E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

Why Advani is angry
HOME Minister Advani shuns harsh expressions and pointed attack to make a point. He no doubt adopts hard positions but softens them by a thick veneer of nationalistic logic. But he was different on Wednesday. In his statement to the two Houses of Parliament on the withdrawal of the ceasefire by the Islamabad-based Hizbul Mujahideen, the most prominent Kashmiri militant group, he launched a bitter attack on the Hizb, the Pakistan military establishment and, the All Party Hurriyat Conference. 

FRANKLY SPEAKING

 

OPINION

Priorities for new Army Chief
by B. K. Mathur
PRIME Minister Vajpayee and his Defence Minister Fernandes deserve full marks for selecting the new Chief of the Army Staff — and for avoiding an unsavoury controversy that was slowly hooting up and causing undue delay in the appointment of Lieu-Gen Padmanabhan as the new Chief. 

Fiji failure of Indian diaspora
By M.S.N. Menon
FIJI happened for the good of all: to the Government of India, to the NRIs and to the people of Indian origin (PIO). It woke up the Government of India to the plight of the Indian diaspora. It made the NRIs realise that their billions cannot buy them safety and honour. And the people of Indian origin now know that only a very strong and self-respecting India can guarantee security of their lives and property.

MIDDLE

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

Why Advani is angry

HOME Minister Advani shuns harsh expressions and pointed attack to make a point. He no doubt adopts hard positions but softens them by a thick veneer of nationalistic logic. But he was different on Wednesday. In his statement to the two Houses of Parliament on the withdrawal of the ceasefire by the Islamabad-based Hizbul Mujahideen, the most prominent Kashmiri militant group, he launched a bitter attack on the Hizb, the Pakistan military establishment and, the All Party Hurriyat Conference. He believes, and justifiably so, that the Pakistan authorities, particularly the ISI, have sabotaged the chance of peace in the Kashmir valley. The assessment in diplomatic circles has been that the ISI, the Pakistan military wing lording over the Islamic terrorist outfits, had instigated the Hizb to order a unilateral ceasefire in the firm belief that India would reject it. That will leave Pakistan to paint this country as a war-monger opposed to peace and score heavily in diplomatic oneupmanship in the West. But when India grabbed the chance of peace and sent a high-powered team to initiate talks, Pakistan devised a plan to sabotage the progress and ordered the Hizb to set a stiff condition — include Pakistan in the talks or we would call off the truce. This was a clear attempt at derailing the proposed talks with the Hizb and later with other indigenous militant groups, as India has repeated a dozen times its reluctance to hold bilateral talks with Pakistan as long as it encourages cross-border terrorism. The abrupt withdrawal of the ceasefire has snuffed out the faint hope of peace returning to the valley in the near future.

That possibility will suit the evil designs of Pakistan and the terrorist groups, but not India for obvious reasons. The desire to re-establish peace comes out ringing from the Home Minister’s statement. He has identified the anti-peace forces, has once again pledged the government’s resolve to stick to the path of peace and take head on the Islamic fundamentalists with their faith in violence. It is here that the country enters a difficult phase. Thursday’s bomb blasts in Srinagar are the latest warning of the kind of depredation which brutal terrorism can cause. Mr Advani has promised stern security steps against this type of attacks on innocent civilians. But as the Punjab experience shows, militants grow weak and isolated only when the people disown them and opt for peace. In the present context the government is easily the better bet to provide peace than any militant group, the various Pakistan-sponsored ones or the Hurriyat. Once again returning to the Punjab saga, which has a strong semblance to the present Kashmir context, it was the daring public relations job of the late Chief Minister Beant Singh that tilted the popular balance decisively against the militants and in favour of the security forces. The point is that a time comes when the people give up their real or imaginary demands and want to live in peace and security. That time has come in the Kashmir valley as is evident from the loud collective sigh of relief at the ceasefire offer and the central government’s prompt acceptance of it. All this shows that peace has come on the top of the people’s agenda and the trick is to work it to protect the ordinary man from terrorist terror and restore faith in the system. Remember it worked in Punjab, so it should work in Kashmir too. Handle it deftly.

