E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

TRAI’s two gifts
AS spectacular as the automobile revolution, the one in the telecom sector has additionally touched a larger number of people and in a more dramatic way. What is more, while cars have become mostly dearer with the people’s model now costing five times its original tag, long distance telephone tariff keeps coming down. 

Unsafe passengers
UTTAR Pradesh and Bihar have been written off as "lost states" where only criminals can move about freely without the fear of being looted or killed. It would be difficult to decide whether it is more unsafe to travel by road or by rail in the benighted states. Perhaps, travelling by train is a shade more risky because organised gangs know the "economic profile" of the passengers passing through their territory.

OPINION

Beware of rising unemployment
by K. B. Sahay
THE massive and rising unemployment in the country ought to be a matter of great concern for the nation and our democracy. I say so for two obvious reasons. First, productive employment is the only sustainable solution to poverty and hence unemployment is synonymous with poverty. 

ANALYSIS

The stress schoolchildren undergo
From Kavita Bajeli-Datt in New Delhi
SCHOOLchildren in the Capital are overburdened and stressed out for reasons varying from studies to family problems. The net effect could be physical and psychological complications, with far-reaching effects on their growth, a recent study has said.

MIDDLE

Kaun Banega Veerappan?
by Rajnish Wattas
AS all previous attempts to catch Veerappan the Big B (Brigand) of the Indian forests have missed the wood for the trees; more innovative strategies are called for. Accordingly the leaking “think tank” of the authorities has hit upon a novel plan. The other Big B i.e. of Bollywood, will be requested to modify his popular game show KBC, to hold special sessions quizzing on Veerappan, to increase public awareness on “India’s most wanted”.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

TRAI’s two gifts

AS spectacular as the automobile revolution, the one in the telecom sector has additionally touched a larger number of people and in a more dramatic way. What is more, while cars have become mostly dearer with the people’s model now costing five times its original tag, long distance telephone tariff keeps coming down. For the second year running, TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) has slashed both inland and international trunk charges. The reduction is steep in the case of really long-distance calls (of over 1000 km) and the new rates are also clearly biased in favour of the rural areas. The idea is to attract more village-based subscribers to the most efficient and instant communication system and also to increase the revenue of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The reduction in the trunk charges last year has resulted in a loss of about Rs 2000 crore affecting the expansion plans of DoT. It is not as though those who make only local calls have not benefited. TRAI had planned to increase rentals and tariff in what the department calls rebalancing. Now it has postponed the hike, preferring to wait for the latest data on new connections and additional income. DoT has complained that billing on metered calls and also rentals from new subscribers has been lower that what was estimated in the TTO (Telecommunications Tariff Order) which is the basis for the present revision. However, in the last three months the income from local calls has gone up, suggesting that there is no urgent need to raise the charges again to set off the DoT losses. The new tariff will remain in force till March, 2002, when TRAI will take up another review.

In fact a wave of cuts in long-distance call rates will come early next year when private operators enter the scene. TRAI itself has said this while pointing out that its recommendations are the maximum and not the minimum and any agency is free to offer lower rates. One intending service provider feels that rates will go down by half, as compared to the present 12 per cent reduction by TRAI. That will become possible because of two reasons. Government organisations like the Powergen Corporation, which has tall transmission lines criss-crossing the country, and the railways are laying fibre optic cables to carry telephone calls. Since each cable can carry tens of hundreds of calls, the rental should be low, reducing the service cost. Since there will be several operators in the field, the resultant competition will edge the tariff down on a regular basis. DoT has the widest network and can further reduce the tariff, as TRAI has asked it to, but for a policy decision taken during the pre-reform days. It charged more for trunk calls to find money for expansion and to subsidise local calls. For the past two years this cross-subsidisation is being reversed, benefiting those making trunk calls. It is amazing how STD booths have become ubiquitous and how everyone speaks to one’s relatives rather than writing to them. When new equipment (switch) becomes available, the revolution will pick up speed and link the country in a manner which is unthinkable now.

