P A G E
Monday, April 26, 1999
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E D I T O R I A L P A G E |
Monday, April 26, 1999 |
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Economy
in double squeeze
ABERRATIONS
IN POLITY |
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SC
versus HC: score is one-all
Gujral
keeping low profile
A
flop show
Mahatma
Gandhi interviewed |
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Economy in double squeeze THE ongoing political crisis in Delhi and its inevitable negative repercussions in the states are doing the economy no good. One, it has set at naught the feeble signs of recovery clearly visible since the beginning of the year. The index of industrial production (IIP) for the first three months has moved up smartly to slightly over 4 per cent from half of that during much of last year. Before this growth impulse could get entrenched in the system the Vajpayee government has fallen and political uncertainty has taken over. It has dealt a setback to the confidence the industry was regaining. Two, the persisting problem in government formation has also negated the feel good factor which the budget has introduced across the country. That positive frame of mind is giving place to caution if not to a creeping sense of diffidence. The stock market reflects this in an unmistakable way. After the dramatic increase in the sensex throughout the week following the presentation of the budget, it has plunged and now hovers around the 3400-point mark. But for the fluid political situation, the sensex would have climbed close to 4000 points. That would have been in keeping with the overall trend in other countries of Asia which are coming out of the ill-effects of the 1997 economic crash. An increased flow of foreign funds and a gentle push to further economic growth would have been the happy results. Unfortunately, all this has been stalled for the present. Given the administrative
structure in the country, a major political crisis
paralyses government functioning. Despite the incessant
talk of deregulation, economic activity is still tightly
controlled and right now nothing moves in Delhi. The
Finance and Commerce Ministries are sensitive nodal
points and the top bureaucrats are loathe to initiate any
moves in the absence of clear political direction. If
there is a change of government, the new incumbents like
to tinker with earlier policies, mostly to massage their
egos. All this calls for concerted efforts to delink the
implementation part of the economic programme from the
formulation part, so that the economic administration can
go on smoothly even during a period of political
uncertainty. This question assumes great urgency in view
of the instability built into the present composition of
the Lok Sabha. Also, the separation of the two aspects
needs only the rewriting of the rule books and no
elaborate administrative restructuring is needed. In
fact, individual ministers can strike out boldly and
delegate more power to the secretaries within certain
well-formed limits. It is the right time for this kind of
innovation to insulate the economy from being buffeted
every year and at the most crucial part — the second
quarter — of the year. |
Neglected cricket heroes IT is strange that unlike football fans, who turn up in droves for even a club-level match, the interest of cricket buffs evidently does not go beyond watching international one-day games (in the case of Indians only if their country is playing). It is, therefore, hardly surprising that the Ranji Trophy final between defending champions Karnataka and first-time finalist Madhya Pradesh did not attract the kind of attention it deserved. It had all the elements of a good contest between bat and ball. The handful of spectators who saw the two teams in action should count themselves lucky for having seen some top class performances without being pushed around by over-zealous policemen whose help is essential for the peaceful conduct of one-day internationals. For the best part of the five-day contest the rookies from Madhya Pradesh had the upper hand. They bowled magnificently to restrict the home side to a first innings score of 300 plus runs. When it was their turn to bat the Madhya Pradesh batsmen helped their team secure a 75-run lead through some good cricket and audacious hitting. When unseasonal rain washed out most of the fourth day’s play with Karnataka ahead of the visitors by a none-too-comfortable margin of 246 runs it appeared that Madhya Pradesh may perform the rare feat of lifting the coveted trophy in its maiden appearance in the final. On the fifth day Karnataka took the huge risk of declaring at the overnight score to put before the visitors a target of 246 runs for outright victory. Madhya Pradesh could
have lifted the trophy by playing out time on the
strength of its first innings lead. But some deft bowling
changes saw the visitors pack up for 150 runs with the
last wicket literally falling in the nick of time to give
Karnataka a well-deserved victory. For those who believe
in pedigree the fighting knock of 47 by Abbas Ali must
have revived memories of his famous grandfather Mushtaq
Ali who had the rare ability of turning defeat into
victory. During a Pentangular final between Hindus and
Muslims Mushtaq Ali was persuaded by the captain of the
rival team, the legendary C.K. Nayudu, to go out and bat
even after sustaining an injury. He smashed a quick-fire
40 and Muslims won the match! Of course, Abbas Ali has
yet to prove his talent through consistent performance in
domestic cricket. But what is heartening is the amazing
transformation in the level of performance of teams from
“non-glamour” zone. Amay Khurasiya of Madhya
Pradesh is in the World Cup Squad and Gyanendra Pandey,
the Uttar Pradesh captain, was in the short-list of 19
probables. Who could have imagined that Debasish Mohanty
of Orissa would represent the country in the World Cup?