Train robbers in khaki

THE Government Railway Police (GRP) is responsible for checking crime on platforms, inside trains and on the railway premises. But the experience of railway commuters is quite different. According to them, the force is notorious for the harassment of the general public, the forcible occupation of retiring rooms and the encouraging of unauthorised vendors. In short, the personnel indulge more in unlawful activities — which they are supposed to prevent — and less in lawful duties. Had such complaints been just a few, the allegations could have been dismissed as arising out of the activities of a few black sheep who are bringing a bad name to an entire force. But the large number of complaints is a cause for concern. This is despite the fact that the personnel, who have earned the sobriquet of Goonda Raj Police (GRP), choose their victims carefully who are hardly in a position to protest. Eyewitness reports from busy railway stations like Ambala reveal that the GRP men are active in general compartments of Bihar-bound trains like Chhattisgarh Express, Punjab Mail, Kisan Express and Barauni Express. Under the garb of "search operations", they harass poor commuters till they part with petty bribes. What is alarming is that once a person has silenced them with 10 or 20 rupees, the formality of a search is immediately dispensed with. What if the person concerned happens to be carrying a bomb? He is left alone while these "protectors" of the public occupy themselves with finding room for their favourites in the compartments, again for a price. There are also instances where the constables allegedly under the influence of liquor misbehaved with woman passengers.

Such happenings seem to be an all-India phenomenon. Recently a press photographer in Mumbai clicked a constable accepting a bribe from a vendor in a train. He was assaulted and his camera snatched away. His journalist colleagues came to his rescue but what about the hapless persons who have nobody to look up to? A woman travelling by Guwahati-Delhi Rajdhani Express on Monday had an ordeal thanks to the callousness of the GRP. She was molested by a bunch of hoodlums and lodged a complaint with the conductor, who in turn informed the railway authorities at Varanasi. The GRP was told about the incident. No action was taken despite the fact that the train halted there for 30 extra minutes. The railway authorities at Varanasi informed their counterparts in Lucknow but even the GRP there did not respond to the SOS. The woman had to lodge a written complaint with the Railway Board on reaching Delhi!

Railway officials admit that they are aware of the illegal activities but are not able to do anything about them because the GRP does not come under their purview. The sad aspect is that senior police officials in place of punishing the personnel jump to their rescue. Passengers lodge complaints of manhandling which are passed on to the police officials, with very little response, if any. The situation has acquired alarming dimensions and immediate action is called for. The Railway Ministry says it is contemplating an amendment to the Railway Protection Force Act following the "ineffective role of the GRP of the states to protect passengers and railway property", but that is hardly a consolation to the suffering public. All this is happening despite the fact that the Railways pay more than Rs 160 crore to the states for maintaining the GRP.

Another Kashmir fiasco
Do we understand basic issues?
by Hari Jaisingh

THE Central leadership is still groping in the dark on the twin problems of alienation of Kashmiris and terrorism indulged in by fringe groups. In the absence of clarity of the fundamentals of the issues, it is hopping from one half of a solution to another quarter of a possible way-out. The result is that the Centre just reacts to one side show after another without really testing its policy options and strategies.

Take the latest gamble on the Hizbul Mujahideen. The short-lived euphoria over the start of the peace process is over because the Hizb leadership wants its chief patron — Pakistan — to be part of it. Didn't New Delhi anticipate this? It is a matter of common sense. But then common sense is not so common among our high-flying policy-makers. They are hardly rooted to the soil. That is the reason why they commit one blunder after another.

It is not clear what the government of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee is aiming at. Does it merely want the talk show to go on like sponsored television chat shows which discuss issues without a proper focus and direction? At the end of such chat shows, no one is wiser. Everyone leaves the studio after having his say without realising that he has only added to the prevalent confused thinking.

After the first round of preliminary talks, there was no authentic official word as to why the government suddenly decided to have a dialogue with the Hizbul Mujahideen which has been operating all these years under the patronage of the Pakistani authorities, especially the ISI. What was the compulsion? Do the authorities realise that such half-baked initiatives not only demoralise the security forces but also give wrong signals at home and abroad about our maturity and ability to set the pace for events.