Valley of death

SINCE time immemorial, the Kulu area has been called the “valley of gods” and has taken pride in its crime-free status. Things were so pristine and pure not too long ago that in many villages no one used to lock his house. The advent of modernity has changed all that, and with a vengeance. Today, the crime situation is as bad, if not worse, as it is in the plains. But even in the changed times, the murder of a Spanish woman tourist and her son is shocking. This is the second such incident within a month. Earlier, a German tourist was killed and another injured. There has been an alarming increase in such incidents in the past six or seven years. In this period, more than two dozen foreigners have mysteriously disappeared in the Kulu and Manikaran valleys. The crime branch of the CID has carried out special investigation but there has been no trace of them. At one stage it was said in America that anyone who goes missing is last seen in Los Angeles. The valley of gods seems to be acquiring a similar dubious reputation. From the recent incidents it appears that petty crime is the motive and mostly local people are involved. Whoever the culprits are, they have not only committed a crime against humanity but have also done a great disservice to their area and the country because the murders have sent a shock wave and the number of tourists, both domestic and foreign, has dwindled. The increase in crime has been fuelled to a considerable extent by narcotics and drug trafficking. Hemp and cannabis grow freely in the region and while quite a few tourists come to the area for its natural grandeur and scenic beauty, others troop in to reach a high of a different kind. All this has polluted the atmosphere and given a bad name to the area. Some of the victims have not been too careful either. Government instructions are specific that trekkers must move in a group of at least four. But the Spanish woman who was killed ignored this advice. Not only that, she also did not take any local guide or porter with her. There are many like her who set out on their own for the sake of adventure. But this can be dangerous in the prevailing situation.

While a general alert has been sounded in the state, it just does not have adequate police force to provide foolproof security. Leave alone looking after far-flung trekking areas that are several hours away from the nearest roadhead, there are not enough policemen even to ensure that those who come here have valid documents. It is believed that hundreds are residing illegally in the interior areas of Kulu district. Himachal Pradesh has tremendous potential for adventure tourism. Traffic has increased greatly after militancy raised its head in neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir. Manali has emerged as a favoured starting point. It will be a shame to let this potential go to seed. With people’s support, an effective security plan can be put in place.

Unsafe passengers

UTTAR Pradesh and Bihar have been written off as "lost states" where only criminals can move about freely without the fear of being looted or killed. It would be difficult to decide whether it is more unsafe to travel by road or by rail in the benighted states. Perhaps, travelling by train is a shade more risky because organised gangs know the "economic profile" of the passengers passing through their territory. And stopping the trains by pulling the chain in a deserted place, after looting the passengers, help the gangsters get away without much fuss. Neither the Government Railway Police nor the police force of the respective states have been able to provide security to train travellers from being looted, mugged, drugged and killed by the gangsters. Travelling through Buxar is as unsafe as it is through Bareilly. In fact, there is hardly a district in the two states which is safe for train passengers. In most cases the members of the police force are said to be in cahoots with the gangsters in the business of looting trains. Of late, Haryana too has become equally unsafe for train travellers. The daring dacoity committed by a group of hoodlums in an AC chair car of the prestigious Himalayan Queen is the latest of a series of similar incidents reported from different parts of Haryana. In the present case eight armed youths are said to have boarded the train at Panipat. It is evident that neither the coach conductor nor the members of the police patrol bothered to stop them from entering the reserved compartment. Two passengers who showed rare guts by trying to take on the robbers received stab wounds. More resistance could have resulted in a blood-bath because for a robber killing a "difficult customer" is part of his training for becoming a hardened criminal. They robbed the passengers as soon as the train moved out of Panipat and got off at the next halt at Sonepat.

Even after the passengers reported the case of dacoity to the railway authorities and the police no attempt was made to sound a general alert for apprehending the robbers. About a week ago some GT Express passengers were reportedly looted near the Hodal-Palwal belt. In this case too neither the Haryana Police nor the GRP came to the rescue of the passengers. The stretch between Agra and Delhi, passing through Haryana, has become as unsafe as the ones passing through the dacoit-infested region of Chambal and the territory in eastern U. P. touching Bihar. Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala should take personal interest in getting at the bottom of the developments which have made rail journey in Haryana as unsafe as it usually is in Bihar and U. P. The incidents of train robbery have been reported from developed urban centres and not from villages which still do not have reliable means of communication with the outside world. Stray cases of bus and car passengers being waylaid and robbed too have been reported from the interior of the state. However, if the factors which are forcing an increasing number of young men to take to a life of crime and easy money are not identified and addressed, organised gangs may spring up even along the stretch of the Grand Trunk Road passing through Haryana. And an unsafe GT Road would choke the economy of the entire region. The mischief should be nipped in the bud before lawlessness becomes a way of life in the state as it is in Bihar and U.P. 

