E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

Pak hand in church blasts
REPREHENSIBLE that the recent church blasts in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa were, they had very subtle sinister dimensions. On the one hand, these tarred the Sangh Parivar badly, because all the accusing fingers were pointed at them. 

Indian peacekeepers
AT long last Indian troops doing peacekeeping duties in hostile and alien lands, as part of the United Nations' global force, have attracted the attention of their own leaders. The deserved attention to their role in promoting global peace has come after 222 soldiers, mostly Indian, were rescued from the clutches of Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone. 

OPINION

The 1952 Delhi accord: myth and reality
by Hari Om
SPEAK a lie a 100 times and it becomes a truth. This has actually happened in Jammu and Kashmir. The Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) President, Dr Farooq Abdullah, and his close lieutenants wanted everybody to believe in something which did not really exist. And they have succeeded. 

MIDDLE

Monsoon moods
by I.M. Soni
HOW simple and yet how singular is the philosophy of rain! It is an admirable arrangement of God to water the earth. It is the cool refresher of the summer heats. Falling in big drops, causing ripples on pool surface, it makes melancholy music for my mind. Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds, are relieved by the letting out of water, I console myself.

OF LIFE SUBLIME

WORLD IN FOCUS

“Africa dying of AIDS”
From Vasantha Arora in Washington
WORLDWATCH Institute has called for “a Marshall Plan-scale effort” to stem the tide of the HIV and AIDS which is now taking 6,030 lives in Africa every day, crippling economic and social development.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

Law is for sale 

MONEY power was on stark display on Tuesday when the Central government decided to wink at land-grab crime for a fee. It decided to convert illegal settlements into legal ones by imposing a penalty ranging from 10 per cent for slum-dwellers and 50 per cent for the super rich. Now Urban Development Minister Jagmohan will call back the demolition squads and the BJP bigwigs in Delhi will breathe easy as a real threat of voter antipathy has disappeared. If ever there was vote-bank politics, here it is in the most visible form and right in the national capital. Nobody knows how many unauthorised colonies there are but one report indicates that it could be over 1000 in all, although the “affluent” ones will be just a handful. When these tiny shacks, precariously perched on extreme squalor, are formally sold at 110 per cent of the market value the proud owners of often less than 100 sq ft will have acquired the right to build a permanent “house”. The Land and Development Office will determine the price, though it defies logic that a small piece of land in a stinking slum will ever attract buyers. Obviously the argument about rising revenue to provide some basic amenities there is a clever ruse to mollify the Minister. When he cleared Delhi slums during emergency he handed over 22 sq yd for each uprooted family in the then undeveloped East Delhi. One pink newspaper has written that the land price and the penalty would bring in Rs 2,000 crore. This huge amount from slum- dwellers? Public finance is getting to be weird!

The question of condoning big houses on private land in areas like Mahendra Enclave and Anantram Dairy as also Sainik Farms has at least one merit. Well-designed and well-built places will not be bulldozed into rubble. That is the most destructive way of enforcing law. The farm houses were legal when they were built but slipped into the banned category when Mr Jagmohan reversed a law. His predecessor and now Law Minister Jethmalani halved the minimum area of a farm house to two acres and that sparked an eruption in South Delhi. On assuming office he restored the old condition of four acres, which not many super rich can afford since an acre of land often fetches nearly Rs 5 crore. The amended rules rendered several of them unauthorised and out went the bulldozers. The Cabinet approval to make all unauthorised colonies legal talks of collecting 150 per cent of the land value, including a hefty 50 per cent as penalty. These colonies are not encroachments on public land but have come up on private land but without the necessary permission. This is particularly true of Anantram Dairy smack in the heart of South Delhi. At least one Union Cabinet Minister has a house there and he once suggested that the government should collect a fine equal to the cost of construction and close the chapter. Incidentally, the income tax department has been directed to fix the value and it has expertise mostly in the valuation of houses, rather than residential plots. The wholesale regularisation of a very large number of slums underscores the absence of a coherent housing policy. The pointed urban orientation in the developmental plans draws the rural people in search of a livelihood and the total neglect of their basic needs results in slums and the multiple problems they create for the city administration.

