The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Now real missile threat

The threat is not new nor is the original source of the missile danger unknown. But the assessment of Pakistan’s full potential by US intelligence agencies is cause for both concern and also some diplomatic curiosity. Now that the USA is convinced that China continues to supply key missile parts, including the guidance system, and the expertise to put them together at a brand new plant, what will it do to make the subcontinent a less dangerous place in the world? Its manoeuverability with China is limited to blocking free trade. Even this option will clash with the commercial interests of several leading companies and they will surely mount a campaign to get China off the hook. And they are powerful. True, there is a half-hearted move in the US Senate to force the administration to impose automatic sanctions if China continues to violate the general ban on exporting missiles or missile technology. But that will work only if (a) the administration is fully supportive of such curbs and (b) the offending country is a small fry vulnerable to armtwisting. The first is not the case; at least the Clinton administration is keen to establish close trade relations with China. There are two reasons. The President believes in the philosophy of globalisation as a shortcut to improve living conditions in the Third World. Additionally, trade-driven prosperity, Mr Clinton firmly says, will draw China fully into the world system and end what he repeatedly describes as human rights abuse. Against this background, it is naive to expect the USA to treat China the way it now treats Pakistan. At best, China will not get the most favoured nation status which will enable it to engage in free trade like any other country. A bill is before the Senate and if the debate on China’s missile export gets shrill, it will stay there without becoming legislation. China has so far managed very well without that privilege and will do so in future also. If Mr George Bush enters White House in January next, he will fight with the Senate to get the bill passed; he shares some of the ideas of Mr Clinton.

What about Pakistan and its monotonous claim that its missile programme is totally an indigenous effort? First it was North Korea which sold Nodong medium range missiles. It offered missiles to other countries like Iran partly to earn foreign exchange to tide over a very difficult economic situation and partly to defy of the USA. It has become a good boy now and Pakistan has a new source of missiles. Its long-range Ghauri missiles is a copy of the Long March missiles of China. Its Hatf too is based on Chinese drawings. It seems that China is not so much exporting new models as helping Pakistan set up and run a new unit. The presence of Chinese engineers near the facility indicates this. If so, there is no new danger to India but the old one threatens to become permanent. It is not a happy prospect but something this country has to live with. This development will cause worry in Israel too. It fears that like North Korea did at one time, Pakistan may ship a missile or two to a fellow Islamic state and get dollars even if it angers the USA. Israel has Syria and Iran in mind. It will tap India for more information and seek advice to minimise the risk. In the months to come there will be much exchange of opinions and hard information. When it comes to its security, Israel tends to be openly paranoid. That is something India should learn.

Ambitious, but ….

It goes without saying that the education system in the country leaves much to be desired. This is all the more true in States like Haryana where what is being imparted, especially in rural areas, is only an apology for education. The new Haryana State education policy-2000 strives to address some of the perennial problems. The most welcome aspect is that all teachers would compulsorily do a five-year stint in rural schools on their first appointment. Posting in a rural school is considered a punishment and most teachers try to avoid it somehow, with the result that education in village schools suffers. Despite the order, there is a very real danger that many teachers would try to get posted in schools which fall in the rural segment all right but happen to be close to a big city or town. The change that is sought to be brought about (removal of rural-urban disparities) will be possible only if the remotest villages also have the sufficient numbers of teachers and they actually teach! The transfer of elementary education to panchayati raj institutions and urban local bodies should ensure a closer day-to-day watch on the performance of the teachers. One only hopes that the pious goal of enhanced accountability at all levels, reforms in examination and evaluation systems and recognising merit and promoting excellence among students and teachers would become a reality soon enough. An education system that is holistic, qualitative, socially and economically productive and relevant to fast changing environment is not only desirable but absolutely essential for the uplift of society.

