P A G E
Thursday, April 22, 1999
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E D I T O R I A L P A G E |
Thursday, April 22, 1999 |
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Pak
vendetta politics
ROLE
OF BUREAUCRACY |
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US
foreign policy: myth
Spring
and styles
Firing at Cawnpore cotton mills |
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Pak vendetta politics POLITICS in Pakistan is yet to reach the level of maturity. What one witnesses there today is vendetta politics at its worst. Politicians in power go to any extent to settle personal scores. They do not hesitate to use state institutions to decimate their adversaries. The court proceedings against former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari can be cited as the latest case of this kind. The point here is not whether the corruption charges made against them have been trumped up. What is deplorable is that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is hell bent on reducing the former Prime Minister to a political cripple by cleverly using the judiciary. This will enable him to rule Pakistan with no effective opposition to question his actions, right or wrong, in a forceful manner. If Ms Bhutto is thrown out of his way, there will be no potential threat to Mr Nawaz Sharif’s leadership. The Prime Minister is using the judiciary to implement his agenda without the least regard for the credibility of this significant institution. Perhaps, the judiciary too is not averse to playing into the hands of the executive! See the verdict of the
Ehtesab (Accountability) Bench of the Lahore High Court.
The court has not only sentenced Ms Bhutto and Mr Zardari
to a five-year jail term, confiscating their property and
asking them to pay a fine of $ 8.6 million, but also
disqualified them as members of parliament. They have
been found guilty of granting an inspection contract to a
Swiss firm—Societe Generale de Surveillance
—after accepting 6 per cent commission and other
pecuniary benefits. The court has, however, allowed them
to go in appeal to the Supreme Court. Ms Bhutto is away
to certain foreign countries on a lecture assignment, and
her husband is already serving a jail term in some other
case. Obviously, they will fight the contract case in the
apex court. But before that court gives its ruling they
are going to be debarred from contesting elections
forever by the Pakistan National Assembly. Mr Nawaz
Sharif has already consulted the Speaker of the Lower
House, Mr Ilahi Bux Soomro, and the Senate Chairman, Mr
Wasim Sajjad, to accomplish the dirty task. Of course,
this will be in accordance with the law of the land. But
the law, as we know, is also an ass. The entire legal
process can be influenced to achieve an objective if the
system does not have inbuilt arrangements to withstand
extraneous pressures. The Ehtesab Bench has yet to
establish its credibility from this angle. Ms Bhutto is
not unjustified in saying that she could not expect a
different judgement, as one of the judges trying the case
was the son of the judge who was part of the Bench that
had pronounced the sentence of death through hanging on
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, her father, in 1979. Mr Nawaz
Sharif, on assuming office in February, 1998, amended the
Ehtesab Act limiting the provision of “retrospective
effect” to 1990, excluding the period when he was
the Chief Minister of Punjab. Originally, the
“retrospective effect” provision covered the
period till 1988. The Chief Ehtesab Commissioner was
initially an independent official with full investigative
powers. But his position was later on blunted with the
appointment of a Nawaz Sharif protege, Senator Saifur
Rehman, as the all-powerful chief of the Ehtesab Bureau.
