E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

It’s Terroristan 
THAT Pakistan is a bulk exporter of terrorism has been an open secret. But the latest reports about the sheer volume of this deadly Made in Pakistan consignment takes one’s breath away. According to a despatch in the venerable Washington Times, about 1.75 million, repeat 1.75 million, Pakistani youths are being trained in nearly 7,000 madarsas across Pakistan for waging a jehad in Kashmir and other part of the world. 

OPINION

WILL PAKISTAN GO KOREAN WAY?
Ruinous arms race with India
by O. P. Sabherwal
ISLAMABAD’S renewed arms race with India, loaded on a decrepit economy, is a marked feature of the present spell of Pakistan’s military rule under Gen Pervez Musharraf. Having taken over power, with the promise of salvaging Pakistan’s crumbling economy, one should have expected from the present regime a halt in unbridled military spending. But, instead, there is accretion to military-related expenditure, particularly in propping up Pakistan’s missile-nuclear acquisitions.

State of state archives
by V. N. Datta
MR Gautam Kaul’s warning that the Punjab State Archives is in an appalling state is timely and most welcome, particularly coming from one who is a non-professional historian, and who rightly regrets that the state archives does not interest the Indians as much as it does the foreigners (The Tribune, August 9). The situation in respect of Haryana is worse than in Punjab.

MIDDLE

POINT OF LAW

DIVERSITIES — DELHI LETTER

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

It’s Terroristan 

THAT Pakistan is a bulk exporter of terrorism has been an open secret. But the latest reports about the sheer volume of this deadly Made in Pakistan consignment takes one’s breath away. According to a despatch in the venerable Washington Times, about 1.75 million, repeat 1.75 million, Pakistani youths are being trained in nearly 7,000 madarsas across Pakistan for waging a jehad in Kashmir and other part of the world. Just to put the figure in perspective, suffice it to say that the entire strength of the Indian Army (including the Navy and the Air Force) is less than 1.2 million. Mind you, the number (1.75 million) only refers to the boys currently undergoing indoctrination. That makes it an average of 250 students per school. As the head of one madarsa himself declared proudly, 13,000 students have already passed out of his institution. He also gave it out that at least 2,000 of them were now in or on their way to Kashmir after suitable military training. The approximate number of Pakistanis waging war in Kashmir can be easily calculated. Add to that the number of foreign mercenaries who have been inducted and you get a clear idea of what the Indian security agencies are up against. The arms and ammunition are no problem as long as the Government of Pakistan feeds them. It is these teenagers who die in encounters while the Pakistani television shrieks that Indian security forces are indulging in a genocide in Kashmir. Can the military regime deny with even an iota of sincerity that it is fighting a regular war when several such madarsas exist right inside the walls of the old city of Lahore?

It is time for the world community to wake up because neither the report emanates from India nor Kashmir is the only destination of the brainwashed “jehadis”. They are also headed towards Chechnya, Afghanistan and Palestine. But the favourite target is the USA. Since these boys are totally ignorant of the world and its ways, they can and are being used as lethal robots. The report graphically describes how it has been drummed into their impressionable minds day in and day out that anyone who is not a Muslim is an enemy and eventually all people must become Muslim, including the Christians and Jews of the USA. One 14-year-old boy was asked how he would recognise the enemies of Islam. “If I greet them with ‘Salam Aleikum’ and they won’t say it back,” he said. The boy was then asked: “Since most Americans do not know how to respond to the traditional Muslim greeting, are they enemies of Islam?” “I don’t know,” he said, looking expectantly at his hovering teachers, who, shockingly, appeared similarly confused by the question. The havoc that such training can cause can be imagined. The chances of such boys dying violently are high but there is no dearth of volunteers. This is partly due to religious conviction and mainly because of the perfidy of Pakistani rulers and poverty of the rural people there. The state-run educational system has almost collapsed. The illiteracy rate among adults is as high as 70 per cent. There are thousands of families living in remote villages which cannot afford to buy school books or uniform for their sons. Jobs are impossible to find for illiterate villagers. The local madarsas exploit this hopeless situation, offering them one free daily meal and sometimes a free shirt. For this pittance, millions of hapless boys fired by misplaced religious zeal are learning to kill and die. Those who talk of denial of human rights to boys and girls in sweatshops in Asia should first focus their attention on this problem which can set the whole world on fire. The state support for this hate campaign is obvious. Every day the number of those out to eliminate all “infidels” mounts.