The difficulty is that a major change is sought to be brought about without there being sufficient preparation for it. All the proposals that have been put forward are wonderful to read but are not at all easy to implement. The most ambitious of these is the universalisation of elementary education by the year 2005. A closer reading, however, reveals that the State is only supporting the Union Government's endeavour in this regard. The dream cannot be fulfilled till the Constitution is amended to make it compulsory for the parents to send their children to school. Similar ifs and buts are also going to come in the way of several other forward-looking schemes. Take, for instance, the decision to introduce computer education in schools. In a situation where most of the schools have neither enough teachers nor even proper buildings, the plan might very well remain on paper for far too long. It has not been made clear what provisions have been made to purchase such large number of computers. No doubt it has been announced that 6 per cent of the state GDP will be spent on education but that increase will become applicable only 10 years later. Are there enough funds available in the near future to take care of computer education? The State has similarly taken a bold step to introduce English from Class One. The aim is to bring education in government schools on a par with private public schools. Again, there are very many questions. Are there enough trained teachers? Has a detailed curriculum been drawn up? Will the students who are not able to cope with education even in their mother tongue manage to learn a foreign language at such an early age? A similar scheme was introduced in the neighbouring Punjab hurriedly, with all the resultant confusion. There is no quarrel with upgrading education to the maximum extent possible. The only note of caution is that this should be done with a sense of responsibility and only after ensuring that the necessary infrastructure is in place.

Hype over Shahtoos

The decision of the Jammu and Kashmir government to back the proposal for banning the Shahtoos trade has evoked mixed reactions. The animal rights activists are happy, but the traders are not. A convincing case can be made out both for and against the proposed ban. But ultimately the side which has the support of the global community may win the battle being fought in the name of preventing a rare species of antelope from becoming extinct. The animal rights activists enjoy the backing of most of the economically developed nations. That is the reason why the case for a complete ban on the production of Shahtoos shawls should be examined from the angle of the right to livelihood of the Kashmiri craftsmen who would be rendered jobless if the ban is introduced. The "western conspiracy" theory too deserves careful and impartial scrutiny. The oriental perfume industry, of which Indian was an important partner, was done in by international cartels through the simple stratagem of spreading the canard that the so-called perfumes of Arabia were not safe for the human skin. Big global players had a hand in giving the Indian carpet industry a bad name by over-playing the angle of the involvement of child labour. The British destroyed the art of producing the famed "Dhaka ki malmal" to promote Manchester. Now it is the turn of the Shahtoos industry to face the threat of extinction because the concept of the "carpet-baggers" of the West about a level-playing field and fair competition is rather one-sided. India has suddenly become the "producer" of beauty queens because the international cosmetic industry sees in the country vast potential for selling its products. Indian women are beautiful, but Indian crafts and products are not, is the new global mantra. The role of some of the Indian NGOs in promoting the western agenda too needs a close look. The punchline of a television commercial that "inko paise do, yeh kuchh bhi bol daltey" can be borrowed to describe their role as champions of animal rights.

The Chiru is a rare Tibetan antelope whose fleece is used for making the world's finest, warmest, lightest and most expensive shawl. It is facing the threat of extinction, according to those who have succeeded in mobilising global public opinion against the Shahtoos industry. But are they telling the truth - the whole, unvarnished truth? Is it not possible for the Jammu and Kashmir government to evolve a policy which takes care of the the right to life of the Chiru as well as the thousands of craftsmen associated with the trade? Members of the Kashmir Valley Shahtoos and Pashmina Weavers and Spinners Association have threatened to launch a state-wide agitation to force "the government to reconsider the decision taken in a huff". They have a point when they say that they have been in the business of making Shahtoos shawls for the past 650 years. Why must they kill the goose which lays the golden egg? Nevertheless, there seems to be sufficient evidence to prove that the middlemen, who supply the fleece to the manufacturers, are the ones who have suddenly become greedy. Their claim that they merely collect the "wool" of the Chiru. has been found to be bogus. The more greedy among them actually kill the animal to get the "golden fleece". However, those who are in favour of the ban have evidently not studied Salim Ali, the internationally acclaimed Indian ornithologist. He helped save countless species of birds from certain extinction. But he was not a blind bird lover. His down-to-earth advice to bird hunters was: don't eat the capital, eat the returns from its wise investment". The Jammu and Kashmir government should examine the feasibility of adopting a similar approach for saving the Chiru and the highly complex craft of making Shahtoos shawls from becoming extinct.

