by Harihar Swarup

Mandela’s successor faces uphill task
THE Leader of the Opposition in South Africa’s National Assembly, Mr Tony Leon, has poetically summed up the daunting task that lay ahead for Thabo Mbeki who succeeded Nelson Mandela as the second President of the Government of National Unity. He reproduced a verse from W.B. Yeats, favourite poet of Mbeki, to bring home the point and issue a warning too. “I have spread my dreams under your feet, tread softly, for you tread on my dreams”.

What Vajpayee can, Krishan Kant can’t
Here is a tale of two VIP journeys. What Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee can, Vice-President Krishan Kant can’t. During the past fortnight, these two dignitaries undertook foreign trips....

75 Years Ago

Transfer of Judges
THE Amritsar Bar Association ... resolved to place on record its appreciation of the ... sense of duty ... of Rai Sahib Lala Labhu Ram, Additional District Magistrate and Collector and of L. Ram Rattan, Sub Judge and Registrar, Small Cause Court, Amritsar and expressed regret at their unexpected transfer.

by Harihar Swarup
Mandela’s successor faces uphill task

THE Leader of the Opposition in South Africa’s National Assembly, Mr Tony Leon, has poetically summed up the daunting task that lay ahead for Thabo Mbeki who succeeded Nelson Mandela as the second President of the Government of National Unity. He reproduced a verse from W.B. Yeats, favourite poet of Mbeki, to bring home the point and issue a warning too. “I have spread my dreams under your feet, tread softly, for you tread on my dreams”.

“Poorest of the poor” expect Mbeki to deliver them out of their condition of misery. The successor of Mandela knows that “when the poor rise, they will rise against all”. His immediate challenge is to provide necessities for human existence to the poor, who have become synonym of blacks. They overwhelmingly voted for the African National Congress. But accomplishment of the task may well be well-nigh impossible without the transformation of age old class and race structure and economic upliftment of blacks including women.

In spite of almost a generation gap and sharp contrast in their personalities, both Mandela and Mbeki, (turned 57 on Friday, June 18), have been children of the liberation movement. While Mandela is known to be the Great Reconciliator and Unifier of all South Africans cutting across race and ethnic divisions, Mbeki has the image of a vengeful leader hostile to whites, secretive and conspiratorial. He has been public face of the ANC in the international sphere for decades and effectively managed the affairs of the country after the 1994 elections when Mandela chose him the Deputy President. Mbeki was elected President of the ANC at the 50th Congress of the ANC in 1997. He has a long career in the ANC as an able organiser, administrator and negotiator with the White Government.

Soon after being sworn-in as the President of South Africa, the first question Nelson Mandela asked his confidant, the late Oliver Tambo was: “who should be my second in command”.

Tambo, who had led the movement against apartheid when Mandela was in jail, pointed his finger to Mbeki and said: “Here is the man”. Mandela took an on-the-spot decision and appointed Mbeki, barely 52 then, as Deputy President and subsequently groomed him as his successor.

To ensure smooth transfer of power, Mandela gave an important position to Mbeki in the party too; he made him Deputy President of the ruling ANC. He announced that he would relinquish the post of party President by the end of 1997 and would seek voluntary retirement as head of the government by 1999.

Mbeki has already been running the day-to-day administration since 1996 and is in effective control of the government. He has evolved a new economic policy and laid the foundation of a sound foreign policy. During his visit to India in December, 1996. Mbeki initiated the concept of South Africa-India strategic partnership covering a wide range of bilateral issues. The partnership was firmed up when Prime Minister I.K. Gujral paid a visit to South Africa in October, 1997.

Mbeki was groomed by the late Oliver Tambo as he (Tambo) guided the movement against the racist white regime while Mandela was incarcerated for 27 long years and completely cut off from the outside world. Educated in the UK and holding a master’s degree in economics from Sussex university, Mbeki is said to be an independent and original thinker, having a sharp mind and a master strategist. Oliver used to describe him as “my right hand man”.

Mbeki’s profile as a policy maker and a mediator in the movement has been built up over a lifetime of involvement. “I was born into the struggle”, he is often heard as saying both his parents were teachers and activists. His father, Govan Mbeki, was a leading figure of the ANC and was a co-prisoner in Robben island with Mandela.

Mbeki has seen the rough and tumble of life. At one stage, he was sent to the erstwhile Soviet Union for military training and became an activist, joining the Communist Party of South Africa. Later, he severed his links with the Communists and they have not forgiven Mbeki for what they call “betrayal”.

