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Unsafe in South Sudan Demographic dilemma |
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The real face of politics
Eat, pray, laugh… in Amritsar
Species survival not just a number game
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Unsafe in South Sudan The
recent battle between Indian peacekeepers and rebels in South Sudan has brought the conflict in the African nation into sharp focus. India lost two junior commissioned officers (JCOs) in South Sudan’s Jonglei province. They were stationed at the Akobo camp of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and were part of the Indian Army’s small (36 member) detachment which was attacked by the rebels who are loyal to former Vice-President Riek Machar. His dismissal sparked off a tribal war as members of his tribe, the Lou Nuer, rallied against President Salva Kiir, whose Dinka tribesmen dominate the government. It is tragic that South Sudan, which became an independent nation in 2011, has to suffer violent conflict again. It has seen a 22-year civil war from 1983 to 2005, during which time 15 lakh lives were lost. Unfortunately, even after the peace deal that was signed then, violence has reared its ugly head time and again. The new nation, which has inherited a major share of Sudan’s oil wealth, remains dependent on Sudan for processing facilities. It had started attracting foreign companies, including India’s ONGC, but the latest eruption of violence has resulted in the evacuation of most foreign oilfield workers. The UN Security Council move to double the number of peacekeepers to more than 14,000 is timely. Efforts by various nations to broker peace between the two warring leaders have not yielded results, as a result of which the conflict between the two tribes would escalate into a civil war. More and more mass graves are being discovered, and as tribesmen seek refuge at various UNMISS centres, the posts themselves need protection, lest they be overwhelmed, as was the case at the Akobo camp. India has a strong interest in maintaining peace. Our soldiers have paid the ultimate price protecting those who sought shelter there. We have a strong stake in South Sudan, and must do our utmost to help it towards a more peaceful and prosperous future. |
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Demographic dilemma As
the greying population in a country grows, it decreases the tax revenues, possibly leading to economic challenges. This happened in Japan. An ageing population is non-productive. For them to enjoy good health care and quality life, the young have to be more productive to keep the financial deficit under check and fund geriatric care. India has around 100 million elderly at present, which comes to about 10 per cent of the population. The number is not alarming; what is alarming though is the level of their abuse and neglect. A report titled “The Status of Elderly in Punjab” has pointed out that more than 11 per cent of the aged population is facing abuse — physical, emotional and financial. In a global study conducted on the elderly, it was found that with each passing generation respect and care for them is getting diminished, though it could not give conclusive reasons for this trend, apart from disintegration of the family. With the rapid ageing of India’s population, the number is expected to increase to 323 million, constituting about 20 per cent of the total population by 2050. It will require some planning. This, in conjunction with migration out of rural areas and concentration of the working population in the informal sector, demands better financial security arrangements for the elderly. Only a very small segment in India enjoys retirement benefits like pension; for the majority, longevity is not a blessing. About 70 per cent of the elderly population is illiterate and their earning capacity during younger years too would have been limited, hence they lack the wherewithal for sustenance in old age also. India also has a high percentage of underemployed youth — about 49 per cent engaged in agriculture sector and 30 per cent working as casual labourers — with no guaranteed regular incomes. Looking after the elderly comes last on their priority. The government should involve the private sector for setting up old-age homes even in rural areas and provide better health care facilities. Doling out paltry sums as old-age pension is not going to help in any meaningful way.