SELLING THE FAMILY JEWELS
Privatisation’s absurdities
by Praful Bidwai

THE contrast today between Indian and British attitudes towards the privatisation of public sector enterprises (PSEs) couldn’t be sharper. Fifteen years after Margaret Thatcher put PSEs in 15 major public industries on the block, their service has declined the quality and safety, tariffs have risen sky-high, and their management remains indifferent, if not crisis-ridden. Privatisation is now seen by many sensible Britons as a big mistake, indeed a monumental error. British Airways, long tom-tommed as privatisation’s greatest success story, is in dire trouble and hunting for partners. British Telecom’s tariffs are among the highest in Europe. Britain’s privatised water supply is so costly that many people prefer to be disconnected altogether. This has created health problems in poor areas. Under the water companies’ myopic ecological policies, 20 rivers have dried up.

Even worse is Britain’s transport infrastructure. Broken up into small private divisions, the once-first-rate British Rail system now has appalling maintenance standards. One result of these was the recent Paddington accident, one of Europe’s worst. Today, the trademark red London double-decker bus rarely runs on time. The bus network has been parcelled out into small fragments owned by companies more interested in cutting jobs (less than a third have conductors) and raising fares than in providing a semi-reliable service. And many people here actually get abusive when talking about plans to further privatise the National Health Service, once truly Britain’s post-War jewel.

In India, however, we seem determined to repeat every blunder in the Thatcherite book of privatisation. The dominant media response to the July 23 Cabinet disinvestment meeting was one of faked disappointment — although 33 PSEs were posted for a sell-off, the highest number at one go. These include Shipping Corporation, Hindustan Zinc, STC, MMTC, Hindustan Organic, even Indian Oil, India’s only Fortune-500 giant. Besides, there is the “old” list of Air India, Indian Airlines, IPCL and ITDC. Private industry groups are already salivating at the mouth at this sell-off. Assocham, CII and FICCI have all enthusiastically welcomed the decision, which they see as the wholesale transfer of ownership and control from “the public to the private sector”, not just a means of “raising revenues through sale of a minority share of equity”.

Indian and foreign businessmen are gloating over the government’s embrace of the proposals they themselves made in various narrowly constituted advisory committees (which carefully excluded independent experts, trade unionists and consumers). For instance, Messrs G.P. Goenka, Nusli Wadia and Rajeev Chandrasekhar recently made a presentation to Mr Vajpayee on behalf of the PM’s Council on Trade and Industry. They recommended making the disinvestment plan “foolproof” by putting “the strongest” PSEs on the market first. This is what happened. The fit between industry self-interest and government policy could not have been tighter.

The contrast between skyhigh expectations from privatisation (in India) and its actual experience (in Britain is explained by the fact that Thatcherism has proved bankrupt in its homeland whereas our policy-makers live in a time-warp. They think that privatisation is a magic wand and the key to a glorious future. This probably reflects sheer ignorance coupled with market fundamentalism. The time has clearly come to de-ideologise the issue and reject the simple equation between privatisation’s gung-ho advocates (“modern” and forward-looking) and its critics (state-obsessed “dinosaurs”). The issue of liquidating public assets in vital sectors must be treated with utmost caution, prudence and wisdom. A wrong decision has enormous implications for the economy and people’s welfare.

The present government’s approach to PSE privatisation is distinct from that of the 1990s regimes although all have used divestment to finance the fiscal deficit — i.e. to fund their own profligacy. (This government too wants to garner Rs 10,000 crore via this route rather than tax the elite). In vogue today is the idea of handing PSEs over to “strategic partners” — typically, big private companies in the same industry. Thus, there are plans to sell oil sector PSEs to oil multinationals like Shell, IPCL to Reliance, and aluminium PSEs to one of the world’s biggest cartels. This approach is downright pernicious. It is liable to create monopolies. In fact, management gurus like Michael Porter sharply criticise the government for selling Modern Foods to Hindustan Lever as an anti-market measure violative even of US anti-trust laws.