He came in the limelight as Political Secretary to Oliver Tambo in Lusaka and Director of Information. From this position he played a major role in turning the international media against apartheid. During the eighties Mbeki rose to head the Department of Information and Publicity and coordinated diplomatic campaign to involve more white South African in anti-apartheid activities. Delegations of politicians and businessmen coming to Lusaka were greatly impressed with his knowledge and foresight into the issues raised during the interaction.

Mbeki’s talents sparkled when he headed the ANC’s International Department and negotiated with the former White Government the terms of transfer of power to the blacks. He turned out to be a key figure in crucial talks that led to the freedom of South Africa from bondage.

What Vajpayee can, Krishan Kant can’t

Here is a tale of two VIP journeys. What Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee can, Vice-President Krishan Kant can’t. During the past fortnight, these two dignitaries undertook foreign trips. Mr Vajpayee flew to Dhaka in a small Air Force Boeing 737. Mr Krishan Kant flew to Pretoria with the full regalia of Air India Boeing 747. Mr Vajpayee had media component in his team — they were told to board a commercial flight to the Bangladesh capital. The Vice-President took a chosen dozen scribes in his spacious Jumbo Jet which had a total number of 40 passengers in the journey spanning the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. For five days, Air India had to suspend regular commercial operations which would have been otherwise undertaken by the Vice-Presidential jumbo.

Mr Krishan Kant’s visit did not attract either national or international media attraction. The reason for his sojourn was to be present at the swearing-in of the new South African President, Mr Thabo Mbeki. The fact that Mr Mbeki did not find time to meet Mr Krishan Kant is so far unknown in these parts, thanks to the lack of media attention of the trips.

The question arises whether any purpose was really served by the Vice-President’s trip to South Africa? Whether in the comity of nations, the presence of Mr Krishan Kant can create a ripple — in the case of his predecessor, Mr K.R. Narayanan, the very fact that he had served as India’s Ambassador to Washington and Beijing gave him a weighted presence wherever he went as the VP.

When will our politicians learn that austerity begins at home? Moreover by not being austere, using an oversize jumbo to carry 400-odd passengers, was Mr Krishan Kant in effect paying tribute to the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi from whose hallowed image one cannot separate the Republic of South Africa.

South-North divide!

With the Finance Secretary, Mr Vijay Kelkar, having agreed to accept one of the two posts available to Indian bureaucrats in the IMF-World Bank hierarchy in Washington, search is now on for his successor. The raging South-North conflict of the caretaker government is coming in the way. We have deliberately said South-North and not used the traditional “North-South” because the fissure is between the Prime Minister’s Office located in the South Block of the Raisina Hill and the Finance Minister’s office located in the North Block. (Eversince the BJP-led 13-party coalition came to power even during the 13 months of its regular rule there was a South-North conflict: between the PMO and the Home Minister’s office, also located in the North Block, but now things are getting further complicated.)

Mr Nand Kishore Singh, popularly known as N.K. Singh, now posted as Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, is the candidate being promoted by the South Block. Before going to his present job, Mr Singh was Secretary Expenditure and Secretary Revenue in the Finance Ministry and is thus well qualified to be Mr Kelkar’s successor. The Prime Minister wants him as the Finance Secretary. The Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary, Mr Brajesh Mishra, endorses this view. Mr N.K. Singh too is willing because if he makes it to the job it will create a record of sorts — his father T.P. Singh, who belonged to the ICS, was the Finance Secretary many years ago.

The stumbling block is the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha. Before coming into politics, Mr Sinha belonged to the 1961 batch of the Bihar cadre of the IAS. Mr N.K. Singh belongs to the 1964 batch of the same state cadre. Mr Sinha has strong reservations and he has conveyed this in no uncertain terms.

Thus, while Mr Kelkar is packing his bags for Washington, the choice of his successor is proving to be as uphill a task for the caretaker government as the evacuation of the Pakistani infiltrators in Kargil. It remains to be seen whether “South Block” prevails or “North Block” has its way.

Meanwhile, grapevine has it that the Secretary, Public Enterprises, Dr S. Narayan, is a dark horse who may make it to one of the Secretaries’ room in the Finance wing of the South Block.

Haryana developments

The development in Haryana which picked up pace last week suddenly turned the focus of the nation to games politicians play even as the soldiers were fighting a fierce battle in Kargil.

Political rivals lost no time in trying to score points as to who was responsible for precipitating the crisis in Haryana.

Yet, amidst all serious efforts by political parties who were playing the power game some Congress leaders did not lose their sense of humour.

During one of the brainstorming sessions, some central leaders were discussing the pros and cons of supporting the Bansi Lal government at this stage.

It was felt that the primary responsibility of keeping intact his MLAs was that of the Chief Minister and that the Congress could come in only at a later stage.

For a state that introduced “Aaya Ram Gaya Ram” in the Indian political lexicon as the standard expression for floor crossing, who could predict the movement of politicians?