The reason for the shifting of the spotlight from Mumbai
and Karnataka to other regions has something to do with
the global marketing of the game. Should not the Board of
Control for Cricket in India evolve a similar strategy
for the promotion of domestic cricket? It is a pity that
the Ranji Trophy final did not attract the kind of crowd
it deserved. Even the national selectors did not bother
to watch the final of the most prestigious domestic
cricket championship. Without encouraging them to lift
their performance at the grassroots level the
administrators and the spectators expect them to show the
killer instinct when they play for the country! |
ABERRATIONS IN POLITY THE leader of a major opposition party in Haryana with four members in the Lok Sabha announced on April 14 that his party would extend conditional support to the Vajpayee government in the event of trial of strength on the floor of the House. On April 15 he modified his stand and made a categorical statement that in case the Vajpayee government sought a vote of confidence, his party would vote against it, and if the Opposition moved a motion of no-confidence, his party would support it. On April 16, there was a 180 degree shift in his political stand. He extended unconditional support to the Vajpayee government. On all three occasions he laid stress on the larger interest of the country as the rationale behind his stand. A series of political somersault in quick succession by an important political leader of Haryana might amuse some and surprise others. The present political scene is depressingly dull. It is marked by low-level intrigues motivated by the personal agenda of one leader or the other. The comic relief provided by the Laloos, Mayawatis and Chautalas of Indian politics is undeniable and doubly welcome in such a situation. But there is no element of surprise in the conduct of the Haryana leader in the recent political crisis in the country. It is in consonance with the tradition set by Haryana’s political elite. He has maintained this tradition which is deeply rooted into the socio-political ethos that has taken shape in the historical process in the state. The game of defections acquired an important place in Haryana’s polity soon after the state came into existence after the bifurcation of Punjab. When floor-crossing assumed alarming proportions in 1967, the then Chief Minister was willing to woo a prospective defector legislator to save his ministry. But before he got into the act, a radio broadcast announced that the ministry had been dismissed by the Governor. The legislator concerned was crestfallen and went back home, cursing the Governor all the way. A confidential report to the President of India from the then Governor said: “In an assembly with an effective strength of 79, some thirty members have defected one way or the other; some members have defected not once but three or four times. Two members have defected four times, two others thrice and six members twice. To some members, changing parties is of apparently as little consequence as changing a coat... . These defections have made a mockery of the Constitution and have brought democracy to ridicule. Members of the legislature are being reduced from one party to the other by devious means that the entire political life of the state has been polluted.” And thus the phrase “Aya Rams and Gaya Rams” was added to the political lexicon of the country. The onward march of Aya Rams and Gaya Rams has become brisker in Haryana with the passage of time. In 1979, a member of the Haryana government turned against the then Chief Minister. He lured away a big chunk of legislators, took them on “Bharat Darshan” and toppled the government. In 1980, an incredible feat was performed in the annals of India’s political history when the then Janata Party Chief Minister of Haryana converted his entire Cabinet and other legislators of the party — numbering 40 in all — into Indira Gandhi loyalists overnight after her return to power after the 1980 parliamentary poll. After the 1982 Haryana assembly elections, a Congress leader was installed in power though his party was in minority in the assembly. The then Governor gave him a month’s time to prove his majority on the floor of the House. He had the support of only 36 legislators to begin with. In a month’s time he succeeded in reversing the sequence of the numerals and acquired the support of 63 legislators. The Haryana model of political survival has proved too tempting to be resisted by many a political leader in troubled waters in the country. By emulating it, the minority government of Mr Narasimha Rao at the Centre managed to complete its term. By making a skilful use of it, Mr Kalyan Singh of UP formed a BJP government, though in the normal circumstances this was unthinkable. Examples can