Press across the country flashed the news that the Centre had declined to amend the Anand Marriage Act, 1909, so as to provide for the registration of Sikh marriages. The reason advanced by the Minister of Law and Justice, Mr. Salman Khursheed, is that such a proposal, if accepted, would encourage similar demands from other religious denominations.