Workers in PSU sell-off

WORKERS wrested a tiny toehold in the disinvestment process and promptly celebrated it by calling off the three-day strike in public sector undertakings (PSUs) from Wednesday. It is not the same as a say, nor even consultation; it merely means that they will receive advance information and not know the fate of their jobs from newspaper reports. They secured something more. The Prime Minister declared that he was against “indiscriminate privatisation” and also the laws would retain the slight pro-labour tilt. All trade unions had gone to meet him and some other Cabinet Ministers to protest against a series of economic policy changes, chief among them being the proposed large-scale sell-off of PSUs. For the present, the government is agreeable to go slow on unloading majority shares in profit-making units. Logically, this decision should rule out any dramatic “big ticket” disinvestment, as economic newspapers describe privatising oil companies, Maruti and VSNL. There will be angry reaction from that quarter but contented purring from several Ministers and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch brigade. One major point the unions raised and pressed is about the use of the funds raised by selling government share in several units. The government now adds the money to its tax revenue to reduce the widening deficit. The TUs want the money reinvested in PSUs. Since the idea behind disinvestment is for the government to withdraw from commercial activities, this suggestion will have no takers. But many economists want the money to go towards repaying old loans and save on interest. There are two roadblocks on this way. The government must start with the “navratnas” (very successful public sector enterprises) but that will be greeted with loud protests from the TUs. Two, there is not that kind of money in the market to absorb the shares. Foreign investors are unlikely to be enthusiastic about buying a second-hand manufacturing unit.

A more meaningful gesture has come in other issues affecting the labour. The Prime Minister has more or less ruled out dramatic changes in the laws to make hire and fire of workers easy. The employers demand that the concept of lifetime employment stands in the way of productivity increase and want powers to appoint contract labour. The TUs counter this by saying that permanent jobs should have permanent employees. The workers will have their say at least for some more years or until the second National Labour Commission submits its report. This is a big gain. The second relates to bonus payment. Under the Bonus Act those drawing more than Rs 3500 a month are not entitled to bonus and so a majority of workers do not receive the benefit. The government told the TU delegation that it was actively engaged in raising the ceiling to bring more employees into the bonus ring. As the Prime Minister stressed, the government is not anti-labour and it wants this impression to spread among the people. The increase in the sale price of wheat and rice from fair price shops projected the government as anti-poor. It has stuck and if the government is also seen as anti-labour, it would damage its electoral prospects in several key constituencies. Hence the demonstrative attempts to smile at the working class. Now that the government has established contact with the TUs with a second meeting scheduled for November, it should redefine its disinvestment policy to prevent rebate sale of bluechip companies. There are genuine fears that it is creating a buyers market and that will result in underpricing the PSU shares. The delegation emphasised this point and the government should take note of it.

WILL PAKISTAN GO KOREAN WAY?
Ruinous arms race with India
by O. P. Sabherwal

ISLAMABAD’S renewed arms race with India, loaded on a decrepit economy, is a marked feature of the present spell of Pakistan’s military rule under Gen Pervez Musharraf. Having taken over power, with the promise of salvaging Pakistan’s crumbling economy, one should have expected from the present regime a halt in unbridled military spending. But, instead, there is accretion to military-related expenditure, particularly in propping up Pakistan’s missile-nuclear acquisitions.