As it is, the Hizb outfit is only one of the large number of militant organisations which have different "godfathers" in the Pakistani establishment as well as outside it. Under the Hizb umbrella there are factions within factions. This is but natural in a fundamentalist organisation driven by competitive religious fanaticism and the rule of the gun.

As I have stated earlier in these columns, the door for a dialogue should always be kept open, but the leaders in New Delhi and Srinagar ought to know what they wish to achieve by such an exercise. Of course, talks conducted in public gaze can only produce limited or zero results.

Serious negotiations have to be undertaken quietly to avoid the building up of pressures from undesirable quarters. We have already seen how last week's Srinagar talks with the Hizb men sent wrong signals and raised the alarm in certain quarters.

Ironically, even the Prime Minister has been talking in different tones. He told the Rajya Sabha on Monday that the government was "doubly determined" to pursue peace in Jammu and Kashmir while fighting against the Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. He, however, did not spell out how he proposes to go about this task. By focusing on issues "outside the Constitution"?

Mr Vajpayee also made it clear that any negotiation with Pakistan would take place only after the hostile neighbour desisted from cross-border terrorism and created a "conducive atmosphere".

The moot point is: how will the Prime Minister bring about a change of heart in the hostile neighbour? By frequently ringing up President Clinton? Well, the Americans can surely help us. But it will be unwise to expect them to solve our problems. We shall have to act firmly in areas which are vital to our national interests. And our leaders are either not sure where our national interests lie or mess up things.

The fact that the massacre of Amarnath pilgrims and other civilians followed the Srinagar meeting shows that there are several militant outfits controlled by the ISI and other foreign Islamic fundamentalist forces which are not interested in a negotiated settlement. Did the Indian authorities take this harsh fact into account to contain mischievous elements in the valley and beyond? I doubt it.

It is no use going into the ifs and buts of history. Whether the militants are the mercenaries of Pakistan's intelligence agency or "soldiers of Islam" financed by organised fundamentalist groups, they cannot be allowed to dictate a solution to the basic issues relating to Kashmir by force.

Unfortunately, what we see in Kashmir is an effort to bring the valley under the umbrella of pan-Islamism. Already several Islamic outfits and foreign mercenaries are operating in the state. As a consequence, the local militants have been sidelined.

One may or may not like to see the Kashmir issue in terms of a conflict of civilisations. But is not what is happening in Kashmir a revival of an ancient crusade? Today, there are sponsored "Islamic soldiers" fighting against secular India in Kashmir. The increasing Talibanisation of Pakistan poses a real danger to Kashmir and the rest of India. Perhaps, our leaders have no proper appreciation of the situation.

Even the ruling elite and a majority of Pakistanis do not seem to realise that the Taliban fanaticism is sure to engulf them as well. For, fundamentalism is a double-edged weapon. It also kills its "sponsors" in the fire of competitive fanaticism.

The problem with the Indian response system is that it is neither coherent nor realistic. In the absence of coordinated thinking, it desperately tries to thrive on adhocism in the hope of a miracle coming to its rescue.

Leave aside the poor quality of political and bureaucratic leadership, even our security and intelligence agencies have given a poor account of themselves in the never-ending Kashmir tragedy.

There is no networking among the various segments of the security forces deployed in the state and on the LoC (Line of Control). The command structure is either faulty or not clearly laid out. There is no inter-agency cooperation and coordination between the Army and other agencies in terms of sharing intelligence and drawing up a well-orchestred plan of action.

This is not a new development. This has been a perennial problem. The Subrahmaniam Committee had specifically focused on this. But even one year after the bloody Kargil episode, there are no reassuring signals on proper evolution of an "institutional process" so as to enable RAW, IB, BSF and Army intelligence officials to interact constantly at various levels.

Then there is the grey area of counter-intelligence. This point is aptly discussed by Mr B.B. Nandy, former Director-General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. I am quoting below his observations (The Pioneer, April 13).