VAJPAYEE’S WASHINGTON VISIT
Futile effort at image-building
by V. P. Dutt

WHEN the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, goes to participate in the UN millennium meeting he will also go to Washington on an official visit. What exactly is he hoping to achieve by choosing to visit Washington just at this time? The USA is in the midst of a presidential election. He will be dealing with a lame-duck administration. The attention of the political elite in the USA will be focused on the impending elections.

President Clinton is on his way out. Before the end of February next year, a new President will have taken oath and a new administration put in place. Not only will the current President have made way, it can be safely presumed that most of the present administration luminaries will also have gone. Neither the Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, nor her deputy, Mr Strobe Talbott, are likely to be there as India’s interlocutors on key political and security issues. Even if Mr Vajpayee is able to meet both Presidential candidates, it cannot be more than a courtesy call.

In the first instance, if the past trends hold, a Democratic administration might be replaced by a Republican one with the promise of notable changes in policy. Mr George Bush will bring his own agenda and policy emphasis. Even if Mr Albert Gore scrapes through to the President’s seat he will not just be a clone of Mr Bill Clinton. True that a country’s interests do not change with every whiff of a changing wind, but there are nuances in priorities and approaches of a change of government that can prove quite material.

Mr Vajpayee’s objectives in visiting Washington now remain incomprehensible. If the purpose is to intensify interaction with the foreign policy bureaucracy, that job should best be left to our foreign policy bureaucracy. Prime Ministers should interact only with political leadership and the political, business and intellectual elite. But to do so during an uncertain period of transition defies logic.

Of course, there would be one bonanza for Mr Vajpayee — the Indian media hype. The electronic as well as the print media will have its hands full, and Mr Vajpayee will be able to take full advantage of image-building, even if there are no tangible advantages for Indo-US relations. Whether a visit is worthwhile merely for the sake of image-building is another question.

Under other circumstances, the Prime Minister’s visit could have been utilised for narrowing the serious differences that remain between Indian and American perceptions. Unfortunately, the Indian media hype has clouded and obscured these differences and conveyed the impression of a kind and level of Indo-US relationship that does not exist.

Ever since Mr Bill Clinton visited India, the media hype has built up the impression of “a historic turning point” and a new US “tilt towards India”. Facts do not warrant any such conclusion. It is amusing that the media hype persists even when the Americans themselves have been at pains to discount any such assumption. The highest functionaries of the present US administration have ridiculed the notion of a tilt.

President Clinton himself was keen to maintain an equidistance so far as the main issues between India and Pakistan were concerned. Even though he conceded that “there were elements within the Pakistani government that have supported those who engaged themselves in violence in Kashmir”, he was careful to preface these remarks by refusing to blame the Pakistani government. “Well, we know that there have been instances of violence within Kashmir that were perpetrated by people who weren’t necessarily elements of the Pakistani government. I don’t want to accuse Pakistan of something it didn’t do”, he told Peter Jennings of ABC News during his visit to India.

Ms Madeleine Albright was even more candid. Debunking the notion of a pro-India tilt, she argued in a Miami newspaper after the Clinton visit that the President was “particularly concerned” about resolving the confrontation between India and Pakistan, and the “imperative of halting the spread of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery”. He delivered “a strong message” in this regard in both capitals. He called for both governments to respect the Line of Control that divided Kashmir, she asserted, and advised both of them (not just Pakistan) to exercise restraint with respect to violence in Kashmir and to continue the dialogue. “In addition, the President stressed that the people of Kashmir must have a way to have their concerns and grievances addressed” (which obviously India was not doing at present).

The lady spread the American cards quite clearly on the table. “The limits on our ability to cooperate with India and Pakistan,” she said, “are a matter of US law as well as our international obligation”. “Achieving the level of cooperation with India that we both desire will depend on progress towards non-proliferation”, she concluded. The US Commerce Secretary was even more blunt. He told the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha: sign the CTBT and the sanctions would be removed.

Despite New Delhi’s desire to please the Americans and a self-proclaimed tilt which the “tilter” neither believes in nor shares serious differences that persist between the two countries, ruling out at least for the present any special relationship between the two. One critical area is India’s nuclear and missile capability. The US position can be summed up as: halt, cease and roll back. Not just that no further tests should be held, on which, in any case, New Delhi has unilaterally proclaimed a moratorium, but the missile development programme should also be abandoned and at some stage India should negate its nuclear capability. No amount of paint can whitewash the fundamental perceptional cleavage. The USA wants arms control; India desires disarmament.

