The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

A rotting scandal

THE Food Corporation of India (FCI) is rotting. By implication so is the Ministry of Food. The evidence lies in lakhs of bags of foodgrains rotting in its godowns or what pass for them. Some of the stocks are seven years old and hence is unfit as food for human beings and unfit as cattlefeed. The parliamentary consultative committee attached to the Ministry has blasted both FCI and the Ministry for this scandalous state of affairs. It has caustically, but not mockingly, asked the government to dump the useless load in a deep sea and save money. As it explains, the rent for the storage space and the interest charges on bank loans taken to buy the foodgrain is Rs 185 crore a year. One FCI rule is solely responsible for this shocking waste of both food and funds. It is called FIFO. No, it is not the name of some organisation but stands for “first in, first out”. So unless the earlier stock is cleared out, the babus in FCI cannot sell good quality wheat and rice. So the other rule that no grain should remain in stock for more than three years is flouted each year. Funnily nobody is held responsible for this crime against the poor in the country. The frequent complaint, as in Punjab and Haryana and now in Andhra Pradesh, that FCI has no space to store fresh arrivals is so much nonsense. The fact is that bad grains take precedence over good ones and the rotting game goes on.

A deeply disturbing fact is that the grain purchase by below the poverty line ration card holders has dropped by a hefty 40 per cent after the prices went up in last budget. Simply put, these Indians eat less food in the name of helping the government cutting useless expenditure while the same government is spending a large sum of money for the pleasure of sitting over rotting grains. The whole issue stinks and cries out for an inquiry by a joint parliamentary committee. More, FCI needs to be restructured immediately before globalisation advocates demand winding up of the organisation. That will leave the producers at the mercy of private traders. It deserves repetition that the market for agricultural products is highly undeveloped in this country and farmers, forever hard pressed for money, are easy prey. Those who clamour for free market are those who have holding power, namely rich farmers who are necessarily in a small number. The predominant majority of agriculturists are small and medium landholders and their interests should dominate any new policy. FCI’s importance as a procurement agency at a fixed price lies in this. It will not be reckless to limit the role of FCI to dealing with kisans with less than 10 acres of land or a ceiling on the volume anyone can sell at the fixed price. It is not difficult to implement this and has the additional virtue of introducing free trade without throwing the baby of pro-peasant aspect with the bathwater of reworking FCI. The time has come to review the whole farm policy with the twin objectives of safeguarding the interests of small and medium farmers and limiting the loss of FCI. Any delay will destroy FCI and hence sacrifice the interests of the not-so-rich grower.

It is a shame that foodgrains should rot while the poor go hungry and the drought-affected do not get assistance. The Food Ministry should come out with schemes to achieve two goals: one, to supply foodgrains to the really needy even free. That will reduce the bulging stocks and win the support of the army of the starving. It will also knock out a potent vote-winning issue of the Congress. Two, it will in the long run tend to reduce unnecessary expenditure like paying rent for storage space for rotting grains. It is an excrutiating irony that FCI which boasts of the biggest volume of substandard grains should impose impossible quality standards on farmers. With what justification can it say that it will pay superfine rates for certain varieties knowing full well that a part of the grain will soon attain under its care the level of not-fit-for-consumption by man or beast? It is all a big mess but the government is unlikely to get out of it, given its record.

Reservation for women

TODAY the government will once again go through the motion of reintroducing the Bill for reserving 33 per cent seats for women in the country's legislatures. Samajwadi leader Mulayam Singh Yadav too, as usual, will stall the adoption of the Bill unless the government agrees to create sub-quotas for Dalit and Muslim women. Why is the Bill being kept alive when it is clear as daylight that most male politicians are simply not interested in surrendering the monopoly over political power? In the Indian context, hypocrisy has become another name for the kind of politics which has struck firm roots over the past 50 years. The compulsions of political correctness demand that the issue of reservation of seats for women be kept alive, without letting the so-called commitment take the form of law. However, both the ruling party and the Opposition are aware that the stalling tactic cannot go on indefinitely. Against this backdrop reports that the Bharatiya Janata Party is making "serious backroom efforts" for breaking the deadlock for the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill deserve more than routine notice. The BJP is said to be trying to build a consensus in favour of the Election Commission's formula for achieving the stated objective of increasing the representation of women in the country's legislatures. The Election Commission favours a minor amendment in the Representation of the People Act under which the onus of providing a minimum of 33 per cent seats to women candidates will shift from the State to the political parties. The proposal has merit and should receive the unqualified support of most women's organisations, both political and non-political. The government has reportedly built a consensus in favour of the Election Commission formula among the National Democratic Alliance partners.