Secondly, “strategic partnership” is vulnerable to cronyism and misuse. And yet, the government is prepared to go to ludicrous lengths in such “partnering”. The Public Enterprises Selection Board recently asked Jet Airways to recommend “suitable executives” to head Indian Airlines, no less! (The Hindu, June 22) Jet is Indian Airlines’ biggest rival, with a stake in weakening, even grounding, that airline. This is like asking the wolf to guard the chicken-coop!

However, there are even deeper flaws in the market-fundamentalist argument for privatisation. The argument is based on three wrong premises: that the private sector is inherently more efficient than the public sector; that privatisation has been the norm, not the exception, in the path to rapid industrialisation; and private enterprises can be made to perform some of the functions historically associated with PSEs. To start with, it is extremely doubtful if ownership determines efficiency. Even a number of World Bank studies say it is not ownership, but management, that matters. In many countries, PSEs have a more stable, steady, if relatively low-yielding profit performance. Private corporations are more volatile; their profits fluctuate wildly. India has a considerably higher incidence of sickness in the private sector than in the public, with 250,000 sick companies in the former.

The return on capital from our PSEs is low, but not unacceptable so. Between 1990 and 1997, the equity put into PSEs was Rs 65,000 crore. The ploughback was Rs 88,000 crore. The value of just the top 10 PSEs is over Rs 500,000 crore. A recent CMIE study found that PSEs use capital more efficiently than more private companies. Despite overstaffing, bureaucratic interference in management, pricing constraints, and other debilities, our PSEs have managed to perform. They must be reformed, not privatised.

Secondly, the “mixed” economy paradigm has typically been the key to rapid industrial growth. During the Golden Age of Capitalism (1945-73), the public sector in the OECD countries accounted for 40 per cent-plus of GDP. Even in the USA the most private industrial economy, certain infrastructure activities have always been public — e.g. electricity where public utilities account for 60 per cent. In France and Germany; or Italy and Spain, PSEs compete successfully with private companies in fields as diverse as banking, automobiles, aerospace, construction and oil/gas. In the “Asian Miracle” economies, it is the state’s role, not the market’s, that explains fast growth: indeed, economist Robert Wade famously entitled his book on East Asia, Governing the Market.

In its “pristine,” full blown form, privatisation has been prevalent not in Western Europe or Japan, but in the “disaster economies” of Eastern Europe. Here vast swathes of public property were suddenly transferred into private hands. This spawned a criminalised “mafia capitalism”. The Russian economy has shrunk by one-half since 1991. Eastern Europe has experienced the world’s worst-ever and most prolonged war-like depression — except that there has been no post-War reconstruction. Privatisation is hardly a successful or attractive model. (For more details, see Brendan Martin’s In the Public Interest? Zed Books, London, 1993.)

Then there are privatisation’s costs to the public exchequer. For instance, most British PSEs were under-sold. Prices of British Telecom shares doubled within a month of sale — a loss of £3.3 billion to the public. Electricity shares were sold 60 per cent cheaper. In Russia, De Beers got a five-year concession on diamonds for one-fifth the value of the diamonds to be mined! In India, the Comptroller and Auditor General estimated that the public lost Rs 3,342 crore in undervalued PSE shares sold in 1991-92.

However, the Vajpayee government has learned no lessons. It doesn’t even have a clue about how to evaluate the PSEs’ worth. Most Indian PSEs are not quoted on the stockmarket. And FIIs have been deliberately beating down the prices of these that are quoted. For instance, the Indian Oil share has a book value of Rs 315, but is quoting at an artificial Rs 152. Many PSEs are sitting on vast amounts of real estate, now worth hundreds of billions. Unless PSEs are properly valued, we won’t even know how to price their shares.

