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| Tuesday,
April 24, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Wet wheat,
dry FCI Pakistan is at it |
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Child
adoption racket THE Andhra Pradesh government has ordered an enquiry into the child adoption racket merely to silence the critics before they go to town demanding the head of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. An honest enquiry will, however, reveal that a similar story concerning the trafficking of children from adivasi families under the guise of giving them to families for adoption had surfaced two years ago.
How MPs
have the last laugh Helter
skelter for shelter
It’s
“chic to be geek”
PM: from
siege to intrigues
Corruption
begins at the top
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Wet wheat, dry FCI HARVEST time was celebration time since time immemorial. Not any more. Man (read the bureaucrat) and nature have combined to make it a nightmare. It is unseasonal rain, and everyone blames the global warming for it. Paddy with a high moisture content and now wheat too wet to attract buyers. From the kisan’s point of view it is a calamity. Throughout the region the harvest is expected to be 5 per cent less than originally expected. In Haryana alone the loss can be as high as Rs 352 crore. Punjab is a champion wheat producer and rainfall has been equally harsh and damaging in all districts. It means that the loss to farmers will be very heavy. Haryana has promised to lift every grain of rain-hit wheat and has demanded a relief package of Rs 607 crore from the Centre. Punjab is yet to scientifically assess the loss to the agriculturists and with the Assembly election coming in less than 10 months time, it does not have many options. In Haryana only nine districts have been hit hard by unexpected hailstorm but it is no happy news. These are only places where wheat is grown and this grain is highly vulnerable to weather changes. As in Punjab so here, a subtle attempt is being made to frighten the kisan to readjust his cropping pattern. The argument is that neither the government, nor agricultural scientists, nor even the kisan himself can erect a protectionist wall against untimely rain; so the only way is to align farming practices to the changing weather. But where are the alternate
plans? By now it is clear that it is not the WTO conditions which are the greatest threat to the farming community but the officials of the FCI and the leaden-footed Food Ministry. They were smiling when reports came that this kharif season will see a sharp fall in wheat output by about 6 per cent or 13 million tonnes in all. They felt that the procurement obligation will come down by that volume and at a time when the FCI silos were bursting at the seams, this is a very good news. Still their problem is gigantic in this region. Punjab hopes to offer at least 10 million tonnes in all, a drop of two million tonnes from the original estimate. But there is still a crisis. The Punjab storage capacity is full and of late it has despatched about six million tonnes of wheat, creating a capacity to stock that much. But it still has nine million tonnes of wheat yet to be cleared and if fresh arrivals match the estimate, there will be no space to keep the procured grain. The government still clings to the model of subsistence farming of the fifties and the sixties and is clueless about surplus farming of the nineties and now. That is the curse of the farming community. |
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Pakistan is at it THE Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police deserves compliments for killing three hardcore militants belonging to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad last week in Lucknow, who had planned to capture the disputed shrine in Ayodhya. At the same time, the conspiracy is a warning signal for the intelligence agencies of the country, as to what they are up against. Pakistan is hatching more and more audacious and mean plans, which, if successful, can cause untold upheaval in India. The militants had not only thought of capturing the shrine, but also had plans to murder Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Mrs Priyanka Vadra and several other prominent personalities. Considering the extent of polarisation in the country, any such strike could have triggered civil unrest. Just recall what had happened after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. The Director-General of the Uttar Pradesh Police says that the militants had contacted students of Islamic institutions in Mumbai, Kolkata, Deoband, Muzaffarnagar, Allahabad and Delhi to win over their support. Apparently, this information is based on the documents found on the bodies of the killed militants. It not only shows how extensive the network of the ISI is, but is also an indirect indictment of our counterintelligence machinery. The country needs to be reassured that such evils can be nipped long before these reach an alarming
proportion. The Jaish-e-Mohammad is proving to be one of the nastiest groups involved in waging war against India. It was floated by Maulana Masood Azhar, one of the three militants freed by India to secure the release of the passengers of a hijacked Indian Airlines plane in Kandahar in December, 1999. In fact, one of the militants shot in Lucknow had been a bodyguard of Azhar and involved in at least four encounters in the Kashmir valley. Such debilitating consequences of letting off terrorists should force policy makers to evolve new parameters of negotiating with hijackers in future. An alarming development is that the three hardcore militants shot dead in the Gomtinagar area of Lucknow had entered India via Dhaka. Such incursions across the Nepal border were already a cause for concern. The entry through Bangladesh adds a new dimension to the situation. Now that the issue of the brutal murder of BSF personnel by the Bangladesh Rifles is already agitating the country, Delhi needs to take up the matter with Dhaka in a firm manner. |
