The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Not by disinvestment alone

AFTER long weeks of silence in public Mr Manmohan Singh has spoken out and his sadness is palpable. The man who initiated economic reforms to pull the economy out of a deep crisis, finds that the BJP-led government has no clue to its policy obligation except to incessantly talk of disinvestment. There is no energy or eagerness to widen and deepen the reforms so as to add to the dynamism and accelerate growth. Even the sell-off of public sector units is hesitant, faulty and unproductive. And the meagre funds mopped up go to reduce the soaring budget deficit. Loss-making units are on offer and hence there are no takers. Partial privatisation in long distance and foreign telephone services has depressed the share prices of both MTNL and VSNL. One estimate has it that the two big profit-making PSUs may have shed as much as Rs 20,000 crore in the past six months. And the trend is about to pick up, causing more thousands of crores of loss to the investors. A similar fate has befallen Maruti Udyog; with the entry of several small and medium-sized cars in the market. Its sale is dipping and its assessed sale value has come down by about Rs 2000 crore (government share Rs 1000 crore). Instead of looking hard at Maruti, somebody has come up with the bright idea to bring Air-India and Indian Airlines under the hammer after injecting hundreds of crores of public funds to add sheen to the loss-making units. There is likely to be opposition not only from the employees but also from political parties. National carriers evoke an emotional bond and nobody would want a foreign management running them. Since 1991 total disinvestment has netted a measly Rs 18,000 crore as against the target of Rs 44,000 crore. It is a depressing story likely to be repeated this year too.

The former Finance Minister wants liberalisation to touch every aspect of the economy. The health of public finance, both at the Centre and in the states, is precarious. Debt is mounting, crowding out bank credit for industry. Soaring interest payment has made this a vicious cycle — interest ballooning the debt and mounting debt pushing up interest payment. It is imperative that the government first ends this and then reverses the process. Subsidies should go and the government should shed its grotesque flab. Revenue, tax revenue in the first place, must climb up. At present only 9 per cent of the GDP comes by way of tax revenue. This can easily double within a few years as it has in several East and South-East Asian countries. The trick is to reduce the tax rates and thus widen the base and increase tax compliance. Property tax is very high and can do with some pruning. Even income tax needs reduction. Bringing down taxes to pushing up collection has been successfully tried in other countries and even in this country when Mr V.P.Singh was Finance Minister. These two are then the urgent tasks of the government: to reduce expenditure by a variety of measures and increasing revenue through tax reforms. It requires courage to pull it off but the result will be worth the risk.

Violence in Gujarat

THE death of seven persons in Sunday’s poll violence in Gujarat has made the state a powderkeg, which can explode any time. As of today, it is election-related disturbance but considering that the incidents of stabbing and police firing have taken place in the hypersensitive Dariapur locality of the walled city of Ahmedabad, the situation can quickly degenerate into communal violence. Readers will recall that Dariapur was the scene of gruesome post-Babri Masjid riots in 1993, when it was under the influence of underworld don Abdul Latif. Since then, there has been relative calm but it has been deceptive and tension has always hung heavy in the air. The police firing has changed all that and violence can erupt again any time if the situation is not handled with extreme care. The clashes that took place on Sunday during the election to the municipal corporation in Ahmedabad were triggered by a rumour against the police. A woman reportedly complained of teasing inside a polling booth. A mob gathered in her support. While the police was trying to convince it, saying that she had been actually caught casting a bogus vote, someone in the mob fired from his private revolver killing a youth on the spot. The mob suspected that the youth had died in police firing and targeted the police personnel mercilessly. The bursting of tear gas shells failed to control the crowd, resulting in police firing. The damage has been done and there are few takers for the claim that only two persons died in police firing while the rest lost their lives in stabbing or mob firing. Among those killed is the city unit chief of the Seva Dal. That makes the situation all the more tricky because tempers among various political parties are running high.

An indefinite curfew has been imposed and a judicial enquiry into the firing has been ordered. Elections have been postponed in Dariapur and one ward in Wadey. The state government has done well to move in the Rapid Action Force really rapidly. Equally important is the need for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to show political maturity. It has to tell its cadres in no uncertain terms that the hooliganism in which at least some of them indulged while clashing with Congress workers and Independents would not be tolerated. The Pradesh Congress vice-president and party spokesman, Mr Hasmukh Patel, has claimed that all those who died were Congress workers. There is no way to confirm such reports but these can surely lead to more friction. Although the same message has also to be conveyed by other parties to their workers, the real responsibility lies with the BJP itself. What the political parties are not realising is that the situation is ripe for a communal conflagration. Now is the time for all parties to pour water over the fire and not oil, as they currently seem to be doing.