Finally, some nagging questions arise: Should we squander away a world-class asset like BHEL? Does India really gain by selling off STC and MMTC which have developed exceptional trading expertise and saved us billions in grain and metal deals? What substitute is there for ONGC and Oil India, which alone have discovered hydrocarbons here whereas MNCs reported no finds for decades? How can we promote regionally balanced growth and other worthy social goals without support from PSEs? It is one thing to sell off hotels. It is quite another to divest valuable, painstakingly built, public assets. That defies economic as well as political logic.

Government and the uniformed services
by P. H. Vaishnav

IN the heat and acerbity of Mrs Kiran Bedi, then Inspector General of Police, Chandigarh’s attack on the Chandigarh Administration on the alleged ground of gross interference, the general implications of Mrs Bedi’s stand have not been analysed. On account of her standing with the media to which she takes easy recourse and media perception that its role is to project an anti-establishment stance, issues have become obfuscated and truth obscured. At that time in the emerging scenario the full facts also were not known.

Mrs Bedi renewed her attack recently at Chandigarh in which she openly questioned the role of Lt Gen B.K.N. Chhibber, (retd), then Administrator of the U.T. and the Governor of Punjab. In the position she took against the Home Secretary, the attack on the Administrator was implied but the main thrust was against the former.

It is, therefore, necessary to discuss the sequence of events preceding the exit of Mrs Bedi from Chandigarh and then examine if what she was asserting as her absolute right as the head of the police force, to ignore with impunity the authority of the government (in this case the Administrator) and her questioning of the relevance of the home department is justified both with reference to the facts, as well as the accepted theory and practice of governmental authority, the duties as much as the rights of the Inspector General of Police and then assess whether she was wronged as a result of inter-serv-ices discord or the disregard by the Administrator of her concern for her officers, her contention that she had the right and duty to disobey the orders of government, the pressure brought by her on her IPS colleagues and other officers of the force to sign a petition and project these activities in the press in an unbecoming language.

On February 15,1999, The Tribune published a news item to the effect that the files relating to the murder case of one Ganpat Rai and Inderpal Gupta in 1983/1984 were missing in addition to files of other important cases and the several FIR books of 1983. These files were reported to have been found in the Sector-26 police station. It was on this news item that the Governor-cum-Administrator himself ordered an inquiry through the Legal Remembrancer, Chandigarh Administration, necessarily a member of the judicial service. The Home Secretary was not responsible for this decision.

The LR gave a detailed report indicting five police officers, including two Deputy Superintendents of Police.

This report was sent to Mrs Bedi and the Home Secretary had apprised the IGP of the seriousness of the allegations. Mrs Bedi then told Mrs Vineeta Rai, the Adviser to the Administrator, that while the charges appeared serious enough to warrant departmental proceedings, suspension of the officers be avoided. The inquiry report was submitted to the Governor (Administrator) who ordered the registration of an FIR for criminal misconduct and forgery against two officers and the suspension of five officials. When the Adviser to the Administrator informed Mrs Bedi of this decision, she spoke of the impending confrontation with the administration. Mrs Bedi also asked the Adviser to hold back the suspension orders so that she could meet the Governor (Administrator) to present the police point of view. Accordingly, Mrs Vineeta Rai withheld the despatch of the orders. Newspapers the next morning reported that the IGP was meeting the Administrator to project the police point of view.

The IGP met the Administrator and also gave a note raising certain issues regarding the inquiry by the LR. The issues raised by Mrs Bedi were also examined and after detailed discussions with Mrs Rai, the LR and the Home Secretary, the Administrator refused to review his earlier orders. The final decision of the Administrator was conveyed to Mrs Bedi by Mrs Vineeta Rai. The former first threatened to take the matter to the court and refused to implement the orders of the government informing the Adviser that these officials were “on leave and not under suspension”. Then followed a series of statements to the Press, including the one where she complained that the “Chandigarh Police has been raped.”

