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| Wednesday,
March 28, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Of gas and
judicial wisdom Putting on
poll paint |
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Darshan Singh Maini
Questions
of transparency and fair play
A
de-fence operation
Exam
fever? Pause, get a life
The risk
of small and light arms
Lanka to
build Bamiyan-type Buddhas
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DELHI was the seat of power of Mohammed bin Tughlaq, the most famous whimsical emperor in history. It is a different matter that some historians now find his actions not crazy but ahead of his time. A bit of Tughlaq lurks in every policy-maker or law-giver even today. That is the Delhi effect and also the upshot of the awesome power the rulers enjoy. Many Delhi-ites will link the Supreme Court’s verdict first on polluting industries, then on cleaning up the Yamuna and now banning the use of diesel by commercial passenger vehicles to this syndrome. Still earlier the court banished petrol-using vehicles of 15 years old from the streets of the national Capital. At that time it ordered that only those passenger vehicles would be allowed to ply on Delhi’s roads which conformed to the Euro-I standard, permitting the emission of carbon mono-oxide of 3.16 gram. Now it is the turn of diesel-run buses. Strangely, trucks and other commercial vehicles are out of the purview of the verdict. They are free to pollute the air while the buses which carry people to their place of work and then bring them back home and which are used by school children have been given six months to come clean or get out. The Supreme Court first set a March 31 deadline way back in July, 1998, and when it found that nobody was moving to switch over to compressed natural gas (CNG) as the fuel, it got agitated. Finally, it has relented and set September-end as the new deadline, but the order bristles with several loopholes. All those who order for the conversion kit or seek to buy CNG-run buses can use the diesel-driven ones until then. Pollution will continue but the date has been fixed for its departure. Well, not exactly. Trucks using the same polluting fuel will continue to ply. The Monday court order relates only to buses of all types, including those catering to tourists. There are two aspects the court has not taken into account while issuing a sort of summary order. The more important thing is the safety. Late last week a taxi in Mumbai was destroyed when its CNG cylinder exploded, injuring the passengers and more than 30 others. Those in the business of fitting CNG cylinders in Delhi complain that they are not sure of the safety standards of the cylinders as also the valves and regulators used to fix them. There is no mandatory laboratory testing of the cylinders and related equipment and hence a Mumbai-like blast may just be waiting to happen. There is not a word about this in the judgement, although there is much sympathetic noise about the likely hardship to school children if the diesel-run buses are withdrawn overnight. Is not their lives equally precious? Now that the apex court has decided to set the rules for passenger transport in the Capital city, it should also look into the safety aspect. The second aspect is the location of gas stations. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit complains that there are only a few petrol pumps providing CNG to vehicles. She has asked Petroleum Minister Ram Naik to open or sanction more such outlets all over the city. The idea should not be to curb pollution by buses but by all vehicles. What the apex court has done is to resort to a piecemeal solution outside a broad framework. Combating pollution is all right. But the Supreme Court should not confine its concern to Delhi and New Delhi alone. There is India beyond the Capital and it is extremely unfair to export Delhi pollution to its periphery as its order on industries does. The court’s latest order too focuses only on Delhi and simply ignores the rest of India. The honourable judges would do well to remember that they are making laws for the entire country and not for the city where they are presently posted. |
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WHEN
the Chief Election Commissioner begins to talk tough it is time for the ordinary citizen to put himself on the high pedestal of voter and wait for the politicians of all hues to perform the ritual of touching his feet and reminding him of his importance in a democracy. For the politicians it is a signal to put on the poll paint and get ready for a more foul than fair electoral battle. But the tough-talking which Dr M.S. Gill did during his pre-election visit to Chennai was meant primarily to be a wake-up call for the entire political class which tends to throw all the prescribed norms of electoral fair play overboard. Although the sermon from the Chief Election Commissioner to the prospective candidates and poll managers was delivered in harsh tones from the capital of Tamil Nadu, it was meant for the politicians of four other states where Assembly elections are due. The soft-spoken CEC did well to remind representatives of various political parties that there were other laws too which they must respect to avoid getting into trouble. For instance, if