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Lokpal passes muster
The battle
begins in Punjab |
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Uttarakhand
election
India’s
belated activism
Laughing
matters
Need
for a more considered debate on lokpal The
Lokpal will be toothless without the CBI
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The battle begins in Punjab
With
the assembly elections in Punjab scheduled for January 30, preparations have begun in right earnest. The Shiromani Akali Dal has named some candidates and rebellion is already in the air. Disgruntled Akali leaders have threatened to enter the fray as independent candidates or are exploring prospects of joining either the Congress or the People’s Party of Punjab. The PPP would further hurt its reputation if it opens the door to opportunists. Trouble is brewing in the Congress. Some are unhappy at the possibility of defectors getting the ticket. The state party chief has left the decision on the final list with the Central leadership. Barring some, politicians in Punjab focus more on attacking rivals than telling voters what they would do to fight drugs, tackle the debt problem or create job avenues. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal rests on past achievements. Capt Amarinder Singh carries a stick at party rallies and is often one up in verbal duels with Akalis. He takes up the issues of unemployment, government debt and Akali misrule. The PPP has a definite agenda but faces the problem of raising a credible team to carry it to the people and beyond. The Bahujan Samaj Party has rebuffed those trying partnership. A divided BJP has yet to make an impact beyond a rally. Though Punjab elections have often been peaceful, the Election Commission has a tough task ahead. It will have to keep a hawk’s eye on the possible misuse of government machinery. It has taken note of violations of the code of conduct and sent a right signal by transferring a few IAS and IPS officers, seen to be favouring one candidate or the other. Officialdom in Punjab is politicised and polarised. The EC decision to bring in outside Central officers to keep a check on local police officers reflects poorly on the state administration and leadership. It is in the interest of all to play the game according to the rules and stick to issues rather than throwing mud at one another.
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Uttarakhand election
For
the third time in a row, the Assembly election in Uttarakhand next month is likely to witness a bipolar contest between the two national parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. While the Congress was elected to form the government in 2002, the voters gave the mandate to the BJP in the next election. It remains to be seen whether the electorate follows the trend of voting the incumbent out this time as well. The election is being held in the backdrop of growing disenchantment among large sections of people, who seem to feel they would have been better off if they had remained a part of Uttar Pradesh. The young hill state has not been able to address the divide between the plains and the hills, generate sufficient employment, set up a permanent state capital at a more suitable place ( Dehradun remains a temporary capital and distant from various corners of the state) and ensuring development of infrastructure at a faster clip. Road connectivity remains poor a decade after the state was created. While the Bharatiya Janata Party appears to have recovered some lost ground by recalling former Chief Minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri to lead its bid for power, the Congress also appears confident of making full use of the anti-incumbency sentiment among the people. While the BJP government is credited with starting two medical colleges in the state, where the fees are among the lowest in the country, an Ambulance service on call, a slew of welfare measures and ensuring 50 per cent reservation to women in panchayats, rampant corruption has taken off much of its sheen. While the Congress does appear the better prepared of the two, both the parties are bracing themselves for the inevitable dogfight or ‘infighting’ among party workers once the names of candidates are finally announced. There are legitimate concerns over a low voter turnout in the higher reaches, which normally experience inclement weather till the first week of February. But with the Election Commission refusing to extend the polling date beyond January 30, one can only hope that the weather will not come in the way of people exercising their franchise.