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Child adoption racket THE Andhra Pradesh government has ordered an enquiry into the child adoption racket merely to silence the critics before they go to town demanding the head of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. An honest enquiry will, however, reveal that a similar story concerning the trafficking of children from adivasi families under the guise of giving them to families for adoption had surfaced two years ago. Mr Naidu as Chief Minister had acted as promptly as he has now for plugging the loopholes in the existing adoption laws with the sole objective of protecting infants from being sold as "raw material" to the ever-expanding sex industry. In the present case the NGO was allegedly selling children to rich foreign "couples" without verifying their antecedents or obtaining the necessary permission from the authorities concerned. Mr Naidu is clearly worried about the political fallout of the racket, exposed by a team of the Women and Child Welfare Department that conducted a raid on the premises of the Hyderabad-based NGO, Action for Social Development. The team rescued 34 infants before they could be sold. The children were shifted to a hospital where one of them died while the condition of others was said to be critical. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has been working at different levels giving little time to his detractors to ask uncomfortable questions. He has asked the District Collector concerned to give a detailed report on the working of the institution from where the infants were recovered. He has also announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh to those giving information about other bogus NGOs engaged in similar activity.
However, sooner than later he will have to explain why the loopholes were not plugged when a similar racket, was uncovered two years ago. Keeping in mind the global dimensions of the racket the Centre should place a blanket ban on the adoption of children for giving itself time for an in-depth study of the problem. Child traffickers have nationwide chains for meeting the demands of the global sex industry. At about the time the racket was exposed in Andhra Pradesh the Karnataka police was busy following leads in what looked like an identical case. While the authorities in Hyderabad were still going through the motions of investigating the incident, the Karnataka police acted more promptly and arrested the gang leader. The reason why poor families agree to part with their children is obvious. The remedy too is as obvious. Banish poverty. Any political takers for a simple remedy for most ailments which afflict the people of India? |
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How MPs have the last laugh MIRROR, mirror on the wall, who is the most corrupt of them all? The mirror cracked, leaving only a mirage. Big deal. Tehelka has only exposed India’s best-known secret. Then why this furore by our politicians? Is it because it has outraged their honour? Besmirched their safedi ki chamtkaar reputation and made wild allegations? Chasing shadows where none exist? Perhaps the din is for some soul searching and introspection. Even ostracisation? Forget it. What our netagan are quibbling about is not honesty versus dishonesty, morality and immorality, corruption and cleanliness, but the degree of corruption. Who is more corrupt than the
other? Corruption has again become the latest socio-economic entertainer to keep their vote-banks tiller ringing. And their favourite entertainment place: Parliament. So busy are political parties trading charges and counter-charges that they have once again reduced the Parliament of the world’s biggest democracy to the world’s biggest joke? How else should one describe the almost abandoned second half of the budget session. Crucial weeks to transact the financial business. Alas, all abdicated their prime responsibility of enacting legislation and exercising control over the government’s purse and its spending.
For the first time in India’s Parliamentary history, the Railway Budget was passed without a debate in a disgraceful record of barely five minutes last Friday. The Congress and RJD MPs rushed into the well of the Lok Sabha when the Railway Budget was taken up the CPM staged a walkout and the Treasury Benches created another tehelka. None was truly bothered. Arguably, why should any of our pampered hon’bles have lost their sleep? After all, it is only the common man who has to bear the brunt of rising prices and misgovernance. Not those who thrive on subsidies and rule the roost. Why then bother about the mundane business of Parliament and its two
Houses? India’s great tragedy is that the very protectors of this high temple of parliamentary democracy have become its denigrators and destroyers. Who cast the first stone is irrelevant. The onus lies on all sides of Parliament. True, the Opposition is first to blame. Despite their feigned indignation that Parliament was being prevented from functioning by the government’s stonewalling on their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Tehelka issue. It ended up with inflicting on democracy a great damage.