This does not augur well for a fledgling democracy that
Pakistan is. All that is happening in the case of Ms
Bhutto can be repeated tomorrow against Mr Nawaz Sharif
if she or any of her loyalists manages to capture power. |
Money market is reborn CENTRAL banks as a rule are conservative and cautious in their approach. The RBI is particularly so under Dr Bimal Jalan. That is why his all-out effort to strengthen the money market comes as a surprise. He has initiated two steps in this direction. One, he is encouraging private individuals to take over and manage the purchase and sale of government-issued bonds and bills. He has not only opened the door to this lucrative trade for them but is also offering credit at an attractive rate of 10 per cent. Since the return is normally over 11 per cent, and since the volume of trade runs into thousands of crores of rupees, competition must be keen and the pickings very handsome. What the RBI hopes for is that the primary dealers will enter the auction and then resell the T-bills for a small profit, to start a long chain of trading in these government papers. In due course, a sophisticated and deep market dealing in debt instruments must emerge. That is the plan and the slack season credit policy of the RBI has laid down the ground rules and provided the initial impetus. The second major policy decision is regarding repos, or repurchase agreements. From now on anyone holding units or shares can raise money from any bank through the repo route. What that means is that they sort of pledge the paper as collateral and take an advance at a low rate of interest. The RBI’s own repo rate is 6 per cent as against the bank (lending) rate of 8 per cent. This has far-reaching impact. UTI and other mutual funds have now an alternative source to fund their redemption programmes, instead of unloading hundreds of crores of rupees worth shares in the stock market. Not only did this annual ritual inject volatility in the market and dampen share prices, it also drained profits of these organisations. In view of the new policy, the mutual funds can hock the shares and take a loan at less than 8 per cent interest. There is a snag though. In its earlier avatar as “ready forward transaction”, it helped Harshad Mehta misuse government bonds with nationalised banks to run away with credit worth a few hundred crores of rupees. Maybe the RBI thinks the system has learnt the lesson and can quickly scotch any attempt by a future Harshad Mehta. As for credit policy
proper, the lowering of the cash reserve ratio to 10 per
cent is an empty gesture. The banks are flush with funds
and anyway, the release of Rs 3,250 crore will go to buy
government bonds in the first half of May. Industrial
slowdown and high interest rate have lowered the credit
need. This is obvious from a piece of statistic in the
RBI Governor’s speech. Banks have to park 25 per
cent of their total deposits in government bonds under
the SLR requirements and the yield in these is very low,
about 11 per cent. Yet, banks have invested as high as 33
per cent of deposits in them. The RBI says heavy
government borrowing is keeping the interest rate high.
This is only partly true. A lower lending rate will
necessarily mean a lower deposit rate, and at present
one-third of all deposits is from small savers. They will
flee the banks if the interest is reduced. As it is, at
12 per cent interest the real return on bank deposit
works out to about 3.5 per cent, after adjusting for an
inflation rate of 8.5 per cent at the retail level.
Compared to other countries, lending rate in India is
very high and that is one reason for the continued
industrial sluggishness. |
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HIMACHAL PRADESH was among the first States to take the environment-friendly step of banning the use of plastic bags. It has now taken another important decision for spreading the message of conservation of resources by introducing an important amendment in the building bye-laws of the State. Henceforth no new construction would be allowed without the provisions of rain water storage facility. Chief Ministers Prem Kumar Dhumal, who is being given credit for the latest initiative, has been quoted as having said that only 6 per cent of the treated water was being used for meeting the drinking water requirement of the population. It is indeed criminal that 94 per cent of the treated water, supplied at subsidised rates, should be wasted on irrigating kitchen gardens and other house hold chores. Rain water harvesting is among the several strategies evolved by environmentalists as part of the globally accepted natural resource conservation programme. Now that the Government has decided not to clear building plans which do not have provision for harvesting rain water, it would also have to take the initiative of educating the people not to use it for meeting their drinking water needs. In many States supply of
untreated water for non-potable purposes was discontinued
by the civic authorities following the outbreak of
water-borne diseased. How-ever, if properly Monitored by
experts rain water harvesting is the most cost-effective
strategy for meeting the ever-growing demand for water
across the country. An additional investment of a few
thousand rupee is enough to make every dwelling unit
self-sufficient in the matter of meeting its non-drinking
water requirements. In fact, during periods of scarcity
the stored rain water can even be used for drinking