"Prior to the liberation of Bangladesh, the IB had a chain of counter-intelligence (CI) outposts along our border with what was then East Pakistan. Before and during the 1971 war, these posts successfully neutralised many Pakistani espionage and subversive offensives. Unfortunately, soon after the liberation of Bangladesh, the IB drastically cut down its presence in this sector. This created a security vacuum which was exploited by Pakistan's ISI and later by Bangladeshi Intelligence following the military coup and the assassination of Sheikh Mujib in August, 1975. In the current situation of the escalating Pakistan-aided insurgency pressure on India, counter-intelligence presence along our international borders needs to be significantly augmented. The brief for our external intelligence agency should be reviewed and recast, giving greater weightage to CI operations over the collection of political information which in any case is available in plenty from Internet and other open sources".

Very correct, indeed! Mr Nandy deserves thanks for candidly highlighting one basic flaw in our intelligence system, though there are several serious gaps which are crying out for the nation's attention. It is time we learnt to care for the country's problems.

What Kashmir needs is an integrated approach to its manifold problems. Nothing will work if we continue to practise adhocism and act selectively and not as part of a well-conceived response system.

Only total clarity of thinking and coordinated action will give us the desired results, and not half-hearted attempts at tackling the problem of terrorism and the restoration of peace in the valley. But this can be handled effectively if we try to understand the ground realities in a larger historical perspective of what is what and the game the ISI is playing in the name of Islam, Taliban variety. Over to Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Export promotion 
by S. Raghunath

SOUTH Korea and Taiwan are frequently held up as examples of what an export-led growth can do to a country’s economy, but what about India? We are also doing very well, thanks to a baby-led export growth.

Mr Tamta Prasad heads the recently constituted Baby Export Promotion Council (BEPC) and I spoke to him just before he left on an overseas business trip.

I began by asking him if the country’s economy was in such dire straits that babies had to be snatched from their cradles and exported, posing a grave threat to domestic creches and day-care centres.

“The situation is extremely grim” he said: “the country’s balance of payments and foreign exchange positions have become critical and in a liberalised global economic scenario and heightened competition, India has to export babies or perish as an independent nation. The choice is as stark as that.”

“But a baby-led export growth can kill the domestic creches and day-care centres and throw thousands of ayahs and nannies out of employment,” I said.

“In our present state of national development, Mr Tamta Prasad said,” we’ve to make sacrifices for long-term prosperity and growth and I don’t believe that our domestic creches are in any great danger of closing down. Moreover, babies bring invaluable foreign exchange, which we need to pay for essential imports of fertilisers and petroleum products. I would also like to categorise as baseless and motivated the charge that India is exporting babies at the behest of the IMF and the World Bank and the Clinton Administration.”

“What’s overseas markets like for Indian babies?” I asked.

“It’s very buoyant,” said Mr Tamta Prasad,” and despite protectionist tendencies, stiff tariffs and WTO protocols, we’ve been able to hold our own and penetrate the highly sophisticated North American and Scandinavian markets and our baby exports are up 10 per cent over the corresponding period last year and I expect this upward trend will be maintained, thanks to better marketing and customer servicing.”

“There’s a general complaint that Indian exports aren’t well packaged,” I said.

“We’re seized of the problem of packaging,” Mr Tamta Prasad said,” babies earmarked for export are swathed in attractive bibs and nappies and utmost care is taken in their handling and delivery. In fact, babies meant for shipment to overseas markets are handled by experienced air hostesses working for reputed international airlines. As an add-on, we ship our babies on FOB basis and offer trade discounts and 120 days’ suppliers credit. “May I say that India is now in a happy position of experiencing a baby-led export boom and an export-led baby boom.”

“Are exporters of Indian babies entitled to duty drawback and replenishment?”

“Yes,” said Mr Tamta Prasad,” an exporter who exports babies of C.I.F. value of Rs 50,000 can import, under the Open General License, without paying ad valorem customs duty, 5,000 feeding bottles with silicon rubber nipples. The Baby Export Promotion Council also honours top exporters with a shield and certificate of commendation.”

“Thank you, Mr Tamta Prasad,” I said,” you’ve been most informative.”