The differences on Kashmir are as glaring. Washington does not acknowledge the instrument of accession, and holds that the territory is a disputed one, and has in recent times added the new dimension of the need to address the grievances of the people of Kashmir, a vague enough formulation that can range from independence to inclusion in a tripartite dialogue. No matter how much the government may publicly disclaim, the fact is that the USA has become the “fourth”, if not the “third”, party to the Kashmir dispute and the actions of both New Delhi and Islamabad in regard to the ongoing conflict are partly determined by the likely reaction in Washington.

Certainly, Indo-US relations constitute a critical element in India’s foreign relations. The USA is the only super power with global reach and self-perceived global interests. Its economy continues to defy even sober analysis about the chances of over-heating. Its high-tech dominance has few peers in the world. Washington is New Delhi’s largest trading partner. There are hugely important economic, political and security stakes involved in India’s relations with the USA.

Undoubtedly also the art of diplomacy lies in broadening the dialogue with the USA and narrowing the differences but without sacrificing India’s essential interests. How to win friends and influence people is being practised the world over. Whether that is being done in a transparent and feasible manner is not being argued at present. What is being argued is the ill-timing of the exercise at summitry with Washington that will be both unproductive and irrelevant. The Prime Minister cannot be going to Washington again and again. A normally useful opportunity would have been missed.

Mr Vajpayee will generally be meeting wrong people at a wrong time. It is going to be a visit wasted. It is an unnecessary and futile effort at image-building.

The writer is a former Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Delhi University.

Kaun Banega Veerappan?
by Rajnish Wattas

AS all previous attempts to catch Veerappan the Big B (Brigand) of the Indian forests have missed the wood for the trees; more innovative strategies are called for. Accordingly the leaking “think tank” of the authorities has hit upon a novel plan. The other Big B i.e. of Bollywood, will be requested to modify his popular game show KBC, to hold special sessions quizzing on Veerappan, to increase public awareness on “India’s most wanted”.

Under the new rules the winners will not only be “crorepatis” — but also “junglepatis,” as both the sandalwood forests and Veerappan will go along with the prize. The authorities would thus be absolved of all moral responsibility for the welfare and safe upkeep of the personal guests of the owners of the now privatised forests. Here is a sample of some of the questions likely to be asked to clear the qualifying round of the game show:

Name Veerappan’s favourite wood?

(a) Sandalwood (b) Tigerwood (c) Clint Eastwood (d) Deadwood

Name Veerappan’s favourite hair oil for moustaches?

(a) Brylcream (b) Amla hair oil (c) Eucalyptus oil (d) Same as that used by journalist R.R. Gopal

Name Veerappan’s favourite footwear?

(a) Lakhani chappals (b) Bata chappals (c) Woodland shoes (d) Sandalwood slippers

Name Veerappan’s favourite movie?

(a) Jungle (b) Robinhood (c) Gandhi (d) Videos made on him

Name an alternative to Big B to host the show:

(a) Dara Singh (b) Phoolan Devi (c) Shekhar Suman (d) Kapil Dev

Name Veerappan’s favourite poem song?

(a) Stopping by the Woods (b) Daffodils (c) Killing me softly (d) Whistling in the dark

Name Veerappan’s favourite book?

(a) Beastly tales (b) Experiments with Truth (c) Jungle Book (d) Autobiography of a Yogi

Name Veerappan’s favourite companion?

(a) Dr Rajkumar (b) Pocket edition of Bhagwat Gita (c) Forest guards (d) AK 47

Name the most likely latest demand of Veerappan?

(a) Mandatory moustaches for all males residing in Tamil Naidu and Karnataka (b) All agricultural land in South India be converted into sandalwood forests (c) Reserved constituency for forest brigands in the next general election (d) Shekhar Kapur make a Hollywood film on him titled: Bandit King

If you have clicked (d) as the answer to all the above questions — hurrah! You have won. You will be now given free tickets by Alliance Air for playing the game with the Big Bji on the computerji, the answers which will be locked after you have said bilkul, on being asked sure?

If you are one of the lucky Rameshjis who have been till now the top scorers of the game show; you may be already dreaming of grinning all the way to the bank. But, wait, here is a change of plans. Since you know so much about Veerappanji and so well; it has been decided instead to dress you up as his look-alike and make you surrender on the TV. After all the show must go on; and with a happy ending. 

