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A fake encounter
Bitterness wins
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Not going by the book
Human greed and nature’s fury
Pigeon’s roost
Army’s crucial role in Egypt
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A fake encounter
IN a country where fake encounters are not uncommon, someone may well ask: why has the Ishrat Jahan killing evoked such national interest? It is unusual for police-Intelligence Bureau officers to pick up a college girl along with three others for staging an encounter. However, the real reason is the political fallout the case may trigger. The encounter happened during Narendra Modi's dispensation.
His critics say Modi has been such a powerful Chief Minister, how could anything, particularly a fake encounter, be done without his knowledge? Secondly, the Gujarat government made no effort to pursue the case until pushed by courts. Thirdly, it gave promotions to police officers whose names figured in the case. The CBI is yet to establish the motive of the crime. It has to explain whether the eight indicted police officers, including three from the IPS, acted on their own or at someone's behest. Though the charge sheet has not named any politician, the Chief Minister and the then Home Minister, Amit Shah, would be able to breathe easy only if the supplementary charge sheet the CBI proposes to file also gives them a clean chit. Until then they would be on the defensive and this is not the only case of killings they have to be defensive about. Besides, being in power then, they cannot escape moral responsibility. The charge sheet is the CBI's version of the events and is yet to face judicial scrutiny. It may take years before justice is actually delivered. But this may not stop a political battle in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in which Modi is a key player. The Congress will squeeze maximum political benefit out of it. BJP spokespersons will fight tooth and nail to protect Modi. The party claims the CBI has underplayed the role of LeT and terrorists and its indictment of policemen has "demoralised" the security agencies. A CBI-Intelligence Bureau face-off has also begun. For the people at large it is necessary that the guilty — no matter who they are and what positions they occupy — are brought to justice.
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Bitterness wins
THE word 'panchayat' conjures up visions of a few respected village elders sitting amidst verdant fields pondering over matters concerning villagers' interest. What the panchayat elections in Punjab present, however, is streets littered with stones and bricks, as old village rivalries — even bitter family feuds — take on political colour.
The intense celebrations that follow victory also indicate a cynical, if not sinister, satisfaction. All this because it is not purely village development that is going to be decided by the elected panchayats, but the access to funds, and therefore the authority to hand out largesse at will, that is at stake. On paper, no political party participates in the elections, but their subsequent claims of victory only mock at the system. It is largely assumed most victors owe allegiance to the SAD. That was only to be; even those who did not would most likely shift loyalties now if they want any grants for their wards or village. Under the circumstances, the ruling party hardly needed to indulge in any rigging or other malpractices — not that nothing wrong happened; there is evidence of plenty. On their part, the Congress on ground had given a virtual walkover to the SAD. The opposition's leadership, however, has made serious allegations of rigging and unfair rejection of nomination documents of their candidates. What they have not done is bring out substantial evidence of that. Instead of issuing statements, they need to go to court with proof. In this age of the camera, presenting evidence to the world should not be a challenge. With complete politicisation of grassroots democracy, all ills of parliamentary functioning have also seeped down to the village level. Just as opposition parties block the functioning of assemblies or the Lok Sabha, so do panchayats try and block development or fund disbursal if it does not suit them politically. Such is the fear of panchayat functioning being paralysed that the state government started direct election of the sarpanch, disengaging the position of the panches, thereby undermining their relevance. Now that the politics is done, here is wishing wisdom to the elected panchayat members.
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Not going by the book
A prosperous state that Haryana is, its report card on education is pretty dismal. When it comes to investing in human resource development, the state shows complete disregard to the most vital agent of development. Most government schools do without the required number of teachers.