Not that this is qualitatively different from what Islamabad has been pursuing when civilian rulers — Ms Benazir Bhutto or Mr Nawaz Sharif — were in the saddle. But while both Ms Benazir Bhutto and Mr Nawaz Sharif had come to realise that an all-out arms race with India was ruinous for Pakistan — that its economy was virtually being driven towards bankruptcy under the impact of military competitiveness with India — for the military rulers, arms competition with India is the sin qua non of their regime.

Ms Bhutto had voiced these concerns during some of her observations when in office, but lately she has quite frankly articulated the point that if the ruinous arms race with India continues, Pakistan’s economy will be bled white. With this as the starting point, she lately sought unorthodox solutions to the Kashmir dispute with India, rather frankly in interviews or special articles, notably the one in the New York Times. She has been forthright in accepting that misplaced obduracy on Kashmir was being committed during her regime as well, resulting in unsustainable military spending. This led her to the feeling that if she had her way now, a different line would be pursued.

There is not much difference on this score as far as Mr Nawaz Sharif is concerned. In fact, with his background of heading a vast industrial-cum-business empire, Mr Sharif sought to devise practical solutions to fit in with this realisation. Within a year after his installation as Pakistan’s Prime Minister during his second spell, this stark reality had begun to dawn on Mr Sharif. The Vajpayee-Sharif summit meeting in New York, which became the precursor of what is known as the Lahore chapter of India-Pakistan relations, was the outflow of this basic understanding, though it could hardly be overtly expressed. As a result, the outcome of the Vajpayee-Sharif New York summit in the aftermath of the UN General Assembly session which the two leaders addressed, had a distinctly new direction.

This new direction was embodied not only in the joint declaration of the two Prime Ministers but also in the follow-up agreement between the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan. The follow-up measures the Foreign Secretaries formulated reflected for the first time a new approach in attempting a breakthrough in India-Pakistan relations. Namely, that all the six heads of relationship and major contentious points between the two countries — including Kashmir, economic ties, closer cultural interaction between the two peoples as well as easier travel (and commencement of a new train between Sindh and Rajasthan), and the disputed Sir Creek and Siachen issues — would be taken up simultaneously. None receiving precedence over the other. Whichever aspect registered greater advance would accordingly go forward, and even the Kashmir issue will be treated no differently.

The Vajpayee-Sharif summit at New York held great promise of a breakthrough in India-Pakistan relations, but in the aftermath the major decisions could not take off since Pakistan’s all-powerful Generals saw red. For, if pursued, this new direction in Indo-Pak relations could eventually spell doom to their overlordship. As is known, Mr Nawaz Sharif did try to assert once again, with his interviews with the Indian media as a launching pad, and he was able to initiate the Lahore process commencing with the Vajpayee bus journey. The Generals, however, had a counter plan, and the Kargil misadventure was the upshot. The rest is history.

After the coup, the Generals’ regime was faced with a new situation — the dangers lurking before Pakistan as a consequence of the critical position of its economy and the continuing downslide — for which the responsibility was now thrust on their shoulders. There were two major components of the Pakistan economy’s downslide, the fundamental one being the malaise stemming from the fact that the military-related expenditure took away as much as 75 per cent of that country’s revenues leaving the plate almost empty so far as developmental expenditure was concerned. Instead of addressing this fundamental malaise in the economic situation of Pakistan, the Generals’ regime has focused on the second component: rampant corruption and massive tax evasion.

But the outcome of the drive launched by General Musharraf to deal with massive tax evasion has hardly been substantive — more theatrical than generating money for the exchequer. As far as tackling the question rampant corruption goes, not much can be expected since the military brass is as much involved in unabated corruption as businessmen and the erstwhile ruling politicians. So, the anti-corruption drive has been largely directed against political opponents belonging to Mr Nawaz Sharif’s support base. The result has been the suppression of the top echelon of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), driving a wedge between Mr Sharif and his coterie. This, of course, does not help so far as the economic downslide is concerned.

