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| Friday, June 9, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Higher food subsidy! India's gender record
by Hari Jaisingh |
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India’s national interests in Sri Lanka
Life of an Indian diplomat
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Higher food subsidy! FOOD subsidy is set to go through the roof, and not shrink as Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha fondly hopes it will. This is because, one, the FCI is sitting on a mountain of foodgrain stock and, two, sale through the fair price shops has sharply fallen. And keeping the grains in store costs a lot of money — Rs 1800 a tonne. Here are the facts: today the total stock is slightly over 40 million tonnes (the norm for this month is 24 million tonnes); offtake of the below the poverty line (BPL) wheat and rice is about 7 million tonnes. The above the poverty line sale has crashed after the recent increase in the prices by 36 per cent. In many places wheat sells at about Rs 700 a quintal in the bazaar and at Rs 900 in the fair price shop. There is also the question of quality. Kerala Food Minister E. Chandrasekharan Nair says that in his state the offtake of rice has plunged from 1.5 lakh tonnes a month to just 50,000 tonnes. This is the BPL quota where the subsidised price is very attractive. And Kerala has perhaps the widest network of public distribution system and has a record of stable food prices for long years. Yet consumers are deserting the system, preferring the open market. It cannot be otherwise in other states. Andhra Pradesh has sought to buck this trend by increasing the subsidy even for those above the poverty line under its traditional income support system (derided in cities as a populist measure). The fall in the demand for wheat and rice from the PDS will lead to a huge increase in the carrying cost, which in turn will bloat the FCI spending, which will reflect in a higher food subsidy. Mr Sinha’s exertions to reduce expenditure are having the opposite effect. He expected to save Rs 1100 crore by increasing prices; that strategy may well mean an increase in subsidy by double that amount. Obviously there was no serious examination of the issue either in the Finance Ministry or the Food Ministry. Otherwise the government will not be in such a predicament as this one. It has to come out with a plan to unload a very large part of the FCI stock. If it dithers on this, the grains will rot, rodents will feast on them and slick officials will steal and sell — adding to the loss. A higher subsidy and a higher loss will set off a shrill demand to wind up the FCI itself which is not farmer-friendly, not consumer-friendly and now not Finance Minister-friendly. That demand will pack lot of appeal what with the strengthening of the mood that the government should withdraw from all commercial activities. Any weakening of the FCI will simultaneously knock out two of the three factors which ensured the success of the green revolution. There will no more be an assured price for wheat and rice and there will no more be an assured market for the surplus. It will then be back to the Middle Ages, rather back to the feudal marketing system when the kisan produced the grain and the arhtiya made the profit. The so-called free market forces work well in a highly developed marketing and transport system. In India modernism has just touched these sectors and it will be cruel to throw the kisan to the mercy of the middlemen. This is so even if the WTO dictates such a policy and the liberalisers in a hurry campaign for it. The food economy is stagnating for the past three and a half decades and has become rickety. It needs reforms and here and now. |
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India's gender record In a certain context India is like a massive department store which has an impressive showcase, but what it sells does not match the quality of the products on display. President Bill Clinton in his old age will tell his grandchildren stories of the empowerment of the women of Nyala in Rajasthan. But the real story of Nyala is no different from that of countless other villages in India where women continue to meet on demand the needs of their men and also double up as beasts of burden. Union Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, who led the Indian delegation to the United Nations special session on women, evidently took the myth of Nyala with him to New York. He propounded a theory which many may find difficult to digest. According to him, the concept of complementarity between sexes rather conflict had inspired India through the ages. He even had the audacity to offer the "Indian model" as an effective conceptual framework for empowerment and emancipation of women across the globe. Which Indian model does he want to sell for ending gender discrimination in the global village? The one in which sex determination tests ensure the birth of only male babies; or the one in which the girl-child is abused by every one in the family; or the one in which she is denied the right to education; or the one in which she is forced into prostitution by her own kith and kin; or the one in which she is bought and sold like a commodity; or the one in which an insensitive system stops her from reporting that she is being raped by her own flesh and blood; or the one in which she is gang-raped but the beasts are allowed to roam free; or the one in which she becomes one more figure in the ever mounting statistics on dowry deaths? A more realistic picture was presented at the special session on women by the country's National Crime Records Bureau. It showed that Nyala was a mirage conjured up for impressing the head of the most powerful nation in the world. It demonstrated that India would