Pak hand in church blasts

REPREHENSIBLE that the recent church blasts in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa were, they had very subtle sinister dimensions. On the one hand, these tarred the Sangh Parivar badly, because all the accusing fingers were pointed at them. On the other, these brought about considerable political instability in the country, as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was under tremendous pressure to withdraw support to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre. Then there were international implications as well, with the secular image of India under fire. Now it comes to light that the explosions were masterminded by a Pakistan-based spiritual leader. Four persons arrested in this regard are reported to have received training in Pakistan. The explosions were deliberately carried out to create communal tension, chaos and confusion and to provoke violence between various communities at the behest of Syed Ziaullah, spiritual head of the Deendar sect based in Mardam (Pakistan). To make sure that Hindu organisations were suspected, they even carried out an explosion in a mosque. The enemies of the country almost succeeded in their endeavour, but for an accidental explosion in a van in Bangalore on Sunday which led the police to the real culprits. Even now, an attempt may be made to shift the blame to some other organisation but there is confirmed evidence against the Pakistan-based organisation in the shape of a confession and a large cache of gelatine sticks, detonators and timers. The group had been reportedly indulging in mischief since 1996 when it had desecrated the statue of Dr Ambedkar at several places in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The breakthrough paints a disturbing picture of the reach of such antinational elements. They are learnt to have held several meetings in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka before carrying out attacks on the Christian community at Machlipatnam, Medak and Viqarabad. Explosions at churches in Tadepallygudem in West Godavari district and Ongle in Prakasam district occurred almost simultaneously. While four persons have been arrested and vital clues about their modus operandi obtained, another 15 to 20 persons highly trained in militant and subversive activities are still at large. While their arrest is the immediate priority, the country has to learn many lessons from the incidents. One, the mass protests that take place after any explosion or attack on a religious place amount to playing into the hands of the enemies of the nation. Two, it is wrong to accuse any particular community for such ghastly incidents. The killers have no religion. Now that the culprits have been apprehended, it would be a travesty of truth to so much as suggest that the attacks were carried out by Muslims. This particular bunch was only driven by an extremely selfish agenda which had nothing to do with any religion. To further their dirty designs, they had no qualms about planting a bomb even in Guntur's Markaz mosque, injuring two persons and triggering off massive mob violence. Lesson number three is that in such trying times, every community should be on a long fuse, refusing to be provoked by deeds of a handful of maniacs. And the last lesson is not to discount the possibility of Pakistani hand in any such incident in future. 

Indian peacekeepers

AT long last Indian troops doing peacekeeping duties in hostile and alien lands, as part of the United Nations' global force, have attracted the attention of their own leaders. The deserved attention to their role in promoting global peace has come after 222 soldiers, mostly Indian, were rescued from the clutches of Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone. They were captured nearly two months ago by RUF rebels wanting control of the diamond-rich nation. Significantly the rescue operation code named "Khukri" was led by Major-General V. K. Jetley, Commander of the UN peacekeeping force in the strife-torn African nation. External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, who was himself a distinguished soldier, did well to scotch the rumours about the Indian troops being withdrawn from peacekeeping assignments in Africa because of the "high risk factor". During the past 50 years Indian soldiers have taken part in 33 peacekeeping missions, including the ones in Congo and Somalia, and their efforts have earned them the respect of the global community. They are counted among the best peacekeepers in the world because of their ability to bring the same intensity and involvement to their assignments which they showed while repelling intrusions in Kargil or defending the borders in the North-East. To say that UN peacekeeping efforts would suffer if Indian participation was withdrawn would not be an exaggeration. Unfortunately, their role in assisting the UN in maintaining global peace has not always earned them from their own country the respect they deserve. Mr Jaswant Singh was trying to make up for the lapse by showering deserved praise on the brilliantly executed operation "Khukri" for rescuing the peacekeepers from the jungles of east Sierra Leone under the control of the rebels. And now Defence Minister George Fernandes will fly to Sierra Leone today and spend four days with the Indian troops to bolster their morale.