television channels created a law and order problem through reckless political bashing of candidates, they could face prosecution under the provisions of the Cable Television Regulation Act. Since most TV networks in Tamil Nadu are owned by political leaders, Dr Gill was actually targeting them while attacking the channels. He spoke softly on issues on which he knew he had no control. The so-called “opinion poll” organised by newspapers, magazines and television networks was one such issue on which he softly conveyed his displeasure, but expressed helplessness in stopping them because of the Supreme Court ruling in their favour. A related issue was raised by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the two-day meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party executive members. It was more a belated reaction to the tehelka expose of politicians shown accepting money from “Operation West End” agents as “party funds” than a revival of the inconclusive debate on the right of political parties to raise funds. No one would disagree with Mr Vajpayee that party funding needs to be made transparent. But who is stopping the BJP from setting a healthy example by making an entry of every paisa it receives from individuals and organisations in the party’s cash book? England is called the mother of parliamentary democracy. The strength of its democratic structure is derived primarily from precedents and conventions which are as sacred as the written laws. Why must the BJP, or for that matter other political groups which agree with it on the need for transparency in party funding, keep expressing helplessness in issuing proper receipts to “Operation West End”-type donors in the absence of a law on the subject of political donations. A political party needs funds for achieving two basic objectives. One, to strengthen the organisation at the grassroots level. Two, to provide adequate funds to candidates for contesting elections without the help of the ever-willing underworld. But who is responsible for putting the thought of contesting elections beyond the reach of the fast vanishing breed of honest politicians? And who is stopping the political class from enacting the necessary laws? However, in the absence of the will to reject corruption, no law will be able to make the system clean. |
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Furore over tehelka tapes THE furore that the tehelka tapes have created in a spectacular and dramatic manner has raised questions that once again compel the imagination of outrage to go beyond the putative, palable, visual truth, for in the infotech world of today, facts and fancy can be so manipulated as to cast a shadow over the proceedings with a view to suggesting a third reality — one that exceeds or undercuts, or laminates both facts as they are seen and the statistics that often hide more than what they reveal. So the mere facticity is not enough; nor, indeed, is the actuality. The truth as we commonly know it is essentially partisan, and is only liberated when the third eye, the visionary eye of a seer, a saint or a great poet, uncovers the costumed reality and the truth — God’s truth, in short, shines naked in the sun. In the concluding pauris of Japji Sahib, Guru Nanak refers, in his supreme hymns, to that truth which is above all other human virtues. My purpose in this kind of preamble is, I think, clear. We’ve to reach down to the depths of deception and depravity which have become a condition of existence and exercise in the world of politics, above all. Before I touch upon the larger issues in question, I wish to draw the reader’s attention to my column piece, “St George of Indian Politics” (The Tribune, “On Target”, March 15, 1999), in which dismayed by Mr George Fernandes’ manoeuvres to break up the Janata Party and his appropriating the plum post of the Defence Minister under a BJP-RSS government, I traced the downward slide of an archetypal politician who, starting as a labour leader and man of the masses is, over a period of time, seduced by his own inner forces to end up as a travesty of his putative self — the self known to the world. And I used the analogy of Howard Spring’s hero, Shawcross, in the novel, “Fame is the spur to show how our “high priest” of secularism and socialism has jettisoned his past to turn into a political adventurist — a defrocked “priest” still seeking to preserve his tattered persona! My own meeting with him during the tormented eighties after Operation Bluestar and other related points, including his careful-cultivated image and airs of “a labour intellectual”, wild-haired, open-shirted, pyjama-clad “comrade”, I leave out of the account here to come to his expose after a period of nearly 50 years, and to the nemesis that accompanies the kind of hauteur and prevarication he has come to represent in public life. In order to reach the “heart of darkness” in this scandal, I may as well refer to the question of ethics involved in what may be called “snooper” journalism. Surely, where the hidden eye or the camera seeks to cover, or really uncover the bedroom or the toilet, this