The Pakistan military regime it would seem, is determined to continue to move on what may be euphemistically called the North Korean road — of maintaining their dictatorial rule and persisting with military overspending even if this means allowing economic deterioration to go out of hand. Will this persist despite the danger of its leading to financial bankruptcy? Inevitably, General Musharraf is desperately exploring all avenues to improve affairs by what is termed as greater efficiency in trade-related matters — exports in the first place. It is interesting to note that here, too, the military regime is picking up a few points from the North Korean model.

Pakistan is, of course, not in a position to copy North Korea and go in for missile exports or even exports in missile parts, although its much-flaunted Ghauri missile is claimed to be a big success. In fact, there is nothing Pakistani about Ghauri — it is North Korean ace missile bought at a heavy cost. Just about 10 Ghauris are there, since subsequent purchases seem to have been stalled for payment difficulties. But the military regime is talking big about the exports of nuclear material, including enriched uranium.

Is there substance in this talk of nuclear material export from Pakistan? Or is it all a sham act of brinkmanship to put pressure on the Americans? This is more likely, for here to Islamabad seems to be taking a leaf out of Pyongyang’s book of tricks. By deploying these tricks, the North Korean regime has successfully extracted a good deal of much-needed resources, hardware and commodities for its hard-pressed economy from the USA, including a light water reactor — the most modern of its kind — to replace an outdated one which the Americans feared could be used for the extraction of weapon-grade plutonium. Is Pakistan trying to repeat the North Korean tricks to ensure IMF-World Bank support for its failing economy through the talk of nuclear exports?

Islamabad is evidently focusing all its efforts on Kashmir. Pakistan-based terrorist groups are being used for criminal assaults on civilians in the Kashmir valley on an unprecedented scale. At the same time, General Musharraf’s regime talks of resuming peace talks with India to solve the Kashmir dispute. The General, it seems, wants to gatecrash into the proposed peace talks, and for this purpose he has successfully forced the Hizbul Mujahideen to terminate its ceasefire in Kashmir. Islamabad also seeks to obtain US pressures in the background for opening a direct pipeline with New Delhi. But if it wants to learn a lesson on this score too from the North Korean experience, it will realise that a constructive approach alone leads to success. The escalation of military tensions will only worsen the situation.

Can the military regime learn from the North Korean experience in the matter of sorting out points of friction between the two Koreas, gradual unification of separated families, and eventually of their two economies? It would be difficult for Islamabad to copy the Korean experience in this respect, for the unification idea in the Indian subcontinent is now almost a dream. It is doubtful if India will rush in for any moves in this direction lest it be termed hegemonic. And Pakistan under military rule abhors such a prospect, for this means an end to the Generals’ overlordship.

Ring with a string
by J. L. Gupta

A RING. Just a ring. A diamond ring? A gold ring? Oh! Good heavens. Neither. Not even a brass band. Nor a ring of security guards. My sole obsession for the present is the telephone ring. The loud, clear and the resonant sound. Of lifeless metal. Vibrant. Reverberating. Ringing continuously. Unabated. Very often, it feels like an unmitigated nuisance.

The sleek box, called telephone, has Greek roots, “Tele” means far. “Phone” means sound. The process of reception of sound had started with a simple string. Followed by the “speaking tube”. Today, the modern world owes a debt of gratitude to Alexander Graham Bell and his ilk. Because of them, we have got the sophisticated electronic devices. The cordless. The cellular. With memory. With varied options. Responding to oral commands. We have really come a long way.

And why not? Progress is the law of nature. Man is always on the move. Each revolution takes us forward. So has the telephone. Like any other scientific advancement. It is actually meant to augment the power of man. The well being of mankind. And it has done that. The distance has been shortened. The people have been brought closer. The communication has been made quick and easy. A friend is never too far.

Still more, with the help of satellites, the endless wait for the calls to mature has ended. We can talk to anyone. At any time. In any place. We can even have a conference call with people staying in different continents. The system ensures a faithful transmission of speech from one end of the world to the other. The modern gadgets even enable us to see the picture of person we are talking to. And we can talk to a dear one from the running train. Even from the flying plane. The facilities are innumerable. We can even screen the calls.