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Cherish your human connections: your relationships with friends and family. — Joseph Brodsky
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India’s belated activism
After
a long hiatus, India has taken some bold geo-strategic initiatives. This may be a manifestation of India’s new found confidence, but it could also result in provocation and confrontation, as is already obvious from China’s and Pakistan’s reactions to India’s involvement in South China Sea and Afghanistan. China has also resented India taking long overdue security measures along the northern borders. Is India in a position to meet these additional security challenges at a time when it needs to direct all its energies and resources towards building the nation as a rising power? The government’s decision to come to grips with the Chinese growing belligerence and unreasonable demands coupled with mounting security challenges is a significant event. All this while, India followed an accommodative approach towards China and even held back from augmenting and upgrading security infrastructure for fear of antagonising it. But China’s demands became more and more unreasonable and even ‘outrageous’. It has gone as far as to demand the cancellation of the Dalai Lama’s address at the Buddhist Conference on November 30 in Delhi, failing which 15th round of border talks scheduled for November 28-29 would be cancelled. India stood firm and cancelled the boundary talks. Despite watching the Chinese building comprehensive infrastructure in Tibet, India did not respond in a similar manner, noises made by the armed forces and the state administrations notwithstanding. The Chinese have built a number of airfields for fighter bomber operations, metalled roads and railways for expeditious induction of troops and wherewithal opposite Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh and storage facilities for surface-to-surface missiles, leaving India further behind by a decade with dirt roads, ill-prepared landing grounds and without any worthwhile infrastructure. After overlooking the Chinese threat for years and following a policy bordering on appeasement, the government seems to have at last become vigilant. The MOD plans to induct nearly one lakh additional soldiers in the next few years that include raising of four new divisions for the Sino-Indian border, two of which would constitute Mountain Strike Corp dedicated for offensive operations. Besides, two independent brigades for deployment opposite Ladakh and Uttarakhand are also on the anvil. The government has decided to incur an expenditure of Rs 64,000 crore ( $13 billion) in trying to match belatedly the Chinese offensive posture and aggressiveness. Years of strategic indifference has put the armed forces at considerable disadvantage. To bridge this ever-increasing gap is not very easy. The Chinese are way ahead of India in almost all respects of military wherewithal and infrastructure to facilitate quick movement. Besides, they have indigenous capability to manufacture all their hardware which we lack totally and depend entirely on foreign vendors. Both the government and the armed forces have now commenced work to contain the progressively aggressive Chinese. The air force has started refurbishing its long ignored landing grounds in the western as well as eastern sectors and relocating advance aircraft like the SU-30 MKI and other assets. The army too has been relocating its assets, including missiles, to make them operationally more viable. No way can India match the Chinese might in the near perspective. Whilst India builds itself, it must strive to contain any Sino-Indian clash within diplomatic bounds. India took another bold step in signing a strategic partnership agreement with anarchic war-ravaged Afghanistan during President Karzai’s visit to India in October this year. India has thus entered into another potential conflict area with China as well as Pakistan. Pakistan is waiting in the wings for the US and the NATO forces to withdraw by 2014 so that it could establish its hegemony with the help of its proxies like the Haqqanis and ensure long cherished strategic depth against India. India’s strategic alliance with Afghanistan is, therefore, seen by Pakistan as an impediment in achieving this objective. India has invested $2 billion in development and infrastructure projects in Afghanistan. Obviously, India, like others, has its own interests. It will perhaps try for hydro-carbons. China too in search of energy and minerals has a long-term interest in Afghanistan. In fact, China has already signed contracts for extracting metals like copper. This may lead to negation of each other’s influence and a consequent clash of economic interests. How India creates space for itself in this quagmire of clashing politico-economic interests and helps Afghanistan to stabilise as the powers that be now expect it to do without getting embroiled too much in it is a moot point. However desirable it may be to increase the foot print in Afghanistan, success is likely to elude India. India does not have the requisite will power and capacity to bring about any meaningful changes in Afghanistan in the face of severe opposition from Pakistan and other players in the field. India’s foray in South China Sea is another bold initiative, not quite bereft of serious ramifications. The Petro Vietnam and the ONGC Videsh of India signed a deal for oil exploration in South China Sea during Vietnam President Truong Tang Sang’s recent