Posts remain vacant due to various scams in teachers' appointments. The pathetic state the education department is in became evident when the results of the Class X examination of the Board of School Education, Haryana were declared last month. Fifty per cent of the students failed. There were schools where not a single candidate could clear the examination. Now, reports have come from the state that while half of the first semester is over, students have not been provided with textbooks in government schools. A private agency, blacklisted in another state, was assigned the job of printing and distributing the books and it has not yet delivered them. It is assumed in Haryana education can take place without teachers and also without books. The unprecedented poor results of Class X have failed to shake up the authorities to revamp the education infrastructure in the state. The rot in the system begins at the elementary level itself, only the results become visible by Class X, when the examinations are no more internal. Many factors are responsible for the malaise, one of them being the unavailability of textbooks on time. So far the authorities have been hiding behind the clichéd excuse that private schools get the best students, hence their results are better. The education system needs a complete overhaul and it should begin by blacklisting the publisher who failed in his job before they fail their students. |
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He who is brave is free. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca
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Human greed and nature’s fury
NOT
war, but a plethora of man made things is threatening to strangle us, bury us, in the debris, and byproducts of our technologically inventive and irresponsible age.” —Margaret Mead. The warning sounded by Margaret Mead, a great anthropologist and humanist, more than 50 years ago has become more relevant now in the light of devastation caused in Uttarakhand recently. It is being passed off as a natural calamity by the ruling elite. It is partially true in the light of unprecedented rain and flashfloods. However, in the past as well this zone had seen torrential rains but there was no such devastation. It is the development at the cost of ecological balance which explains the present situation. Nature's fury explains that development by ignoring the eco-balance is fraught with peril. In recent years successive governments in Uttarakhand have permitted hotel clusters, resorts and commercial complexes on river boundaries, hydel projects in seismic zones, haphazard construction of roads by blasting through the fragile mountains for short-term gains. A vast amount of debris and rubble was not disposed of properly and dumped into river beds giving rise to mudslides that swept off everything in their way. There has been indiscriminate deforestation making the soil incapable of retaining moisture which greatly contributed to flash floods. The present developmental model in India is inspired by the insatiable urge to generate monetary wealth. Wealth has been generated but it has been garnered by a small segment of society. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP), per capita income, sensex, balance of payments and such other indicators were the yardsticks to measure the progress of a country earlier. Now more reliable indicators like education, health services, sanitation, mortality rate, sex ratio and such other concepts are used to assess the progress of a country as measured in terms of Human Development Index (HDI), a composite measure of indictors along three dimensions: life expectancy, educational attainment and command over the resources needed for a decent living, as reflected in the Human Development Report published yearly by the UN. However, this model too is flawed as it has created wide disparities and income inequalities. India once had the highest rate of growth after China. We have the largest number of dollar billionaires in Asia. While out top-layer elites have acquired the living standards worthy of envy even by affluent Americans while at the base of the social pyramid are millions who find it difficult to survive. The link between growth and human development is not automatic as is emphasised in the 1993 and 1996 Human Development Reports. The 1996 Human Development Report identified six undesirable types of growth: jobless growth which does not increase employment opportunities; ruthless growth which is accompanied by rising inequality; voiceless growth which denies the participation of the most vulnerable sections in the process; rootless growth which uses inappropriate models transplanted from elsewhere and futureless growth which is based on unbridled exploitation of environmental resources. India's present development paradigm suffers from these ailments in varying degrees. The present development paradigm needs radical rectification not only in India but in most other countries in the world, developed as well as developing. Bhutan, a small landlocked country, provides important clues in this direction. It has developed a unique development philosophy around the concept of the Gross National Happiness (GNH). It has four pillars: economic development, good governance, preservation and development of environment and culture. The emphasis is not on GDP but wellbeing of citizens which arises in a society where sustainable and equitable development is balanced with environmental and cultural preservation and good governance. The GNH is a holistic concept with stress on material and spiritual needs of the people. Besides conventional indicators of progress, utmost emphasis is laid on the basic tenets of the Buddhist ethics and conservation of environment, resulting in clean air, water, energy and natural resources. The use of tobacco is banned throughout the country and polluting industries are not permitted. The emphasis is on greater harmony between our internal and external landscapes. In a consumerist culture, on the other hand, happiness is to be found through lifestyles which are unsustainable. The preservation of culture in Bhutan is best seen in the promotion of tourist industry with its motto "high value, low volume tourism" inspired by the Buddhist view of interdependence between man and nature to ensure that people maintain their dignity against the onslaught of globalisation. Thus, unlike Thailand and Nepal, there is no prostitution in the garb of massage parlours and call-girl rackets in hotels in Bhutan. The GNH fervently pursued has made