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Political posturing again
India-Russia ties |
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Mullaperiyar dam row
Political elites and honour crimes
Like a diamond in the sky!
1971 war
The forgotten warriors
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Political posturing again
Nothing
concrete has emerged out of Wednesday’s debate in Parliament on black money, a favourite subject of BJP leader L.K. Advani and yoga guru Ramdev. What purpose will a White Paper serve? If the government has refused to divulge the names of the identified culprits in the Supreme Court and Parliament, taking shelter behind some bilateral treaties, it won’t do so in the proposed White Paper.
More important than knowing the names of black money account holders is to bring back the illegal wealth stashed in well-known tax havens abroad. For that the government needs to be firm like the US. It can consider imposing trade curbs with non-cooperating countries, stop Indian firms and banks from doing business with global financial institutions, shut foreign banks’ branches here if they do not disclose information about Indian account holders, who actually are tax evaders. But does the government have the political will to apply such pressure tactics? Are politicians really interested in bringing back the ill-gotten wealth? Earlier this year the Supreme Court had suggested a special investigation team under a retired judge of the apex court and drawing members from the CBI, the IB, RAW, the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department to deal with the issue. This needs to be followed expeditiously. What about illegal wealth generated within the country? Black money is essentially income undisclosed to the tax authorities. It is sent abroad for safe custody in foreign banks, which thrive by maintaining secrecy about their account holders, and brought back when needed through the “hawala” route. Businessmen and companies route their unaccounted money through foreign institutional investors for investment in real estate and stock markets back home. Political parties use black money during elections. Drug trafficking and terrorist activities are funded by money that moves illegally across borders. All this is as well known as the games politicians play.
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India-Russia ties Despite being an annual affair, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s three-day visit to Russia that began on Thursday has special significance. The two traditional friends are holding consultations on different bilateral and international issues at a time when the world is faced with a crippling economic slowdown, and the situation in West Asia and South Asia is undergoing transformation.
The two together can influence the course of events in Afghanistan, where efforts are on to build a mechanism for ensuring that the gains made so far are not nullified once the US-led NATO forces have finally left the country in 2014, as planned. It is in the interests of both India and Russia that the extremist forces remain subdued. The changing face of West Asia also calls for India and Russia acting together to promote peace, progress and stability there. Besides the global and regional issues, India and Russia have to further expand their bilateral cooperation in different areas of mutual interest like trade and industry, defence-related matters and civilian nuclear energy. The two countries do not have a mere buyer-seller relationship. Dr Manmohan Singh has to ensure that more joint ventures, particularly in the area of defence, are undertaken so that India gets cutting-edge technologies from Russia. The Koodankulam nuclear project is to have two more nuclear reactors from Russia, which has already supplied two reactors in the past. Unfortunately, this item is unlikely to figure in the formal agenda in view of the controversy related to Koodankulam. The two countries can take up the issue at a more opportune time. Russia and France have been among the first few countries that offered to help India in nuclear power generation after the historic Indo-US nuclear deal. One can only hope that India’s civilian nuclear programme will soon be free from politics, which is hampering the country’s march in the field. |
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Mullaperiyar dam row The Supreme Court’s recent counsel to the Tamil Nadu and Kerala governments to exercise restraint on their statements on the Mullaperiyar dam row and its candid assertion that they are adding fuel to the fire rather than dousing it was timely and much needed.