As his office, he was gaily whistling that hit tune, “You’ve come a long way, (Indian) baby.”

Priorities for new Army Chief
by B. K. Mathur

PRIME Minister Vajpayee and his Defence Minister Fernandes deserve full marks for selecting the new Chief of the Army Staff — and for avoiding an unsavoury controversy that was slowly hooting up and causing undue delay in the appointment of Lieu-Gen Padmanabhan as the new Chief. Strong lobbies had started working in the corridors of power in support of the two Lieu-Generals in the race, Vice-Chief Chandra Shekhar and the ultimate winner, “Paddy”, as Lieu-Gen Padmanabhan is known in Army circles. The lobbying included powerful political leaders, who did not seem to care that the appointment of a Service Chief needed to be kept out of politics. Happily, Mr Vajpayee and Mr Fernandes did not succumb to the mounting pressure and made the right choice.

Wrong words. “Right choice” here does not at all mean that a superior person has been selected. No way. The Vice-Chief who missed the bus was in no way, professionally and leadership quality-wise, inferior to the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Command. For that matter, it is necessary to understand that all commanders above the rank of Brigadier are equally competent. Otherwise they would not have got cleared for Major-General and Lieu-General. Each General has personal qualities and strong and weak points — and specialisations. In the present case Gen Chandra Shekhar had one fault that cost him the top job. He was born three months earlier than Padmanabhan — the new Chief’s only advantage. Gen Chandra Shekhar is retiring at 60 on September 30 — on the same day when General Malik leaves at 62. Gen Padmanabhan was due to retire as Lieu-General on December 31, which mean that when General Malik and General Chandra Shekhar retire, General Padmanabhan will be the senior-most and rightly the next Army Chief, who goes on until he attains the age of 62. In other words, the new Chief, who takes charge of the Army, will remain in the saddle till December 31, 2002 — for two years and three months, which is a reasonably sufficient period in command of India’s large Army, one of the best fighting forces in the world. It is presently facing many challenges. Indeed, General Padmanabhan has several difficult tasks ahead which require thoughtful prioritisation.

The first difficult task which requires high priority is to take up from where his predecessor Gen Ved Prakash Malik would be leaving: the question of having a formal written defence policy which most countries in the world have. Like several other Service Chiefs who take up the cudgels against the government policies and the bureaucracy only a few weeks prior to retirement, General Malik, too, has stressed in a television interview that the politicians and bureaucrats behave as if they distrust men in uniform or are suspicious of the intentions of the soldiers. He and several other retired Generals, as well as this writer, have been stressing for long the need for military integration in the Ministry of Defence. We need more staff in the ministry who know more about defence.

The need for the Defence Ministry’s reorganisastion has been due for a long time. For reasons best known to them, General Malik’s predecessors had been “Yes Minister types” and few Defence Ministers have had courage to alter the file-pushers’ notings, which invariably go to indicate that the bureaucrats know better than the Service Chiefs on matters military. The result? Not far to seek. There is no military equipment policy. There is ad-hocism in its ugliest form. All major and expensive military machines have been purchased in the past few years after years of discussions and foreign trips by teams of bureaucrats. For example, all fighter aircraft since 1962 have been given to the IAF only after they began to enter the next generation in the country of their origin. For the Army, the indigenous production and politics of the main battle tank is indeed a pathetic history.

The second priority for the Army Chief is to recognise faithfully that troops (ORs and soldiers) are the spine of the forces in a battlefield, even though officers lead the operations in the Indian Army, unlike in most other armies. therefore, at the end of any military action, gallantry awards should be given for acts of valour and courage without the consideration of ranks. Take, for example, last year’s Operation Vijay in Kargil. Surprisingly, nearly 85 per cent of the gallantry awards went to officers, notwithstanding the fact that the ratio between the jawans and officers continues to remain at about 20 to 1. Remember, over two million Indian troops fought in World War-II for over five years. Of the 28 Victoria Crosses awarded to the Indians, only two went to the officers, P.S. Bhagat and K.S. Judge.