be multiplied. It was believed by the political pundits that “chelas” in different parts of the country had excelled their Haryanavi “gurus” in the art of political defections. But events have proved them wrong. The recent development at the Centre has conclusively established that Haryana is still ahead of all others in this game, and is not willing to pass on the trophy to any other competitor. The trickery, deviousness and opportunism among the political elite of Haryana cannot be termed as an aberration. The typical political behaviour of Haryana politicians is a logical by product of the historical process the state has gone through. There is always tall talk about the rapid advance made by Haryana in the field of material growth — the Green Revolution, the network of roads, power supply to the remotest village in the state, tourist spots and so on. However, these things are necessary but not a sufficient condition for a civilised existence. Rather they tend to desensitise human sensibility and debase social life unless they are accompanied by a sufficiently high quality of life, so essential for healthy value system. The quality of life is quite debased in Haryana society. The instruments which enrich human life — good newspapers, film industry, theatre movement, arts, literacy and cultural organisations, human rights bodies and such other institutions — are singularly absent in Haryana. It is the enlightened elites who foster such institutions that in turn produce individuals imbued with a larger mission in life. This kind of interface has yet to take place in Haryana. And cultural atrophy, moral deformity and social backwardness follow as a logical consequence. A statehood of its own, growth of metropolitan centres, reform movements, the emergence of a forward-looking middle class elite are some of the factors necessary for the development of culture, language, literature, healthy socio-political consciousness and an identity of its own in the state. These factors have been largely lacking in the case of Haryana. This explains the absence of instruments necessary for the enrichment of social life. All this has led to the growth of a culture marked by triviality, vulgarity, opportunism and careerism. This kind of social milieu leads to commodification of politics. Some social scientists have analysed the behaviour of the Indian political elite in the framework of Morris Jones’ three idioms — the modern idiom, the traditional idiom and the saintly idiom. Political figures of Haryana do not fit into the stereotype of one idiom or the other. The Haryana politicians use all kinds of idioms to suit the exigencies of a situation but they always remain the same — the self-serving paranoids. The recent behaviour of the two most important leaders of Haryana explains this. One of them heads the coalition government in the state while the other heads the major opposition party. Both are bitter enemies in state politics. But both of them extended support to the BJP-led government at the Centre. Some other state leaders who extended support to the Vajpayee government secured a package for their respective states. But there was no package in the case of Haryana. The package for one was that he should be allowed to continue in power while the fond hope based on the vague promise of being installed into power in the state in not too distant a future served as a package for the other. When the fond hope dissipated into thin air, the latter withdrew the support on the flimsy ground of the urea price increase, etc. The behaviour of Haryana’s political elite is in tune with the social milieu in the state. The social milieu in the state has entered into a phase of a new crisis. It is not possible to maintain the tempo of material advancement for long if society gets morally and spiritually debased and atrophied. This is what has happened in Haryana. Development is at a standstill in the state today. The Green Revolution has reached its plateau, with hardly any scope of further growth. Landholdings are getting smaller with the passage of time. Land is not in a position to absorb the growing number of unemployed youth. The ruling elite, always preoccupied with its petty concerns, has neither time nor vision to think of diversification of agriculture and promotion of dairy farming, horticulture, floriculture, agro-industries, etc, as a possible way out of the present impasse. No viable strategy is being fashioned to promote industrial growth to generate income for the cash-starved government and jobs for the unemployed. In Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, there are five public sector units which employ as many as about a lakh of workers. But there is not even a single industrial unit in the state of Haryana which employs even five thousand workers. There is