purposes after boiling and use of approved for tracting
it. Experts now believe that by passing the rain water
through appropriate filters, before it reaches the
storage point, should make it fit even for drinking. In
Aizawl, Mizoram, stored rain water is in fact being used
for meeting the drinking water needs of the township
without any noticeable increase in incidents of
water-borne diseases. The Tamil Nadu Government too has
passed a law making water-harvesting compulsory in
Chennai for solving the problem of perennial shortage. In
Madhya Pradesh, a watershed management project based on
trapping rain water has turned Jhabua into one of the
greenest districts of the State. However, the NGOs will
have to play a more active role for spreading the message
of rain water harvesting across the country. |
ROLE OF BUREAUCRACY THE British colonialists had established a system of government keeping in view their own needs and the prevailing circumstances during their rule over India. They recruited, trained and groomed the bureaucratic personnel to primarily ensure their hegemony over India and to create such infrastructure as would be essentially conducive to the interests of the rulers with peripheral care for the welfare of the locals. Consequently, the foreign masters framed laws, rules, regulations and bureaucratic framework which suited their objectives, policies and programmes. The British rulers were well aware that without a competent, impartial, respect-inspiring and awesome bureaucracy, teeming millions of Indians could not be governed smoothly. The British interest demanded that they should be impartial in the administration of inter-community affairs of the Indian people. In the ordinary matters of governance the bureaucracy during British rule conducted itself fairly and in accordance with the rules and regulations based on fair play and justice. In the first half of the twentieth century, the Indian bureaucracy was tempered with the heat and turbulence of the 1917-Russian Revolution, the two World Wars and the various phases of India’s freedom movement. A good number of Indians had also been appointed to higher level positions in the government, and they too got exposure to avenues where values of good governance,civic rights and human welfare were genuinely cherished. The leaders of the Indian freedom movement were well acquainted with Western concepts of liberty, equality, fair play and just governance, and they were inspired to usher in a new system of government in free India which would care for the needs of the people of India. When India became free in 1947, the political leadership and personnel of the government in various spheres of administration were fired with zeal and ambition to work for the cherished cause of taking India to new heights of glory. The honest bureaucracy tuned to conduct ordinary administration according to the set regulations, tempered with vast managerial experience led by a towering political leadership comprising men and women of high public stature, integrity, zeal and foresight up to the mid-sixties. The bureaucracy tackled the gigantic problems of partition of the country, settlement of refugees, organisation of various services, construction of big dams and setting up of huge plants creditably. But the lustre of the bureaucracy and the faith of the general public in them started diminishing by the mid-sixties, that is after the third general election in 1962. The first two general elections, in 1952 and 1957, were on the whole fair and trust-inspiring, but by 1962 certain unhealthy factors crept in the process of elections, and with the passing away of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964 and Lal Bahadur Shastri two years later, the cohesiveness and moral force of the political leadership were greatly shattered. Subsequently, the glamour of moral transparency and robust integrity of the political leaders waned considerably. All this as well as the retirement of the old guard among the bureaucrats and the rapidly changing political, economic and social scenario in India caused a lot of stress and strain on the personnel carrying out various public duties. The result was that the so-called steel frame of bureaucracy started caving in, and over all these years it has not been able to rise high in the estimation of the populace. The role of the bureaucracy during the India-China war, the Emergency, the Sri Lanka crisis, the Punjab impasse, Operation Blue Star, etc, cannot be commended. Monumental bureaucratic failings in executing various economic, social and agrarian reforms are too apparent to need much mention. Even in the matter of routine regulation and ordinary mode of administration such as the distribution of food, coal, oil, fertilisers, gas, sugar, electricity, transport, the supply of stamps, the registration of documents, the issuing of driving licenses and ration cards the bureaucracy is found wanting. The ordinary citizen feels unhappy at not being able to pay his electricity, telephone, sewerage, and water supply bills free of so many hassles. It is not for nothing that the Indian bureaucracy has earned for itself the condemnatory sobriquet: inefficient and corrupt. The bureaucracy in our country has become too bulky, too stretched in the scope of assignments, too shirker, too much careless about the needs and aspirations of the people. In fact, the Indian bureaucracy has rendered itself “inadequate” to do the job