P A G E
Monday, August 23, 1999
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E D I T O R I A L P A G E |
Monday, August 23, 1999 |
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Kargil
is still booming
A
QUESTION OF CONSCIENCE
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PGI
wins merit case again!
Election
mood catching on
With
a prayer on lips...
Disability of Women |
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Kargil is still booming THE pieces are falling in their place and the emerging picture is not very pretty. As expected Kargil has come to dominate the election campaign and in more ways than one. The latest is an advertisement by the BJP featuring the Prime Minister doing a military-style salute and not the Sangh Parivar’s traditional namaste. Maybe the pose is dictated by the ad words: “The leader you can trust. In war. In peace.” Still an association is easily established with Kargil. On Friday the Prime Minister toured this region and in Karnal addressed a meeting from a platform with a huge mural on the Kargil theme. The party has promptly disapproved of this overenthusiasm but not as vigorously or spiritedly as the democratic lapse demanded. No wonder, the opposition parties are busy telling everyone how outraged they are and petitioning the Election Commission to respect their sentiments. The Karnal painting, in garish colours and in violation of the basic norms of portraiture, is plainly an overkill of the Kargil issue and hopefully should mark the limit from where retracing becomes inevitable. The BJP strategists must be fully aware of it. From now on there is a distinct possibility of the theme producing diminishing returns. Or, the opposition parties may, in desperation, mount a ferocious campaign and the BJP will find it difficult to withstand the heat. The mix-up of the Param Vir Chakra award to Yogendra Singh Yadav threatens to embarrass the Army and hence partly the Defence Ministry (MoD). It appears the award was actually meant for a namesake from Meerut who died in the battle and whose family was informed of it, and not the one recovering from his injuries in the Delhi Army hospital. Some officers are talking and the inference is that the MoD was in a hurry to announce the decorations by Independence Day (to prop up Kargil as an election winning issue) and that pre-empted detailed checking and cross-checking and finally the inexcusable blunder. The nation will hear more on this as the polling day nears. It is not that only the
opposition parties are up in arms at the ruling
party’s efforts to appropriate all the Kargil credit
for itself. Several concerned citizens of Delhi have
protested against the Sangh Parivar using the Army or
getting close to it. Weeks after summoning two senior
Army officers to brief BJP MPs on Kargil, the ruling
party sought military help in the success of the
RSS-organised “Sindhu darshan”, visiting the
Indus river in the Kargil area and later permitted VHP
leaders to distribute religious literature among injured
jawans lying in hospital. Individually and in normal
times, these developments would not merit critical
attention. But they have come in a rush and in the midst
of a hectic election campaign. Caution is also warranted
in view of the BJP’s open criticism of the Election
Commission’s three major curbs. The Commission has
banned the screening of a documentary on Kargil and if it
also objects to these activities, it would be a minus
point on election eve. |
Genetic revolution MAN is in part what his genes make him and, therefore, the genetic discoveries of the past 20 years or so will have global effects — in new knowledge of how an organism develops from a single fertilised egg, how it grows, and how it ages. "We are gaining new insights into some fundamental aspects of cancer; for example, rearrangements in the DNA structure may be common to diverse causes of tumours, including chemical carcinogens and viruses," says Dr Floyd E. Bloom, a former Director of the famous Salk Institute. The work supports a shift in emphasis from the cure to the prevention of cancer. Further, we are now moving to a new level in understanding many inheritable diseases, in mitigating their effects, and in finding new methods of treating some of those once hopeless conditions. Commercially, the new understanding of the gene structure — and the research and technology that made it possible — has led already to new manufacturing techniques for creating otherwise difficult-to-make, often unavailable, and usually expensive molecules. These include insulin for treating human diabetes without the risk of immunological side-effects, hormones for the prevention of growth abnormalities and interferon for the possible treatment of certain cancers. In all, the past two decades in molecular biology have been marked by accomplishment, by the creation and maturation of new techniques, and by a sharper definition of questions to be probed. Until the 1970's, the "direct study of the genes or organisms more complicated than bacteria and viruses" was constrained by lack of experimental methods. With the advent of recombinant DNA and other methods, it became possible to study directly the genes of plants and animals, including those of man. It was then feasible to isolate genes responsible for particular functions, to examine their structure, and to decipher the controls on their operation. Today we have heard some
enthusing news. Heart transplants may soon be replaced by
a newly discovered gene which helps rebuild muscle
tissue. In a world first, a team at Sydney's Victor Chang
Institute has said that it has isolated a growth gene
which can strengthen muscle cells. The radical new
treatment can hopefully be available within three years.