The domestic audience evidently needs to be told that reducing global tension is as important an assignment as defending Kargil; and that Indian soldiers on UN peacekeeping duties deserve as much praise as those defending the country's border. The political leadership has woken up to the need to boost the morale of troops on "out-nation" duties. But the Indian media has unfortunately still not realised the importance of highlighting the deeds of valour and dedication of Indian troops under the UN flag. The western media knows the importance carrying news, on a regular basis, about the difficulties and achievements of the troops on foreign assignments. Such coverage keeps the people informed about the particular country's contribution to promoting global peace. It serves an equally important role of keeping the families of the soldiers posted about the welfare of their near and dear ones. Surprisingly, not even Doordarshan and Akashvani have tapped the potential to improve their popularity rating by carrying regular reports of the role of Indian troops in performing peacekeeping duties in foreign lands. The team of journalists with Mr George Fernandes may return from Sierra Leone better informed about how the role of Indian peacekeepers abroad deserves as much notice as the deeds of the soldiers keeping vigil in Kargil. 

POLITICS OF NON-PROLIFERATION
A flawed, unjust N-treaty
by G. Parthasarathy 

INDIA has consistently championed the cause of nuclear disarmament for over four decades. Even as we did so, we continuously built up our nuclear potential so that we would be able to defend ourselves against threats to our security. In pursuing these policies we rejected discriminatory treaties like the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and made it clear that in the pursuit of strategic autonomy we would keep our nuclear options open. All five nuclear weapons powers have sought to persuade us to sign the NPT, with the USA being in the forefront of efforts to persuade and even compel us to forego our nuclear option. Successive governments in our country have defied these pressures, with the Vajpayee government taking the logical step of openly declaring the country’s nuclear capabilities and intentions following the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998.

The pressure on India to forego its nuclear options has been particularly manifested during the tenure of the Democratic Party Presidents in the USA. President Carter tried unsuccessfully to persuade the Morarji Desai government to accept full scope safeguards on our nuclear installations and give up our nuclear options. The Clinton administration has adopted a policy of relentless pressure on India for the past eight years to “cap, roll back and eliminate” our nuclear weapons capability. Its zeal to pressurise us to join the CTBT and the FMCT remains an integral part of this effort. It is true that there has been a remarkable improvement in the climate of our relations with the USA in the recent past, especially in the wake of President Clinton’s visit to the subcontinent. But the USA will have to understand that while we seek a growing strategic partnership based on shared values with them, there can be no compromise on our basic national security interests.

One would have hoped that with the end of the Cold War, the necessity for countries to use nuclear weapons would end. This has regretfully not happened. The US Doctrine of 1993 on Joint Nuclear Operations explicitly envisages the use of nuclear weapons by Washington in “regional contingencies”. In order to maintain overwhelming nuclear superiority the USA has embarked on programmes like the Stockpile Stewardship Programme and the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative in which over $ 4 billion is to be invested to enhance the sophistication and reliability of its nuclear arsenal. The USA has ensured that the provisions of the CTBT are such that it can test the reliability of its nuclear weapons at “sub-critical” levels. The CTBT is, therefore, certainly not “Comprehensive” in banning nuclear tests as its title suggests.

The other nuclear weapons powers have not hesitated to follow the US lead. A recent French White Paper on Defence has recommended that the existing deterrent should be enhanced. Britain has argued that a valid case could be made for using nuclear weapons against warships at sea and sparsely populated areas. The NATO Doctrine clearly envisages the use of nuclear weapons even in conflicts outside the European theatre. Russia has revoked its adherence to a no-first-use doctrine — a doctrine that was the central theme of Soviet strategic thinking. Finally, Israel has implicitly made it clear that it would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons if it became necessary for its survival.