Even the Samajwadi Party is willing to field at least 33 per cent women candidates in future Lok Sabha and assembly elections. But the Congress is still a bit wary about taking the alternative formula seriously. Congress leaders would like the initiative to be seen to be coming from them and the ruling combine should show the magnanimity of accepting it. However, there is little disagreement between most Opposition and ruling party members that the Election Commission formula is actually an improvement on the original idea. For instance, the Bill in its present form does not provide any yardstick for gender-based reservation of Lok Sabha and assembly seats. Rotation of the seats reserved for women may result in the neglect of the constituency, because no one may like to raise a baby without a "fixed parentage". The Election Commission formula, on the hand, will answer Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav's concern because only Dalit women would be allowed to contest from caste-based reserved constituencies without in any way further reducing the number of general constituencies. The fear that most political parties may abuse the proposed change by giving only "unsafe" seats to women candidates is not without substance. But which political party, as of today, has at least 33 per cent ready-to-field women candidates? The Election Commission formula gives the process a chance to get started. Further improvements are possible because no man-made law is ever perfect. The proposed amendment in the Representation of the People Act will at least make male politicians take representation of women within the party more seriously. The only drawback under the modified policy is that reserving 33 per cent Lok Sabha and assembly tickets for women by political parties may not result in assured 33 per cent gender specific representation in the country's legislatures. But the problem is not insurmountable if the major political parties draw up a joint list of 33 per cent of the total seats from where only women candidates will be allowed to contest. If there is a will, there is a way. All that is important at this juncture is the expression of collective political will in favour of giving 33 per cent seats to women.

CABINET SYSTEM IN TATTERS
NDA makes things worse
by Inder Malhotra

A DAY-LONG seminar on the Cabinet system in the age of coalitions in Chennai last week helped turn the spotlight on one of the major ailments of the Indian polity. The cardinal principle of the Cabinet’s collective responsibility has been thrown to the winds. In fact, the entire Cabinet system lies in tatters, with no immediate remedial measure in sight.

On this conclusion there was remarkable consensus among parliamentarians, retired judges, former civil servants, academics and mediapersons from different parts of the country brought together by the Satyamurti Centre of Democratic Studies. But opinion seemed divided on whether anything can really be done to mend the alarming state of affairs. The reason for this is not far to seek.

It is generally accepted that there cannot be any escape from coalitions at the Centre — and these can often be a motley collection resembling a gaggle of rauccously squabbling geese — in the foreseeable future. But few are inclined to recognise that the inevitability of coalitions goes hand in hand with the almost total absence of coalition culture. More painfully, no one is making any attempt to develop the desirable temper of cooperation in adhering to the coalition’s agreed agenda and abiding by the elementary norm that a decision taken by the Cabinet is binding on all members of a ruling coalition. Those unhappy with a particular decision have the legitimate option to quit. But what they are doing instead is either to browbeat the collective will to back down, as Ms Mamata Banerjee has done over petroleum prices, or simply to subvert the collective decision as several ministers are doing on the crucial subject of disinvestment in the public sector. To make matters both worse and bizarre, some votaries of coalitions are busy investing the current chaotic situation with mythical virtues. In their convoluted view the destructive cacophony somehow becomes a beneficial device to reconcile the country’s many diversities and complexities.

Perhaps unavoidably, the previous lapses of the ruling combination in New Delhi have been overtaken, as source of concern, by the furore over the Prime Minister’s own highly controversial remarks on the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya. Some of his allies were no less disturbed than the opposition parties and large sections of the people. For Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, known for his moderation and statesmanship, advocated the construction of the temple at the disputed site where stood the Babri Masjid that was demolished eight years ago. In the end, however, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) stood together and defeated the Opposition’s censure motion with an impressive margin of 291 to 179.

This should normally have been the end of the matter. But that is far from being the case. After voting with the government, three of the BJP’s 23 allies — the Trinamool Congress, the Telugu Desam Party and the DMK — have protested against the Prime Minister’s speech in the Lok Sabha. They are complaining that even while committing himself to implementing the court’s verdict and sticking to the NDA’s agenda, Mr Vajpayee has chosen to reaffirm that the demand for the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya was a reflection of ‘‘national sentiment’’. Mr M. Karunanidhi’s statement on the subject has been particularly strong and sharp.

