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| Friday,
May 25, 2001, Chandigarh, India    |
Reformed security set-up Condon, cricket,
corruption |
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by Hari Jaisingh
A career sleuth with long
experience
Do we know America well
enough?
Beauty queen offers back crown
Mom’s cooking, nice salary, why
marry?
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Reformed security set-up SECURITY and intelligence go hand in hand. In fact, intelligence is one of the main ingredients of security. A long chapter on this vital aspect is missing from the report on the revamped security set-up. Obviously it deals with the weaknesses and failures of intelligence in the past and the agencies concerned have prevailed upon the government to hold back their adverse report card. Maybe the portion also describes the focused functions of the agencies. There are two main centres to collect and collate sensitive information. The old Joint Intelligence Committee will take the new avatar of tri-service intelligence committee. It is not clear whether it will be a standing body or will activate itself occasionally. For, the need and source of information are different for the three services. The chief of this outfit will be a member of the larger Intelligence Coordination Group attached to the PMO. Thus the apex body will work under Mr Brajesh Mishra, National Security Adviser. The Group of Ministers (GoM) has said that Mr Mishra will continue to play the dual role (he is also the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister) since the National Security Council is still in a formative stage. The implication is that the NSC is not yet an effective organisation and it does not matter whether he runs it or somebody else does. The GoM report, released on Wednesday by Home Minister Advani, rightly points out that security is not only about military prowess. It is also about economic strength, national cohesion and technological advance. But it is silent on these aspects except to point out the danger from a mushroom growth of madarsas and unchecked infiltration. Islamisation of border areas is as much due to internal factors as through external propaganda and funds. It is strange that this potential, and in some areas real, threat has escaped a close scrutiny. Border security will undergo meaningful changes and will form a cell in the Home Ministry. The proposal to create a post of Chief of Defence Staff has been duly endorsed but a small confusion persists. Originally the CDS was to be the principal adviser to the Prime Minister on military matters; but Mr Advani now says the Defence Secretary will continue to be the principal adviser on the same subject to the Defence Minister. A board will come up to oversee procurement under a top military brass but bureaucrats will still lord it over since they control the funds. A overhaul was long due and the GoM has initiated only tentative first steps. |
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Condon, cricket, corruption At last the International Cricket Council has got a report which it should treat as the Bible for guiding players, administrators and umpires away from the path of "cricket sins". Sir Paul Condon, the former commissioner of the British Metropolitan Police, has done a splendid job of identifying every conceivable aspect associated with match-fixing. The issues which the Delhi Police tapes of disgraced former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje's conversation with a bookie had thrown up and the knee-jerk reaction of most Test playing countries had only added to the confusion. Sir Paul's report should result in every window being thrown open for light to come in from all directions so that no player, administrator or umpire ever again dares to bring disrepute to the noble game of cricket by doing business with bookies in some shady corner. The Condon report is almost like a ready reckoner on why, when and where the seeds of corruption were sown. Sir Paul has scrupulously avoided the temptation of relying on innuendos and unsubstantiated charges. The entire approach is refreshingly different from the earlier efforts in which those entrusted the delicate task of investigating charges of match-fixing either tried to brush the issue under the carpet or went overboard in their condemnation of all and sundry. There is not a question associated with corruption in cricket which the report does not answer. Why are cricketers tempted to indulge in match-fixing? Because they get paid less than soccer players, golfers, tennis players and Formula One drivers. What matches are likely to be fixed? In which little is at stake, other than pride - the remaining games in a series which has already been decided. Like the 1999 World Cup match which Pakistan lost to less fancied Bangladesh. Of course, India can take legitimate credit for literally set the ball rolling first by making the Cronje tapes public and then following it up by banning cricketers against whom sufficient evidence of wrong-doing was available. Pakistan too has not held back its punches in dealing with cricket crooks. Although every Test playing nation has welcomed the Condon report both England and Australia need to go beyond merely joining the chorus of support. They need to act against players who have been named in earlier reports of having taken money for providing information to bookies on weather and pitch conditions. Alec Stewart continues to play for England. In the case of Australia the board officials have not only failed to explain why they tried to hush up the case of Shane Warne and Mark Waugh accepting money from bookies, but have also resisted pressure for banning them from playing cricket. It is evident that for implementing the Condon report the ICC will have to set uniform rules and guidelines for all members. If Australia and England believe that setting things right is still the white man's burden, they need to be shown the dirty faces of some of their own players. |
