P A G E
Saturday, April 3, 1999
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E D I T O R I A L P A G E |
Saturday, April 3, 1999 |
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PM’s
unruly associates
TALK
OF CONFEDERATION |
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A new
politically silly season
High
melodrama all round
Aloneness
versus loneliness
Punjab
University examinations |
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PM’s unruly associates IT is neither the ideology of the BJP, nor the efficient functioning of the government it leads which has worked in favour of its longevity. What has sustained it is the stature and image of Prime Minister Vajpayee. This simple truth is beyond the ken of his party leaders and the allies. By their reckless and often unprovoked statements they are frittering away their USP (unique selling proposition). Take the latest verbal bout. After a late evening meeting of the ruling group, someone decides that word should be sent to Ms Jayalalitha that the government is ready “to call her bluff”. Power Minister Rangarajan briefs the media and strikes a truculent posture, telling the lady from Chennai where she got off. And she promptly sets a one-hour fuse and demands a clarification from the Prime Minister. He rightly disowns the outburst, thereby snubbing the minister. The Prime Minister has retrieved the situation, but the point is that there should have been no need for him to intervene in such a meaningless clash. It is one thing for the chief political executive of the country to step in and shape high policy, but another to clarify a tasteless remark by a Cabinet colleague who ranks low in the BJP hierarchy. There is more to it than meets the eye. Almost simultaneously two alliance partners too choose to speak up. Ms Mamata Banerjee is her usual self and virtually asks her AIADMK counterpart to mend her ways. The Samata Party fields a faceless leader to rake up the corruption charges against her. Obviously someone in the ruling alliance has decided to set it on a collision course with the AIADMK and is going about the job in a crude and clumsy way. This bears a remarkable similarity to the ways of the Ministry of Defence. It planted a story about denial of pension to the former Navy chief and when the agency-circulated report evoked protest, again the Prime Minister had to clear the air. Why did not the Ministry or the Minister deny the report? The report was in the Ministry’s computer most of the day. This is yet another case of drawing down the alliance’s USP, the prestige of the Prime Minister. After the verbal assault,
it is almost certain that the AIADMK will support the
demand for a JPC in the Lok Sabha. In issuing a threat to
the government’s stability, Ms Jayalalitha has
committed herself to stand by her perception of the
Vishnu Bhagwat case. It is no use saying that she does
not play by the coalition rules. Of course she does not,
has not since day one. A better way of handling her is to
set up a compact steering committee to bring about real
coordination, not the present uncoordinated effort.
Anyway talking in her language does not bring credit to
anyone. Some BJP strategists draw too firm a conclusion
from the 29-vote majority in the Lok Sabha on the Bihar
President’s rule issue. They are banking on a split
in the AIADMK, switchover by the DMK and some accrual
from the Samajwadi Party. On paper this looks solid but
to base major policies on this fragile structure of
numbers and take the Telugu Desam’s Chandrababu
Naidu for granted is a recipe for disaster. Growing
disgust with Ms Jayalalitha is no argument to put
together a self-destruct bomb. |
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THE alleged child-running racket uncovered by the police in Hyderabad on Monday has given a new dimension to the concept of human depravity. The Lucknow of the South once known for its culture and sophistication now keeps figuring in the news for all the wrong reasons. Some years ago the initiative of an air hostess helped expose a flourishing trade in selling under-aged girls to over-aged Arab patrons by poor Muslim parents. Of course, for the record the girls were given in “marriage” to rich Arabs for a handsome amount as “mehr” (mandatory amount which, the groom is obliged to pay to his bride during her lifetime) over which, going by the spirit of the relevant provisions of the Muslim laws, the parents have no claim. Now that the controversy has died down the practice of sending fake brides to Arab destinations has reportedly been revived. However, the discovery