the people of Bhutan relaxed and cooperative in behaviour and dealings. "Consumer is the king", proclaims the proponents and PR minions of the consumer society. However, the consumer acquires the kingdom by selling his soul. "For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself", observed Jesus Christ. As rightly stressed by Mahatma Gandhi, nature has enough for man's needs but not enough for his greed. All this is forgotten in the mindless pursuit of wealth as an end in itself. This promotes grasping and acquisitiveness, making greed an endless pit. We have reached what environmentalists call the tipping point. There is urgent need to seriously question the development model based on the concept of perpetual economic growth to fatten the select few. This leads to the odious phenomenon of one industrial magnate having a 27-storeyed mansion in Mumbai costing eight thousand crore of rupees while almost half the population of the city lives on footpath or in jhoparpattis. This is inhuman and scandalous and breeds a variety of discontent. The satisfaction derived by the super rich through accumulation of wealth too is illusory because "the lifestyles of the rich are often absurdly and pointlessly complicated", as has righty been observed by the Dalai Lama. If the inner peace and sense of fulfilment constitute the ultimate goal of life, one has to follow the path of sensitivity and concern for others. Compassion is the ideal basis for the entire society as Jesus and the Buddha both envisioned — the great compassion, the 'maha karuna'. One hopes that our ruling elites would learn the correct lessons from the calamity in Uttarakhand. However, this is belied by the attempt of both the major political parties of India to achieve brownie points to make political capital out of human misery. The claim of the Gujarat CM to have rescued, Rambo style, 30,000 Gujaratis stranded in Uttarakhand is too ridiculous to be taken seriously. The Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha demanding the resignation of Uttarakhand's CM at this critical stage is distressing. The level of discourse has touched such a low level that it is demoralising for the jawans of our armed forces engaged in the rescue operation by staking their lives. However, the debate must start among the thinking beings about the viability of the present development paradigm being followed in the
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Pigeon’s roost
THE bedroom window's ledge provided a perch for the avians, giving a beautiful account of their chirping and preening. A pair of pigeons however made it their home. A loud flutter one day revealed a captivating sight. The pigeons were procreating. Risking an accusation of being a peeping tom, I watched them and beckoned my wife to my side. The male with his feathers apart did a short balancing act on the female and fell off, only to preen his feathers and repeat, undeterred. Days thereafter the sight of two eggs in the nest sent waves of excitement in the entire family, including my son in distant land, when informed. Thrill caught up with each of us and there were regular enquiries to know further developments. The lady pigeon patiently incubated the egg, while the male pigeon would often get food for her. To facilitate them, we had kept a seed tray in the lawn. One day to my horror, I saw a crow, sitting in the nest. I scared it away but by then an egg had been destroyed. At last a small gawky bird emerged from the surviving egg and the pigeons started their parenting. There were greedy noises from the young one whose open beak constantly demanded more food. Then tragedy struck and the young one vanished. The presence of an eagle around confirmed our worst suspicion. All of us were shattered. There were tears, no food, and a silent disbelief. The pigeons just sat there quietly by their empty nest, as days went by. Our helplessness added to our misery. Early one morning we saw the male pigeon go down and bring new twigs, which the female would simply throw down, the moment he placed them on the ledge. His persistent efforts throughout the day met the same fate. It was his way of saying, "Spring is short so let us get on with life". Finally, he had his way in convincing the lady, who then joined him in creating another nest but spurned his physical advances by inching away, with him following her determinedly. When she reached the end of the sill she would take a short flight and come to the other edge and the whole scene would be replayed. It was a most amusing and delightfully pristine dalliance ever seen. The next day, however, she succumbed to his desires amidst a noisy flutter and finally the egg came and then the young pigeon and this time life was the victor. Humans with their superior brains and propensity to think, take time to rationalise a tragedy and then move on but these creatures of nature view things differently. For them spring and time was running out, and if they wasted it, they would lose an opportunity to carry on with what nature had ordained for them and failure of which would rob us of the delightful sight of pigeons and birds flying. "Men may come and men may go but I go on forever" wrote a thoughtful human symbolising continuity of life but I think the 'bird-brained' understand its meaning better. We need to learn the art of resilience from
them.
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Army’s crucial role in Egypt
THE army’s in charge. Call it a coup, if you like. But the Egyptian military — or the infamous “Supreme Council of the Armed Forces” as we must again call it — is now running Egypt. By threat, at first — then with armour on the streets of Cairo. Roads blocked. Barbed wire. Troops round the radio station. Mohamed Morsi — at the time still the President — may have called it a ‘coup’ and claimed the old moral high ground (‘legitimacy’, democracy’, etc) but long before we saw the soldiers in the city, he was pleading with the generals ‘to return to barracks. Ridiculous; the generals didn’t have to leave their barracks to put the fear of God (metaphorical or real) into his collapsing administration. Morsi talked of shedding his blood. So did the army. This was grim stuff. Miserable was it to behold a free people applaud a military intervention, though Morsi’s opponents would claim their freedom has been betrayed. But they are now encouraging soldiers to take the place of politicians. Both sides may wave the Egyptian flag, which is red, white and black. The colour of khaki is no substitute. Nor will the Muslim Brotherhood disappear, whatever