This was followed by an open petition which Mrs Bedi sent to the Administrator against the Home Secretary for gross interference. The case related to the arrest of three British citizens on allegation of possessing drugs whereas actually it was the police who had robbed these individuals of their belongings. A Deputy Superintendent of Police who had pleaded guilty was punished with the stoppage of four increments with cumulative effect. The orders of the transfer of the constables concerned were passed by the Adviser to the Administrator Mr Sagar and not by the Home Secretary. These orders were conveyed by the Home Secretary. Adviser Sagar’s intervention became necessary because the police department had exonerated the officials.

Mrs Bedi then next briefed the Press about her petition.

These facts are verifiable and have also appeared in the Press.

From the above facts, it follows that in the normal course The Tribune news item was directly taken note of by the Administrator. The LR cannot be said to be a biased officer. His inquiry report was promptly shown to Mrs Bedi. Right then itself Mrs Bedi had decided on a confrontation. The orders of the government were disobeyed and the force incited to agitate and government condemned by its own officer.

The IGP’s objections to suspension were duly considered by the Administrator, and it was his decision to maintain his orders of suspension. Even allowing for the pivotal position of the IGP in relation to the force, she cannot arrogate to herself the powers which belong to the government in so far as the Deputy Superintendents of Police are concerned as the government, not the IGP, is the appointing and disciplinary authority. The principle that Mrs Bedi was wanting the government to recognise was that as the IGP she was not subject to government orders, that there was no indiscipline in inciting IPS and other officers to petition against the government. Her statement that she was accountable only to the law and to the people does not in any way provide her with a defence of her indefensible conduct. And finally when she recently named General Chhibber she left no one in doubt that it was not the Home Secretary but the Governor (Administrator) himself that she meant when she attacking the government.

Mrs Bedi’s case is not dissimilar from that of Admiral Bhagwat. The condoning of Mrs Bedi’s indiscipline, therefore, in all objectivity is a bad precedent. It also shows how the media, in their anti-establishment stance, omit to inform the public truthfully.

Realpolitik
by P. Raman
Caught in communal terrorism

ALL of us seem to have totally missed the birth of a new phenomenon called communal terrorism. Two years of the BJP rule at the Centre has brought about sweeping changes in the approach, strategy and targets of the Hindu supremacist outfits. Old style riot-based anti-minority onslaughts have become rather outdated. They are politically less profitable and totally counter-productive at a time when the BJP is running a loose kind of coalition.

Thus the time-tested riots marked by selective burning of humans, shops and houses and curfews are being replaced by a hit-and-hide strategy to suit the new situation. There has always been a correlation between the incidence of riots and the Parivar’s subsequent growth in a given region. However, any more such riots would precipitate massive backlash on the state-level parties which have substantial minority support base and on whose support the Vajpayee Government survives. This alone has been the reason for a perceptible fall in incidence of riots in the past two years. Instead, communal terrorism has the advantage of making the same effect without openly involving the Parivar outfits.

Second, an important factor that has led to the adoption of subtle terrorism as a means to spread religious hatred and fear complex has been a shift in the selection of its very target group. Unlike the Muslims, Christian responses to provocations have been traditionally guarded and passive. Up to now, there has not been a single case of Christian retaliation in any of the trouble spots. Parivar outfits dismiss this as their numerical and physical inadequacy. Even the church authorities and the laity have been deliberately spurning the offer of gun licences lest it would subject them to the charge of provoking clashes. This unilateral passivity has made terrorist-style attacks the most effective means of spreading paranoia.

Third, the increasing attacks on the Christians have put the Vajpayee Government under terrific foreign pressure. In this era of globalisation, even a veiled warning by the US envoy is enough to send shivers in South Block. When the midnight attacks increase, the government, and to an extent the Parivar, will be under more pressure to disown the incidents. This creates ideal condition for the adoption of secretive terrorist tactics. This is precisely what is happening during the past six months.