of a well organised child-running racket should make the sending of fake brides to Arabia look like a respectable profession. The lucrative trade was reportedly being run by seemingly respectable child welfare organisations. The heads of the organisations have been arrested and preliminary investigations suggest that the roots of the racket may be in Hyderabad but its branches are spread over the poverty belt of Andhra Pradesh. Reports indicate that agents of at least two organisations, Good Samaritan and Evangelical Society and Action for Social Development, used to visit poverty-hit areas and make advance payments to pregnant women for the purchase of infant girls. The new-born babies were given in “adoption” to rich families from Europe and other regions after receiving hefty amounts of money for “doing the necessary paper-work”. The fact of the matter is
that the issue of allowing foreigners to adopt Indian
children needs a second look. A number of voluntary
organisations are indeed doing laudable social service by
finding decent foster parents outside India for abandoned
children and those who have no one to look after them
after their parents death. However, statistics show that
for every genuine adoption there are at least five in
which poor parents are talked into selling their
new-borns for a few hundred rupees by operators who make
their millions through supplying children to their rich
foreign patrons. It is obvious that the laws which allow
foreign couples to adopt Indian children need to be
amended to plug the existing loopholes. In fact, priority
should be given to finding suitable Indian homes for
parentless infants. To make this happen it may be
necessary to knock down the obnoxious and outdated law
which does not allow non-Hindus to apply for adoption of
children. It is obvious that unless Hindu society decides
to shed its caste bias the problem of finding suitable
homes for shelterless children can never be solved
without the avoidable “foreign help”. |
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EVERY now and then, society is faced with unexpected problems that defy conventional solutions. One such difficulty is now confronting the metropolis of Mumbai where the incidents of stone- throwing at speeding trains have reached alarming proportions. During 1998, a record 65 such incidents were registered by the police while from January to March 15 this year, more than 22 incidents have been already registered. Mind you, these are the numbers of cases officially registered. The actual figures may be much higher. The menace peaked earlier this week when a five-year-old child lost his life when a stone hit him. Earlier, nearly 10 persons' eyes have been damaged through such irresponsible acts. The most alarming thing is that from Mumbai, this madness is spreading to other smaller cities also. Only last week, a passenger on the Sinhgad Express lost vision in the left eye when he was struck by a stone at Lonavala. Since such "hobbies" spread like wildfire, there are reasons to suspect that other states too may succumb soon enough. That is a frightening possibility. If one is not aware of the size of the country and the number of trains that run every day, it is so very easy to suggest that the Government Railway Police or other security agencies should make arrangements to apprehend the culprits. But that will be easier said than done. After all, security guards cannot be posted round the clock in each and every compartment of each and every train. In its desperation to set things right, the Maharashtra Government has even asked the Western and Central Railways to install video cameras on suburban trains to identify stone-throwers. The installation of two high-density cameras and a VCR on a rake will cost upwards of Rs 2 lakh. There are some 173 trains in Mumbai alone. The total cost will thus be tremendous. Even if adequate funds can be arranged, one is not sure if adequate arrangements can be made to ensure smooth operation of such equipment on a permanent basis. This is a problem whose
complete solution cannot be found by the government alone
without the help of the people. It is all responsible
citizens who have to get together to ensure that the
irresponsible ones do not get away with such violations.
A laudable lead in this regard was taken by a
lower-middle class housewife in Mumbai last month when
she and two of her female friends chased and nabbed two
stone-throwing youth. Ironically, not one man came to
their aid. One small mercy is that these incidents are
mostly by street urchins and not by any organised gang.