And yet, the telephone continues to be the most vulgar instrument . Anybody can whisper anything in your ear. Just anything. And get away with it. Leave you feeling foolish. Even embarrassed. Any person, a friend or a foe, good or bad, desirable or undesirable, virtuous or wicked, wanted or unwanted, can ring you up at any time of the day and night. One may be sick. In need of rest. One may have worked for 18 hours and be eagerly looking forward to a few hours of undisturbed sleep. It just does not matter. Not a bit. The person at the other end can conveniently dial the number and let the phone ring stubbornly till one is forced out of his slumber.

Very often, you pull yourself up. Move on to the instrument and pretend to say a polite “hello”. Next thing that you hear is— “Sorry! It seems that I have got a wrong number ”. Or another one who says — “Oh! You are already asleep? My God! It is not even twelve as yet. How can you sleep so early? I thought you worked for your living. I shall call you up in the morning”. And by God’s grace if you happen to be passing through a particularly unlucky planetary configuration, you might hear some really harsh words. Even in sleep the words hurt more than swords. The cut is unkind. Yet, out of a sheer sense of propriety, you just hang up. Feeling totally helpless. To pity yourself.

Any way out? To curse the wrongdoer? No! Forgive them for they know not what they are doing. And then, no one can derive happiness from the misery of another. Really? Has one to accept it as inevitable and get used to it? Like we have learnt to live with the blaring of horns. Or the morning sounds from the loudspeakers installed to wake up the sleeping Gods. Probably yes.

However, a thought does cross the mind. Is it that some of us were vaccinated with an old and discarded gramophone needle? Some amongst us can talk for hours on phone. The mouth moves faster than the mind. The tongue is continuously exercised. It is always palpitating. “Wordy causes” are dearer than the “worldly” affairs. Despite a small vocabulary, they have a tremendous turnover. And they are more loud than lucid. Make more noise than sense.

What would happen if their telephones go out of order? All hell shall be let loose. The inertia and silence of the instrument can never be their cup of tea. They are not able to send messages on the internet to the friends who live across the seven seas. The fax machines go idle. The computers become useless. The silence shall disturb their peace. They miss nothing more than the good old “ring”.

State of state archives
by V. N. Datta

MR Gautam Kaul’s warning that the Punjab State Archives is in an appalling state is timely and most welcome, particularly coming from one who is a non-professional historian, and who rightly regrets that the state archives does not interest the Indians as much as it does the foreigners (The Tribune, August 9). The situation in respect of Haryana is worse than in Punjab. And this pitiable state of affairs is largely due to the apathy and total indifference to the academic community as well as the callousness of the Punjab and Haryana governments. Both governments have their own priorities, and so the matters concerning the educational uplift of people and promotion of social and cultural activities are given scant attention.

Generally, the archival material is located in the capital archives in the country which, curiously enough, is not the case of Haryana and Punjab. The availability of archival material in the state capital makes it easier for the transmission of official records. It also provides convenience to the scholars visiting the state archives for research. Little effort has been made to catalogue the records, which, much to their chagrin, scholars find it difficult to identify and trace. For local history, district records are of immense value, which lie scattered, and nothing has been done to consolidate and preserve them adequately. Things are so startling that a scholar visiting from a foreign university, while consulting the district records, in a room full of files of official records, found, much to his shock, a snake crawling by. The less said about the municipal records the better.

About two decades ago I consulted extremely valuable books written by the British officials on the 18th century and 19th century Punjab (which included Haryana) in the Municipal Library, Simla, but last year when I went there again I found them missing. On the other hand, I purchased a book, “Lord Acton’s Lectures on the French Revolution” from a book seller. Later I discovered that the book had belonged to a prestigious local missionary school. It seems that the book was pilfered from the school, which found its way to the bookseller. I visited about a decade ago the state archives of Jammu to see the Instrument of Accession signed by Maharaja Hari Singh and Mountbatten, which I could not find, but was appalled to find valuable records lying scattered on the floor of the main room in the library.