According to the team leader, Prof Robert Graham, the
new-found gene produces a biochemical pathway called
Growth Factor-I. Apart from helping in strengthening
ailing hearts, scientists believe that the new gene will
also bolster the body's own immune system by helping to
overcome the problem of tissue rejection associated with
transplants. Professor Graham has said that injecting
Growth Factor-I directly into a patient's heart muscle
may strengthen the heart enough to avoid intrusive
surgery. Indira Gandhi pointed out in the seventies that
we had a long way to go to secure for the people of the
country all the benefits that could accrue from the
acquisition and application of the knowledge of the
genes! By no means are we at the end of problems. On the
contrary, they have grown in number and complexity here
as in other countries. At the same time, the nature of
the benefits keeps changing. What was a luxury just a few
years ago has become a necessity. "The shadow of the
affluent hovers over us. It is evident that our
scientific capabilities must be meshed more closely with
our major developmental efforts. Every sector of economic
activity must have firmer scientific underpinning".
There is nothing primitive about us — Indians.
Remember Le Corbusier's words? "There is no such
thing as a primitive man; there are only primitive
means". Indian molecular biological research is
paving the way for a genetic revolution. We must keep
track of the research done by scientists like Professor
Bloom and Professor Graham. |
A
QUESTION
OF CONSCIENCE BEFORE one proceeds with the further suggestions made by the Law Commission on electoral reforms, one had better take note of what the National Democratic Alliance manifesto has to say on the subject. Contrary to the earlier BJP propaganda that the party need not take up the issue of foreign birth of Mrs Sonia Gandhi, because at any rate the Pawar Congress was doing so, the NDA manifesto wants a change in the Constitution so that the high offices of the State-legislative, executive and judicial — are held only by naturalised citizens. This is an issue which has not at all been touched on by the Law Commission. There can be two views on the subject and some countries, the USA for instance, have such a restriction, but now that the NDA has made it an electoral issue, one hopes the voters will keep this in mind while exercising their franchise. They will surely have noted that the BJP has now fielded Mrs Sushma Swaraj against Mrs Sonia Gandhi in Bellary (Karnataka) to make the point that a swadeshi beti is preferable to a videshi bahu. The NDA manifesto has repeated what the National Agenda of Governance had said in 1998, that there would be a commission to review the Constitution, that there would be a judicial commission to oversee high appointments and the formulation of a code of judicial conduct. In answer to a question by journalists, the Prime Minister said the proposed Constitution Review Commission could, if it so chose, go into the question of President’s relationship with the Council of Ministers. What is relevant for our purpose is that the NDA manifesto has maintained studied silence over the suggestions made by the Law Commission. For instance, the commission has suggested a mere change in the Rules of Procedure of the Lok Sabha by stipulating that a no-confidence motion must be accompanied by the name of a successor Prime Minister, or that, once a no-confidence motion fails, no such motion can be introduced for the next two years. What the NDA manifesto proposes is that the Constitution Review Commission should examine afresh the possibility of replacing a no-confidence motion with a German-type constructive vote of confidence. Thus the Law Commission’s labours can at best be an input for the proposed commission to examine. The Prime Minister’s idea of getting the powers of the President examined is, at best, wobbly. Over the years, the issue has crystallised into the right of the President to return at Bill but no more than once, for reconsideration by the Council of Ministers. No constitution can foresee the future in all its manifestations and that is why conventions form as much path of the constitution as do the written words. Indeed, if the proposed review commission has to go into anything, it must examine what a caretaker government can or cannot do. In particular, there ought to be express provision for the need for consultation with the President before important economic, political and military decisions are taken by such a government. To return to the Law Commission’s recommendations, it has suggested freezing of the number of the constituencies till the year 2025 and supplemented the strength of the present House by 25 per cent which must be filled by the list system. Since there has already been a consensus among the experts and among the political parties over the matter, the Law Commission’s recommendation can be easily implemented. It has treated the list system as an experiment. The percentage could be increased to 50 in the light of experience or the experiment altogether dropped. As