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Another four-star
General
Practise what you preach |
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Nawaz Sharif and army coups
Keeping up the faith
Bhai Vir Singh and the call of the Valley
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Another four-star General THE
three service chiefs have mooted a proposal for a permanent Chairman,
Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC), in the rank of a four-star General
which will be the equivalent to a service chief. Currently, the practice is for each of the senior-most service chief to hold the post of Chairman, COSC, on a rotational basis. The tenure of the Chairman, COSC, is hence not fixed and is dependent on the Chairman's date of retirement. As a result, the tenure could vary from a few months to over a year. There have, in fact, been occasions when a service chief has been the Chairman, COSC, for as few as four months. The proposal for a permanent Chairman, COSC, will mean creating a fourth post of a four-star General. As such the purpose behind creating a permanent post will be to permit the Chairman, COSC, to focus exclusively on tri-service issues over a greater length of time. As of now it seems that the proposal falls short of the much-awaited Chief of Defence Staff or CDS who is meant to serve as the principal military adviser to the government. Post-Kargil war, a task force on higher defence management that formed part of the Group of Ministers Committee that examined the gamut of India's defence and intelligence, had proposed creating a CDS. While accepting the proposal in principle, the government instead confined itself to creating an Integrated Defence Staff headed by a Chief of Integrated Staff, a three-star General. In other words, the government has so far only ended up creating a secretariat for the CDS but not the crucial post of CDS itself. In proposing a permanent Chairman COSC, the three service chiefs, it seems, are seeking to upgrade the post of the CIS to that of a four-star General. It remains to be seen whether this proposal, if approved, will result in creating a CDS through the back door and, if not, on how the chiefs of three very hierarchy and seniority conscious services will coordinate with this fourth four-star General.
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Practise what you preach While the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2013 mandates all registered undertakings, including NGOs and political parties, to establish sexual harassment complaints committees, none of the six major national political parties have followed what they preach to the rest of the world. Their representatives though cleared the Bill on the subject. As such in India the participation of women in politics is at the lowest among the democracies of the world. Their representation in decision-making is lower than in Pakistan and Nepal, with only 59 women representatives out of 545 members in the Lok Sabha, and just 25 female MPs in the 242-member Rajya Sabha. This is perhaps reflective of a system which at every step, starting from the grassroots level, does not encourage and ensure the participation of women, resulting in such abysmal presence of women across political spectrum. A system that does not ensure women's participation will remain male dominated. Majority of women who have made it to positions in the major political parties have reached there either by the accident of marriage or birth. The very few who reached high positions from the grassroots, for some strange reason, like to maintain the status quo. No wonder, the issue of empowering women does not figure within the structure of political parties. As a result, a majority of leaders of the major political parties are found to be ignorant about the status of implementation of the anti-harassment laws within their party. That the political parties practice the same sexist approach prevalent in the Indian society is no big secret. The proposed legislation to reserve 33.3 per cent seats in Parliament and state legislatures for women, introduced in the Lok Sabha in 1996 and presented before Parliament several times, could not be passed because of lack of a political consensus. It is time the political parties of all shades gave protection to their women members against sexual harassment by following the laws they legislated for others so that women can have an equal participation in democratic processes.
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We build statues out of snow, and weep to see them melt. —Walter Scott
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Nomination vs. election A Notable feature in the municipal problem of the Punjab was explained in one of the previous administration reports. Is the preference of certain candidates to be nominated by Government to being elected by the rate-payers. It was stated that this preference was shown more by Mahomedan candidates than by the Hindus. We have also noticed a similar preference to nomination being shown by certain members of the Punjab Legislative Council. We are sure this peculiar love of nomination and avoidance of a more popular channel of entering into public duty is not be detected in Bengal or Bombay or Madras. Fair reporting WE take the following extract from the report of the evidence of R. B. Lala Sunder Das Suri before the Royal Public Services Commission from the columns of the Civil and Military Gazette. It will be readily seen how the actual cross-examination has been incorrectly summed up, and ‘Laughter’ added for the delectation of its readers, and to make fun of a perfectly fair and just demand of the Indians. “By Mr. Chaubal: He proposed that Englishmen should be paid more than they would be in England; but he also wanted Indians to have the same salary (Laughter).” We learn on good authority that in the course of cross-examination by Mr. Chaubal, Lala Sunder Das Suri stated that he would not like to go and serve in South Africa on the same salary as he was getting here. Lala Sunder Das Suri was undoubtedly right in making this statement.
