Row over persons of foreign origin

MR R.L. Singal in his letter (The Tribune, May 20) has made a few observations which warrant further analysis.

Stretching the issue of persons of foreign origin (settled or born in India), the writer has put the poser: Could Gandhiji or Jawaharlal Nehru ever visualise this phenomenon? He seems to correlate this view to the current controversy over Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s supposed candidature for Prime Ministership. She is not the progeny of any of “the scores of Englishmen born on Indian soil during the 200 years of British rule” that enslaved our motherland.

One is interestingly reminded of a historical paradigm. Chandragupta Maurya was offered his daughter in marriage by defeated Greek General Selucus. But it is nowhere recorded in history that their progeny was barred from succeeding to the throne, or in anyway she proved treacherous to the cause of India and Indians.

Then, as the signals from Fiji indicate, Indians settled in that far-off land have been able to stitch up a majority in the latest poll and form a government. Reluctance on the part of the natives is so natural, but fine-tuning it into some sort of national prejudice is unfair.

Reverting to the desirability of accepting Mrs Gandhi as Prime Minister — presuming, of course, a popular mandate for such an arrangement — it will be profitable and even self-assuring to remember that since an Indian Prime Minister is always functioning under the watchful eyes of our parliamentarians, who in any case are getting more and more vocal and vigilant with each passing year, it won’t be such a national risk to entrust her with the responsibility as is being made out by certain political parties or individuals.

As for national pride, it may even add to our pride and confidence in our composite culture, and apply some soothing balm of national integration to our badly fragmented society.

J.N. NARANG
Chandigarh

Guiding the voters

The general election is once again on us and people need to decide whom they wish to vote for: a decision that has become increasingly harder from the past elections onwards for, progressively, the quality of candidates has declined exponentially while our expectations have continuously risen. If the following minimum points are included in the criteria, I think we may have the right type of persons entering our temples of democracy.

Here is the 10-point criteria:

1. He (he would include she in all that follows) must be educated in the real sense having an all-round basic knowledge of history, geography, elementary science and arithmetic.

2. He should be capable of earning a livelihood, if out of politics.

3. He should have not committed rape, murder, robbery or theft, or any other crime. It does not matter whether he has been punished or not.

4. He would not hold any benami assets nor be involved in any scams.

5. He should not have obtained anything by means that are not fair, transparent and scrupulous.

6. His assets should be commensurate with his declared income and the tax he has paid on it.

7. He should be committed to secularism, socialism and democracy, and should be above caste and religion.

8. He should consider truth, freedom, justice and compassion far more important than position, power, money, comforts and special privileges and facilities.

9. He should be accessible to others and will continue to be accessible, within reason, even if he is elected

10. He should have understood at least some problems of his constituency and of the country, and have some reasonable and working solutions to offer.

11. He should be reasonably intelligent and articulate and genuinely committed to excellence. He should consider himself accountable to the people who may have elected him.

12. He should be courteous, polite and friendly and true to his promise without having to be reminded and without ever asking for anything in return.

13. He should have read the Constitution of India, be aware of its major implications and committed to parliamentary procedures.

14. He should never engage in fist fight, throwing furniture, or breaking the rules in Parliament.

15. He should intuitively know that respect and affection cannot be demanded but only commanded.

I do not claim the above criteria to be comprehensive, but it will at least make those who make decisions at the top and live in a dream world of their own aware of what the people really think of them.

K.M. VASHISHT
Mansa

Emotional issue

The trio of Mr Pawar, Mr Sangma and Mr Anwar have raised quite pertinent issues which directly affect the “core pride” of Indians. It is in order to mention that the past stalwarts of the Congress party fought for the restoration of this pride and it is reassuring that the Congress still has such people.

It is sad that Mrs Sonia Gandhi has chosen to make this an emotional issue for her sycophants rather than facing the real issue honestly. What has her resignation as Congress president got to do with her lack of qualifications for the post of Prime Minister? If she really loves India more than her life, as she claims in her recent letter, then why not say that she will not do anything which will hurt the pride of Indians?

Her recent failed attempt to grab power and now her effort to scuttle the core issue by inciting her sycophants add to the list of things against her.

Perhaps it will be fair to say that the party of the Mahatma, Nehru, Azad, Subhash, Patel and Shastri now exploits the sycophancy of Indians and their servility to white skin to garner votes. And herein lies the real reason as to why Congress people are after Mrs Sonia Gandhi.

NARESH SHARMA
Pathankot

Encroachments galore

Patiala, popularly known as the City of Gardens, is being defiled in more ways than one. As land prices are sky-rocketing, unscrupulous elements, in connivance with political bosses and other such influential persons, are recklessly encroaching upon public property. One can find this tendency everywhere in and around the city. Resultantly, the city is not only being defaced but deformed also.

The basic reason of this malady is the lack of coordination among the various government departments. A little slackness on the part of one of them fails to check the encroachments.

It is high time the Municipal Corporation takes immediate steps to get the problem of encroachment of public land under control. The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that the land within Baradari Garden is being speedily encroached upon. If this process remain unchecked, the beautiful Baradari Garden is sure to vanish with the passage of time.

It is felt that the district administration and the Municipal Corporation are in deep slumber. The Patiala Colonies Welfare Federation should make a strong plea that the encroachment on public land may be got stopped at once.