kind of story becomes distasteful, if not immoral. But where the exposure of corruption in high places is concerned, as an opinion poll conducted after the tehelka dhamaka clearly (over 70 per cent) shows such a drama is not only desirable but also right and proper. This is not Tom-peepism, “the key-hole” itch but a proxy theatre presented to unmask the political “lions”, to show “the shaggy undergrowth” of those whose lust for power—and money becomes an open threat to the State. That half a century was needed to disrobe one of the so-called “charismatic” figures in Indian politics only shows the complexity of the cobwebs the George of fact and fancy, myth and mystique, had woven to keep himself in the swim of things. Even now as I watch this sordid story of the wheeler-dealers hour after hour on TV, I can scarcely believe that he could have gone that far in pursuit of its “moolah” when the genesis of his “abounding disgrace” lay in the urge for power. In fact, I feel embarrassed when, poker-faced, he defends himself even now. What is consummate player, indeed. It has been suggested, again and again, by the Defence analysts on the national TV network and on the BBC “Question Time” that almost all Defence Ministry deals for weapons involve this kind of conmanship, camouflage and casuistry, and that since Nehru’s own days (the Krishna Menon jeep scandal), such a system has plagued the business of buying foreign hardware. Largely true, but not wholly, Nehru’s own credentials in matters of money were impeccable, and if Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi deviated into a disgusting dishonesty, at least two or three Prime Ministers — Mr V.P. Singh, Mr Deve Gowda and Mr I.K. Gujral (all Janata Dal members, it must be remembered) — remained clear, and almost untainted so far as we know it. In fact, Mr V.P. Singh, Mr Rajiv Gandhi’s Finance Minister, had to come out into the open when the Bofors gun deal had begun to cause great moral anxiety in him. And the Congress party has never recovered from that shock despite all its game and gimmicks to keep the Bofors issue away from the public eye. Like Banquo’s ghost in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, it just wouldn’t go away, and it keeps turning up to this day to upset the Nehru dynastic stomach. So, it’s not always that a Prime Minister is compelled to compromise his moral vision and to compromise the image of India as a great metaphysical-cum-moral idea in the world mind. The NDA government (what an irony of names — the Defence Ministry’s prime institution is the national Defence Academy, popularly known as the NDA, Kharakvasla with which I remained associated as a lecturer in English from 1950 to June, 1962) now finds itself suddenly with its “pants down”, and is using all possible tricks to buy time, a four-month “breather” suggested by the Prime Minister in his TV address to the incensed and insulted nation. But nothing seems likley to wash this time. That the BJP’s own militant ideological arm, the RSS, should clearly indict its own government, believing, prima facie, in the authenticity of the tehelka tapes only adds to the misery of the NDA government. And, of course, the tar-tainted Congress party, brushing aside its own dark defence deals, has gone after the cornered government, smelling “blood” and a possible return to power. It is already thick in the fray, and planning its strategies despite the enormous contradictions and conditionalities that stand in its way. To preserve its “flock”, the Vajpayee government has decided to keep the skilful George as the NDA convener, and rejected all proposals regarding the dismissal of Mr Brajesh Mishra, the National Security Adviser and the Prime Minister’s “right hand”. How long this facade of “the conspiracy” against the NDA government can be maintained is difficult to tell in view of the conglomeration of all manner of parties in it, each desperately keen to ride the two game horses simultaneously. And should these contradictions within the power structure collapse — Ms Mamata Banerjee, a supreme opportunist, with enormous lung-power but no ideas, having already deserted “the sinking ship” force the issue — the choice before the President becomes a problem of problems. And the various possible alternatives seem destined to come to grief even before their start. The political earthquake and “the damage control” appear now as a collateral and clumsy exercise after the Gujarat tragedy. The Third Front possibility is perhaps the only little hope in this gloom, and even there the proceedings to date do not show a promising end. To have the likes of Mr Chandra Shekhar and Mr Laloo Yadav again in such a set-up is to insult the nation twice over. I recall my own “On Target” piece on the miserable tenure of the Bhondsi Machiavel as Prime Minister under Rajiv Gandhi’s tutelage entitled “The skunk hour in New Delhi”. I may add that the Robert Lowell poem which furnishes the title here concerns the moral stink in American society and polity. We, today, are again in a situation where the stink of corruption nauseates the rational imagination. At the moment of writing, I see no signs of a viable solution. However, the enormous imponderables latent in the politics of power can swing the situation in a most unpredictable way. All we can do is to pray for the nation’s health — and for its soul! |