India's Olympic shame

SAMEER Dad's sterling performance in the hockey match against Argentina at the Sydney Olympic Games has given Indian sport lovers something to talk about. Herein lies the tragedy of Indian sport. The average lover of all forms of sport is as rare as the Great Indian Bustard. And he is so used to finding the names of Indian participants in international events at the bottom of the list that seeing India trounce Argentina in the opening round of its campaign for the elusive hockey gold makes him jump with boundless joy. The media too is responsible for the usually mediocre performance of Indian sport persons. The Indian sport journalists went into raptures praising the performance of Anjali Vedpathak in the 50m rifle event. What did she do to deserve the praise lavished on her by a doting Indian Press? She is the only Indian woman, after P. T. Usha, to make it to the final of an Olympic event. Usha lost a bronze medal in Los Angeles by a whisker because of improvement in technology for marking time. But Anjali Vedpathak finished eight and yet had the dubious satisfaction of being compared with P. T. Usha. And how long is the list of Indian athletes who have managed to enter the final of an Olympic event? Apart from Usha and now Vedpathak, Henry Rebello, Milkha Singh, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa and Sriram Singh. When will the one billion Indians get to see an Indian athlete, male or female, mount the podium at an Olympic Games by winning a gold medal. Even the hockey gold has become elusive. The inexperienced Brojeshwari Devi too earned the praise of the Indian media covering the Sydney Games by finishing "between nine and 16 positions" in judoka. She did manage to beat two opponents before going down fighting to the much fitter athlete from China. "Rowing challenge sinks without trace", "Swimmers finish fourth in heats" and "Baboor's qualifying bid suffers setback" were some of the other headlines which greeted Indian readers on Monday morning.

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will have to get past the Australian Woodies, the top ranked pair in the tournament, for raising hopes of a tennis medal. The last minute patch-up between the former world number doubles pair is a handicap they will have to overcome to keep India's medal hopes in an event other than hockey alive. However, an analysis of the current medals tally makes interesting reading. The names of the members of the nuclear club are found at the top of the medals table. However, the "Pokharan effect". if any, is not visible in the performance of the Indian contingent so far. Neither have the Chagai tests helped Pakistan appear in the list of medal winners. It is pointless having a Ministry of Sports headed by two ministers whose claim to fame is their ill-informed attack on Indian cricketers. Both Mr S. S. Dhindsa and Mr Shahnawaz Hussain, who is currently in Sydney to cheer up the Indian hockey team, need to look beyond cricket and hockey to understand what exactly is wrong with Indian sport. Why is a country of one billion people not able to produce athletes who are capable of winning medals? The continuing dismal performance of India in premium events like the Asian Games and the Olympics has begun to hurt. Perhaps, the fault lies with the Indian sport lover who is not demanding and the media which has done little to expose the behind the scene goings-on in the board rooms of most sport associations. They must be made more accountable for the performance of the Indian contingent in international sport events. To begin with, stricter norms need to be adopted for the selection of individuals and teams for international meets. The problem lies with the officials and their attitude to sport promotion. Even when the Indian contigent has returned without a single medal the officials and their hangers-on usually come back loaded with "foreign goods". This must stop.

PAYING TOO MUCH FOR TOO LITTLE
How to ensure efficient services to society
by J. L. Gupta

IS our bureaucracy bloated in size? Are we paying too much money for too little of service? Do we need to reduce the span? To make it look slightly spick? To get it moving? To make the “service” serve the people?

An incident may be illustrative. Also instructive.

The judge was hearing a case. Only about the promotions in the department. The petitioner’s complaint was that his claim had not been considered by the competent authority in the government. The state was disputing this. The judge asked for the government file. To see the original order. Was it passed by the competent authority? And after a look at the file, he said, “I do not want the clerk’s note. Where is the government’s decision?” The dealing assistant had brought the file to the court. He was quickly on his feet. With an enviable air of confidence, he said, “My lord! In the secretariat, I write the orders. Others merely sign.” Many on the dotted line.