The BJP heaved a sigh of relief and tom-tommed its intentions. The Third Front glowed in the aftermath of muscle-flexing. The Congress felt outwitted and accused the BJP of turning Parliament into an arena to massage their much-bruised egos. Reflecting the abysmal depths to which politics has sunk in our country. All that transpired till date — unabashed opportunism — will be remembered as the lowest denominator in parliamentary democracy, when national interests were mindlessly sacrificed at the altar of
power. At the end of it all, one wonders what purpose has been served by such stalling tactics. Bluntly, boycotts and blockades are no substitute for reasoned debate. It is unacceptable that crucial Bills should remain pending simply because Parliament is rendered non-functional by lung power. It is equally scandalous that important financial business such as the Railway Budget was not allowed to be discussed because the parties were too busy scoring brownie points. Sadly, the General Budget faces the same
fate. Amidst all this high drama, none of our honourables spared thought about how they had in their “collective wisdom” spewed sheer contempt on Parliament, wittingly or unwittingly. Further devalued the institution by throwing all standards to the winds. Reducing the grand red sandstone building into an akhara, where politically motivated bashing has become the raging cult — the new order. And agreed legislative agenda, a luxury to be taken up only when lung power is exhausted. Bringing things to such a pass that pursuit of power, pelf and patronage is replacing law making. Political polarisation is measured through the prism of powerglass politics. Whereby all outbursts are weighed on the voters scale. Never mind, if it sounds like flogging a dead
horse. We take great pride in calling ourselves the world’s largest democracy. But all forget that parliamentary democracy provides for a civilised form of government. Encompassing discussion, debate and consensus. If the government fails to build consensus after consultation with the Opposition it has to go back to the people for a mandate. That is the time-worn practice in democracies the world over. Followed religiously by Jawaharlal Nehru. The first Prime Minister’s respect for parliamentary institutions was deep-rooted, as was his faith in the democratic process. Parliament symbolised for him the power of the people and he was always zealous in guarding its
dignity. Old-timers recall how India’s first Prime Minister wanted to push through the Hindu Code Bill in the very first Lok Sabha. The then President Rajendra Prasad put his foot down and refused to give his assent. Not because he was a fanatic Hindu, but because he wanted to uphold the best democratic traditions. “You do not have the mandate of the people to enact this legislation,” he told Nehru and added: “Please go back to the people.” Nehru bowed to the President’s wishes, secured popular consent and enacted the
law. Alas, over the years with political compulsions dominating political discourse, discussions and debate have largely lost their meaning as the numbers game has become the sole criterion of successful Treasury Benches. Gone are the days when sittings were orderly and members would pour over voluminous files before raising issues. When interventions were meticulously planned and clarifications sought. The fifties, the sixties and the early seventies. Then came Raj Narain in the late seventies and Kalpnath Rai as the Congress answer to him, not long thereafter. The shouting brigade in the eighties. To the absentees of the nineties. The era of no-holds-barred politics. The crude practice of rushing into the well of the House and of browbeating the Speaker — with the party bosses sitting pretty nonchalantly and not intervening. Holding the House and through it the country to ransom. Bringing things to a pass where might becomes right and brute forces replace debate and
discussion. The figures speak for themselves. Parliament is spending less and less time on law-making. The first Lok Sabha spent 49.80 per cent of its time on enacting legislation. This came down sharply to 17.38 per cent for the Tenth Lok Sabha. The actual time spent is certain to be markedly less. The maximum time was spent on “other matters” or unlisted issues. Compare this to a mere 4 per cent by the first Lok Sabha. The tragedy becomes stark when one realises that every minute lost in Parliament costs Rs 2
lakh. What is more, the duration of Parliament sessions has slumped from an average of 100 days a year to 75. True, what is important is not the total length of time that Parliament meets, but the use to which it is put. But if the purpose is drowned by lung power, what use is Parliament for? And, the
system? What is going to be our basic approach to this distressing and disgraceful spectacle? Are we going to stand as mute spectators as Parliament gets vandalised by our jan sevaks. No. A big no. We can’t afford it. It is time to cry a halt. Enough is enough. The people are fast losing their patience. If the netagan do not mend matters the public may well choose to take the law into its own hands. More and more people are today saying: “Laaton ke bhoot baaton se nahin mante” (People used to being kicked will not listen to
reason). As the Thirteenth Lok Sabha resumes work after the Budget session, we need to give a serious thought to rectifying the flaws in our system and urgently overhauling it. Rules have to be drastically changed to provide that no one can hold Parliament to ransom. There is no shortage of ways to stop our right honourables from rushing into the well of the House, shouting and sitting on dharnas, stalling the proceedings and getting the House adjourned on the flimsiest of reasons. A civilised wayout is for the Speaker to get the Marshal to escort the errant members out of the chambers. But this may not work today. However, rules could be amended to provide that whoever steps into the well of the House would stand automatically suspended for a week. A habitual “well trespasser” could be suspended for the entire session.