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Questions of transparency and fair play THE tehelka episode has once again underlined the transparency issue, but in the process it has also brought to the fore what is fair and foul in journalism under the circumstances. While it is the responsibility of the media — cyber journalism included — to inform its readers, with warts and all, about what is happening around as also elsewhere, the ethics of the profession demands that this should be done by observing utmost caution. It goes without saying that when an incident is reported with the mention of the person suspected to have been involved in it, the views of all sides must be incorporated. Otherwise the damage that may be done to the honour and reputation of the person concerned, whose guilt is yet to be established with the adoption of the due process of law, can never be repaired. In India’s criminal justice system largely the police, prosecution, courts, correctional departments and rehabilitation fora have a definite role to play and in that order. Such writing mainly begins to target authority-wielding persons, their acts of omission and commission and their alleged indulgence in high-handedness. When mediamen fail to incorporate the version of an accused person, he is, made to wear the mantle of guilt wrapped up around, with a hounding paparazzi. The established principles of law do not hold an accused person guilty until his demeanour is juxtaposed with the incriminating evidence against him, direct or indirect, oral or documentary, circumstantial or tangible but surely not without a proper judicial scrutiny. And in cases where the criminal act indulged in by a person or persons ends up in acquittal, the damage that the media “expose” does to them is beyond repair. Merely a case of suspicion does not give anybody a right to play with the sentiments of an individual and paint him black without a judicial scrutiny of his alleged misdemeanour within the criminal justice system. It is also true that a journalist has largely to depend on his sources, whatever the quality, when the authentic version is not made available. In such a situation, vested interests have their role to play. The reasons for not incorporating the official version may be many yet one has to experience this problem with journalists almost everyday. There are healthy practices being followed in concealing the identity of the person or persons in the picture in certain cases such as rape, etc. And there are fine examples of journalistic ethics being at play when the gruesome details of such stories are held back not only in larger public interest but also in appreciation of the sensibilities of an individual in a democratic set-up. Yet the fact remains that there are lapses here and there. If one steps into the shoes of an affected person, only then can one realise the importance of a fair trial. When accused of having committed a crime or anti-social act, a person is always in a state of shock, unlike hardened criminals, and is unable to speak his mind out, speak the truth and very boldly deny the charges levelled against him as professional criminals and anti-social elements can do. His predicament would not, in the normal course, allow him even psychologically to be prepared to divulge all the details which are in his favour while facing unpleasant questions by the media. In such a situation even an innocent person can be made to wear the mantle of an “accused”. He cannot pick up the courage to face the camera and give his version of the incident. Within the criminal justice delivery system, there isn’t any scope for gaining in reputation once there is a dent hammered on an innocent person’s reputation. Even in Western countries, the situation is not any better. The criminal justice system also, in certain cases, gives the benefit of doubt only to the person accused of a crime, keeping in view the age-old dictum — a hundred criminals may go scot-free but an innocent person should not be penalised. Thus, till the time the accused person is proved guilty beyond any reasonable doubt by a due process of judicial scrutiny and an uninfluenced and appropriate process of law, the correctional administration and the rehabilitation departments will have very little to do, insofar as a person’s damaged psyche and sensibilities are concerned. The compensations paid, if and when one challenges the character assassination indulged in, by anybody, are not commensurate with the injury caused. There do exist certain fora that can play an effective role in making the media exercise restraint not only in the larger public interest but also in the interest of the individual’s dignity, honour and reputation. These are the Press Council of India, the Editors Guild of India, various working journalists unions, NGOs, etc. But in most of such cases the individual suffers, becoming a victim of the circumstances created by media reports. The damage to one’s dignity and reputation does not stop here since the media trial does influence the courts too. The judges would place more reliance on what they observe from media reports. A fair application of mind while appreciating evidence and passing a judgement tends to become questionable. But all said and done, transparency needs to be practised by people whose acts of omission and commission have a bearing on national security and an individual’s liberty and dignity. The writer is Assistant Director, Bureau of Police Research & Development, New Delhi. |