first have to set its own house in order before offering to others an "effective conceptual framework for empowerment and emancipation of women across the globe". A disturbing increase of 40 per cent in cases of sexual harassment, as reported by the National Crime Records Bureau, somehow does not fit into the image of India which the HRD Minister presented to the global community. A 15 per cent increase in the number of dowry deaths, in spite of stringent laws, reflects the indifference of the male-dominated society to the political commitment to evolve a gender sensitive system. Recently the Supreme Court had to raise its voice against the tendency of doctors in government hospitals to refuse medical examinations of rape victims without a formal police report. The National Commission for Women has been screaming for a long time against tardy police investigation in rape cases because of which the rate of prosecution is low. Thorough investigation, and not death penalty for rapists, is the solution to the problem. Instead of selling bogus dreams of women's empowerment in the country, the Indian delegation should study the models of at least eight nations which have achieved gender equality in the past 10 years, according to the latest findings of the UN Development Fund for Women. Seven countries which meet the global specification for gender equality are expectedly from the industrial world. What should be of particular interest to NCW and other women's organisations, as also official agencies, in India is the inclusion of South Africa in the select-group of gender-friendly nations — the first and only country from the developing world to achieve this distinction. The achievement is amazing because the policy of apartheid in South Africa was abolished less than a decade ago. Instead of making claims which lack credibility India should examine the feasibility of introducing the South African model for achieving the elusive goal of gender equality. |
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The Paswans of Indian politics
These news items have been picked up at random. Each item tells its own tale. I do not wish to go into the merit or demerit of each move. We have commented on such matters from time to time. What has, however, hurt me is that those in positions of power and authority behave like maharajas. They form what in the sixties Milovan Djilas called the New Class. Like amoeba, this class has multiplied in numbers and spread out in every area of national activity. They are self-centred, ambitious and insensitive to the sufferings of the ordinary people, though, ironically enough, they come to power with the help of these teeming millions. The examples cited above show how in today’s politics of drift the ruling elite go about in the business of power management to their advantage without sparing a thought for the millions of countrymen living below the poverty line. Except for occasional rhetoric for public consumption, they hardly care for initiating solid steps for the uplift of the downtrodden. Small wonder that the poor remain poor or become poorer and join the growing ranks of the poorest of the poor. This is a baffling phenomenon, aided and abetted by the politicians’ bluff, the jugglery of planners and the cold-blooded indifference of administrators to the burning question of poverty and development. Way back in the sixties, Gunnar Myrdal, the celebrated author of the monumental work “Asian Drama” (Penguin Press, 1968) candidly talked about impediments to development. According to him, India’s “soft state” policy after Independence virtually blinded its leadership from going to the root of the problems the country was faced with. Consequently, the basic distortions in the system have remained unattended. In fact, in the absence of positive thinking and action, even the “inegalitarian structure” of society has continued to grow and consolidate itself. In due course, this has created “a long gap” between “verbalisation” (or enactment of laws) and implementation of the policy of reforms. India’s economic problems are actually “eco-political”. Wrong policies and strategies apart, politics invariably clouds economic issues. Politicians intervene and dilute economic wisdom, sometimes successfully and more often half-successfully. The result is the same: derailment of economic thinking as applied to national problems. Let us have a hard look at the way things are going. During her heyday Indira Gandhi did show some genuine concern for the have-nots when she talked about “garibi hatao”. She, of course, failed to translate the slogan into a concrete plan of action. In the process, the country lost a historic opportunity to bring about the much-needed changes in the system. At best, we have often tinkered with the system in an ad hoc manner to serve the vested interests of the day. The same tinkering continues even now under Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s NDA government. What we have been seeing meanwhile is the growing insensitivity of the ruling class to the real problems facing the country. Vested interests have got entrenched. This has led to the concentration of power in the hands of “petty plutocracy”. What the Paswans of today are doing is not meant to direct a frontal attack on poverty or create more opportunities for the jobless youth. They just seem to be interested in winning cheap personal popularity at the cost of the national exchequer. What business he has to distribute largesse and pamper the staff of the Telecom Department? The Ministry of Communications is not his jagir. As a minister, he is supposed to be accountable to the Cabinet, Parliament and the people at large. What is surprising is that the Prime Minister or the all-powerful Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has not intervened and stopped the wayward