for the criminalisation of politics, the Law Commission wants that those against whom charges have been framed for certain offences should stand disqualified. (At present only conviction, after exhausting the stages of appeals and revision, is treated as a disqualification). It also wants enhanced punishment for the electoral offences. It may be mentioned that the Election Commission, using its powers under Article 324 of the Constitution, has directed the Returning Officers to treat conviction by the trial court as a disqualification, irrespective of whether the convicted person has been released on bail or not during the pendency of appeal. It would be interesting to see how vigorously the Returning Officers apply the Election Commission directive. Even more interesting would be as to how many candidates with known criminal records are fielded by the political parties. The commission has made elaborate suggestions in order to check money and muscle power in the elections, and the Election Commission too is alert in this regard, so alert in fact that it is said that the candidates have tended to delay the filing of nominations till the last day because they are required to keep accounts of their expenses from the day they file their nominations. There is one area in which I have reservations about the Law Commission’s recommendations. It has said that even though it finds it desirable that the party whip should be issued in specific situations only; for example, when a no-confidence is moved, it has been in no position to suggest legal provision in this regard because neither the rules framed under the Tenth Schedule/ nor the Rules of Business of either House of Parliament provide for the regulation of whips. The argument is specious. After all, until the Tenth Schedule was introduced in the Constitution, the word political party simply did not figure in it, but this has not prevented the commission from suggesting amendments in the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act in order to prevent defections after elections. In fact, it goes on to state that those who join a political party know pretty well the kind of leadership they will have to deal with. They may raise any question they like at party meetings, but as far as the whip goes, they must be obedient lambs or quit. It is bad enough that the commission finds no role for individuals in Parliament and the state legislatures. It is worse that it concedes the right of the political leadership to stifle the voice of a parliamentarian or a legislator simply because he must join a party. The Law Commission has
taken a cue from the German constitution but altogether
ignored the American and British practice of Congressmen
and parliamentarians speaking according to the dictates
of their conscience on issues such as the impeachment of
the President or the question of joining the European
Union. |
Ringing false alarm bells IT is not only Pakistan which has the habit of blaming India for everything that goes wrong there. The large-sized neighbour is the favourite whipping boy of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh as well. Almost every party — especially when it happens to be in the Opposition — mercilessly paints it as the villain of the piece. In Dhaka, if Delhi is not accused of systematically exporting the “decadent Hindu culture”, then it is tarred for its alleged hegemonic designs. It is another matter that the leaders alter the tune somewhat on coming to power. But nobody stops harping on the all-time hit. The chanting is particularly shrill in Bangladesh these days. While the earlier Ganges Water Treaty, the proposal to sell gas to India, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Agreement, etc, were described as sellouts by the Opposition, the proposal for transshipment of Indian goods has been characterised as an outright anti-State act. “We will give our lives but not the transit facilities,” Begum Khaleda Zia of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has repeatedly thundered. Here it is pertinent to note that the decision of the Bangladesh government to consider “in principle” granting India permission to transport goods between its eastern and north-eastern regions is deliberately twisted and projected as either “transit facility” or a “corridor” although the distinction among the three is obvious. Thanks to such India-bashing, the BNP kept almost the entire country on a standstill for nearly 30 hours earlier this month. But then staging a bandh is almost an obsession in the hapless country, which is counted among the poorest in the world. It is because of such self-inflicted wounds that “Sonar” in the name of Bangladesh is becoming an irony instead of an adjective. What the Opposition and religious leaders are carefully hiding from the people is that the agreement is on transshipment and nothing more. Goods to be carried by Indian vehicles would be first unloaded at the Petrapol-Hilli-Darshana border point in Bangladesh. From there, these would be carried through Bangladesh territory by Bangladeshi carriers. Bangladesh would charge $ 500 for each truck and get an additional taka 2,000 crore every year by way of royalty. The total annual income that may accrue to it may exceed $ 400 million in foreign exchange. Besides, as many as 1,50,000 new jobs will be created and the transport sector would be strengthened. All that can change the face of the country whose debt is 220,000 million takas internally and $ 14 billion externally. In any case, as the Commerce and Industry Minister of that country, Mr Tofail Ahmed, has pointed out, this will not be a one-way traffic. Bangladesh has already asked India to allow duty-free access to 25 Bangladeshi export items and also wants equal facilities and transshipment of its goods to Nepal and Bhutan through India. But instead of rejoicing over this opportunity, the rabble-rousers have characteristically raised the bogey that the facility is likely to be misused by India to transport troops and military hardware to combat insurgencies in its troubled north-eastern states and that the sovereignty and security of Bangladesh will be threatened. What is remarkable is that an India-Bangladesh trade agreement signed in 1980, when the husband of Begum Khaleda Zia, Gen Ziaur Rahman, was in power, had clearly stated that “the two governments agree to make mutually beneficial arrangements for the use of their waterways, roadways and railways for commerce between the two countries and for the passage of goods between two places in one country through the territory of the other”. This, apparently, went beyond what has now been agreed. This agreement was renewed in 1992 when Begum Khaleda Zia herself was in power. Her government had also signed the South Asian Preferential Trading Agreement (SAPTA) in 1993 under which commodities of other countries can be carried through Bangladesh. Successive Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meetings have also endorsed transit facilities. When Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina highlighted these points, there was no suitable reply. It is desirable that responsible leaders should not sow the seeds of suspicion and hatred in the minds of vulnerable people but, given the present situation, that is perhaps too tall an order. One positive development is that while the BNP used the India card to telling effect in the 1991 elections, the law of diminishing returns has been in operation ever since. Its hate-India campaign did not quite work in 1996. Even now she has been able to influence people mainly in the urban areas. The public support for her fulmination should not be measured in terms of the success of the bandhs. Most people close their establishments merely out of fear. At the same time, Bangladeshi business leaders and a section of the intelligentsia have supported the government on the issue. Says the President of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr M.H. Rahman: “We have a huge trade gap with India and without curbing imports, we have no option but to develop our service sector. We can earn foreign exchange without compromising on national safety and security. Why would we not allow the transit?” Mr A.K.M. Shamsuddin, President of the Foreign Investors Chambers of Industry, is equally forthright: “Transit was inevitable. More attention should be given to make customs clearance at ports quicker”. In such mature reactions
lies the hope that the two countries can engage in
constructive cooperation instead of mindless slanging
matches. India on its part needs to be more receptive
about Bangladeshi sensitivities. One sore point is the
large-scale smuggling of Indian goods. Another section
feels ignored by the Pakistan-centric foreign policy of
India. Some of these concerns may be exaggerated but it
would be better to address them rather than dismiss them
out of hand as absurd. Bilateral cooperation is not the
end. Time has come to think of pan-Asian cooperation. The
transshipment and transit agreements can pave the way for
an Asian highway passing through both countries. |
With
a prayer on lips... HER husband retired as a Major-General not all that long ago. I met her one evening last week in the army housing society in Pune. We fell to talking about the conflict in Ladakh. Soon she was most animated and in full flow, much to my delight. What follows is in her own words as far as I can capture them. Yes, I know the area well. My husband was the brigade commander and I was able to accompany him on many a visit to his outposts. The first time I saw a bunker.... (she shuddered) I shall never forget the small hole, the darkness, a jawan in each, his gun poking out of an opening. Three months at a stretch; must have seemed never-ending. One of them told me that it was only their faith in Durga Mata that kept them going. At one picket I was greeted with a glass of sugared water because that was all they had to offer. They never had any fresh food, never. Once I was offered some pakoras. When I made to leave, they begged me to stay a while longer. They told me that I was the first CO’s wife to visit them. I felt awful when I had to leave them. Once when my husband’s