The pity is that the academic community does not realise the value of primary sources in the reconstruction of the past and is content with ox-like placidity to use secondary sources from books. Such dependence on secondary sources is adopted because it is easier. It must be emphasised that historical writing without the use of primary sources is ignoble and spurious. It is like a spider using its own resources to weave its own texture. Sitting in the ivory tower, the academician prefers to spin yarns and hears with satisfaction his/her own voice rather than making use of what lies outside.

I think the reason for this general apathy is lack of historical consciousness. We do not care to preserve records and, like housewives, we throw them out as they do with the cabbages. Sardar Swaran Singh, who had served in Nehru’s Cabinet for a long time, must have left valuable records, but after his death not a scrap of paper was found in his house. And added to our difficulty is a little value given to excellence in research. For this tendency nothing has proved more injurious than the blessed Personal Promotion Scheme introduced recklessly in the universities which has promoted inbreeding and local interests at the cost of talent from outside.

I think the primary need is the appointment of high-powered archival committees by the Haryana and Punjab governments to prepare a comprehensive report for the preservation and consolidation of scattered records so that further damage to the archival material is checked. The challenge is formidable. It needs leadership, finances and patience. Of course, little is expected from politicians, but it is the academic community that is duty-bound to take adequate steps to mobilise public opinion for the preservation of records both for the present times and posterity. History without records is like instruments without music.

Yes and no to reborn TADA
by Anupam Gupta

FOUR years after he gave his famous interview to India Today on a pending case, complete with photographs and all that, the former Chief Justice of India, Justice J.S. Verma is in the eye of a storm again. This time over his flip-flop on the new Prevention of Terrorism (PoT) Bill drafted by the Law Commission on the asking of the Union government.

“...it does not matter what was said (by me earlier),” the judge, now Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, told V. Venkatesan of the Frontline recently, without batting an eyelid. “Judges should have an open mind.... Even if I had said that (then), I would have no hesitation in saying this (now).... Ultimately, it does not matter who said what. What we have to consider is the merits of the draft Bill.”

That is speaking almost like Mr Ram Jethmalani. Incidentally, the judge and the former Law Minister are old friends. Incidentally again, the judge’s latest views on the PoT Bill happen to coincide with those of Mr Jethmalani, who had publicly opposed the Bill despite being a member of the government.

“Jethmalani had himself gone on record saying what he thought of the law,” Justice Verma told Venkatesan (Frontline’s latest issue of August 18). “I have heard him argue all those TADA cases before me so many times. He was quoted or misquoted by the media as saying that it is not the NHRC’s function to comment on the proposed Bill. He was (actually) more concerned about my not misunderstanding him.”

That accounts for Mr Jethmalani’s meeting with Justice Verma last month, after the NHRC came out with its unprecedented nine-page “opinion” against the PoT Bill, claiming and exercising, as it were, a right to pre-audit laws affecting human rights even before they came up before Parliament. But it does not account for the judge’s flip-flop on the necessity of having an anti-terrorist law on the statute book.

“On consideration of the various viewpoints,” says the Law Commission in its 173rd report, submitted in April, 2000, the “Commission is of the opinion that a legislation to fight terrorism is today a necessity in India. It is not as if the enactment of such a legislation would by itself subdue terrorism. It may, however, arm the State to fight terrorism more effectively.”

“It is well known (the report continues) that during the worst days in Punjab, even the judges and prosecutors were gripped with such fear and terror that they were not prepared to try or prosecute the cases against the terrorists. That is also stated to be the position in J&K....”

In such a situation, says the report, “insisting upon independent evidence or applying the normal peace-time standards of criminal prosecution, may be impracticable. It is necessary to have a special law to deal with a special situation”.

That is well said but not all. Headed by retired Supreme Court judge, Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy, the Commission goes on to meet an objection frequently raised against adoption of any TADA-type law — the possibility of its misuse.