How this tusssle over the temple among the allies will be resolved is difficult to foretell. All concerned are equally unpredictable. But the cohesion of the government, not exemplary at the best of times, cannot but be under additional strain. The effect of this on the already dismal governance of the country should not be difficult to imagine. Moreover, the dangerously divisive overtones of the Ayodhya controversy cannot be overlooked.

However, the contours of the present state of the play are clear enough. The BJP, in consultation with the wider Sangh parivar, seems to have concluded that it would be extremely difficult, to put it no more strongly than that, to win the critically important state assembly election in UP in the coming year without Ramlalla’s assistance. At the same time, the calculation of the BJP strategists is that most of the allies would protest and make noises but would not leave the government because they derive tremendous advantage by being in power at the Centre. The only exception to this conclusion is Ms Mamata Banerjee. Her compulsions, peculiar to West Bengal, are such that she would, in any case, say farewell to the BJP before the West Bengal assembly poll, due well before that in UP.

What encourages the BJP leaders to try out brinkmanship over the Hindutva agenda in relation to the Ram temple is their conviction that the Congress, under Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s leadership, is in no position to do any damage to the alliance led by them. The bitter hostility between Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party and the Congress on the one hand, and the prospect of yet another opportunistic alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party in UP are also grist to the BJP mill.

There is undoubted plausibility in much of the BJP’s thinking on the subject of Ayodhya. But surely Mr Vajpayee and Mr L.K. Advani are leaders experienced enough to realise that sometimes the most careful of calculations can be belied; especially over issues that are so emotive and potentially explosive as that of mandir versus masjid.

However, the point under discussion here is not the Ayodhya issue — vitally important though that is — but how to bring back to the Cabinet system in the coalition era a modicum of order and effectiveness at present conspicuous by its absence. Before discussing this, it is perhaps pertinent to point out that even the Congress, overwhelmingly dominant at the Centre and in most states for 43 of the last 53 years, was essentially a coalition of a wide range of interests. Even the Cabinet of towering Jawaharlal Nehru included such disparate individuals as Krishna Menon and K.D. Malaviya on the one hand and Morarji Desai and S.K. Patil, on the other . The Janata Party (1977-79) was also a coalition even though its four constituents had merged themselves into one before the 1977 election that overthrew Indira Gandhi. But, alas, the performance of those two coalitions was diametrically opposed. Indira Gandhi had reduced the Cabinet — which had functioned in the best democratic tradition during the Nehru era — into a bunch of quivering courtiers. The Janata Cabinet virtually committed suicide because of unending and unsavoury fights among its three top leaders.

The story of the subsequent coalitions, that have come and gone in quick succession, has been even more depressing. For, in each of them the leader of every constituent mustering even a handful of seats in the Lok Sabha has behaved like a cross between a prima donna and a warlord and has got away with it. Where the leader himself or herself does not join the government, he or she, rather than the Prime Minister, becomes the boss of the ministers belonging to the relevant group. Ms Jayalalitha’s example ought to be a grim warning to all concerned.

If there is to be any improvement in the Cabinet’s functioning, the Prime Minister has to play the pivotal role that belongs to him. Mercifully, Mr Vajpayee’s position is not as weak as that of Mr Deve Gowda or Mr Inder Gujral was. Why he continues to surrender to blackmail and bullying — by an ally like Ms Banerjee or the RSS — is far from clear.

It goes without saying, of course, that the institution of the Cabinet or any other, for that matter, cannot be reformed and restored to pristine purity in isolation from the overall political culture of the country. At present it is appalling, with every norm and decency being trampled under foot by every government and every party. This happens all too often for petty personal and parochial reasons, not for any noble purpose or even ideology. Tragically, people at large also tend to vote again and again for leaders and legislators with reprehensible record.

In Chennai I expressed surprise at the extent of the support Ms Jayalalitha continues to enjoy despite her conviction in a succession of corruption cases. A prominent Congress MP told me that I was being ‘naive’. ‘In Tamil Nadu,’ he added, ‘‘choice is between the father of corruption and the mother of curruption’’.