hardly any surplus left with the government to carry out the developmental work in Haryana. The administrative structure in the state has become so top-heavy that it consumes most of its resources. In the Haryana budget for 1999-2000 presented in the state assembly on January 2, 1999, the total revenue receipts are estimated to be Rs 6901.52 crore while the total projected revenue expenditure is Rs 7519.82 crore, leaving an uncovered revenue deficit of Rs 618.3 crore. Thus, the state will have to depend upon borrowings even to meet its working expenses. It is futile to talk of development in such a situation. Haryana is on the brink of financial bankruptcy. The state’s treasuries were asked on March 17 this year to keep in abeyance all the pending bills. The Central government had to come to the rescue of the state government by releasing about Rs 200 crore. The developmental momentum has not only been arrested in Haryana but there are also unmistakable signs of regression in almost every field. With this, Haryana enters a qualitatively new phase of crisis. The moral fibre, already so weak and fragile, is likely to be snapped under the weight of the growing economic crisis. Haryana society does not have enough of moral and spiritual reserves to face the situation. This has unleashed the ugly phenomenon of brutalisation of culture. Corruption is rampant in every walk of life in the state. Everything — jobs, postings, transfer, etc. — carries a price tag. The crime mafia is fast strengthening its stranglehold on the state. The phase of prohibition provided ample opportunities to antisocial elements to acquire a lot of surplus cash, fast moving vehicles, illicit weapons and cell phones. The nexus between criminal gangs of Haryana and their counterparts in Western UP is emerging under the patronage of corrupt elements in the police and politics. This is posing a serious threat to civilised life both in Delhi and Haryana. Hoardings put up by the Haryana government at strategic points on national and state highways proudly proclaim in bold letters: “Haryana on the March”. Haryana’s march is unmistakable but its direction points towards Bihar. A dual process of a new
developmental strategy and cultural renaissance alone can
save the state from the impending disaster. The question
of culture has acquired paramount importance. Culture is
the most important site of contestation in the present
context Haryana society needs a relentless battle of
ideas to further the process of cultural renaissance.
This is a long haul but there are no short-cuts in
history. Unless this task is undertaken in all
seriousness by enlightened individuals and groups,
Haryana society is likely to degenerate into a land
where, to quote W.B. Yeats, “the best lack all
conviction, while the worst are full of passionate
intensity.” |
Army & insurgency problem THE way certain politicians are now trying to extend their evil influence to our armed forces should make every Indian sit up. For the better part of independent India’s first 50 years politicians, luckily for everyone, had kept strictly off the armed forces except when they were needed to help civilian authorities in combating national disasters or when it became absolutely essential to induct them to help authority in restoring peace in case of persistent disturbances. Lately, we have seen the armed forces being drawn into most unseemly and unnecessary controversies. The George Fernandes-Vishnu Bhagwat controversy is still raging even after the Defence Minister has said his byes to the ministry. The civilian authority in whose name Admiral Bhagwat was dismissed should have known that the Admiral’s dismissal or removal could have been achieved with very little fuss. Unfortunately, both Mr Fernandes and Mr Bhagwat chose a path that can only leave a trail of absolute bad taste. Both are equally responsible for having dragged the Navy into a most unsavoury controversy. Nemesis may have caught up with Mr Fernandes with the collapse of the Vajpayee government, but Admiral Bhagwat, for some reason, is still going strong. For a man who served the Navy for nearly four decades one would have expected him to shut up after all the fuss he has already created. Even in the era of mindless politicians, Admiral Bhagwat would be making a stupid mistake if he believes that Ms Jayalalitha or her ilk are going to get him his job back. With Admiral Bhagwat refusing to let the dust settle on his dismissal, we now have the farmer-turned-politician-turned ex-Prime Minister suddenly telling us that he, after all, is a great expert on tank warfare. Mr Deve Gowda obviously did not want to be left behind by Mr Fernandes. So what does he do? He discovers that the T-72 Russian tank, the purchase of which he had negotiated, is better than the T-90 which then Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav okayed. Tank expert Gowda obviously intended to embarrass Mr Fernandes and Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, only to discover that it was Mr Mulayam Singh who had okayed the upgraded T-90. Decency would have required him to shut up. But no, that would have been so unfarmer-like. Mr Deve Gowda uses his privilege as an MP to mount a personal assault on the Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Lieut-Gen S.S. Mehta, whose motives and professionalism he questions for giving the nod to T-90 tanks. Mr Gowda, in the safety of the Lok Sabha chamber, claimed that T-72s were superior to T-90s, ignoring the Defence Ministry’s argument that the shortlisting and technical evaluation had been done during Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s time, and that T-90 was undoubtedly the right choice to make. Making personalised and insulting allegations against one another comes naturally to politicians in or out of power. But they cannot and should not be permitted to further their personal agendas by trying to sully the image and the reputation of serving officers. Deve Gowdas will come and go, sooner the better, but they cannot be allowed to make allegations against officers who also happen to be commanders of a disciplined force. Imagine a commander on whose integrity an assault has been made, leading a force of thousands. Unlike in our polities, commanders are in charge of the lives of the thousands working under them and their relationship is one based on mutual trust and respect. It does not permit of recklessness of the kind displayed by Mr Deve Gowda. Of course, he knew that his allegations, as long as these were made in the House, were protected, thanks to his parliamentary privilege, but how does he expect Lieut Gen S.S. Mehta to live with the humiliation he heaped on him? “Jai Jawan, Jai Kissan,” the slogan authored by one of Mr Deve Gowda’s predecessors, Lal Bahadur Shastri, becomes meaningless when viewed in the context of the repeated attempts by some politicians to berate the armed forces. Politicians do routinely commit themselves to maintaining the honour of the soldier, but when you see a man who has held the Prime Ministerial office, making silly allegations against an officer of proven professional ability, one who is held in high esteem by his peers, you begin to wonder. In Mr Deve Gowda’s case Parliament could redeem itself and its commitment to honour the armed forces by expunging all his allegations from the record. That’s the least the Speaker of the Lok Sabha can do. In his speech to the Army Commanders, Gen V.P. Malik cautioned against excessive and prolonged use of the Army in internal security duties, saying that it was neither good for the Army nor for the nation. This is a point which even some of General Malik’s predecessors have made, but unfortunately our political masters have never found the time to ponder the issue. Deployment of Army personnel in counter-insurgency operations, even in places like Jammu and Kashmir, cannot, in fairness to the Army, be justified, given the ground rules of the operations. Armies don’t fight with one arm tied at the back. They don’t seek quarter nor do they yield it in a military operation. Soldiers are not free to shoot to kill even when challenged by insurgents. You also have the concerns of human rights activists who lose no opportunity to accuse the Army of committing excesses. The situation may be war-like but it is not war. Long years of fighting
insurgents is bound to tell on the combat readiness of
the Army. This apart, such deployment creates orientation
problems for personnel conducting ground operations; they
also cause a strain on budgetary resources which can only
impede the Army’s modernisation plans. — ADNI |
A
flop show THE new Finance Minister had assumed office just a week ago and was to present his first budget before the State Assembly. He wanted it to be as different as chalk from cheese. The “Poor Man’s Budget” was his new creativity and innovation. Being unschooled in financial management and its intricacies, it failed to meet the challenges which the government was faced with and broke all the professional norms. I had explained to him at my very first meeting with him as staff officer, that my role was to provide the background music and not to distract the attention of the audience from being focused on the “prima donna”. I was expected to remain like the orchestra — somewhere in the wings or the gap between the footlights and the audience. He was as such, to invariably consult and follow the advice of the bureaucracy with expertise in administrative functioning, in rules and regulations, in methods of swift and effective executions of programmes and projects. As expected, the draft of the budget