Oh really? A glance through the file proved the point. He had recorded a “one page” note. That had sealed the fate. The next page carried the autographs and initials. Of so many. And right up to the minister. They had ratified the proposal. Without saying a word. Thus, the government had considered and decided.

Some honourable and rare exceptions apart, the “assistant” mostly represents the might of the government. He is the one who really matters. He runs the state. Others are merely for show. He is not a mere person. Not just an official. He is the real power in the government. Not surprisingly, he gets all the attention. From everyone. Even from the boss.

Then what for do we have the big paraphernalia? The big bureaucracy. The field and head offices. The offices and officers at the directorate level. And then in the government. The clerks, assistants, Deputy Superintendents, Superintendents, Under Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries, Joint Secretaries, Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, and Financial Commissioners. Separately for each department. With the Chief Secretary at the head of the bureaucratic pyramid. Not to mention the ever-increasing number of Deputy Ministers, State Ministers and Cabinet Ministers.

So many? To serve the people? The poor and illiterate masses. The helpless men and women. From the pavement-dwellers to the privileged occupants of palatial premises. All over the country. And yet so little of service. If at all you are lucky and get some water, it is muddy. The supply of electricity is highly erratic. Despite the installation of voltage stabilisers, the sophisticated pieces of equipment are getting damaged. Almost every day. The civic amenities are almost non-existent. Slight rain brings floods. With the resultant damage to person and property. In the darkness of the night, men get sucked into uncovered manholes. The slightest emergency is enough to expose our total inadequacy for the task. And it continues to be so despite renewed promises every year.

What are the people of this country actually getting? What is the improvement in the quality of life of the common man? Where are the millions and billions that we get after begging and borrowing going? Is the service to the citizen even remotely related to the fat salary bill that the taxpayers pay? The people pay a prohibitive price. Still they are harassed and humiliated. Even getting a ration card, a driving licence or a birth/death certificate is invariably a nightmare. A majority of the citizens even today go through an endless wait in long queues for a quart of kerosene. Why?

Apparently, there is a reversal of roles. Those who should be serving are only waiting and wanting to be served. To be given higher scales. Promotions. To remove stagnation. By creating more posts. To be given additional perks. Better facilities. At least two air-conditioned cars. With television and good stereo systems. To make life more comfortable. For themselves and their families.

Those who should be able to command service from the “civil servants”cannot get even close to the portals of power. They are not allowed anywhere near the gates of the Civil Secretariat. For reasons of security? To allow the modern “maharajas” to stay securely in the forts of their own making.

After Independence the number of “services” and “servants” has multiplied. Manifold. At the national as well as provincial levels. Along with this there has been a corresponding increase in the supporting staff. This unprecedented increase in numbers is ostensibly to take care of the development plans in the state. To effectively enforce the laws and to maintain order. To help the citizen. To give him a sense of security. For his person and property.

Have we even attempted to achieve the proclaimed purpose? The answer is obvious. Yet, we continue to bear the ever-growing burden. We pay a heavier salary bill every year. And not be producing more. Or working harder. But by borrowing. More and more. From everywhere. All the time. No wonder, the nation is today under a heavy debt. The money we pay to repay our loan obligations and the interest thereon may soon be more than the total amount that we generate. It is bad economics. An unhappy situation. Why do we not see the writing on the wall?

Our cost of governance is high. In fact, too high. At the end, we are left with little to provide any service to the man in the street. For him even an electric connection, a water tap, a hospital bed or a seat in a school are a real luxury. And mostly he does not get any of these.

Our Constitution provides for the making of “rules”. For the more convenient transaction of the governmental business. We seem to have taken a literal view of the provision. Today there appears to be less of service and more of “business”. The people have to go to courts to even elicit a response from the big bosses. Yet the citizen pays. Just to keep so many rubber stamps and automatic signing machines in good humour.

To what end? What purpose does it serve? What results do we achieve? Do the multiple levels not lead to more to red tape and less of efficiency? Why can we not simplify everything? Just an executive and a steno to help. To examine and put up the file to the minister. The order should be passed fast and implemented quickly. Without any delay or demur. It should improve the functioning and reduce the cost. Matters of policy can be decided by the ministers after meetings at different levels.