minister from adding to the woes of the exchequer at a time when the expenses are galloping while the government is paying lip-service to the austerity mantra and economic reforms. I often wonder whether Mr Vajpayee is losing the will to govern and govern decisively and effectively, though he knows the art of survival in a difficult situation. Mr Vajpayee is surely the tallest leader in the country today. He has successfully projected his secular credentials before the public. Also he has acquired the benevolent father-figure image on India’s highly complex political screen. But it is a pity that he either allows things to drift or is slow in responding. One may sympathise with him for the problems he is confronted with within the Sangh Parivar and beyond. All the same, it will do him no good if he gives the impression that he has become a prisoner of circumstances or of vested interests hovering around him. The question here is not merely of poverty and faster development. At stake is the question of governance and the quality of governance. Have things improved all these days since Myrdal propounded the “soft state” theory? What has made matters worse is that several “soft states” have emerged with the bigger “soft state” with the result that the ministers, bureaucrats and babus work in tandem to perpetuate “loot raj”. Ironically, all this is being done in the name of the people! It needs to be borne in mind by the rulers that populism is a curse in a developing democratic polity. It creates false hopes, diverting the country’s attention from the harsh realities and hard options. Indeed, the present policy of sanctioning grants, favours, subsidies, free services and “development” projects, administered from the top downwards, is nothing but “regressive”. It stunts the initiative, self-dependence and the sense of responsibility. It encourages “Ma-Bapism”. What is more, MPs, MLAs, netas (political agents) and their financial supporters seem to be playing to the gallery and in the process they have destroyed the very system which is supposed to ensure justice and fairplay to ordinary citizens. Even officials are roped in to serve their interests. In fact, the distortions inflicted on the system make sure that only ruthlessly egoistic individuals and influential operators seize all the advantages open to them, without concern for others. They are the ones who block the avenues of onward march for the common man. My point is: why make India an enigma wrapped in a poverty riddle while deprivations and riches exist, coexist and flourish side by side? And the real challenge before us is how to end the organised “loot” or brigandage and make the New Class of power-wielders responsible and accountable. The Paswans have no business to distribute largesse at the cost of the exchequer to enlarge their sphere of influence. |
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India’s national interests in Sri Lanka THERE is tremendous pressure on the Indian government to play a more active role in the crisis in Sri Lanka, because it is perceived that an LTTE victory there will adversely impinge on India’s national interests. An objective examination of the reasons being given in support of this line of thinking, however, leads to the opposite conclusion, that India’s interests are indeed best served by adopting a wait and watch policy and letting events take their own course as the government is doing. Let us analyse the reason that is most forcefully projected, that the creation of Eelam will encourage secessionism in Tamil Nadu. Those spreading this bogey base their fear on a fringe movement which took place there half a century ago. Much has happened since then and the idea has no relevance today. The Tamils are an intelligent people who are fully integrated into the country and enjoy more than their share of power in its governance. They, in fact, represent India, and secession from India would be like seceding from oneself! It is in any case illogical to presume that they would want to secede from democratic India and link their lot with Prabhakaran. Their sympathy for their Tamil brethren is natural, and they are willing to help them, but that is about as far as they will go. Here one is reminded of the famous domino theory that was used to justify American intervention in South Vietnam. That theory postulates that if the communist guerrillas were allowed to win in South Vietnam the whole of Asia would fall to the communists like a set of dominoes. The communists did ultimately win the Vietnam but no other country fell to them. The theory that if Eelam is created the Indian Tamils will secede and join them appears to be as naive and simplistic as the domino theory. The second argument is that a victory for LTTE guerrillas will inspire the J&K militants to further intensify their guerrilla activities. The militants have already received enough inspiration from the gains in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Palestine and South Lebanon in recent times, all of which they attribute to the persistence of guerrillas and jehadis. The problem in J&K is allied to local conditions and the outcome of the conflict in Sri Lanka will have only a marginal effect on it. India has to look for a solution to the Kashmir problem in Kashmir itself and not through the defeat of guerrilla forces in other parts of the world. The third reason is the fear that if Eelam is allowed to be formed it would be another Taliban at India’s doorstep encouraging terrorism, smuggling and drug-running. While there is some merit in it, not condoning the demand for Eelam or the LTTE’s methods of achieving it, the fear that it will be another rogue state which will create security problems for India appears to be exaggerated per se. The LTTE does not have any world-wide jehadi mission nor is it committed to