While the Kerala government has been fuelling fears that the 116-year-old dam’s increase in height to 142 feet as demanded by the Tamil Nadu government would endanger the lives of people in four thickly-populated downstream districts in the state, especially because the dam is intrinsically weak and is located in the seismic zone, the Tamil Nadu government is exaggerating its claim that four of its districts which are fed by waters from the dam would suffer incalculable damage in terms of people’s livelihood and agriculture if Kerala raises the height of the dam or builds a new dam to replace the current one as it has been wanting to. With this having become an emotive issue in both states, politics is playing a major role in both governments seeking to convince their people that they would not allow their interests to be threatened. In pursuit of its demand for a new dam, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy led an all-party delegation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this week and publicly announced that he was willing to enter into a tripartite agreement and enact a law assuring Tamil Nadu that it would get the ‘same quantity’ of water from the proposed new dam. Tamil Nadu, however, fears that it would be wholly at the mercy of Kerala if a new dam is constructed. There is basically a major trust deficit which both governments are contributing to. It is indeed time that the Centre takes it upon itself to settle the contentious issue before blood begins to spill on the streets. While a fresh panel of experts of high credibility must address the issue of the dam’s safety, it must be ensured through a tripartite agreement as suggested by Mr Chandy that Tamil Nadu gets uninterrupted supply of water. |
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The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice. — Mark Twain
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Political elites and honour crimes
The Tribune report “How Haryana changed its mind on honour crime laws” (December 1, 2011) underscores the state’s political elites’ fear of loss of their vote bank. An editorial (The Tribune, December 2, 2011) rightly stresses that the Haryana Government “has shown a perceptible tendency to soft-pedal action on the alarming practice of ‘honour killings’ in the state.” Several documents accessed through the RTI channel shed more light on the issue. The Centre’s Ministry of Home Affairs (vide its D.O. No. 12/24/2009-Judl.Cell dated July 8, 2010) asked the Haryana Government to send its views on the issue as the Centre was contemplating suggesting strict legal measures to curb the menace of honour killings perpetrated in connivance with khap panchayats by amending the Indian Penal Code. The Law Secretary-cum-Legal Remembrancer to the Government of Haryana, on being asked to give his opinion, replied that “honour killing is the most barbaric act….The introduction of the Indian Penal Code and Certain Other Laws (Amendment Bill, 2010) is indeed a step forward in this regard.” This expert opinion was subsequently overruled. It is to be noted that the media, both print and electronic, has played a commendable role in highlighting the problem. However, the Haryana Government has decried its role. The Home Department, Haryana (vide its letter No.14/26/2010-31(C) dated 8.9. 2010 to the Centre), cautioned New Delhi “to be wary of motivational forces, more so in the present-day climate rendered extremely vulnerable by megalomaniac media”. The Chief Minister of Haryana (vide D.O. No. CMH-2010 PSCpi/3453 dated 30.9.2010, addressed to Union minister Pranab Mukherjee) also cautioned “to critically examine the different manifestations of ‘honour killing’ in a wider context without being overwhelmed by exaggerated media reports.” The above-mentioned letter states that there is no need for fresh legislation to deal with the problem, and firmly asserts: “The proposed amendment gives an erroneous impression that panchayats either connive with or instigate ‘honour killing….these murders are reportedly committed by the family members of the boys and girls and not under the dictates of panchayats.” This claim needs to be examined dispassionately. The khap panchayat is a clannish organisation, now largely a Jat outfit, with bhaichara (brotherhood) as its raison de’tre. All its members are supposed to be blood relations. This led to several marital taboos — no same-gotra and same-village marriage, no marital alliance between neighbouring villages even if they belong to different khaps. There are several gotras of Jats bound by bhaichara and no inter-gotra marriage is permissible in these cases. Then, there are several other marital restrictions too. This has made marital alliances difficult now, especially in view of the highly skewed sex ratio in Haryana. Brides are bought from distant places to meet the deficit and no one bothers about their gotra and caste. The process of modernisation has exposed the youth to the wide world around and intimacy between the two sexes is on the increase in the rural hinterland, rendering bhaichara a myth. The moment it takes the form of marital alliance, it is taken as a threat to the age-old tradition by the elders and often invites barbarous punishment. Khap elements zealously guard age-old marital restrictions. They have fostered a culture of intolerance, making a family pariah in village society if its member happens to violate khap marital norms. The family is subjected to repeated taunts, making its existence unbearable. This drives some of its members to commit murder to restore family honour. It is this social milieu spawned by khap elements which leads to honour crimes. Then, there is enough evidence of the direct involvement of khap elements in honour crimes in the form of inflaming passions, organising social boycott of the family and such other acts. The same-gotra and same-village marriage is the most important marital taboo in the khap belt. There is only one such instance of well-publicised case of Manoj-Babli marriage which led to the couple’s brutal murder. Ved Pal of a village in Kaithal district married a girl of a different gotra belonging to a village in Jind district in Haryana. He was lynched by khap mobsters for violating the taboo of marital alliance between neighbouring villages. Pawanjit Bhanwala is an important community leader of Bhanwala Jats — a gotra of Ved Pal’s wife. In a documentary on khaps