Shall we try? Unlikely. No one in the system would support such a proposal. The bureaucratic actions have to be homicidal. Not suicidal. Nobody in the entire government will be willing to spare even the least room. At no cost. “Over our dead bodies” will be the slogan. Strikes, effigies and threats should follow.

Undoubtedly, agitations by civil servants have come to stay. The difficulties in enforcing a reduction in size shall be many. But if we wish to look spick, we must reduce the span. The political will has to be strong. Somebody shall have to wear a mask. Made of the skin of a rhino. Face an organised agitation. Firmly. Boldly. It is imperative that we cut our costs. Of governance. So that we can improve our performance. It would be in the larger public interest.

To begin with, we can give a golden handshake to the surplus staff. Then we can utilise the money saved from the salary bill to set up small-scale civil service units. To provide good and efficient services to the citizen and society. Good typists and stenographers have a great market. Efficient clerks to do routine jobs for the old and senior citizens. An effort to accommodate the surplus staff in these units can be made. The wages for the staff should be dependent upon the money earned by the particular unit. The proposal needs to be given a trial.

Shall we? I shall pause for an answer.

Elusive industrial revival
by Balraj Mehta

THE high expectations of the revival of the Indian industry after a prolonged recession are again failing to materialise. The 12.1 per cent growth in industrial production in the first month of the current financial year, April 2000-2001, was applauded with gusto by the Union Finance Minister and the various chambers of industry. It was for them a heartening augury for the first year of the millennium.But there was a slump in May with the industrial production growth rate coming down to 5.5 per cent, which was less than what was recorded in the same month last year. The sharp downward trend in the industrial growth rate has since persisted. Industrial revival has again been elusive.

The latest index of industrial production released by the Central Statistical Organisation shows that industrial growth during the first four months of the current financial year dipped to 5.4 per cent against 5.9 per cent in the corresponding period of the last year. The decline in the growth rate of the manufacturing sector accounting for more than three-fourth of the weightage in the index of industrial production was even sharper — down to 4 per cent compared to 4.9 per cent last year. The performance of the capital goods segment was dismal as it recorded a negative growth as against 11.6 per cent a year ago.

It is significant to note in the context of the slowdown in the industrial production in the first four months of the current financial year that the net profit of the Indian companies jumped by 25 per cent when their sales grew by only 12 per cent in 1999-2000. The companies obviously extracted high profits from the consumer when the demand for their products in the market had just revived after a prolonged recession. It is obvious that the sale of industrial products on the basis of large profit margins has become unsustainable. Industrial production, instead of recording further growth, has slumped this year for want of buyers of products offered by industry at inflated prices.

There is a slump in the capital goods industry as well. This shows that productive investment in the industrial sector has either stagnated or even declined. It is remarkable, however, that bank credit to industry has gone up in the current year in a big way. But cheap credit made available to industry seems to have been used largely for speculative trading in stocks and shares, and for acquisitions and mergers, by large firms to gain monopoly advantages in the market. The plea of the representatives of Indian industry that interest rates for it should not be raised to protect the exchange value of the Indian rupee and dampen the demand for dollars is, therefore, not very convincing.

The raising of the prime bank rate by the Reserve Bank of India had become unavoidable to curb inflationary pressures also. Since industry has not been using the credit offered by the commercial banks at low interest rates to step up production and productivity, the case of industry against the increase in the interest rate has no merit.

The review of the performance of industry by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) ruefully predicts a gloomy picture for the current year. The basic industries like crude oil, cold rolled steel and pig iron are reported to be posting negative growth rates. The consumer non-durable industry has grown by less than 10 per cent much lower than expected, and the intermediate goods like castings, polyester filament yarn and nylon have shown negative growth. The services sector covering construction, thermal, hydro and nuclear electricity generation has also grown by less than 10 per cent. According to the CII, the industrial output growth trend is “not encouraging”.

It is widely and frankly admitted from time to time by spokesmen of the three apex chambers of trade and industry in the country that at least one out of three Indian companies is likely to close down in the coming two years. The intrusion of and competition from foreign multinationals in the Indian market has become too much for Indian companies to withstand.