The strategic scenario closer to home has become even more delicate in recent years. After denouncing the NPT as an instrument of hegemony, China acceded to the treaty. It has, however, retained the option to use nuclear weapons against countries like India that are not signatories to the treaty. More importantly, it has provided assistance to Pakistan in developing that country’s nuclear and missile programmes in a manner that violates the very basic provisions of international covenants like the NPT and the MTCR. It is now well established that it was largely because it had assembled nuclear weapons of Chinese design that Pakistan was able to indirectly hold out the threat of use of nuclear weapons against India when tensions arose during the course of Operation Brass Tacks in 1987. According to officials in the Bush Administration, the same scenario was repeated in 1990. Within two years of the fence-mending visit of Rajiv Gandhi to China, the Chinese commenced the supply of nuclear capable M-11 missiles to Pakistan. There is now little doubt that the Shaheen missiles being assembled in Pakistan are also of Chinese origin. Interestingly, even as the Clinton Administration sought to “cap, roll back and eliminate” India’s nuclear and missile programmes it deliberately covered up and obfuscated the implications and extent of the Sino-Pak nexus in the nuclear and missile fields.

Both India and Pakistan are known to have possessed nuclear weapons for over a decade when the May, 1998, tests were carried out. The Chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commission recently revealed that of the five nuclear tests carried out in May, 1998, only one was of an actual nuclear weapon that had been in our possession for a few years. The other tests, including the thermonuclear test, were of weaponisable devices. While Dr Chidambaram claimed that the tests were entirely successful, reputed monitoring institutions across the world have doubted the yield of the thermonuclear device tested by us. More importantly, a group of eminent Indian scientists led by the former Chairman of the AEC, Dr P.K. Iyengar, have expressed doubts whether the tests carried out so far are adequate for developing a credible and reliable deterrent, including thermonuclear weapons. The ultimate efficacy of a nuclear deterrent is its credibility in the eyes of others. We cannot ignore the doubts that have been expressed.

Since the NPT was signed in 1970 China has increased its stockpile of nuclear weapons from 75 to over 300. France, which had a stockpile of 36 strategic nuclear weapons in 1970, now has over 400. The growth of the strategic arsenals of the USA and Russia has been even larger. In addition, the nuclear weapons powers have over 30,000 tactical nuclear weapons. Vertical proliferation has escalated since the NPT was signed. The United States Senate refused to ratify the CTBT on the grounds that it would compromise the country’s ability to test the reliability of its nuclear weapons. China agreed to join the discussions on the CTBT after conducting 45 nuclear tests, including a series of tests just on the eve of the talks. France did likewise.

In recent days the international strategic scenario has been further complicated by the US decision to develop a national missile defence system. This has caused serious concern in Russia and China. The latter has given no indication whatsoever about its readiness to ratify the CTBT. Thus, we are at present going through an uncertain global strategic scenario where the nuclear weapons powers have not closed their options to test and improve their nuclear capabilities by one or more form of testing. In addition, China seems to have few inhibitions in transferring missile and nuclear capabilities to Pakistan. Given this Chinese propensity, we will have to develop our deterrent capabilities on the assumption that Beijing will transfer the knowhow for thermonuclear weapons also to our rather adventuristic western neighbour.

The recently concluded NPT Review Conference in Geneva has important implications for India. The 187 member-countries asserted that India should not be recognised as a nuclear weapons state. There are to be continuing restrictions on the flow of dual use technology to India. Further, unless we agree to the NPT provisions and accept “Full Scope Safeguards”, we will not get any assistance for developing unclear power. Signing the CTBT at this stage is, therefore, not going to get us any economic benefits. We should not sign this treaty and forsake our nuclear autonomy at a time when nuclear and missile proliferation continues in our neighbourhood, and the international security situation remains uncertain. At the same time, we must be prepared to contribute to the efforts that reduce the risk of nuclear conflict globally and pursue the cause of universal nuclear disarmament.