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Balancing power and accountability The Jayalalitha episode has thrown up a number of fundamental politico-electoral, legal and constitutional issues which require both short-term and long-term responses for the growth of democracy on healthy lines. To say this is not to question the popular mandate which is an essential ingredient in parliamentary democracy. The people’s verdict is expected to be respected and honoured. This is what democracy is all about. All the same, the mandate in certain cases has to be tested on grounds of ethics and law. This is necessary for accountability and transparency in our democratic institutions. In our emotional outburst, we often tend to forget that the wheel of democracy can function correctly and efficiently if it is subjected to the rule of the law. The electoral law is very much there, though it suffers from serious operational gaps, besides being defective in its content. The election process is governed by electoral laws as enshrined in the Representation of the People Act. This Act has been amended several times. Still, we have reasons to feel disturbed at the growing criminalisation of politics as well as the liberties the rich and the mighty take with the existing loopholes in the legal provisions to their personal advantage. It is a fact that Ms J. Jayalalitha is a mass leader in Tamil Nadu. She has the charisma to periodically swing popular vote in her favour notwithstanding her serious misdeeds while in power. She is known to have amassed wealth—apparently more through unfair means than by fair means. Still, she continues to thrive politically. Do the custodians of the Indian Constitution have an answer to such a distorted verdict? How come honest and clean persons have no place in the system while rogues and scoundrels — howsoever sophisticated — continue to thrive? Herein lies the tragedy of Indian democracy. Those who come to power use the instruments of governance to enrich themselves—and that too in the name of people! This is how corruption operates. Just look at the nouveau riche class. Their wealth is mainly generated by naked exploitation of the power structure through deals and sub-deals at the cost of the public exchequer. I have repeatedly stated in my columns that politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen and their collaborators in officialdom and the underworld have made money and acquired muscle power through kickbacks. And their money put in foreign banks can easily finance at least seven of India’s five-year Plans. I have also stated earlier that against one East India Company of colonial India, there are innumerable outfits which have been looting the country’s precious resources for the benefit of their inner circles — that is, in-laws and outlaws. This is not a happy setting for Independent India where 40 per cent of the population still lives below the poverty line! What is ironical is that much of this ill-gotten wealth is collected in the name of the poor. Ms Jayalalitha’s track record, while in power in Tamil Nadu, showed how she would divert public funds for personal use while throwing a few crumbs to the underprivileged segments of society. The Chief Minister could have her way because Tamilians are an emotional lot and those who rally round her are mostly poor and illiterate. The curse of this country is the high rate of illiteracy prevailing in the rural and urban areas. And widespread illiteracy is a potent instrument of exploitation of the poor and the havenots by politicians. Indeed, poverty is the most volatile fact of the country’s vote bank politics. Of course, Ms Jayalalitha is not alone in today’s crude competitive politics. There are any number of big and small Jayalalithas and Laloo Prasad Yadavs who have virtually hijacked the “success” at the hustings by playing caste, community and communal cards. In this mad race genuine, educated Indians are pushed aside. Amidst this bizarre situation it is shameful to see large sections of the population living in feudal conditions of the 18th century. Have we spared any thought for these second class citizens who hardly have any sunshine in their life? Is this the concept of dharma we all swear by? Well, why blame fate and the Almighty for the pangs of hunger and deprivation for which the ruling elite is at fault? Coming back to the question raised at the outset, we have to give a serious thought to the working of the polity which favours undesirable characters with right contacts, money bags and mafia links. Also, it is disquieting to see a politician convicted of corrupt practices, being installed as Chief Minister even though barred from contesting the election. It is one thing to say that a person can become a minister without being a legislator. But this logic cannot be overstretched to justify the installation of a politician as a minister or a Chief Minister if he or she does not qualify to contest an Assembly seat. The Constitution has detailed provisions regarding qualifications and disqualifications for the President, Vice-President, parliamentarians and legislators. The