produced by Nakul, a Delhi-based film-maker, Pawanjit is asked whether murder is justified in a marriage not acceptable to khaps. He retorts angrily: “What to talk of murder, those who pollute sacred relations must not be spared”. He, an accused in the murder, was acquitted for lack of evidence. Moreover, Ram Dia, the Pradhan of Bhanwala khap, has been awarded life imprisonment in this case. In the above documentary, Ganga Raj, an important community leader, is shown proclaiming the panchayat’s decision of social boycott of the boy’s family in the Manoj-Babli case with a fine of Rs 25000 on anybody having interaction with the boy’s family. He was given life imprisonment by the trial court but ac operate behind the scene and thus escape the rigour of law. Others become the victims of their lethal rhetoric. A Gehlaut boy of Dharana village in Jhajjar district married a Kadian girl of a village in Panipat district. Some Kadian families of Dharana objected to this marriage. The Kadian khap panchayat, presided over by Kadian khap acting president Raj Singh Kadian, held a meeting, declared the marriage void and ostracised the family. The khap decision came under sever criticism by civil society groups and the media. The khap had to revise its decision but imposed permanent exile on the couple. This was in August 2009 and since then the couple has not been allowed to enter the village even to meet their aged and ailing parents despite the Constitution guarantying the right of residence to its citizens anywhere in India. A big congregation of khap leaders took place at Kurukshetra on April 13, 2010. It was decided to collect Rs 10 from every family to help the killers of Manoj and Babli. Examples can be multiplied. Whether khaps have any role in honour crimes or not is left to the readers’ perception. Those who occupy seats of power by taking the oath of upholding the Constitution should see that its provisions are not allowed to be flouted in the narrow consideration of garnering some more votes. Khap custodians have a democratic right to pursue their demand for a ban on same-gotra-same-village marriages peacefully but they should relax other restrictions which have become impractical in the modern age. However, if someone violates these norms, there should no killing and persecution of the family. Khap leaders should change their worldview in tune with the changing times and concentrate on larger social issues like the crisis in agriculture, mounting corruption, galloping inflation, growing unemployment, foeticide and such other problems if they wish to acquire legitimacy in society.n The writer, a retired Delhi University academic, is a specialist on Haryana affairs. |
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Like a diamond in the sky!
While nine Indian diamond traders have been jailed in China for allegedly smuggling this precious stone into that country, there is news to cheer about from Ohio State University in the US, where claims have been made of the existence of diamond-studded Milky Way planets. And we had been so far crooning it only as a nursery rhyme — Up above the world so high; like a diamond in the sky! It is reported that “carbon super-earths” — giant terrestrial planets that contain up to 50 per cent diamond — may possibly exist in our galaxy. This is suggested by a new study involving scientists like Cayman Unterborn, Panero and Jason Kabbes. Earlier too, in 2004, the Harvard Smithsonian Centre of Astrophysics discovered a diamond star of 10 billion trillion trillion carats! More star gazing in the offing? More voyages, expeditions and explorations ready for launch? It may be an exaggeration on my part even to state the fact, also at the cost of appearing a defensive male chauvinist, that diamonds have always charmed the fair sex. As their own admission goes, “a woman can do anything for diamonds.” Yes, I am also talking about the Tanishq advertisement in which electrifying Katrina Kaif pushes the dazzling Aishwarya Rai to the wall, rendering her poorer in her investments in beauty-sparkles, which, unlike diamonds (for which she has been vouching that they are forever till her being fired and Katrina hired), did not last her long enough. Not to be left behind is Jaya Bachchan, who almost castigated her hubby for not gifting her a diamond ring, in addition to diamond bangles, on Diwali that has just gone by! This was notwithstanding Big B’s very transparent use of almost swear-words. Yes, you could lip-read them! Nearer home, the Kolar mines in Mysore adequately enriched the Mysore kings and queens. It was here where the Indian Kohinoor was found which once adorned the jewellery box of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and is now sitting pretty in the crown of the Queen of England. On a philosophical and scientific note (quite a paradox, no?), it’s only a stone till it is chiselled into a diamond. A film-buff that I am, my mind takes me back to the movies like ‘Victoria No. 203’, ‘Johnny Mera Naam’, ‘Jewel Thief’’, ‘Jugnu’, ‘Heera-Panna’, etc, besides countless others, where if diamonds had not been there in the plot, all the other ‘stars’ on the celluloid would have lost their shine, gleam and relevance. And for the slogan — “Diamonds are forever to stay” — one will have to revert to De Beers, a diamond cartel, which engaged an advertising agency, N.W Ayer & Son, in 1938 which suggested a change in the image of diamonds, then going down, likening them to a “memorial of love” employing Hollywood celebrities, by putting diamond rings in their fingers. That the diamonds stay with the family and are seldom sold, endorsed the ad campaign —“Diamonds are forever to stay!” But in not having to circulate the humankind’s wealth, and letting it remain in safe vaults, only to be seen on the sly, that too by the owner himself or herself, the diamonds do not attract me towards them. These give me a feeling of suffocated and stilted richness, which is there but is not there at all. I am happy being in possession of just the carbon atoms, which do not allow breathing easy with their risky protocol. Also, not that everything goes hunky-dory with the possession and flaunting of diamonds. Some stone-experts also talk about the ill effects of this precious stone. Even the Kohinoor has had a history of spelling misfortune for the royals who had it in their possession. Grapes are sour — did you say that? And diamonds are forever — did you say that
too?