Beware of rising unemployment
by K. B. Sahay

THE massive and rising unemployment in the country ought to be a matter of great concern for the nation and our democracy. I say so for two obvious reasons. First, productive employment is the only sustainable solution to poverty and hence unemployment is synonymous with poverty. Second, apart from penury, unemployment causes acute frustration, and a frustrated person can be a serious threat to social order and harmony.

No wonder, therefore, that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in his observations made recently during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha emphasised that the problem of unemployment was really an alarming and serious issue. Analysing the problem of unemployment, the Prime Minister very rightly attributed it to the rising population and induction of new technologies in the country.

With the introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP) and the arrival of multinationals along with the “open market”, the resulting competition has forced the induction of more sophisticated and modern technologies, which are known to employ greater automation and lesser manpower. Further, the widespread and rapidly increasing use of computers also bound to offset the manpower requirements. But, according to the NEP, new technologies must be encouraged to face the stiff competition due to the globalisation of the market.

However, a false and misleading impression is being created by the proponents of the NEP and the government that employment opportunities will grow rapidly with the accelerated industrial and economic growth in India under the NEP. But facts belie this claim.

Employment in the organised sector increased from 2.67 crore in 1991 to 2.79 crore in 1996, that is an average rise of only about 2.4 lakh per year whereas our population grew by about 180 lakh per year during the same period. We all know how the government and the public sector units are trying to reduce the number of employees by various methods such as “golden handshake” or by not filling the posts created by superannuation, etc. So, in reality the unemployment situation is worsening in India despite an increase in the country’s economic growth rate since we adopted the NEP.

Thus, despite faster economic growth under the NEP, there seems hardly any probability that our unemployment problem would get solved as indeed the induction of new technologies — a promoter of unemployment — is unavoidable for the success of the New Economic Policy. It is very rightly said that economic growth alone cannot abolish poverty.

The NEP as implemented so far has, in fact, widened the gap between the affluent and the downtrodden in India. It is true that with the implementation of the NEP, the privileged class in India is full of vibrancy and is joining hands with the multinationals and is trying to compete in the global market. But, at the same time, the underprivileged people are sinking further in deprivation and misery. In other words, there exists an “economic disconnect” between the two faces of India and indeed the two classes are moving in opposite economic directions.

But, in contrast to this, there exists a strong “connect” between the two Indias in the domain of politics through several constitutional provisions like the equality of voting rights, etc. And if we do not forget that the deprived India is much bigger in number than the privileged India, the dangerous consequences of the antagonism between the economic “disconnect” and the reversely loaded political “connect” should be obvious to anybody. In fact, the biggest challenge before the nation today is how to resolve or reconcile this antagonism between the demands and compulsions of the NEP, and the constraints and pressures of our political system. Unless the nation is able to resolve satisfactorily these economic and political contradictions, there is every possibility that either the economic forces will subvert our democracy into an oligarchy or the political forces will stifle the NEP.

The raging controversies regarding the future of the PSUs, removal of slums, abolition of subsidies, reservation policies, etc, are manifestations of the same economic and political contradictions. The NEP cannot and must not overlook the political reality in the country.

If the nation really wants to continue with the NEP for rapid economic growth and also desires to retain its democratic set-up, then this politico-economic antagonism will have to be resolved. And the only way to do this is to enable the economically deprived but politically stronger India to become an active participant in the economic activities of the country. For this to happen, the debilitating poverty of the masses must be removed, which cannot be achieved without first removing the massive and rising unemployment in the country. And if the country is firm to continue with the NEP which in turn necessitates the induction of new technologies known to promote unemployment, then the only way left to fight unemployment is to control our rapid population growth.

Our population is growing by about 180 lakh per year and even if we assume that 40 per cent of our people seek employment, we need to provide employment to at least 72 lakh persons every year. At present about two-thirds of the total labour force is involved in the primary sector which is largely agriculture-based and the rest one-third is in the secondary (industries and production centres) and tertiary (trade, government services and non-organised jobs) sectors put together. The agriculture sector is already having labourers much in excess of its optimal requirements. Therefore, it would be totally erroneous to expect that the agriculture sector would be able to accommodate gainfully any more people as labourers from this 72 lakh of additional employment-seekers every year. And as stated earlier, total employment in the organised sector that includes all establishments in the government as well as public sectors and such nonagricultural establishments in the private sector as employ 10 or more workers increased by hardly about 2.50 lakh per year during 1991-96. So, it should be obvious to anybody why and at what an alarming rate unemployment is increasing in India, and what would be its consequences. The only way to save the NEP from our democracy or vice-versa would be to control our rapid population growth because under the new-technology-dependent NEP population control is the only way left to remove unemployment, which is the root cause of poverty and of the widespread discontent in society.