founding fathers have made no express provision for the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers or minister. Perhaps they assumed that when a person was not eligible to be a legislator, either because he was not qualified or because of disqualification, he could not be appointed Prime Minister or Chief Minister or minister. The Representation of the People Act did introduce more disqualifications under Article 191 of the Constitution. It was on the basis of one such disqualification — Section 8(3) of the RP Act barring a person convicted and sentenced in a corruption cases for more than two years — that returning officers rejected Ms Jayalalitha’s nomination in the Assembly poll. Keeping in view this fact, Governor Fathima Beevi should have moved cautiously and used her discretion to set a healthy precedent. Perhaps she was afraid of violent reaction of the AIADMK leader’s followers. Ms Jayalalitha may justify her claim to power in the name of people. But it needs to be remembered that the people’s mandate can operate freely only when the law, ethics and functional norms are followed strictly. A democratic society like ours, after all, gives us an ability to understand what is right and what is wrong. It is necessary that the country goes in for comprehensive electoral reforms in order to put our democracy on the right track. We do not wish to see criminals and bad elements making their way to the legislature. If criminals become law-makers and law-enforcers God alone can save this country! We must not allow criminals and mafia leaders to acquire acceptability and respectability in our society. Unfortunately, this is what is happening for the past four decades or so. A nexus exists among the police, the bureaucracy and the underworld. The cementing force in this is the making of a fast buck by manipulating the system and the persons at the helm. How do we wage a war against such tendencies? We cannot allow our civilisational values to be hijacked by criminals and their collaborators. This a very serious challenge. It is a pity that criminals these days try to acquire a degree of respectability to get themselves elected to statutory bodies. We must arrest the drift by tightening the provisions of law and enforcing them ruthlessly. There are no shortcuts to keep democracy a live instrument in the hands of the people for the good of society. Therefore, it is necessary that those indulging in crime and related activities are barred from contesting an election and capturing power. Indeed, the time has come for a serious second look at the whole gamut of democratic operations in the country so that persons with a clean and honest image are able to come forward in public life, and not rogues and scoundrels. There has to be fair play in the system. This will help build up the confidence of common people in the system. Once ordinary citizens gain confidence, the current drift to criminalised polity can be arrested. A lot depends on how our rulers conduct themselves. Instead of indulging in shadow-boxing against corruption and mafia operations, they would do well to take a few basic though small steps to tackle the roots of the problem. In any case, a balance between power and accountability has to be worked out. What India needs is a fresh approach and a bold initiative to correct the existing electoral system. For, the world’s largest and most vibrant democracy badly requires quality control so that the Jayalalithas and the like are under check. |
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A career sleuth with long experience The elevation of K.P. Singh as the next Intelligence Bureau chief in succession to Shyamal Ghosh brings to the fore a career sleuth with more than a quarter century in the IB. Enjoying a high rating among his peers and colleagues, Mr Singh is keenly aware of the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir having served in that troubled border state. He has also dealt with the Naxalites problem having overseen that desk in the IB. Mr Singh, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, belongs to the newly created Chattisgarh cadre of the Indian Police Service. There was intense speculation before Mr Singh’s elevation as the DIB that an exceptionally brilliant officer in Ajit Doval was also under active consideration. Sources said that Mr Doval was against such a move to avoid sending wrong signals in the service. Now with Mr Singh assuming charge next month, it is widely believed that the command structure of the IB will remain undisturbed. New man in PMO All eyes are now riveted on Prodipto Ghosh, who is being pulled out of the Asian Development Bank in Manila to work as additional secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office. He will look after the work of the controversial and high profile N.K. Singh who has since been shifted to the Planning Commission. Expected to take up his new assignment in the first week of June, Mr Ghosh will oversee the economic ministries in the PMO. He has an enviable record for this expertise in the energy and environmental sectors. Mr Ghosh is a Ph.D in economics and policy analysis from the Carnegie Mellon University in the USA and has an M.Phil in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi. He has published more than 40 research papers and several technical books on energy, environment and technology policy. Mr Ghosh is a member of the American Economic Association, the Association of Environment and Resource Economists, Washington DC, and a fellow of the Institution of Engineers in India and the UK.