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1971 war It was India’s finest hour, with a brilliant politico-military campaign resulting in the birth of Bangladesh. India, however, failed to either evict Pakistan from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, or to get it to accept the Cease-fire Line as the international boundary Gurmeet Kanwal On
December 16, 1971, over 90,000 Pakistani soldiers led by Lt Gen A.A.K. Niazi, surrendered before Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of India's Eastern Command, at the Dacca (now Dhaka) race course and the new nation of Bangladesh was born. A day later, the guns fell silent after India's unilateral offer of a cease fire was accepted by Pakistan's military ruler General Yahya Khan. The story had begun about a year earlier. In elections held in 1970, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, leader of the Awami League, had won 167 of 169 seats in East Pakistan and a simple majority in the lower house of Pakistan's parliament. Though he had lawfully earned the right to form the government, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People's Party, refused to accept defeat. As the deadlock lingered on, there were widespread protests in East Pakistan and General Yahya Khan gave orders to the Pakistani army to crush dissent. On the night of March 25, 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested and the Pakistani army began a large-scale, brutal crackdown. Under Lt Gen Tikka Khan, known as the "Butcher of Bengal", the Pakistani army unleashed horrific atrocities on the innocent Bengalis. Thousands of them were killed in cold blood. Many more were tortured over several months; many hapless women were raped and molested. Intellectuals and minority Hindus were particularly singled out. The genocide led to a mass exodus and about 10 million refugees straggled across the border into neighbouring Indian states. Despite India's own difficulties, they were accommodated in refugee camps and were provided with food and shelter. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi condemned the arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the atrocities in East Pakistan. She asked the Indian Armed Forces to prepare for war as India's security was being undermined by the massive influx of refugees. General S.H.F.J. Manekshaw (later Field Marshal) told the Prime Minister that the Army needed some time to prepare for what would be a war on both the eastern and the western fronts. The monsoon was but a few months away, the Himalayan passes on India's border with Tibet would remain open till mid-November and the Chinese could intervene. It was sound military advice as the troops needed for offensive operations in East Pakistan could be pulled out from the Chinese border only after the passes closed. The Prime Minister accepted the advice given to her. This was the highpoint of civil-military synergy in independent India. Bengali troops in East Pakistan soon revolted and deserted in large numbers to join the Mukti Bahini, a guerrilla force that began to conduct covert operations against Pakistani forces. India provided political, diplomatic and moral support to the Mukti Bahini. While the Armed Forces began their preparations for war, Indira Gandhi launched a diplomatic campaign to create awareness about the situation in East Pakistan. She toured major world capitals, to appeal to the international community to intercede with the government of Pakistan to put an end to the continuing atrocities and to provide humanitarian assistance to India to look after the refugees, but did not receive anything other than sympathy. On December 3, 1971, Yahya Khan launched pre-emptive air strikes against 11 forward Indian air bases and India and Pakistan were once again at war. India responded with multi-pronged offensive operations into East Pakistan. On December 6, 1971, India accorded formal recognition to the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi told Parliament, "The people of Bangladesh battling for their very existence and the people of India fighting to defeat aggression now find themselves partisans in the same cause." The grand strategy in the war was to fight a holding action on the western front and to liberate Dacca from Pakistan's tyrannical rule. The Indian Army, with support from the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force and hand-in-hand with the Mukti Bahini, made rapid progress. Pakistani strong points based on towns and other built up areas were bypassed by the leading columns and left for follow-on troops to clear while the spearheads advanced rapidly towards Dacca. Within a week, it became clear to all perceptive observers that Dacca would soon fall. Maj Gen