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Thought for the Day
Grow old along with me!/ The best is yet to be,/ The last of life, for which the first was made. — Robert Browning (Rabbi ben Ezra)
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Why Mr. Polak befriends Indians THE name of M.G. Polak is as well-known throughout India as that of Gandhi and while we take the patriotism and sacrifice of the son of India as an ideal, we regard the sacrifice and devotion of Mr. Polak as something for which we cannot be sufficiently grateful. Mr. Polak, in addressing the Magistrate who sentenced him, explained why he identified himself so strongly with the cause of Indians. It is necessary that people in India should know it. He said: “As an Englishman, it is impossible for me to sit silent whilst the Government of the Union, claiming to speak in my name, repudiate as they have twice done this year, their solemn pledges towards my fellow-British subjects of Indian nationality, in defiance of what is best in British public opinion and regardless of imperial obligations and responsibilities towards the people of India.... As a Jew, it is impossible for me to associate myself, even passively, with the persecution of any race or nationality. Admissions to the medical college MAJOR D.W. Sutherland made a complaint that there had been a dearth of candidates for admission to the Medical College. In 1907 the teaching of preliminary science subjects—chemistry, physics, botany and biology was transferred from the Medical Colleges to the Science Colleges of the Punjab and the Medical College was since dependent on the results of the Intermediate Examination of the Science Faculty for new admissions. “These results for the last few years have been very poor,” went on Major Sutherland, and “even such candidates as have qualified have not all applied for admission to the Medical College. This year 134 students appeared in the June Science Examination, but only 37 passed, of these only 23 entered the Medical College.”
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The real face of politics Lok Sabha
elections are due in four or five months. But instead of parties putting forth ideological issues such as human rights or right to equitable development, the only test being applied is the marketability of the party, even though it may flout the ideal laid down in our Constitution or the vision of the freedom struggle. Though the Lokpal Bill has been passed under the shadow of forthcoming elections, both parties made adjustments they previously proclaimed not possible. But two other legislation — the Whistleblowers Protection Bill and the Public Grievances Bill — which have been pending for so long and would have given great relief against bureaucrats’ angularities, were not even given the courtesy of being discussed, much less being passed with just a day’s extension of the Parliament session. The self-serving political parties’ exemption from the Right to Information Act was passed unanimously to a thundering applause. Significantly, the question of donation to political parties by the corporate sector is being studiously kept under cover. It is no longer a secret that the amount of donations to political parties is determined by the fact whether they are in power or in the opposition. The High-Powered Committee to revise the Companies Act constituted in 1977 had recommended the continuation of the ban on political donations by the corporate sector because of the warning given by Chief Justice Chagla as far back as 1958, when it warned that “any attempt on the part of business houses to finance a political party is likely to contaminate the very spring of democracy”. All this, however, fell on deaf ears of politicians and political donations were permitted after some time during Indira Gandhi’s rule. These have now been continued under the Companies Act, 2013. So much for the campaign against politics messed by money power! That is why corporate funding of the new Aam Aadmi Party, which is forming the government in Delhi, is a matter of concern, especially when it claims to be different. The danger of corporate involvement in politics is not lessened by receiving contributions through a website or cheques from the corporate sector, which in any case finds mention in balance sheets of the companies. It is the source of the money funding political parties that is the real danger to democracy. How it is displayed is a small matter. India is among just 10 per cent of the countries that allow parties and candidates to receive anonymous donations. Even Nepal and Bhutan fare better. Of Rs 2,365 crore raised by the Congress between 2004 and 2012, about Rs 2,000 crore could not be traced to an individual or organisation. Similarly, the BJP attributed Rs 952 crore out of the total Rs 1,304 crore raised between 2004 and 2012 to unknown sources. Hypocrisy in politics to some extent is accepted. But when hypocrisy takes on the role of mentor while concealing its real intentions, it amounts to cheating the electorate. Look at the way the BJP and the Congress are projecting their approach to the judgment of the Supreme Court reversing the view of the Delhi High Court, which had held Section 377 as unconstitutional, resulting in the section being restored on the Statute. Initially, Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi both publically termed it an unhappy