Fourth, the obfuscation and confusion caused by complicated and often contradictory hierarchical authority within the RSS Parivar have made the hit-and-run method (which does not leave any trace of evidence) the most effective game plan against the ‘Christies’. For the BJP, not only the controversial issues like Article 370 but the VHP’s hatred campaign is also not in its agenda. However, the RSS or its Parivar outfits are at it the whole hog. Apparently under the compulsions of coalition, Vajpayee takes the position that it would firmly deal with the attacks on the Christians. The RSS denies any role in the attacks but repeatedly assails the Christian activities. The VHP and its Bajrang Dal are more blunt in talk and action.

Each of its units right from the RSS persistently runs campaigns against the Christians — very often doubting their patriotism. But each would repeat they were against violence. In private, they would charge the victims themselves with ‘provoking attacks from us.’ No one can fail to notice the mood at the lower rungs of the Parivar. The multiplicity of outfits and their sub-units — some with doubtful affiliation as that of Dara — has made obfuscation and confusion thrive. Even if someone is caught, it could easily be dismissed as an individual act. All this too provides ideal breeding ground for communal terrorism with the silent encouragement but without formal link-up or support with the official outfits.

The birth and development of other kinds of terrorisms have been strikingly similar. Once the trend catches on, the lumpans and street goons — whose links with every kind of communal group is known - would merrily join. They did so in all occasions, including the anti-Sikh riots. When creation of a parallel but informal network for specific tasks becomes advantageous there will emerge so many faceless Daras filled with religious hatred and frenzy. Making of Dara, a small-time UP criminal recluse moved over to Orissa, into almost a cult figure signals the potentials of communal terrorism. The man freely wandered the tribal belts, gave TV interviews and addressed the fanatic crowds but the police could not touch him for months.

His advocate has announced he would contest the election — with or without the Parivar’s support. The message is that he could win even without the blessings of his creator. He may. It is the atmosphere of cultivated hysteria that creates Bhindranwalas. Let us not ignore Dara’s poll dreams as a prank. This writer has seen crudely enlarged photocopies of Dara being distributed along with the anti-Christian handbills right in Delhi’s DDA colonies. Such idolisation amidst the organised demonisation of the foe itself will induce local fanatics to emulate their hero in deeds. Case studies of Punjab terrorism have revealed that most of the incidents were ‘isolated’ — as Vajpayee told the Pope — actions and done by the local elements on their own initiative. Coordinated simultaneous attacks were very rare and mostly for ‘retaliation.’

If Vajpayee fails — as is most likely — to persuade the RSS bosses on the issue of Christian attacks, the present series of provocations may catch on in a more calibrated manner. In case the Parivar leadership decides not to further embarrass the ruling party and tries to restrain the action groups at the grassroots level, in many places it is bound to lead to unguided anti-minority terrorism. In either case, the entire burden of maintaining societal peace will fall on the states. A seasoned officer in a central agency, now out of favour, asserts that the movements of a few Bajrang Dal cadres and ‘trainees’ will provide clue to the recent series of ‘isolated’ attacks on the Christian clergy and institutions. One such training camp was held at Mathura around which many notorious attacks took place. This is not unknown to the North Block mandarins.

Even according to the published reports, about 3,700 cadres are being given specialised training — both fanatical and physical — by the Bajrang Dal in different parts of the country. National convener of the Dal Prakash Sharma has revealed to the media that the first of 25 such camps began early last month and the last will be at Guwahati on July 30. With 150 at each camp, the total number will cross 3,700. These under-21s are being given training in target shooting, use of firearm and ‘such things’ (explosives?) and all that is needed to equip them with defending the people from the ‘anti-nationals’. Sharma’s remarks to the media is worth quoting: “We are empowering a cadre so that no one, not even the Prime Minister, should bow before the Pope to apologise for false attacks on Christians.”