proposals ran into rough weather and the experts objected to it which, according to them needed drastic changes and modifications. Since the Minister was expected to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the people, he was more aware of and sensitive to public opinion, feelings, reactions and was impatient to get going. He did not relish the opposition and was adamant. Here was all the potential for a clash between the two giant systems — the permanent bureaucracy and the short-term politicians. I was thus required to smooth out the rough edges and soften the clash and bring about a fruitful ending. It was in this background that I explained the top executives that their outright defiance could result in the formation of a kitchen cabinet which must be avoided. They were persuaded to accept a few reasonable proposals while the rest of the budget could then be left to them. A closed-door meeting was arranged. The suggestion of the Minister to slash down the rates of sales tax on such items like bicycle, a poor man’s conveyance, and bangles made out of a protective covering of lac and glass were immediately accepted. His face lit up! However, the proposal to cut down the tax on matchbox, used in every household and even by the poorest, which was to be a symbolic gesture just like the “Salt Satyagraha” of Mahatma Gandhi, led to discussion. The matchbox was at that time priced very low and the benefit instead of flowing to the consumers would have gone to the pockets of the sellers and deprived the government of sizeable revenue. Also the tax was within the purview of the Central Government. This was mutually sorted out and dropped. This was an appropriate forum for me to plead the cause of sports goods. I tried to get the tax lowered in the interest of budding players knocking at the national level and also of the children of the lower strata of society. I could see that my arguments and pleadings had touched everyone when suddenly the senior-most expert, who was aware of my interest in badminton, quietly mentioned; “We can exempt tax on your badminton rackets and shuttlecocks but why do you want the state to lose huge revenue”? Every one burst into laughter and the tension eased. I lost the case but was able to bridge the gap between two giant institutions and avert the clash. It was a flop show for
me. I realised that I should never try to come to stage
like Kishore Kumar or Lata Mangeshkar but be satisfied in
the company of Kalyanji Anandji and Laxmikant Pyarelal. |
SC versus HC: score is one-all
THE Punjab and Haryana High Court has got a sharp rap on the knuckles. Overruling a Full Bench judgement of the High Court barely eight months after it was pronounced, the Supreme Court has taken strong exception to the court legislating in areas left open by the legislature. “The courts admittedly interpret law and do not make laws,” says the Supreme Court, striking a big blow for judicial restraint. “Personal views of the Judges presiding (over) the court cannot be stretched to authorise them to interpret law in such a manner which would amount to legislation intentionally left over by the legislature.” Grappling with the law of industrial disputes, the Full Bench in question had laid down a period of five years as the period within which a workman or union could approach the government for reference of a dispute with the management to a labour court or industrial tribunal. Applications for reference moved after five years, with no explanation for the delay, it held, “shall be taken as clearly belated”. No authority had been cited or brought to its notice, the Full Bench admitted, which could throw light on the expression “clearly belated”. Nor is there any guideline, it acknowledged, in the whole of the Industrial Disputes Act as regards the period of limitation to be observed in cases where no limitation is specifically provided for in the Act. And yet, said the Full Bench, such a guideline “shall have to be provided” by the court to the government in the case of Section 10 of the Act, for it is not advisable to leave the matter “only to the guesswork” of the government. The statutory trigger of the machinery of industrial adjudication, Section 10 requires a governmental reference before a labour court or tribunal can take up an industrial dispute for adjudication. “It is not the function of the court to prescribe limitation,” the Supreme Court has now ruled, slamming the High Court for judicial legislation. No reference to the labour court can generally be questioned on the ground of delay alone. Even where delay is shown to be existing, the court can appropriately mould the relief by declining back wages till the time the workman first raised the demand regarding his illegal retrenchment, termination or dismissal. Another judgement of the High Court, reported