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A de-fence operation “UNCLE, they’re waiting for you,” calls our good neighbour’s daughter. I rush to our modest house and find an energetic HUDA crew armed with pickaxes, hammers and long iron rods waiting for the signal from their solo supervisor. “We’re here on the orders of our superiors to de-fence this beauteous patch of your corner-house,” says he. “If you can get it done on your own, then I can deploy my workforce elsewhere.” I plead helplessness and tell him to go ahead with his assigned mission. I feebly suggest that he could perhaps ask his demolishers not to hurt the plants. A few sympathisers from the block suddenly converge on the scene to share my anguish. “HUDA is headless,” remarks one, while the other says, “No, mindless.” The third restrains the two and remarks: “Poor HUDA is innocent. Court orders.” The fourth is more philosophical. “All corner houses give bellyaches to some,” avers he. While they are busy commiserating with me, I notice the gung-ho among the daily-wage workers. Bricks, barbed wire, angle iron being crushed, mangled and shoved over rose bushes and other saplings. “Careful,” shouts the chief. After the operation I ask him if he has orders to mutilate the green patch with glistening shoots of Calcutta grass. “No, HUDA likes verdure and sunshine and tree-lined boulevards,” he remarks. “Personally, I feel that what you had got done to protect the area blocked neither a driver’s view nor a pedestrian’s steps.” My neighbour’s frontage too has been battered. He is wondering whether he can tolerate this vandalism. He discusses his options to move out to Panipat or Pathankot, but finally reconciles to hang on to this house with a ravaged boundary wall. As soon as the HUDA fixers move to the next lane, their auxiliary unit arrives to accomplish the unfinished task. They uproot canna lilies, sniff the plants and merrily feast on broad and burgeoning leaves. These hefty heifers of Haryana, I learn from a state-watcher, always follow the demolition squad and gorge on shrubs that the squad is “careful” about. Nowhere else, adds he, can one ever witness such a sublime sight of human and bovine brotherhood. |
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75 YEARS AGO A PRINTED circular dated the 15the Feb. 1926, issued over the signature of Lady Muhammad Shafi, Kanwarani Charanjit Singh, Lady Zulfiqar Ali Khan and Mrs. Behari Lal Dhingra, says that "in view of the great and beneficent work which Her Excellency the Countess of Reading has accomplished for the welfare of Indian women and children during the last five years," the signatories "propose that, as an expression of affection and gratitude, an address and a suitable Souvenir be presented to Her Excellency before her departure from this country. It is proposed to request Her Excellency to accept the presentation sometime towards the end of March. Rs 200 are solicited for the Souvenir (which will take the form of a string of pearls worth under Rs 10000)." Begum Shah Nawaz and Mrs. Hari Das act as Joint Honorary Secretaries, and will receive subscriptions. |
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IT is that time of the year again and the recurring viral — exams — is in the air. Nobody is immune from it and newspaper reports tell us that mothers have taken off to help their children study, others have fired domestics who make too much noise while doing their chores, and some others have even sought psychiatric help. But is all this worth it both for the children and their parents? “I want my son to study and excel, but I also want him to have a childhood, and grow up knowing that there is more to life than exams and marks, “ say most women.
WFS Stopping riots with microwaves Riot shields and water cannon may soon be made obsolete by a revolutionary weapon that can stun a hostile crowd with invisible microwaves. The US Vehicle Mounted Active Denial System (VMADS), a radar dish mounted on the back of a tank or jeep, is interesting British police forces. The VMADS, or “people zapper”, uses a “directed energy beam”, according to a Pentagon spokesperson. “When it comes into contact with skin it causes a sensation of heat to an uncomfortable level.” The Pentagon insists the beam causes no permanent damage - no one gets hurt, but the crowd or enemy soldiers retreat hastily. The weapon harnesses the beams found in kitchen microwaves. Travelling at the speed of light, the energy of the beam penetrates less than a millimetre under the skin, quickly heating the skin’s surface. This triggers the body’s defence reaction: pain. When the subject moves out of the beam, the pain stops. Scientists will start testing the weapons on goats and humans soon. Jane’s Defence Weekly said recently the “non-lethal” nature of some weapons “might ... encourage military forces to use them directly
against civilians and civilian targets”. Guardian SmarTruck The US Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, Mich., has unveiled its newest concept vehicle, the
. As the Army describes it, the SmarTruck “can disorient the enemy with its headlights, fend off attackers with electrified door handles and emit smoke screens to obscure a pursuer’s line of vision.”