Gallantry awards are intended to provide a morale-booster to the forces and their families. But that does not happen now. Jawans do not get a proportionate share of awards and compensations. The rot started with the 1971 war. The awardees were selected first and the citations written afterwards to suit the awards. A former Navy Chief, Admiral J.G. Nadkarni, disclosed the other day that the Indian Navy, which fought in a war for the first time since Independence, bestowed an award to an officer believed to have gone down with the “khukri ” only to discover later that the officer was hospitalised and was not on board when the boat sank. What is worse, the bestowing of gallantry awards according to the rank began in 1971. It is the duty of the Service Chiefs to get this kind of distortion set right.

Another point which the new Army Chief is required to go into seriously, and on a high priority basis, is the fast growing disgruntlement among the armed forces leading to an unusual increase in the filing of writ petitions in High Courts across the country by serving and retired personnel. The number has almost doubled — from 763 in 1993 to 1489 in 1977 — the years for which figures are available. Defence Minister Fernandes has himself described this as a “scandalous situation.”

Fiji failure of Indian diaspora
By M.S.N. Menon

FIJI happened for the good of all: to the Government of India, to the NRIs and to the people of Indian origin (PIO). It woke up the Government of India to the plight of the Indian diaspora. It made the NRIs realise that their billions cannot buy them safety and honour. And the people of Indian origin now know that only a very strong and self-respecting India can guarantee security of their lives and property.

The Indian diaspora is highly critical of the Government of India for its inaction during the Fiji crisis. Admit, they have made their point. The Government of India is not sufficiently caring. (Or the MEA and PMO are at loggerheads). But there is a long tradition of neglect. And prejudices too. The NRIs are also responsible for it. What have they done in all these years to institutionalise their relations with the country of their origin?

Independent India led the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. But, on the future of the Indian diaspora, it had no thoughts at all. So, when the blacks overthrew Dr Cheddi Jagan, the first Indian Prime Minister of British Guyana (because he was an Indian), India refused to react. That was the time India should have announced its policy towards the diaspora. But we made none. The neglect continued.

So, when in 1987 Rabuka seized power from the Indian-dominated Government of Fiji, again for racialist reasons, India was not ready to respond. We had no policy even after 40 years! Rabuka even threatened to deny the Indians their political right to vote.

Of course, he could not do it. A multi-racial constitution was, therefore, adopted in 1997. But that has not prevented the new coup. Why? Because the root cause has remained. For this, the Indians have to thank the perfidy of the British. It is they who introduced racialism in the recruitment of men to the army and police. They barred the entry of Indians into these services. That was done with malicious intent.

But the Indians have done well all over the world. That is because of their genes — because of the value of their ancient civilisation to which they were subject for millennia. They refused to lose their genes for the sake of assimilation — a way suggested by some ignorant people. But a price has to be paid for this: they have to remain “alien” in their country.

Unless this mischief is rooted out (this is not going to be easy, for the natives are bound to resist it tooth and nail), there will always be anti-India happenings. This mischief should have been scotched when the 1997 constitution was being drawn up. The Fiji Indians could have mobilised public opinion, they could have sought the help of the world Indian diaspora and they could have called upon India to help them. But they failed to do anything to meet the challenge. They are paying the price for their follies.

The Fiji case shows that it was not only a failure of the Government of India, but also of the Indian diaspora. The latter has now woken up to the perils to which they are exposed.

When an Indian goes abroad, he becomes a nationalist, not because he suddenly discovers India, but because he is looked down upon by the western men. But what has the Indian diaspora, especially the NRIs, done to express their nationalist sentiment? Very little. Only the US NRIs are active. We have to thank them for the success of the Clinton visit. But NRIs in other countries are less active. And yet the global organisations they have created — for example, the Global Indian Entrepreneurs and the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin — are full of promises.

There are six million non-resident Indians, of whom three million live in North America, EU, Australia and New Zealand. They grew out of the “brain drain”. Hence the prejudice against them in India. But they are highly successful and are credited with having a saving of $ 300 billion. And yet their direct investment in India is no more than $ 3 billion (against $ 80 billion by overseas Chinese). Worse, they withdrew their deposits in India when India was facing its worst financial crisis in the early nineties. And they brought a bad name upon themselves by trying to take over established Indian companies. Swaraj Paul was the worst offender.