(It is another matter that there is no shortage of
organised robbers on trains today.) But at least in the
cases of stone throwing, society should come to the aid
of the police instead of vice-versa. At the same time,
there is need for other preventive steps. These include
installing grills on train windows, punishing the
culprits more severely and building a 10-ft high boundary
wall near the railway tracks. The practice of imposing
community fines on the areas from where the stones have
been hurled can yield good results. But before that,
there should be regular interaction with the slumdwellers
so that the elder citizens can persuade the delinquents
to give up their violent ways that can maim and kill. |
TALK OF CONFEDERATION TIME and again a suggestion comes up for a confederation between India and Pakistan. The proposal usually springs from Indians, sometimes even from people in authority, as it happened recently from the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani. The idea is that a confederation will enable India and Pakistan to carry on their work as independent nations and yet have a relationship which will ensure that they have close links. This will gradually bring the two nations closer, and they can live happily ever after although separately. But the idea does not go well in Pakistan. Routinely the proposal is turned down there, both by people in authority and the common men and women. The basis for this attitude is their suspicion of India and the fear that it wants to undo Partition and bring about a united India. They think that the idea is a subterfuge to create a mechanism which will bring reunification nearer. The latest controversy on confederation came about soon after the Indo-Pakistan relationship took a decisive turn for the better with the Lahore bus ride of the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. The Indian Home Minister perhaps thought that with the relationship on the mend, this was the proper time to carry forward the idea of a confederation. Though Kashmir was still a thorny issue, many irritants were being removed and this thus was the right time to float the idea. This could further relieve tensions and pave the way for agreements which would bring the two countries closer. But the promoters of the idea were being too optimistic. The time obviously is not ripe for it. Whichever reaction came from Pakistan was one of opposition. Among the strongest of these was from Mian Abdul Waheed, Chairman of the Pakistan National Assembly’s standing committee on Foreign Affairs. He even asked the Indian Prime Minister to take note of the activities of his Home Minister so that purposeful talks could be continued between the two countries. He linked it with the idea of creating a reunited Indian subcontinent, and said that Mr Advani’s idea about Akhand Bharat was reflective of his “peculiar mentality.” He certainly thought that Mr Advani was promoting the idea of a reunited India. He, therefore, took the first opportunity to shoot it down. One could see in Mr Waheed’s statement an attempt to see Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani as two different personalities with different perspectives about India and Pakistan. He commended Mr Vajpayee’s visit to Minar-e-Pakistan, the historic spot where the idea of the formation of Pakistan was formally put forward. Mr Waheed argued when Mr Vajpayee had been to the spot, where was the idea of promoting reunification? One has to go into the mental make-up of the Pakistanis. Many of them still believe that India wants in undo Partition and it would do this either militarily or by evolving the idea of a confederation. They do not understand or appreciate that India is not interested in undoing Partition. Most Indians now think that this will create further complications in the lives of the two nations. India is happy to deal with its own problems and possibilities. To turn the clock back would only be to create more complications. The Pakistanis do not generally buy his theory. They continue to live with the idea of India wanting to reunite the divided nations. But India wants something different — peace with the rival nation, not unification. And this should be put forward before the mass of the Pakistanis by our diplomats, politicians who have an eager ear in Pakistan, writers and artists who go there. This is the dream of living without problems with neighbouring Pakistan. The fear is also in Pakistan and some other neighbours that India being a big country would like to be superior to all of them and dominate them. Indian thinking does not run along these lines. India wants something like the way the USA and Canadians live, two independent countries but with hardly any problems between them. With the passage of time, it should be possible to carve out such a relationship without reunification. Many believe that the confederation principle would be able to resolve the Kashmir dispute. With confederation, they say, there would be no hard feelings about Kashmir. Kashmir could be left as it is today, with India and Pakistan retaining what they have now. With the confederation idea seeing to it that there will be no violent dispute, Kashmir too would live in peace. This is also why many people in India are attracted to the idea of confederation. There would consequently be a soft border between India and Pakistan and in turn between Kashmir and Pakistan, the divided families would be able to meet frequently and the gun running would stop. If the final solution is reached along the Line of Control, the two Kashmirs, one with India and the other with Pakistan, could have better relationship with each other. Is this idea too utopian? At present it could sound like that, but it could come about if the relations between the two nations improve. This would involve large-scale trade and better social and cultural links. If, for instance, the present negotiations between India and Pakistan on the supply of power from Pakistan to India succeed, it will be an enduring step for amity between the two. How can there be a war if Pakistani electricity comes across to light homes and factories in India? But the main question is whether the Pakistanis and Indians are able to decide to live peacefully with no axe to grind against each other. In his latest statement in Mysore on confederation, Mr Advani has tried to further the idea, regardless of the negative reactions that had come from Pakistan. He has said that the formation of a confederation of countries of India and its neighbours, like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal, should be possible. Mr Advani, knowing of the reaction from Pakistan, was wise enough to set the fears of the Pakistanis at rest. He conceded that when a reference was made to Akhand Bharat, united India, there “were misgivings in the minds of some”. He clarified that India and Pakistan” are two independent sovereign nations and will remain as independent nations”. He also said that the confederation would be on the basis of the two nations’ own violation. This is necessary. We should remember that when after the birth of Bangladesh, India signed a treaty of friendship with that country, it did not create many ripples of friendship. Instead, it gave an opportunity to India’s opponents in Bangladesh to wage a war or words against New Delhi and when the time came for the renewal of the treaty, neither country wanted that to be done. It died a natural death. India had not done enough
homework to analyse what reaction the treaty could
create. We should be wiser by this. Pakistan should be
told that India still does not believe in the two-nation
theory but instead in two independent nations. And the
best example for the peoples of South Asia at a distant
future is to have a set-up like the European Union. That
should be possible some day but not immediately. India
should not press too hard the confederation idea because
it will lead to an unfavourable reaction from Pakistan.