decision and interference in individual liberties. The normal course of action would have been to have Section 377 (LGBT) repealed through Parliament. But then the BJP, which had initially broached the idea of placing this matter before all parties, took a sudden reverse turn and openly declared its support to the Supreme Court decision. Obviously, the BJP feels that in the country at large, especially amongst rural voters and even among the older generation, deletion of Section 377 would not find favour. The BJP has taken the cover of the Supreme Court order to retain Section 377. The Congress hypocrisy is even messier. The Central government has moved a review petition in the Supreme Court against the order upholding Section 377. Filing a review petition is a way of misleading the public. Legal experts would tell you that filing a review is impermissible because courts have held that merely because another view could be taken is no ground for review. It is also embarrassing when out of two judges who gave the judgment, the senior judge has retired. I do not understand why the government is taking the tortuous route of review when a straightforward easy course of repealing this provision is available. I say this because the Supreme Court judgment had given them clear power when it said: “Notwithstanding this verdict, the competent legislature shall be free to consider the desirability and propriety of deleting Section 377, IPC, from the Statute Book”. When this convenient solution is in hand why this double game of Congress leadership? This is not being done because the Congress is both running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. The party wants to present itself as modern and liberal, appealing to the younger generation and urban population, but at the same time does not want to risk angering the rural and older generation. This may be a good political stratagem, but is a devious strategy, which brings more shame to the ambiguous conduct of the politicians. Compare this with the humility and bold response of Pope Francis: “If a person is gay and seeks God and goodwill, who am I to judge him;” and this when Italy has a law against LGBTs. Though AAP claims to be radically different from other parties, its decision to have the Cabinet sworn in at Ramlila Ground is the same as the old feudal Roman practice of giving the people circus because you cannot give them bread. There is nothing radical about it. The likes of Akhilesh Yadav and Lalu Yadav have done it earlier. Such coronation does not befit a party purporting to speak for the rickshaw-pullers and slum-dwellers of Delhi. It would be far more democratic if the Delhi Cabinet after having been sworn in at Raj Bhawan in the usual staid manner were then to go to Ram Lila Ground and mix with the crowds as before. That would give the aam admi a greater sense of belonging than being pushed around by the police while the oath is being taken and dignitaries are seated safely. The times have changed since when Dr Lohia’s precept to the Socialist Party as the first principle of political work was summed up in ‘Spade, jail and vote’, meaning field work, readiness to go to jail and faith in democratic elections. The present generation has come a long way to ‘SMS, TV and middle corporate sector’. Where does the aam admi, i.e., 90 per cent of the urban Indians who spend less than Rs 142.70 a day to survive, fit in the present new political language?
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Eat, pray, laugh… in Amritsar My mother, the queen of sarcasm, retorted, “Tu zyada imaandar na ban. Oh tan vekh vi nai reha!” (Don’t you pretend to be so righteous, he’s not even looking!) After much reluctance, the rickshaw-puller moved ahead a little and suddenly stopped at the shrill whistle of the policeman. And with that came out the true ‘Ambarsari’ anger of the rickshaw-puller. “Main ehna nu keh reha si main agge nai jana. Eh mainu kehnde tu imaandar na ban. Main ethe fulle vechan deya?” (I told them I won’t go further but they insisted. Am I here selling popcorn?) We burst out laughing. He kept justifying himself to a very disinterested policeman, while we handed him the money and moved on. After paying our obeisance at the Golden Temple, we decided to get our picture clicked. I spotted a group of youngsters nearby and asked one of them to click our photograph. Before I could hand him my camera, he pulled out his sunglasses from his pocket and stylishly donned them saying, “Main tan enak pa ke photo khichu. Kaim augi!” (I’ll click a picture after I wear my glasses. It would be a great picture!) Yet again we burst out laughing at the boy’s innocent joke. He grinned sheepishly and took our picture and merrily hopped away with his ‘gang’. While returning home, I kept wondering what it is with humour and Amritsaris. Not only is Amritsar famous for the Golden Temple and its world’s largest free kitchen (langar), Jallianwala Bagh, papad, wadiyan and kulche, but also its spiritually invigorating surroundings and the vivaciousness exhibited by its people. No wonder, so many comedians in our country — Kapil Sharma, Rajiv Thakur, Chandan Prabhakar, Sudesh Lehri, Bharti Singh — are all from Amritsar. I have heard people say that the water of Amritsar is so holy that it can heal any ailment. But after my experience, I can say that the air of Amritsar is so comic, that anyone can stay happy here.