Testing times The Indian bureaucracy is charmingly innocent, charming for those who take it for a willing ride. Take the case of those who are in this country to test market their products. This is a universally accepted practice where a would-be local manufacturer will like to see if his goods has demand and what is the volume of the demand. In journalism it is called a dummy run, producing a mock-up edition, sending it to a select readership for intelligent feed back. Cigarette companies introduce a new brand only after getting the approval of tobacco addicts. Of late this is not all that harmless. Some importers sought and secured permission to test market their products. That is fine by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). But after the approval in the middle nineties, they have secured extension of the FIPB approval and they have been test-marketing without any visible efforts to set up manufacturing facilities in this country. The rule says that this is allowed for two years and in extraordinary cases can be extended by one more year. But the lethargic FIPB often allows test marketing beyond three years thereby allowing a foreign maker of a consumer goods to entrench itself in India by flouting local laws. Here are two cases. China’s giant television maker Konka started market testing way back in 1988 and immediately realised the immense potential of the Indian market. It sought a year’s extension saying its agreement with the Delhi-based Hotline company had fallen through. Now that imports are free, Konka is importing China-made colour television sets retailing at about Rs 5500 and not manufacturing them here. Or take Dubon, an Indo-French joint venture vending flavoured milk. It has a plant in China and has been assessing the demand here for some years. When the FIPB threatened to revoke its licence it pointed to its invesment of Rs 30 crore to produce the same commodity in India. It has not committed itself to a time frame. There is another spot of bother. Companies have sprung up to import foreign goods like toiletries, food supplements, perfumes and the like at a price that compares well with the local rates or are even lower. The importers are concentrating on small towns to avoid a mass hysteria. A study by a private research organisation finds that in the next few years the inhibition against foreign brands will fade away and quality and price will be the sole criterion. No doubt Indian manufacturers are worried. |
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Do we know America well
enough? NOW that we are hailed as a “great power” do we know how to play the part? We are indeed moving steadily to a wider arc of global concerns. For instance, we have a new strategic partnership with South Africa, a joint security concern with Oman and Qatar in the Gulf, a new “look East” policy of alliance with the Buddhist countries, plan to have a new naval command in the Andamans and so on. And to cap it all, we are a nuclear and space power. India is thus well on the way to be among the greats. For half a century, we remained nonaligned. The end of the cold war and the debacle of the Soviet Union have brought us close to the USA, the only super power. But do we understand its implications? Do we know America well enough? I’m afraid the answer is: No. Ours has been a case of love-hate relations with the USA. Our rich, ambitious and uprooted love America. And our Left intellectuals hate it. Both were blinded by their obsessions. Nehru was our political mentor. In 1927 he said that America would emerge as a worse imperialist power. In this, he was right. America has been the main guide of the world in the post-war years. But it was like the blind leading the blind. The world has been teetering at the edge of a great catastrophe. This is where the modern Moses had led the world to. But is there an alternative to the American leadership? There is none. And there is no alternative power around which the destiny of the world can be built. Russia is too weak to shoulder this role. As for China, it is not a nation to be trusted. And not entrusted with the leadership of the world, either. It lacks the qualities associated with world leadership. The Middle Kingdom has chosen to live in isolation for long, long ages. The American people were fed on the filth that Katherine Mayo (of “Mother India” fame) and the Baptist missionaries wrote on India. They knew nothing of India’s civilisation, not even much on the Mahatma. Was there any wonder then that upstart America teamed up with upstart Pakistan? From the early fifties America has been inimical to India. It armed Pakistan against us. All our troubles began with it. And US intervention in Afghanistan has made matters worse for us. I have objection to the American world leadership for four major reasons: (1) Christian leaders of America have not given up their plan to convert the world to Christianity. (2) Wall Street is determined to maintain economic leadership of the world. (3) American