of administration it is expected to perform. Here it is to be pertinently stated that my observation regarding the performance of the bureaucracy pertains to the system of administration, and not to particular individuals carrying out certain assigned duties. My assessment is of the bureaucratic system which can certainly boast of brilliant individuals in its fold, but the sheen and excellence of the really brilliant few is overwhelmed in the malfunctioning system. The bureaucracy here refers to all the areas of administration — civil, military, engineering, law, banks, the police, education, shipping, communications, medical care, etc — and includes all levels of functionaries from the peon to the Secretary. A glaring defect in the bureaucratic set-up is of too many persons occupying unwanted seats of authority. Too many personnel are employed in the offices of President, Prime Minister, Governors, Chief Ministers, ministers and elsewhere. The secretariats in New Delhi, the states and Union Territories are bursting at joints with an unceasing chain of Principal Secretaries, Secretaries, Special Secretaries, Additional Secretaries, Joint Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries and Under Secretaries. Similarly, the office precincts of directorates and field functionaries are overflowing with Directors-General, Additional Directors-General, Inspectors-General, Additional Inspectors-General, Deputy Inspectors-General, Directors, Joint Directors, Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors, Superintendents, Deputy Superintendents, Assistant Superintendents, Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors, and Assistant Sub-Inspectors. Ministerial services have a long hierarchy of clerks, upper division clerks, senior clerks, assistants, senior assistants, deputy superintendents and superintendents to carry out identical jobs. Even the lowliest class of four employees have their pecking order of orderlies, peons, jamadars, dafatries, restorers, etc, to do manual jobs which any of these employees can easily do. Too many rungs of administration invariably act as impediments in the smooth functioning of various departments. In such a situation there can never be proper planning, effective control, sound leadership, efficient implementation and public welfare administration. Unwanted levels of the bureaucracy should be done away with. A case should not be tossed between more than three levels of functionaries. The number of officials at all echelons of the administration can be safely reduced, and such a step would definitely lead to efficiency. In the Central Secretariat there should not be more than one hundred Joint Secretaries who should be from different disciplines of the bureaucracy and not overwhelmingly from the Indian Administrative Service. Officers of the Joint Secretary-level and above should form a separate cadre of managers, and those selected for these posts should cease to be officials of their earlier services. There should be 10 Additional Secretaries: five from those who are to become Secretaries and the remaining five to be given opportunity to hold these posts as consolation arrangements because of compassionate grounds or other weighty considerations. The number of Secretaries to the Government of India should be 30 only. Officers of the Joint Secretary-level and above should be selected from a wide spectrum of services by a committee comprising the Personnel Secretary, the Cabinet Secretary, the Minister in charge of the Personnel department, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Prime Minister. Joint Secretaries and Secretaries should hold office for three to four years, but no extension of service after the completion of their terms of office should be permitted. Professionals, technocrats and academics should be given adequate chances to man various public offices. Too much centralisation of administrative authority is the bane of the bureaucracy. Ministers look to the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister concerned for taking decisions. The latter are not inclined to delegate and share optimum powers with their colleagues. Panchayats, panchayat samitis, zila parishads, and municipal committees have little authority. Even in ordinary matters of postings of employees, provision of funds, implementation of development schemes, etc, they are dependent upon ministers. Resultantly, officials working at these levels are rendered as mere salary-drawing agents with no chances to contribute towards good administration. Before we attained Independence, district boards and municipal committees had much more control in their spheres of jurisdiction and the bureaucratic set-up at these levels responded more meaningfully to local needs. Corruption, nepotism and red tape have considerably damaged the image of the bureaucracy. These evils can be reduced if qualities of leadership, and accountability are fostered enthusiastically. (The author is a
retired IAS officer.) |