Let the idea be there but not pressed now. There is a
time for every good idea. The time for confederation is
not now. |
Rwanda — the wages of sin THE International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is these days bringing to book those responsible for the Rwanda genocide in 1994. In the first-ever judgement by an international court for genocide and crimes against humanity has found two prominent Rwandans guilty. The first is the Mayor of Taba, Jean-Paul Akayesu, who was found guilty of nine out of 15 counts of genocide, and was sentenced to life imprisonment for his crimes, for which he had pleaded “not guilty” on all 15 counts. In another landmark decision the ICTR sentenced Jean Kambanda, former Prime Minister of Rwanda, also to life imprisonment. Incidentally, Kambanda had pleaded guilty to crimes against humanity (extermination, murder, torture, rape and other acts). It will be recalled that the genocide — the most cruel massacre — took place in Rwanda, a former Belgian colony, in April-May 1994. More than half a million Rwandans (mostly Tutsi minority) were mercilessly butchered by Hutu majority militants during the civil war in the country. Both Akayesu and Kambanda are Hutu militants. To many, genocide in Rwanda was reminiscent of the “final solution” that characterised the holocaust during World War II and Cambodia’s “killing fields” during the reign of murderous Khmer Rouge. The Rwanda tribunal was established on November 8, 1994, by the UN Security Council, mandated as it was to prosecute persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law. As decided by the Security Council, ICTR was located in Arusha (Tanzania), the office of the Prosecutor is in the Hague (Netherlands) and the Deputy Prosecutor is based in Kigali, Rwanda. The working of the tribunal is a serious effort, involving a budget of nearly $ 50 million. A total of 511 persons, representing 72 nationalities, are working for the ICTR. The tribunal has set up the UN detention facility in the complex of the Arusha prison, where a total of 30 indicted are in custody. The ICTR consists of three Trial Chambers; the first Chamber that sentenced Akayesu and Kambanda was headed by Judge Laity Kama of Senegal. Two more trials are underway. The Trial Chamber that tried Akayesu stated rather bluntly: “There was an intention to wipe out the Tutsi group in its entirety since even new born babies were not spared.” In its judgement, the Trial Chamber underscored the fact that rape and sexual violence also constitute genocide in the same way as any other act as long as they were committed with intent to destroy a particular group targeted as such. The court held that sexual violence was an “integral” part of the process of destruction of the Tutsi ethnic group. “The rape of Tutsi women was systematic and was perpetrated against all Tutsi women and solely against them.” Fortysix-year-old Akayesu fled Rwanda in June, 1994, after the genocide and was arrested in Zambia on October 10, 1995. The Zambian government cooperated with the ICTR and gladly allowed Akayesu to be taken away from Zambia to Arusha where he was detained at the tribunal’s detention facility. Similarly, Kambanda was brought to Arusha from Kenya where he had taken refuge. Given the fact that a sort of civil war raged in Rwanda between the RAF (Rwandan Armed Forces) and the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front, consisting mainly of the Tutsis) at the time the genocide occurred, the Trial Chamber concluded that this fact could not serve as mitigating circumstance for the genocide. Furthermore, the court found that the genocide was not organised by members of the RAF only, but also by political leaders of the “Hutu-Power” persuasion; and it was executed essentially by the civilians, including the armed militia and even ordinary citizens. It is rather odd that the Tutsis in Rwanda are a mere 15 per cent minority but from the days of the Belgian colonialists, the Tutsi minority was an elitist group enjoying political and economic power as also complete hold over the army. The genocide led to the weakening of the Tutsi power and brought Hutu majority at the helm of affairs. But within weeks the Rwanda Patriotic Front of the Tutsis captured power fully backed as it was by neighbouring Uganda under the rule of Yoweri Museveni. Although Hutus also hold ministerial posts in the present administration, the main power is in the hands of the Tutsi minority led by Vice-President and Defence Minister Paul Kagame, a personal friend of Museveni. The court trying Akayesu
found him guilty and established the individual
responsibility of the accused for the crimes. The court
rejected his plea that when the genocide was taking
place, he as Mayor of Taba had been stripped of all
authority by the militant Hutus. (IPA) |
Aloneness