First and foremost, we have to draw a lakshman rekha: are we for a civilised form of democracy, or for what President Giri described as a “demonocracy” of brutes and fixers? How long are we going to mortgage our conscience to unabashed gimmickry and goondaism? How long are we going to allow myopic partisan politics to recklessly paralyse Parliament. Providing cold comfort neither to the actors nor to the cheer
leaders. Time to recall Britain’s Iron Lady and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In her autobiography, “The Downing Street Years”, she has said: “If individuals behave irresponsibly, it is impossible for them to establish a responsible state. And an irresponsible state is the beginning of anarchy.” The buck stops here. |
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Helter skelter for shelter I have a feeling that practically every city in India is being overrun by mosquitoes and house brokers — I beg your pardon — I mean “Real Estate Consultants” and it is a safe bet that these consultants are proliferating at a faster rate than the winged menace. A newcomer to a city can’t fling a half-brick without
hitting one of these ubiquitous
“consultants.” Apparently, it doesn’t take much to set oneself up in the real estate business — a ramshackle office in a dingy bylane, a couple of tumbledown furniture and a moth-eaten but forbidding register about the “administrative
overheads.” The house broker who preens himself with the fancy title of “Real Estate Consultant” knows that he is operating in a seller’s market and he makes sure that you don’t overlook that glaring fact.
As you enter his “office”, the consultant might condescend to look up from his register and reaching for his ballpoint pen and scribble pad, proceed nonchalantly to tear apart your constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy.
Name and any alias? Address? (care of the footpath, you might reply), any communicable diseases? Employed in private sector, public sector or cooperative sector (“sorry, but we only service clients working in covenanted senior executive posts in multinational corporations and the door is behind you”), total take-home salary? (“again sorry, but we only serve constituents with a net salary of Rs 5 lakh per month and kindly close the door gently as you go out”), number of children? Any
pets? If the consultant is reasonably satisfied with your answers — luck has to be on your side for this opportune happening — he might “deign” to show you round a “posh” house. Incidentally, the word posh is a sort of “mantra” with those in the real estate business.
The posh house she shows you has a broken, wicket gate (“to keep out stray cattle” the consultant will explain parenthetically), living-cum-dining room (“to enable your visitors to envy your frost-free fridge and see how well you eat”), a couple of junglewood planks stuck into the wall (“built-in, wall-to-wall cupboard”), kitchen-cum-storeroom (“an efficiency expert will approve”) and a opening under the skylight (“attached bath where you can take a refreshing shower whenever it rains”).
Taking you outside, the consultant will point dramatically towards a few blades of withering grass and exclaim ecstatically, “Look at that lush, spacious
lawn!” Now comes the crunch. The posh house you have just inspected, courtesy the real estate consultant, measures no more than three squares and you know that it is so small that once the sofa-cum-bed is in, you and the hardier of your children will have to permanently encamp outside and the rent and advance sounds suspiciously like the total amount involved in the Bihar fodder scam, but there is no triumphing against the house broker who has got you pinned with a Half-Nelson.