Forgotten civil rights leader HAS America forgotten one of its cherished heroes, Dr Martin Luther King (Jr), civil rights leader and Nobel Prize (Peace) winner? The other Sunday, on the 31st anniversary of his death from an assassin’s bullet, only 15 people turned up to observe the event at Memphis. This was in sharp contrast to the emotion-laden rally in 1998 which attracted more than 4,000 mourners. The small group sang hymns and members spoke of the greatness of the civil rights leader. What was unexpected and disappointing was the small number of mourners. Over the years, Dr King had lost little of the charisma which made him as famous as a modern Gandhi. Even as Time magazine was busy with the process of selecting its “Man of the Century” (an honour for which Dr King was eligible), the memory of one of the most cherished heroes of modern American history appears to have faded. Comparing two of the largest democracies of the world, the USA remembers its heroes longer than India. Here the birth and death anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi had been reduced to token functions. The media reported these in two small paragraphs on the inside pages of the newspapers. Our heroes are now more associated with gimmicks and political opportunism. This was made clear when the Vajpayee government decided to name Mumbai international airport at Sahar after Shivaji Maharaj. No one questions the greatness of Shivaji, but what was his connection with civil aviation? It was the decision of a tottering government to appease one of its allies. The USA had treated its heroes more seriously. More than a dozen detailed biographies on Dr King were published. His role in “liberating” the Negroes from traditional bondage and discrimination was never questioned. Added to this was the mystery of his killing. Dr King’s assassin, James Earl Ray, who was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, died some months back. He had been frequently hinting that he had not been alone in pulling the trigger. A massive, national conspiracy was hatched to kill the civil rights leader, and he was part of the machinery. The media had probed this aspect of Dr King’s life but, so far, was not able to come out with any startling disclosures on the identities of those who were part of the conspiracy. This controversy had in no way diminished Dr King’s stature, both in the USA and abroad. The late President John F. Kennedy once said of Dr King, “I have a dream that on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of the former slaves and the sons of the former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of Brotherhood. I have a dream that even the State of Mississippi, sweltering in the heat of injustice, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom. I have a dream that one day every valley will be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be laid low, and the crooked places made straight, the rough places made plain and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together”. Kennedy was given to lyrical prose and worked overtime with his speechwriters to produce purple prose. But during his lifetime, despite best efforts, he could not end the discrimination against the Negroes. As a youthful, first-term President, he had to move cautiously on this front. His record in civil rights legislation was meagre and it was left to his successor, Lyndon Baines Johnson, from the state of Texas to give more teeth to pro-Negro legislation. While accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr King wondered why it was offered to him at a time when the police in the deep American south was combating civil rights workers with baton charges, water hoses and snarling dogs. Violence was very much in the air. Observed Dr King, “After contemplation, I conclude that this award, which I receive on behalf of that movement, is a profound recognition that non-violence is the answer to the crucial moral and political questions of our time and the need for a man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression.” Golden words. Words of wisdom. Even as America plunged into more and more violence, within the country and outside (the Vietnam war for instance), one began to wonder how relevant Dr King’s views were to the nation. Lyndon Johnson, no doubt, set the ball rolling, for peace on the racial front. But it was the same Johnson who unleashed terror bombing in Vietnam, killing thousands and devastating large tracts of that unfortunate, small nation. It was clear that the Americans, who were increasingly concerned about growing violence at home, did not bother much about the bombings and killings inflicted on the people of a small Asian nation. Violence, I guess, was
part of the American tradition. The Red Indians were
butchered into submission. By and large, the Americans
did not believe that the meek inherited the earth. That
explained the passion for the Wild West novels, cowboy
comics and the famous Western movies where the strong,
silent, gunslinging hero, decided with his gun, who was
the lord and the master. The strong man had to win, even
if his case was not totally justified. The Americans lost
millions of men in the world wars, but enthusiastically
spent billions of dollars in producing frighteningly
realistic war movies (“Saving Private Ryan”)
and making them click at the box office. The TV channels
did not lag behind in portraying violence and the worst
type of sadism. |
Spring