propagating any particular ideology. Its articulated demands do not go beyond a separate state for Sri Lankan Tamils. Unless there are international efforts to eliminate it militarily or choke it economically, there is no reason why it should not live in peace with its neighbours. India dislikes the idea of Eelam and abhors the very thought of dealing with Prabhakaran, a person charged with masterminding the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. But the murder of a country’s Head of Government is terrorism at its worst, and we need to remember that in international relations there are no permanent friends or enemies. We may have to suppress out natural inclinations if the country’s national interests so demand. And, finally, it is pointed out that if India does not help Sri Lanka more actively, some other country inimical to it may step in and change the security balance in the region. China, Pakistan, Israel and some others are already supplying arms to Sri Lanka. Beyond that it is unlikely that any country will actually step in militarily, particularly when everybody unofficially acknowledges it as part of India’s sphere of influence. It is not worth provoking India’s hostility. This analysis of India’s national interests against the background of the happenings in Sri Lanka will enable us to assess more realistically the most suitable course for India to adopt in the current situation. Military intervention has already been ruled out for the present, but lest we be tempted to do so at a later date, let it be remembered that there is no way the LTTE can be militarily wiped out at this stage. If it is defeated in Jaffna, it will simply melt into the jungles and again revert to guerrilla tactics. If the Indian armed forces go in they will have to remain there indefinitely to prop up the Sri Lankan armed forces against the LTTE threat. Even worse, if the guerrillas are chased and evicted from their jungle hideouts also their only option will be to sneak into Tamil Nadu and try and establish themselves there. That will be a real tragedy because then they will have the active support of the people of Tamil Nadu which will pit them directly against the country’s security forces. That is the time when Tamil secessionism may raise its head. The other option is to somehow bring the LTTE to the negotiating table and persuade it to accept a high degree of autonomy within Sri Lanka. It is a laudable idea but not very realistic. Knowing Prabhakaran, it is difficult to see him functioning as a democratic Chief Minister, taking orders from the Central Government and remaining constrained by the civil courts. Prabhakaran may agree to talks if he suffers a series of defeats because one of the dictums of guerrilla warfare is “fight fight talk talk”. But it will only be a ploy to gain time and he will call them off the moment he is militarily ready again. He may even accept the Chief Minister’s chair but it will only be a temporary arrangement to enable him to fight for Eelam from within. Soon after that he will create a situation of confrontation with the Centre and declare independence. It is obvious from this analysis that the most suitable course for India is what it has been following: to wait and watch and see how the situation develops. —
INFA The writer is a retired Lieut-General. |
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Life of an Indian diplomat LAST November Germans celebrated the 10th anniversary of the fall of the German Wall. Built by the erstwhile Communist regime of East Germany in 1961, primarily to stop the exodus of East Germans to the West, this 12-km-long and 1.25 metre high wall of cement concrete slabs surrounded the tiny enclave of West Berlin. In 1963, it was also effectively used to enforce a blockade of West Berlin, since all road and rail links with the outside world had to pass through the territory of East Germany. US President Jack Kennedy’s famous one liner, Ich bin eine Berliner (I am a Berliner) and the resultant massive airlift of essential supplies to the
beleaguered West Berliners inter alia helped to end the blockade. As World War II was nearing its end in 1945, the allied armies of the USA, Britain and France became engaged in a desperate race with the Soviet forces fast advancing from the east to capture Berlin. Eventually they reached Berlin at about the same time. In accordance with the peace settlement, the capital city of Berlin was bifurcated into East and West Berlin, East Berlin going to the Soviet forces and the West to the three allied powers — the USA, Britain and France. Brandenburg Gate, straddling Berlin’s main thoroughfare Unter den Linden, was blocked in the middle by a massive slab of cement concrete. The bunker in which Hitler spent his last few days lay close to Brandenburg Gate towards the east while the Russian war memorial, noted for its robot-like stiff changing of guard ceremony which invariably attracted large gawking crowds, just fell in West Berlin. Significantly the 1999 celebrations were held at the Brandenburg Gate. West Berlin was placed under the control of an Allied Commandatura comprising Commanders of the large occupation armies of the USA, Britain, France and a token armed presence of the Soviet Union, though local municipal governance was left in the hands of West Berliners. West Berlin was further divided, albeit notionally, into US, British and French Zones, which to foreigners, became evident only when one went shopping to the American PX, or the British NAAFI or the French Economat. Diplomatic, or rather consular, missions were accredited to the Allied Commandatura, and members of consular corps were issued identity cards under the signature of the four army commanders. This in turn, entitled the diplomatic personnel to freely make use of the three highly subsidised army stores set up by