Thanks to close encounters of the weird kind with Bangalore’s house brokers I am now permanently house broken of the habit of looking for a house. |
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It’s “chic to be geek” ADULT nerds in the USA are having more sex than the average American, according to a
survey. Males registering on an online jobsite dedicated to IT professionals revealed they had sex 108 times a year — 37% more than
average. The findings were made by a survey carried out by the
jobsite. “We were putting together a survey so we could get a better idea of who was using our site” said Russ Curtis, of JustTechJobs.com. “We put in a question about sex habits as a joke. But the response was definitely surprising to
us.” According to Mr Curtis, almost 10,000 people responded to the survey. Over 75% of the respondents were male, and most were willing to identify themselves as
nerds. “When we call the jobseekers on our site ‘nerds’, we mean it as a badge of honour,” he
said. “Technology professionals drive industry today. They are the movers and shakers of the new economy. And, apparently, they get lucky more often than the average
non-nerd.” Although surprised by the results, Mr Curtis has a theory on why this may be. “Think about it. If these guys are anything like I was, they were picked on and laughed at as kids, and they probably didn’t kiss a girl until they were 23 years old. Now they have money and power and members of the opposite sex find them very alluring. You better believe they are going to take advantage of their situation.”
Guardian
Don’t list Jedi as religion Australian Star Wars fans are being warned not to list their religion as Jedi on their census
forms. The Australian Bureau of Statistics says anyone providing false information on their census form can face a fine equivalent to £
350. The Bureau’s warning follows an e-mail campaign to have Jedi recognised as an official
religion. Pranksters in the UK have already been told that Jedi will not be officially recognised, irrespective of how many people claim it is their religion in the forthcoming
census. An e-mail widely circulated claimed the government would have to acknowledged the Star Wars “religion” if more than 10,000 listed it on their census
forms. Australia’s director of census field operations, Paul Williams said there is a law to stop the census being treated as a
joke. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation News: “Whether anyone gets fined would be treated on a case by case basis, but the Census and Statistics Act does provide for a $1,000 fine for knowingly providing false or misleading information.” |
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PM: from siege to intrigues IT is becoming really difficult to catch up with all the secret moves and counter-moves that are going on in this national capital of intrigues. Drawing rooms and the sprawling farm houses have been turned into the scenes of strategy sessions with even the smart second rankers coming out with bright ideas to corner the political adversaries. Yes, that is the only aim. Every action is dictated by temporary strategic gains — not the merit of the
issue. When the Congress doggedly blocked the debate on the Tehelka crisis, we all took it as due to the Sonia paranoia. Its deeper design of denying an opportunity to the vacillating NDA allies to demonstrate solidarity was lost sight
of. Among the NDA allies, within the BJP and in the ranks of the RSS Parivar, there are widening gaps between what appears to be happening and what really happens. No one is certain as to how things will turn after the assembly elections or when some more scandals
surface. Hence most of them in the parivar prefer to play safe in the ongoing subterranean but furious war of attrition so that the individual prospects are not spoiled by ‘‘unnecessary’’ direct involvement in faction feuds.
Even most of those ministers who are in the good books of the Prime Minister, do not fail to maintain their equations with Nagpur-Jhandewallan and L.K. Advani. Incidentally, during the pre-1998 ideological debates within the parivar, even the middle-level leaders took bold positions. Invasion of Congressism and the resultant intrusion of careerism into the Vajpayee-era BJP have taught them to play
safe. Thus barring a few, no one is really sure about the position of the BJP MPs and state leaders. However, it can be safely said that once the RSS establishment takes to the brink the ruling camp will be left with
few. Vajpayee, more than any one, is well aware of this harsh reality. This is what had made him issue his resignation threat in the presence of the party MPs and senior ministers like L.K. Advani and Pramod Mahajan this week.
‘‘Let the Sangh parivar decide, I'll quit forthwith,’’ Vajpayee said while referring to RSS veteran Datopant Thengadi's open vituperative attacks on his
government. Thengadi's anti-Vajpayee outbursts and Vajpayee's quit threat mark a watershed in the prolonged love-hate relationship within the parivar after the BJP coalition came to power.
For a long time, the hard line of the RSS outfits like the VHP and the BMS-Swadeshi Jagran Manch on one side and the liberal Vajpayee camp on the other looked like a neat arrangement to play to the tune of different sections. When its inherent contradiction surfaced, tussles broke out frequently.