intelligentsia want to impose the American way of life on the rest of the world. They think that the whiteman’s way of life is superior. And (4) the American ruling class wants to perpetuate American political and military supremacy over the world. With such hostile forces around, who rub us the wrong way daily, is it possible for India to have lasting friendship with America? I do not think so. The government of America may not be committed to these objectives. But it is difficult to believe that it is free from the infections of these diseases. So, we have here an America which is basically opposed to pluralism and democracy, whatever it might say to the contrary. The only country with which India can have true friendship is Russia. No one can take away its potential to be great. It is a country with no whiteman’s burden. It does not want to convert the world to orthodox Christianity. It does not want to dominate over the economic life of the world. And it does not want to export its way of life. With such a country, there can be few causes for conflict. What is more, we can have common goals. That is why India had the best of relations with Moscow for nearly half a century. It was based on mutual trust. This is a precious legacy which it will be criminal to squander. That we have to redefine our foreign policy goals if we are to play the great power — this needs no reiteration. And we must know how to safeguard our interests. An American strategist says: “Great powers that allow their interests to be compromised with impunity do not remain great power very long”. India has compromised its interests far too often. That is why even its small neighbours have dared to affront us. The change to a great power may be tectonic. We have not even begun to think of what it involves. Can our history be of any help in guiding us? Yes. We have been saying that we do not believe in conquests. Wrong. The Mauryas and the Guptas were conquerors. And the Persians, Mughals and the British had the highest opinion about the valour of Indian soldiers. And we had the world’s first master of state-craft in Chanakya, 1,800 years before Europe produced a Machiavelli. We say we do not believe in conversions, yet Ashoka tried to convert the known world into Buddhism, and his successors nearly converted the whole of Asia. We call our civilisation spiritual — that is free from material pursuits — and yet India was the greatest economic power for two millennia. It is said that we are prone to asceticism. But we are no less indulgent to the pleasures of the senses than any other people. Our music, dances, sculpting, architecture and cuisine — all these show how sensual we were. And in sex, the highest sensual pleasure (so they say), there is nothing beyond Kamasutra and Khajuraho. So, that is what India was. I am not saying that we must go back to what we were. But it is time we stopped saying that we are a “spiritual” people. That we are, but we are also much more. We were also great fighters, great sailors, builders, traders, craftsmen and lovers. And, above all, great thinkers. Our foreign policy as a great power must reflect these varied drives and achievements of our people. Let us not put our sadhus on the world fora as exemplars of our society. And let us purge the troglodytes from our society. Today, America wants India as a “friend and ally”. It is ready to recognise India as a “great power”. One can understand it, for in the concert of nations, friends become foes and foes become friends. China is the present foe of both America and India because it is creating anarchy around the world by the pursuit of its selfish goals. To teach India, it arms Pakistan with nuclear bombs and missiles. To teach the USA, it arms the “enemies” of the USA. India and America have thus a common goal: to make China realise its folly. That is a good enough reason for the two of us — the USA and India — to come together. But what is America ready to do to make India strong? And can we trust America? Even its European allies do not trust it. The least we expect from America is military hardware to take on China in case of need. And perhaps NMD cover. India and America have no enmity against China. Our aims are limited. The USA has its objectives. So have we. We call upon China to stop meddling in South Asia. |