versus loneliness MORE than two hundred years ago, Coleridge wrote the line — “Alone, alone, all all alone”. These words still reverberate in the minds of the people. Many a time one who feels exasperated exclaims — “Leave me alone”. One wants to be by oneself at a place where there is no intrusion by someone else. The desire to be face to face with the other part of the self is quite natural. The human brain, it has been said, consists of two opposing halfs. As a result, the human mind is ever in the process of reconciling the claims of these two opposing forces. Mirza Ghalib at one time in his life felt strongly to be left alone — Rahiye ab aisi jagah chal kar, jahan koi na ho. (There is a strong urge in me to live at a place where no one else resides). Not that he was fed up with the unsavoury company of the unwanted persons around as much as he wanted to be in an introspective mood all by himself. Not in action but in introspection man realises his true potential and comes to grips with the realities of life. Such a person is never alone, at least he never considers himself alone. His teeming thoughts always keep his company. He is surrounded, as it were by his ideas that spring eternal. Again in the words of Mirza Ghalib — Hai aadmi bajaye khud, ik mehshre khayal Hum anjuman samajhte hain, khilwat hi kyon na ho (I consider it company even when I am alone as my teeming ideas form a circle around me at that time). From aloneness to loneliness is a big stride which mankind has taken in recent years. Earlier, the tendency was to be free from the oppressing multitude around so as to find time to look within. Now the desire is for the company of the persons around in the loneliness of one’s life. But the irony of the situation is that one is condemned to feel lonely even when one is surrounded by the like-minded people. The modern man has built invisible walls around himself and has, at the same time, taken refuge in the seclusion of his mind. He knocks on the door of the house where ghosts reside and waits for the answer to his call. He has made a rendezvous with his counterparts but the response is non-existent. At long last he raises his voice and exclaims a la Walter De La Mare — ‘Tell them I came, and no one answered’. Thereafter, the silence of the night surges softly backward. The echo of these words reverberates all the time in the stony superstructure of the world of today. The people in their best outfits flit across the ramp but there is no applause from the onlookers. As such they find themselves sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss of loneliness. The glib talks, that evaporate into the thin air like the smoky breath in winter, fail to create warmth in the hearts of the people around. The efforts made by some individuals to break the crust of indifference that has enveloped the hearts of the people are generally thwarted. Such an attitude depicts the dehumanising process and is painful like the cry of a babe in the stillness of the night. What passes off as a step forward is in fact a retrogressive step. Aloneness, of course, is desirable as ever to take stock of things around. Indeed it leads ultimately to the craving for togetherness as it had earlier emerged from the womb of gregariousness. Lonelines is the product of the crass behaviour of the individuals at different levels of their existence. It is an altogether new phenomenon that has plagued the minds of the people the world over. By slow degrees it leads to estrangement, first from others and then from one’s other self. The resultant vacuum in the mind is all the more accentuated when one finds oneself lonely amidst the throng of people. In the words of an Urdu poet — Bheed mein zamane ke ghut raha thha dum mera Unki yaad aayee aur mujh ko kar gyee tanha (I was feeling suffocated
as the crowds of the time jostled against me. Suddenly I
thought of her and found myself lonely.) |
A new politically silly season
WHEN tea parties in Delhi become more important than Cabinet meetings you can be sure its the beginning of a new politically silly season. And I very much fear, dear readers, that it is. A silly season brought on almost entirely by the whimsical ways of Ms Jayalalitha Jayaram. Last week it was the as if India’s entire political future depended on what may or may not be said at two tea parties held in honour of the Empress of Tamil Nadu. US hacks, we who like to think of ourselves as the nation’s political pundits, quickly realised the importance of the tea parties and abandoned computer screens and uncomfortably air-conditioned offices to scrabble around, trying to get invited to one of the tea parties, preferably both. It was as if we feared that history itself might be made at one of these events and if we weren’t present then we would have one story less to tell future generations. And, history of a tawdry sort was made in that Jayalalitha finally met Sonia Gandhi making in publicly evident that she is ready to topple the government of poor Mr Vajpayee at whichever moment