and styles IT is not just new leaves and flowers that come forth in spring. New vogues and styles also unfold or unfurl then. Fashion changes are there in other seasons too. But you see more — a lot more — of them in spring. Their bounce, breeziness and novelty add to the fervour or flavour of the season. In January, as in December, everybody hugs woollens. They may be slinky and snuggy. But the long weeks also give the wearers a feeling of staleness. They want to feel fresh and more at ease. As soon as they sense spring in the air, guys and girls peel off the heavy clothing. They go for lighter wear in which they feel at one with what is happening in nature. About that time many stores hold “grand” sales. This is to clear the winter leftovers and make room for the spring stocks. Shop-windows are redone. Some designers and fashion houses display their new collections on the catwalk. This gives the smart set an idea whether it will be low necklines or high hemlines in the days to come. Also what more of folk and ethnic styles have been adopted or adapted. And what more exotic bits or wholes have come in. Early spring is also the time for flower shows. There along with new bloom you see new fashion trends. Yes, new flower and new vogues are there together. At the same time, new styles can be seen at parties, concerts and art shows. Women’s and youth magazines and the fashion pages of weekend papers highlight what new things are in. As the cold days end, home, and also office, decor changes. You see newlook curtains, floor coverings and bedspreads. Also many other new arrivals. In the new look often the accent is no new colours and motifs. Not lagging behind are the makers of fans and room coolers. They advertise their new models. “More efficient” fridges and airconditioners are in the news too. Even new shades of paint are announced. In the midst of all this there is more of spring wear. And more fashion ads, posters and pamphlets that give glimpses of the season’s “surprises” and “sensations”. Some of the spring ads read like spring odes. Cotton, silk and terycot are old or traditional spring favourites. To these have been added humbler khadi and tougher denim. In fact, these two have become all-season fashion fabrics. Some designers have experimented with khadi. They have given it the haute coutre or hi-fashion grade. Denim is not just for jeans and jackets. Denim tops, shirts and kurtas are also there. Hairdressers talk of new cuts and styles. Beauty parlours promise new skin care treatments. Slimming centres claim success with new quicker methods. There are new shades of lipstick, new shapes and tints of sunglasses, new jewellery designs, new fancy bags and belts, new light and smart footwear and new chic sunshades. Such things are not made overnight. They are designed while the days are cold. Samples are sent and orders booked. They are exhibited when spring is round the corner The same goes for the new “swirling” saris and stylish dress material. New spring tints and prints are thought of in the chill of winter. This is not only in New Delhi and Mumbai but also in fashion capitals round the world. Here again flowers and fashion have something in common. Spring flowers are sown in winter. Some of the buds too form in winter. They open when they feel the magic touch of spring. Our spring, some say, is
short. It may be so. But the spring styles are not
short-loved. What come into vogue in February or March,
goes on right up to the end of summer. That is,
September. |
US foreign policy: myth &
reality “WHAT a century it has been! ... America became the world’s mightiest industrial power, saved the world from tyranny in two world wars and a long cold war, and time and again reached across the globe to millions who long for the blessings of liberty.” This is Bill Clinton at his inauguration. Samuel Huntington saw an entirely different picture. He says: “The West, in effect, is using international institutions, military power and economic resources to run the world in ways that will maintain western dominance, protect western interests and promote western political and economic values.” Says Bob Herbert, another observer of the US scene: “For the moment, at least, we seem exhausted, rudderless, disoriented. Our great dreams have given way to a corrosive apprehension.” Surely, there can be no “apprehension” if what Clinton says is true. America promotes democracy — that is the claim. The reality is: it has spawned tyrannies by the dozen to suit its needs. It is opposed to ethnic cleansing — this is its claim. The truth is: Half a million perished in Rwanda alone in 1994 through ethnic cleaning. Washington remained indifferent. But in Bosnia, it chose to intervene. Why? Because it had a special interest in the region. In Afghanistan, Washington objected to the fundamentalist policies of the Taliban. But in J&K, it raised no objection to the actions of the ISI and Taliban mercenaries. Washington has been critical of India’s nuclear bomb and the missile projects, especially the Agni missile. Yet it has little to say about China’s ICBM with a 10,000-km range, which can devastate any part of America! What matters to Clinton for the present are the billions made from the sale of weapons and weapon technologies to China. One cannot always attribute US mistakes to ignorance. For example, Clinton compares Kashmir to Bosnia and Secretary of State Albright calls the LTTE “Hindu separatists”. These are deliberate distortions. The UN is largely an American creation. It was supposed to sustain and promote the freedom and well-being of the world. But the more the UN addressed these issues, the USA lost interest in it. There is talk of the expansion of the UN Security Council. But the USA will not agree to any objective criteria: it choose to be arbitrary. As a result, there will be three types of members in the Security Council: five permanent members with veto power, five