But so far Vajpayee has been the winner in every such confrontation as the RSS did not want its government to collapse. Last month too Vajpayee had issued a similar quit threat to K.S. Sudarshan which had forced him to hurriedly withdraw his public remarks against the PM's
establishment. This time the PMO did try it but in vain. This had made Vajpayee all the more angry. So angry as to go public with his quit threat. Parivar circles say that Thengadi had a detailed talk with his ideological friend Sudarshan before launching the attack.
Even if another patchup was tried, say by Rajendra Singh, it is bound to remain ineffective because there has been a clear change in the parivar's posture. It now feels that its earlier strategy of giving overriding importance to the government's survival was misused by Vajpayee to mindlessly impose his decisions without taking the affected parivar outfits into confidence. If that is the norm, the RSS could not any more restrain the other side
either. Other factors also have led to the change of strategy. Vajpayee has lost his perceived charisma as a vote catcher. Now he helplessly watches the widespread public disillusionment on issues like corruption, non-performance of the government, rising unemployment and hardship due to the unbridled imports, closure of lakhs of small units
etc. With charisma worn off, others find it of no use to be in his tow. Still sad, the government has not been able to show any specific achievement to the people in the past three
years. Important ministries like the Railways and Defence have no full-time ministers. Even the Commerce Minister's continuance looks uncertain due to his strained relationship with his party bosses in Chennai. Vacancies of Trinamul Ministers are yet to be filled. Recently, 36 junior ministers under Vajpayee had complained to him that they were not assigned any
work. As much as Rs 30 crore is spent to maintain these ministers for doing nothing. Employment Minister Muni Lal has said that he himself is jobless. During the entire period, he did not do any work. This is how the government under Vajpayee
functions. Thousands of BJP friends suffered due to the stock scams and looting of financial institutions and cooperatives. The Vajpayee Government does not even have a remedy to prevent their recurrence.
The parivar outfits and the BJP leaders find it difficult to defend the Vajpayee Government on issues like corruption and economic hardship to the reform-hit sections who have been their traditional supporters. After Pramod Mahajan's ouster from the PMO, the parivar lost its nominal right to convey its feelings to what it had thought was its
man. Thus Vajpayee, who has been an indispensable asset, is now being seen as an unwanted liability. Within the ruling party, his ratings have slipped. The meltdown has led to his own increasing isolation. His resignation threat at the party MPs' meeting signals both his losing self-control and control over the party. An influential section in the parivar has begun viewing him as an obstacle in the way of its further expansion due to what they call Vajpayee's ‘‘pseudo secularism’’.
Thengadi's outbursts have been a reflection of this impatience. Just before this, Ashok Singhal and Sudarhan had made it clear that the parivar would begin the Ram temple construction early next year even if Vajpayee dared to stop
it. Apparently, an influential section within the parivar looks to L.K. Advani as a saviour. To be fair, this real architect of the resurgent BJP has so far not done anything to undermine Vajpayee's position. Instead, whenever Vajpayee was gripped in crisis, he had unreservedly stood by
him. Despite this, the Vajpayee camp has been running for his blood. The media is fed with stories of the Home Ministry's failures. Advani is blamed for terrorism getting out of control in Kashmir and rise in ISI
activities. To spite Advani, sections of BJP workers in Assam were encouraged to rebel. His deposition upholding the RSS view before the Liberhan Commission — which earned him kudos from the parivar — is being used to scare the NDA allies from the
BJP. Despite all such smear campaign, Advani has kept his cool. This has only endeared him further to those who are seeking leadership alternatives within the BJP and the parivar, however feeble it may look at this stage. |
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Corruption
begins at the top CORRUPTION, I am convinced more than ever, lies in the eyes of the beholder. Corruption is never what you do, it’s always what the other fellow does. This even applies to the Tehelka
revelations. There have been an amazing variety of reactions to the Tehelka expose. And even though two party chiefs and one Minister have been made to resign over the issue, the people concerned don’t believe they are guilty in any way. The party chiefs claim they took bribes for the greater good of the party and of the system. That’s normal, isn’t it, they ask. The Minister claims he could only hear drunken voices, so the tapes have no