she considers most appropriate. This is, at least, the general interpretation. My own is that the Empress of TN is still in melodrama mode. She appears to see national politics as some kind of vast movie set on which she has to continue to play. Heroine no one, lest someone else tries to take the centrestage. Why do I think this? Because I managed to get invited to one of the two tea parties, the one given by BJP MP, Vijay Goel, and had an uncomfortably close encounter with Ms JJ. My first encounter, in fact, since before the tea party I had seen her, in the flesh, only once at a press conference long ago. Otherwise, like anyone who visited Tamil Nadu during her reign I had seen only her voluminous cardboard incarnations at Chennai’s street corners. Even before I discovered her deep need of sycophants (with her face tattooed on their bodies) just the sight of those gaudy cardboard cutouts was an indication enough to me that the lady had a major ego problem. But, its really only when you see Jayalalitha in real life that you realise just how much of an ego problem poor Mr Vajpayee has to deal with. So, back to the tea party. We were invited at 6.30 and those of us who are lesser beings in the corridors of powers showed up bang on time, mainly because parking space at these occasions becomes impossible if you try and arrive later than those who come in convoys of white ambassadors. Mr Goel had pulled out all the stops. There were fairy lights in the trees and young girls, in pretty dresses, to greet every visitor with a sandalwood tika and scent. A band played Hindi film tunes in one corner. They chose soft, romantic numbers and we read hidden meanings in their words. We doubled with laughter when we heard them play Ajeeb dastan hain yeh, na voh samajh sakey na hum, yeh manzilein hain kaunsi, kahan shuru kahan khatam. We teased BJP leaders about the words: What strange circumstances are these that neither you nor I understand. What paths have we taken, where do they begin, where is their end. The BJP leaders were unamused. They seemed tense over whether Madame would deign to come at all and, if she did, whether she would respect protocol and try and arrive before the Prime Minister. The army of TV crews, meanwhile, occupied themselves taking pictures of Vinod Khanna talking to Prakash Singh Badal and K.P.S. Gill. Rumour and speculation was the basis of all conversations. She had demanded George Fernandes’ resignation at the coordination committee meeting. She had moved to the Taj Hotel because she wanted to insult the government by not staying in its leading hostelry, the Ashoka. She thought her rooms were bugged. Then she arrived. Just before 7.15 p.m. And, in a flash of white camera lights walked imperiously through the gathering and seated herself on a stage that seemed reserved for VIPs. After some hesitation we took it in turns to approach the empty chair on her right and try and make conversation. When it came to my turn I said: “I was wondering what your views are on the current political situation?” “It could change at any time”, she said coldly. “That sounds very ominous” I said, trying to make light of what sounded like the government’s death knell. “Well, your writings sound very ominous”, she said curtly “I’ve seen the things you write about me. How can you write like that about someone you’ve never met”. Then followed a tirade. I fled as soon as someone else tried to make conversation with her but she sent for me again, through one of her security men, and this time was a little more charming. But her manner remained imperial. She seemed to be making it clear to all of us that she knew her strength where Mr Vajpayee’s government was concerned and she intended to use it. As I said at the beginning, I still think the tea parties were little more than high drama from a woman who loves the limelight but tremors are being felt in those famed corridors. And, the game of will-she-won’t-she has begun again. See what I mean about a politically silly season? Instead of governance, development, national interest, international concerns all we will be talking about in coming days are the two women in whose hands appears to lie the future of Mr Vajpayee’s government. The Congress, from what I hear, is ready for the kill and everything now depends on the Empress of TN. Even if she does oblige, though, there are problem. Most Congress MPs are as reluctant to plunge into another general election as any other MP is. The plan, therefore, is to try and put another government in power with the Congress ‘outside’ support. The numbers, though, are not working out. So, the government could still survive and last week’s tea parties may not even make a footnote in history books. But, then what are we to make of Jayalalitha’s cryptic one-liner about last week’s earthquake. “This earthquake will now be followed by a political earthquake.” Who knows. Meanwhile, enjoy the silly season.