the allied governments primarily to cater to the needs of their large armies stationed there. This raised many a piquant situation. For instance, the Indian Ambassador in Bonn, though officially in charge of the Consulate General in West Berlin had no locus standi there because he was not accredited to the Allied Commandatura. An Indian Ambassador, on a visit from Bonn, was politely told in British NAAFI that he was not welcome because he did not have an ID card issued by the Allied Commandatura. The Indian Ambassador to East Germany, just a couple of kilometres away from the Berlin Wall and the Embassy staff had to rely on the goodwill of their colleagues posted in West Berlin to get articles from the army shops just as Indians in CGI West Berlin had to depend on their East Berlin colleagues for the goodies available there. At the check points, diplomats, though subject to intensive search and passport scrutiny, were allowed to transit freely. Other foreigners had compulsorily to purchase some East German marks against hard currency and wait in long queues for passport clearance. In their zeal to prevent the escape of East Germans, the Communist regime had, in addition to the wall, installed high-tech electronic gadgets, electrified wires, high intensity searchlights, while their guards sitting atop high towers dotting the entire length of the wall, using powerful binoculars, had orders to shoot at sight anyone trying to escape. Hundreds of East Germans lost their lives during the 28 years of existence of the wall. Others who could afford it, were willing to pay fabulous amounts to get themselves smuggled out. There was the notable case of a South American diplomat who was caught at Check Point Charlie while attempting to smuggle out an East German in the boot of his large car. There were many occasions when overzealous border guards did not spare even members of the consular corps. Once, while driving back from Frankfurt with my family, an overenthusiastic border guard made me to remove my sunglasses even though I had a diplomatic passport and my car had distinctive CC markings and number plate. An Indian student wearing contact lenses purchased during a visit to West Germany was forced to remove the lenses as the colour of his eyes did not match the description in his passport. Yet another instance was that of a prominent shipping magnate of India who, after a visit to West Berlin, was not allowed to cross into East German territory en route to West Germany because the embossing seal of the office of issue — in this case an Indian embassy in West Europe — was missing. Seething with rage, the gentleman came to the Indian Consulate General and roundly abused all the Indian embassies. Even as his problem was being solved — not without bending rules of the Passport Manual in view of his peculiar predicament — he was continuously threatening to report to the Prime Minister on his return to India. |
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Assimilation no solution to multi-ethnicity IS ASSIMILATION the answer to the problem of the Indian diaspora? The answer is no. And yet it is being suggested as a remedy by illiterate commentators. They say that Indians are not accommodative enough and that they are refusing to mix with the natives. The point is: assimilation has never worked. Never as a one-way process. India is a country of immigrants. In fact, it has been said that it is a mosaic of the human race. All have found welcome in India. It became a country of great tolerance. People lived in amity. The newcomers accepted India’s religions and civilisation and gave up their separate identities. On their own. Not by compulsion. (The Muslims are an exception). Similarly, many Indians have migrated to Central Asia and South-East Asia. They are now part of the population of those regions. You can’t distinguish them. They are merged with the native population. In times of yore, people moved about the world frequently. More often in search of food. Or because of natural disasters or pressures from other tribes. They seldom went back to their native lands. Instead, they quietly merged with the natives. In short, tribal societies were able to maintain their uniformity. This continued for a long time even after tribes began to
confederate. The only tribe which resisted assimilation by any other tribe was the Jewish. That is because they believed that they have made a “covenant” with God, and that God had “chosen” them to pursue some divine purpose. But even they were by no means pure. The ideal of one people, one language, one religion and one culture — this has been universal. India was the exception. India became home to all peoples of the world, to religions and philosophies. Modern America is the only parallel. It is not that all melted into the vast sea of Indian humanity. The Tamils maintained their identity. The Buddhists and Jains flourished. So did the Lokayatas. It is India’s diversity which is its principal asset. It produced the richest civilisation on earth. But it can be a weakness, too. America, as Emerson said, is “an asylum of all nations”. But the American emphasis was on assimilation, on uniformity. Emerson called America “the melting pot”. But the experiment failed because America could not integrate the black men in white society. And even the European immigrants refused to give up their traditions. The experiment failed in Canada, too, for the French clung to their culture and language. Thus, multi-culturalism has come to stay in the western world. It has become a necessity. It is a response to the failure of the policy of assimilation. The western world has given up its goal of homogeneity and uniformity. The “melting pot” is out, and multi-culturalism is in, for in almost all countries of the West, more so in Europe and America, there are today substantial