With this background, when someone asked as to what would be the attitude of the Independent MLAs, who were supporting the Bansi Lal government, one senior leader remarked “Who can hazard a guess, after all it is Haryana”.

It seems that the current lot of legislators has an uphill task of not only working for the improvement of the people but also their image, specially when their own tribe has such an opinion. Is it a case of paying for the deeds of elders!

Telephone blues

The Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited recently informed the Mumbai High Court that it disconnected telephone lines of 86 Members of Parliament who had defaulted in paying outstanding bills.

Some of the names of defaulters include former Union Ministers, former Chief Ministers and leaders of political parties including former Union Communications Minister, Dr Sanjay Singh.

The others were former Chief Ministers K Karunakaran and K Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, former Railway Ministers A B A Ghani Khan Choudhary and Ram Vilas Paswan, and former Home Minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.

The information was given to the court which was hearing a public interest litigation in which the MTNL said it disconnected telephone lines of 86 defaulting MPs.

Computer riches

What is common between Bill Gates of the USA and Azim Premji of India? Both are billionaires. While Bill Gates is the world’s richest man in the world, Premji is India’s wealthiest individual. The similarities do not end here. Both make their money in computers. The information technology industry is turning out to be the most lucrative of all business in the present century with at least two of the richest Indians coming from this field.

Chairman of Wipro, a leader in the information technology sector, 54-year-old Premji’s personal fortune reportedly stands at $ 2.8 billion (Rs 12,040 crore). The other Indian in the elite list is Shiv Nadar, chief of HCL, India’s largest infotech conglomerate. Nadar’s net worth has been put at $ 1.2 billion.

The trend is not confined to India alone. Even in the list of the world’s richest people released by Forbes magazine, apart from Bill Gates, Paul Allen, who founded Microsoft with Gates, is rated as the third richest man in the world. Microsoft President Steven Balmer, too, figures in the elite list with an estimated worth of $ 19.5 billion. Information technology is definitely the field to be in if making money is your forte.

Angry George

Defence Minister George Fernandes seems to have a special relationship with the media. Whatever he may try, he always ends up at the wrong side, always creating controversies and eventually getting ‘angry’.

It was nothing different when the Defence Minister suddenly cancelled a selected media tour of the front areas of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, where Indian armed forces have been engaged in a battle with the Pakistani infiltrators. Although Rajouri and Poonch are not the areas of incursion, but have been facing intense artillery and mortar firing from not only the infiltrators but also from across the border.

The Defence Minister was to meet and address the troops fighting the artillery battle in this region. However after all preparations, the media tour was cancelled at the last minute. The reason given was that there was not enough space in the helicopters which were to transport the minister and media to the two regions.

However what came out later was that the ‘minister’ was very angry with the media for some adverse stories which had come into print from the journalists who had travelled with him on such previous tours in other parts of the country. Apparently he expects media to ignore certain facts and only bring forth the doctored versions. But has he not been among the people calling for transparency in government functioning and even for ‘Right to Information’?

B.D. Marg again

The road is a familiar one for people in Lutyen’s Delhi for it has houses for Members of Parliament. But it is fast acquiring another distinction — of having MPs who rebel from parent parties.

Three years ago, the now Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr P R Kumaramangalam, who was allotted a bungalow on the road had joined the then All India Indira Congress (Tewari). Two years ago, it was the turn of Mr Suresh Kalmadi, a former Congress Minister who turned a rebel and formed his own outfit. He too had a residence on B D Marg.

Another development was when Mr Aslam Sher Khan of the Congress joined the BJP, last year ahead of the elections. He too had a house on B D Marg.

This year, Mr Datta Meghe of the Congress, has quit his parent party to join the Nationalist Congress Party floated by his mentor Mr Sharad Pawar. Not only does Mr Meghe have his official bungalow on Bishambar Dass Marg, it has now become the official headquarters of the NCP. Maybe the road renaming committee of the Delhi government should consider some name to go with the coincidental development.

(Contributed by SB, T.V. Lakshminarayan, K.V. Prasad, Girja Shankar Kaura and P.N. Andley)

75 YEARS AGO
Amritsar News
Transfer of Judges

THE Amritsar Bar Association, in a meeting, unanimously resolved to place on record its appreciation of the impartiality, integrity, sense of duty and unfailing courtesy of Rai Sahib Lala Labhu Ram, Additional District Magistrate and Collector and of L. Ram Rattan, Sub Judge and Registrar, Small Cause Court, Amritsar and expressed regret at their unexpected transfer from Amritsar.

Copies of the above resolution were sent to the gentlemen concerned. Such a rare distinction has seldom fallen to the loss of other judicial officers.