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The risk of small and light arms DURING
the Mujahidden war in Afghanistan, the USA, making use of its ‘‘traditional’’ strategic ally Pakistan, poured into Afghanistan arms and armament worth nearly $ 3.5 billion. The Soviet policy planners had read little of Afghan history. According to informed sources, barely 60 per cent of these arms, particularly small and portable arms, reached the Afghan Mujahiddens. The remaining quantity was either pilfered or intentionally diverted to gangsters in Pakistan who worked under various names for various agencies — the ISI, religious organisations, Lashkars, Mafiosi, narcotic barons, politicians, private security service etc. The Americans did not mind the pilferage and rather closed their eyes to it. The plan was to build a second line of defence in case the Mujahidden defence collapsed in Afghanistan in the wake of a massive retaliation by the Red Army. Many agencies that were in receipt of bigger consignments in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan, had established direct liaison with the CIA and in close consultation with them had chalked out a contingent plan. This indicates the extent to which the Americans are responsible for weaponising Pakistani civil society. According to a report of the Pakistani Interior Ministry, there may be as many as three million Kalashnikovs (AK-47 and its many variants, including the Chinese Type-56 assault rifles) in circulation in the NWFP alone. This estimate, presumably, does not take into account other types of assault rifles such as M-16s and G-3s, as well as varieties of handguns (revolvers/pistols) and light weapons such as rocket –propelled grenade launchers (RPGs). There is concrete evidence of the use and sale of these weapons in the arms bazaars of the NWFP and other parts of Pakistan. In recent years, these weapons have been frequently used by perpetrators of sectarian and ethnic killings in different parts of Pakistan, including the port city of Karachi. In Peshawar and the adjoining frontier region, Kalashnikovs are freely available for sale and transportation to any part of the country. The second important outlet is for the narcotic Mafiosi while they transport the commodity from the Pak-Afghan border to Karachi where it is loaded in special ships registered in Greece for delivery to narcotic-barons in Europe. Realising that the country was awash with small and light weapons, Pakistan’s military regime began creating an impression that it was alive to the dangers posed by this proliferation. This is reflected in the recent statements of the Interior Minister, Lt-Gen Moinuddin Haider. The question is whether the regime is really willing to control illicit arms running and ensure the security of civil society in Pakistan? Islamabad had twice tried, first in 1991 and then in 1994, to seize illicit weapons throughout the country. But since the effort was without proper planning and with minimal seriousness, it did not succeed. Pakistan cannot control the proliferation of small and light weapons. The fractured nature of her society, its perceptions of political space in Talibanised Afghanistan and the potential for internal strife are strong allurements for weaponising the civil society. Pakistan has an agenda in Afghanistan, which actually came into focus once the Soviets withdrew from that country. Pakistan has been seeking political space westward and eastward and that has induced her to chalk out the present policy in Afghanistan and in the Indian part of Kashmir. New supplies of weapons continue to pour into Afghanistan even as old weapons are recycled and pushed across frontiers by smugglers and even by functionaries of the state. There is the likelihood of the state itself arming certain non-state actors and sub-national groups to push its security agenda. Therefore one should rule out any seriousness on the part of the Pakistani military junta of addressing the issue of proliferation of light weapons. As indicated, sectarian hatred and violence are incentives for acquiring light and portable weapons in Pakistan. Between 1990 and 2000, there were 1523 incidents of sectarian violence in Punjab alone which left 948 people dead and 263 injured. The number of casualties in ethnic violence in urban Sindh has been well recorded and runs into thousands. Proliferation of weapons encourages the actors to resort to armed conflicts, helps to prolong it, making the job of the mediators much more difficult. In general this kind of atmosphere of chaos helps create conditions for lawlessness and banditry. It is also to be noted that seemingly Pakistan does not have any defined state policy in regard to the possession of illicit weapons by civilians. Today individuals, tribes and political, religious and ethnic groups can easily outgun at least the police and the paramilitary forces. The rise of Jehadi groups has given great impetus to arms proliferation. In the name of Kashmir Jihad, various groups are openly carrying arms and brandishing these in public. A mere threat issued to the people carrying arms is not going to deter them from symbolising their aggressive and militaristic designs. Pakistan has another problem with enforcing a ban on illicit arms. The provincial administration in at least two provinces of Baluchistan and NWFP is hardly in a mood to make the federal law of banning the carrying of illicit arms operative within their territorial jurisdiction. Citing cultural reasons, a tribal set-up and blood feuds, the two provinces have refused to carry out the directives of the federal governments. The federal governments themselves failed to follow their own policies