Apart from the political linkage, there exists yet another — though an ominous one — “connect” between the affluent and the deprived Indias. This connection is through crime. Massive unemployment even among the educated youth and the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor are bound to promote crime in any society, particularly in a populous democracy like ours. The alarming rise in the kidnapping of rich people or their wards for ransom or the rampant practice of “Rangdari tax”, etc, indeed create a strong though undesirable linkage between the two faces of India. And with the political power coming in the hands of the deprived majority, it would be near impossible to control the criminality of the frustrated and aimless youth.

The writer is a Professor at the IIT, New Delhi. 

Pakistan’s suspension from Commonwealth 
to continue
From Muhammad Najeeb in Islamabad

THE meeting of a special Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) set for September 15 in New York is unlikely to recommend an end to Pakistan’s suspension from the councils of the 54-member Commonwealth as Islamabad has failed to give a time-table for an early return to democracy.

Commonwealth secretary-general Don McKinnon, who held two days of talks with government leaders and politicians in Islamabad, said at the end of the visit that the Commonwealth had “no other option” than to keep Pakistan out because the military government had failed to give a time-table for the restoration of democracy.

However, Pakistan would be given another opportunity in the CMAG meeting, to which Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar had been invited, to explain the military government’s position.

While describing military ruler Pervez Musharraf as a “person determined to see this country return to democracy,” McKinnon said there was no softening of the organisation’s stand on the issue of suspension. He said his meetings with Pakistani Government leaders revolved round how quickly this country could be put back on the path to democracy.

McKinnon defended the Commonwealth’s decision to suspend Pakistan from its councils and bar it from attending meetings or securing technical help after the October 12 coup that ousted elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

He said he wanted to meet Sharif, who has been jailed since the coup, but the government did not give the permission.

McKinnon said the military government briefed him on its plans for compiling fresh electoral rolls and issuing national identity cards to avoid bogus voting before holding local government elections from December.

He said Musharraf assured him that the country would return to democracy by October 2002 - the date set by a Supreme Court ruling in May which upheld his coup. “The Commonwealth and the international community will continue to watch Pakistan closely to ensure the military regime keeps to its promise,” he said.

Regarding local bodies elections for transfer of power to the grassroots level being held under the present government, he said it would provide an opportunity to the people to strengthen the democratic process.

In a statement before his departure, from Islamabad McKinnon said the main purpose of his visit to Pakistan was to seek a definite time-frame for return to democracy, which was a matter of concern for the Commonwealth. The purpose was also to get first-hand information about the progress in this direction.

During his visit, McKinnon also held detailed meetings with the country’s politicians. Delegations of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) also met him. He also had a separate meeting with Kulsoom Nawaz, wife of the deposed Prime Minister.

“I am satisfied with the efforts the Commonwealth secretary-general is making for restoration of democracy in Pakistan. I am hopeful and confident that these efforts would bear fruit,” Kulsoom said after the meeting.

While talking to the delegations of political parties, McKinnon was reported to have assured them that the Commonwealth would continue its efforts for restoration of democracy and democratic institutions in Pakistan by pressuring the military regime to take immediate measures in this direction.

The PML delegation, led by Raja Zafarul Haq, thanked McKinnon for taking keen interest in Pakistan and expressed the hope that the Commonwealth would continue with its efforts.

The delegation informed McKinnon about the victimisation of political leaders and workers by the military regime. Haq told newsmen that he told McKinnon that Sharif had been convicted in various fake cases and was not being given any chance to defend himself. He also informed him that former parliamentarians were being jailed and handcuffed in the “worst type of human rights violation.” The PPP delegation, during its meeting with the Commonwealth official, lamented the imposition of military rule in Pakistan and demanded early revival of democracy.

Grand Democratic Alliance leader Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan conveyed his concerns over the military rule. He told McKinnon that his party believed in devolution of power, but opposed the military-backed local government.

