Tohra, Badal and BJP

MR Surendra Miglani of Kaithal might be well aware of political equations in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha as far as numbers are concerned, but he seems to be ignorant of the volatile internal Akali politics. This is evident from his letter, “Akalis and Third Front” (Editor’s Mail, October 7).

The fact is that if the Akalis withdraw support from the Vajpayee government to join the so-called Third Front, then immediately the BJP would do so in the state assembly. The moment this happens, Mr Tohra will pull the rug from under the feet of Mr Badal. Mr Tohra cannot do so as long as the BJP is there because he has to muster the support of at least 36 MLAs to counter the strength of the BJP in the assembly, which is quite difficult. So as a matter of fact, the BJP MLAs are a security cover for Mr Badal. Mr Tohra’s scathing attacks on the BJP are, in fact, disguised attacks on Mr Badal only. Another hard fact is that the dreaded Congress is all set to gain in Punjab if the BJP-Akali alliance is dismantled.

A.K. SHARMA
Chandigarh

* * * *

Betrayal of the farmer

Apropos of the news item “muddled paddy procurement” (Oct 19) and related reports, my heart goes out to the betrayed and almost abandoned farmer left to cry on his helplessness and fate at the hands of an apathetic system thrown up by the self-seeking politicians, corrupt government procurement agencies and greedy traders.

Having braved the onslaught of a hostile weather, when the farmer comes to sell his produce he is surrounded by exploiters in the form of an inefficient government machinery, treacherous employees of the procurement agencies and unscrupulous traders out to loot him. Due to this overall indifference he is again left in the open to face the wrath of angry rain god.

The poor farmer stands helplessly watching this hard-produced grain going down the drain. Who says it is a farmer friendly government? A government which has utterly failed to perform its basic duty of procuring a farmer’s produce in time at a remunerative price, cannot be called farmer-friendly.

What is the use of making SOS calls when the damage has already been done? The farmer, who is supposed to be “Annadata!”, the provider, will now be made to beg for alms in the form of aid/compensation. This is what this so-called farmer-friendly government has reduced him to because of its follies and inefficiency.

Everybody in the chain — he may be a politician, a procurement agency official or a bribing trader — has to be punished so that ugly practices are not repeated. Let us not push the farmer to such a pass that he has to take recourse to what has been described by poet Iqbal thus: “Jis khet ke dehkan ko na ho roti mayassar us khet ke har gosha-e-gandam ko jala do”. (If a piece of land cannot provide a square meal to the farmer, every nook and corner of it deserves to be burnt down).

Alas, that will be a sad day for Bharat Mahan!

BHAGWANT SINGH
Mohali

* * * *

Renewing a tradition

This was a joyous Deepavali. Half-way across this earth on an early fall morning in Silicon Valley, I had The Tribune on my desk via www. tribuneindia. com.

Congratulations to The Tribune’s Internet edition staff.

This restores our family’s links to The Tribune that began in the forties when my grandfather — Prakash Ananda — joined the paper. Today, I renew a tradition I grew up with — looking through the national and regional news items in The Tribune every morning — this time via the web. The ink-smudges on my finger-tips may be missing, but the feeling is what it always was, very welcome.

Rohit Sharma,
Founder & Chief Architect,
Optical Networks
San Jose (CA, USA)

(Received in response to The Tribune’s Internet edition.)

--------------------------

Law of dual effect

As human life is all made of actions, and as every action has its reaction (effect), it is only in the sphere of actions that the cause of a man’s happiness or sorrow can be located. Man has the power to think and judge what he should do and what he should not do before he acts. But once he has acted in a particular manner, the effect of his action will follow him as its natural corollary. When a man has eaten a certain kind of food, he loses control over its effect on his mind and body. The rest of the job is done by the digestive system and other organ systems in the body.

However, people in general overlook the fact that an action has its dual effect — an immediate effect and an ultimate effect. Every action (cause) produces an effect and that effect in its turn acts as a cause and produces further effect. This is known as Law of Dual Effect. A little reflection will convince anyone that most human actions have a chain of reactions. When food is taken, its immediate effect is satisfying hunger, but its ultimate effect is providing energy to the body for its use after it has been processed by the digestive system while the waste is ejected from the body.

It has been noticed that most people look only to the immediate effect of their actions and not to their ultimate effect. A simple example of such an action is overeating. When a man eats when he is feeling hungry and stops when his hunger is satisfied, it is good for his health and happiness. But if he eats more for pleasure than for necessity, an adverse reaction is bound to follow.

There are many unhealthy pleasures which are pleasant and satisfying as their immediate effect, but their ultimate effect is very harmful.One shall have to form some higher ideal and wage a hard struggle against the magnetic power of the tempting objects. In fact, man has been endowed with the power of discrimination between the essentially good and the superficially pleasant, but he does not care to cultivate this faculty and benefit from it. Great pain is involved in self-restraint, but the pain passes while the rewards of self-mastery remain with him forever.

Though everyone of us is quite free to choose any course of action we like, we shall be well-advised to select only that course which not only contributes to our present well-being but is also conducive to our future good. We should endeavour to seek the happiness of our life as a whole.

A. K. SURI
Chandigarh