AVTAR SINGH BRAR, C.P. Rahi and Gurmel Dardi
Patiala

New RBI body

The Reserve Bank of India has set up a Regulations Review Authority to streamline its various procedures and eliminate or modify forms. The applicant may even propose to introduce a regulation to avoid fraud/public inconvenience, or to avoid arbitrariness in the processing of class, or to bring in greater transparency in the RBI’s functioning.

This is not a forum for grievance redressal, nor is it a policy-making authority.

Depositors are requested to take advantage of this Regulations Review Authority in improving the functioning of Reserve Bank of India. Those who want details of the scheme may send their names and addresses with a postage stamp of Rs 3 to Hon. Secretary All-India Bank Depositors’ Association (Mumbai), “Piramal Mansion”, 2nd Floor, 235 Dr D.N. Road, Mumbai-400001

M.R. PAI
Mumbai

Lesson for BJP

No doubt, the economic condition of the country is not good. Even then the burden of the forthcoming general election has to be borne. It is people’s money which is being wasted due to the lack of sensibility and also for the sake of power.

The BJP-led government at the Centre was dissolved on April 14. It was a baby of 13 months only. The dissolution came about because of withdrawal of support by the AIADMK. The AIADMK had started threatening after the elections on one pretext or the other. The BJP had been adjusting by sacrificing its interests. The AIADMK is solely responsible for the whole drama.

The BJP should, however, be thankful to the AIADMK and learn a lesson — no alliance should be made with any excessively power-greedy party.

P.N. GUPTA
Panchkula

Forest cover

The blessings of the Almighty have saved Himachal Pradesh further damages on account of forest fires.

We are reading in the media about the various steps taken by the government to tackle the problem which are commendable. Though many foreign and Indian experts have been consulted to check forest fires, but one wonders if any effort has been made or thought given to the speedy restoration of forest/green cover which is equally important from ecological point.

The H.P.Government should invite some experts with the aim of restoring the forest/green cover as early as possible,or else it might alter the winter and subsequent rain/snow cycle in our region, and cause erosion, waterlogging, deforestation, salinity, nutrient depletion etc. Broadcasting biofertilisers is one such method and not only Government of India but many experts are recommending the use of biofertilisers for this purpose. The Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture has set up a National Biofertiliser Development Centre at 204 B, Kamla Nehru Nagar, C.G.O. Complex — II, Ghaziabad 201002, U.P. Who are the competent people to advise the H.P. government in the matter of restoration of forest/green cover. Incidentally biofertilisers are microbial preparations which do nitrogen fixation in the soil and act as phosphorous solublizer micro-organisms in the soil. They are very cheap and effective.

M.L.KHURANA
Retd. Dy Director of Horticulture
Shimla

‘Dilli meri Dilli’

In his middle article “Dilli meri Dilli” (May 19), Mr K.K. Khullar has mentioned that the then Nizam offered a job to poet Zauq, but he declined on the ground that there was no Yamuna in Hyderabad.

It was Diwan Chandu Lal, not the Nizam, who invited the poet to Hyderabad. He declined the invitation. In the concluding couplet of his “ghazal”, sent to the Diwan, he said: “Aaj kal gar-cheh Dakan mein hai bari qadr-e-sukhan/Kaun jaaey Zauq par Dilli ki galiyaan chhor kar.” There is no mention of Yamuna in the whole ode. It is a pity that in the same Delhi, which he loved so much, urinals were built on his grave.

Many poets were proud of having lived in Delhi. Mus’hafi said: “Dilli kahein hai jis ko zamaaney mein Mus’hafi / Main raihney walla hoon usi ujrey diyaar ka.”Diyaar” means town. Meer Taqi Meer also recited similar verses extemporaneously in a “mushaairah” on the very first day of his arrival from Delhi in Lucknow, when some spirited fops of the city giggled on seeing him strangely appareled.

Ghalib too claimed in a Persian verse: “Manam ze khaak-nasheenaan-e-een diyaar yakey” (I am one of the humble inhabitants of this city-Delhi). Apparently, most of his relatives and friends had either died or left Delhi. He lamented: Hai ab is maamoorah mein qaiht-e-gham-e-ulfat Asad Ham ney ye maana ke Dilli mein rehein khaaen gey kya.”

“Maamoorah” means city.

There was a time when one’s stay in Delhi was regarded as a certificate of one’s scholarship. While making an innuendo on some contemporary poets,who had never been to Delhi, Mus’hafi remarked: “Baazon ka gumaan hai ye ke ham aihle-zubaan hain / Dilli nahi dekhi hai zubaan-daan ye kahaan hain” (Some of them think that Urdu and Persian are their mother tongues. They have not seen Delhi. How can they claim to be scholars of these languages?)

Whenever some grandees of the Mughal King Mohammad Shah told him about the march of Nadir Shah towards Delhi, instead of making preparations to confront him, he dilly-dallied by saying, “Hanooz Dilli door ast” (Delhi is yet distant). The Persian invader captured Delhi and ordered a general massacre of its inhabitants. The expression “Hanooz Dilli door ast” now means “there is many a slip between the cup and the lip”.

BHAGWAN SINGH
Qadian