Our security is best guaranteed in a nuclear weapons-free world. Just as we were not deterred by the threat of economic sanctions in the past, we should now be prepared for a national effort to meet the challenges posed by the denial of dual use technologies to us. This will be a real test of our resolve and national will.

Currently a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, the writer is India’s former High Commissioner to Pakistan. 

Monsoon moods
by I.M. Soni

HOW simple and yet how singular is the philosophy of rain! It is an admirable arrangement of God to water the earth. It is the cool refresher of the summer heats.

Falling in big drops, causing ripples on pool surface, it makes melancholy music for my mind. Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds, are relieved by the letting out of water, I console myself.

The greyness of the monsoon produces greyness of the heart. Clouds look like dirty rags on the sky. I feel gloom seeping into my soul.

I lose zest to work. I remain indoors as long as I can. A strange lassitude overpowers me. I cling to my clothing desperately trying to extract as much warmth as I can.

A prolonged spell of rain and cloudy sky add extra gloom to my mood. Nothing outside the routine set by foul weather happens. The routine, rigid like the last journey preparations, is boring and banal.

Reading is a torture, writing a bigger one. I would rather remain wrapped in a cosy night suit than venture out. My mind goes into hibernation as if in protest against the forced rituals my body has to go through. I cannot help accusing the elements which conspire together to result in a world of depression for me.

The very thought of working or stepping out of the house converts me into a misery-manufacturer. I have to carry my rusty, temperamental umbrella and pass by heaps of rubbish in front of my house, wade through the sidelines overflowing with rain water. Worse, I have to lift my pants up as women lift the edges of the sari, to prevent it from wetting.

As I reach the road, a seemingly well-educated man drives his car through a big puddle, splashing the rain water all over my clothes. I carry traces of mud along with my black mood.

I try to dispel the barometer blues by blowing sartorial trumpets. I switch over to brighter clothes but they too fail to dispel the gloom.

I tell myself: Look! you are perishing in the greyness of your own moods. Do something.”

I cannot. But nature comes to my rescue. I see a bunch of children, shirts off, yelling, prancing, splashing in knee-deep water.

Rains bring joy, too. I tell myself. The clouds consign their treasures to the fields, softly shake on the dimpled pool, creating a small revolution.

The rain is now playing its pleasant tune fitfully, and the shades of the dark, fast-flying clouds, pass across my mind in weird, haunting psychedelic patterns.

The lark in me wakes up. Thanks to the nameless bunch of children passing in front of my house, revelling in rains.

The 1952 Delhi accord: myth and reality
by Hari Om

SPEAK a lie a 100 times and it becomes a truth. This has actually happened in Jammu and Kashmir. The Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) President, Dr Farooq Abdullah, and his close lieutenants wanted everybody to believe in something which did not really exist. And they have succeeded. This is evident from the scores of political commentaries, including that of the former J & K Governor, Mr Jagmohan, and reports which appeared after June 19 in several leading national dailies and magazines, as also from a number of TV programmes.

The case in point is the NC leader’s oft-repeated assertion that the Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and the J&K Wazir-e-Azam, Sheikh Abdullah, and their aides got involved in negotiations between June 14 and July 24, 1952, to work out an arrangement that would regulate the Centre-State relations. The outcome of these lengthy and tortuous parleys was what they term as the “Delhi Agreement”, signed on July 24 by Nehru and the Sheikh. But this is just one side of story. The other is for more interesting and startling. It, in the words of Dr Abdullah, is that “it was Parliament which (ratified the ‘Delhi Agreement’ and) promised autonomy” and that “the Bill (to this effect was) piloted (on July 24) by (the) then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.”

It may be recalled that it was in 1992 that the “fugitive” Dr Abdullah and his out-of-power Jammu and Delhi-based Kashmiri associates unleashed a no-holds-barred campaign to convince the Indian nation, Parliament, the authorities in South and North Blocks and the media that the root cause of the “Kashmiris’ alienation” was the conspiracy hatched by New Delhi and its power-hungry Kashmiri agents to subvert the “Delhi Agreement” and bringing J&K surreptitiously within the ambit of the Central laws and institutions. Ever since then they have been using all the available fora and saying that there is but one way in which the separatists can be deflated and the Kashmir problem solved and the estranged Kashmiri won over and that is by redefining the Centre-J&K relations strictly in accordance with the lines indicated in the “Delhi Agreement”.