and continue to issue permits to legislators for buying automatic weapons. In July this year, the United Nations will be arranging a conference on illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. Pakistan has taken an interesting position. It has welcomed the UN initiative but it has raised the issue of cause rather than the effect. It said: “ The causes of these conflicts are multiple and varied…..The international community, in order to meaningfully tackle the problems of excessive accumulation and indiscriminate use of small arms and light weapons, will need to adopt an over-arching approach which addresses the causes and not just symptoms of the problem.” Obviously Pakistan is eager that the scope of the conference should be restricted to aspects of illicit trade of small arms and light weapons relating to illicit trade only. Its apprehension is that some countries might ask for a norm against selling weapons to repressive regimes. A few years ago, Pakistan exported weapons to the SLORC regime in Myanmar, one of the most repressive regimes in the world. If this is the state policy, then Pakistan should forget about any success in its de-weaponising bid within the country and the statements of the Interior Minister turns out to be only an eyewash. |
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Lanka to build Bamiyan-type Buddhas SRI
Lanka’s main Buddhist organisation is seeking help from India and
Pakistan in an ambitious effort to build a replica in Colombo of the
Bamiyan Buddhas demolished by Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban
militia. The Sri Lanka Mahabodhi Society (SLMS) said it had written to
the Indian High Commission for help in reproducing one of the two
statues, blasted to bits earlier this month in the central Afghan
province of Bamiyan by the Islamic fundamentalist group. “We have
written to the Indian High Commissioner asking for photographs of the
statues because we do not have a good likeness here,” SLMS Secretary
M.M.P. Senaratne said. He said Pakistan has been approached for
detailed drawings of the statues and the society had asked for advice
from archaeologists there on how the replicas could be re-built. The
SLMS began calling for public donations this week to raise funds for
rebuilding the towering statue, reputed to be the tallest image of the
Buddha in the world. Senaratne said the SLMS had been swamped with
offers of help from several callers, many of whom were Muslims. The
fund-raising drive is expected to take about a year. “We have had a
very good response so far, not only from Buddhists. Many Muslims have
said they are keen to help us because this is not just a religious
matter. It’s a part of our world heritage,” the official said. Senaratne
said requesting India for help was the first step the society had taken
in its effort to erect the Bamiyan Buddhas here. “The Indian High
Commission has always been very helpful to us and we are sure they will
aid us now too.” Indian High Commissioner Gopalkrishna Gandhi had
offered to pass on survey maps and photographs of the archaeological
sites, where the famous Buddhas were hewn out of massive cliffs, when he
met Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. Although the original statue,
which Sri Lanka is planning to build, was 53- metre tall, the replica
will be scaled down to about one-third its size and will stand at about
15 metres tall, Senaratne said. The society expects to house the statue
at its own premises in Maligakanda, in the capital Colombo, but was open
to other suggestions. Local sculptors will be asked for advice on the
best material for the statues. “Some people have suggested granite.
But it will be difficult to move a rock of that size. We might make it
out of concrete and have the craftsmen carve the image from it.” The
SLMS, established in 1891, is the oldest Buddhist organisation in the
world and is one of the main caretakers of the shrines in the Buddhist
pilgrim centre of Gaya in Bihar. IANS |
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Naked and empty-handed you came into this world, and naked and empty-handed you shall leave it. Then why all this harding of copper coins and filling of wardrobes? He who feeds and clothes the birds of the air on the hills and in the snow, will He not take care of you? ***** Dread of a coming misery renders us more miserable then the actual misery, which perhaps may come or may not. In fact, we cause more pain to ourselves by brooding over our imaginary troubles, instead of girding up our loins and facing them bravely when they come. ***** If you want victory over the mind, surrender yourself to the Will of the Lord. ***** To realise one's faults and bad habits is the first step towards their correction and removal. ***** Tender trees and pretty plants fade and wither in the garden even while receiving full, care and attention from a gardener. But those depending only on God's grace flourish and flower on the snowy hill tops. ***** Do good even to the evil-minded. Does not God shower rain and sunshine on the worst of sinners and give them food and raiment? ***** Sense life and Divine Life move on two opposite paths. Unless you turn your face totally away from the pleasures of the senses you cannot taste the sweet pleasures of Divine Life. ***** Old age, health, poverty, richness, sickness, disease, wealth, learning, honour, dishonour, and time of death are all pre-ordained while a man is in the womb of his mother. So a wise man never worries or frets or regrets anything. — Maharaj Jagat Singh, The Science of the Soul: A Spiritual Bouquet, 66, 68, 72, 75, 86, 87, 96, 98, 99. |
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