Most of the NRIs are professionals, which explains why they prefer to put their money in long-term deposits for interest. India had to offer them higher rates in order to attract their investment. Even then their investment is no more than $ 30 billion to $ 35 billion.

Well, you can’t say that they are inspired by nationalist sentiments, can you? A weak India can be of no help to the Indian diaspora. This must be well understood.

The Prime Minister has done well in inviting Mr Mahendra Choudhry to India. We must have direct contact. This is a bold step, for we are to presume that this is a prelude to some action. The message from New Delhi must be loud and clear. It is, as someone said, ridiculous on the part of India to ask other nations to be active, while it remains supine.

It is time, therefore, to create the institutions. Both China (with 50 million overseas Chinese) and Israel (with six million Jews abroad) have Ministries to deal with their diaspora. We have a moribund “division” within the MEA!

While talking of institutions, why not a NRI (or Diaspora) Bhavan in New Delhi, to be mainly financed by the NRIs? This must be a very impressive building and must have various divisions within it to deal with every aspect of life of the Indians living abroad.

But these are not enough. The Prime Minister must now turn his attention to framing a policy towards the Indian diaspora. There are two principal categories of Indians — the people of Indian origin and NRIs. One fact should be kept in mind while framing the policy: India is going to be a global power in the next few years. The Indian diaspora should, in their own interest, welcome this, and support and promote it.

The Ministry of External Affairs is in the process of building up a comprehensive data bank of the Indian diaspora around the globe. Better late than never. There are six million Indian citizens abroad (NRIs) and 20 million people of Indian origin. This is a conservative estimate, according to the Ministry. Once this data is collected, we would know better how to deal with the diaspora and their needs.

The Prime Minister should also take steps to remove the various impediments the diaspora has been facing. For example, limit to their holding in an Indian company, difficulties they face with Indian stocks and shares, dual citizenship, reluctance of Indian banks to take up NRI portfolio investment and others. The decision of the present government to issue PIO cards was, therefore, a major step. The Mexicans enjoy dual citizenship in the USA. So what is the problem?

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

The most difficult thing is to be a Man. And the most difficult task a man can undertake is to bring about the embodiment of Truth and Virtue. The effort to accomplish this most difficult task cannot be successful without the help of teachers and friends.

— The Book of Universality, 24

****

Life shall be the price offered

in this Love's Game of Chess

Where the Lord shall be enticed

and lured to come and play.

He who shirks to offer his head,

may wait indefinitely for entrance to Him.

— Rup Goswami, Laghu Bhagawat

****

He who is mentally prepared to embrace death conquers fear and attains to immortality.

— Krishnananda Shastri, Shri Garuda Puranam, Introduction

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* A bubble is on water and merges in water. Man is born in God and merges in God.

* A characterless man is like a pot with many holes, useless for carrying water or storing it.

* A clean uncontaminated mind is like a fully blossomed fragrant rose. It refreshes and pleases. It can raise and reach the foot-stool of God in heaven.

* A discontented man is as bad as lost. A man without love is as good as dead.

* A person might be an expert in any field of knowledge or a master of many material skills and accomplishments. But without inner cleanliness his brain is a desert waste.

* A man who has love for God is like the traveller with a ticket; he need not be afraid of any one while making his journey.

* A moment of concentrated prayer from heart is enough to melt and move God; hours of shouting do not count.

* A life of sadhana involves the dedication of all acts to God, the offering of whatever one does or thinks or speaks at the feet of God.

* A healthy body is the best container for a healthy mind. A healthy heart is the temple of God.

* A pure thought from a pure heart is better than a mantra.

* Act as you speak, speak as you feel. Do not play false to your own conscience by forcibly enslaving it and embarking on actions not approved by it.

* A virtuous character is the lamp which illumines the path to peace and joy.

* Act and then advise. Practice first precept next.

* Activity is the keynote of the universe. It must be dedicated to God, the Highest Good.

— From the discourses of Sri Sathya Sai Baba