Welcome, Justin Trudeau…

Harish Khare

DURING my visit to Canada in October 2016, a friend, Dr PR Kalia, had presented me a book, called The Idea of Canada. It was an enticing title, given our own preoccupation with the Idea of India. The book, however, remained unread; but, it obtrusively recommended itself now that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on a visit to India. 

Canada is a fascinating country, almost as big as its neighbour, the United States, but without the American angularities and absurdities. We all are very familiar with the United States and its culture, thanks to Hollywood. We do not know much about Canada, despite the fact that it is home to a very sizeable diaspora, especially from Punjab. 

The Idea of Canada is authored by David Johnston, who was Governor-General of Canada from 2010 to 2017. The governor-general’s office is absolutely ceremonial, with all power residing with the elected Prime Minister, as per the Westminster model. 

What is fascinating about the book is that David Johnston has tried to decode the idea of Canada through letters he has written to friends, family and strangers, weaving in the values, attitudes and beliefs he thinks the Canadian society subscribes to. The book’s format reminds one of Jawaharlal Nehru writing, from a British colonial prison, those famous “letters to a daughter.” David Johnston writes these letters because he believes that “Canada itself is an idea worthy of expression and searching for refinement.”

The Idea of Canada impelled me to pick up Justin Trudeau’s Common Ground — Political Life, which was first published as a kind of political manifesto when he and his Liberal Party had set out to dislodge the firmly entrenched Conservative Party.

What is remarkable is that both Trudeau and Johnston are able to identify the same set of values and beliefs as central to the Idea of Canada — multiculturalism, inclusiveness, openness, transparency, gender equity, and rule of law.

Trudeau has no doubts: “Finding strength in diversity is a core Canadian belief and …Canadians know that we are stronger culturally, politically, and economically because of our diversity, and that we must turn away from fear and suspicion to ensure that it continues to be true.”

Reading both Trudeau and Johnston is a joy. Both are spectacularly unpretentious. Despite the high office, neither of them is a stuffed-shirt. Both come across as modest, open and relaxed in intermingling with fellow citizens. Very, very unlike our leaders, who surround themselves with NSG and SPG Praetorian Guards.

While Trudeau has a natural knack for connecting with the public, the Governor-General has the cultivated gift of an educational administrator to communicate with young minds.

Reading these two books gives an idea of how Indian and Canadian perceptions are bound to differ on the role of the presumed radical Sikhs. 

The Canadian political culture thrives in extreme diversity and, therefore, finds little objection in a section of Sikhs in Canada giving expression to their views; the Indians, naturally, find them alarming. The Canadian political idiom does not get hassled as long as no one is preaching violence or hatred; there is a degree of national self-assurance. The Indians, on the other hand, are fragile and are being made to feel more fragile with each passing day.

Come to think, it was only three decades ago that the Canadians, some of them, were flirting with the idea of separatism. What a remarkable journey of national self-assurance and the young, bubbling, premier symbolises that national mood. 

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JACOB Zuma finally had to step down, last week, as President of the Republic of South Africa. And, what a remarkably colourful, controversial and corrupt man — yet very much an authentic leader, commanding loyalty and obedience of partisan followers. 

The first time I got an idea about this man was in October 2007. I had gone to South Africa to report for The Hindu on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit. A big outdoor rally had been organised in Durban for an event in honour of Mahatma Gandhi. Prime Minister Singh’s speech writers had worked in the concept of Gandhigiri, then very much popularised by the Bollywood movie, Munna Bhai MBBS. The Prime Minister was heard in respectful silence. Then it was the host, President Thabo Mbeki’s turn to speak. 

The orderly tone was disturbed by a group of 60-70 people, trooping in, playing drums and singing in the stands; they managed to create more than a slight distraction before the security forces gently persuaded the group to leave.

It was only the next day that we learnt from the local newspapers that this disruptive group consisted of Zuma’s “boys”, and the song they were singing was, roughly translated, “bring me back my machine gun,” — a song that was a kind of anthem of resistance during the Apartheid era. It was meant to embarrass President Mbeki in the presence of the Indian Prime Minister, that too on an occasion which was meant to celebrate the power of non-violence. It was Zuma’s way of flaunting his resistance credentials. (He had joined the African National Congrss at the age of 15, and was imprisoned on the infamous Robben Island for 10 years). That was the time he was involved in bitter power struggle with Thabo Mbeki, over the leadership of the African National Congress. 

Zuma came from a poor, humble family; and, he made a political virtue out of this background. Once he got himself elected as President of South Africa, he played havoc with institutions, hollowing them out. 

A familiar failing. 

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RARELY is a death mourned on both sides of the India-Pakistan border in these strange times. An exception was made in the case of the intrepid Asma Jahangir. Her passing away last week evoked genuine sadness in India, as in Pakistan. 

Here was a fragile woman who stood up to military dictators. Simple. It required physical courage and a kind of moral clarity about what kind of civil order Pakistan should tolerate and what kind of civil liberties the Pakistani citizens were entitled to. 

In the context of Pakistan, Asma’s lifelong service in the cause of human rights is exemplary. Whereas India has had a veritable tradition of resistance to oppression and authoritarianism, the Pakistani civil society took its time in asserting itself. Asma can be called the founder-member of Pakistan’s civil society, demanding fairness and justice for the minorities and the persecuted.

In good time, she was to emerge as the voice of sanity and peace in South Asia. And, she had become an object of envy for many liberals in India, as we have allowed ourselves to wallow in intolerance and narrow-mindedness. 

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WE at The Tribune have an extra reason to feel dismayed at all the hanky-panky at the Punjab National Bank. I am told that our founder, Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, had quite a bit to do with this bank’s founding. And, in any case, we in the region should have the first claim on any bank that bears the name ‘Punjab’ on its marquee.

I am not sure if it would have been any consolation of any kind if those who had looted the Punjab National Bank were from Punjab or had been Punjabis. They are not even saade bande.

But, as they say, we live in the age of Gujaratis — in crime and politics. So also in scams, it would seem.

Would Nirav Modi deserve a cup of coffee? Certainly not. 

Join me.  

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