last week, impinges delicately on the border between judicial creativity and legislation. Jhuggi and jhompri dwellers of Haryana (it holds), clustered in the urban estates of Panchkula, Gurgaon and Faridabad for five years or more, cannot be ejected from public land unless and until alternative sites are provided to them. Handed down by a Division Bench, the judgement is a mix of the egalitarian, the banal and the realistic. Evidence of the first are the quotes from Mahatma Gandhi, among the best in the library of non-Marxian, egalitarian socialism. The “test of orderliness in a country is not the number of millionaires it owns, but the absence of starvation among its masses.” Working for economic equality means the “levelling down of the few rich” and the “levelling up” of the semi-starved, naked millions. The “contrast between the palaces of New Delhi and the miserable hovels” of the labouring class nearby “cannot last one day in a free India....” The banal, the commonplace, is reflected in the focus on the population explosion — “this unchecked rising graph of population has taken a toll of each and every measure undertaken by the governments, honestly or otherwise, to guarantee basic rights to the people” — and the judicial commendation of the concept of a “small family”, rather out of place in the judgement. But the identification of rural poverty and largescale migration from rural to urban areas as the prime cause for the mushroom growth of slums and encroachments on public land is definitely realistic. And the Division Bench’s discourse on the point, touching both intra- and inter-state migration, qualifies as a major jurisprudential contribution to the unravelling and tackling of the problem in north-western India. It is unfortunate, regrets the Bench, that neither the state government nor its agencies like the HUDA and HSIDC have evolved a policy of “permanent settlement” of the large masses of people who have spent 10 to 20 years of their lives in the construction of residential colonies, factories and the running of industries in the state. Initially provided small katcha hutments by construction contractors or allowed to pitch tents on open government land, they have lived and laboured in the state for so long that for their children Haryana is their “second mother”. The policy of planned urbanisation of the state, it adds, can hold valid and can be successfully implemented only if the state and its instrumentalities take adequate measures to provide low-cost housing to these poorer sections (the real makers of Haryana), keeping in view their population. Any suggestion, it warns in passing and in a pre-emptive stroke at parochialism, that people from other states should be restrained from migrating in the quest for livelihood, would “merit our strong disapproval”. That would be plainly unconstitutional in view of Article 19(1) (d) and (e), guaranteeing freedom of movement and the right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India. Whether or not the
judgement will stand the scrutiny of the Supreme Court,
now increasingly averse to judicial law-making, is
difficult to say but it is a judgement that deserves to
be read. |
Gujral keeping low profile
ON this day, at this stage, when political confusions seem to be compounding let me begin by writing an anecdote recounted by Satish Gujral last week, at a dinner hosted by the kuchipudi duo — Raja Radha Reddy. It goes along these lines “In an American countryside a van full of politicians met with an accident and all of them died on the spot. A farmer who happened to pass by dug up a hole and buried the bodies .... After a day the police arrived on the scene to note down the details and when the poor farmer told them that all the politicians were found dead, they immediately took him to task. `What do you mean all of them dead? Only today some other politicians told us that at least four of them are alive, whom they themselves saw....’ To that the farmer shot back `But in your life have you ever heard a politician telling the truth?’ After Satish Gujral and others (including I) stopped laughing I asked him whether his politician brother Inder Kumar Gujral also gets included in the typical politician lot. Immediately turning serious he shook his head, “No, for my brother is from the old school, from that set of politicians belonging to the Nehru era and continues to be in politics because now, at this stage he cannot get out of it....” Yes, surprisingly even at this stage I.K. Gujral is maintaining a low profile and unlike other former prime ministers not really coming up with the so-called expert comments or formulae of heading the new government. Whilst on today’s political state let me fit in that AIADMK chief Jayalalitha has extended her stay here. Like I had mentioned in my previous