In effect, they (and their report on state autonomy and the June 26 Assembly resolution on it) have been vouching for a dispensation that not only snaps all the state’s politico-constitutional ties with New Delhi and re-arms the valley’s ruling class with extraordinary legislative, executive and judicial powers but also makes it mandatory for the Central government to guard the state’s borders, protect J&K from foreign aggressions and meet all the financial needs of the Kashmiris.

It would be only desirable to discuss very briefly the circumstances under which Nehru and the Sheikh met during June-July, 1952, and what transpired between the two. Such an exercise has become imperative to clear all the confusion, put things in proper perspective and establish that there exists no such accord as the “Delhi Agreement”.

It needs to be noted that the whole exercise started on April 10, 1952, when the Sheikh made some highly inflammatory speeches at Ranbirsingh Pura in Jammu and repeatedly poured venom on the Indian State. Highly infuriated, Nehru asked the Sheikh to meet him and explain his position. The Sheikh and Nehru did meet. It was during this and the subsequent meetings that the Sheikh raised certain issues concerning the Centre-State relations.

In fact, the Sheikh told Nehru that he and his party were for an autonomous J&K. He also urged the Indian Prime Minister to allow the J&K Constituent Assembly, which was set up in 1951 after wholesale rigging, to frame a constitution that could empower the State to exercise absolute control over all matters minus those relating to three subjects — defence, foreign affairs and communications.

To be more precise, the Sheikh wanted Nehru to accept at least 10 of his demands. These were: (1) The “State Subjects”, or persons domiciled in J&K, will be the citizens both of the State and India. (2) The “State Subjects” will have all the rights all over India but the “Non-State Subjects” will have no rights whatsoever in J&K. (3) The fundamental rights as contained in the Indian Constitution will not be conferred on the “State Subjects in their entirety”. (4) The State will have the power to “define and regulate the rights and privileges of the permanent residents of J&K”. (5) The State will be allowed to have its own flag. (6) The State will have the power to elect its own Head of State or Sadar-e-Riyasat, and the person so elected shall be answerable to it (read ruling party). (7) Article 356 shall not be applicable to J&K. In other words, the Centre will not intervene in the State in the case of any internal disturbance. (8) Article 324 of the Indian Constitution will apply to the State only in the case of elections to Parliament as well as the offices of the President and the Vice-President. (9) The Supreme Court of India will have limited jurisdiction over J&K. It will deal with only such disputes as are covered under Article 131 of the Union Constitution. (10) All the residuary powers will be the sole preserve of the State.

It is very important to note that both Nehru and the Sheikh had arrived at an agreed solution only as regards the aims and ideals and bare outlines of the new constitution. Numerous matters, which will form the basis of Centre-State relations, had been left undetermined as proper subjects for further discussion and explanation. Some of these issues such as the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, jurisdiction of the Election Commission, emergency powers, fundamental rights and the question of finance were yet to be clinched. It is true that Nehru expressed his willingness to accept the Sheikh’s other demands. But it is equally true that he did so rather reluctantly.

It was on July 24, 1952, that Nehru informed the Lok Sabha as to what had transpired between him and the Sheikh. And what he told had been taken by the NC as a solemn agreement between New Delhi and Srinagar. This, despite the fact that there is no Constitution (Application to J&K) Order to this effect. The Lok Sabha statement of the Indian Prime Minister, which was rather ambiguous on several issues, has no moral, legal or constitutional significance.