visit to India, overlooking Beijing’s objections. India asserted its right to do so despite Chinese vehement objections and stern warnings. A communist party affiliated paper went on to say that India was risking its own energy security by “challenging the core interest of a large rising country for unknown oil at the bottom of sea”. The Chinese government also issued a demarche which India rejected outright and asserted its right to explore oil in block 127 and 128 of South China Sea, legally claimed by the government of Vietnam on the basis of international norms. It seems that the government is not only trying to match Chinese activism in South and South East Asia but also trying to puncture holes in Beijing’s policy of containment of India. Playing host to the Presidents of Vietnam and Myanmar, two immediate South-East neighbours of China and members of ASEAN, was a well orchestrated geo-strategic move on the part of India. China sees India’s resolve to enhance its clout in South East Asia as inimical to its interest. China claims full sovereignty over the entire South China Sea, ignoring the claims of other countries. It has warned all countries, including India, to refrain from undertaking any oil exploration in blocks offered by Vietnam. However, unfazed by Chinese threats, Vietnam asserts its right to engage friendly countries to explore hydro-carbon in areas falling within its jurisdiction. These oil and gas fields lie on the continental shelf within the exclusive economic zone under the sovereign rights of Vietnam and in total conformity with the 1982 UN Convention on laws of the Sea. India cannot back out without losing face. Besides, India’s rising population and growing economy requiring higher standards of living will create pressures for meeting the ever-rising need for energy. The Chinese too have similar compulsions. If both sides stick to their stated positions, a Sino-Indian conflict could be inevitable. As a rising power desirous of being active geo-strategically, India should be able to take care of its interest beyond its national frontiers. Whilst both the Indian navy and the air force have some trans-nation and trans-ocean capabilities, these need to be built further substantially. It is doubtful whether the navy and the air force are currently in a position to concentrate their combat powers away from home. That is the measure of their real capabilities. We are woefully short in this. A resurgent economy by itself is not sufficient. Diplomacy too needs to be backed by hard
power. The writer is a former Director General, Defence Planning Staff.
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Laughing matters Life
is so full of trials and tribulations that most of us do not remember how to laugh naturally. Do not count the belly-shaking, full-throated ha-ha-ha-ha that you practise in laughter classes in the city’s parks. Or the infuriating heh-heh-heh-heh that you hear on many television shows where the celebrity comes in straight from the dentist to show off his gleaming set of 32. The rash of regional humour in most of our jokes often leaves me cold. How can a person in a cosmopolitan environment appreciate Sindhi jokes, Santa-Banta tales and Gujju gags when somewhere there is scope for someone to feel hurt at such narrations. We are notorious for being incapable of laughing at ourselves. I am trying to recall the last time I laughed spontaneously. I think it was when I saw my friend’s infant son stumble over a bunch of cushions, fall, pick himself up and crawl again. There was something very comic about his expression. When the onlookers laughed and clapped their hands, Junior gave a thousand-watt smile and conquered the cushions again. His diapered bottom gave him an exaggerated penguin-style waddle which I found very funny – not that I told my friend that. I can recall my student days when I read books by the inimitable P.G.Wodehouse and doubled up in laughter at the uproarious scenes he conjured up. “This Wodehouse stands between you and your exams, ” my mother would complain. Today she concludes that Wodehouse stands between me and the tedium of life. The ‘Yes Minister’ and ‘Yes, Prime Minister’ TV series also had me in splits as a student. But when I saw the series this year after a gap of 26 years, I had spent 19 years in the service of the government and the episodes actually made me very sad. Many of the subtle nuances, for which the stories are justly famous, were very close to the truth. In the eighties, a leading pharmaceutical company brought out small joke books titled “Laughter is the Best Medicine.” Though all the jokes and cartoons pertained to the doctor-patient environment, they were really funny and one did not tire of reading them again and again. R.K. Laxman’s cartoons with their wry, understated humour or illustrations by Mario Miranda with their extravagant depiction of anatomies and structures are a real treasure-trove of intelligent humour. As I grow older, I find forced or laboured humour very jarring. If laughter is medicine, I’m not having it! Give me a wicked verse, a clever pun or a smart limerick any day. I recall a Sanskrit verse I read in childhood, Kamalaa Kamale Shete, Harah Shete Himaalaye. Ksheeraabdhau cha Harih Shete, Manye Matkuna Shankayaah!” Translated, it means : ‘Lakshmi sleeps on a lotus, Shiva in the Himalayas, Vishnu sleeps on the Ocean of Milk… I believe they do so for fear of bed bugs.’ As I gazed at the idol of the reclining Vishnu in the Srirangam temple at Tiruchi, I thought of the bed bug and
smiled.