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Mom’s cooking, nice salary, why marry? Japan’s decade-long economic recession has seen the nation’s overall consumer spending drop and corporate restructuring has seen companies put a cap on their expenditure. Despite such circumstances, many young Japanese women are still spending money buying expensive European brand name goods and staying at luxury hotels on weekends - on their own. These are the “parasaito singuru”, meaning: “parasite singles.” The term describes unmarried persons who are content to live off their parents well into their 20s and beyond. The parasites are having a dramatic effect on the retail market. At the same time, they are a cause for Japan’s declining birthrate. Reina Kusakari, 25, is one of parasite singles. She even has a good job at a famous food company in Tokyo, and still lives with her parents. The money she saves on rent and food lets her enjoy the lifestyle to which she has become accustomed. According to some estimates, there are more than 10 million parasite singles in Japan, representing about 10 per cent of the population. It is believed that around six out of 10 unmarried men and eight out of 10 single women were living with their parents. Parasite singles first came into public prominence three years ago, and since then, most discussion has focused on the social causes and implications. “The parasites are very wealthy and therefore very powerful. The average parasite is much richer than the average middle-aged salaried man,” said Mr Hirokazu Ishii, a retail analyst at Nikko Solomon Smith Barney Securities. He said the parasite singles were spending money on luxury goods and stores are benefiting hugely from the parasite singles. European brand names, such as Louis vitton and Gucci have been expanding their business in Japan and their sales have been rising despite the nation’s economic recession. Japan’s luxury hotels have also been taking advantage of the phenomena and many such hotels offer special deals aimed at the singles. Kusakari goes to a salon twice a month for body treatment and also stays at a nice Tokyo hotel once every two months for relaxation. She also enjoys overseas trips once or twice a year. An average Japanese women in her age gets at least 200,000 yen ($ 1,600) per month. “I live with my parents because it’s convenient,” she said. “I think many parasite singles enjoy their life because the mother usually cooks and does the cleaning for you,” Kusakari said. “Why get married and have children, when one can be single and enjoy an affluent lifestyle?” she said. The recent sharp rise in the number of unmarried Japanese is, however, a factor in the nation’s declining birthrate. According to the latest figures by the Japanese government, the number of singles between the ages of 25 and 34 was 2.87 million in 1995, a compared to 1.48 million in the same age bracket in 1975. Japan’s birthrate is one of the lowest in the world. After World War II, a Japanese woman would have, on average, 4.3 children. Today, the figure is just 1.3. Experts on the that Japan had few parasite singles during the period of high economic growth from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. Parents were generally poor at that time. Marriage was not a step down in terms of living standards then as it is now. Even those young people who lived with their parents could not enjoy a materially rich life at that time because they handed over their earnings to their parents and received allowances in return. That motivated many young men to leave home quickly and opt for independence and marriage. Experts say young women were also unwilling to get married because, unlike their fathers who were mainly farmers, an increasing number of married men had salaried jobs as the economy was evolving from agriculture to commerce and industry. Young women could aspire to have husbands with better education and higher earning potential than their fathers. This is no longer the case.
DPA |
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SPIRITUAL NUGGETS Hate is death, forgiveness is life.... When Lincoln was asked why he did not destroy his enemies he replied: “If I make my enemies my friends, do not I then destroy them?”.... **** Forgiveness should span the years. You should first forgive yourself for the wrongs you have done to yourself and others, for the mistakes you have made. Then you should forgive and bless all those who have wronged you during your lifetime. Thus you release others and you release yourself. You break the chains of regret and remorse that bind you. You free your mind from the burdens of the past so you may walk victoriously into the future. **** Putting off forgiving only deepens the wound. Clinging to bitterness postpones happiness. Life is short, time is fleeting. Today is the day to forgive. **** Forgiveness is the way to personal peace. It is performing mental surgery on yourself, probing deep within to remove hurts, grudges and resentments.... It is flooding your mind with the powerful medicine of forgiveness that cleanses and heals. It is discovering a serenity you have never known before. —
Wilferd A. Peterson, More About the Art of Living The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. **** Forgiveness is a quality of the soul and therefore a positive quality. —
Mahatma Gandhi, Young India, April 2, 1931; January 12, 1928. The best means of winning over an adversary is to love him with a sincere heart. Even if he hates and injures you, return his hatred and injury with love. If you take up a indictive attitude instead, you are bound to fall. —
Hanumanprasad Poddar, Wavelets of Blis |
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