———

The writer is a well-known political commentator.

In royal mould

FOR Captain Amarinder Singh, the return to the Congress in 1997, after 13 years in Akali politics, was a real homecoming. He had quit the Congress as an elected MP from Patiala on June 10, 1984, in protest against Operation Bluestar. True to royal traditions, he quit the Shiromani Akali Dal government headed by Mr Surjit Singh Barnala after the paramilitary forces entered the Golden Temple complex again on May 2, 1986, less than 20 months after his election to the Punjab Legislative Assembly as an Akali Dal nominee. At that time he was the Minister for Agriculture, Forests, Rural Development and Panchayats.

Though he formed the Akali Dal (Panthic) and was elected unopposed to the State Assembly in January, 1992, he became Chairman of the Shiromani Akali Dal Parliamentary Board after the merger of his Panthic Dal and the Longowal faction in January, 1992. When he merged the Panthic Dal with the Congress on September 12, 1997, it was his return to the parental party-fold which had ushered him in politics in 1980 as an MP from Patiala. On July 4, 1998, he was appointed President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), a position he has retained since then. During the recent organisational elections he was re-elected President of the PPCC.

Captain Amarinder Singh, a product of Lawrence School, Sanawar, and the National Defence Academy, had served the GOC-in-C, Western Command, as his ADC. He rejoined the Army within a few weeks of putting his papers after hostilities broke out on the Indo-Pak border. A widely travelled man, the Captain has set his eyes on the next Assembly elections in Punjab which he expects to take place some time in March-April next year.

A versatile personality

AN experienced parliamentarian, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda has been at the helm of affairs of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee after its humiliating defeats in the State Assembly elections in 1997. His re-election as the President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee has set at rest all speculations of Mr Bhajan Lal or his group cornering power in the state unit.

A farmer, a lawyer and a politician, Mr Hooda is a versatile personality. Coming from an agriculturalist family, he had three terms in the Lok Sabha. In the last Assembly polls in Haryana, he was elected for the Kiloi Assembly seat. A product of both Panjab University and Delhi University, Mr Hooda had his initial years in the Haryana Pradesh Youth Congress Committee as its senior Vice-President for two years before his elevation as its President.

Mr Hooda has been closely associated with the Jat Education Society in Rohtak besides the DAV educational institutions as a member of their managing committees. A keen sportsman, he is also an avid reader and traveller. This 53-year-old Jat leader from Rohtak has an arduous task before him of reviving the Congress in the state by taking along with him some of his traditional rivals within the party.

Challenges for Stokes

WITH a majority of pro-Virbhadra Singh legislators having boycotted the election of Mrs Vidya Stokes as the new chief of the Congress party in Himachal Pradesh, she might have a bumpy ride ahead.

Mrs Stokes, who has replaced Mr Sat Mahajan, is the third woman PCC chief in the state. Her name for the post had been in circulation for the past several months because of her closeness to Mrs Sonia Gandhi, AICC chief, though the Virbhadra Singh group opposed her throughout. Her supporters claim that she would not face any severe problems as she was enjoying the blessings of the high command.

The 73-year-old Mrs Stokes is not new to the political field. She plunged into politics 26 years ago in 1974 when she was elected an MLA for the first time in place of her husband, Mr Lal Chand Stokes, who died and the Theog Assembly seat fell vacant. She was earlier Speaker of the Assembly and then leader of the Congress Legislature Party when it was thrown out of power by the BJP in 1990. She has keen interest in sports and is President of the Indian Women Hockey Federation and Vice-President of the Indian Olympic Association.

Mrs Stokes, at times accused by her rivals of hobnobbing with Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal, has declared that she will expose the state government of its anti-people steps. She will also raise her voice against corruption. She is confident that despite some irritants, she will manage to carry all partymen along. Mr Virbhadra Singh has also promised support for strengthening the party.

Indian Telegraph Act

THE Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, will be given a deserved burial after the introduction of the Convergence Act, to provide a legal framework for facilitating the growth of information technology-related services and products. The basic objective of the Telegraph Act was the opposite of the proposed legislation. It was meant to protect the interests of the colonial masters by placing unreasonable restrictions on the public means of communication. The following excerpts from the 115-year-old Act should leave no scope for doubt about its objective:

“Power of the Government to take possession of licensed telegraphs and to order interception of messages - [1] On the occurrence of any public emergency, or in the interest of public safety, the Central Government or a State Government or any officer specially authorised in this behalf ... may ... in the interests of sovereignty and integrity of India ... or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offence ... by order, direct that any message or class of messages to or from any person or class of persons ... shall be intercepted or detained....’’ There is a special sub-section for dealing with press messages.