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Need for a more considered debate on lokpal
The
debate in Parliament on the proposed Lokpal legislation has unfortunately touched a nadir; instead of discussing the legislation in a sober atmosphere and making a conscious effort to arrive at as much consensus as possible, the political parties are instead indulging in acrimonious and heated exchanges. The exercise of the government in furtively slipping in various quotas, including for the minorities, appears a deliberate one with one eye on UP elections, notwithstanding doubts on the legality of it expressed by former Supreme Court judges and jurists. Why would any one imagine that the selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India, would not consider members from amongst Muslims and women, when any number of them are available from these sections on their own merit ? Why indeed was this non-issue allowed to take over the debate, unless it was a device to stall the Lokpal legislation ? Let us not forget that parties led by Mulayam Singh and Laloo Prasad were the ones which sabotaged the Women’s Reservation Bill by insisting on a sub quota for the OBCs. They managed to embarrass Sonia Gandhi and Sushma Swaraj, who had earlier embraced, without any embarrassment, and congratulated each other over their victory in the Lok Sabha. But they had to beat a retreat in the Rajya Sabha. The suggestion that if there are allegations against the Prime Minister, they would be decoratively shelved and brought out after he remits office (which may be even 5 years later), also does not make any sense. An incumbent Prime Minister of Italy this year was forced to resign on corruption charges after he was found to be guilty by a court. Similarly Jacques Chirac, a former President of France was recently sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment, again for corruption while a former President of Israel has been sent to jail on grounds of sexual harassment and moral impropriety. The most contentions matter of the CBI also remains unresolved. Ideally, the appointment of the Director, CBI should be by a joint committee consisting of the Lokpal and a Standing Committee of Parliament. Give the CBI Director a fixed tenure for five or ten years. He should have full administrative control over the staff of C.B.I. and over earmarked funds from the Consolidated Fund of India. There should be no interference with his day to day work by the Central Government or the Lokpal. However the Lokpal would be entitled to ask and receive reports from him at regular intervals. The Director, CBI shall not be removed from service except in the manner and on similar grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court – in the same manner of removal, which applies to the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner. Immunity for MPs Surprisingly, not withstanding bitter wrangling on most other aspects, all Members of Parliament have unanimously agreed to keep themselves outside the ambit of the Lokpal and the CBI for any corrupt action and bribery inside the Parliament. To me this is scandalous and
unacceptable. In their defence, Members of Parliament invoke Article 105 of the Constitution, and the widely criticised majority judgment (3 against 2) in the Narasimha Rao case (1999). The minority judgment, however, had warned that this interpretation could lead to a charter for corruption and elevate Members of Parliament as “super-citizens, immune from criminal responsibility”. It would indeed be ironic if a claim for immunity from prosecution, founded on the need to ensure the independence of Members of Parliament in exercising their right to speak or cast their vote in Parliament, is put forward by a Member, who has bartered away his independence by agreeing to speak or vote in a particular manner in lieu of illegal gratification. In other countries such a conduct of MPs is treated as criminal, since 1875, for example, in Australia. Calm consideration The matter of Lokpal is too important and needs to be discussed more seriously and not under pressure of forthcoming elections in Punjab and in Uttar Pradesh. The knee-jerk reaction of the Central Government to Anna Hazare’s threat of fast, was possibly prompted by the Opposition’s eagerness to cash on the civil society movement and opposition leaders cosying up to Anna Hazare. Their puerile excuse that they sat with Hazare because they wanted to explain their point of view is unacceptable political behaviour. Political Parties should hold their own meetings to explain their position to the public. Anna Hazare does have the right to muster support, arouse masses and exercise his democratic rights – and to put pressure on the government and even the Parliament, to pass a particular law because the ultimate sovereign are the people. But there is a caveat that this discussion requires a calmer atmosphere. Could the parties unanimously agree to adjourn the discussions till after the UP elections are over, with a pledge to pass the legislation as the first item when Parliament begins its next session ? As a measure of his genuine concern for a strong Lokpal, Anna Hazare on his part, one hopes, would reciprocate by not going on fast or agitation. He can rest assured that people’s determination to have a strong Lokpal is not so weak as to let the government ignore its solemn pledge to pass the Bill. If the government prevaricates, it must know that consequences could be monumental and no government can remain in permanent confrontation with its real masters, the people of India. The writer is a former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court