This dark foreboding has become palpable in the case of the Rs 20,000 crore consumer durables market in India. It has been reported that during the last three years Indian companies in this sector have lost half —from 70 per cent to 35 per cent of their market share even as foreign companies have grabbed 65 per cent of the Indian market in colour TVs, refrigerators, washing machines and so on. Some well-established Indian companies have closed down and some others seem to be on the verge of closure. Several other segments of the Indian large-scale industry are also facing tough times and are being squeezed out of their domestic market because of the intrusion and competitive strength of multinational corporations.

The plight of the small-scale industry under the liberalisation-globalisation dispensation is worse still. The number of closures of production units in this sector runs into thousands. With the lifting of quantitative restrictions on the import of all consumer goods, the small-scale industry, already in doldrums, is facing decimation. The government has chosen to set up an inter-ministerial group to make an assessment of the impact of phasing out of quantitative restrictions on all imports and devise “adequate steps” to ensure that Indian industry, including its small-scale sector, is protected. This is a case of trying to bolt a window after the doors have been opened wide for the robbers to take away what they want.

Public investment holds primacy among proper and acceptable policy options in India. Stepping up of domestic savings and channelling it into investment in accordance with a socially meaningful order of priorities is of the highest importance. The ability and the will to raise resources for public investment is essential to engineer sustainable industrial growth even in the private sector. Without the state undertaking direct investment and production in strategic areas combined with an imaginative promotional-cum-regulatory role, rapid industrial growth cannot be achieved.

Matrimonial epiphanies
by D.R.Sharma

THE secular meaning of epiphany is a “flash of insight.” In the past few weeks we have had a myriad of flashes in the realm of bride-search for our solitary son.

Fortunate as we are in having a few good friends, they all rallied to our search-call, with all kinds of proposals and possibilities. The consensus was to first summon the corporate bachelor and let him meet the young ladies and their families, and then crystallise the choice.

As parents, to be honest, we liked every girl whom we met in the course of “match-fixing”. Almost every proposal underlined one fact: every mother was home-bound and “religious-minded.” This input considerably sobered our questioning mode and calmed our nerves.

We first met a charming lady in the company of her immediate relatives who excelled in the art of hospitality. Keeping the God-fearing mother in view we chose to talk of discipline and decency in life. The young lady whose gestures we were quietly monitoring kept smiling all through even when the focus occasionally shifted to subjects like corruption and conscience. “Do we proceed further?” we asked the young man. “Yes, by all means — but elsewhere,” he remarked. After a while he said: “I don’t want a child-marriage.”

The second proposal related to a “foreign-returned” lady whose father was a celebrity in a metropolis. It appeared that the gentleman had already done some competent homework on my pastoral childhood. The moment we met he said: “My roots are exactly like yours — and it augurs well for the social compatibility between our children”. This “social compatibility” was his coinage. As we turned to the girl’s sojourn abroad and her school experience there, we were told that being a sensitive and home-loving person, the poor thing had suffered such a severe culture shock that she hastened back within a week of her arrival in the “melting pot” called the United States of America.

I’ll conclude this piece with a quick reference to another proposal which came from a senior defence officer who had squashed quite a few Pakis on the border. He called straight from the field area and said: “Professor, my wife is a highly educated person presently principalling a senior secondary school. We both think that your son will be a suitable match for our daughter who is exceptionally smart and cute. She also knows how to carry herself. And we want an early marriage too, say in a month’s time”.

Though the general spoke gently, his hurry — and his unilateral verdict — somewhat confused us. We first wanted our boy to meet the cutie and see if the two “jelled.” When I suggested this, the gallant soldier remarked: “Jolly good, but remember the time-bound finals.”

Realpolitik
Political ‘cleansing’ in West Bengal
P. Raman

“NO LESS regrettable is the fact that political parties like the CPI, the CPM, the TDP and the AIADMK who have suffered on account of the abuse of Article 356 and have till recently opposed it tooth and nail, are party to the decision to impose President’s rule in Gujarat.” (BJP resolution adopted under the presidentship of L.K. Advani on September 19, 1996).

Since then there have been more abuse of the article. While the BJP once again faced the threat at the hands of Romesh Bhandari in UP, after becoming the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, himself had tried to perpetrate the same constitutional crime in Bihar. Advani is now persuading the TDP to back the same move which he had ‘regretted’ in 1996. Thus actors change but not the partisan urge to abuse this atrocious provision. If the misadventures in West Bengal seem to have been averted, it is not because the present rulers in Delhi have turn of political saints. It only highlights the inherent strength of the Indian democracy and the power of its political pluralism. No Prime Minister can any more go on dismissing State Governments at will.