Since the “post and telegraph” [of which the “telegraph” portion is almost dead] are part of the services provided by the government the Act recommends penalties, including a fine of up to Rs 500 [in 1885 it was a fortune] for anyone who “enters a fenced enclosure round such a telegraph office ... wilfully obstructs ... any ... officer ... in the performance of his duty”.

It is clear that the Indian Telegraph Act is not the only law, tailor-made to protect the interests of the Raj, which has not been repealed by the indifferent rulers of free India. A number of equally repressive laws continue to be the backbone of the country’s legal system.

New dawn for sex-workers

AND the best women’s cooperative award goes to, Usha! This recognition is for its success in a micro-credit scheme in West Bengal. Usha, which means “dawn” in Bengali, is a unique cooperative of sex workers in Calcutta.

The idea of this cooperative emerged when sex workers of Sonagachi, the biggest red light area in the city, found that they were being exploited by traders, middle-men and brothel owners. The sex workers were not encouraged to step out of their area for buying even items for personal needs and had to buy goods brought by others. Consequently, they ended by paying a lot more for these products. Secondly, the aged sex workers did not have any resources to fall back on after they ceased to work. In times of need, they had to borrow money from money-lenders at very high rates of interest.

Usha is an offshoot of a WHO sponsored HIV/AIDS Intervention Programme in Calcutta’s red light areas. Under this novel project, the sex workers were involved as peer workers to promote condom use. Usha started with 54 members and a deposit of Rs 5.000 five years ago. Today, it has 1,780 members with an asset base of Rs 2 lakh. The most popular of its various schemes is the daily scheme, which requires a member to deposit a certain sum of money every day. The micro-credit scheme is open to all members for loans at a 12 per cent rate of interest. For sex workers, relegated to the back streets both socially and financially, Usha has imbibed a tremendous sense of worthiness and confidence. (WFS)

Dangerous toys

Experts are urging safety-conscious Santas to work in reverse this year and toss out dangerous toys by the sack-full.

“We can get recalled toys off store shelves, but the more difficult task is to get recalled toys out of people’s homes,’’ said Ann Brown, chairman of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Her agency is publishing a “Dangerous Dozen’’ list of recalled toys, in the hope that parents rid their homes of these potentially injury-inducing playthings.

Some of the worst offenders include:

— “Pokemon Balls,’’ distributed via Burger King outlets last November and December. The plastic spheres can separate and pose a suffocation hazard to babies and toddlers. Burger King is offering a free small order of french fries for each of the toys returned to any of its franchises.

— Toy Basketball Nets. Over 11 million nets, meant to be hooked into basketball hoops, were sold between 1976 and 1998. ‘’CPSC is aware of more than 20 reports of children under 5 years old whose head or neck caught in the net of a toy basketball set,’’ the agency explained, including one case in which a toddler was strangled and died. ``People should remove and throw away nets that can unhook or have knots that slide,’’ the experts advise.

— Wiggle Waggle Caterpillar. Over a million of these toys were sold between 1998-2000, and the CPSC say one 5-month-old girl choked to death after swallowing one of the small balls attached to the toys. Parents can get a free, safer replacement for the toy by calling the manufacturer, Child Guidance, at (877) 586-1006. (Reuters)

Alcohol consumption

A research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has provided new evidence that moderate alcohol consumption appears to decrease the rate of bone turnover.

In a study of 489 post-menopausal women, moderate drinkers had significantly higher bone mineral density (BMD) than their non-drinking counterparts, according to the research head by Rapuri. This effect may result from reduction in the level of parathyroid hormone which regulates the on going process of bone remodeling. The maximum posture effect of alcohol consumption on bone was seen in postmenopausal women who ingested more than 28.6 to 57.2 grams of alcohol per week, about the equivalent of 2-4 mixed drinks, glasses of wine, or cans of bear. The women had 16 per cent greater BMD in the opine, 12 per cent greater total body BMD and 14 per cent greater forearm BMD than did nondrinking women.