“It is one thing to say (it observes) that we must create and provide internal structures and safeguards against possible abuse and misuse of the Act, and altogether a different thing to say that because the law is liable to be misused, we should not have such an Act at all. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that mere possibility of abuse cannot be a ground for denying the vesting of powers or for declaring a statute unconstitutional.”

The wisdom of man, says the Law Commission, quoting the Supreme Court, has not yet been able to conceive of a government with power sufficient to answer all its legitimate needs and at the same time incapable of mischief. The door has to be left open for trial and error. Constitutional law like other mortal contrivances has to take some chances.

In arriving at this conclusion, a wholly judicious conclusion, the Commission took into account the views of several important persons, including Justice J.S. Verma himself.

A special law was necessary to fight terrorist activities, the NHRC Chairman told a distinguished gathering in Delhi on December 20, 1999, inaugurating a seminar on the proposed law, in view of the extraordinary situation obtaining in the country and the steadily worsening situation in certain parts. It is important to maintain a balance between individual rights and the rights of society but, in case of conflict between the two, the interest of society must prevail.

At the same time, he said, the new Act must contain necessary safeguards (especially in relation to bail and speedy trial) and must be legislation “with a human face”. Guidelines available in Supreme Court decisions under TADA should be kept in mind. Effort must be made to find out how best to prevent the misuse and abuse of such legislation. Investing powers under the Act in higher authorities was an effective means of doing so. Plurality in the composition of the reviewing authorities was another. But the “mere possibility of abuse” could not be made a ground for opposing the very enactment of such legislation.

Barely six months after the seminar, organised by the Law Commission, came the somersault.

“The considered unanimous opinion of this Commission,” declared the NHRC on July 14, handing down a gratuitous nine-page opinion, “is that there is no need to enact the above new law...”

The NHRC, it said, “regrets its inability to agree with the opinion of the Law Commission in its 173rd report and recommends that a new law based on the Draft Prevention of Terrorism Bill, 2000 be not enacted.”

More on that nine-page wonder next week.

Cops everywhere as I-Day approaches
by Humra Quraishi

AS the countdown for the Independence Day begins there is absolutely tight security here. In fact, on Friday evening whilst driving down to hotel Maurya Sheraton, for a book release function (Savita Devi’s biography of her mother Siddeshwari Devi, published by Roli Books) I saw more cops than people on the roads and inroads of New Delhi’s Chanakyapuri area. And, yet, in this tension gripped atmosphere life continues... in fact, not only life continues but events and more events fill up every evening. Infact this weekend saw the release of the volume “The Making of History” (Tulika). Edited by K.N.Panikkar, T.J. Byres and Utsa Patnaik, it is a volume of essays, in honour of Professor Irfan Habib. The day coincided with Habib’s birthday and the IIC auditorium was packed. Space will not allow me to go into details of what some of our eminent historians spoke on the occasion but it is important that these speeches are rendered in colleges, universities for each one of them spoke of the decaying times where even historical facts and figures are being fixed to suit interests. As Habib said “Indigenous ideas are being manufactured in the USA... some historians are combining fantasy with madness”.

And though Asha Sharma’s book on her grandfather Satyanand Stokes ‘An American in Khadi’ (Penguin) was released several months back but these days simple book releases aren’t really enough so as to say, so a one-act musical play written by Lewis Elbinger and based on the book was enacted at the Imperial Hotel’s Daniell’s Tavern, on August 11.

And much against the old concept of bureaucracy — diplomacy wherein civil servants kept to files alone, there is coming up a change in that sphere too. Senior diplomat Rajiv Sikri, who had been our Ambassador to Kazakhstan (1995-1999) exhibits the photographs taken by him of ‘mountains, steppes and nomads’ of Kazakhstan — which is as we all know the largest of the former Republics of the Soviet Union (after Russia) stretching from the Caspian Sea to the western borders of China and from the Siberian taiga to Syr Darya. And much in keeping with the fact that just an exhibition or a book (release function) isn’t enough these days, the opening of his exhibition (at the IIC, on August 17, by Minister of External Affairs, Jaswant Singh) will be followed by a slide — illustrated lecture on Kazakhstan.