However, to write all this is not to suggest that there exists no written agreement between the Centre and the Sheikh. There exists one and that is the 1975 Indira-Sheikh Abdullah accord. This has been implemented in its entirety. The Sheikh became the Chief Minister in 1975 itself under this accord, despite the fact that his party did not have even a single legislator either in the Assembly or in the Council. Not only this, the Sheikh gave up his 25-year-old demand for greater autonomy in 1981, when the Chairman of the Central Laws Review Committee and the then J&K Deputy Chief Minister, Mr D.D. Thakur, submitted his report and told the Chief Minister that the “needles of the clock cannot be turned back” and that the application of the provisions of the Indian Constitution to J&K had not only benefited the State but also the “State Subjects”.

The writer is Professor, Department of History, University of Jammu.

Values make a difference
by Madhav Godbole

I OFTEN ask myself two questions. The first, what distinguishes a human being from all other living creatures; and the second, what does the development of a human being signify?

The answer to the first question has to be clearly his value system as compared with that of other living beings. Animals, too, have their value system but it is not as well developed as that of the humans. The answer to the second question is equally self-evident. The higher the level of evolution of a human being, the more pronounced is his value system.

As a human being enters higher and higher level of evolution, more moral and value-based is his code of conduct, whether personal or social. This has to be distinguished from the development in the conventional sense of the term in terms of increase in per capita income, increase in levels of literacy, nutrition and so on.

Worldly affluence may not necessarily imply a higher value system or a more pronounced moral tone of life style.

From this perspective, as one looks around at the events world over, a basic question arises whether we can qualify as human beings. Exploitation of man by man; atrocities committed by the well-off, powerful but insensitive sections of society on the defenceless and weaker sections of society such as the scheduled castes, the scheduled tribes, women, children, and widows; wanton destruction of the environment; all raise the question whether we are qualified to call ourselves human beings.

Equally shocking is the allround degradation of society in all walks of life. Once upon a time, politics was considered to be the last vestige of a scoundrel. Now, scoundrels are to be found in all vocations as diverse as education and sports. No field of activity is free from blemish.

Questions, therefore, inevitably arise as to whether we are going from the lower to a higher level of development at all. Of what use and comfort are the worldly acquisitions and wealth if the inner development as a human being is neglected?

Yet another question which arises is where have we gone wrong in our developmental efforts in the past 50 years since Independence, which has brought us to this pass? Did the leaders of our freedom struggle miss the main emphasis in nation-building? Was there anything important and significant missing in our Constitution?

It is important to note that our leaders of the freedom era, as also the post-Independence period, never instilled among the people the virtues of social values which could distinguish us from other societies.

The leaders talked of our rights as citizens but never of our duties as citizens. There was not a single article in the Constitution on duties as compared to the lengthy elaboration of the rights of citizens.

It was only during the Emergency that an article on fundamental duties was incorporated, but these duties have remained only on paper as they cannot be enforced.

Being a multi-religious society, we are a secular state. And, this is as it ought to be. But, it should not mean that we need not have the anchor of any values for our social, economic and political moorings. There is no reason why the best of the teachings of all religions cannot be drawn upon for formulating a charter of values which we, as a country, could seek to assimilate and practise.

Relying on teachings of any one religion will be divisive and lead to controversy, as it happened in the case of Saraswati Vandana (incantation of Goddess Saraswati), but there should be no room for any controversy if the best teachings of all religions are drawn upon to preach and practise.

Value-based living alone will equip us to face the increasingly complex challenges of the 21st century. Modernisation and Westernisation should not mean a society bereft of values.

It is interesting to see that the importance of meditation is being increasingly accepted in the Western concepts of corporate governance.

It is never too late to go back to one's roots. Development should imply as much, if not more, the development and enrichment of inner self as it does of the material world.

The writer is a former Union Home Secretary.

“Africa dying of AIDS”
From Vasantha Arora in Washington

WORLDWATCH Institute has called for “a Marshall Plan-scale effort” to stem the tide of the HIV and AIDS which is now taking 6,030 lives in Africa every day, crippling economic and social development.