Information on smoking history, past use of estrogen, present use of medications or a history of fractures was adjusted in statistical analysis. Dual X-ray abosrptiometry was used to measure BMD at the hip, lumber spine, whole body, and forearm skeletal sites. Blood levels of several bone marker chemicals and the parathyroid hormone were also obtained. Women identified as moderate drinkers more than 28.6 to 57.2 g/wk) were found to have the highest BMD at every skeletal site, though the difference at the hip was not as significant as at the other sites. Serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) was 25-30 per cent lower in moderate drinkers than in non-drinkers. (PTI)

We are what we eat

A growing number of people want to know what they are eating. Under the biggest shake-up of Australia’s food code in decades, consumers will be able to tell how much of the main ingredients are in the packaged foods that they are eating.

The new labels will be introduced over the next two years, which the food industry claims could add up to 2 per cent of food bills. Food labels henceforth will list percentages of the main or characterising ingredients of the packaged foods. At present, most food labels list ingredients in descending order of content only.

It will become mandatory for nutritional panels on food to include information on sugars and saturated fats. This is a step forward from the original proposal developed by the Australia New Zealand Food Authority to list the total fat, protein, energy, carbohydrates and sodium in the food products.

But in a concession to several manufacturers, the Food Standard Council decided against the deregulation of ingredient laws for seven popular food categories — cream, ice cream, peanut butter, yoghurt, chocolate, fruit juice drinks and jams. (WFS)

Australia, New Zealand say no to killers
From Keith Perry in London

THE killers of two-year-old British toddler James Bulger will be refused the chance to build new lives in Australia or New Zealand after both countries said they were not dumping grounds for Britain's unwanted criminals.

The British Home Office is considering sending Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who battered James Bulger to death on a railway line in February, 1993, to an English speaking country, possibly New Zealand, Australia or Canada, when the England and Wales Parole Board makes a decision on their release in the New Year.

But the New Zealand Government has ruled out the proposal. Mr Helen Clark, the Prime Minister, said: ‘‘I would have thought the days of the penal colony were over.’’

UK Home Office sources revealed that the authorities had outlined a plan to give the schoolboy killers, who are now 18, new identities and secretly usher them out of the country. Britain would pay their travel expenses, initial accommodation costs and provide a Home Office-appointed counsellor to oversee their rehabilitation. They would be under constant supervision, and their parents would be offered the chance to join them overseas, at their own cost.

The New Zealand Government said that Britain had not formally approached it although the Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Phil Goff, said it was unlikely the plan would be approved. ‘‘I wouldn't welcome taking responsibility for one or both of the offenders who committed such a horrific offence. I don't see that as New Zealand's primary responsibility, quite frankly.’’

New Zealand residency is not given to people who have been jailed for certain terms including five years or more, or 12 months or more in the past decade.

A spokesman for the Australian High Commission in London said Thompson and Venables would not be allowed in because the country's immigration rules also bar anyone with a criminal record who has served a prison term. ‘‘Australia welcomes migrants but we like to ensure they are the sort of people that are going to be of benefit to Australian society.’’

After Venables and Thompson were convicted, the media were banned from publishing details about their detention. That ban was to expire when they turned 18 last August, but was extended by the High Court family division.

A Home Office spokeswoman said it might be necessary to send the pair overseas to ensure their new identities were protected but said it was premature to speculate since they had yet to be given parole. Any plan to send them abroad would have to have the full approval of that country.

In the past, police informants have been spirited abroad with new identities to protect them from reprisals. But this would be the first time the government treated murderers in the same way.

—By arrangement with The Guardian

“A sacred secret”
by J. L. Gupta

HATCHED. Matched. Snatched. The three words tell the whole tale. Of the mighty man and his long life. From the beginning to the end. From birth to death.

During the interval, man does such a lot. Good and bad. Holy and unholy. Sacred and sinful. He goes through so much. There are moments of happiness and joy. Also of sorrow and stress. Sometimes, it appears that this world is the heaven. There could be nothing better. In the whole universe. At other times, man is convinced that this earth is the hell. For some other planet.

Yet, man continues. To live. to fight. To struggle. And to survive. To ultimately die. To be buried or burnt. To be forgotten. By his own kith and kin. Even by the ones born out of his flesh and blood.

