tribuneindia...Mailbag

AFTER going through the article “A rollback government” by Mr Hari Jaisingh (March 19) I feel Mr Vajpayee’s government has been able to accomplish certain difficult tasks that should have brought much credit to it. But poor homework, poor housekeeping, etc, as mentioned in the article, deprived it of its due.

Right from the nuclear blasts to bus diplomacy to the recent Budget and Bihar fiasco the story has been almost always the same — poor housekeeping and lack of coordination.

Let us take the case of the nuclear blasts first. Every government for the past several years has been preparing itself to do the same. None could dare to take the plunge. Mr Vajpayee not only did it but was also able to arouse national feelings throughout the country. There was initial criticism and opposition from outside. Later on the government could engage the USA into fruitful talks. He got full cooperation from France from the very beginning. Now others are also showing more understanding of our viewpoint. But Mr Vajpayee failed at home on this issue. Why?

Bus diplomacy may be a tamasha. But there is no harm in taking such a step if it helps improve relations with Pakistan. The government’s housekeeping this time was better. Even its opponents could not find holes in this measure despite their efforts for the unholy purpose.

In my view, Mr Vajpayee has been a little more flexible than he should have been not only with the allies but also with his own Parivar. He must act boldly and be assertive. Look at the Shiv Sena’s threats in the context of cricket matches and also the bus journey. Boldness and assertiveness shown at that time paid dividends, otherwise the whole thing would have fallen apart.

The same is the case with the other allies. Whenever he has been assertive, others have fallen in line. He will have to lead from the front. Every member of the government cannot have similar views, interests and approach to different problems. As mentioned by the writer, Mr Vajpayee has shown the guts and taken a number of initiatives. He should do the same more often.

At present he is the best bet available for the country, and a majority of the people hold a high view of him. He should use this goodwill of the people to confront all those who try to bully him unnecessarily.

A GREAT HANDICAP: May I ask a question: how can the performance of a Prime Minister be separated from that of the government he presides over? Non-cooperation, if not hostility, of the print media, born out of its basic prejudice against the BJP, is a great handicap with Mr Vajpayee.

Mr Jaisingh admits that Mr Vajpayee has been talking about a consensual approach to national issues, showing considerable flexibility in his dealings, yet the desired results have eluded him! Why? Because the vision of the Congress is blurred by its anti-BJPism and its pursuit of a short-cut to power at the Centre.

UNHELPFUL OPPOSITION: No doubt, some of the alliance partners’ behaviour and slender majority of the ruling alliance have made it a tight-rope walk for the government, it would be unfair to say that the Cabinet which Mr Vajpayee himself constituted does not consist of competent persons. All the senior ministers are a great asset to the government, and are entitled to share the credit for the successful completion of one year’s rule.

The behaviour of the Opposition has not been as was expected. The Congress, supposed to a responsible opposition party, behaved like a frustrated lot.

THREAT FROM ALLIES: Fortunately for the Vajpayee government, the Congress party has not been able to erase the black blot on its face for being the mother of all kinds of corruption. The support given by it to the Bihar government has added to the list of its misdeeds. The BJP’s allies too have harmed the government considerably. Their continuous threat made the government look like a soldier without a gun to fight the war against a strong enemy.

Growing polythene menace

The ban on the manufacture, storage, sale and use of polythene bags in Bathinda district ("Polythene bags banned", March 15) is a step in the right direction. I fail to understand why this menace draws little attention of the authorities elsewhere.

Polythene shopping bags and wrappers are a potential threat to urban environment. Once you have discarded them after use, you do not lose touch with them. They return to you in a variety of ways, though you do not realise it. For example, they choke your drains and provide breeding facilities to deadly germs. Coming out of the various colonies of big cities in tonnes, these plastic wastes disrupt the sewer system, those essential arteries of city life, choke the land-mass and clog the pores of the wetlands. The consequences will soon be there for all to see.

The Government of India, unfortunately, has failed to tackle the problem seriously. The steps that Sri Lanka has taken to stop the use of polythene bags are worthy of emulation. In that small country no customer accepts these "plagues of shopping". Instead they are pleased to do their shopping in grey cotton bags made of cheap material. In addition to this, there are in that country a number of voluntary organisations ever engaged in the business of educating the people. They "picket"departmental stores and book the "culprits" for prosecution. "Save the Earth from Polythene" is their clarion call.

Back home, not that the Indian environmentalists are not aware of this menace. But we cannot take any effective action against the offender. Not so in Sri Lanka, where polythene is legally banned. There being no evidence of any concerted move to check the evil, it is not unrealistic to visualise a time a decade or two hence when our earth will contain thick layers of plastics.

K.M. VASHISHT
Mansa

The Tribune has done its readers a great service by publishing the article by Mr Inderjit on March 18 — “Even The Dawn’s tone has changed”. It portrays the attitude of our brethren in Pakistan.

The history of animosity of the past 51 years between the two neighbours is by now well known to the generations which came into existence in the post-Partition period. No less than three bloody wars have spanned these horrendous 51 years, leaving behind scars of destruction, deaths and decimation. The millions of rupees spent on these fruitless adventures would have transformed the face of the two nations. Development, not armament, is the crying need of the hour. We owe it to posterity.

	M A I L B A G	Friday, March 26, 1999
weather n spotlight today's calendar