helicopter failed to arrive to take him to an isolated outpost at 17,000 feet, he decided to walk there. It was deep and their legs kept sinking in the soft snow. They were roped together, he and about half a dozen men. Because of crevasses they are always roped to each other. After a while he noticed that one of the men had something small cupped in his hand which he tended as if it was something very precious. Unable to contain his curiosity after a while he questioned the jawan. He told me that he had never been so touched in all his life when the man told him that it was a cabbage he was taking up so that my husband could have something fresh to eat. (I suppose he did not want to put it in his backpack to prevent it getting bruised.) It was just about the smallest cabbage he had seen. I spent a night in my husband’s hut in Dras (I think she said Dras). The kerosene oil stove had to be put out at ten. The temperature dropped dramatically. I couldn’t sleep because of the rattling of the tin roof. He told me that the wind rose every night, to die down in the morning. I shivered in my overcoat which I kept on in the sleeping bag. (This was in May, on my asking the time of year.) Our men are magnificent, braving it out there. The same cannot be said for some of the officers who use every excuse to get out of visiting their men in their pickets. My husband was always questioning them as to when they had last been up top. (Hearing this I wondered aloud if this is partly the reason why we have been caught napping. She did not comment.) He was in a staff job in army headquarters in Delhi when one day the military secretary saw him in the corridor. He greeted him warmly, and asked if he had any problems, any family problems, health problems. No to both; and he received his posting orders to the forward area to replace an officer who had cited some grave reasons to get out of it. At the top of Zoji La
she had to be helped out of the vehicle and supported the
short distance to pay her obeisance at the tiny shrine.
Every single soldier asks the goddess to protect them
while in that inhospitable area. They need it. |
PGI wins merit case again!
IT is a rare case of a judgement being overruled not once but twice and the faculty and students at Chandigarh’s Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGI) should be doubly happy. And so should be the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Restoring last fortnight the view taken by a single Judge of the High Court in 1992, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court interdicted all reservations in admissions to super-speciality courses in the PGI (and other medical institutions across the country). Surprisingly, while all leading newspapers reported the verdict (on August 13, three days after it was pronounced), none of them noticed its connection with the PGI. Regulation 27 of the PGI, said the Constitution Bench, which provides for reservation of 20 per cent seats for SC/ST and other candidates in every course of study in the institute “cannot have any application at the highest level of super-specialities as this would defeat the very object” of medical education and training at that level. Reservation in the super-speciality courses of D.M. and M.C.H., added the Bench, is “not consistent with the constitutional mandate under Articles 15(4) and 16(4).” Except for the PGI case (where its original judgement of May, 1997, upholding such reservations was under review), the question of reservations in super-specialities did not arise at all before the Constitution Bench. Strictly speaking, therefore, that part of the August 10 verdict which rejects any “special provisions” or reservations at the super-speciality level in medical institutions round the country other than the PGI is clearly obiter. The PGI nexus has thus far greater importance for the Constitution Bench than is apparent at first blush. It would not be incorrect to state, in fact, that the institute has saved the Bench the predicament of having its opinion being re-examined by a still larger Bench in the future on the ground that, on the facts of the case before it, no occasion arose for pronouncing on the point. Having said that, let me immediately hasten to add that the opinion is obviously correct on the merits. Extending reservations to the level of super-specialities is carrying political mythology a bit too far and it was high time that the court cried halt. Even as regards post-graduate courses below the super-speciality level, the court has shrewdly slipped in its own advice while admitting that the “issue was not debated before us and we express no opinion on it”. “At the next below stage of post-graduate education in medical specialities,” says the Constitution Bench, “similar considerations also prevail though perhaps to a slightly lesser extent than in the super-specialities.” The element of public interest in having the most meritorious students is present “even at the stage of post-graduate teaching.” Moving from the base upwards, the approach is strategically differentiated. A “large percentage of