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The Lokpal will be toothless without the CBI The
amended Lokpal Bill being debated in Parliament does not appear to give enough powers to the institution
of the Lokpal (Ombudsman) to deal with corruption within the government. Despite the government claiming that it has given enough powers in the Bill and addressed the concerns raised by Anna Hazare, he has already rejected the Bill introduced in Parliament and has proceeded on fast in Mumbai. He has also threatened to demonstrate outside the houses of ministers and MPs in New Delhi. He has also called upon the people to fill the jails (Jail Bharo) and has warned the Congress that he would himself campaign against the party in the forthcoming elections in five states. The ruling Congress President Sonia Gandhi has picked up the gauntlet, declaring that the party is ready for the fight. The key issue is control over the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The government has rejected the demand for transferring its administrative control to the Lokpal or to any independent agency. Apparently, the government has a lot to hide and, therefore, cannot allow its omissions and commissions to be exposed. The UPA government led by Manmohan Singh has used the CBI to put pressure on UP Chief Minister Mayawati and former Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, whenever it has been threatened with defeat in the Lok Sabha. The Congress has a strength of 207 in the 545-member Lok Sabha. The pressure works because both Mayawati and Mulayam Singh are facing CBI cases for their disproportionate assets. The Congress alone cannot be blamed though. All governments, including the one led by BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee have used the CBI to serve their own interest. A senior opposition leader from Bihar admitted on the floor of the Lok Sabha that they too had misused the CBI when they were in power. Many former directors of CBI have recorded in books they have written after their retirement that they were pressurised by one government or the other to prosecute or not to prosecute in an assortment of cases involving politicians and political parties. Parties united I was a member of the Rajya Sabha when the Bill to spell out control over the CBI came up before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Home Affairs. The then Chief Justice of India J.S.Verma had proposed in a Hawala case to set up an independent Directorate of Prosecution (DOP) to have control over the CBI. But no political party — all of them were represented in the Committee — wanted the CBI to be autonomous. I was disappointed when Justice Verma's proposal was summarily rejected. The administrative control of the government over the CBI was endorsed. So much so that the Committee restored the Single Directive which the Supreme Court had thrown out. The Single Directive meant that the government's permission was required before initiating an inquiry or action against officers of the rank of Joint Secretaries and above. There is hardly a minister who does not use these officers to serve his own or his party's interests. The details of the 2G Spectrum scam, now revealed by the CBI, show how ministers were in league with the private parties in the allotment of licences without following any of the established rules. The Lokpal is toothless without control over the CBI and will be quite helpless to probe into the misdeeds of ministers or senior officials. My main objection is against the provision for 50 per cent reservation. Quotas are alright in jobs or educational institutions. But when we are selecting people for Constitutional positions, we want the best talent available. I am told that in the Congress, some voices have been raised for having reservations in the High Courts and even the Supreme Court. What kind of India are we building when parochialism is on the agenda
of political parties for the sake of placating voters of one community or the other? Unfortunately, the government has already conceded the enumeration of castes in the in the 2011 census. I wish the counting was designed to learn how many poor people are there in the country. By introducing reservation in the Lokpal, the government is sowing seeds of division and conflict in the fight against corruption. I hope that Anna Hazare would raise his voice against reservation in Lokpal. Anna's firm 'no' to the Lokpal Bill indicates that the battle may go to the streets. This is undesirable and will destroy the country. Political parties should collectively think how to sort out the issue without agitations. The dictum that the loss of one is the gain of the other is shortsighted. Whatever the moves or counter-moves of political parties, people should be vigilant and not play into their hands.
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