And moving ahead, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Indian Printmakers Guild, the British Council is holding an exhibition of prints — “Contemporary Printmaking” — by Paul Coldwell. This fortnight-long exhibition (August 17 to 31) will consist of a section where the various traditional techniques of printmaking and the processes involved will be on display and the participating members of the Indian Printmakers Guild include Ananda Moy Banerji, Shukla Sawant, Sushant Guha, Subba Ghosh and several others.

And what could be termed a treat for Delhiites will be an evening (August 30, at the IIC) of interaction with the well known Malayalam filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan. I have met the gentleman on an earlier occasion and have been left impressed — he is proud of his region, his mother tongue, his audience and doesn’t hesitate to blast the policies being followed by DD wherein regional filmmakers are at a definite disadvantage. The man has stuck to his own style of making films and is determined to not give up.

And coming up is the Vishnu Digambar Jayanti Sangeet

Samaroh (August 13 to August 15) at the Kamani auditorium. Though at this stage I will not be able to comment on the samaroh but one artist stands out — sarod player Ameen Ali Khan. This young college student is a nephew of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and probably hasn’t yet made it big because he stays away from the capital’s glitter. In fact, several months back when he was visiting the city it was Uma Sharma who drew our attention to his talent adding, “He’s not been noticed because he is from Bhopal... if he was here in Delhi the glare would have definitely been on him...”

And on August 19 and 20, Arzoo Dance Theatre presents a festival of theatre and dance. In fact kathak dancer Nisha Mahajan who will be performing during this festival is again one of those dancers who has made it against all odds. Hailing from Himachal Pradesh, a personal upheaval made her change the entire course of her life — shifting focus from science towards kathak.

And inbetween all this Ashok Hotel organised a ‘Frontier Festival’, complete with an elaborate Arab cuisine and dances and the very ambience.

And not to overlook the fact that in the midst of all these ‘dos’ there is an atmosphere of tension and unease and sorrow. Worsened by the news of photo journalist Pradeep Bhatia’s death in the Srinagar blast. Though I didn’t know him personally but he was known to be one of the brightest photographers on the scene. When his body was brought to the Press Club of India , most people couldn’t hold back their tears and the numbers of those who came to pay their homage increased at an alarming pace, so much so the entire intersection leading to the Press Club was jammed. The likes of Bhatia ought to be saluted and remembered for so very bravely going about doing their professional duty.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

We cannot see our reflection clearly in muddy or shaky water, and we cannot see God till the mind is calm and steady. By moral and intellectual persuasion, by social or religious discipline, by reading scriptures and even by resorting to austerities, the mind is not completely purified not is it made permanently strong against low and base desires. A serpent is quiet and harmless as long as it is shut up in a basket, but neither its fury nor its poison is destroyed. If at any time the lid is left open it will come out and bite; but if the poison sack is removed, the serpent is rendered harmless. The practices referred to bring mind under partial control, that is, its tendency to sensual pleasures is not really conquered. The snake is only suppressed not killed. Saints are able to solve this difficult problem by methods which are based upon the knowledge of the innate nature of mind. Its fickleness will be arrested when it is able to secure pleasure or bliss greater than any worldly pleasures .... Where can this be secured? In the company of saints who instruct us in the technique of catching the Shabad, the Divine Music. Hearing this melody, the mind stands stands still, as does the running deer on hearing music.

— The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 1, 2, 4-12. Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood's translation

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Kabir, your mind has sunk into desire's dungeon,

Through blind pursuit of pleasures

It has brought about its own fall;

Though forewarned,

It swallowed the bait -

How can it now escape its dreadful fate?

— Sant Kabir, poems, translator, V.K. Sethi