Leaders of the fundamentalist Jamaat-I-Islami (JI), in their meeting with McKinnon, demanded India’s expulsion from the Commonwealth for committing what they called “gross human rights violations to suppress the ongoing freedom movement in Kashmir.” They also said they were for holding early general elections in the country. — India Abroad News Service

The stress schoolchildren undergo
From Kavita Bajeli-Datt in New Delhi

SCHOOLchildren in the Capital are overburdened and stressed out for reasons varying from studies to family problems. The net effect could be physical and psychological complications, with far-reaching effects on their growth, a recent study has said.

Conducted by Manju Mehta, a psychologist with the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the study said school-going children were suffering from various physical problems, which indicate that they might be going through psychological turmoil.

The report is based on a series of tests conducted on a random selection of 2,000 children in the age group of eight to 15 years. Equal numbers were chosen from government and privately run schools. Gender-wise, 45 per cent were girls and 55 per cent boys. It was conducted over a two-year period from 1997. The questionnaire that Mehta put to the children, also asked them to list the 12 irritants that they faced every day.

The main concern and anxieties among both girls and boys were almost similar, ranging from studies and obtaining good marks to the need to generally succeed in their lives. The study also revealed the sharp differences in the socio-economic and psychological problems of students from government and privately run schools.

“The study showed that the children of government schools mostly faced financial and family problems, which sometimes leave behind permanent psychological scars,” Mehta said. Family problems included abusive and violent behaviour by drunken fathers as also parental separation.

On the other hand, children from the privately run schools were found to be usually stressed out by studies as they feared the consequences of faring poorly at examinations. “Failure is one word that gives them continuous nightmares,” she said.

Stress-related problems were found to be higher among the students of privately run schools, with 22 per cent of them suffering from them, compared with 15 per cent in government schools. Due to these anxieties, many children were restless, prone to headaches, suffered loss of appetite and experienced bad dreams. Some even developed the habit of biting their nails, she said.

At times, the children were also affected by the fact that their working mothers were unable to give them much time. The list is, in fact, long. “Deaths in the family or even chronic illnesses could lead to stress in a child. Sometimes, weekly tests or the time taken to commute from school to home also results in distress and anxiety,” she said.

The study also extended itself to the efforts made by certain schools to help children cope with stress. “After finding their students suffer from anxiety-related problems, many schools conducted sessions to help them cope with it,” Mehta said.

“We adopt a scientific method to tackle their problem. If it is related to their studies, we teach them skills so that they could cope with the problem and if it is due to family problems, we talk to their parents,” she said.

Ramani Sundaresan, director of Sanjeevini, a non-governmental organisation that helps people deal with emotional crises, says children were bound to be stressed out, given the parental pressure on them to succeed.

“They are not given credit for any other activity (besides studies) they excel in.... Our whole outlook is focused on education,” she said. Often, children had to compete with their “best friends,” and this was bound to result in stress and depression, Sundaresan said. —India Abroad News Service

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

Man wants happiness. He shuns pain. He moves heaven and earth to get the happiness he wants from sensual objects, and lo, gets himself entangled in the inextricable meshes of maya. Poor man! He does not know that these objects are perishable and evanescent, finite and conditioned in time, space and causation. And what is more, he fails to get the desired happiness from them. Sensual pleasure is tantalising. There is enchantment so long as man does not possess the objects.

Real happiness is within you .... The musk is in the navel of the deer, but it runs here and there to smell it .... The precious diamond is within you, but you run after the broken glass-pieces in vain .... The ocean of bliss is within you ... and yet you run here and there in search for it. The Sun of suns is ever shining in you, but your blind eyes cannot behild it. The eternal sound is ringing within you, but your deaf ears cannot hear it.

— Swami Shivananda, Bliss Divine, Chapter 25

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For lasting happiness we shall have to make God our only refuge.

— Baba Hardev Singh, Gems of Truth

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O Farid, the Lord pervades the creation

And the creation is in the Lord.

How can anyone be called bad

When there is none other than Him.

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib, page 1381

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To eat bitter things from the hands of a cheerful person is better than to have sweets from the hands of a rude man.

— Sheikh Saadi (1184-1291), a Persian poet

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Become the dust of all

And identify yourself with the Lord

Do not injure anyone and go to your Lord's house.

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib, page 322

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Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

— Levitious, XIX, 18

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Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

— The Gospel According to St. Matthew, V, 39

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Small men are hypocritical. Just as the superior man is always at peace, so the small man is increasingly sorrowful.

— Chow Tun Yi, The Book of Universality, 14