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Nawaz Sharif and army coups Zulfiqar Bhutto, who never tired of boasting of how he had got the better of Indira Gandhi in Simla, appointed the obsequious Gen Zia-ul-Haq as Pakistan’s army chief superseding six serving officers. Describing this appointment as her husband's greatest mistake, Begum Nusrat Bhutto told me in 1982 that her husband had been carried away by Zia’s professions of eternal loyalty. There was even an occasion when, Quran in hand, Zia swore before Bhutto: “You are the saviour of Pakistan and we owe it to you to be totally loyal to you”. Barely a year later, on July 5, 1977, Zia ousted Bhutto in a military coup staged by the army's infamous Rawalpindi-based 111 Brigade. On April 4, 1979, Zia had the person he described as the “saviour of Pakistan” hanged, after a farcical trial.
Nawaz Sharif was a product of Zia’s military rule, enjoying a meteoric rise under the patronage of Zia’s military Governor of Punjab, Gen Ghulam Jilani Khan. It was a period when Zia was bent on destabilising India’s Punjab province. Sharif’s fondness for contacts with “Khalistanis” like the Washington-based Ganga Singh Dhillon continued even through his second term. When Benazir was voted to power in 1988, Sharif made common cause with Zia-appointed President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the army chief, Gen Aslam Beg, and ISI chief Asad Durrani. Benazir was ousted and Sharif's Muslim League was swept to power in 1991. Sharif's ISI chief, a fundamentalist member of the Tablighi Jamat, Gen Javed Nasir staged the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts with assistance from Dawood Ebrahim. Sharif was sacked shortly thereafter by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, but restored to office by the Supreme Court. When the army chief, Gen Asif Nawaz, with whom he had serious differences, died in mysterious circumstances, Sharif superseded three senior officials to appoint the soft-spoken Waheed Kakkar as the new army chief. Kakkar sent Sharif packing from office soon thereafter. Sharif learnt nothing from this experience. He unceremoniously forced the resignation of his army chief, Gen Jehangir Karamat, after he was re-elected in 1997, only to appoint a Muhajir, Gen Parvez Musharraf, as his army chief, believing Musharraf could be kept in check. He superseded a highly rated Pashtun Lt Gen Ali Kuli Khan. Believing that the nuclear tests of 1998 had given him unparalleled popularity and power and disregarding the fact that he was ruling a bankrupt country, Sharif encouraged and participated in Musharraf's Kargil misadventure. When the misadventure became a fiasco and he was forced to rush to the Clinton White House to bail him out, Sharif threw the entire blame on Musharraf for the international disgrace and disrepute his country faced following the Kargil misadventure. Growing mutual distrust and animosity between Sharif and Musharraf led to the coup of October 12, 1999, with Sharif being incarcerated and later bailed out by the Saudis. Sharif and the army establishment share much in common. Both have a proven track record of proximity to Mullah Omar and the Afghan Taliban. Both have close links with Hafiz Saeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. Sharif also has close links with extremist anti-Shia groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. But Sharif is averse to ceding almost total powers to the army and playing second fiddle on national security and foreign policy issues, like President Zardari was compelled to do by an assertive General Kayani. These are the considerations that motivated Sharif in appointing Raheel Sharif as Kayani’s successor. Sharif bypassed Lt Gen Haroon Aslam, who was regarded by commentators within Pakistan as an “average officer” and kicked Kayani's protégé, Lt Gen Rashid Mahmud, up as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Gen Raheel Khan has a reasonable career profile, but is not regarded as likely to set the Indus on fire, by innovation and drive. What clinched Raheel Sharif's appointment was evidently his close relationship with Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qader Baloch, a Sharif confidant, who is a Minister for Tribal Affairs. If Sharif was really interested in having an army chief who would deal effectively with the threat posed by religious extremism spearheaded by Tehriq-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan, most observers agree that he should have appointed Lt Gen Tariq Khan, the next in line for promotion. Khan is a Pashtun Armoured Corps officer, credited with restoring the shattered morale of the frontier constabulary after it was mauled by the TTP. It seems that Sharif still believes that he can buy peace with the TTP, which well-informed observers consider as unrealistic and dangerous. Sharif appears to fight shy of appointing Pashtun officers with distinguished family connections to the post of army chief. As Director General of Military Training, Raheel Sharif is known to have stressed the importance of shifting attention, for the present, from an exclusively India-centric approach to focusing on internal challenges. He, however, lacks both the stature and resolve necessary for ending support for the Afghan Taliban, or for anti-India jihadi outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba. He also has a political boss who has an affinity for jihadi groups for use in both India and Afghanistan. While the Pakistan army may remain prepared to take on the TTP, it will not do so under Nawaz Sharif's leadership unless the internal security situation deteriorates significantly and destabilises Punjab province. Moreover, as the security situation deteriorates along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, there will be increasing allegations holding Afghanistan and India responsible for the activities of groups like the TTP. The onset of winter is likely to make infiltration across the mountains of Kashmir difficult. But New Delhi should plan on the assumption that when the snow melts in June 2014, there will a resumption of infiltration and violence. The intervening months give us time to think out a strategy on how to effectively deal with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and bring to justice the perpetrators of 26/11. We will hopefully avoid shedding tears for Pakistan being a “victim of terrorism” as we did at Havana, and not delink dialogue from action on terrorism as we did at Sharm-el Sheikh. India's South Block mandarins are, however, not alone in being obsessed with “uninterrupted and uninterruptable” dialogue with Pakistan. The senior-most American military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, had 26 meetings with General Kayani in the mistaken belief that he could charm Kayani into ending support for terrorism. He retired a disillusioned man, bitter with Pakistani duplicity, calling the Haqqani network a “veritable arm” of the ISI.