The Washington-based research institute, while lauding the successes of Uganda and Senegal, highlights the need for initiatives to help Africa cope with the challenges posed by HIV and AIDS. Programmes that foster behavioural changes like condom use, as well as international investment and involvement were cited as necessary steps in fighting AIDS in Africa.

It says the recent International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa, reminds that Africa is dying. The HIV epidemic that is raging across Africa is now taking some 6,030 lives each day, the equivalent of 15 fully loaded jumbo jets crashing — with no survivors. This number, climbing higher each year, is expected to double during this decade.

The institute says public attention has initially focused on the dramatic rise in adult mortality and the precipitous drop in life expectancy. “But we need now to look at the long term economic consequences — falling food production, deteriorating healthcare, and disintegrating educational systems,” it says.

While industrial countries have held the HIV infection rate among the adult population to less than 1 per cent, in some 16 African countries it is over 10 per cent. In South Africa, it is 20 per cent. In Zimbabwe and Swaziland, it is 25 per cent. And in Botswana, which has the highest infection rate, 36 per cent of adults are HIV positive. “Unless its spread is curbed soon, it will take more lives in Africa than World War II claimed worldwide,” it says.

Without AIDS, countries with high infection rates, like Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa would have a life expectancy of some 70 years or more. With the virus continuing to spread, life expectancy could drop to 30 — more like a medieval than a modern life span.

According to the Worldwatch, the HIV epidemic is affecting every segment of society, every sector of the economy and every facet of life. For example, close to half of Zimbabwe’s healthcare budget is used to treat AIDS patients. In some hospitals in Burundi and South Africa, AIDS patients occupy 60 per cent of the beds. Healthcare workers are worked to exhaustion.

This epidemic, now producing thousands of orphans each day, could easily produce 20 million orphans by 2010, a number that could overwhelm the resources of extended families, it says.

Education is also suffering. In Zambia, the number of teachers dying with AIDS each year approaches the number of new teachers being trained. In the Central African Republic, a shortage of teachers closed 107 primary schools, leaving only 66 open. At the college level, the damage is equally devastating. At the University of Durban-Westville in South Africa, 25 per cent of students are HIV positive.

Food production declines from the epidemic have been reported in Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Zimbabwe. In pastoral economies, such as Namibia, the loss of the male heads of household is often followed by the loss of cattle, the family’s livelihood.

Sub-Saharan Africa, a region of 600 million people, is moving into uncharted territory. There are historical precedents for epidemics on this scale, such as the smallpox epidemic that decimated New World Indian populations in the 16th century or the bubonic plague in Europe in the 14th century, but there is no precedent for such a concentrated loss of adults. — India Abroad News Service

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

By religion, I do not mean formal religion or customary religion, but that religion which underlies all religions, which brings us face to face with our Maker.

My religion has no, geographical limits. If I have a living faith in it, it will transcend my love for India herself.

Mine is not a religion of the prison-house. It has room for the least among God’s creation. But it is proof against insolence, pride of race, religion or colour.

— The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, chapter 13

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The consciousness that there is something above, beyond you, more than you, larger than you, transcending you, which you would like to reach, is religion.

— Swami Krishnananda, Your Questions Answered, chapter 28

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There are three hundred religions on the earth, three hundred different dogmas, creeds. Do you think all...can be true?

Truth can only be One.

You may verbalise it differently, but you cannot make two creeds out of it. Your languages may be different. Your concepts about it may be different but anybody can see that it is about the same truth.

— The Rajneesh Bible, Vol. II, discourse 18

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Cows have different colours, but the colour of milk is one. There are different kinds of roses, but the scent is one. Religion is one, but many are its forms of practice. Diversity is the order of creation. Religion is no exception to it....

Religion is living in God. It is not mere discussion about God. Mere intellectual assent cannot make you really religious. Real religion is beyond argument. It can only be lived both inwardly and outwardly. It is realisation and becoming.

— Swami Shivananda, Bliss Divine, chapter 50

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The true practice of religion is to sit still in meditation and talk to God.

— Swami Yogananda, Man’s Eternal Quest: Making Religion Scientific