minorities with their distinct cultures, who refuse to be assimilated. But do we understand the implications of multi-culturalism? Certainly not. Prof Bikhu Parekh, an authority on the subject, warns: “There is little sign that we have even begun to grasp the enormity of the problem before us, let alone explore ways to tackling it”. Which is why America, having failed to create homogeneity at home, is seeking to Americanise the world. Indeed, a very absurd project! Today the developing world is asking for free movement of labour, little knowing its long-term consequences. They have not given any thought to its social and political implications. Multi-culturalism is a kind of co-existence of ideologies. To make it a success, a society must observe tolerance. There is no scope here for extremism. But all these are not a plea for homogeneity — for the “melting pot”. All that I want to point out is this: it is not easy to manage a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society. In fact, it is most difficult. And yet there seems to be no better way. Homogenous societies (that of China is a good example) tend to marginalise the minorities and their cultures. In such a society, minorities are denied self-respect. They are denied identity, as it is bound up with their culture. No minority will accept this imposition today. Writes Joseph Ras in his book “Multi-Culturalism: A Liberal Perspective”: “Slighting my culture, holding it up for ridicule, denying it value, and so on, hurts me and offends my dignity”. The pursuit of homogeneity was bound to fail in these circumstances and it failed all over the world. Today, there are only a few ethnic groups which are still homogenous — the Eskimos and Laplanders. Does this means that a majority should put up with absurd ways of minority life? No. There are limits to tolerance. Some minorities have taken to “prettification” of their history and religion. This has only one objective: one-up-manship. Not done in good faith. This has not found favour with others. Thomas Sowell dismisses the plea for equal respect for all cultures. “History cannot be prettified in the interest of promoting acceptance”, he says. “Respect is earned, not doled out”, he protests. Multi-culturalism marks a new stage in the evolution of societies. It means unity without uniformity. A new concept. We have to work out the details. But there is the Indian experience of two thousand years in multi-culturalism, which led to a highly developed and perennial civilisation. It has given India tolerance and a way of life free from much of the violence seen around the world. Multi-culturalism is thus a necessity. It is opposed to racial exclusivism that is advocated by the native Fijians. The path taken by them is wrong. But we can appreciate their concerns and fears. They are not the first to search for homogeneity. Much of the world had done so before. And failed. So, the world cannot let the Speights of the world to shed blood in their quest for homogeneity. The consequences can be terrible. As for the Indians of Fiji, they cannot merge with the natives, for they belong to a major civilisation. Why should they go back to grass skirts? But this does not mean that they should flaunt their superiority. If, however, co-existence is not acceptable to the native Fijians, then they must be ready to partition the country. The Indians have as much right on Fiji as the aborigines. In fact, more so, for it is through their blood, tears and sweat that Fiji has been built up to what it is today. The ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka and Fiji provides the world an opportunity to settle the issue of migrations. It is a continuing process, and there can be more problems tomorrow. |
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Spiritual Nuggets Every experiment, by multitudes or by individuals, that has a sensual and selfish aim, will fail.
— Ralph W. Emerson, Essays: Napoleon or the Man of the World *** I am certainly convinced that it is one of the greatest impulses of mankind to arrive at something higher than a natural state. — James Baldwin, "The Male Prison", Nobody Knows My Name *** All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of him who draws the carriage. —The
Dhammapada: *** An idle man is an easy prey to ignoble thoughts — Vauvenargues, Reflections and Maxims *** Thoughts give birth to a creative force that is neither elemental nor sidereal.... Thoughts create a new heaven, a new firmament, a new source of energy, from which new arts flow. — Paracelsus: Selected Writings (tr. Norbert Huterman) *** Be benevolent towards your fellow beings, for Allah loves those who are benevolent. — The Holy Quran, 2: 196 *** Behave with others as you would with yourself. — Yajur Veda, 40.6 *** "...God is one and beside Him there is no other. And to love Him with all your heart, all your understanding, and all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself — that is far more than any burnt offerings or sacrifices." —The Gospel According to Mark, 12:33
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The devastation wrought in the Northern Circars by the recent cyclonic storm is no less serious than that of a similar storm in November, 1923. Last year also the northern districts of the Madras presidency experienced the effects of a serious storm, though the damage done was less than in the present case. It is not difficult to realise what the people of those districts must have suffered as the result of this recurring fury of the elements. The whole country sympathises with the hardships and suffering of the inhabitants of the affected area, and we have no doubt that adequate measures for their relief will be organised as soon as fuller details of the loss sustained by them are available.  |
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