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Keeping up the faith I
am not a big fan of the centre seats on Shatabdi, the ones that face each other but resign myself to it when there is no choice. As I settled into my window seat (at least I am assured of one when I book in time online) and made myself comfortable, I quickly scanned my companions: a sweet elderly lady in front of me, an aged gentleman Sardar diagonally opposite me and another distinguished lady to my left. It's evening, past my tea-time and having just dealt with the chaotic Delhi traffic, I am not in the happiest of moods. We are handed ‘lassi’... mango or strawberry flavoured if you please. Yikes! What is Shatabdi coming to? I mention in jest to my favourite TC that we should have a choice to order from a delectable range of ‘aperitifs’ and to put this down in the suggestion book. Tickled by my recommendation, he walks off with a smile on his face. I notice major cost-cutting — no more cashew packets, its peanuts instead, quite literally! No sandwiches, a mini squashed patty and the chocolate bar has shrunk into two toffees! The famous ‘sohanpapdi’ box has been replaced by a tiny packet of the same and the mineral water bottle is half the size. No refreshing towel or wet wipes. Time to wake up and smell the 'non-existent' welcoming rose that is history. What a prickly situation! While the tickets are being checked, the lady on my left enquires about the status of an extra second ticket that had been purchased and had not been cancelled and the older Sardar apprises the TC that he had changed seats with another person in the next coach. While mine is checked and returned, the TC informs the senior lady that her ticket is for the next day and she is travelling ‘ticketless’. She is aghast and shocked to learn of this and naturally quite upset. She enquires about the repercussions of this gaffe and feebly asks if the TC will offload her out into the wilderness! We all smile back reassuringly and the TC comforts her that no such thing will happen and that there would just be a penalty to pay though. While the fine is being worked out, the lady to the left of me asks the TC very politely if it would be possible if she surrendered her extra ticket that had not been cancelled yet to the old lady. I notice some hesitation in the TC's face as he explains that he cannot do anything illegal and the lady in turn articulates that she didn't expect him to but if possible, in this case, as a senior citizen was involved, they could try and help her out. The TC agrees and tells the senior lady not to worry and that it is part of his job to help out wherever and whenever possible.