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Species survival not just a number game
Tigers
are enchanting, and also the largest living large carnivores. Like other such species, they have suffered significantly at the hands of humans. Tigers historically occurred across 70 degrees of latitude and 100 degrees of longitude, spanning 30 present-day nations ranging from Armenia to Indonesia, Russian Far East to the southern tip of India. This geographical range included a variety of habitats, including taiga and boreal forests, tropical evergreen, moist and dry deciduous forests, alluvial grasslands and mangroves. There has been a dramatic range collapse of 93 per cent for wild tigers due to habitat loss, prey depletion and direct hunting. A species that could subsist in a wide variety of habitats is now restricted to 7 per cent of its historical range. Current global estimates of wild tiger populations range between 3,000 and 3,500. Of these, the Indian subcontinent is estimated to harbour around 2,000 tigers. While we have some information on the numbers of tigers in different national parks, we know very little about their evolution and history. While understanding ecological processes that drive numbers of tigers and their dynamics is critical, it is also important to understand more about the evolution and history of Indian tigers. We know genetic variation is the raw material for evolution and adaptation. Simply put, a population characterised by high genetic variation will have a higher chance of surviving into the future. Unfortunately, until about eight years ago, there was no information on genetic variants that Indian tigers carry, and more generally, the evolutionary history of tigers in the subcontinent. This is where I come in. I am trained as a population geneticist, someone who looks at genes and their frequencies across populations, and uses this information to reconstruct the past history of populations. So in a sense, I study history, the history of species and populations and try to make an informed judgment about how to move towards the future. DNA studies When I started my job almost eight years ago, I thought it would be interesting to try and understand the history of Indian tigers. In order to do this, we need genetic data from tigers. We need DNA. And to get it, we need a biological material, such as blood, tissue or hair. You can imagine that getting samples of this kind from a tiger would be formidable. It was also important to sample as many populations as we could. So we decided to use a relatively creative approach. Imagine walking through a forest, not seeing a tiger and being able to collect biological samples. It is possible, and we did it. We used tiger faeces! As tiger faeces passes through the intestine, it pulls along with it cells that have DNA. We took precautions to ensure that we were looking at the right information. We collected samples from across the subcontinent and found that Indian tigers retain 60-70 per cent of the global species' genetic variation. Further, our results revealed that tigers are most probably not originally 'Indian'. Our data (and others have also suggested this) indicate that tigers probably evolved in South China, and colonised India as part of a secondary range expansion. Despite this, Indian tigers retain a large proportion of the species variation, possibly because they live in very varied habitats here. Our analyses also revealed something interesting about relatively recent history. We discerned a signature of a population bottleneck, or a population crash. The timing of this crash corresponds well with when the British introduced bounty hunting. The number of tigers before the crash (around 200 years ago) size was 10 times higher than numbers today. That tiger numbers have declined in the last 200 years is no surprise. However, it is interesting that we could detect this purely based on the proportion of genes. So what do we know? Tigers did not evolve in India, but the populations here retain a large proportion of the species' total genetic variation. And this is despite a 90 per cent population decline about 200 years ago. But in the last 200 years, are numbers all that we have lost? We have lost habitat as well. Has this affected genetic variation? The only way to compare historical tigers to those that we have among us today is to go back in time, using museum skins from the London Museum of Natural History.
Wild, wild world Tigers historically occurred across 70 degrees latitude and 100 degrees longitude, spanning 30 present-day nations. Current global estimates of wild tiger populations are between 3,000 and 3,500. India has about 60 per cent of the global wild tiger population and retains only an estimated 8-25 per cent of remaining global habitat. Indian tigers retain 60-70 per cent of the global species' genetic variation.