reservations for the backward,” holds the court, “would be justified” at the level of primary education. Accidentally perhaps, there is no reference to secondary education unless it is intended to be treated on a par with primary education. “Reasonable reservation” at the university level upto graduation is also both permissible and necessary. But at the level of post-graduate university education, facilities for training and education are necessarily limited and, therefore, a “more important national interest comes into play”. Sound and sensible as this analysis is, it is advisory in nature and there is no binding directive from the court as to reservations in post-graduate courses below the super-speciality level as the issue did not arise directly before it. The issue actually before the court, in the words of the court itself, was “whether for admission to post-graduate medical courses, it is permissible to prescribe a lower minimum percentage of qualifying marks for the reserved category candidates as compared to the general category candidates.” It is wrong to say, rules the Constitution Bench (overruling Ajay Kumar Singh’s case of 1994 from Bihar, apart from the PGI case of 1997), that the standard of education is not affected by admitting students with low qualifying marks or that the standard of education is affected only by factors which come into play at the post-admission stage. “Norms of admission (it holds) can have a direct impact on the standards of education.” On what basis, then, should admissions be made? “In every case,” declares the Bench (after examining the constitutional scheme of distribution of legislative power on the subject of education), “the minimum standards laid down by a Central statute or under it, have to be complied with by the State while making admissions.” The standards prescribed by the Medical Council of India in the field of medical education are binding on all States and universities and must be followed, Nivedita Jain’s case of 1981 notwithstanding. And it is for the MCI to decide whether a lower minimum qualifying percentage can be fixed for the reserved category (than that fixed for the general category) in entrance examinations, though a “wide disparity” between the two is not permissible. Thus it is that Nivedita Jain’s case, Ajay Kumar Singh’s case and the PGI case are all good law no longer. But the PGI case was overruled last year as well though on a different point. On whether a single post can ever be reserved, the court reviewing itself to hold that it cannot, for that would amount to cent per cent reservation. The credit for this
unique achievement — getting the same judgement
overruled twice — must surely go to the faculty and
students of the PGI, who obviously know how to fight not
only to save other people’s lives but to safeguard
their own rights as well. |
Election mood catching on
THE mood seems to be catching on, but at the moment only amongst the coterie of those who are fighting these elections. So much so that when Congress candidates Manmohan Singh (fielded from South Delhi) and Sunil Dutt (fielded from North West Bombay) were present at the opening of a “Sahmat” exhibition, on August 16, the crowds remained thin. And as the two politicians came up with short, crisp speeches focusing on the need for the silent secular majority to stand up to the needs of the day there seemed no apparent excitement. And the same stands true when cars with BJP flags fluttering are seen on the streets — the average man doesn’t look twice in that direction. Meanwhile, perhaps for the very first time, several prominent apolitical citizens are openly coming forward with their appeals and open support for a so and so, unlike those veiled suggestions in the earlier elections. Perhaps, as stress on the decisive nature of these elections is being hyped, they are taking no chances and are openly voicing their support for particular candidates of the two main political parties in the fray. Before moving ahead I must write that hearing Dr Manmohan Singh’s speech was an experience in itself. The shy-looking Singh spoke gently and softly, as though he was talking to a small class of students. And none of that political rhetoric fitted in, rather a simply worded speech subtly warning the people of the dangers of communalism. And his supporters are not only some prominent Sikhs — in fact in an interview Khushwant Singh told me that “the only upright and modest and able person in the country today is Dr Manmohan Singh” — but a large number of academicians and students. And his house on Safdarjung Road, seems the centre of activity with several Congress workers, friends and volunteers camping there. I-Day reception Now on to the Independence Day reception hosted on August 15 evening by the President of India and the First Lady Usha Narayanan, at the Rashtrapati Lawns. Well these lawns do seem to hold some magic, for unlike last year when this reception was hosted in the two halls and created an atmosphere akin to the black hole of Calcutta, this year the ambience was relaxed. Though the numbers of those invited filled