without veto power and 14 who are neither permanent nor have veto. This is equality of nations American style! Is it surprising then when the USA insists on confining the bomb to the present members of the nuclear club? The USA is the first country to produce and use the atom bomb. It went on to the hydrogen bomb, to star wars, to anti-missile systems and so on. There is nothing that it will not do to secure its safety. But it has the least consideration for the security concerns of countries like India, which has two nuclear powers as neighbours. Human rights are presented as if the USA is interested in a humane world order. Yet it is a device for meddling in the internal affairs of nations, just as Communism was at one time. Clinton had said: “Today our policies must also focus over relations within nations, on a nation’s form of government, on its economic structure, on its ethnic tolerance. These are of concern to us, for they shape how these nations treat their own people as well as others, and whether they are reliable when they give their word.” These are the words of a leader of a country hellbent on interfering in other people’s affair, not of a humanistic country. The result: Interference in Libya, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia. The world must stop it before it is too late. America wants to project an image that it has the interests of the minorities at heart. Yet what has been the fate of minorities in America itself? In his book “The Coming White Minority” Dale Mahridge says that the major debate in USA today is about the threat posed by the non-white population, of their growing numbers, of the need to keep the blacks in check.” (The black Muslims are the fastest growing at present, posing the threat of secession.) After four decades of federal efforts at integrating the US population, “there are few spaces that blacks and whites occupy as equals... most jobs are racially segregated. In Washington 96 per cent of the black children attend segregated schools, while in New York the figure is 75 per cent..., says Mahridge. There are 25 million Kurds, a minority fighting for a state of their own. They are spread over Turkey, Iran and Iraq. In Turkey alone, about 40,000 Kurds have lost their lives in military operation by Turkey. How is it that looks the other way? It is because Turkey is a strategic partner. But in Yugoslavia, Washington is in a hurry to find solutions. Why? Because America is committed to break up the old Russian “empire” as soon as possible. The weakest links of this empire are the ethnic communities. First, it was the Chechnyans who revolted against Moscow. Now it is the Kosavars. Is the US Government right in interfering in the internal affairs of other nations? James Steinberg, a State Department policy planning staffer, has said: “It is ironic that some self-determination movements have very undemocratic aims such as the creation of a homogenous mono-ethnic state.” But more important is the view expressed by the UN General Assembly at its 50th anniversary. Reflecting the fears of many members, the UN Declaration states that the principle of self-determination does not authorise or encourage any action that would dismember or impair the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and independent states. More so of states which are committed to equal rights of all citizens. How come, then, that the USA is engaged in breaking up Yugoslavia? This is flagrant defiance of the UN. If nations are to be established on the basis of ethnic nationalism (which is what the USA seems to encourage), there would be 8,000 nation-states. About 95 per cent of them will be non-viable and will come to depend on the charity of the world on the rich in particular, and in the end they will be a nuisance to the world. This after shedding rivers of blood! It is time to withdraw moral approval from most of the ethnic movements and see them for what they are — misguided and disruptive activities of upstarts and ambitious man. The case against ethnic nationalism is this: If an ethnic community cannot adjust itself within a larger community, then it will find adjustment within the world communities difficult. The principle of self-determination is not yet a legal measure. Neither self-determination nor sovereignty is an absolute right. Although new states have come into existence of late, the international community has not recognised the principle of the right to secession, whether voluntary or through violence. The reasons are obvious. Outside intervention is
justified only on the ground of humanitarian
considerations (this is what the USA has pleaded in the
case of Kosovo) and not for settling competing claims
over identity or territory. But in Yugoslavia, what the
USA has been pursuing is precisely to settle competing
claims. |
Firing at Cawnpore cotton mills SERIOUS trouble arose among the workers of the Cawnpore cotton mills over the question of wages and bonus which led to stone-throwing on the part of the crowd. At first the mounted police tried to disperse the crowd, but at about 8.30 p.m. opened fire under directions of the City Magistrate. Three or four dead bodies were brought to the hospital as also some 34 injured. The Congress leaders were also present when firing was resorted to. It is stated that a
public meeting will be held this afternoon when the
events leading to the trouble will be narrated. |
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