A throwback We sampled several individual tigers that lived between 200 and 100 years ago. We tried to focus our sampling on regions where tigers are currently extinct. Comparing extant tigers to those that lived in the past reiterated that genetic variation has been lost in the last 200 years. Our analyses indicated that the connections between tiger populations have changed. What used to be two relatively large tiger populations have become three populations. In the past, the semi-arid populations appeared to be connected to the Terai population, and all of peninsular India appeared connected. Now, the semi-arid population seems to be cut off from the Terai. It appears that loss of wildlands over the last 200 years has resulted in the loss of tigers that inhabited those wildlands. Such a loss could have then resulted in the loss of the genetic variants associated with those areas, culminating in a breakdown of connections between populations; that now become different from each other. This reconstruction of the past shows that the semi-arid population of tigers, now restricted to one or two protected areas, is now relatively isolated. Can we think about the future for these tigers? Certainly, its chances of survival are less than that of populations in the Terai or most definitely, peninsular India. If we simply want to retain the genetic variation we have today into the future, what should we do? In other words, how many tigers do we need? How many populations? Can we retain genetic variation by increasing the numbers alone or do we also need to maintain connectivity between populations of tigers? We tried answering this question using computer models of tigers and their genes. Our results revealed that in the absence of population connectivity, the number of tigers required to maintain current genetic variation is so high that it is not really a feasible conservation target. On the other hand, if we are able to maintain connections between populations, this number is greatly offset, and we need much fewer tigers in each population. If you think about it, this makes intuitive sense. Tigers circulating across large spaces will retain much more genetic variation. If you need to pack the same amount of variation into one population, you need a lot of tigers! Where do we go from here? We know that the subcontinent is a region to focus conservation efforts for tigers; that tiger populations have declined here substantially in the last 200 years; that populations are less
connected today than they were in the past; and that population connections are critical to maintaining genetic viability. A critical first step is to address how far tigers are moving between populations today. We addressed this question in the central Indian landscape. We walked through several protected areas and investigated whether tigers found in a location were natives or immigrants. Our genetic data suggested that individual tigers (or their parents) were moving up to 600 km, between Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh! Some populations, like Kanha, were virtual hubs of movement — bus depots, more individuals going into and out of them than other areas. We also investigated whether particular landscape features correlate with movement. We found that human footprints on the landscape, human settlements and linear barriers like roads had a negative impact on tiger movement. Urban landscapes How do we move forward? Around 4 per cent of our land area is under the protected area network. Projections suggest that in the next 40 years, 60 per cent of India will be urban. Will tigers be able to navigate these urban landscapes? We are trying to tackle this question at the scale of
peninsular India. Our study gave us some information. But to move forward we need to understand more about movement at the scale of a
tiger 'population'. We are hoping to provide some answers which will help guide development efforts outside protected areas. We are trying to work as fast as we can, because the time scale and need for development is faster. We are hoping to survey 15 protected areas between Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, and collect tiger DNA from all areas; look at connectivity and understand what factors in the landscape are the key to movement. We hope to model and analyse these populations in the context of proposed development to answer questions like: are certain protected areas more critical to others in this network? Are sets of protected areas and the landscapes that connect them more important than others? Is it possible to assess the impacts of developing this highway versus another? And so on. We are also trying to reconstruct the history of many Indian mammals. We think mammals are relatively recent entrants in the subcontinent. That what we see with tigers, that India is part of a secondary colonisation, is a more general paradigm. This has taken us to the gateway of the subcontinent, the Himalaya and the Northeast. The future of tigers depends on how we are able to safeguard their populations. While it is critical to protect populations and increase the numbers of tigers within protected areas, evolutionary viability can only be achieved by maintaining the ability for animals to move between protected areas. This puts the burden of conservation and management on what we do outside protected areas. In a country with high population density and tremendous developmental needs, how we develop landscapes will impact whether tigers are locked into their habitat islands, or able to travel large distances. I hope we will be able to provide guidelines for development, and that such information, and subsequent policy intervention, will steward tiger survival.
The writer works at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore. The excerpts are from Nehru Memorial Museum and Library lecture she delivered on December 18.
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A
few days ago, I happened to visit Amritsar on the eve of Guru Nanak Dev’s birth anniversary. The roads leading to the Golden Temple were crowded because of which the traffic was being diverted. Since we had parked our car quite far from the gurdwara, my parents and I decided to take a rickshaw. A little later, the rickshaw-puller stopped at a road barrier, claiming that no vehicles were allowed beyond that point and we would have to walk the rest of the distance. We tried persuading him to move a little further, but he did not budge. He pointed to a policeman saying that he wouldn’t allow him to go further, and if he does, he would be penalised. 