The most stunning popular intervention has been in the form of electoral retaliation. Whenever the Centre took to the draconian provisions as short-cut to power, it had faced rout in the subsequent polls. Jyoti Basu’s party had suffered a near rout in the early ‘70s under Siddharth Shankar Ray when the then ‘minister for Bengal affairs’ at the Centre had resorted to massive rigging with the help of the police. The angry Marxists had then boycotted the Assembly for the entire five years and returned in the next polls in flying colours. The media had written Laloo Prasad Yadav’s obituary long before the elections in Bihar. One factor that had created sympathy for Laloo has been his seemingly harsh persecution and misuse of central powers against him.

That is why Jyoti Basu repeatedly challenges Vajpayee to try it in West Bengal “and face the consequences”. Chief Minister for an uninterrupted 23 years, Basu knows any unjustified central action will enrage the Bengal electorate. Both Mamata Banerjee and Advani have left no stone unturned to impose President’s rule. Apart from keeping the whimsical Mamata in good humour, the BJP also seems to subscribe to her argument that ‘Panskura model’ — secret of Trinamul’s victory — could be replicated only if she had the control over the police. For the BJP, the Left is its ideological adversary and to break the CPM’s backbone is high on its agenda. Even the Congress had cooperated with the BJP Government on issues but not the Left.

Advani is also aware of the adverse responses from regional allies of the NDA like the DMK, NC, SAD and the TDP. The latter has been more consistent in opposing the abuse of article 356. If they endorse the Advani’s action in West Bengal now, there will be immediate demands from the Congress, the AIADMK, etc for similar action against their rival governments. Thus calculations in North Block convinced Advani that some of these parties might absent themselves and so without ensuring the Congress support he cannot get it endorsed in the Rajya Sabha. Resort to the Disturbed Area Act met with another hurdle as under its provisions the request should come from the affected state.

This has been a safety valve to prevent central abuse. Another ‘hurdle’ has been the President. His stony silence at the brief meeting had unnerved Advani. Eventually, Fernandes was forced to suffer the humiliation of knocking at the doors of the party that has been his bete noire throughout his life. For the first time, the Congress found itself in a position of strength. Unlike earlier, it now has an unflappable PCC chief. The exodus from the party has reached a plateau. While the Congress could not be seen with the Bengal Left, it also would not walk into the trap of Article 356. Thus the party bluntly told the BJP to take, its own decision and face the results. Strategically, in central politics existence of a solid Left Block will be a depandable asset for the Congress.

Then Fernandes came with more lures. He assured to get a specific quota of assembly seats for the Congress in exchange of its support for the President’s rule. But the credibility of the Fernandes-Mamata duo is so low that the Congress found it not even worth considering. The Congress could do little if she okays it today and disowns tomorrow. In West Bengal, the bulk of the minorities is still with the Congress which accounted for its relatively good performance in the recent civic polls. Why should the party lose it? To meet this argument, the wily leader tried another bait — this time behind the back of the BJP. He persuaded Mamata to send feelers to the Congress for a non-BJP front in the state. Accretion of the traditional minority votes would more than compensate for the ‘lose’ of the BJP votes. But this too failed to work.

Many see a ‘hidden agenda’ in Fernandes’ charge of slack security for Mamata. Incidentally, both the accuser and the accused shy away from baring the real reason. The state government had felt perturbed over Mamata using her position as Union Minister to what they claim converting the circuit houses into a “parallel centre of administration”. She freely summoned the IAS officials and police to give direct “orders”. This had caused lots of confusion among the local administration. Fernandes could not legally object to the state’s (counter) directives to its staff. His concern for Mamata’s security has been a veiled expression of this anger. The State Government too chose not to make it a public issue.

In the present murky political atmosphere, it is difficult to find out what is really happening in rural West Bengal. We have conflicting versions of the situation in all the three pockets of violence. The extremely partisan attitude of bulk of the local media, including electronic, makes an independent assessment more hazardous. If one relies solely on the dominant local press, it is all a case of Marxist atrocity born out of their realisation that they will soon be swept away in an unstoppable Mamata storm. Thus the CPM cadres are desperately trying to hold on by terrorising the people.