Rao Farman Ali, Military Adviser to the Governor of East Pakistan, expressed the administration's willingness to surrender and on December 16, 1971, Maj Gen (later Lt Gen) J.F.R. Jacob, Chief of Staff, Eastern Command, flew into Dacca to negotiate the terms of surrender. Later that day, Lt Gen Aurora accepted one of military history's greatest surrenders. Announcing the surrender in Parliament, Indira Gandhi said, "Dacca is now a free capital of a free country… We hail the people of Bangladesh in their hour of triumph. All nations who value the human spirit will recognize it as a significant milestone in man's quest for liberty." The victory in Bangladesh was the result of a systematically planned and brilliantly executed politico-military campaign. Indira Gandhi proved herself to be a resolute leader who refused to buckle under the pressure of the US fleet led by the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise that sailed into the Bay of Bengal during the war. By signing a Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union before the war, she ensured that the Chinese were kept at bay. Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw emerged as a charismatic military leader who succeeded in forging rare unity among the three services so that the full potential of Indian combat power was exploited in an optimal and synergised manner. It was truly India's finest hour. Forty years later, it can be truthfully said that it was a just war and that the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers, sailors and airmen were not in vain. However, some of the hard-fought gains were frittered away in the Shimla Agreement signed on July 2, 1972. In its zeal to appear magnanimous in victory, the Government of India failed to either get the Pakistan Army to vacate Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, or to get Bhutto to accept the Cease-fire Line as the international boundary in exchange for 90,000 prisoners of war. The author is Director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi.
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Four decades is a long time to wait for the warriors to return home, but for some families this psychological trauma continues. The whereabouts of as many as 54 Indian prisoners-of-war (POWs), captured during the 1971 conflict, remain unknown and they are believed by their families that they are still held captive in Pakistan. Family members and relatives of these missing POWs have for long been taking up this issue with the Indian government and have also visited some of the jails in Pakistan in search of their loved ones, but have so far been unsuccessful. “Almost 40 years have passed but we have not been able to get back even one of the 54 of our missing soldiers believed to be in Pakistan or get any authentic and conclusive information on them. This is unfortunate and we feel the government has let down the fraternity of its valiant soldiers," says Dr Simmi Waraich, whose father Maj S.P.S. Waraich figures in the list of missing POWs. The Missing Defence Personnel Relatives Association (MDPRA) which has being pursuing the issue and recently met Defence Minister A.K. Antony in this regard, had mooted in 2007 that like other progressive countries which account for each and every missing soldier of theirs through an active Missing in Action (MIA) Cell, India should also have a similar cell and each missing soldier should be accounted for to the entire satisfaction of those concerned. This request, according to the MDPRA, was agreed to but it has no information of any progress made to account for the missing POWs. India needs to have an MIA Cell, comrising officials from the Army, Air Force, Navy and the intelligence services to enquire into each case and bring it to its logical conclusion like the US does, where each case is investigated thoroughly including the forensic evidences. Several other countries also have similar cells. The MDPRA has pointed out that Maj Ashok Suri's (of 5 Assam) handwritten note from Karachi in 1975 saying "We are twenty officers here" cannot be ignored only on the basis of Pakistan Government's repeated denials that they held back any of our soldiers. There are many other evidences projected by MDPRA which have not been explored satisfactorily. Further, two soldiers, Jagseer Singh and Mohamad Arif, listed as deserters by the Indian Army, had actually been captured by Pakistan during the 1999 Kargil conflict and were kept at an undisclosed location till they were released in 2004 even though then Pakistani president Gen Parvez Musharraf had categorically denied at the 2001 Agra Summit that there were no Indian POWs in Pakistan. -- Vijay Mohan |
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