up the entire lawn space, many even moving towards the Mughal Gardens, yet there seemed no confusion. And this year whosoever was in charge of parking has to be blessed for it couldn’t have been better arranged. Unlike last year, there were no jams and no sitting put in the first gear, in fact the entry and exit only took a couple of minutes. “Harvest of Hatred” Now focus on the exhibition put up by Sahmat. The name itself is suggestive — “Harvest of Hatred: Dark Times Under the Saffron Brigade”. And through 38 panels complete with illustrations and cartoons (of Unny, Sudhir Tailang, Laxman, Keshav and of the late Irfan Hussain), facts and figures from newspaper writeups and editorials, photographs, commentaries there comes up, right before your eyes, the doings of the Sangh coalition government — from bringing about communalisation at the school/syllabi level to attacks on artists to the killings of hundreds of innocents in the name of religion to burning of places of worship to whipping up communal frenzy. I could go on and on, detailing the doings of this government in the last several months for this exhibition depicts all. On view till August 23 at the Quami Ekta Trust Building on New Delhi’s Bhai Veer Singh Marg it documents the deeds of the Saffron Brigade and adds this very vital line of Hindi poet Muktibodh — ‘tai karo kis ore ho tum’ (decide which side you are on ....) Khushwant turns 85 And on this August 15 celebrated writer Khushwant Singh turned 85 years old. I had interviewed him a couple of days prior to that and to my query that in spite of having witnessed the Partition how is it that he harboured no communal feelings, he said: “The two persons who have left a lasting impression on me were my Urdu teacher Maulvi Shafiuddin Nayyar who taught me Urdu and Persian at the Modern School and Manzoor Qadir whom I met at Lahore, when I was practising at the Lahore High Court. They were such fine and remarkable persons that just knowing them was enough to remove all prejudices against the Muslims .....Manzoor Qadir who was also my neighbour in Lahore not only protected my house during the time of Partition but when it became clear that I was not returning from Delhi he packed and sent all my belongings including half-emptied bottles of Scotch.” And on the future of the country he said. “The future seems very grim .....look at the communalisation around, look at the way some political parties are getting so communal .” On the reality of death he said “Though I am keeping fit but I am preparing myself for it ......and since I do not believe in the day of Judgement and nor in the theory of Reincarnation so I have to make terms with a complete full stop.” Non-committal When the Wadhwa
Commission report on the murder of Australian missionary
Graham Staines and his two minor sons was made official,
I got in touch with the First Secretary, Ms Grace, in the
Australian High Commission here, on the High
Commission’s views of the report. But she seemed
non-committal, stressing that since they do not have a
copy of the report “only read reports of it in
newspapers so will not be able to comment on it, on the
basis of those reports”. This week when I again got
in touch with her, hoping that by now they would have
obtained a copy of the report, there was no change in the
reply. Will some one send them a copy of the Wadhwa
Commission report so that we know their views on the
findings? |
August
23, 1924 WE accord our warm and whole-hearted support to the demand formulated at a ladies’ meeting held at Simla on Wednesday last. “This meeting of Indian women belonging to different parts of India,” ran the resolution passed at the meeting “places on record its very strong opinion that the disability of women to stand as candidates for the Legislature be removed forthwith, and that the rules under the Government of India Act be amended accordingly”. The acceptance of this demand would undoubtedly be a step at once in political and social reform, for there is nothing better calculated to elevate men and women socially than the removal of their political disabilities. The fact that this particular demand should have been put forward so early in our political evaluation is, by the way, a striking commentary upon the fatuity of the contention that each country must take approximately the same period of time to complete its growth. In England, it was only the other day, centuries after men had begun to sit in Parliament, that the first definite demand for making women eligible for seats in Parliament was put forward and it was at a still more recent date, in fact only a few years ago, that the demand was actually conceded. In India, the reformed
Constitution has been in existence for less than four
years, when some of the most cultured ladies in the whole
country meet together to formulate this demand. No less
significant is the fact that among the leaders of this
movement are ladies who happen to be the wives or other
relations or some of the best known reactionaries that we
have in India at the present time. |
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