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Bhai Vir Singh and the call of the Valley
Bhai Vir Singh, father of modern Punjabi literature, was born on December 5, 1872, in Amritsar. He was a great saint-poet of the 20th century. He belonged to Diwan Kaura Mall’s family. His father, Dr Charan Singh, was a well-known and respected medical practitioner who provided free medical service to the needy. He was a writer of eminence and it would not be out of context to say that he co-authored the Granth Kosh, in 1899 with his son Bhai Vir Singh. Gurbaani and the Sikh scriptures had a profound influence on Bhai Vir Singh. From an early age, his maternal grandfather Giani Hazara Singh introduced him to the Sikh scriptures. The writings of Guru Nanak, who saw God and Nature as one, henceforth became the central theme in most of his writings. Multidimensional genius
His genius did not manifest in one direction only but was multifaceted. He made Punjabi, at that time considered a rustic language, into a vehicle for the expression of philosophical ideas and mystic experiences. His literary works on nature and art had a powerful impact on transforming the lives of countless men and women and inspired many to achieve literary excellence. His birthday is celebrated every year in India and abroad with great fanfare by his followers, which include a long list of dignitaries. Special functions are held at Bhai Vir Singh Sadan in Delhi and at his heritage home, known as Bagh wali kothi at Bhai Vir Singh Marg (formerly Lawrence Road) in Amritsar. His love for Kashmir and passionate poetry on Kashmir’s bountiful beauty and moving prose brought the magic of Kashmir to the Punjabi language and to the millions that had not yet visited Kashmir. The spell of nature’s beauty in the valley was divine and musical strains were incarnated in the poem Matak Hulare. These poems were later compiled by Prof. Puran Singh under the name Celestial Vibrations. Creator’s presence
Bhai Vir Singh was so overwhelmed by the natural beauty of Kashmir, he wrote snippets on pieces of paper that he carried in his pockets wherever he went. In the natural beauty, he saw the “Creator” and felt his presence, be it in the stones of Martand or the ever-magnificient Dal Lake. Due to the untimely death of his younger brother, he had to leave for Amritsar and these penned treasures were misplaced and lay forgotten. These small jewels of papers were then found and collected by Prof Puran Singh like beads of scattered rosary. He collected them and sought Bhai Vir Signh’s permission to compile them in a book. Thus came these collection of poems into a book form that was first published in Punjabi and now is available in the Devnagri script. Bhai Vir Singh Sadan is in the process of having this work of literature published in English and Urdu so that the people of Kashmir can know and read about the essence of their heritage, while also reaching out to a wider audience of English-speaking readers.
Poetic spirit
How did poetry dawn on him? Where did the music-sprinkling words, which he combined, come from? I think the ever-flowing water of the great chashma Verri Nag become his pen’s ink. In moments of ecstasy, he achieved this knowledge and disclosed: Kavita di sunder hai Nchae nachharri vasdi Aapne sangeet lahre Apne Parkash lasdi (Kashmir’s nature has been graciously charming &helpful in devising the details — as if features of a beautiful damsel). When one travels by road to Kashmir, one crosses high mountains and it is as if one enters paradise. The landscape is full of an astonishing variety of flowers. The poet (Bhai Vir Singh) came across nectar flowing out of crystal springs. There are lakes big and small, there are rivers singing along in rare glee. The grandeur is not confined to any geographical enchantment. There are trees tall and medium-sized, bearing very delicious fresh fruit of different hue. So much so, the taste lingers with the one who eats it for a long time. Then one can only offer thankfulness for the ecstasy to the Almighty creator. Kashmir has had admiring visitors and the people born there are themselves so beautiful, simple and charming. The locals built various shrines and decorated them with colourful paintings as worshippers. Bhai Vir Singh saw the ruins of some of these shrines. The idols installed in them could have been removed, without inflicting destruction. These shrines were “history” erected in stone and symbolised a particular civilisation. These were Awantipura and Martand Mandir. The poets’ lamentation is instructive for all times. It was actually his discerning and sympathetic eye that made him write in Matak Hulare, thus: Martand de khandar Maar pai sad Martand nu Pathar ro kurlaane: “Pathar torein? Dil par tutde — dil Kaba Rabba ne Laayen hathora sanu? Par takk Satt pae “rab ghar” nu. Ghar ghar de vich wasda jehra Tu kinu rab sinjhane?” (“When Martand was beaten down The stones wept and wailed You are breaking stones? Hearts are bursting You may hammer us but just perceive The strokes fall on the abode of god It is the god who lives in everyone But who is the one who is recognised as God?”). If only, these monuments could have been saved preserved as representing ancient architecture and art. He further went to see the famous gardens of Kashmir because his perception was that where there is a garden, there is God. He came across Nishat Bagh, Sahlimah Bagh. Nishat Bagh is near the Dal Lake and splendid mountain peaks hold the garden and the