Morsi’s fate. Risible he may have been in power, lamentable his speeches, but the best organised political party in Egypt knows how to survive in adversity. The Brotherhood is the most misunderstood — or perhaps, the most deliberately misunderstood — institution in modern Egyptian history. Far from being an Islamist party, its roots were always right-wing rather than religious, its early membership under Hassan al-Banna prepared to tolerate King Farouk and his Egyptian landlords providing they lived behind an Islamic façade. Even when the 2011 revolution was at its height and millions of anti-Mubarak demonstrators had pushed into Tahrir Square, the Brotherhood was busy trying to negotiate with Mubarak in the hope they could find some scraps on the table for themselves. The Brotherhood’s leadership never stood alongside the people during Egypt’s uprising. This role was fulfilled by Egypt’s strongest secular base — the trade union movement, especially the cotton workers of Mahalla north of Cairo. Even Nasser’s war with the Brotherhood was less about religion than it was about security; the leadership of the original Free Officers Movement found that the Brotherhood was the only party able to infiltrate the army — a lesson which today’s Egyptian generals have taken to heart. If the Muslim Brotherhood is banned again — as it was under Nasser and under Sadat and under Mubarak — it will not lose its support within the armed forces. Sadat was assassinated by a non-Brotherhood Islamist called Khaled el-Islambouli — but he also happened to be a lieutenant in the Egyptian army. Sayyed Qutub, the Brotherhood’s leader, attacked Nasser for leading his people back into a pre-Islamic age of ignorance (‘jahiliya) but the party was more exercised by Egypt’s growing relationship with the atheistical Soviet Union. Qutub was hanged. But persecuted, officially banned, the party learned — like all underground organisations with an ideology — how to organise, politically, socially, even militarily. The army, as they say, belongs to the people. Mohamed el-Baradei, the former UN nuclear inspector and Nobel laureate and now opposition leader, said during the 2011 rising that “ultimately, the Egyptian army will be with the people…And at the end of the day, after anyone takes off his uniform, he is part of the people with the same problems, the same repression, the same inability to have a decent life. So I don’t think they are going to shoot their people.” But that was then, and this is now. Morsi may have adopted the pseudo-trappings of a dictator — he certainly talked like Mubarak on Tuesday, complete with threats against the press — but he was legally elected, as he kept telling us, and legitimacy is what the army likes to claim it is defending. In 2011, the ‘people’ were against Mubarak. Now, the ‘people’ are against each other. Can the Egyptian army, the heroes of the 1973 crossing of the Suez Canal, stand between the two when they themselves now come — let us face it — from the ‘people’ on both sides? — The Independent |
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Those who will now govern the nation
Adly Mansour
Adly
Mansour only took up his job as chief justice of the country’s Supreme Constitutional Court on June 1, 2013, and now finds himself Egypt’s interim President. Born in 1945, Mansour was appointed to the court in 1992, making him one of its longest-serving judges. The Muslim Brotherhood and the court repeatedly clashed during Mohamed Morsi’s clumsy attempts to force through constitutional change, with the Islamist party seeing it as an enemy and launching sometimes violent protests against its members. Despite his control over Egypt’s political institutions, Morsi was never able to control the judiciary, many of whom were Mubarak-era appointees. In December last year, security guards had to step in after the car of Maher al-Beheiry, Mansour’s predecessor, was attacked by Brotherhood supporters fearful the court would dissolve the Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting the amended constitution.
Mohamed ElBaradei Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog and Nobel Peace laureate, was a virtual unknown in his own country until a few years ago. Returning to his country in 2010 after years working abroad, he decided to challenge the then President, Hosni Mubarak. He played a key role in protests that removed Mubarak from power, and he has since emerged as a key opposition figure. He was to stand as a liberal, secular candidate in July’s presidential
elections, but withdrew his bid in January citing concerns about the undemocratic way the military was governing Egypt. In April 2012, ElBaradei launched a new political party which he said would be above ideology. He is now expected to take the role of Prime Minister in a technocratic government that will rule until a parliamentary election can
be held. — The Independent |
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2011
Feb
11: Mubarak steps down and turns power over to the military. The military dissolves parliament and suspends the constitution, meeting two key demands of protesters. June
16-17: Egyptians vote in the presidential run-off between Morsi and Shafiq. Morsi wins with 51.7 per cent of the vote. June
30 – Morsi takes his oath of office. 2013 Feb – March
2013: Protests rage in Port Said and other cities for weeks, with dozens more dying in clashes. April
7: A Muslim mob attacks the main cathedral of the Coptic Orthodox Church as Christians hold a funeral and protest there over four Christians killed in sectarian violence the day before. Pope Tawadros II publicly blames Morsi for failing to protect the building. June
23: A mob beats to death four Egyptian Shiites in a village on the edge of Cairo. June
30: Tens of lakhs of Egyptians demonstrate, calling for Morsi to step down. Eight people are killed in clashes outside the Muslim Brotherhood’s Cairo headquarters. July
1: Large-scale demonstrations continue, and Egypt’s powerful military gives the two sides 48 hours to resolve their disputes, or it will impose its own solution. July
2: Military officials disclose main details of their plan if no agreement is reached: replacing Morsi with an interim administration, cancelling the Islamist-based constitution and calling elections in a year. July
3: Deadline for Morsi and opponents to come to agreement, or the military says it will impose its plan. Military ousts Morsi, suspends constitution and imposes interim technocrat government. Source: News agencies |
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