While the opposition version gets massive coverage with prompt interviews with Mamata and ‘concern’ of the Centre, the official State Government version gets buried under. Often, interpretations and plain twists make even Jyoti Basu’s denials look incredible. Under such a disgusting atmosphere there is no point in seeking the Left Front’s side of the story. A senior state Congress leader cautioned that even spot visits will not help the impartial journalists separate chaff from the wheat unless one is prepared to stay on in each affected village for days together. The same incident of an attack or masscre is being presented to strengthen the views of the favoured party.

He cited a particular case in which mobike-bound Trinamul jotedars (land owners) chased away the men folk in a Muslim village and began looting and burning. Incidentally, many Muslims in the village were Congress supporters. Though the attackers left the village after a warning, a few drunken men with their bikes stayed back and began raping women. In sheer desperation, the women hit back and in the process six of them got killed, some by strangulation. The Congress leader says this was described as “Marxist atrocities” and Trinamul called a statewide bandh. All those fell to women ire were from outside the village — a fact that shows they were attackers and not victims.

On one aspect there is no dispute. The attackers were always outsiders. They came on mobikes and Tata Sumos, many of them brand new, with guns, bombs and petrol. The same group “covers” as many villages as possible on the same day. The whole purpose is a political ‘cleansing’ of rural West Bengal where the CPM has an unbreakable stranglehold. The standard media version, i.e., Trinamul position, has been that the emergence of a ‘saviour’ has emboldened the rural folks to challenge the CPM oppressors.

The political ‘cleansing’ is apparently the common factor in both versions. Even the rather scanty coverage of the Left version is enough to spot a socio-economic tint. Accordingly, jotedars (land owing class) have now found a saviour in Mamatadi to retrieve their lost land from the bargadars (sharecroppers). Under the Left Front’s land reform, bargadars were given the ownership of the land and necessary pattas were issued. The jotedar youth now feels emboldened to get all their glory back under the didi. To prove the point, a team of LF MPs who visited the trouble-torn villages claims that the first thing the attackers did was to destroy the pattas issued to bargadars.

The team’s report, submitted to the Prime Minister and the President, gives the villagewise details of the forced seizure of bargadars’ land by the marauding jotedars (Kespur 423, Pingla 50, Sabang 150, Garbeta 200 and others 334 taking to a total of 1157). Mamata Banerjee, it says, totally relies on the Jotedars for her voting support in the rural Bengal. The LF MPs claim that the organised seizures of the land by its former owners have sent shock waves among the rural poor and made the issue of land reform alive.

It is too naïve to conclude that the CPM stranglehold on the rural Bengal is crumbling. The recent civic polls prove otherwise. The LF has bagged 206 out of 321 panchayats and 48 out 58 panchayat samitis. Even the Congress had a relatively better showing. Thus the ‘political cleansing’ of rural Bengal, if forced, is going to be a bloody affair and no one need prejudge its outcome.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

If you see an intelligent man who tells you where true treasures are to be found, who shows what is to be avoided, and who administers reproofs, follow that wise man; it will be better not worse, for those who follow him.

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Let him admonish, let him command, let him hold back from what is improper: he will be beloved of the good; by the bad he will be hated.

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Well-makers lead the water (wherever they like); fletchers bend the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; wise people fashion themselves.

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As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, wise people falter not amidst blame and praise.

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Wise people, after they have listened to the laws, become serene, like a deep, smooth and still lake.

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Good people, walk on whatever befall, the good do not murmur, longing for pleasure; whether touched by happiness or sorrow, wise people never appear elated or depressed.

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There are signs by which you can know whether a man has truly seen God. One of these is joy; there is no hesitancy in him. He is like the ocean; the waves and sounds are on the surface; below are profound depths. The man who has seen God behaves sometimes like a mad man, sometimes like a ghoul, without any feeling of purity and impurity; sometimes like an inert thing, remaining speechless because he sees God within and without; sometimes like a child, without any attachment, wandering about unconcernedly with his cloth under his arm. Again, in the mood of a child he acts in different ways: sometimes like a boy indulging in frivolity; sometimes like a young man, working and teaching with the strength of a lion.

— The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Chapter XXXV

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The right motive for seeking self-knowledge is that which pertains to knowledge and not to self.

— H. P. Blavatsky, Practical Occultism