lake in their lap. He speaks to Nishat, enchanted with its beauty: Nishat Bagh “Dal de sir sirtaj Khara nishat tun Parbat godi vich, Hain to lateyal Tilae pehredaar Pitche han Agge hai. Darbar Dal da vichya!” This famous garden was originally designed by the Mughals. The spot has been carefully selected. It is still the favourite garden and lake of Srinagar. No tourist comes back without going there, the valley is picturesque. As you all know, Kashmir is full of water sources from where one can drink pure water. Visitors feel thirsty and the natural, running cold water is comforting for the mind and the soul. These natural springs are also located in enchanting places. Nature has been bountiful in bestowing its beauty in all places of the great Valley. These springs are Verri Nag, Ichha Bal, Kukar Nag and others — all favourites of visitors. The famous spring on which the poet has written a beautiful poem, is surprisingly memorised by many lovers of his works in India and abroad. If one hears the lines with their eyes closed, it creates a feeling of anand or bliss for both the speaker and the listeners. After praising Verri Nag, the poet goes to another beautiful source of water, Ichha Bal, that is flowing out in a unique rhythm. The poet puts a question which is answered by the spring. It is so beautifully personified in a tone of a musical piece. Some singers have also sung it It is said when the poet with his friends went to visit, he overstayed and continuously kept gazing at the chashma, forgetting the passage of time and others with him, he waited to see the intensity of the flow of the chashma. When it became quite dark, he asked the deep-rooted question in Ichhabal dian Doonghian Shaaman: “Sanjh hoi parchanve chhup gaye Kyon Ichhabal toon jaari? Nain sarod kar rahi viwan hi Te turno bi nahin haari Sailani te panchi, maali Has sabh aaram vich aaye Seham wadia chh agya Te kudrat tik gai saari” (“It is dusk, the shadows have become invisible Ichabal, why are you running along? Tourists, birds and the gardeners have all retired Even the nature in its eternity is at standstill.”) Spring answers: “Seen kitchjina ne khadi O kar araam nahin bhende Nehon wale naina ki neender Oh dine raat pae vahende”. (“Those who have intense love in their chest They do not set their oars at rest. The eyes full of ardent affection don’t sleep. The flow of loving tears is there day and night Their love is endless till they meet their Infinite”.) He himself was so engrossed that the flowing waters reminded him of his own situation of eternal love and its atonement. The intensity of affection in the poet perpetually occupied him and he was pining for attaining amalgamation with the infinite. Intense love for his beloved is personified through the spring. His keen praise did not ignore either Pahalgam or Gulmarg, According to him, Gulmarg was conducive for blissful meditation; because of its comforting quietness. The mystic bound in himself a whole soul, enjoying the pretty moments, which are hardly found in the plains.
Celestial vibrations
Bhai Vir Singh was befittingly called by Harindranath Chattopadhyay as the “Sixth River” of Punjab and declared as the “Sikh of the century.” Poems on and about Kashmir in Matak Hulaare are recognised as one of his outstanding contributions to Punjabi poetry. It is an everlasting tribute to natural magnificence, which shines out in every part of Kashmir and gives us celestial vibrations or Matak Hulaare. In the present time, when strife is marring the beauty of the heavenly place, we cannot further tolerate the destruction of the heritage. Let us all pray to God to keep peace in the Valley so that humanity is able to enjoy the blissful environment. Mohammed Iqbal, the famous writer, praised Kashmir thus: “Gar Firdous barue zaminest — haminesto — haminesto — haminesto!” Translated, it means: “Agar jannat zameen pe hai…. To yahin hai, yahin hai, yahin hai!” (If there is Paradise on the face of the earth, it is this, it is this, it is this!)
The writer is Bhai Vir Singh’s grand-daughter
His love for Kashmir and passionate poetry on Kashmir’s bountiful beauty and moving prose brought the magic of the region to the Punjabi language and to the millions that had not yet visited Kashmir. The spell of nature in the Valley was divine. Musical strains were incarnated in the poem Matak Hulare later compiled by Prof Puran Singh
Pioneering work
His romances are considered forerunners of the Punjabi novel. His writings in this genre —Sundari (1898), Bijay Singh (1899), Satwant Kaur were aimed at recreating the heroic period (eighteenth century) of Sikh history. His protagonists were models of courage, fortitude and human dignity. The novel Subhagji da Sudhar Hathin Baba Naudh Singh, popularly known as Baba Naudh Singh, shares with the epic Rana Surat Singh his interest in the theme of a widow's desperate urge for a reunion with her dead husband. In November 1899, he started a Punjabi weekly, the Khalsa Samachar. He revised and enlarged Giani Hazara Singh's dictionary, Sri Guru Granth Kosh, in 1927. He was honoured with the Sahitya Academy Award in 1955 and the Padma Bhushan Award in 1956.
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I scan the evening papers, reply to a bunch of text messages to friends of my whereabouts for the next few days, quickly email my daughter before she complains that I haven't written to her and wait for the tea to be served. Meanwhile, my earphones come out and I sit back to listen to music.