credibility. I have met people (here in Thiruvananthapuram) who believe that the tapes are fake, that they have been artificially manufactured and doctored (what modern technology can do!). They also add, however, what is one lakh or two lakhs anyway? One of my friends, deeply committed to the BJP, wants the Tehelka journalists to be tried for treason because they are part of a conspiracy to destabilise our country, and so
on. The feeblest excuse for taking bribes is to say the money is for the party. A bribe is not a regular donation. A bribe is intended to corrupt; it is meant to influence your judgement about a manufactured article or a service. And it is a deadly sin to accept one from an arms salesman or
agent. And how did arms agents (albeit impersonators) get into the sitting room of the Defence Minister in the first place, and in the absence of the minister himself, to parley with his friend? Fernandes says all sorts of people come to his home, he can’t change his lifestyle. Those in public life have to observe certain rules and discipline. If they can’t change their lifestyles, they shouldn’t be in it. Fernandes may not drink or smoke, he may hate wearing pressed clothes, but that’s not going to make him Saint
George. The implications of the Tehelka technology are only now dawning on the general public. They have, gradually, come to accept the ethics of journalism with a hidden camera. The initial shock seems to be wearing off. I am sure people will come to accept this new kind of journalism as legitimate and proper. After all when the country is being engulfed by corruption, every means should be used to stop the flood. Tehelka has shown the
way. In spite of the apparent cynicism of many people, those who say corruption has become a part of life, so what’s new, I think there is a growing feeling in the country that it is time to stop the rot before it becomes a malignant cancer and we have to find ways of dealing with
it. Before the nation could recover from Tehelka, it received the shock of the Customs chief being involved in bribery of a high order. Who could have imagined that the Chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs would be seen amassing wealth far in excess of his and his family’s known sources of income. It had obviously been going on for some time but apparently no one noticed, no one complained. That’s the way our society works. We punish a domestic servant brutally if he steals two rupees, but ignore the criminality of the rich among
us. It seems obvious that corruption begins at the top and seeps down to the common people. The super-rich in India have inherited all the greed and cruelty of our now defunct maharajas and maharanis. We had hoped that an independent India would work
differently. Jawaharlal Nehru, the idealist, had great visions of a new and resurgent India in which freedom would be enjoyed by all and inequalities would be removed, if not fully, but substantially. But today our well-to-do middle classes mock ‘Nehruvian socialism’ and despise planning (on which Nehru depended so much).
The economic free-for-all that we see around us, no doubt represents the new paradise for the rich, but it is far removed from the kind of society that our forefathers, who fought imperialism, envisaged. Instead of white imperialists, we are saddled with a ruling class no less oppressive and even more isolated from the common people. Their bread, butter and jam are all imported and they are answerable to no one. The making of money for its own sake is their life-style, religion and philosophy. |
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SPIRITUAL NUGGETS Freeing the mind from the feelings of attraction and repulsion, one should enjoy objects of pleasure through the senses dispassionately and not with the feelings of love and hatred, nor as a slave of the
senses. — Hanuman Prasad Poddar, Wavelets of Bliss **** There are three kinds of illness; physical, mental and spiritual physical sickness is due to different forms of toxic conditions, infectious disease and accidents. Mental sickness is caused by fear, worry, anger and other emotional inharmonies. Soul sickness is due to man's ignorance of his true relationship with
God. **** Ignorance is the supreme disease. When one banishes ignorance he also banishes the causes of all physical, mental and spiritual
disease. **** Chemicals and medicines affect only the outer physical composition of the body cells and do not alter the inner atomic structure or life principle of the cells. In many cases no cure of disease is possible until the healing power of God has corrected from within, the imbalance of "lifetrons" or intelligent life energy in the
body. **** The basic causes of disease are underactivity and overactivity of the life-energy, prana that structures and sustains the
body. **** Harmful microbes are ceaselessly attacking the body; good ones are ceaselessly defending it, aided sometimes by diet, herbs, medicines and other health measures. But an unlimited source of protection for man lies in his strong thought that, as a child of God, he cannot be affected by
disease. — Paramahansa Yogananda. Lecture delivered at Self Realisation Fellowship Temple, Hollywood, California, August 31, 1947. |
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