While in the land of the living, man goes through a myriad miseries. Continuously. All the seven days of the week. On Mondays, there are moments when he moans. On Tuesdays, he sheds tears. Wednesdays, he verily wails. Thursdays, thirst tries his tenacity. Fridays frighten him. On Saturdays he feels shattered. Sundays are days to shun. Everyday has a new problem. One worse than the other.

Thus, the days, months and years pass. And like this, the whole life.

When young, man looks for money. Even marries for money. He thinks that he has found the 'mool mantra.' The 'moolah' shall bring the missing mirth in his life. Pacify the problems. He dreams. He feels convinced that wealth shall take away the worries. Hopes to be peaceful and prosperous.

Thus, he struggles. Day and night. Misses the sleep. In the fond hope of making the wife and children happy. In the unending search for the solution, he loses what he has. The precious peace of mind. At the end of the long battle, he is dejected and disappointed.

Totally disillusioned, he changes his course. Goes to a Guru. To be guided on the rough road of life. Searches. Seeks. Succeeds. Starts a new journey. The life seems to take a new turn. He sees some solace. A luminous light. But before long, the love of wife and children lures him back. he is back to the place from where he had started. To bear the burden of the self created worries on his frail body. Soon, he gets despondent.

Again, he starts the search. This time, he chooses to seek the satisfaction of his desires through another form of divinity. A fulfillment of life by following a faith. Adopts a religion. Selects his own God. He kneels and prays before Him. Worships Him. Chants Christmas carols. Morning and evening. Asks the family to join. Everyone prays. With beads or a rosary in hand.

Soon, they are going through regular rituals as well. Sometimes, in the privacy of the house. On other occasions, openly. In public. Even with the beat of drum and other musical instruments. They perform 'Paath' to be on the right path. To seek the divine grace. God's blessings.

Then the man erects temples and other places of worship. The Churches, Gurudwaras and Mosques. To install his God. To be able to sit and sing His songs. In His praise. As a mark of heartfelt respect. To express an infinite gratitude. All the time. Everyday. loudly. With the blaring of microphones and sophisticated sound systems. Unmindful of the fact that it might disturb the people in the surrounding areas.

Man knows that God almighty, by whatever name called, is all-powerful. He is omnipotent. Omnipresent. Omniscient. He recognises this truth. Acknowledges it. Yet, he is all the time trying to raise big buildings for Him. Not surprisingly, all His abodes are sizeable structures. At all places. In every country. Throughout the world. All have been built at a considerable cost. Despite the fact that there is poverty. A large section of the society sleep without two square meals. A large number of children cry for a bite of food. A sip of milk. Die for lack of money and medical aid. They go to sleep under the stars. Without a roof on their heads and a cover on their bodies. Even on footpaths.

Does it really please the Gods? The Maker of the universe? Or the makers of the massive monuments?

Man erects the mansions in his search for salvation. To be happy. For attaining eternal and inner peace. For freedom from life. From the never-ending cycle of birth and death. To reach heaven. And after having made the places for worship, he fights over them. In the name of religion. In the name of God. In streets. In public. In courts. He indulges in violence. Man kills man. We often witness a mass hysteria.

Ultimately what do the places of worship signify? What purpose do the God's abodes serve? Is not religion an individual's personal affair? Should it not be confined to the four walls of one's home only? Restricted strictly to the prayer room? And can we not utilise the millions of money spent on cement, steel and marble for something more satisfying? Would the money spent on building a temple be not enough to erect a school or college building? Would it not be better to open dispensaries than the places for drum beating? Would that not be better way to make life sublime?

But religion is not all reason. Somehow, it has an opiating effect. It makes man forget the logic. Blinded by personal belief, man does not listen to even his inner voice. He forgets that he walks in and out of this world by himself. He comes and goes alone. He cries at birth. Also when he leaves the world, to be with his maker.

And during this journey, man has a chance to do good. To be godly. To help the needy. To raise him from the animal to a human existence. Save him from starvation. Wipe a tear from the half-naked, semi-starved and innocent child's eye. To help him to grow up into a useful human being.

Man needs to realise that even a penny given to the family suffering the pangs of penury would be worth more than a million pounds spent on a Mandir raised for reciting mantras. More than that, it would be satisfying. Richly rewarding. For man and his kind. The schools, colleges and hospitals built with the money spent on temples or other places of worship would be the best way to thank God. Also to serve His creation.

And the most sacred secret for a ‘life sublime’.