column she’d come to New Delhi initially for only five days — April 12 to 16. The stay was extended for another four days and now the latest is that she is booked till April 26. And aren’t we a strange lot, we never seem to question the glaring fact by asking how is it possible for a politician to foot the bill of staying in Maurya Sheraton’s deluxe suites for a near fortnight! I mean it would have been different if she’d taken an apartment on hire or stayed at the Tamil Nadu House or any of the state guest houses but not in the most expensive suites of the top luxury hotel in the Capital. As a stark contrast West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, who is also playing a crucial role in government formation, is staying at West Bengal’s Banga Bhavan. Continuing on the political trail (don’t really blame me, for wherever you go people seem disgustingly obsessed with the political situation ) when I spoke to Saifuddin Soz and pointed it out to him that he’d probably given his political career a fine twist by voting against the BJP he said “You may say whatever you want to, but believe me I voted according to my conscience ...I sincerely wanted to vote against the communal forces and got further strengthened in this resolve after talking to V P Singh in London. Yes, I spoke to him just a night before the voting and he told me that I should vote in accordance to my conscience and against the communal parties”. And if this has made him a near hero in the Valley he quipped “I never intended it to be so ...!” And it’s also true that no matter how ill he remains but V P Singh is maintaining a close touch with the political developments in the country. One of his prime aides and a former MP Waseem Ahmad is said to be in town primarily for this, and it is said he had a role to play even in this context between Soz and Singh. The side-effects The side effects of this political chaos are of, of course, many. Amidst a standstill of sorts there is considerable jubilation in the disability sectors for those weird decisions of shifting the office of the Disabilities Chief Commissioner (DCC) from New Delhi to Nagpur would definitely get stalled or reverted. Then, the Khalsa celebrations all set to take off in Nepal earlier next month could be postponed, till a clearer political picture emerges. It is said that King Birendra of Nepal is taking a personal interest in these would be Khalsa celebrations. Then, the State Bhavans situated in New Delhi are bursting with the political - persons occupancy. Another side effect, all to apparent is that there is an obvious decline in the number of social dos. Very few parties and receptions. Interestingly, at the dinner at the Reddy’s home the couple of politicians that came (others were said to be stranded because of those crucial buildups) were surrounded by the guests, to know the finer details. Subbirami Reddy,one of the better known members of Parliament who is absolutely also at ease talking about the Bollywood and Tollywood world together with the political world, spoke more of politics that evening than what the filmstars are up to. Another side effect that is sure to hit is the number of people going out of the country and even those coming here, as tourists. Tell me in this state of flux who would step out or set foot within ? I think the Visit India Year started on a wrong note — killing of the Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons coincided with that very day. Another side-effect, if
you could call it so, is that a group — Forum of
Voters — has come up with this offbeat call: If you
are disgusted or fed up with the political candidate you
needn’t vote rather stick a ‘rejection’
slip on the ballot paper. This ‘rejection slip’
demand is still at the consideration stage but seeing the
response it is getting here it could well be approved and
incorporated. |
Mahatma
Gandhi interviewed MR GANDHI, interviewed by an Associated Press correspondent on the debate on the Class Areas Bill in the South African Parliament with special reference to the Gandhi-Smuts Agreement in Mr Duncan’s speech, condemned the distinction between segregation and separation as hypocritical. He pointed out that according to the contract between himself and General Smuts the Union Government was pledged not only to curtail the vested rights but gradually to remove the restrictions that existed in 1914. The Indian struggle, lasting over 8 years, would not have been undertaken, added Mr Gandhi, so that after a full and honourable settlement it was open to the Union Government to take away the rights already possessed by the Indians. Concluding, Mr Gandhi
declared that whatever might be the idea underlying the
Class Areas Bill, its effect must be to ruin the Indian
settlers. |
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