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High melodrama all round
WHAT a week it was. With Jayalalitha, Rupert Murdoch, the horrifying reconstruction of the Staines murder on Sohaib Ilyasi’s India’s Most Wanted and, most tragic of all, the Chamoli earthquake. The order of listing is deliberate. It is not only we in the Capital who had our individual moments of panic. The fan was swinging ominously above my shaking bed as I finished watching Dil Se on TV and I painfully undid the triple lock on the front door and dashed out on the lawn. I switched off both TV and the fan for the rest of the night. Selfish precautions, but our thoughts next morning were for the people of Chamoli and all the hill folk who had barely got over similar calamities in the recent past and again turned to the sad task of counting and cremating their dead. So while DD did a listing of the relief measures taken by the government, NDTV rushed its reporter Mohit Verma to Chamoli itself to get actuality footage as well as first-hand reports. It was not pleasant viewing and just as harrowing as the reports on Kosovo by the BBC and CNN. Tragedy always strikes one most when one sees it in graphic detail in one’s backyard. And in these situations, there is nothing which can equal television, which comes into its own as far as social concern is involved. Simi Garewal is the perfect Agony Aunt, she could wring tears and laughter even from stone. Murdoch, told almost all. Except at one point about his personal life where he rightly put his foot down. Having got the first exclusive interview with Murdoch when he came to India the first time, I can vouch for the fact that he is a good TV subject, he speaks clearly and courteously and with no pretensions. He is very pleasant to talk to. Of course my questions were professional and nothing to do with his love life. Someone had to ask him and I am glad it was Simi, as she creates the perfect atmosphere for true confessions. And now we simply cannot wait for Vir Sanghvi, who also hot-footed it to the USA, to let us have his little chat with Murdoch. The scope, one is sure, will be a little different. Besides, the more the merrier. One of my BBC colleagues, Andrew Whitehead, once said in a TV panel discussion that Laloo Prasad Yadav was the most canny politician on TV. I think he is being given a close run for his money by Jayalalitha. No one else at the tea party (Mad Hatter’s or Boston Tea Party according to your choice) and before and after could quite match her telegenic presence. After all, she has been a lead actress for years and knows exactly how to stand, smile and speak. Her articulation, those measured tones in a convent accent is nothing short of perfection. And Sonia Gandhi’s rarity value was no match for her. For relaxation, the India-Sri Lanka one-day match at Pune was about the only cheerful item on TV because one somehow could not trace the tennis final between Venus and Serena Williams. That must have been high drama too and I wish ESPN and Star Sports pin-pointed their timings a little more clearly in print and on screen. Other views rang me up to ask for the tennis timings and were as confused as I was. Sohaib Ilyasi’s
real-life crime thriller, India’s Most Wanted has
set new standards, with the involvement of the public and
assistance from the police in crime detection. He now has
obvious imitators, but none have equalled his
cliff-hanging approach nor achieved actual success in
tracing down criminals. About the most harrowing
programme so far is that last week on The Staines murder.
A young lawyer rang me up to ask if I had seen it.
“You sound very depressed, I commented. “I am
ashamed of being an Indian after watching this
programme” he said, and could hardly continue the
conversation. I also made it a point to watch the
programme in detail. Ilyasi has done a horrifyingly
convincing reconstruction of the killing of Staines and
his two minor sons. He has bolstered it up with
interviews with J.B. Patnaik, Rajiv Pilot and Delhi RSS
President, Bansal. Mr Bansal has gone on record saying:
“Whoever committed the crime is not a true
Hindu”. As the programme ended, I got another call,
this time from a known viewer. He said: “Every
Indian is weeping with shame”. And so they should
be, thanks to this visually powerful programme. |
Punjab University examinations THE daily plague reports for the 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st March, which are now before us, show that plague is now definitely on the increase in Lahore. Under these circumstances it seems to us to be absolutely necessary that the Punjab University should postpone its examinations from the middle of April, which, as the history of previous years tells us, is the time when plague is usually most virulent, to some time near the end of May, when the epidemic may, with fair certainty, be expected to subside. The inconvenience of the heat of the months of May and June, to which we referred in our previous note, is undoubtedly a factor in the consideration but it should not stand in the way of a postponement of the examination in face of the much graver and more immediate danger involved in adhering to the present arrangement. Needless to say, the
congregation of such large numbers of students in Lahore
at a time when the epidemic is claiming a heavy toll is
fraught with serious danger not only to the examinees
themselves but also to the general population of the
Province. |
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