Reports also quoted a trainee saying: “I am from the secret service of the Bajrang Dal. Israel’s Mossad is our inspiration. I can’t tell you more.” Perhaps he need not elaborate. Another senior Dal leader told the media: “We feel that every time there is a crime like this, the Bajrang Dal’s name should be taken. Hindus will respect us and Christians will fear us.” A particular media report which is being studied by the NHRC, quoted a Dal leader as having asserted: “The Christians wanted to take over the country. What is the point of our targeting one or two. Our aim is to drive them all away.” The same leader admitted that he and his colleagues had “attacked” the priests around Agra for trying to convert Dalits. None of these published reports have so far been contradicted.

There is no need for recounting the large number of attacks ranging from pasting notice of threat at the church gates, bomb blasts, demolition of graves, murder of and attacks on priests, eliminating witnesses and harassing nuns. This has even provoked the government’s senior-most law officer Attorney General Soli Sorabjee to say that those who perpetrate such an atmosphere of hatred should “either be in jail or lunatic asylum”. The Prime Minister himself has been quite forthright in assuring firm action but is handicapped by the equivocal position of his own senior colleagues in the Parivar, party and government. Party spokesmen were evasive. Even the Union Home Minister repeatedly gives a clean chit to the Dal. Under such circumstances, how can one expect any serious action to catch and punish the culprits?

The deliberate inaction by the BJP-ruled State Governments has only worsened the situation. The largely communalised upper caste police has been virtually assisting the ethnic cleansing operation. This lends a premium on the hit-and-run tactics. However, the new Parivar strategy of targeting the religious minorities even while seeking to earn support of the communalised Hindus, has caused real dilemma for the non-BJP states, especially those under the NDA allies like Telugu Desam. All these parties have a substantial minority support base. Failure to detect and punish the communal terrorists is causing considerable worry for them.

Unfortunately, the police machinery of every state routinely treat all such incidents purely as a law and order problem. Suggestions from senior ministers like Advani about the ISI hand will only make them follow false leads. No one should ignore any more the fallout of the inflammatory handbills and pamphlets demonising sections of society. They range from a 50-year-old ‘Madhya Bharat conversion report’ to exaggerated population statistics. In some places, such silent campaigns have disturbed the traditional tolerance and mutual functional dependence of different communities. The situation could be countered only through a dual policy of firm handling of the communal terrorists as well as a determined political campaign to restore social amity.

Spiritual Nuggets

From four different modes countless types have their birth, All the souls that inhabit air, water and earth. In everything Sita and Ram beholding, I offer obeisance, my hands humbly folded. Give me as your servant a kindly reception, And grant me your favour, forsaking deception. Upon my own wisdom and strength never relying, To you do I come for your aid, meekly crying....

— Ramacharitamanasa, Bala kanda, chaupai 8.

***

Just as the water of a stream loses its identity when it is poured into the Ganges; just as the iron blade of a butcher becomes gold when it is touched with a philosopher’s stone; just as a neem tree acquires perfume when it is grown near a sandalwood tree; just as a piece of stone turns into salt when it stays in a salt mine; so also does one become a saint if he remains in the company of saints. One is purified by the spiritual currents emanating from a satsang, and naturally, good and noble qualities are awakened in him.

— Huzur Maharaj Sawan Singh, Philosophy of the Masters, Series one

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Praise to be Allah, unto Whom belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever in the earth. His is the praise in the hereafter, and He is the wise, the aware.

He knoweth that which goeth down into the earth and that which cometh forth from it, and that which descendeth from the heaven and that which ascendeth into it. He is the merciful; the forgiving.

— The Quran, Surah XXXIV, Saba, 1-2

***

Without satsang remains unknown the Name of the Lord,

And without His Name, attachment of the world does not flee.

Till attachment goes, there comes no release from bondage.

Without release, awakens not longing for the Lord.

If longing is absent, devotion will not blossom forth.

Without devotion, love will not be kindled in the heart.

Without love, there is no Name, and without Name, no Saint.

Weeks, therefore, O paltu, the gift of satsang from the Lord.

— Saint Paltu, Bina Satsang na katha Hari Nam